Pounding the pavement in London

As Jerel’s final project in Europe came to a close, Chana seized the chance for a weekend trip to London. She arrived with two missions: to visit with two Canuck-turned-Londoner chums and to add one more city to the growing list of “cities in which Chana can charge for a walking tour”. We were sad to miss our other London dwelling friends, Peter and Natacha, but happy to take them up on their generous offer to stay at their flat (complete with a yummy loaf of freshly baked bread).

Chana got a head start on her tour training on Friday, with a leisurely jog to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Hyde Park, and Buckingham palace, including a chance sighting of the changing of the guards. Saturday, Jerel joined for the full-on tour day, whereby we hit as many of London’s ‘must-see’ sights as possible, all on foot. From Clapham, we headed north to see Harrod’s, continued to Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, and ended with a stroll along the Thames to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.

We were equally successful on our social missions. Chana and Bronywn had calculated that we could spend precisely 3.5 hours together on Friday night if we rendezvoused near London Liverpool station. The three of us shared a delicious meal, serenaded by an electric violin, while Bronwyn and Jerel regaled Chana with ‘loads’ of stories about British expressions. Among the favorites were “the complete history of the word posh” and the word ‘pudding’ which apparently means any type of dessert.

Saturday evening, we met up with Andrew (a friend from Chana’s UBC days) and his girlfriend Helen in their old ‘hood (Islington). We started with a pitcher of Pimm’s at one funky pub and ended with dinner and ‘pudding’ at London’s first pub serving organic food …those of you that enjoy the Naam in Vancouver would have felt right at home!

We wrapped up our weekend with shopping in the bustling streets of Covent Garden. In typical fashion, we lost track of time and arrived at St. Pancras station just in time to catch our Eurostar train back to Brussels for one final week in the city of waffles and chocolate.

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