March 2012 - London...the multicultural city I fell in love with Part 2

(...) Sunday, March 25th. Just for the history, it's the celebration of the Greek Independence Day, plus one of the holiest days for Greek Orthodox Christians, the Ananciation of the Holy Mother.

With a few hours of sleep, but really relaxed and happy.. had an early start again, and my destination was Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. A slight mist was all over.. Few people were jogging or taking their dogs for a walk. God, I LOVE the parks in London. You could see grass and trees as long as your eye could reach. I even saw squirrels. :) After a couple of hours, time to return to the hotel, get my cuz and ride into the...sunrise!! :p

First stop: Natural History Museum. Absolute children's joy!! :) Dinosaurs, massive mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, corals, shells, birds and wildlife. Highlight was the elephant poo in a box!! You just sow the seeds, water and see your plant grow!! lol 

Next stop: Harrods!! Temple of luxurious shopping. Particularly loved the jewellery and watch section. Tag Heuer, Omega, Breitling..oh, you just didn't know where to look!! <3 If you visit, be sure to take some of those excellent Charbonnel et Walker truffles. If you like liquor, the Pink Marc de Champagne are a must! ;)

A quick bite, some souvenir shopping and next destination: British Museum. I'll be honest here..I truly wonder WHY on earth do they call it British. Biggest part of it is greek and egyptian. Loved it and could spend hours and hours observing every little thing. Reaching the Greek section though, made me feel a melancholy..:( Yes, our marbles and our statues should return to where they belong. GREECE! Cause they are OUR heritage, OUR pride, OUR history, OUR civilization, they are OURS!!

While we visited, there was a special exhibition about Hajj:Journey to the heart of Islam. Beauuuutiful objects, amazing jewels, fantastic textiles..

With a bittersweet feeling, we took the road towards Tower Hill. Sunset time was approaching and the sky was promising amazing pictures of the Tower Bridge.

We sat there enjoying the magnificent view and watching all kinds of people pass us by, and before we even knew, it was time to head back to the hotel and prepare ourselves for dinner. We wanted to make our last night in London a little special, and since we hadn't really eaten proper food with all the walking and sightseeing, we decided to visit "Gaucho" restaurant in Chelsea. Located on number 89 of Sloane Av. it is the perfect place in London to have an Argentinian steak. Atmosphere was lovely, the open kitchen was a nice touch, the wine list impressive and the staff extra friendly with knowledge of what they're offering (i hate it when i go to a restaurant and ask a question and the waiter gives me the cow look). They present a meat board which is a quite fun experience and rather helpful. I would absolutely recommend it and couldn't think of a better way to spend our last night in London.

Monday, March 26th and last day of our trip. Got up early and rushed out of the hotel for my last dosage of London. No camera today..Instead, I was desperately trying to fill my mind with images and smells. 

Trip back home was tiring, but filled with lots of good memories.

Conclusion is that I adored London and it's certain that I'm going to return there soon! It IS the European New York, with its own unique atmosphere, its diversity, its multicultureness, its friendly people, its architecture, its culture and its entertainment. London is a place where you can just be yourself. No matter what color, what religion, what ethnicity, what sexual preference. No matter if you're tall or short, beautiful or ugly, fat or thin, with a taste in fashion or not. Here you can be who you are and nobody is gonna look at you in a strange way or criticise you. London is a city that everyone must visit at least once in a lifetime. I do promise you though, that on your way back home, you will be thinking about the time you'll visit again....

xoxo

B.

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March 2012 - London...the multicultural city I fell in love with Part 1

I've been so preoccupied with other things these last few months that I've stopped blogging..Sorry about that..Making a big comeback though with my recent trip to London. :)
A trip to UK was a dream that for some reason, never seemed to come true. March 2012, and along with major changes in my life, air tickets for London were finally booked!
I was determined to make this trip for myself and nobody or nothing would spoil it.
Friday, March 23rd, 13:00 pm, arrival at Athens International Airport. Nervousness for the flight was beyond words. Grabbed something to eat, took a few deep breaths and boarded on the plane. Weather was sunny and hot, so the trip was expected to be great. 14:45, take off.
Almost 3 hours and 15 mins later, we were stepping on English land.
Train to Victoria station and after 30 mins we were like two villagers in the city..lol Amazed by  the rhythm of this town. Everyone was ruuuuuunning!! :)
Took the tube (no, we didn't see any mice and it wasn't thaaaat hot) and after 3 stops we reached Gloucester Rd. Checked in Holiday Inn Kensington Forum. Lovely hotel, clean, spacious rooms (for London at least), and the friendliest staff I've met. The middle Eastern male receptionist, whose name I forget, was a total charm! :)
Took a shower, changed clothes and hit the road..Our bellies had started complaining a long time ago.
Ate at Nando's. Some kind of Mexican chicken restaurant. Food was spicy (I personally loved it) and delicious.
Calm and relaxed we took the road back to our hotel to get prepared for the first meeting of our trip.
Waiting at the lobby with anticipation, my heart was certainly skipping beats. :)
Was looking forward to that particular meeting...And then...he entered...Looking radiant, with the air of the man who knows he is handsome and desired. A pair of beautiful deep blue eyes, in perfect match with a fair complexion, and a smile that you could look at for hours.. An OMG hooooot body and a posture that could easily make you think that he jumped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. A warm hug was all it took to melt my heart and demolish the barriers of my nervousness..I stick on details, so the more I got to know him, the more fond of him I was.. S. is a multi-talented, charismatic man, with a soothing voice that any woman could fall for. The sure thing is that I will keep these two first nights in London in my heart and mind always..
So, here we go to Saturday, March 24th. Woke up reaaaally early.. With my cousin still sleeping, I got dressed, took my camera and left for my adventure. I love a city early in the morning.You can feel it and see it in a totally different way. I wandered along the streets with no particular destination, just observing... The architecture, the landscape, the smells, the people.. The city was just starting to wake up..
Destination No1: Westminster. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Victoria Gardens, Parliament. The sun was shining, the weather was unexpectedly hot and the Londoners were lying on the grass. Beautiful view towards London Eye.
Walked around, crossed Westminster Bridge and reached Waterloo station. Next stop, Covent Garden. It was almost 14.00 and for some strange reason the pubs were packed with men, drinking beer, being loud and laughing their arses off!!! lol We got sth to eat and continued walking and walking and walking.. :) Lots of kms in this trip.
Oxford Circus. Afternoon already and time for our next meetings in London with two very very dear friends of mine. I've known M. for years, but it was the first time we were actually in the same city and could meet in person. He is truly an English gentleman!! There is no better expression to describe him than that. Truly kind, helpful with a wonderful sense of humour that could even make my cousin laugh..now, that's hard!! hahaha
And what can I say about A.? A gorgeous woman, with a wonderful smile, that opens her heart and lets you in unconditionally. We had a cup of coffee alltogether, while chatting and laughing. We even went for a walk, down Regent Str. to Piccadilly Circus, then to Trafalgar Square, then to the mall, all the way down to Buckingham Palace (yes, the Queen was home :p) into Green Park.
The walk was great, apart from the fact that they both look like giants and made us feel like pure hobbits!!! lol
A. continued hanging out with us and joined us for dinner, where we had the chance to talk a little more and get to know each other a little better.
It was an honour to meet you my friends and spend such a great time with you!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my stay in London so pleasant! You'll be in my heart forever. You're already missed dearly and I can't wait to be with you again. No need to say that you are all welcome in Greece. My house will always be open for you!! Just book tickets and tell me you're coming! :)
(to be continued...)

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