Destination: London

I am on a short vacation after Cote d'Ivoire and my first destination was LONDON.  The main reason is because I have friends here that are super chill / relaxed during the day and then party like rock stars at night!

I will be here 4 days. I don't have an exact itinerary but I do plan to relax, take my time getting out of bed and then finding a "surprise" destination via the tube.  I have 20 GBP on my oyster card (the UK version of the "smart trip" card on the Metro) and so the world is literally my oyster for these few short days.

 Every time I am here there are a few things I absolutely MUST do while here:  sip on mulled wine (if it is cold), have a flap jack (these are not pancakes my American friends.  See the recipe here: How to make a flap jack), walk around Oxford street while sipping on a pre-mixed drink of some sort, dine on Indian cuisine (any Indian restaurant you eat at here is AMAZING), find my way to my favorite small pub, The Globe, and have one (maybe 2) Sailor Jerry / Cokes

and finally, at night, when everyone is bundled up to protect themselves from the chilly weather, I, too, will bundle up, pick a final destination on
the tube map and walk around for hours.  
 
 London at night is absolutely gorgeous.  The lights, the scents in the air, the echo of laughter, the jolly "cheers" you hear as you walk past a pub, the coziness you witness between a couple walking past you, holding each other tight to keep the other warm and even the silence you experience as you stare at something that you have only read about as a tourist i.e. the London Bridge, the Tower of London, Shakespeare's The Globe or a walk around the Thames River and Pier.


There are only two things that bother me in this city:  the lack of consistent sunshine and how the Great Britain Pound molests my US Dollar.  200 GBP = $322!

Take THAT USD! muhahaha

When you put my trip into perspective:

• Dinner for 3 last night which included 1/2 bottle of wine and 2 desserts:  65GBP = $105 (my Brit friends actually made the comment "Wow, not bad huh? That was cheap!")
• 20 GBP on my Oyster = $32
• 6 GBP for 1 Sailor Jerry / Coke = $9.75
• 5 GBP for 1 Pear Ale = $8
• 3 GBP for 1 Moo Pie = $5
• 2.5 GBP for 1 Mulled Wine = $4

Experiencing London = absolutely priceless