Fish N' Chips!

Our journey began with a 3:50 am train ride to the Geneva Airport, but the early start was more than worth having an entire extra day in London. We landed at London City Airport around 7:00 am, where we rested and ordered coffee. I ordered a cafe mocha with a shot of Hazelnut. Then the barista gave me a confused look as if my request was completely bizarre. It took me a few moments to realize that he and I had very different meanings of the word shot! I am sure, for a moment at least, he thought I was a alcoholic trying to get my morning fix ;) Although London was a great vacation from the language barrier in Lausanne, it has some communication quirks of its own.

After checking into the St. Christopher Hostel, Katie and I set off on a free walking tour of the city. (Although not quite free, as it is customary to tip your guide at the end of the tour.)

Fish N' Chips, Yum!

On this tour, we saw all of the sites of Westminster, which is technically a separate city containing Parliament, Trafalgar's Square, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and, of course, Westminster Abbey. Our guide was very funny and showed us other lesser known sights along the way, like the memorial for Giro, the Nazi Dog owned by the Nazi German Ambassador of London. The tour ended in a local English pub, where we order the famous Fish N' Chips! It was perfectly battered and fried, and absolutely delicious!

China Town with our new friend, Paula

That evening, we explored Piccadilly Circus with our new friend Paula, where we had a beer at the White Horse Pub. Later, we happened upon London's China Town. As soon as you turned the corner, the streets were filled with red paper lanterns. It was quite beautiful while lit up at night! Before hopping the tube back to our hostel, we stopped for some chips and guacamole at a nearby Mexican restaurant called Chiquito. It was a wonderful first taste of London, and we were beat!

With love, from Lausanne

Mindy