Garth Algar: Wow, what a shitty circus.
Wayne Campbell: Good call. There's no animals or clowns! What a ripoff!
-Wayne's World 2
Other than Berlin - and perhaps Toronto - I'd never been to one of the truly "great" cities of the world. Not just ones that people know about, but ones that are iconic. Toronto may have the CN Tower, or even the Skydome or City Hall, but London has Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, London Bridge, double-decker buses and fish and chips. It's oozing with history, pride, class and people from all walks of life who come for various reasons...
To perpetuate the touristy image, we took a guided double-decker bus tour of the city... we saw all the above, plus much more. 'Twas a bit rainy and Maleaha and I weren't in the best of spirits due to our imminent departure, but we still managed to enjoy it and have some fish and chips afterwards - and a Belgian strawberry beer called "Frülli". Deeelicious!
On Maleaha's suggestion, we had dinner in London's Chinatown, which is way more decked-out than Markham's - that's for sure. I resisted the urge to say, "Forget it Maleaha - it's Chinatown."
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For our last day together in London, we got up early (8:00? My goodness!) and took the Underground all the way to the famous London Eye - the giant ferris wheel that was recently installed. Instead of chairs, you walk around in big glass pods with other people and enjoy the view from the Thames in the centre of town. Despite it being a cloudy day, it was a great way to see the city, especially after seeing it from the ground.
Taking the Underground again (with a day pass, it's just so damned convenient. It's a giant maze of interconnected subways, so you're only a few stops from anywhere in the city... and the cars are so adorably small and quasi-futuristic... probably my favourite thing about London) we went for a stroll in Hyde Park. If there was a better way to spend our last afternoon together, I'd like to hear it. There were paths, fountains, monuments - even a lake stocked with ducks and Canada Geese. Me: "Hey, what are you doing here?"
Geese: "No, what are YOU doing here?"
Everyone was out walking their dogs or feeding the wildlife - or not-so wildlife. The squirrels were practically trained to be fed and Maleaha gave the better part of our delicious cherry almond pastry to them because she couldn't stop being amazed at how adorable they were... We sat there for a good hour, I'm sure, just feeding the chubby squirrels and taking pictures.We walked to Oxford Street and amazed ourselves by looking at expensive designer clothes and foods (meat pies and mash!). After taking the Underground home (I told you it was handy) and back to Piccadilly, we had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant - something I haven't seen much of in Accra.
Finally, we went for drinks to St. George's Hotel, which has a rooftop bar overlooking the city. What a way to cap off three and a half weeks...
"If this were the last night of the world
What would I do?
What would I do - that was different?
Unless it was champagne
With you"
-Bruce Cockburn
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