Smultron mellan blåbär: London

Hello friends, thanks for following my page! Earlier this week I visited London. My original flight to England was cancelled, so I ended up with only one day to spend in this city! I really enjoyed it, and would like to plan another visit soon. Since it's only a two hour train ride from Norwich, there's a good possibility I will do that soon. The hotel I was going to stay at was kind enough to let me still use their luggage storage for the day and also use the internet from their lobby. I would not have been able to see so much without the Citymapper app. One of the first things I did was to get a UK SIM card in my mobile phone so that I could use data from anywhere. I felt like a pro using it to travel from place to place (without having to spend an age looking at the map).

I decided for my first visit that I had to see a few Beatles spots! So, my self-guided, whirlwind Beatles tour took place in the areas of Bloomsbury, Marylebone, and Mayfair. I started at the British Library— which obviously I would want to visit anyway, even if they didn't happen to hold some of the Beatles' original handwritten lyrics. Yes, a longer visit is coming soon I hope.

Outside The British Library

The Beatles Lyrics

It wasn't raining!

Next on the itinerary was a trip on the Underground from St Pancras to St John's Wood via Baker Street taking me up to Abbey Road Studios. I also used the Underground (Tube) from the airport into the city and to Liverpool Street to catch my train, and I have to say I was amused by people's behaviour. I liked it, but was amused. They have a way of looking at you while avoiding eye contact even when they are sitting right across from you. They do not start any awkward conversations, everyone minds his own business. If there is any talking, it's very quiet. I was really grateful for this when travelling on my own, although I'm sure there are people to ask if you need assistance—and if you are really lost, you can always ask for help and someone will readily give it. I felt a lot safer than when I visited New York where the subway cars are very loud and random people try to talk to you or ask you where you are going. After getting off at St John's Wood, I had to walk a few blocks to get to the studio and the famous crossing. The crossing was crowded with people getting pictures, and of course, doing the walk. It looked pretty different to me than the album cover. There's a roundabout with a statue not far away that is not captured in the cover photo. I bet some of these trees are the same, though, and you can see that the very top of the buildings are included in the cover shot. But I did not stand in the middle of the street to take this picture!

Abbey Road Crossing

Abbey Road Studios

Alas, I did not have time to walk to Paul McCarney's house at 7 Cavendish Avenue this time! I'd also like to walk through Regent's Park on another visit. So, the next place I visited was the location of the original Apple store on Baker Street, which is now owned by a real estate company, Marsh & Parsons. I took a double decker bus, and it was my first time on one of these. The view from the front or near the front of the top is the best! It was so convenient to use the Oyster card for public transportation. I needed this for the Tube and the buses. There was a bit of construction going on around Savile Row, but I found my way to number 3, the former location of Apple Studios. I was the only Apple Scruff there that day. This is now owned by Abercrombie & Fitch.

Passing the London Beatles Store

Location of the original Apple store

3 Savile Row. The famous door!

Plaque that reads:

The Beatles played their last live performance on the roof of this building 30th January, 1969

While walking around these places, I found myself passing Carnaby Street. It's really not as cool as it was in the 60s, but I did find a neat little place called Farm Girl Cafe for a bit of lunch. I walked through Piccadilly Circus on the way to the Covent Garden Moomin Shop. I wasn't able to see Trafalgar Square or Buckingham Palace from there, but they were very close by. I guess people generally walk to the left on the sidewalk, too, as they do for driving. I found that I normally stayed to the right (my right) and ended up in the path of oncoming pedestrians. But I can't quite figure it out, because sometimes they do walk to their right. Maybe it was the foreign people who got mixed up in this, since other countries also drive on the right. In the areas I visited, I saw many American tourists and Chinese or Asian tourists as well. It felt really international.

Carnaby Street

Piccadilly Circus

People actually know the Moomins here.

Okay, it was kind of pricey, but I had afternoon tea at the British Museum. I figured I would only do it once, and it should be something grand for my first tea in England. I arrived at two and then had some time to first walk through the Egyptian exhibits, see the Rosetta Stone, and walk the gift shop area in the wide circular part of the building. The shop was one of the highlights because there were things (I'm ashamed to admit) I didn't know were at the museum until I saw the collectible knickknacks in the gift shop! Haha. It was a hot day! Maybe only in the upper 70s, I can't remember, but it felt muggy. And surprisingly, the museum didn't seem to have air conditioning (maybe that's an American attitude?). There were just fans going on the upper floors. When you got to the top floors, it felt like an old elementary school building, just stuffy and humid. I didn't stay that long there because of the temperature. I had to go down to the ground level gift shop. The fancier restaurant area is on the top level, but it's in the wide open part and wasn't a bad place to sit. The tea was served with a china set. So many tasty (and one not so tasty) finger sandwiches and treats! It was a bit much for one person. The best, in my opinion, was the scone that came with clotted cream. So that's what it is! I thought it was really good butter at first. The waitress told me it was clotted cream. It's my new favourite thing! (More later about my cream tea in Norwich.)