London Calling

Lego re-enactment of the legend of the slaying of the Seehasen

Hotel – taxi – ferry – train – customs – Zurich airport – plane – customs – London taxi – hotel.  Smooth as dark Swiss chocolate.

And not this kind of shoolin, guvna...

After logically reasoning that the cost of a taxi is cheaper than the cost of four train tickets, and four tube tickets while pulling suitcases and carrying backpacks, we promptly got schooled.  

While there is no direct route from Heathrow to the East end of London, the taxi driver decided it would be in our his interest to take us right through the heart of the city, west-end first, you know, to point out the landmarks, and coincidentally boost the fare by oh, I don’t know, 25 pounds?  Because I’m sure it never crossed his mind that London has really, really bad traffic congestion.

This week in England is the budget buster of the trip.  What started off as expensive has grown even more so.  Since I booked everything at the sad exchange rate of one pound buying $1.44, the dollar has dropped and dropped over the last six months, down to $1.56.  London is a difficult place to find family-friendly lodging.  The rooms are too small to have four people and the cost of two rooms is astronomical. 

(We almost stayed at the Cathcart Towers - you know - where the diamonds are - near the airport.  All higher culture is based on cruelty.)

We are in an apartment that is part of the London Bridge Hotel.  In the Southwark, which is obviously pronounced "Suthuck."  Top floor – that’s sixty-two steps – with great window breezes and air conditioning as needed.  (We have brought the weather with us at each stop of the way on this trip, and London is due for a fabulous week of sunshine and above normal temperatures while we are visiting.)  The kids again get their own room with twin beds, and we have a washing machine – well, a machine that gets the clothes wet anyway – I’ll get into that later.  

We are right across the street from the London Bridge train and tube stations, and there is construction everywhere.  Though we don’t know it at the time of check-in, the neighborhood is killer.  The nights are quiet, the days are crazy loud and even crazier busy.  We are right next to the Borough Market, which is wonderfully full of fresh everything and food stands, coffee shops and cafes.  Things are looking good!