Tag: london

Eurotrip 2014, Part 15: A Final Day in London

Michael RappaLeave a comment

July 10, 2014: Today was my final day in London before I would head out on a three-day trip to Amsterdam and Bruges. It was a light day overall as I allowed myself to sleep in following two days of excursions featuring early-morning wakeup calls and long bus rides. Since I had been in London for nearly two weeks and hadn’t yet visited Buckingham Palace, I thought today would be a good day to do so.

But first, after grabbing some lunch and buying a new umbrella, I hopped on the tube to Baker Street so I could walk in the footsteps of Gerry Rafferty while also stopping by the Sherlock Holmes statue. I then took the tube to Hyde Park Corner and walked through Green Park past some war memorials and through the Wellington Arch before making my way to Buckingham Palace along Constitution Hill. Here are some photos from my day:

One interesting tidbit about Buckingham Palace: apparently the Queen does not like the palace. According to a guide from one of my tours, she derisively refers to Buckingham as “the office,” only going there long enough to dispense with official duties before retreating to one of her preferred palaces. She was actually staying at her palace in Edinburgh when I was there the previous week. I can see her point: it’s not the most attractive palace in the world.

After spending some time outside the palace (the inside was not open to tourists at this time of the year) I walked around Green Park for a bit longer before grabbing some dinner and then heading back to my flat. I decided to call it an early night since I had a lot of packing to do and an extremely early wakeup call the next morning. I was looking forward to my visits to Amsterdam and Bruges, though I felt as if, despite spending two weeks here, I had only just scratched the surface of everything London had to offer.

View more of my photos from London.

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 14: Canterbury, Greenwich, and More London

Michael Rappa3 Comments

Since I’ll be returning to London in three weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to actually try and finish the journal of my previous trip, which I began writing oh so long ago…

July 9, 2014: After our visits to Leeds Castle and Dover it was time to head to Canterbury, home of the famed tales by Chaucer. We parked and walked through the charming pedestrian market area to get to the cathedral. Unfortunately, we were denied access to the cathedral because the BBC was shooting some TV show there, so that was a bummer. We had to settle for the crypts, which we only had 15 minutes to explore before they closed. The crypts were really neat, but the feeling of being rushed did not make for a pleasant visit.

I then headed back into town and ate a late lunch at an outdoor French café, enjoying a dish of beef bourignon. Later I would discover that I had left my umbrella at the café—and an umbrella is not a good thing to be without in England. Oh well, stuff happens when you travel. Luckily, it didn’t rain before I was able to buy a new one back in London the next day. Anyway, here are some photos from my visit to Canterbury.

The next stop after Canterbury was Greenwich, London, home of Greenwich Mean Time, at zero degrees longitude. We waited here to catch a boat that would take us along the Thames back into central London. In the meantime I walked around and snapped some photos:

I also tried unsuccessfully to use a bathroom in a restaurant. I’m well aware that most places in Europe either charge you for the bathroom or will only allow patrons to use it. However, a large restaurant along the river had a sign on the outside advertising bathrooms, so I thought this place was an exception, especially since I had just watched one of my fellow tour members head upstairs to use it. So I headed up, figuring if anyone said anything I would just buy a soda or something, but as soon as I began ascending the stairs a restaurant employee came running across the restaurant to yell at me. I would have offered to buy something, but this person’s behavior irritated me so much that I just left.

Speaking of bathrooms, here’s a travel tip: never ask for a ‘restroom’ in the U.K. because nobody will know what the hell you’re talking about. One person thought I was looking for a place to rest. 🙂

Eventually the boat arrived and we were off. Here are some photos from the cruise:

I was disappointed to discover that it was a simple commuter boat rather than the cruise with tea, wine, and scones that had been promised on the web site through which I had booked the tour. This, on top of the denied Canterbury Cathedral entry and arrival to the crypts at closing time, as well as other missed itinerary points in Dover, left me feeling a bit ripped off, so I complained to Premium Tours. As it turns out, my booking was secured through a third-party web site that contained outdated itinerary information, but Premium Tours still made good on my disappointment by giving me a 25-percent refund, which was much appreciated.

Overall, I booked four tours through Premium Tours and found them to be a very good tour company. Although this tour was somewhat disappointing, I very much enjoyed the Bath/Stonehenge tour (worth every penny), and the Paris tour allowed me to see a lot of the city in just one day.

In the end, however, I felt as if I booked a couple of tours too many and did not spend enough time in London itself, so one bit of advice I would give someone coming to London is not to overbook yourself on tours that take you out of the city . . . unless you don’t care about seeing that much of London, then book away!

I decided to depart the cruise near the London Eye ferris wheel since I had pre-purchased a voucher to ride it and this would probably be the last day I would have a chance to do so. I waited in line for a half hour only to get to the front and be told that my voucher was no good, that I needed to go to the building nearby and exchange it for an actual ticket. I had naturally assumed that I could simply present my voucher to the ticket taker, just as I had done with my voucher to enter the Tower of London, both of which had been purchased from the same tour company: The Original Tour. The tour company should have made it clear that the London Eye voucher did not work the same as the Tower of London voucher, so this was partially their fault.

It was also the fault of the ticket takers at the London Eye, who should never have allowed me to enter the line with just a voucher: the attendant confirmed this, but she was completely unsympathetic that their screwup caused me to waste a half-hour of my time–she refused to allow me to go get a ticket and return to the front of the line; I would have to go to the back of the line and wait all over again. So I left the line (which was even longer now than when I had first queued up), and entered the building to get my ticket–until I saw how long the line was there. At that point I was so fed up that I said “screw it” and left; I had better things to do with my life. I ended up not using the voucher at all.

To be honest, once I realized the London Eye cars were enclosed and that any photos would be taken through glass, I wasn’t too upset about missing the ride (I had already gotten a bird’s eye view of London at The Shard anyway); I was just annoyed about wasting my money on the voucher. The lesson here: if you purchase vouchers in advance from ‘The Original Tour’ company, make sure you know which vouchers are good for entry, and which must be exchanged for a ticket.

After that debacle I decided to just do some more walking before heading back to my flat. Here are some photos from that walk.

I freshened up in my apartment and then decided to venture back out since I hadn’t really had a chance to experience London at night. I made my way to Picadilly Circus and snapped some photos before taking a stroll through Chinatown, where I planned to eat dinner. It was my first visit to any Chinatown, despite living halfway between Philly and New York (a few days later I would also visit Chinatown in Amsterdam, and a few months after that I would visit San Francisco’s Chinatown, so I made up for lost time). One thing I discovered about Chinatown is that, with so many similar restaurants to choose from, it’s hard to pick one place, so I found myself walking around in circles.

I eventually settled on a Vietnamese restaurant, where I had a funny (and somewhat humiliating) experience. The waiter brought out a dish of greens and I thought he said the word “salad,” so I poured what I thought was dressing on it and started eating. After a couple of bites I thought to myself, “This tastes like pure cilantro.” That’s because it was. I was supposed to put the cilantro in the soup he later brought out. So I threw the rest of the cilantro and “dressing” into the soup when it arrived, but this was also a mistake because the “dressing” was actually dipping sauce for the spring rolls and meat that the waiter would be bringing out next. Oh, and the spoon I had used to ladle the “dressing” on the “salad” was my soup spoon. I’m sure the owners had a good laugh at my expense. I’ll just chalk it up to being the end of a long and exhausting day. 😉

After dinner I headed back to my flat. Tomorrow would be my final full day in London, so I thought I should at least go have a look at Buckingham Palace. That will be covered in the next installment. In the meantime, here are some night shots of Picadilly Circus and Chinatown.

View more of my photos from London

View more photos from my visits to the English countryside

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 11: Rock ‘n’ Roll Pilgrimages and a West‑End Vampire

Michael RappaLeave a comment
Flash Forward: Battersea Power Station

July 7, 2014: It was my first day back in London after spending three days in Scotland and I was still recovering from lack of sleep, so I got a late start after allowing myself to sleep in. I didn’t have any excursions scheduled during the day (just a play I had tickets for in the evening), so my plan was to take it easy, meandering about the city and taking a couple of pilgrimages to iconic rock locations.

First on the list was Abbey Road, site of the famous Beatles album cover of the same name. I took the subway to the closest station and made my way to Abbey Road Studios.

Pilgrimage Accomplished

The crosswalk is actually in a busy intersection with no traffic light, so I tried to respect motorists by crossing as quickly as possible, but many people were quite a bit less courteous, stepping in front of cars and spending long periods of time setting up their photos. The locals are used to this, so they’re patient in allowing people to cross and take their photos, but when people linger in the middle of the road to take multiple shots and exaggerated poses, then the motorists understandably start to get irritated.

Abbey Road Crossing

I wasn’t about to hold up traffic by asking someone to take a photo of me as I crossed, but I was still able to get footage of my crossing via the web cam trained on the crosswalk. All you have to do is go to the Abbey Road Studios web site and grab the shots of your crossing, and if you time it right, your friends and family back home can actually watch your crossing live via the video feed. Here is a shot from the web cam:

That’s me looking up at the camera.

I then headed back to the subway station, and as you can see from the photo below, a nearby shop knows how to capitalize on Beatlemania.

A Day in the Life of a local coffee shop.

My next destination was the Battersea Power Station. If you are a Pink Floyd fan, this is the building featured on the cover of their Animals album. I made my way down to the Thames and walked along the bank for about 30 minutes before realizing that I had turned in the wrong direction, so I was forced to backtrack. Here are some photos from that stretch.

Looking Across the Thames
Another Thames shot.
The Tate Britain Art Museum

By the time I began to see the station it had started to rain—because you can’t walk for an hour in London without encountering rain—at least I couldn’t. 🙂

I was surprised at how massive the station is; it completely dominates the landscape of that portion of the Thames. Here are a couple of photos (I liked these better than my attempts at recreating the actual album cover, and I’m pretty sure the album photo was shot from the other side of the river anyway).

Battersea Power Station
The Battersea (sans flying pig)

I thought about checking out the Tour de France, which was wrapping up its London leg today, but decided I didn’t feel like braving the crowds, so I settled for snapping this photo of a biker who may or may not have been part of the race.

Race straggler or casual biker?

I then made my way back toward the center of the city and ducked out of the rain into an Italian restaurant for an early dinner. Inside they had the end of the Tour de France on television, so I sat and watched that with a glass of prosecco and a ravioli dinner. I don’t remember much about the dinner itself, so it couldn’t have been great, but it wasn’t bad, either.

After dinner, with the rain still beating down, I decided to just head back to my apartment and get ready for my evening trip to the West End, where I would be seeing a play called Let the Right One In, an adaptation of an excellent Swedish vampire film. I had bought the tickets online ahead of time for something like ten pounds—shocking that you can see a show in London for a fraction of what it would cost on Broadway, or maybe I was just lucky with that particular show.

While getting ready for the evening I watched some TV—an interesting aspect of TV in Britain is that American television shows seem to be played at a faster speed. Perhaps it has something to do with British television broadcasting at a different frame rate, but the effect was that every cast member of The Big Bang Theory sounded as if they had just inhaled helium. Thus, I can’t help wondering if everyone in England is under the impression that Americans talk like chipmunks. 😉

Instead of riding the subway to the theater district I decided to take the long walk from my apartment and enjoy the newly emerged sun. I did not bring my camera with me since I wasn’t sure what the theater rules were regarding cameras, so there are no photos from my walk through some interesting neighborhoods.

Along the way I stumbled across a hotel that serves afternoon tea. To this point I had not had a proper British afternoon tea and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to remedy that. For my tea I chose an excellent Earl Grey, which was served with savory sandwiches, tasty sweets, and delicious fresh-baked scones with clotted cream (also known as Devonshire cream). The low-quality cell phone photo below does not do the spread justice.

Tea Time

Needless to say, I am now a huge fan of British-style afternoon tea—I had always been a big tea drinker, but the Brits take it to a whole different level. Now, whenever I go on a trip here in the States, I keep my eyes peeled for a place serving afternoon tea.

Unfortunately, I had to kind of rush through my tea because the show would be starting soon, so I finished up and made my way to the theater. The Apollo is a nice, historic building, lending the play some additional atmosphere.

The Apollo

All of the seats in the theater appear to be good. Here was my view of the stage:

Set of Let the Right One In

During the first act, the person behind me kept kicking my chair while a couple sitting directly in front of me kept making out (or snogging, to use a British term) throughout the entire show like hormonal teenagers in a movie theater, so after intermission I moved to a relatively empty section where I could watch the second act in peace.

As for the show itself, the play was outstanding, really well-conceived, and every bit as affecting as the film. The overall tone was sufficiently eerie, the performances were great, and the music and choreography during transition scenes was stunning. All in all, I was glad I decided to spend one of my evenings in London at the theater.

After the show I walked around Picadilly Circus, which is very cool when it is all lit up at night (I would return later in the week with my fast prime lens to take some night photos). I then headed back to the apartment. In the morning I would be venturing outside London on a trip to the Cotswolds.

View more of my photos from London.

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 6: And Now for Something Completely Different…

Michael Rappa1 Comment

July 3, 2014: Today was the day around which I had planned my entire two-week trip: the Monty Python reunion concert. But first, I toured the Tower of London and walked across the Tower Bridge.

The day began with a bit of a subway misadventure—I got on the tube heading in the wrong direction. I had done pretty well to that point navigating the London Underground, but the Circle line was a bit confusing. However, righting my course was simple enough once I realized I was going the wrong way—I just had to hop off at the next stop, make my way to the other side of the tracks, and hop back on.

The Tower of London is an interesting window into London’s medieval past, and definitely a must-see when you visit the city. There is a lot to see among the various buildings, so plan on spending a good portion of your day there, especially if, like me, you read all of the plaques describing the exhibits and the history behind them. Here are some photos from my visit (click on any image to open a gallery):

Freaky Dragon Sculpture

One of the main attractions of the Tower for many people is the chance to see the Crown Jewels. To be honest, I really didn’t care that much about seeing them, but since the line was relatively short, I decided to head in. The wait to get in can reach astronomical portions at peak times, so you need to decide how badly you want to see them. As I said, my wait was fairly short, about 20 to 30 minutes, so in my case it was worth it. It can be a bit claustrophobic as you’re herded through the exhibit, and at one point you’re moving through on one of those conveyor belts like they have in airports. There is much more on display than just the Crown Jewels: all manner of crowns, scepters, and similar items, but no photography is allowed inside so I don’t have any photos.

After finishing up at the Tower of London it was time walk across the Tower Bridge. You can also pay to walk on the upper level of the bridge for a bird’s eye view of the city but I decided against it since I had already gotten a similar view during my visit to The Shard. If the view had been unobstructed, I probably would have gone up, but the upper level is enclosed in glass, so my photos would have been no better than the ones I had gotten at The Shard. Anyway, here are some pics from my walk across the bridge (and also a couple of the bridge taken from the Tower of London).

I then headed back to my apartment to do some packing (I would be checking out in the very early morning) and grab some dinner before heading to the Greenwich peninsula for the Monty Python concert. There wasn’t enough time to head back into the center of the city so I found a small Chinese restaurant near the apartment and ate there. The pineapple chicken fried rice was a bit bland, not one of the most memorable meals of my trip, but not the worst, either (that was still to come).

The subway ride to the O2 (the concert venue) was long, probably about an hour if you count walking to and from the stations and changing lines. The O2 is a massive stadium complex containing multiple venues, restaurants, and other facilities. Although I didn’t take any pictures that night (I chose to leave the bulky camera in my apartment), here is a shot I took of the stadium from down the river the following week:

The O2

My seats were much better than I was expecting. I had a great view of the stage and the show itself was splendid, everything you’d expect from Python, ending, of course, with an entire arena full of people singing and whistling to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Here’s a bad cell phone photo of the stage:

Monty Python

Afterward I went directly home to finish packing for my three-day trip to Scotland. It was around 11 p.m. by the time I got back to the apartment and I had a 4 a.m. wakeup call, so I would not be getting much sleep, but Scotland would prove to be more than worth it.

And with that, my first week in London had come to a close. One big regret is that I never made it out to Wimbledon, which had been in its second week when I arrived. I had just crammed too much activity into all of my days so I never had the time. Oh well. That aside, my first week in London was a blast and I looked forward to seeing more of the city when I returned after three days in Scotland.

View more of my photos from London.

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 3: Doing the London Tourist Thing

Michael RappaLeave a comment

June 30, 2014: My first full day in London began late in the morning after allowing myself to sleep in (I needed to recharge the batteries after being awake for most of 32 hours). Today was the day I had set aside to do the touristy double-decker bus thing, so I walked ten minutes down the street to a pickup point and hopped on. The company I chose was called The Original Tour. For this leg of the tour there was no live guide so I listened to a recording via headphones. Here are some pics (click on any photo in this post to open up a gallery).

What’s nice about these tours is that they stop at most of the major attractions and you can hop on and off wherever you please. I took advantage of this by jumping off at Picadilly Circus. I needed to transfer to a different bus line and this seemed like as good a place as any. Here are a few shots from my brief walk around Picadilly Circus.

The white building in the distance is the Apollo Theatre, where I had tickets to see “Let The Right One In.”

I found the bus route I was looking for and hopped back on.  Photos from this stretch include Trafalgar Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral, among others.

I jumped off again near the Tower of London because I had an appointment with a famous serial killer: a guided walking tour through Jack the Ripper’s old haunts in Whitechapel. The walking tour was included with the price of my tour bus ticket.  But first, I snapped a few photos while I waited for the tour to begin.

I’ve always been fascinated with Ripper lore; I even featured it in my novel. The tour is pretty cool as long as you know what you’re getting: you’re walking through a modern city in the middle of the afternoon, so don’t go in expecting spooky atmosphere. It’s not the Whitechapel of the Ripper era, though there are some spots that give you an impression of what it must have been like. The main draw of the tour is listening to the stories of the guide, who did a good and enthusiastic job. Another plus of the tour is that it gives you an excuse to walk through a portion of London that you’d be less likely to visit on your own since it is a bit off the beaten path.  Here are some photos from my walking tour.

It is speculated that Jack the Ripper could have lived in this building.
Old workhouse with separate Women’s entrance.
Narrow alley similar to how streets looked in the Ripper era.

After completing the Ripper Tour I headed toward a dock near the Tower of London and hopped on a boat for a cruise along the Thames. This was also included with the price of my tour bus ticket.  By this time it had started raining but I found a spot on the outside deck under a little overhang where I could take some photos.

At the conclusion of the boat ride I headed for a bus stop to rejoin the bus tour. This wasn’t the most pleasant experience.  In addition to the aforementioned rain, I couldn’t understand anything the guide was saying. It appeared that he was holding the microphone too close so everything came out sounding muffled—either that or the speakers were shot. Here are a few photos from that stretch.

I stuck with the tour bus for a little while but between the rain and the unintelligible guide I’d finally had enough and decided to jump off near Parliament.  From here I walked around, taking photos of Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.

At this point, after two days in London, I figured it might be a good time to have my first proper meal. I walked around looking for a place where I might have an authentic English dinner but wasn’t having much luck.  As it grew later and I grew hungrier, I settled for a Spanish restaurant.  That’s right—my first English dinner was Spanish food. 🙂

I then made my way to the Underground and headed back to my apartment, hoping to catch a few winks ahead of my 4am wakeup call.  On the morrow I would be heading for Paris!

View more of my photos from London.

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 2: Touchdown in London and a View from the Shard

Michael Rappa2 Comments
Flash Forward: A View from the Shard

June 28–29, 2014: The day of my trip had finally arrived. I kissed Jen and Heidi goodbye and hopped on a train to Newark for my 10 p.m. flight. I was a little concerned that they had shut down the monorail service to the airport from the train station for repairs, but the temporary shuttle service they set up ran smoothly and I got to the airport in plenty of time.

As I went through security, I was apparently in some sort of express lane because I didn’t have to take my shoes off or empty my pockets or anything. In fact, the TSA agent yelled at me when I started to do so. I reached my gate with a couple of hours to spare, so I passed the time in a Heineken lounge. The time flew by, and before I knew it, we were wheels up.

I tried to sleep on the flight but I’ve never been very good at that; I think I managed a few winks here and there. I normally prefer an aisle seat when flying, but I found that an aisle seat makes it nearly impossible to sleep because you have people bumping into you all night as they walk up and down the aisle, so for this flight I chose a window seat. The downside was that I was sitting next to someone who refused to stand up when I needed to exit my seat, forcing me to climb over him and, at one point, causing me to spill water all over myself. Oh well, at least it dried by the time we landed.

After touching down in London I stopped at a machine to purchase an Oyster Card for the London Underground (aka, the tube) and put enough money on it to get me through two weeks of riding London’s public transportation system. The nice thing about the Oyster Card is that when you’re ready to go home, you can turn it in for a full refund of the amount you didn’t spend. After getting that squared away I hopped on the tube, which was conveniently located right beneath the airport, and headed for my destination. London is very big, so it took me about 45 minutes to get to my stop (luckily I didn’t have to switch lines, which would have been cumbersome while dragging two-week’s worth of luggage). Overall, I found a ride on the tube to be much more pleasant than riding on New York or Philly subways. Then again, I hadn’t yet experienced the pleasure of being sardined into an overheated car on the Picadilly line during rush hour. 🙂

Upon exiting the tube station it was about a 10-minute walk to my apartment building. I arrived early and wouldn’t be able to check in for another couple of hours, so I left my luggage in the lobby and decided to take a walk to King’s Cross and St. Pancras train stations. With two hours to kill, it was a good opportunity to get the lay of the land and figure out where I would need to report for all of those 6 a.m. excursion departures on my schedule.

The walk over was cold, windy, and rainy. The rain would be a recurring theme during my stay as England definitely lived up to its wet reputation, but the temperature thankfully warmed up for the rest of my London fortnight. I first encountered St. Pancras; its facade dominates the area and can be seen from a good distance down the street.

St. Pancras train station in all its Gothic glory.
Hotel at St. Pancras

I then made my way to King’s Cross…

King’s Cross Train Station

…which looks really cool inside:

King’s Cross

I couldn’t leave King’s Cross without seeking out Platform 9 3/4. It wasn’t very hard to find; I just had to look for the long line of people waiting to get their photos taken.

Next Stop: Hogwarts

By this point I was feeling pretty hungry; I hadn’t eaten since our little breakfast on the airplane. I didn’t want to eat a full meal—I figured I’d have dinner later—so I stopped at a food kiosk outside King’s Cross station, where I ordered some very tasty garlic fries (or chips, as they call them in England). That was all I had planned to order, but then I saw something I could not resist—a chocolate cronut. Although I live near New York, where cronuts were invented, I had never eaten one, so I wasn’t about to pass up the chance, and it looked delicious.

This chocolate cronut did not disappoint.

I then headed back to my apartment building to check in after first trying unsuccessfully to find a trash can anywhere near King’s Cross. I did see a person walking around picking up trash, which led me to wonder: Do they just drop their trash on the ground here? I decided to keep the trash with me and throw it out when I got back to my room.

After checking in, one of the front desk attendants led me up three flights of stairs to my flat. I had requested a room on the top floor after reading some reviews of thin walls, hoping that it would be quieter without anyone being over top of me. As I dragged my heavy luggage up an increasingly narrow stairwell, I was beginning to regret that decision, knowing that I would have to make this climb for two weeks. But in the end I was glad I chose it because it felt very private and I never heard much noise up there.

I unpacked a bit and then caught a short nap before my visit to The Shard since I had been awake for the better part of 24+ hours. I wound up skipping dinner, figuring that sleep was more important, but before long, it was time to catch the tube down to central London. I had an 8 p.m. reservation at The Shard, which is the final entry time of the day for the view from the top. During the summer, that’s the best time to go because you can stay up there until after dark, which means you can enjoy a bird’s eye view of London both during the day and at night, with a beautiful sunset in between.

The Shard is the tallest building in the European Union, so naturally, the views from the top are stunning, and I was lucky that the skies cleared up for me. The only downside, from a photographer’s perspective, is that you have to take all of your photos through glass. I did my best to minimize glares and smudges in the following photos (click on any image to open up a fullscreen gallery):

I headed home a little after 10 p.m. and got back around 11, calling it an early night since I was basically running on fumes by this point. It was time to catch up on some of that sleep I’d lost on the flight over so I could wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of London in the morning.

Looking Up at The Shard

View more of my photos from London.

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 1: Planning a Trip Across the Pond

Michael RappaLeave a comment
Flash Forward: London

My summer trip to Europe last year began on a whim. I hadn’t been planning on taking a big trip in 2014, but then Monty Python decided to reunite for a series of live shows at the O2 in London. I had never been to London and seeing the Pythons perform live for likely the final time seemed like the perfect excuse to head across the pond. I asked my uncle (and frequent travel buddy) if he was interested, but he had already planned a trip to Norway. I wasn’t sure if I felt like going by myself and the Python tickets sold out in minutes anyway, so I just forgot about the idea.

A few months later I saw an article about the shows and my interest was once again piqued. For the heck of it I decided to see how much tickets were going for online. I found a site called Seatwave, which is basically a European version of Stub Hub that acts as a middleman between sellers and buyers. After doing a bit of research to ensure it was legit, I started browsing. I was expecting to see monstrous prices, and while many sellers were asking a lot, I was surprised to find that there were also several reasonably priced tickets out there. I managed to find a very good seat for not much higher than face value (it helped that I only needed a single ticket) that was too tempting to pass up, so I pounced. A day or two later I received an email with a link to print out my show ticket and I was all set.

The O2, My Destination for the Monty Python Show

So, I had my ticket to Monty Python in London, but now came the hard part: planning a trip around it. This would be my second completely solo trip after Mexico in 2013. That trip had been easy to plan because I had done the whole thing as a tour. I thought that might be the best approach to take on this trip as well, but the London tours I looked at were very expensive and none of them included everything I wanted to see, so I undertook the more arduous task of booking an entire trip from scratch.

Planning a trip to a foreign country may have been an intimidating prospect in years past, but with so much information now available online, it has become a lot easier. All it takes is a bit of patience to sort through the myriad options and perhaps some organizational skills to ensure that all of your activites/times/dates are in sync. I could have used a travel agent to make things easier, but I actually found the planning exciting. I was able to arrange everything via web sites and email without ever having to speak to a single person on the phone.

I planned the vast majority of my trip with the help of a web site called London Toolkit, an invaluable resource with a wealth of useful information. Through this site I found my London apartment and all of my excursions. The site also helped me figure out which card to buy for riding the London underground and contained lots of great advice for navigating the city—by the time I arrived in London, I already felt like a resident.

My original plan was to stay for about a week, but when I saw how easy it would be to visit numerous destinations from London, I ended up booking trips to Scotland, Paris, Amsterdam, and Bruges, not to mention a bunch of excursions both inside and outside of London, so my trip grew to over two weeks. I went crazy picking things; I was like a kid in a candy store. Later, when my credit card statement came in, I was in sticker shock over how much I’d spent—it’s very easy to forget that the purchases you make in British Pounds are going to be converted to significantly higher U.S. dollar amounts, and on top of that the credit card companies fleece you with their foreign transaction fees. In fact, I was so annoyed with the foreign transaction fees that I barely used my credit cards once I got to Europe; I tried to pay for everything in cash (Discover doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee but good luck finding anyone in Europe that accepts it). Anyway, this is definitely not going to be one of those blogs telling you how to travel cheaply in the U.K. 🙂

London is one of the world’s priciest cities, so the hardest part of planning my trip was finding an affordable place to call home during the two weeks I would be there. Most of the hotels were way too expensive for a two-week stay, especially if you wanted to be close to the center of the city. In the end, I chose to stay farther away from the city center, within walking distance to King’s Cross station. This made sense for me as several of my excursions would be departing from King’s Cross or St. Pancras, and the London Underground is so easy to navigate that you’re never really far from the action.

I could have stayed quite inexpensively in a hostel, but at this point in my life I value my own personal space and privacy more than saving money. I also strongly considered one of London’s Bed & Breakfast options, which are a step up from hostels and a good option for the budget traveler, but I had trouble finding one that met all of my needs. I eventually settled on an apartment complex called Studios2let in Cartwright Gardens.

I called this apartment building home for two weeks.

The apartments (or flats, as they call them in London) were basically just motel rooms with kitchenettes, but perfect for my needs and the price was right. Plus, they had AC, something that’s a little harder to find in cheaper places. I also liked the fact that the rooms were only serviced once a week, as this made it feel more like a home and less like a hotel. However, even these apartments were too expensive to stay in for the full two weeks, so each Friday I would check out, leave for my weekend excursion with all of my luggage (they didn’t offer luggage storage), and then check back in on Sunday evening.

Once my apartment reservation was all settled I booked my (very expensive) flights, and then came the hardest part of all: waiting five months to get this trip started! Stay tuned for Part 2, which will cover my flight and first day in London. Until then, here is a movie I made from all of the videos I took on the trip. Consider it a trailer, of sorts, for the installments to come…

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My English Fortnight Awaits

Michael Rappa1 Comment

eurotrip_2014

It came up so fast. My flight to London is now just a day away; I can’t wait to get this show on the road. In addition to the itinerary I previously posted, I’ve since purchased tickets for a few other activities: a trip to London’s theater district to see a play, Let The Right One In, at the Apollo Theatre; excursions to The London Eye, The View from The Shard, and the Tower of London; a tour of Edinburgh Castle in Scotland; and the Original Hop On/Off Bus Tour of London, which also includes a Ripper Walking Tour and a Thames river cruise. I don’t think I could have packed this trip much more densely. 🙂

I also just learned that, in addition to Wimbledon during my first week, the Tour de France will be passing through London during my second week, so the usual hustle and bustle of the city is going to be kicked up to eleven–should be quite an experience.

I still haven’t researched places to eat in London, so I would be grateful for any suggestions any of you might have (where to go, what to order, etc.). Advice on good pubs and the best places for afternoon tea would also be most welcome.

This will probably be my final blog post for the next month or so. I usually don’t write when I’m abroad, and after I return, it takes me a while to cull/process my photos and organize my thoughts. I will, however, be making the occasional update on twitter, as well as on my facebook page, for those who are interested.

And now I must sign off and get back to packing. Cheers!

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My London Visit Has Become an Epic Eurotrip

Michael Rappa14 Comments

It began with a passing thought:

Monty Python is doing a reunion show in London this July. How cool would it be to go see it live? And while I’m over there I could tour some of the UK. I’ve always wanted to visit England anyway.

That was way back in the early fall. I wasn’t very serious about it at the time because I had just returned from Mexico and was a bit worn out from all of the traveling I had done since 2011: in a two year span I had visited Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Peru, and Mexico. I figured I could use a year off from international travel, so I pushed the idea to the back of my mind, where it sat for a few months, never quite going away.

Then a couple of weeks ago I decided to see if there were any Python tickets still available. I got a great deal on a mid-level seat from a ticket brokering service for practically face value, and from there my trip was born. The original plan was to stay in London for about a week, take some trips around the English countryside, and visit Scotland. However, when I realized how easy it is to travel to so many places in Europe from London, my plans began to expand: A day trip to Paris? Sure! A three-day journey to Amsterdam and Bruges? Hell, yeah!

I knew I wouldn’t have time to do all of this in a week, so I extended my stay to just over two weeks. The downside is that the cost of the trip has skyrocketed. I didn’t realize how much everything was adding up until after I had already planned everything (I was in sticker shock after my relatively inexpensive visits to Peru and Mexico). I thought about scaling back to save some money, maybe skipping the Amsterdam tour and shortening my stay, but I don’t know when (or if) I’ll ever be in this position again, so I decided to go for it.

I had considered just heading over to London and winging it, and there’s something to be said for the laid-back nature of such a trip, but I prefer to plan ahead (I guess it’s my OCD nature), so I’ve already booked all of my tours for the two weeks, leaving myself a few days of free time to explore London. I’m the type of person who functions better with some structure anyway, and these tours will force me to do much more than I otherwise would–if left to my own devices, I would probably sleep half of my days away. 🙂

I did a lot of research into lodging in London; it’s not a cheap place to stay. In an effort to keep expenses down, I eschewed traditional hotels in favor of a no-frills studio apartment near Kings Cross. I could have gone even cheaper with a B&B or hostel, but this seemed just right for my sensibilities–a decent sized room with air-conditioning and a private bathroom. Having to check out each weekend when I leave for my trips will be a pain, but it didn’t make sense to rent the apartment for the entire 15 nights when I would be away on weekends (during which the price of the room would drastically increase).

So here’s my rough itinerary:

Days 1-2: Fly in and free time in London.

After checking in to my room, I may do one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours to get acquainted with the city. I also just realized that my first week in London will coincide with the second week of Wimbledon, so it might be neat to head over there and see if I can get into a match.

Day 3: Paris

I’ll be taking the Eurostar train through the chunnel. The trip includes a guided tour of Paris, a two-course lunch with sparkling wine on the Eiffel Tower, a cruise on the River Seine, and an optional visit to The Louvre, which I think I will skip since I’ll only be there for the day and it’s my first time in Paris. The Louvre would be really cool to see, but I’d rather spend my only afternoon in the city wandering around and soaking in its atmosphere.

Day 4: Stonehenge and Bath

I chose a sunset tour because I thought that would be a cool time to see Stonehenge. I booked special access so that I can walk inside the circle among the stones (most people must view them from behind ropes). Earlier in the day we will be visiting the town of Bath (another place on my must-see list) to tour the Roman Baths and Pump Room. After that we visit a Saxon village called Lacock, where we will have dinner in a 13th Century inn.

Day 5: Monty Python

I’ll probably do some walking around London and also packing for my trip to Scotland during the day before heading to the O2 that evening for the Monty Python reunion show, aka my entire reason (or excuse) for taking this Eurotrip.

Days 6-8: Scotland

This trip includes a tour of the city of Edinburgh, and I will be taking the second-day optional excursion to the Scottish Highlands, including Loch Ness (I’ll keep an eye out for Nessie!). I chose free time for the third day, during which I am planning to meander about the city and possibly tour Edinburgh Castle.

Day 9: Free Time in London

Maybe I’ll swing by the Battersea Power Station to duplicate the iconic Pink Floyd Animals cover (sans flying pig). I could check out Abbey Road and Baker Street as well; turn it into an an unofficial classic rock tour. Or maybe I’ll just relax and ride the ferris wheel all day. 😉

Day 10: The Cotswolds

I’m very much looking forward to this tour of the old English countryside, including visits to the historic riverside villages of Burford and Bibury. The tour originally included a visit to Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace), but it sounds like we will now be visiting Stow-on-the-Wold instead.

Day 11: Leeds Castle, Canterbury, Dover & Greenwich

The first stop on this excursion is a private tour of Leeds Castle before it opens to the public. We then head to Dover for lunch and a photo op at the famous white cliffs. The next stop is Canterbury and a tour of the Cathedral followed by free time to explore the city. Then it’s off to Greenwich where, after a short walking tour, we will take a river boat along the Thames back into the heart of London. The cruise apparently includes a reception of tea/sparkling wine and scones. Sounds good to me!

Day 12: More Free Time in London

My last full day in London will probably be a good time to hit all of the touristy places I might have missed earlier. I’ll also be packing for my three-day Amsterdam trip.

Days 13-15: Amsterdam & Bruges

My first day in Amsterdam will include a walking tour, a canal cruise, and an optional evening walking tour of the Red Light District. The second day includes a trip to Zaanse Schanse, a living Dutch Museum, before heading back to Amsterdam in time for lunch, with visits to the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Heineken Brewery, Anne Frank House, and Dam Square. On the final day we head to Bruges, a beautiful city I’ve been wanting to visit since seeing the movie In Bruges (I wasn’t sure I’d ever make it there). Following Bruges, we arrive back in London late in the evening, giving me enough time to check in, pack, head to bed, and wake up early to fly back home.

Looking back at the itinerary now, I can’t believe how much I crammed into it (I think I went a little nuts), but it’s going to be one helluva trip. And I’ll be doing it solo. If you had told me even a few years ago that I would be flying to Europe for two weeks by myself, I would have said you were crazy. I’ve come a long way in terms of my confidence to travel alone.

Anyway, I’m glad that all of the planning and booking is behind me so I can just relax until the summer (other than trying to learn some French and Dutch). The only things I haven’t planned out ahead of time are places to eat, so I’d be grateful for any dining suggestions, particularly in London. One of the coolest aspects of becoming more involved with the blogging community has been sharing travel stories and tips with my fellow bloggers, so any suggestions you may have about things I should do while in London would be most welcome. 🙂

This will be my first overseas trip during the summer (all of my other trips were in the fall or spring), so it will be nice to not have to worry about packing layers for a change. Hopefully that means I’ll be able to travel lighter, though I don’t think I’ll be able to do the whole thing in a carry-on like I did in Mexico . . . and speaking of Mexico, I think it’s time I got back to writing up the journal of my trip. I need to finish it before June!

London Calling

Michael Rappa4 Comments

I’ve pulled the trigger on my next trip. Well, not quite. I haven’t booked any flights, hotels, or tours, but today I bought a ticket to the Monty Python reunion concert in London this July, so now I get to organize a trip around it. I had been planning to take this year off from overseas travel, but when I heard that Python was reuniting, it seemed like the perfect excuse to make my first ever visit the UK.

I’ve been a pretty voracious consumer of British pop culture since I was a kid (at least in terms of television, music, and movies). Hell, I watch almost as many shows on BBC America as I do on any other channel . . . and probably drink even more tea than the average British citizen 🙂 , so I am very much looking forward to immersing myself in the culture while in London, and of course visiting the famous landmarks (“Look kids: Big Ben, Parliament!”).

I also want to see as much of the UK as I can while I’m over there, so if anyone has any suggestions about things to do, places to see/eat/stay, or anything else I should know about traveling to the UK (any stories you’d like to share about your travel experiences), I’d be most grateful. I’m hoping to book a tour of some sort that will take me to places like Stonehenge and Bath, and into Scotland for the second half of my stay. But if I can’t make a tour work around the Python concert, then I may just head over there and wing it.

Well, that’s it for now. Lots of planning to do.  Look out, England, here I come!