Post-trip report - London
Jan 1st 2005, 10:00 am
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Post-trip report - London
Hi All,
We *just* got back into Washington last evening, after our brief 5-day
trip to London. Thanks for all of the responses to my earlier
inquiries, I'm happy to report that everything went pretty well, but
both my wife and I are pretty beat/tired.
We got into Heathrow on Monday morning. At the airport, I got some cash
from the Barclays ATM just outside the arrival area, as many have
suggested. FYI, I just checked my bank account, and we got charged a
$2.00 fee and the exchange rate was around $1.92/GPB.
After that, we took the underground into London. Zone 1-6 all-day pass
cost 5.40 GBP each. That was pretty easy... the most difficult part was
finding the hotel once we finally got off at the final tube station.
The hotel was nice enough to let us check in, even though we were a bit
early (we got in around 12:30, normal check-in time was 14:30), which we
were really grateful for, after dragging our bags for a couple of
hours. After settling into the hotel room (my wife is an "unpack
everything-and-stow it" type of person), we went to do a little
exploring. Being that this was a holiday, a lot of the local places
were closed (including restaurants in the hotel), but we found a kind of
combo newsagent/foodstore nearby, and we picked up a 5 GBP calling card
(for calling home) and some drinks (1.59 GPB for ~2 liter Pepsi light,
.98 GBP for a ~2 liter water).
It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
waiting to be seated :), and she said "this is a pub, sit anywhere, and
order at the bar". I gathered (from that and a few visits at other
pubs) that that's the norm. Anyway, we had a nice late lunch: fish and
chips (with "mashed peas") for me, and a beef pie for my wife. FYI,
this was probably the most reasonable meal that we had during our whole
visit.
That night, we walked around the area around the Victoria underground
station, because we were suppose to meet up with a tour the next
morning. While there, we found a local Sainsbury (kind of a small
supermarket) about 2 blocks from the underground station, and stocked up
on some cheese, milk, and croissants. Prices here were a bit cheaper
than the local foodstore, and during our trip, I made several trips here
:).
We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
We took an all day bus tour (Evan Evans), including the London Eye.
Took the underground to Victoria, and walked to the Victoria Coach
Station (it's NOT the same :)). I thought that the tour was a pretty
good way to get introduced to part of the city. We got to see a lot in
a short time, including extended tours of Westminster (felt kind of
strange walking over dead people) and the Tower of London (neat!). This
tour included lunch at another pub near Trafalgar Square (more beef pies
for us), and the tour guide was very good, and kind of funny. It was
kind of like travelling with a "grand dad" and he did his best to keep
us all together. At the end of the land tour, we went on ride on one of
the Thames cruise boats (warning, it is FREEZING on the top deck...),
and then a ride on the London Eye. All in all, recommended, but
afterwards, both my wife and I agreed that an "all-day" tour was too
exhausting (even on a bus tour, you have to do a LOT of walking
especially getting to the Changing of the Guards and at the London
Tower), and we probably would've preferred breaking it into 2 1/2 day
tours.
We also took one of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours (the "Original") on one
of the other day, as we thought it was the easiest way to get around to
the places that we wanted to re-visit. A couple of comments: take the
one with the live guide if you can, as it's much more interesting than
the ones with the recorded commentary (you can ask questions). Also, if
you want to get a seat on the top deck, take one of the earlier buses,
as at least when we were there, it was impossible to get a seat on top
later in the day, and you can't see much from the lower (enclosed) deck
(but it's much warmer :)!).
We had been buying the 2-zone all-day tube passes (4.20 GBP each)
everyday, just to get around to dinner and shopping on our own, but by
the time this was all over, my wife didn't feel like taking the
underground back to Heathrow, so we had asked the hotel conceierge to
make a reservation on an airport bus (15 GBP each), but he instead
offered that he could get us a private car direct to the airport for 35
GBP, which is what we did. This was perfect, because it got us
door-to-door from the hotel to LHR Terminal 3 with no hassles at all. I
wouldn't have done that from LHR to the hotel, but since the concierge
was arranging it, I felt that it'd be safe, and the driver turned out to
be pretty nice.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
"wow!".
Jim
We *just* got back into Washington last evening, after our brief 5-day
trip to London. Thanks for all of the responses to my earlier
inquiries, I'm happy to report that everything went pretty well, but
both my wife and I are pretty beat/tired.
We got into Heathrow on Monday morning. At the airport, I got some cash
from the Barclays ATM just outside the arrival area, as many have
suggested. FYI, I just checked my bank account, and we got charged a
$2.00 fee and the exchange rate was around $1.92/GPB.
After that, we took the underground into London. Zone 1-6 all-day pass
cost 5.40 GBP each. That was pretty easy... the most difficult part was
finding the hotel once we finally got off at the final tube station.
The hotel was nice enough to let us check in, even though we were a bit
early (we got in around 12:30, normal check-in time was 14:30), which we
were really grateful for, after dragging our bags for a couple of
hours. After settling into the hotel room (my wife is an "unpack
everything-and-stow it" type of person), we went to do a little
exploring. Being that this was a holiday, a lot of the local places
were closed (including restaurants in the hotel), but we found a kind of
combo newsagent/foodstore nearby, and we picked up a 5 GBP calling card
(for calling home) and some drinks (1.59 GPB for ~2 liter Pepsi light,
.98 GBP for a ~2 liter water).
It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
waiting to be seated :), and she said "this is a pub, sit anywhere, and
order at the bar". I gathered (from that and a few visits at other
pubs) that that's the norm. Anyway, we had a nice late lunch: fish and
chips (with "mashed peas") for me, and a beef pie for my wife. FYI,
this was probably the most reasonable meal that we had during our whole
visit.
That night, we walked around the area around the Victoria underground
station, because we were suppose to meet up with a tour the next
morning. While there, we found a local Sainsbury (kind of a small
supermarket) about 2 blocks from the underground station, and stocked up
on some cheese, milk, and croissants. Prices here were a bit cheaper
than the local foodstore, and during our trip, I made several trips here
:).
We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
We took an all day bus tour (Evan Evans), including the London Eye.
Took the underground to Victoria, and walked to the Victoria Coach
Station (it's NOT the same :)). I thought that the tour was a pretty
good way to get introduced to part of the city. We got to see a lot in
a short time, including extended tours of Westminster (felt kind of
strange walking over dead people) and the Tower of London (neat!). This
tour included lunch at another pub near Trafalgar Square (more beef pies
for us), and the tour guide was very good, and kind of funny. It was
kind of like travelling with a "grand dad" and he did his best to keep
us all together. At the end of the land tour, we went on ride on one of
the Thames cruise boats (warning, it is FREEZING on the top deck...),
and then a ride on the London Eye. All in all, recommended, but
afterwards, both my wife and I agreed that an "all-day" tour was too
exhausting (even on a bus tour, you have to do a LOT of walking
especially getting to the Changing of the Guards and at the London
Tower), and we probably would've preferred breaking it into 2 1/2 day
tours.
We also took one of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours (the "Original") on one
of the other day, as we thought it was the easiest way to get around to
the places that we wanted to re-visit. A couple of comments: take the
one with the live guide if you can, as it's much more interesting than
the ones with the recorded commentary (you can ask questions). Also, if
you want to get a seat on the top deck, take one of the earlier buses,
as at least when we were there, it was impossible to get a seat on top
later in the day, and you can't see much from the lower (enclosed) deck
(but it's much warmer :)!).
We had been buying the 2-zone all-day tube passes (4.20 GBP each)
everyday, just to get around to dinner and shopping on our own, but by
the time this was all over, my wife didn't feel like taking the
underground back to Heathrow, so we had asked the hotel conceierge to
make a reservation on an airport bus (15 GBP each), but he instead
offered that he could get us a private car direct to the airport for 35
GBP, which is what we did. This was perfect, because it got us
door-to-door from the hotel to LHR Terminal 3 with no hassles at all. I
wouldn't have done that from LHR to the hotel, but since the concierge
was arranging it, I felt that it'd be safe, and the driver turned out to
be pretty nice.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
"wow!".
Jim
Jan 1st 2005, 11:50 am
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
ohaya wrote:
> Hi All,
> We *just* got back into Washington last evening, after our brief
5-day
> trip to London....
Thanks for a very interesting report.
> Hi All,
> We *just* got back into Washington last evening, after our brief
5-day
> trip to London....
Thanks for a very interesting report.
Jan 1st 2005, 9:41 pm
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:00:00 -0500, ohaya <[email protected]> wrote:
>It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
>open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
>running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
>waiting to be seated :),
Oh dear! Spot the Americans! :o)
>We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
>around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
>station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
>guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
>out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
>felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
>all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
Angus Steakhouse by any chance? I have never heard anything but bad
stuff about them. They are not British in the food sense, that's for
sure. Pub food is usually a good bet in the UK.
>Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
>suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
That's a Europe thing. The cities invariably involve a lot of walking,
and this is seen as a pleasure, not a task.
>Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
>Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
>the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
>cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
>eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
>"wow!".
That's very expensive, even by London standards. Harrods is Harrods
though, and most people go there to be blown away by the prices. Of
course everyone feels compelled to buy 'something'. I opted for a few
chocolates, which were very good.
Good report of a good trip, even if you did fall for a couple of the
tourist traps!
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--
>It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
>open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
>running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
>waiting to be seated :),
Oh dear! Spot the Americans! :o)
>We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
>around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
>station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
>guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
>out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
>felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
>all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
Angus Steakhouse by any chance? I have never heard anything but bad
stuff about them. They are not British in the food sense, that's for
sure. Pub food is usually a good bet in the UK.
>Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
>suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
That's a Europe thing. The cities invariably involve a lot of walking,
and this is seen as a pleasure, not a task.
>Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
>Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
>the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
>cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
>eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
>"wow!".
That's very expensive, even by London standards. Harrods is Harrods
though, and most people go there to be blown away by the prices. Of
course everyone feels compelled to buy 'something'. I opted for a few
chocolates, which were very good.
Good report of a good trip, even if you did fall for a couple of the
tourist traps!
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--
Jan 1st 2005, 11:24 pm
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
In message <[email protected]>, ohaya <[email protected]> writes
>After that, we took the underground into London. Zone 1-6 all-day pass
>cost 5.40 GBP each. That was pretty easy... the most difficult part was
>finding the hotel once we finally got off at the final tube station.
I'm often disoriented at street level after taking the tube to an area
I'm unfamiliar with. My tendency is to first head in the direction I
think is right, realise I'm not where I want to be, take out an A-Z to
work out where I should be, retrace my route back to the original point
and then start again.
>we found a kind of
>combo newsagent/foodstore nearby, and we picked up a 5 GBP calling card
>(for calling home) and some drinks (1.59 GPB for ~2 liter Pepsi light,
>.98 GBP for a ~2 liter water).
These convenience stores traditionally charge higher prices because of
their central location and longer opening hours. However, in recent
years the large supermarket and food chains have been actively targeting
this market. They now operate many smaller branches on high streets and
city centre locations, often undercutting the original convenience
stores and even providing 24 hour service (for example, Tesco Express at
some petrol stations).
>It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
>open. It seemed like a kind of local place
This one?
<http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/show.shtml/452/White_Swan/Pimlico>
While you can sit where you like in traditional pubs and they don't
often offer waiter service, there are also 'gastropubs', which look like
pubs both outside and inside, but operate a seating policy and provide
restaurant style service. They also have more interesting menus and
often very high quality food - reflected in the price, naturally.
>finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
>station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
>guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
>out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
>felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
>all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
Not sure about which steakhouse you went to, but have a look at these:
<http://www.artilect.co.uk/rrd/index.asp?go=restaurant.asp?id=32>
<http://www.darsys.com/london.html>
I knew there was a reason I haven't reviewed this chain! At least you
didn't succumb to the dubious culinary delights of the hotdog vendors
(or aren't telling us!).
>the tour guide was very good, and kind of funny. It was
>kind of like travelling with a "grand dad" and he did his best to keep
>us all together.
I've been subject to tour guides' patter on one of the river cruises. I
have a feeling they start with a few basic facts during their training
and then try to outdo each other by adding more and more creative
embellishments.
>I remember sitting at the ice
>cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
>eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
>"wow!".
Several years ago I saw people having a lunch of caviar and champagne in
Harrod's food hall - 110GBP for two.
--
congokid
Good restaurants in London? Number one on Google
http://congokid.com
>After that, we took the underground into London. Zone 1-6 all-day pass
>cost 5.40 GBP each. That was pretty easy... the most difficult part was
>finding the hotel once we finally got off at the final tube station.
I'm often disoriented at street level after taking the tube to an area
I'm unfamiliar with. My tendency is to first head in the direction I
think is right, realise I'm not where I want to be, take out an A-Z to
work out where I should be, retrace my route back to the original point
and then start again.
>we found a kind of
>combo newsagent/foodstore nearby, and we picked up a 5 GBP calling card
>(for calling home) and some drinks (1.59 GPB for ~2 liter Pepsi light,
>.98 GBP for a ~2 liter water).
These convenience stores traditionally charge higher prices because of
their central location and longer opening hours. However, in recent
years the large supermarket and food chains have been actively targeting
this market. They now operate many smaller branches on high streets and
city centre locations, often undercutting the original convenience
stores and even providing 24 hour service (for example, Tesco Express at
some petrol stations).
>It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
>open. It seemed like a kind of local place
This one?
<http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/show.shtml/452/White_Swan/Pimlico>
While you can sit where you like in traditional pubs and they don't
often offer waiter service, there are also 'gastropubs', which look like
pubs both outside and inside, but operate a seating policy and provide
restaurant style service. They also have more interesting menus and
often very high quality food - reflected in the price, naturally.
>finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
>station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
>guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
>out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
>felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
>all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
Not sure about which steakhouse you went to, but have a look at these:
<http://www.artilect.co.uk/rrd/index.asp?go=restaurant.asp?id=32>
<http://www.darsys.com/london.html>
I knew there was a reason I haven't reviewed this chain! At least you
didn't succumb to the dubious culinary delights of the hotdog vendors
(or aren't telling us!).
>the tour guide was very good, and kind of funny. It was
>kind of like travelling with a "grand dad" and he did his best to keep
>us all together.
I've been subject to tour guides' patter on one of the river cruises. I
have a feeling they start with a few basic facts during their training
and then try to outdo each other by adding more and more creative
embellishments.
>I remember sitting at the ice
>cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
>eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
>"wow!".
Several years ago I saw people having a lunch of caviar and champagne in
Harrod's food hall - 110GBP for two.
--
congokid
Good restaurants in London? Number one on Google
http://congokid.com
Jan 2nd 2005, 12:22 am
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
"Deep Frayed Morgues" <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> >Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
> >Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
> >the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
> >cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
> >eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
> >"wow!".
> That's very expensive, even by London standards. Harrods is Harrods
> though, and most people go there to be blown away by the prices. Of
> course everyone feels compelled to buy 'something'. I opted for a few
> chocolates, which were very good.
Did you buy the chocolates so that you could have a Harrods bag to show off
at home?
My wife bought a small thing just for that reason. :-)
Gerrit
message news:[email protected]...
> >Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
> >Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
> >the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
> >cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
> >eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
> >"wow!".
> That's very expensive, even by London standards. Harrods is Harrods
> though, and most people go there to be blown away by the prices. Of
> course everyone feels compelled to buy 'something'. I opted for a few
> chocolates, which were very good.
Did you buy the chocolates so that you could have a Harrods bag to show off
at home?
My wife bought a small thing just for that reason. :-)
Gerrit
Jan 2nd 2005, 2:18 am
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
> Did you buy the chocolates so that you could have a Harrods bag to show off
> at home?
> My wife bought a small thing just for that reason. :-)
>
> Gerrit
Gerrit,
Yes, we did :)! Actually, they had a small tin containing some
chocolate coins or medallions, and the tin had the Harrods embossed on
it. About 4 GBP, if I recall.
Jim
> at home?
> My wife bought a small thing just for that reason. :-)
>
> Gerrit
Gerrit,
Yes, we did :)! Actually, they had a small tin containing some
chocolate coins or medallions, and the tin had the Harrods embossed on
it. About 4 GBP, if I recall.
Jim
Jan 2nd 2005, 2:21 am
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
Deep Frayed Morgues wrote:
>
> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:00:00 -0500, ohaya <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
> >open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
> >running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
> >waiting to be seated :),
>
> Oh dear! Spot the Americans! :o)
Sorry, but I guess that we were, after all, tourists :)!!
> >We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
> >around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
> >station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
> >guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
> >out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
> >felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
> >all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
>
> Angus Steakhouse by any chance? I have never heard anything but bad
> stuff about them. They are not British in the food sense, that's for
> sure. Pub food is usually a good bet in the UK.
It was a "Scott's", I think...
> >
> >Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
> >suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
>
> That's a Europe thing. The cities invariably involve a lot of walking,
> and this is seen as a pleasure, not a task.
>
> >Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
> >Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
> >the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
> >cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
> >eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
> >"wow!".
>
> That's very expensive, even by London standards. Harrods is Harrods
> though, and most people go there to be blown away by the prices. Of
> course everyone feels compelled to buy 'something'. I opted for a few
> chocolates, which were very good.
Hah! I opted for just a "float" (5.50 GBP) and everytime I thought
about it, it reminded me of the "$5 shake" in "Pulp Fiction" :)...
Jim
>
> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:00:00 -0500, ohaya <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
> >open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
> >running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
> >waiting to be seated :),
>
> Oh dear! Spot the Americans! :o)
Sorry, but I guess that we were, after all, tourists :)!!
> >We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
> >around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
> >station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
> >guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
> >out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
> >felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
> >all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
>
> Angus Steakhouse by any chance? I have never heard anything but bad
> stuff about them. They are not British in the food sense, that's for
> sure. Pub food is usually a good bet in the UK.
It was a "Scott's", I think...
> >
> >Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
> >suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
>
> That's a Europe thing. The cities invariably involve a lot of walking,
> and this is seen as a pleasure, not a task.
>
> >Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
> >Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
> >the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
> >cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
> >eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
> >"wow!".
>
> That's very expensive, even by London standards. Harrods is Harrods
> though, and most people go there to be blown away by the prices. Of
> course everyone feels compelled to buy 'something'. I opted for a few
> chocolates, which were very good.
Hah! I opted for just a "float" (5.50 GBP) and everytime I thought
about it, it reminded me of the "$5 shake" in "Pulp Fiction" :)...
Jim
Jan 2nd 2005, 2:25 am
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 12:24:39 +0000, congokid
<[email protected]> wrote:
>In message <[email protected]>, ohaya <[email protected]> writes
>>After that, we took the underground into London. Zone 1-6 all-day pass
>>cost 5.40 GBP each. That was pretty easy... the most difficult part was
>>finding the hotel once we finally got off at the final tube station.
>I'm often disoriented at street level after taking the tube to an area
>I'm unfamiliar with. My tendency is to first head in the direction I
>think is right, realise I'm not where I want to be, take out an A-Z to
>work out where I should be, retrace my route back to the original point
>and then start again.
Exits from the underground name the street where you are going to
emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
--
Martin
<[email protected]> wrote:
>In message <[email protected]>, ohaya <[email protected]> writes
>>After that, we took the underground into London. Zone 1-6 all-day pass
>>cost 5.40 GBP each. That was pretty easy... the most difficult part was
>>finding the hotel once we finally got off at the final tube station.
>I'm often disoriented at street level after taking the tube to an area
>I'm unfamiliar with. My tendency is to first head in the direction I
>think is right, realise I'm not where I want to be, take out an A-Z to
>work out where I should be, retrace my route back to the original point
>and then start again.
Exits from the underground name the street where you are going to
emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
--
Martin
Jan 2nd 2005, 2:27 am
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 10:18:09 -0500, ohaya <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Did you buy the chocolates so that you could have a Harrods bag to show off
>> at home?
>> My wife bought a small thing just for that reason. :-)
>>
>> Gerrit
>Gerrit,
>Yes, we did :)! Actually, they had a small tin containing some
>chocolate coins or medallions, and the tin had the Harrods embossed on
>it. About 4 GBP, if I recall.
We were *given* a dozen packets of these by girls publicising a bank
in York. Another good reason to visit York :-)
--
Martin
>> Did you buy the chocolates so that you could have a Harrods bag to show off
>> at home?
>> My wife bought a small thing just for that reason. :-)
>>
>> Gerrit
>Gerrit,
>Yes, we did :)! Actually, they had a small tin containing some
>chocolate coins or medallions, and the tin had the Harrods embossed on
>it. About 4 GBP, if I recall.
We were *given* a dozen packets of these by girls publicising a bank
in York. Another good reason to visit York :-)
--
Martin
Jan 2nd 2005, 3:00 am
#10
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
In message <[email protected]>, nitram
<[email protected]> writes
>Exits from the underground name the street where you are going to
>emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can still
be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from, such as
Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits in
some stations.
--
congokid
Good restaurants in London? Number one on Google
http://congokid.com
<[email protected]> writes
>Exits from the underground name the street where you are going to
>emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can still
be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from, such as
Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits in
some stations.
--
congokid
Good restaurants in London? Number one on Google
http://congokid.com
Jan 2nd 2005, 8:54 am
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
>> Exits from the underground name the street where you are going
>> to emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
> Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can
> still be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from,
> such as Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
> What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits
> in some stations.
Whcih will usually have the immediate area around where you are
gouged out by vandals.
I have never seen that specific kind of petty nastiness anywhere
except London, it really sums the place up for me.
>> to emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
> Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can
> still be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from,
> such as Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
> What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits
> in some stations.
Whcih will usually have the immediate area around where you are
gouged out by vandals.
I have never seen that specific kind of petty nastiness anywhere
except London, it really sums the place up for me.
Jan 2nd 2005, 11:47 am
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
Jack Campin - bogus address <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> Exits from the underground name the street where you are going
> >> to emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
> > Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can
> > still be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from,
> > such as Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
> > What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits
> > in some stations.
>
> Whcih will usually have the immediate area around where you are
> gouged out by vandals.
>
> I have never seen that specific kind of petty nastiness anywhere
> except London, it really sums the place up for me.
? I can't remember looking at such a map that _was_ vandalised. I'm sure
some probably were- I just don't remember them- which makes me think
it's not the norm. Is your part of the world vandal free?
--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
> >> Exits from the underground name the street where you are going
> >> to emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
> > Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can
> > still be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from,
> > such as Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
> > What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits
> > in some stations.
>
> Whcih will usually have the immediate area around where you are
> gouged out by vandals.
>
> I have never seen that specific kind of petty nastiness anywhere
> except London, it really sums the place up for me.
? I can't remember looking at such a map that _was_ vandalised. I'm sure
some probably were- I just don't remember them- which makes me think
it's not the norm. Is your part of the world vandal free?
--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
Jan 2nd 2005, 11:52 am
#13
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
congokid <[email protected]> wrote:
[]
> Not sure about which steakhouse you went to, but have a look at these:
> <http://www.artilect.co.uk/rrd/index.asp?go=restaurant.asp?id=32>
> <http://www.darsys.com/london.html>
>
> I knew there was a reason I haven't reviewed this chain!
I've never been in one of the 'steakhouse' chains in London, and I
wouldn't recommend them. However, my partner and his family who were
visiting London went to one near Piccadilly Circus, and they actually
said it was fine. They live in the US, and they're usually pretty
'fastidioso.' I was susprised by their comments, but that's what they
said.
--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
[]
> Not sure about which steakhouse you went to, but have a look at these:
> <http://www.artilect.co.uk/rrd/index.asp?go=restaurant.asp?id=32>
> <http://www.darsys.com/london.html>
>
> I knew there was a reason I haven't reviewed this chain!
I've never been in one of the 'steakhouse' chains in London, and I
wouldn't recommend them. However, my partner and his family who were
visiting London went to one near Piccadilly Circus, and they actually
said it was fine. They live in the US, and they're usually pretty
'fastidioso.' I was susprised by their comments, but that's what they
said.
--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
Jan 2nd 2005, 7:29 pm
#14
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
"Jack Campin - bogus address" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >> Exits from the underground name the street where you are going
> >> to emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
> > Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can
> > still be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from,
> > such as Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
> > What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits
> > in some stations.
> Whcih will usually have the immediate area around where you are
> gouged out by vandals.
> I have never seen that specific kind of petty nastiness anywhere
> except London, it really sums the place up for me.
I've always assumed that that effect was caused by people's fingers. Watch
somebody at a map, almost invariably the first thing they do is put their
finger on wherever they are now and then they put another finger on their
destination. The destinations are spread out all over the map but, for any
one map, the start point is always the same.
And, yes, I have seen this effect in places other than London.
T.
news:[email protected]...
> >> Exits from the underground name the street where you are going
> >> to emerge. Consult the A-Z before emerging :-)
> > Forgot about those. They can be useful, but certain stations can
> > still be very confusing if you've got several exits to choose from,
> > such as Marble Arch, Aldgate East, Paddington or Chancery Lane.
> > What's even better is the local area maps displayed near the exits
> > in some stations.
> Whcih will usually have the immediate area around where you are
> gouged out by vandals.
> I have never seen that specific kind of petty nastiness anywhere
> except London, it really sums the place up for me.
I've always assumed that that effect was caused by people's fingers. Watch
somebody at a map, almost invariably the first thing they do is put their
finger on wherever they are now and then they put another finger on their
destination. The destinations are spread out all over the map but, for any
one map, the start point is always the same.
And, yes, I have seen this effect in places other than London.
T.
Jan 2nd 2005, 10:10 pm
#15
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Post-trip report - London
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:00:00 -0500, ohaya <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hi All,
>We *just* got back into Washington last evening, after our brief 5-day
>trip to London. Thanks for all of the responses to my earlier
>inquiries, I'm happy to report that everything went pretty well, but
>both my wife and I are pretty beat/tired.
>The hotel was nice enough to let us check in, even though we were a bit
>early (we got in around 12:30, normal check-in time was 14:30), which we
>were really grateful for, after dragging our bags for a couple of
>hours.
This must be a very common request as most intercontinental flights
into London arrive in the morning.
>It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
>open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
>running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
>waiting to be seated :), and she said "this is a pub, sit anywhere, and
>order at the bar". I gathered (from that and a few visits at other
>pubs) that that's the norm.
In general it is the norm, though it's not uncommon for a pub to have
a more formal restaurant attached
> Anyway, we had a nice late lunch: fish and
>chips (with "mashed peas") for me, and a beef pie for my wife. FYI,
>this was probably the most reasonable meal that we had during our whole
>visit.
Strictly speaking that's 'mushy', not mashed peas. Fish and chips
isn't traditionally pub food; it's closer to being traditional
take-away or fast food.
>That night, we walked around the area around the Victoria underground
>station, because we were suppose to meet up with a tour the next
>morning. While there, we found a local Sainsbury (kind of a small
>supermarket) about 2 blocks from the underground station, and stocked up
>on some cheese, milk, and croissants. Prices here were a bit cheaper
>than the local foodstore, and during our trip, I made several trips here
>:).
Sainsbury supermarkets come in many different sizes and some are
fairly big. They have opened up a lot of small outlets in urban areas
recently, including quite a few attached to petrol stations..
Sainsbury hasn't being doing too well as a business lately and one
suggestion is that they were too slow in recognising and exploiting
this market.
Sainsbury and Tesco are the too largest players in the British
supermarket business, and prices in their small outlets will usually
be a bit keener than those in other convenience stores
>We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
>around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
>station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
>guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
>out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
>felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
>all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
I think possibly a good move to stay away from them; apart from pubs
and a few honourable exceptions, it's often a good approach to avoid
anywhere purporting to serve traditional British food.
>Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
>suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
>Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
>Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
>the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
>cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
>eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
>"wow!".
For what it's worth, I normally deal in pounds and I'm used to London
prices, but that's outrageous for a couple of sundaes.
Glad you enjoyed the trip, and thanks for an interesting report
Martin
>Hi All,
>We *just* got back into Washington last evening, after our brief 5-day
>trip to London. Thanks for all of the responses to my earlier
>inquiries, I'm happy to report that everything went pretty well, but
>both my wife and I are pretty beat/tired.
>The hotel was nice enough to let us check in, even though we were a bit
>early (we got in around 12:30, normal check-in time was 14:30), which we
>were really grateful for, after dragging our bags for a couple of
>hours.
This must be a very common request as most intercontinental flights
into London arrive in the morning.
>It took us awhile, but we found a restaurant/pub (White Swan) that was
>open. It seemed like a kind of local place, and the woman that was
>running the place was very nice. When we walked in, we stood around
>waiting to be seated :), and she said "this is a pub, sit anywhere, and
>order at the bar". I gathered (from that and a few visits at other
>pubs) that that's the norm.
In general it is the norm, though it's not uncommon for a pub to have
a more formal restaurant attached
> Anyway, we had a nice late lunch: fish and
>chips (with "mashed peas") for me, and a beef pie for my wife. FYI,
>this was probably the most reasonable meal that we had during our whole
>visit.
Strictly speaking that's 'mushy', not mashed peas. Fish and chips
isn't traditionally pub food; it's closer to being traditional
take-away or fast food.
>That night, we walked around the area around the Victoria underground
>station, because we were suppose to meet up with a tour the next
>morning. While there, we found a local Sainsbury (kind of a small
>supermarket) about 2 blocks from the underground station, and stocked up
>on some cheese, milk, and croissants. Prices here were a bit cheaper
>than the local foodstore, and during our trip, I made several trips here
>:).
Sainsbury supermarkets come in many different sizes and some are
fairly big. They have opened up a lot of small outlets in urban areas
recently, including quite a few attached to petrol stations..
Sainsbury hasn't being doing too well as a business lately and one
suggestion is that they were too slow in recognising and exploiting
this market.
Sainsbury and Tesco are the too largest players in the British
supermarket business, and prices in their small outlets will usually
be a bit keener than those in other convenience stores
>We weren't sure what we wanted to eat for dinner, so we just wandered
>around a bit, and finally ended up at a "steakhouse" near the
>station...big mistake. The food, service, and prices were very bad... I
>guess we should have figured that one out when 3 other parties walked
>out AFTER being seated, but unfortunately, we had already ordered, so we
>felt kind of obligated to finish. I don't know if this is the case with
>all "steakhouses", but we stayed away from them all after that :(.
I think possibly a good move to stay away from them; apart from pubs
and a few honourable exceptions, it's often a good approach to avoid
anywhere purporting to serve traditional British food.
>Overall, it was an enjoyable, but really exhausting trip (we live in the
>suburbs, so I guess we're not use to walking everywhere).
>Luckily this wasn't a "shopping" trip, because things are (at least from
>Americans) really expensive. I think that if I was dealing in GPBs all
>the time, it wouldn't seem so bad, but I remember sitting at the ice
>cream ("gelato"?) counter at Harrods, and watching two little kids, each
>eating some sundaes that cost 15 GPB each ($30.00), and thinking
>"wow!".
For what it's worth, I normally deal in pounds and I'm used to London
prices, but that's outrageous for a couple of sundaes.
Glad you enjoyed the trip, and thanks for an interesting report
Martin
