London, Day One

Flying is not my favorite. I stayed up late the night before my flight. I didn't drink any coffee that day. I had a margarita at the airport, and two Jack and Cokes on the plane. It was all in vain, though. I couldn't sleep to save my life! The few times I did manage to doze off, I was awakened by one of the other passengers, or I was just so uncomfortable, I woke myself up.

The woman who birthed the legend, my mother.

Despite my anxiety about travelling at 400 miles an hour 5000 feet in the air, we made it to London safe and sound, and an hour early! Breakfast was the first order of business. According to an article I found on the Internet, one of the best places to have breakfast in the UK is a place called Kopapa. The website showed a picture of Turkish Eggs, one of Kopapa's signature dishes, Much to my disappointment, it did not taste as good as it looks. The meal wasn't bad, just bland. It could have used some spice, like cumin or ancho chili. The sourdough bread served with it was delicious, hearty and full of flavor. I think next time I'll just get eggs and toast.

Getting to the restaurant from the airport wasn't too bad, but getting from Kopapa to the hotel was a nightmare! At some point, we got followed by a very chatty local man. He was either a wealthy ne'er-do'well, or a crazy homeless person. I honestly couldn't tell, but I'm leaning toward crazy. He seemed content to follow in any direction we went. Since we were lost, that was especially disturbing. We were able to shake him eventually. I asked him where he was going and he said he was going straight. We imagined we were supposed to go left but, in actuality, we'd passed the entrance to the underground we didn't know we were supposed to be taking. Once we realized our mistake, we waited on a bench down the wrong street to give the friendly stranger time to go on about his way.

We got turned around quite a few times. Google maps doesn't provide the best directions for public transportation. By the time we made it to the hotel, I was exhausted. We arrived much earlier than our check-in time, but much later than expected. We intended to just drop off our luggage and return later. Given that a one hour trip took us three hours, we decided to stay in the lobby until the room was ready. My mother and I both dozed off while we waited. When I came to, about twenty minutes later, we decided to have lunch at the hotel lounge.

The fish tasted like dirty lake water. I'm disappointed.

I am now too bougie for "packets".
Hence forth, and forevermore, I would like my condiments served in tiny jars.

I was excited to have tea in England! It was good, but it didn't taste that much different from the tea at home. I said I would try the food here, even the meat, and I did! I had the fish and chips. Seafood is the one meat I still have wild cravings for; I remember exactly what it tastes like. This fish was unlike anything I'd ever had. It tasted the way I imagine dirty lake water would taste. It certainly wasn't the clean, salty ocean taste I expected. I tried it with each of the three condiments provided, with lemon juice, with tater sauce, and with malt vinegar. Of the three, the vinegar worked best, but it was still not good. It wasn't even decent. I ate less than half of it. The fries, or chips, it came with were good, but they did taste a little different from french fries in the States; less earthy, kind of bland. The meal was also served with mashed peas. While the consistency was unusual, they tasted good.

The hotel advised us our room was ready just as we finished eating, so we checked in and went up to get settled. I stay with Hilton Hotels whenever possible. They won me over with their service last year when I took my nephew to Orlando. This is by far the shabbiest of their hotels I've ever stayed in, though. While the service has been friendly, the building is old and has a musty smell. A huge crack runs up the tile wall in the bathroom. My bed only had one sheet and a comforter. My mother used the pull out bed and there were no sheets for that at all. There's hardly any drawer space and only four hangers. I had to leave my clothes in my suitcase even though we'll be here for ten days. The floor beside the bed is wet and there's a Goldfish cracker in the corner that appears to have been left over from the previous visitor. I'm disappointed, but it explains why we got such a great rate on the room. I thought it was because we're so far from London, but now I think it's because the hotel just isn't that great.

My mother settled down for a nap, saying she just needed to rest for about thirty minutes. I planned to unpack and decide where I wanted to go next but, without meaning to, I feel asleep, as well. We didn't wake up until more than four hours later. We unpacked, then decided to go have dinner at TGIFriday's. I felt like I'd tried enough new foods for one day. The menu, though, was much different than the TGIF's at home. I got some garlic ciabatta bread with cheese on it. It was okay, but didn't have much flavor and didn't some with any dipping sauce, which might have improved it. My mom got that too, along with some taquitos that were unlike any taquitos I've ever seen before. It more closely resembled a chopped up burrito, or a wrap of some kind. She said it tasted good, so that's all that matters, I guess. The hosttess was friendly, which is good since the wait took more than an hour. Our waiter sucked, though, and the food took forever. We left our room just after 8:00 pm and didn't return until just before 11:00 pm. The restaurant is right across the street from the hotel ...

So, to sum it all up ... I arrived in London, got lost, had a conversation with a crazy person, ate some meat on purpose for the first time in nearly six years, stayed at a crappy hotel, and got bad service and mediocre food at TGIFridays. I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!