little bitty girl

So did I mention that we had a bit of a yuck flight across the pond? It was more than a little yuck, it was actually a lot yuck. For some reason, perhaps it being an older plane, there was just no way we could contort our bodies to get comfortable. On top of it all, the cabin was so unbearably hot, to the point of discomfort. I can say that I fly quite a bit and I have never, ever had to take my socks & sweater off, roll my jeans up to my knees and just sit there uncomfortably in a tank.

It basically meant Stefan and I were starting a brand new day in London after pulling an all-nighter in a sweltering sardine can. It made our tempers with each other a little short throughout the day.

We arrived at Heathrow and I was quite shocked to see how run down it looked. I am sure the other terminals must be nicer but the one we arrived in was quite shabby. Stefan breezed through customs with his British passport, although I think they questioned why he had a British one and I had a Canadian one. If only I didn't need to live in the UK for 5 years before being able to apply for dual citizenship, I would definitely have gotten one as we plan to have more vacations in Europe.

We took the underground to King's Cross where we were to pick up our tickets for the Eurostar to Paris. It was surprisingly easy although I found the compartments quite small in comparison to our subways at home. Stefan's head was almost touching the top of the doors. The only issue we had were our bags. I can't figure out whether we (more Stef because his clothes take up so much more room) packed too much or whether we were using the wrong bags. They were not fun to lug around. Next time we go away, I shall heed my friend's motto of "pack light, freeze at night."

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King's Cross is quite simply stunning at first sight. It is Victorian architecture in all its majesty. I loved that they kept all the beautiful detailing of the outside and added some really great modern touches within without compromising the beauty of the general design. I forgot to take pictures of the inside but I will do so on my way back.

We had about 5 or so hours to kill before catching our train to Paris so we decided to stick sightseeing to the general area. We noticed that we were quite close to Camden Market and that is where we decided to head off. I have to say, I was rather hoping that Camden Market was a wet/food market because those are my favourite kinds.

Nonetheless, we found this really mad area called the Camden Stables market or something close. It used to be actual stables and many stores have set up shop within the original stables. It was really fun going through this labyrinth of a market. There were lots of food stalls, bric bracs, antique furniture, clothing basically anything you could think of, it was there.

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There was this one really funny food store where this girl kept on loudly sing songing "Hellllooooooo! Lovely Chinese Food!" over and over again in a very Chinese-British accent. It was a really weird combination and I must admit, Stefan and I felt like lobbing a piece of stone at her, only because after five minutes, her voice became quite grating on our already frayed/tired nerves.

Luckily, we moved on to wander other areas nearby.

Regent Park was an unexpected discovery. I kept looking at all these really beautiful townhouses and walking towards it. Then I saw a sign for the zoo. I don't know what it is about zoos and am by no means, obsessed with them but if there's one nearby, I like to check it out. Stefan was having nothing to do with this as by then he was quite desperate to find a "gent's toilet." The last thing we needed was to get arrested in a foreign country by virtue of random peeing. We started walking within the park and found out through our map that it was Regent Park.

The first thing we see is a group of men playing footy. Even across the world, I cannot seem to escape the darn game. There was a map of the park but because there did not seem to be a "You are here" symbol, we simply could not figure where we were in the park. I just kept walking towards the direction of the zoo, as if we were at the zoo, then at least we would know where we were. We finally did find a washroom (past the damn zoo, as visiting it was executively vetoed by Stefan) and disaster was averted. I have to say, I am surprised that for a city this big, London has a lot of green (parks) in it, which is definitely a lovely aspect to the city.

We found that at the end of our mini exploration of Regent Park that our route ended to a road that took us directly back to King's Cross. Which was lucky because being from Toronto, where the city is mapped out in a grid, I found it a little hard to figure out my bearings in London.

Because we had another hour before our train and I was a little peckish, we stopped at a pub on Euston Road. Here's a note to myself: never ever order anything not "pubbish" at a pub because frankly it was quite unappetizing. I had ordered an asian inspired salad with grilled beef. It had good intentions but the beef was oily and tough, the dressing overpowered. The people next to us had sheperd's pie and it looked really lovely. Now I know better.

This question is probably rhetorical; but I noticed that the taps in the washrooms at the pub and at the public one in Regent Park were the same. One tap marked "hot" and the other tap on the side marked "cold." Both were at extreme temperatures and Stefan and I wondered how people used it back it the day. Did they just run both taps and moved their hands from side to side? Did they just fill the basin up to get warm water? Whatever it was, it was a bit of a silly design.

Then we were off on the Eurostar to Paris!