mind the gap

Friday was the official first day of break for me and it started off with the usual Manzullo family travel luck. I planned on taking the 9:45 vaporetto from near the house to the bus station, where I would take a 10:20 train to catch my 11:45 flight. At 9:50, the 82 vaporetto blew by without stopping and I commenced a very hurried dash to the bus station with a packed suitcase to lug over the infinite bridges in Venice. The bus luckily left on time and I got to the airport in time to see a very long check in line. The check in line moved decently quick and I then landed in an even longer security line, but mercifully found my gate with about 30 minutes to spare before boarding was set to start. And after all that rushing, my flight was delayed. Mind you they didn’t exactly announce this delay, they just subtly changed it on the display at the gate, so I called mom and dad’s hotel in London since they had arrived at 7am and had planned on waiting in the lobby for me when I was due to arrive. Despite leaving late, the flight pretty much landed on time and I made it through passport control in time to catch the next Gatwick express, hopped off at Victoria station, hopped on the underground up to Kings Cross station, and popped out and started walking in what I thought to be the proper direction. Turns out I was heading in the complete wrong direction, but happened to run into mom and dad, who had been out walking around before I was due to arrive. Everyone was tired, but we decided to do a little exploring before completely giving up for the night. We back to Kings Cross, bought 3 day travelcards, and went to Harrods. We poked around for a while, but ultimately gave in to the hunger and exhaustion and went back to the hotel. The concierge suggested walking up a few blocks to Watney’s Dollar Grill. It was a really cute place with a downstairs martini bar and a nice upstairs, where we had hamburgers and tuna burgers. After that, we pretty much passed out.

Saturday we went to the little cafe across the street from the hotel, called EuroCafe, to have a proper English breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, tea) and coffee. Then we took the tube to Westminster Abbey, which I had never gotten to go to when I lived in London two summers ago as it has really unusual opening and closing times. We walked around and got to see everything from the coronation chair to monuments to tombs—I felt especially English-major-esque strolling around poet’s corner. Near Westminster are Big Ben and Parliament, which are some of my favorite London sights. We then walked across the Thames and found a riverside walkway, which took us past the London Eye (a giant, capsule-like Farris wheel that, for a chunk of change, provides views of the entire city). We walked a good ways down the river to the Tate Modern, which is Britain’s major modern art museum, where we saw some interesting exhibits and slides that took you from the fifth and fourth floors down to the basement (sadly they were fully booked or dad and I were going to give it a go). We had hoped to eat on the 7^th floor restaurant since it has excellent views of the river, but the menu wasn’t great and they apparently book up months in advance. We ended up going back to Young’s Founders Arms, a quasi pub on the river where we could get pub style food (better tasting, however). We then took the footbridge across the river to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which I had visited before with Alicia but wanted to visit again (this time without walking the hundreds of steps up to the top). Next we hopped on the tube down a few stops to the Tower of London, which we opted to skip going inside of on account of the exorbitant cost and drizzly weather. We did end up walking down around the Tower along the Thames to the Tower Bridge (often mistaken for the London Bridge). A hotel mom stayed in on her first visit to London is in the shadow of the bridge, so we poked around the area by the hotel called St. Katherine’s Wharf. There are some apartments, a little marina, and a few pubs and restaurants in the area, and the weather was finally improving so it was nice to wander around. Again we sort of gave into hunger and exhaustion and headed back towards the hotel for dinner, this time at Strada, an Italian restaurant near where we ate Friday evening. It was also excellent and not too expensive (if you don’t double the value stated and just kind of ignore the exchange rate, that is).

Sunday we got on the tube and went all the way up to Hampstead, which is a little north of the Worrell House, which is where I lived a few summers ago. We walked down the street for probably about a mile, but it was all downhill and shops and restaurants lined each side, so it wasn’t obnoxious and it gave mom and dad a good idea of what my summer was like. Sadly we were too early for me to get a crepe at Alicia’s and my favorite crepe stand, but I knew I’d be back the next day, so we walked on. It was definitely strange to see my old “stomping grounds” but even stranger to walk past the flower stand where I had bought flowers for our professor the morning of the tube bombings and then past the tube station where I first learned of what had happened. While we were in London, there was a lot on the news regarding current court proceedings for the terrorists, so it was a bit like reliving that whole experience. After making our way down the street, we found the Worrell House and luckily a Wake student currently living there was nice enough to let us in so I could show mom and dad around. Then we walked down towards Primrose Hill, which is just up another nice shop/restaurant lined street. At the peak of the park, you can see the entire skyline of London (for free, unlike the London Eye) and then back down towards the Chalk Farm tube station that I used almost daily that summer. Because it was Sunday, the local Camden Market was in full swing, so we braved the crowds and saw all kinds of crazy street vendors selling anything and everything you can imagine. We then hopped on the tube up to Covent Garden, where we had lunch and shopped around a bit before walking to Leicester Square. We happened upon a movie premiere for the new Mr. Bean movie and as we were trying to find our way to Trafalgar Square, none other than Mr. Bean came peeling into the square driving a painted little MG. We walked through Trafalgar Square and along to Picadilly Circus (London’s Times Square). We then found our way to Oxford Street, where we did some shopping, then got back on the tube to Green Park, where we walked through the park to Buckingham Palace. We were too late for changing of the guards, so we just walked around a bit, then made our way to Hyde Park. We walked through the park along the Serpentine, then up towards Lancaster Gate, where we caught the tube to the St. Paul’s area and had dinner at Cafe Rouge.

Monday mom went into the office, but dad and I kept being tourists. We went down to Victoria station to buy our tickets for the next morning (super early flight to Naples) for the Gatwick express. Then we went back to Harrods and did some more exploring, but eventually ended up in the gift area, where I bought myself an apron (apparently I can cook, but I’ve been wearing Brad’s apron—Michelangelo’s “David”—backwards for a few weeks now). Then we took the tube up to the British Museum, where I hoped to see the Reading Room again (a huge, multiple story, circular room full of really old books…yes, I am a nerd). Sadly it was closed, but we got a peek when a worker opened one of the doors. Then we looked through some of the ancient Egypt and ancient Greece exhibits. Next we hopped back on the tube and went up to get the crepe I didn’t get on Sunday. I talked dad into one, too, so we sat on a bench on the street and ate dark Belgian chocolate and peanut crepes for lunch. I still can’t put my finger on what makes them so much better than any other crepe (even the ones I had in France), but there is a reason the stand has been there since the 1980s. We got back on the tube and took it to Chalk Farm, where we walked from to get to Primrose Hill again in order to walk through Regeant’s Park—another place I never made it to a few summers ago. It was a beautiful day—finally—and we spent about an hour walking through the park and gardens before taking the tube back to the hotel to drop off my apron. We then headed off in the direction of Charing Cross Road, known for it’s profundity of bookstores, because I’ve had a hard time finding English books and London is the first English speaking place I’ve visited this semester. We took a wrong turn and ended up at Trafalgar Square, so we took the chance to pop into the National Portrait Gallery, another thing I never had time for on my first visit. It was cool to see everything from 1400s paintings to modern portraits. After that we finally found Charing Cross Road and walked down it quite a ways to find a few big bookstores. I spent about 45 minutes picking out enough books to get me through the semester, and by then it was time to meet mom at her office. So we hopped the tube again, got off a few stops early, and walked along the river to her office. We then took a cab to the St. Katherine’s Wharf area again and mom and dad had a drink at the pub while we waited for the Indian restaurant to open. Mala, the restaurant, was a place mom had eaten on her previous trip and liked it so much that we wanted to try it too. The waiters were really helpful at suggesting dishes to try and combine, so we all ended up with something different that we could share. After that we pretty much rolled home, we were so full and tired. Plus we had to be up at 4 am for our early flight to Naples…