UK Photo Blogging Pt. 1.0

I'm just going with random photo blogging day by day, because it is going to take me forever to write the posts I need to. Like with Paris (still working!).

As I've written, we stayed at the Arran House Hotel on Gower Street. I was too harsh on them in my original post- all the places we stayed were less hospitible and warm than I had in my fantasies, but that's my fault not theirs. Arran was well run and had two huge pluses- location on many major bus lines and comfortable beds. Just don't count on doing laundry there- 4 hours to dry jeans, awesome! Bathrooms = tiny, but so are all in London unless you are filthy rich; rooms = small, ditto.

From Scotland 2008

Here we are heading to Pret a Portea on our second day. It was fun to bring a jacket and tie, but I did not need the tan slacks I brought and should have gone with another set of dark jeans. Now I know.

What did we do in London? First day was a nap and then the British Museum. Great to be around the corner from it. We found an excellent Greek restaurant around the corner from the museum- I'll look up the name for you in a bit, but it's the only one there. Don't go to the Chinese place there- roaches and indigestion, in no particular order.

Second day was high tea at the Barkley. We wanted to do quintissential London and UK things and tea is one of them! Browns is the most known of the known, but I found the Barkley pret a portea and thought it looked like a lot more fun:

From Scotland 2008

The tea sweets and savories.

From Scotland 2008

And we loved it. Getting the champagne for the parents is a big plus!

After tea, we went to Harrods to shop. I think its a legitimate tourist attraction and great fun. The toy department is huge, interactive and a hoot. I bought a scarf I love- probably paid twice as much as I should have on it- but with the exchange rate it was probably down to three times as much, who knows. The restaurant near the toy department is to be avoided at all costs, but the food stores on level 1 are to be visited! Too bad I didn't realize this until we had already eaten at the wrong place. And, yes, there is an opera singer in the escalator well.

From Scotland 2008

The tea tray was incredible.