What can I say about a city many of my friends have already visited? Nothing new. Don’t @ me, but I was a bit underwhelmed. It echoed the experience of a movie being talked up so much that I have great expectations only to feel “meh” once I watch it. I had a tremendous time nonetheless. I imagine that if London had not been built up so much in my mind beforehand, I would have found it to be utterly delightful.
They say home is where the heart is, but that’s not where mine lives. (2024 update: My, how quickly a TS reference dates an experience. So long, London.)
Day 1
We took a nonstop overnight flight to Heathrow, then took the tube and a bus to our above-pub boutique hotel in Wandsworth, Spread Eagle. What a charming place! It was clean and well decorated, recently redone, the noise level was low, and the employees were kind and accommodating. Because of its location outside of Central London, the price was reasonable.
After getting situated, we took a double decker, a train, and the tube to Westminster. Came up the stairs and BAM! There was Big Ben. You know how some things feel so familiar that you have a hard time feeling astonished? Maybe it was jet lag speaking…
Image 01-5
We stood on Westminster Bridge for a while, soaking it all in—a steady stream of vehicles and pedestrians passing by, a saxophonist playing “I’m Yours”, a foreigner selling red balloons, the London Eye slowly rotating, tourist boats below us on the Thames. Then Big Ben sounded his 6:00 pm peal.
We walked along Great George St and stumbled upon this telephone booth conveniently placed for a photo op. I mean, can you get any more quintessentially London than this??
Image 01-6
We continued on through St. James’s Park. My goodness, what a slice of heaven! Definitely my favorite part of London. It reminded me a lot of DC. We sat and watched the ducks, geese, swans, and pelicans before walking along the lake and under the willows toward Buckingham Palace.
This is what my garden in heaven looks like. Throw in a rope swing, a book, and my giggling children and I couldn’t be happier.
We walked down The Mall, past Trafalgar Square, past lots of beautiful flowers (I’m really wanting hanging flower baskets after seeing them everywhere here; I think I’ve avoided them because they remind me of my laborious teenage years working the greenhouses haha). We wandered Great Scotland Yard (aka the entrance to the Ministry of Magic) and headed back to the hotel.
I fell asleep on the bus ride there, but gratefully was smart enough to set an alarm on my phone beforehand (I once fell asleep on a train out of NYC and woke up way past my stop at the end of the line, oops). I had a delicious serving of comfort food back at the pub beneath the hotel before calling it a night.
Exploring a new place doesn’t have to be expensive either. Look for free or low-cost activities such as walking tours, museums with free entry days, and natural attractions like parks and beaches. Many cities offer discount passes for multiple attractions, which can be a great way to see more for less.
Day 2
After a sleepless night (don’t ask), I went by myself back into central London. I took the bus, train, and tube to…
I tried these fish and chips there because a friend told me they were so good. Meh. Haha, I feel like such a Debbie Downer. Maybe I just need to go back to London and have a different experience ;) I drank some green juice to wash the grease down. It was really fun to meander around the market.
On previous page, clockwise from bottom right: (1) View from The Old Thameside Inn. That building on the right is officially called Sky Garden, but colloquially called the Walkie Talkie. Can you see why? ;) (2) View from Queenhithe Mosaic, on the north side of the Thames. The bridge seen above the wall is the pedestrian Millennium Bridge. (3) View of Millennium Bridge from the south side of the Thames (Bankside). That’s St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background.
Clockwise from top left: (1) I love how London blends the old in with the new. Like these walls of Winchester Palace ruins merging with a current school. (2) Or repurposing old buildings for restaurants like Nando’s :) (3) Leadenhall Market. The area within and around here had lots of alleyways that were not creepy, dark corridors. They were well traveled and bright. It was fun to get lost in there. (4) Shakespeare’s Globe.
Next I went up to the Sky Garden. They offer incredible views for free! You just have to sign up for a particular timed entry for crowd control.
Rented (or “hired” as they call it here) a Santander bike (locally known as a Boris bike) and rode it around central London. Unintentionally, this ended up being great practice for driving on the other side of the road (which I’d be doing the next day) and understanding local traffic laws. This was probably my favorite part of my time in London. I covered quite a bit of ground and cycling always makes me happy.
From left: (1) St. Paul’s Cathedral, (2) Flagship Twinings store on the Strand. Crazy how it’s smushed between the two buildings, no? (3) Across the street are the Royal Courts of Justice.
I went to Covent Garden with the intent to visit a little nook called Neal’s Yard. I had heard it was very picturesque. It did not disappoint.
Unplanned, I happened upon Neal’s Yard Remedies. I believe in the power of healing through touch. My nervous system was utterly shot before and during this trip. I knew a massage was just what I needed, and I felt a prompting to see if I could get one. They were able to fit me in as a walk-in a bit later so I rode my bike to a place in Soho where I could dock it and walked back. Such a beautiful part of London. Again with the hanging baskets! 😍 And that plant wall!
When I sat down for my massage consult, Lina asked what I needed work on. I asked her how attuned she was to the emotional side of massage rather than just the physical. “Very.” “Perfect.” I went on to explain where I felt things were stuck in my body that were ready to release. As someone who gets and gives massages regularly, I found a few things interesting:
- Effective draping is not important here like it is in the US. There were no sheets or blankets for covering up, only small towels. That definitely did not stay put haha.
- The therapist did not wear scrubs or yoga pants. She wore a beautiful dress, her hair was down and done, and she wore makeup. Like she was going to the theater.
- She spent more time on my back in a transverse motion rather than longitudinal. That was a first for me.
I bawled my eyes out throughout the massage. She supplied me with a steady stream of tissues and would hold up the wastebasket for me every time I blew my nose. Of all the forms of therapy I’ve gotten to know, massage therapy continues to be my favorite. I am most comfortable during massage. Which may seem odd since one is unclothed for it. But the fact that no one can see my face helps me feel safe enough to just cry, cry, cry.
She worked on various parts of me in a way that was refreshingly different from what I was used to. She was Scottish and trained in Australia. She relayed some things she noticed that really struck home for me. And spoke to me with the familiarity of a best friend and the love of a mother. And gave me a tight, long hug when I left. I am so grateful for kind people who use their talents for good, wherever in the world they may be.
After the massage, it was getting late and I WAS TIRED. The massage and release of emotions mixed with sleeplessness had wiped me out and I wasn’t sure how I would get all the way back to the hotel when all I wanted was to just drop into a bed right then and there.
BUT I had one more thing I HAD to do. See the exhibits at the British Library. Since I was passing through Kings Cross anyway, I decided to see Platform 9 3/4. It’s not actually between platforms 9 and 10 haha. It’s out in a main corridor. I wasn’t expecting that. There was a looong line to take a picture. Pass.
Even though I was barely awake, I was determined to see the special exhibits at the British Library (literally their public library). Some of what I was excited to see was not on display when I was there. 🙁 But I did see some cool things like a Gutenberg Bible, the Diamond Sutra (oldest dated complete printed book in the world; commissioned in 868 AD), two versions of Magna Carta, Tyndale’s New Testament (he was burned at the stake for translating it into English; I use the King James Version which, I believe, includes a lot of Tyndale’s)—this copy belonged to Anne Boleyn; Shakespeare’s First Folio; original music sheets of Mozart and Handel; a 1410 version of The Canterbury Tales; a handwritten draft of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest; and original papers drawn on by Michelangelo and Da Vinci. It was definitely a geek out moment for me.
I was dead at this point. Pulled up trusty Google Maps to find the nearest Greek restaurant (only a block away!). Because I’m always in the mood for Greek. I wasn’t super hungry though. Beet and feta salad, pita, and hummus for the win!
What surprised me most about London was that, to me, it looked just like the cities of the United States. If you were to drop me out of the sky into London and then have me guess where I was (without the obvious markers like landmarks and road signs), I would’ve probably said NY, Philly, DC, Boston, SF, or Chicago depending on what part of the city I was in. It felt very, very familiar. Maybe because everything was in English? haha But also, I think, both because London is a modern city and because a lot of the “old” architecture of the US was built by people who came from here.
I made it back to the hotel and crashed. Cheerio, London!
Two public transportation tips (at least at the time I wrote this):
- It’s cheaper (and faster) to just tap your electronic payment at the turnstiles rather than buy a ticket or Oyster card at a kiosk (you can also tap on the buses). They cap you for the day when you pay this way at an amount lower than what a daily pass costs at a kiosk. Which makes no sense, but I’m not complaining. Super easy peasy!
- The Citymapper app is aMAZing. It basically makes it impossible to get lost. We took buses, the tube, and trains and never had a problem. Disclaimer: I am good with maps and have a strong sense of direction, but still, I am very impressed with the people who created this app. It gives options, times, platform numbers, shows you how many stops are left before yours, and shows live updates on your current location on your lock screen. Incredible!
- Flag down your intended bus even though you’re at a bus stop. I’m sure the locals understand the ins and outs of this, I do not. All I know is that they are not required to stop at all stops, so don’t assume they will. I learned this the hard way.
Enjoy every moment
Ultimately, work-life balance is about finding harmony between your responsibilities and your passions. When you create time for yourself, you’re not just recharging; you’re investing in your long-term happiness and success. By cultivating this balance, you’ll find that you’re not only more productive but also more content in both your professional and personal life.
Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.
Another key strategy is learning to prioritize your tasks. Start by identifying the most critical tasks that align with your long-term goals and tackle them first. This way, you can avoid the stress of trying to do everything at once and give yourself more time to relax.