First things first- it had snowed a whole 3 INCHES in London the night before, which effectively sent the city into panic. And I thought DC was bad about the snow! Underground lines were shut down, cabbies told stories of hours in their car to get into the city, and we had to wait on the tarmac for 2 1/2 hours while they found a gate for us to go through, since all the planes from all the canceled flights the day before were still sitting there.
Due to the extra sleep on the tarmac, we hit the ground running Friday night, when we walked the mile or so from Tottenham Court Road to Leicester Square, stopping for a pint in all the interesting-looking pubs. We ate the traditional fish and chips, and found a tiny comedy club that was hilarious! We saw six comedians in a tiny upstairs room of the pub, all of whom picked on us Americans. Don't worry though, we took it in stride and laughed even louder when they made fun of the Canadians. We will have to explain jokes about "Cake Surprise" Drugs, Spiderman outfits, "Mind the Gap," and advertising to you at a later date. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
Saturday we took the underground as far as we could (due to a fire brigade strike many stations were closed and lines stopped early- MAN, do I appreciate Metro even more now!) to the Imperial War Museum, where we saw a ridiculously thorough examination of World War I and later, London during the Blitz. We then zoomed over the bridge to see Winston Churchill's underground war rooms, where he set up shop during the air raids of World War II. They were right between Parliament and No. 10 Downing Street and were absolutely fascinating. And, since we were in tourist country again, we got all the compulsory snaps of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, etc.
We spent Saturday night in search of a more native and non-touristy pub. We tried a new neighborhood, walked past Harrod's, and finally found a little place off a corner street where we spent the rest of the evening. Took a while. We joked that we were the only people in London who couldn't find a pub.
Sunday morning we took the tube up to Camden to visit the huge markets up there. We didn't buy anything, but we kicked ourselves silly looking at all the pubs and beer cans in the street. This is where we should have gone the night before! JP decided against buying a Liverpool kit because he didn't want iron-on numbers, and I decided against a leather jacket, then we made our way to the airport. The duty free shops enticed us with Cadbury chocolate and cheap cds, then we were winging our way home with lots of turbulence and a screaming child. MAN, were we happy to be home! Though I'd go back in a heartbeat. :)
