I arrived in St Pancras Station on the day of the strike. So, aside from the already chaotic travel season, London workers decided to plan a transportation strike that weekend. I have little luck with the London Underground the last couple of trips... However, I knew this so mentally prepared myself to have a to our hotel. C was texting me on her progress from Heathrow, where she had taken a car the hotel had sent for her, and they also encountered quite a bit of traffic. I saw huge line at the station for the underground, and decided to try my hand at a taxi. The line was slow but it was moving. While in line, I checked out the uber possibilities and after getting abandoned by 2 cars the third was interactive and moving. He said to meet him at the nearby Pullman Hotel so he could avoid the crazy traffic, and I warned him that I would lose service because I just had wifi. So I made my way to the hotel and did not see his car on the street, walked inside to get wifi and thought to check the parking area -
as I was going outside the bellhop asked if I was waiting for a car and motioned to one waiting - and it was mine! It was a super nice Somali driver and we chatted the whole way - we actually made pretty good time and I arrived about 20 minutes after C did. Yay!
C and used to meet up at various cities in the US each year, often along with our friend L and maybe others who wanted to join. Due to Covid, it had been 3 years since we had seen each other. She to London to meet up with her friend who was studying here and may be leaving soon so we decided to do our annual meeting here and since it was international, a bit more special. C booked a nice hotel near the Aldgate area, near to certain sights like the Tower of London and the Gherkin. The hotel was absolutely beautiful - the room was nice but the bathroom was phenomenal! Heated tiles, heated towel racks, giant shower.... all it needed was a giant tub and this would be my design for if
We decided to walk around and try to visit a pub and getting a bite to eat. We stopped at one nearby which looked cute and had menus.... but didnt serve food. We moved on until we found one where we could get food and drinks (fish and chips for me!). Then we went to get a massage at a hole in the wall place. Cs massage was apparently nice, but mine was weird - my masseuse was scantily clad and the massage felt very sensual. Thankfully, it was just 30 minutes! It was a good massage, but had a weird vibe. We had another drink at a very herbal, instagram themed bar across from our hotel. Very nice, but a bit too fancy.
We got ready to meet her friend at the Ned, a social club about a 15 minute walk away. We met K and went to the rooftop bar, with pool and clear view of the sunset over St Pauls Cathedral, where we had a quick drink and caught up. K gave us a tour of the extensive building with various bars and restaurants, live music
Then we walked to the Duck and Waffle, between the Ned and our hotel for dinner reservations. The restaurant is located at the very top of the tall building and was very crowded, but had amazing views of the city. And the food.... omg. So incredible! We decided to just get a bunch of plates to share. We started with bacon wrapped dates, then got delivered at perfectly placed separate times honey glazed jalapeno cornbread, lobster mac and cheese, and the signature duck and waffle dish which was surprisingly delicious!
The next morning, we got a taxi to Harrods on the other side of town so C could enjoy the famous store, where she got a pair of socks. 😉 We were able to spend a bit of time wandering, including trying a couple snacks. Then we walked to the adventure we were planning for the day: Brigits Bakery Tea - a double decker tour of the city where we would have tea and biscuits (and champagne).
