After a two hours trip, in Ryanair, we changed from the “normal” 20ยบ of Algarve - typical for first days of spring, for negative temperatures in London.
To get to our hostel - a "small" adventure. First, the transfer, on EasyBus in rush-hour, then the subway from Baker Street to East Ham, far, far away. We were suposed to call Susan, the lady that dealed with our reservation because the "reception" closed at 21h00, and we arrived later to London. So we did. She said that the hostel was a 20 min walk from the subway, but after we walked for 35 minutes, we had no clue where was it. There was a reason: the hostel wasn't technically a hostel. It was more like a house, so we passed by without noticing it. After calling to double-check the address, we arrived to the place. A house, typical english, with not more than four rooms. Our was next to the entrance, so we didn't have many privacy problems. Only the noises of three young asians playing videogames in their self-phones during the time of the meal in the kitchen.
In the morning, we woke up and we saw snow in the window. Seeing Nuno 's reaction to snow falling on his face was one of the best moments of the trip! With the cold that was entering each time that the entrance door was open, we decided to wait in the confort of the room till the sun started heating up.
With the daylight we saw the neighborhood were we stayed and we felt a bit like in a Bollywood movie. The colours, smells, language spoken and people, almost everything reminded us about India – that we've never been, but it might be something like we saw. The houses, taxis and the red buses were the main indicators that we didn't leave London.
We decided to buy a daily pass to the subway - the best way to move in the city. With snow falling from the sky, our first sight leaving Westminster subway station was the imponent Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Then looking at left there was the London Eye and all the landscape that made us feel like in a postcard. Martyna wanted to capture in her memory the moment of seeing the place for the first time so, as usual, she was taking million pictures. When the cold passed the layer of excitement and reached the body we decided to fight it from inside with warm Costa - the coffee - inside County Hall. To reach the coffee place some stops in the gaming machines. They seemed so easy to trick to leave with a Teddy Bear, a phone, or a camera. They weren't. And we arrived to Costa Coffee, in the basement, two pounds poorer. There we ordered two black coffees. But one tasted funny, like chocolate. So we had a bonus.
The afternoon we spent in Convent Garden, with croweded streets, performers, and a brief visit to the also croweded market. Nuno was there once, but everything seemed different. The street performers were others, in different places, so the stopping spots to see the shows also were different. Men-statues, illusionists, singers and dancers were dividing the attention of the people passing by.
At this point we decided to leave the undergrounds of London to move in the city and walk through the streets.
Before the walk, time to eat. We decided to enter a burger place, even though Martyna doesn't eat meat. But it was worth it. In the menu there was a “mushroom burger”, that we still believe that was the best that we could find in all London, if not all England.
We walked through Soho - that might be more interesting at night - with all the pubs and "alternative" places, China Town - bigger in our expectations - and we arrived to Piccadilly Circus.
The colours and movement of Picadilly Circus made us stay there till we were sure that we saw all the commercials in the giant LCD's in the buildings, and that we had the best picture that we could have. There groups of people around the "fountain" were talking, laughing or drinking. A teenager was having fun following and immitating the people that were passing by, or appearing unexpectedly in the pictures of the tourists.
In the evening, one more stop to see the “postcard” landscape of Westminster at night with quick photosession in the freezing cold.
We decided to eat in East Ham, almost a paradise if we are talking about spicy food. Spicy pizza, kebab, hot-dogs... Everything with extra spice, that happily we like. First night was "Kebab night" with polish beer - the first time that Nuno tried it, and a beggining of a story with more chapters. :)
At this point we decided to leave the undergrounds of London to move in the city and walk through the streets.
Before the walk, time to eat. We decided to enter a burger place, even though Martyna doesn't eat meat. But it was worth it. In the menu there was a “mushroom burger”, that we still believe that was the best that we could find in all London, if not all England.
We walked through Soho - that might be more interesting at night - with all the pubs and "alternative" places, China Town - bigger in our expectations - and we arrived to Piccadilly Circus.
The colours and movement of Picadilly Circus made us stay there till we were sure that we saw all the commercials in the giant LCD's in the buildings, and that we had the best picture that we could have. There groups of people around the "fountain" were talking, laughing or drinking. A teenager was having fun following and immitating the people that were passing by, or appearing unexpectedly in the pictures of the tourists.
In the evening, one more stop to see the “postcard” landscape of Westminster at night with quick photosession in the freezing cold.
We decided to eat in East Ham, almost a paradise if we are talking about spicy food. Spicy pizza, kebab, hot-dogs... Everything with extra spice, that happily we like. First night was "Kebab night" with polish beer - the first time that Nuno tried it, and a beggining of a story with more chapters. :)
