The Great Walking Tour of London, Take Two

Katie came to visit! Katie, The Not So Merry Wanderer made it down to London to visit me this weekend! After a brief snafu with late buses, unhelpful arrival screens, and my lack of a cell phone, we were off to explore! On Friday night we had a quick dinner of fish and chips then went to a club with my flatmates. We didn't get home too late, but managed to sleep until two the next afternoon...

When we finally managed to get up on Saturday, we headed off to Borough Market to explore. And eat delicious chicken and mushroom pies for lunch (breakfast?).

While walking around, we found this awesome duo, and the bridge they were under made the acoustics pretty incredible. 

We also tried mulled wine (cider is better), and had a pretty fantastic time exploring the market and the surrounding area. 

Oh, and the paella. Holy smokes, the paella. 

Saturday night we took it easy, and went to this really cool bar called Brew Dog (read:underground speakeasy bar). More about that when I figure out how to make a Nutty Professor. 

Sunday, we planned on exploring the city more, but didn't have more concrete plans then that, until we realised that there was a Chinese new years festival in Trafalgar square on Sunday morning. Some of the underground lines were down because of the "routine maintenance" that seems to always shut down the tube on weekends. Instead of taking the bus, Katie and I decided that four and a half miles was clearly walking distance. Especially in the 34 degree (F) weather and rain.

We made it, and didn't stop walking for the rest of the day (except for a short lunch respite). Seriously guys, if you hate walking, don't come visit me. You will be miserable. I have walked so much in the past two weeks. Its great. And I haven't really gotten lost. Because if you don't have a directional goal in mind, you can't get lost, right?

We made it to Covent Garden with its awesome street performers:

Why, yes, that is a seven foot high unicycle. 

We also walked along the Strand, and Fleet Street, where we found this awesome sign:

Sadly, The Devil Tavern is no longer in existence on Fleet Street. But I bet they served up a mean meat pie. 

We also made our way to the the Sommerset house, where we saw some incredible paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Renoir, and Manet. Then we, you guessed it -- walked back to my flat, where we watched this awesome show called Relic Hunter. Think Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones, but worse. It's great. Check it out on Netflix. 

Monday, it snowed, and I got to feed geese from my hand. Obviously Monday was awesome. 

-El