It's New Year's Eve and it feels like London is suddenly coming to life. Everywhere there were people from all over the world seeing the sites and getting ready for the festivities.
JP and I started off the morning by rushing to check out. When I booked the rooms I had to do a bit of fancy footwork to get us beds for our six night stay at St. Christopher's. A long wait for the shower and then figuring out how to cram my luggage in a single locker was the price to pay for leaving the sauna room behind us.
Since we missed breakfast and had no where to be until Afternoon Tea, it was off to find food. We wandered into the Borough street market which was filled with bakers, sausage makers, and the biggest cooking pans I'd seen in my life. Lots of free samples. I picked up an almond spelt croissant and JP got a tomato basil foccacia and a bunch of fudge. We're planning on going back to get some of the paella from the mega pans - they gave a taste and it was heavenly!
With our stomachs satisfied we headed towards Bea's of Bloomsbury where we would be having traditional afternoon tea. We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and the London visitors center where JP talked to the most enthusiastic tourist guide ever. She gave us lots of ideas for free things to see.
We still had an our til out tea reservation so we went to the mall. JP picked up a hat in H&M that is quite posh and then it was off to tea.
I'm not sure what I expected from afternoon tea. I knew its be some tiny sandwiches and baked goods, and of course tea, but I didn't think that when they brought out the tray of goodies that it would be so much food! I also didn't believe their warning that it could take up to an hour and a half but we easily sat there for an hour, enjoying every morsel of scone with clotted cream and jam and the assortment of pastries.
Filled with goodies and caffeinated we walked along figuring out what to do next. While we had wifi JP managed to find out that the oldest pub in London wasn't far from us.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was a trip. A series of small rooms and tight halls with sawdust on the floor and solid wood bars. They were closing soon but we still had time for a pint and to absorb the history around us.
After our stop in the pub it was off to Brick Lane, home of tons of Indian restaurants and curry houses. It was quieter then we expected but we found ourselves coerced into going into one of the restaurants we saw. The food was especially good. Again I didn't expect it to live up to the hype but again I was surprise to see it did.
As the darkness enveloped London we knew it was time to fight through the crowds and find our way back to the hostel. After all a whole night of ringing in the new year and maybe making a few more new friends along the way awaits us!
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