Running and drinking in London Town

We reached London Gatwick airport early in the evening by plane and took public transport into London, directly to Notting Hill in the hostel. The hostel was located on a beautiful street with row houses that are well-known from the movie of the same name. The Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant feeling definitely came up. When we arrived at the hostel, we met our roommate F. from New Zealand, who had arrived the day before and was still jetlagged. When we told him that we also plan to travel to New Zealand (SPOILER), he was kind enough to give us some places we should definitely visit. The next morning, we went straight to Trafalgar Square to have our beloved English breakfast in our beloved restaurant Admiraltity. Unfortunately, the restaurant had taken the breakfast off the menu and only opened at 12 o'clock, so we had our morning coffee with a breakfast wrap at Prêt a Manager (short: Prêt). From Trafalgar Square, we strolled to Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament. There, we were already wondering why various decorations and beginnings of roadblocks were set up. After a brief conversation with some London policemen, we learned that important people were being knighted in Westminster Abbey and the chaotic traffic situation was due to the preparations for the Queen's jubilee. After that, we crossed Westminster Bridge and finally saw the unpacked Big Ben again, which was being renovated during our last visit to London. On the other side of the Thames, we spontaneously decided to take a ride on the London Eye and enjoyed the view of the beautiful London skyline from there. Back at the House of Parliament, the English weather surprised us with a short thunderstorm and hail, which is famously part of it. Therefore, we took the tube towards the Natural History Museum. However, the museum visit was canceled because the weather was on our side and the sun came out again. For this reason, we continued our walk from there towards Kensington Palace and had a little snack near the Lady Diana Playground. Unfortunately, we were too old to visit the playground :( From there, we walked back to Notting Hill for a short stop at the hostel and took a short walk with our roommate to the main street in Notting Hill. In the late afternoon, we met our friend Y. directly at Camden Market and went from there to Soho in a pub and drank some pale ales while enjoying relaxed live music. After 2 rounds of beer and funny conversations, we got hungry for some pub food, so we treated ourselves to some delicious hearty English Pies at the Cambrige Pub near the Palace Theatre. The Polish waiter entertained us with a story about the lead singer of the Sex Pistols, who allegedly hid in this pub after stealing a guitar from a shop. Thus ended the eventful day of running and drinking in London. The next day, we met Y. in Little Venice at noon, where we took a boat down the canal to Camden Market. On the canal, we passed by the most expensive villas of the London high society. However, the tour guide took a nap, so we couldn't find out which star lived in which mansion. After a lock with the boat, we reached Camden Market, found something delicious to eat, browsed the interesting second-hand shops, and visited the store Cyberdog. This store had a very interesting concept: Techno music blared from the speakers and you could quickly choose your next rave outfit in neon colors, maybe for the next street parade. Since the London rain caught up with us again, we took the tube from Camden Market to near the British Museum. Thank goodness, the sun came out again and Y. was ready to give us a little tour of King's College, where he was studying, and show us the breathtaking rooftop terrace above the roofs of London. After that, we relaxed on a bench near the Thames and enjoyed the sunshine. Based on Y.'s recommendation, we spontaneously decided to go to a musical. So we bought cheap last-minute tickets for the musical Wicked through the Today Tix app, which we watched 2 hours later at the Apollo Theatre. The musical and the show were truly incredible, and it was nice to visit a theater post-Covid. After the musical, we met again with Y. in Soho and went on a hunt for the last beer before the pub curfew. We found one and were able to end the second day of running and drinking before boarding the flight to our next destination at London Stansted the next morning.