Week One: London

Our trip kicked off with a six hour flight from Toronto to London, which I found remarkably comfortable. Brennan, unfortunately, did not feel the same. It was his first flight of that length and no amount of pillows or blankets could help him get to sleep, meaning the adventure began on a rather slow note.

We spent the afternoon walking around Hyde Park and made our way to the Kensington Palace. After an afternoon tea, we ventured around the gardens and pond, and then headed out to find a place for dinner.

A stay in London wouldn't have been complete without a meal of fish and chips, so we decided on a rather crowded pub and all ordered the same dish. However, due to a combination of lacklustre food and exhaustion, dinner fell flat and we retired home for an early sleep at the guest house.

With a good rest, the morning got off to a far better start. I headed straight to the Borough market and after a round of taking in the smells of all the stalls, I settled on an English sausage while Brennan got a Chorizo paella. It remained among the top three meals of our week.

At that point, the two of us parted as Brennan went to tour the Emirates stadium, an activity I wasn't as interested in paying for. I walked him across London Bridge to Monument station and decided I might as well walk to Twinings from there for tea. Though rain had been forecasted, I got lucky. Stumbling across unexpected buildings -- so stunning by Toronto standards, but almost common in Europe -- soon made the stroll one of my favourite activities. It was also the first time I'd travelled alone at all and found it so relaxing to go exactly at my own pace.

Unfortunately, the Twinings tea bar was closed for a private event, so I bought a couple boxes to go and stopped at the café next door for an earl grey instead, spending a leisurely hour watching red double-deckers drive in front of the Royal Courts of Justice.

From there, I decided that I should as well walk to Westminster and Buckingham Palace, as it was still early in the day and pleasant out. Passing through St. James Park, I paused for a lie-down on the grass to finish reading a chapter of my book and eat a piece of toast I'd packed. I rose when I heard the sound of "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera playing. An orchestra was rehearsing it outdoors and I stopped to listen until the end of their practice.

I made my way to Westminster and Buckingham and walked around the buildings but didn't linger; the quieter areas, such as the parks, were nicer to stroll through than the larger tourist attractions. As I still had lots of time, I walked the rest of the way to our guest house at Gloucester station, passing through Hyde Park once more.

The time on my own was a huge confidence boost in my ability to navigate (with significant help from Google maps) and made me less worried to travel by myself. Though I would've preferred to see new sights with company, the leisurely pace of the day through a city I'd already once visited worked perfectly.