Journal Entry – 10312018 – London Trip
Stef and I went to the United Kingdom for vacation and we stayed for most of the time in London. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in London and would consider going back again! I enjoyed using the public transportation system in the United Kingdom as it’s straightforward and reasonably priced. The weather was lovely at times, although it did rain here and there, it did not get too hot as I’m the type of person who does not like the heat so much. All so, enjoyed learning about the history of the United Kingdom and London.
The plane ride from SFO to LHR took about nine hours with Virgin Atlantic. I’ve been in a few economy class seats, but Virgin Atlantic was the most uncomfortable I’ve been in. There’s no real padding on the seat. much less, the seat makes me feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable(Virgin Atlantic, if you’re reading this, you need to invest in more comfortable seats! …. Just saying). The food on the plane is “Ok” at best, but it did fill me up. The flight offers WIFI service and considering that the plane has to use satellite service, the internet service is not too bad. Moreover, I notice that the airline WIFI partners are from other different carriers in the EU. All so, I saw EU versions of T-mobile like T-mobile Poland and T-mobile Germany? Is T-mobile global!?! Anyways, Under economy class seats, I notice that they have international power outlets, and I notice that it was pretty difficult for me to find it, much less see it due to the tight spacing. I had to feel around for the plugin with hands in order to find the correct position to plug in my laptop on. In addition, that outlet is pretty flimsy. The plug on my laptop kept falling out.
I stayed in the Hilton London Bankside hotel. The hotel was nice, comforting, and the staff were quite nice and helpful. The room offers complimentary soda and water. The bed smells clean and fresh. Which I like because I do not want to sleep on a dirty mattress and sheets. The tables and bathroom were clean as well. In the bathroom, their have the little bar of soap, little bottles of conditioner and shampoo. Besides the normal set of towels they have for the guess, They even offer bathrobes as well. The hotel offers a restaurant and bar that is next to the main lobby. I’ve only does breakfast at the restaurant where I got a “Full English breakfast” and super good. Oh, in the restaurant they offer tea and milk for free! All so, at the hotel, they offer complementary blue cheese to us one day, white wine on another, and a small cake for their guest. I have not tried the cake, but the blue cheese was all right.
Stef and I did a few tours together in and outside London. The Harry Potter tour we went on was super awesome! I got to see the behind the scenes of how Harry Potter the movie was made. Stef and I were amazed by how awesome the tour was. I got to see the great hall, the moving staircase, models of the town, and Hogwarts Castle. Oh, they even have the train that goes to Hogwarts and you’ll be able to go inside and see the passenger car that Harry, Hermione, and Ron would stay in for each movie. We did a food tour with a group of people in The Borough Market and it was well worth it. I got to try a lot of great food that London had to offer. I did like the blue cheese, although I discover on a food tour I like this blue cheese called “Stilton blue cheese” (soooo good!!) Stef and I went to Stonehenge and the city of Bath. It was pretty amazing! For Stonehenge as they offer an audio guide about the different spots, theories, and how people lived near Stonehenge. The city of Bath, we walked around and checked out the Roman bathhouse and Bath Abby. In the Roman bathhouse, it had a lot of signs and videos show what parts of the bathhouses were used for along the history of the bathhouse. Bath Abby is a church with gothic design and nice stain glass artwork.
During my stay in London Stef and I got to check out the Ice bar where there is a room mostly made of Ice. They serve you drinks in a large shot glass made of ice. The decor is made out of ice with neo lighting. Though we could not stay in the room too long as the bar only allows a person to be in there for 45 mins max. It seems that most of the shops and restaurants accept contactless payments which were super cool! The hotel gave us a bottom of white wine and I decided to take it home with me. Not sure what to do with it, besides save it if anything else, Christmas gift!?!?! Overall Stef and I enjoyed the trip together in London, and even though I touched on a few things briefly here, I will be more posts talking about more in detail about the different places that we visited.