A friend gave me a pass to use on a certain airline so I could fly home to New York City for Christmas and New Years. With the pass, I only had to pay the tax, which came to $50. Flying from Atlanta to NYC for $50 round trip is not too shabby, especially during the holiday season.
At the last minute I decided to stay in Atlanta which meant I had one year to use the ticket. My friend Natalie and I noticed advertisements for cheap fares to Europe so we started talking about going to London which meant I could use my pass since I already applied $50 to it. My friend Juilea called the same day and mentioned the same advertisement Natalie and I saw. Next thing I know the three of us planned a long December weekend in London.
The next step was finding accommodations. Through the Internet (big mistake) we found a B&B in north London. Why would we want to see what the place looked like when the owner sounded nice, and he would even send a car to pick us up at Gatwick Airport??
After eight hours it was nice to be off the plane and breathe some fresh air. A driver was waiting to take us on a “magical mystery tour” of England. Who knew it would take over two hours to get from Gatwick, south of London, to the B&B in the Golders Green section of North London. The driver scared me the way he drove. I think Juilea and Natalie were smart, they slept the entire ride because they didn’t want to see how we were going to die.
We arrived at the guesthouse, a nice Tudor-style duplex and remembered that looks can be deceiving. Our spacious room was on the ground level in the front of the house with two beds. Not only was the room cold and damp, but also the bathroom was nasty. The floor had a towel over the carpet to cover the perennial wet spot that was being fed from the leaky shower. The shower was an experience in and of itself. The water didn’t flow out of the showerhead like it should’ve, instead, there was a fine mist. Not only did we freeze while showering, we had to step over the nasty wet spot when we got out.
After we settled in, we headed for the Golders Green tube station for the 15-minute trip to central London. Trying to purchase tickets for the tube was an experience in and of itself. “We’re going from which zone to which zone?” “How much is this coin worth?” It was a typical cold, dreary December day, which meant it got dark at 4:00pm. We took the tube to Bond Street for some shopping. Our stomachs were rumbling so we found our way to an Italian restaurant for dinner.
After dinner we somehow got to bustling Piccadilly Circus, which is set up like a small amusement park in the middle of London. There’s a beautiful carousel in the middle that made for a great picture, one of the few that actually developed. While standing in the middle of Trafalgar Square, I saw Big Ben looming over the city like a beacon from a lighthouse drawing me closer. Big Ben didn’t seem so far from Trafalgar Square until we started walking. Juilea and I posed for a picture with the famous clock tower. It was the first of many pictures showcasing “The Dark Side of London” since most of my pictures were taken at night and did not come out.
As it got late, we found it was a difficult task trying to find the right bus to take us back to Golders Green. Another difficult task was crossing the street. Thank goodness for backpacks. As I would walk into the street, looking to the left first, I would feel Natalie or Juilea grab my backpack and pull me back to the curb as a car was approaching. I found it handy that some intersections had “LOOK RIGHT” painted on the street in big yellow letters as you stepped off the curb.
We did manage to find the right bus to take us back. I don’t remember much of the bus ride since I slept the whole way.
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