13 Arriving in London

I've been itching to get out of the country for a long time now. My partner in crime has never been overseas, so he got to choose the first stop of international adventures. His choice was London.

I love London. I've been many times, it feels like home to me, and it's never a bad idea to sneak away for a week. Especially since where we live has direct flights to London Heathrow Airport. It makes the decision much easier.

Overnight international flights are always rough, but we made it in one piece with not much to speak of. Other than the reminder that airplane food never sits well in my stomach. We arrived, got our luggage and through customs far quicker than I ever remember it being. That part was great. 

The downside was that we did not get a stamp in our passports. I guess that is done away in most places these days. I find that so disappointing. What is the point of having a passport book with all those pages if you no longer get any stamps to fill it up with? That part was a bummer.

Despite that hiccup, we ended up taking a cab to our hotel instead of dealing with the tube. Yes, it's always more expensive to get a cab from the airport, but the convenience was worth it. 

We stayed at a lovely place called the Fox and Goose Hotel. It is even part of a pub which came in very handy. As soon as we dropped off our luggage in the room we went straight to the pub for some much-needed real food. It was only 1pm, but it felt about 8pm for us. Jetlag is a killer.

Lunch was wonderful. Some classic fish and chips, and a standard burger with chips. It was all so very good. And very convenient to not have to go far. They had a decent menu selection, and we thankfully open for lunch. We were the only ones there and enjoyed our lunch in the beautiful garden area on a picnic table. The sun was out, but there was a wonderful fall breeze. It was rather heavenly.

To avoid falling asleep we walked the 5 minutes to the tube station and went to Piccadilly Circus so he could take in the madness of busy London.

 It also didn't hurt that my French pastry shop Lau durée also has a place in this area amongst the very expensive shops. We treated ourselves to some fantastic macarons, then walked around the area for a while. Eventually we made our way back to the hotel for a good night sleep and an early start the next day.