One reason I never liked London was because I always found it so extremely out of this world expensive. To solve that problem... live in Paris.
I also realized that all of my visits to London, with much thanks of course, were hosted by extremely wealthy people - which makes it much harder to keep up, and of course makes the visit a bit different to how I would naturally visit the city.
Rather than comparing and concentrating on my previous not-so-great visits, I just want to say this visit was amazing. Great coffee shops - of course the famous Monmouth Coffee. The markets - Borough market with a variety of fresh juices, oysters, Indian concoctions and licorice. The People - chippy and happy and a great amount of small talk. I experienced the proper after-work pub hangout which is a vibe I have missed - a bunch of people loosening their ties and loafers and hanging out with whoever is there. The food - a delicious variety of restaurants with good service, GOOD SERVICE, I have missed good service. From the Hole in the Wall Indian restaurants in the East, to the Asian Fusion in the West, organic/veggie options in Covent Gardens (Food For Thought) and even the fancy and trendy Hoxton Hotel and Waffle and Duck - great service, which can surprisingly make the price irrelevant.
Asking for directions on my extreme walking extravaganzas were always greeted with a desire to help and running along the river between the bridges with a bottle of wine and a few glasses to enjoy the view was easy and fun.
London has planted a bug in me. I wish I had been there more as from Paris it is a hop, skip and jump - but rather than regretting, I will simply be happy I can now plan great visits back to a great country.
On that note in regards to service.
There was one day where my feet were sore, the weather was cold and my cousin took the day off work. He suggested we go to his gym for a few hours where they have a spa and he has guest passes. YES PLEASE! So we headed to his FITNESS FIRST gym, where the guest pass was quickly denied as apparently this location doesn't accept them, they offered no form of middle ground and were extremely rude. We paid for me to enter because our day was planned around this - 15.00 pounds. The change room was nice and big and upon entering the spa area with steam, sauna and pool I was happy. Until, the water fountain was not working and the only other one was up in the weight room - a few times I asked for alternatives and well, there were none. No water while going in and out of steam/sauna is not a very good idea, but it was not THAT bad because the steam was broken. STEAM WAS BROKEN!!! That was the main reason I was there. So, rude service, no water and no steam - we asked for the money back and were told a quick and solid - you have to write to customer service. A total joke.
I obviously took the EURO STAR which is quick and easy. Downtown station to station. When I purchased my ticket I asked for the "Print Option" to print my own ticket. In the 4am rush to get my bags and butt to the train, I forgot my printed ticket. When I arrived at the station I thought I could simply reprint it or atleast be able to show my email confirmation to have them print it out. NOT AT ALL. I was sent from Euro Star desk to SNCF desk, they would not print my ticket because it was paid with another credit card that I did not have on me. It was like those days where you left your plane ticket behind and couldnt fly... in 1985!!!!!! Finally, after a lot of eyelash fluttering, fake tears, and thankfully a picture of the credit card I used, she decided to push "print" on her screen and give me my ticket. This was after her trying to get me to purchase another ticket, go to an internet cafe to print my ticket and simply saying nothing could be done - there was 20 minutes to get to my train.
I finally made it to the train, and as much as the seat was fine, I cannot express how DISGUSTING the washrooms were. 2 were completely overflowed, 1 had no paper and the others were filthy. I felt like I was in a 3rd world country - or worse. When paying for a service I expect the basic necessities to be pleassant. To put it into perspective, if I had had my grandmother with me, I would not have let her use the toilet.
So, I am very thankful for the great London experience because the Euro Star was a nasty start.
Happy travels and thank you London and all those who made my trip amazing,
Pippa
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