Our Journey in London
Before we start, let me give BMM's definition of "roughing it", no room services. London is an expensive place to stay in general, if you want to stay some place affordable you will be way out in the edge of the city and have to spend 30 to 60 min on the subway to get into the center. When LMM and BMM was telling one of their kitchen buddies about this deal they found, he mentioned that some of his friends had stayed at a place called the Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel, right in the center of the city for only £20pp per night. So still filled with optimism about the hostel experience, they decided to give it a try. So they packed their backpacks, and booked 2 beds in a 6 person co-ed room.
The train ride down was uneventful, it is about a four hour trip, through fairly scenic British country side. The stretch from Edinburgh to Newcastle is actually quite pretty, they took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and the ride went by fairly quickly. They arrived just afternoon at Kings Cross train station. After disembarking they quickly made their way to the subway and got off at the Piccadilly station, to go check into their room...or more correctly to check in for their beds.
The location really was as good as they hoped for, it was right in the center of the city and within walking distance from all the major sights. But what greeted them at the hostel was another story. They went to check in and given vague directions to their room. As they hauled their overstuffed backpacks up five flight of stairs to find the room filled with bunk beds. The room was dirty and in poor repair, but honestly not that bad given the price. So they locked up their bags in the small locker provided and went out for the day.
Our Room in Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel
They went to all the normal touristy sights one typically sees in London, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Westminster Abby, Big Ben, etc. While not too exotic to them since they had both been there before, it was nice to see the sights again and enjoy some time in a bigger city. In the evening they had a nice dinner in a small Korean restaurant near the British Museum and did a little shopping on Oxford Street, and then returned to the hostel. Any excitement they had about living frugally in a hostel died that night. First was the bathroom, there is one set of bathrooms per floor, so they went off to get a shower and ready for bed. BMM was greeted by a small mountain of half emptied beer cans in the bathroom and sinks that looked like the last time they had been cleaned was some time during Queen Victoria's reign. They showered and get dressed for bed as quick as they could to minimize the amount of time they needed to be subjected to that bathroom. It was a long day so they hoped to a good night sleep in order to recharge for another day of sightseeing. Well the hostel had other ideas, it was loud, they were woken up several times throughout the night by people deciding that the hallway was indeed the best place to sing at the top of their lungs.
Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
Big Ben
The London Eye
After getting a little bit of sleep they headed out for the second day in London. This day they would first go to the British Museum and then an evening trip to Chinatown. The Museum was really amazing, LMM in general is not that much of a museum person, but even she enjoyed seeing it. It is really awe inspiring to see 3000 years of human civilization laid out under one roof. It is also perhaps the most grand tribute, to the last gleam of glory the British Empire can hold onto. In particular LMM thought it was interesting to see the contents of the Forbidden City from Beijing. BMM, being a bit of a linguistics geek really enjoyed seeing the actual Rosetta Stone. After spending most of the day in the museum, they strolled down to Chinatown. They discovered what is perhaps the best deal in all of London, "Little Little Wu". This small restaurant has some tastily meals and for £3.95 for any item on the menu. After walking around a bit longer enjoying the atmosphere, they went back to the room for the last night in London.
Artifacts from the Forbidden City
Rosetta Stone
Parthanon Facade
Egyptian Mummies
They got up early on the last day since they decided to head back to Chinatown and pick up some items from the market that are hard to come by in Edinburgh before catching their return train. The trip back was also pretty mundane. They arrived back at Waverly Station in Edinburgh with a bag full of tastily goodies from the Chinese market and a lot of fun memories from this little trip down south. But most of all they looked forward to a nice QUIET night sleep. To plan about their next trip, a Valentine's Day retreat behind the iron curtain.
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