un-lagged

[klwilliams]

For the first night since I've been back, I don't feel exhausted (and sore), so I figured I'd start my trip report (in easily digestible lumps). I might even stay awake until 10:00 tonight.

As you know, Bob, acanthusleaf (hereafter known as "L") and I went to London last week. The theme of our trip turned out to be Medieval cathedrals and Roman Britain, plus good friends and good food. I also discovered that British waiters are much more polite than American ones, in that they won't come up to your table unless you gesture to them, which means that they won't automatically bring your bill, take your order, refill your water, or anything else except clear your plate. This is nice, except when you're in a hurry, as we often were. (Also, there's no such thing as a free refill on drinks, and every drink cost two pounds.)

So, on to the first rock....

Comments

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Cool! I can't wait to hear all the Roman Britain stuff, as that is what I'm focusing on for our trip.

Also, please do let me know if there was any way in which you were able to conserve money.

[larryhammer]

Roman Britain -- yum.

---L.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

The most expensive thing was lodging. I discovered the i booth in the train stations. In almost every train station there's a booth with a little "i" logo, where you can tell the person how much you want to spend and what kind of lodging you want, and they'll find it for you. (King's Cross in London didn't have this, but they had a LastMinute.com booth, which was adequate.) In York, we told them we wanted to spend the price that would have ordinarily gotten us a B&B farther from the center of town, but they found a 3 star hotel for that price right in the center of things.

Food can also be pricy, especially with the high exchange rate. What I did the last time I was in London (in August, so it was warm), was buy food in a grocery store and eat dinner in the park. Many Londoners also do this, so it wasn't strange.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

We certainly got used to eating on the cheap in Japan, mostly buying prepared lunches out of convenience stores or eating in noodle shops because restaurants were expensive. I expect we will do a lot of our meals out of grocery stores. I was just surprised by the expensive drinks, but that has a lot to do with the exchange rate.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Most restaurants will bring you tap water for free, but you have to ask for it.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I'm eagerly awaiting the reports on Roman Britain.

Also, any neat cool things you didn't expect that you stumbled across.