Pub Grub: London is for Beefeaters

The next day we woke up late and groggy from the mediocre night of sleep. The next night we had accomodation at the Hilton by Stansted airport so we figured if we were tired we could call it an early night and head out of the city.

While we were heading toward our place we heard a few girls talking about the Beatles cafe a few stops down on Jubilee. Trisha thought pairing a visit there and Abbey road would make for a good morning before we headed to see Stomp that night at Ambassador theatre.

We looked up the directions and with the tube being essentially out of comission for us it lead to a lot of walking before we arrived at a tiny tiny coffee shop at St James' Wood (which along with Cockfosters have to be the greatest metro stop names ever :P) with Beatles posters on the wall. 

Slightly disappointed we walked off in search of Fish and Chips and cask ale. We found the latter at a pub called Windsor Castle. I went with some lamb stew and Trisha essentially had to default to the sole vegetarian option on the menu. We both enjoyed our pint of Fullers. I wonder if we can get that stateside. Anyway, we watched a little bit of Roddick and Federer which was taking place tube ride away in Wimbeldon. 

Having spent a fair amount of time in transit (foot, tube and bus) we ended up heading to Liverpool station dropping our bags and heading to the show.

Best West End

It took a little time to find Ambassador theatre. If you head off Piccadilly Circus or Leister Square that time of day it is a festive atmosphere. The streets are buzzing with people going from one show to another.

While many looked good it is hard to believe any would have topped the show we saw. We took our seats in the small semicircular arena. It would have fit inside the Tampa Theatre with some room to spare. Stomp is 100 minutes of people making music from normal objects. Lighters, brooms, trashcans, water bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers to name but a few. It was incredible and by far the highlight of our time there. 

We continued our stroll through the area. Trisha was getting tired and wanted to spend some time enjoying our hotel but I convinced her to have Fish and Chips outside of the Tower of London at a place Em and I ate at last time we were there. The detour took us an hour or so but she got to see Tower Bridge (which no visit to London would seem complete without a quick look). 

By the time we got back to Liverpool and found out how to get back to the airport, it was about 10. We ended up taking the Stansted express to the airport and the airport shuttle to the hotel where we crashed for around midnight. 

Our 5:10am wakeup call came early. The price for wanting a cheap flight for Bilbao. Even arriving early we ended up in an hour long line. As a British woman in La Guardia said, flying out of Stansted is an experience to be endured rather than enjoyed. We'll pick it up here next time.

--Joey

A Smashing Fourth!

Trisha and I arrived exhausted. The six hour flight is just not enough to get any sleep on (not that I do much sleeping on flights). Between dinner and and breakfast, your window for actually doing sleeping is about 4 hours.

Our plans for an easy transition from Heathrow to Dollis Hill via a Jubillee line change at Green Park was tharwted by planned maintenance on both lines. A few rail replacement bus changes later we arrived at the hostel/bar out in Zone 3. The doors were locked since the pub didn't open until 10am.

We finally got into our room about 30 minutes after arriving and took a collapsing sleep for about 3 hours. After the nap we were informed we had to change rooms since there was a double booking. The place was not run well, pretty dirty, and loud. I don't really recommend it to anyone.

After a little debate as to what to do we settled on giving Brick Lane a visit for some Vindaloo.

Haggling on Brick Lane gets you deals but doesn't always curry flavor with the owner...

Brick Lane (just off the Aldgate East) is an amazing place to have dinner. One curry house after another. What once was a novelty restaurant row in a South Asian neighborhood is now as London as Fish and Chips and a pint of Fullers.

We passed by a number of closed shops (apparently they typically close between lunch and dinner). As we passed by Saffron the guy comes out and says, 20% off and we'll buy the first drink.

Trisha beamed and excitedly said that it looked like a good deal. Good luck haggling there. I countered (rather modestly I might add) that I wanted a pint of beer not a half pint. He came back with a pint and 10% off. I told him there was no difference so when Trisha said she would take wine he agreed to our deal.

Dinner was delicious and extremely hot, just as it was last year. Our total damage was about 20 quid. Not too shabby.

We strolled through East London to Liverpool St and then headed off to St Paul's where we spent an hour sketching the scenery, enjoying a cup of coffee and people watching. The 80s were in full swing that night for one girl's birthday. Her friends came up to us to offer what Trisha called the worst birthday cake ever. Pink mayo flavored icing.

She was feeling a bit sick so we headed back to the hostel where the club music thumping from below made it difficult to sleep.

I need to catch a bus, I'll pick it up later. And post photos.

--Joey