72 Hours in London
When you work as a nurse (specifically an inpatient floor nurse), you can craft a schedule that has five to seven days off in a row, without using any vacation time. When you work the night shift, you can complete a full day of work by 7:30am, leaving the remainder of the day available for travel. When you work as a nurse, you can easily pick up overtime shifts and have extra cash for adventure. And when one of your BFFs says “Hey, I have a work trip in Milan, want to meet me in London when I’m done?”, the only possible answer is “Yes” or, alternatively, “Fuck yea!”
(Abundant free time was actually one of the reasons I ended up pursuing nursing school rather than medical school and it’s a decision I haven’t regretted yet)
With the ease of creating long weekends and better scheduling on my new unit (it’s now been one year since I made the decision to leave a toxic work environment), I am going to launch a “72 Hours In . . .” series, starting with London because, as you probably guessed, I said yes to meeting a BFF in London after her work trip in Milan. A lot of people at home thought I was crazy for going to London for the weekend, but it didn’t seem that strange to me. A non-stop flight from Chicago to London is around eight hours or up to 12 with a connection, which isn’t so bad when you consider that I drove 12+ hours each direction for a one day trip to Tennessee to see the solar eclipse in August 2017. The key to a successful long weekend trip abroad, or anywhere, is picking the right flight. For me, I worked until 730am on the day I left, took an afternoon flight, and landed in London first thing in the morning on Friday. My flight home left in the morning on Monday and I got home in the early evening on Monday, ready to return to work on Tuesday. Jet lag is another potential issue, but jet lag doesn’t usually hit me that hard, probably because I keep such odd hours with work and a have natural tendency toward insomnia.
So. 72 hours in London.
Friday
Shopping
As it turns out my sweet new pair of TOMS were not yet broken in and my feet were in agony after the airport hustle and flight over so I needed some new shoes STAT. Friend wouldn’t be arriving until approximately 1pm so I had some time to burn. Dropped my stuff off at the hotel and eventually found myself at the Clarks store in the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre. The shopping centre itself was fine, but a little run down and kind of seemed like one of the malls in the United States that’s on its last legs and will be closed in the imminent future. Regardless, I got a pair of boots similar to these for roughly 50£ off. I love them and wore them all the weekend, though they aren’t ideal for walking around a city for three days.
Food
Having arrived early and, as predicted, being unable to check in, I took a wander along the South Bank area in search of food options and there were a lot . Many of them weren’t open when I went by, but I was interested in a drink cart that sold hot chocolate, mulled wine, and maybe hot toddies. I made a mental note to return because while I would never consider it cold, a warm beverage would not be unwelcome. My mental note failed, however, and I never made it :( Instead, we later had lunch at Las Iguanas, which was quite delicious and I definitely wasn’t mad about the 2-for-1 cocktail special that starts every day at noon!
Walking
I think there was a nap at some point after we checked in, then it was off for a long walk and wander: across the Westminster Bridge, past Big Ben & Westminster Abbey, looping around Buckingham Palace, through the Wellington Arch, and up through Hyde Park, eventually doubling back and spilling out near St. John’s Church. Window shopping on Regent Street in SOHO and a quick stop for dinner we arrived at the Top Secret Comedy Club.
Sidebar: while the Underground is a great way to get around the city and quickly get between tourist sites, we walked. A lot. Which I don’t really mind because I play both Pokemon Go & Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and walking is a crucial element, but by the end of our urban exploration, my Car Accident Back had flared up and I’d never been so happy to sit down in my life.
Regarding the Top Secret Comedy Club, I can’t remember the names of the comics, but both of them were hilarious. We got a deal on the tickets via Groupon (I think) and the drinks were cheap as well. An evening very well spent. The walk back to the hotel was pretty quick and I finished my night off with a hot bath and a muscle relaxant. Sleep never felt so good.
Saturday
Always the early riser, the BFF went for a run and picked up coffee and breakfast sandwiches while I remained melted into my bed. Seriously, the bed was unbelievably comfortable. But all good things must come to an end and our Saturday plan was exploring some of the dark & historical underbelly of London: The Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.
The Tower of London
I previously visited the Tower of London ~ 12 years ago, but BFF had never been, so it was a priority. We stopped in the gift shop first and when I tried to pay for my purchase with old left over coin from my previous trip, I learned something shocking: new money had been issued and apparently the old coins can no longer be used. MIND = BLOWN. From my American point of view, money is money and it’s all legal tender regardless of when it was minted, but that apparently isn’t true. The lovely cashier in the shop suggested that I could sell it on Ebay to collectors or something like that, but I honestly don’t think I have enough for that to be a worthwhile endeavour. Of course now that I’m home, I did a quick and dirty investigation and maybe it was just the old 1£ coin that was made obsolete in favor of a new 12-sided 1£ coin. I will say in looking closely at these coins, it’s kind of fun to see the Queen age because there are three different portraits across the six round pound coins I have.
Also worth mentioning is that despite the Tower of London’s reputation, people generally weren’t executed here. Some were imprisoned, but until the World Wars, only seven people were executed within its walls. Everyone else was executed on Tower Hill, though that number also remains surprisingly low at 112 individuals. I personally find the Jewel House to be overwhelmingly “meh”, but it’s a popular site given how long the line is to get in (and wait we did). The Tower is a fairly formidable castle and according to an exhibit, the only time it was breached by attackers was during a peasant revolt in 1381.
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper is a serial killer that is firmly inserted in the collective consciousness of the Western world. He shows up in various forms of popular media, most recently Deanna Raybourn’s book “A Murderous Relation” (I read it, it’s good, you should read it along with the previous four books in the series). Jack the Ripper also obtained mythological status, representing at various times the “bogeyman”, "aristocracy”, or “the Establishment”, according to Wikipedia. Despite the overwhelming presence of Jack the Ripper, shockingly little is known about the actual man. Five confirmed victims are known (Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly), other murders at the time are variously attributed to Jack by different sources, but ultimately murders of The Five remain unsolved and Jack the Ripper’s identity is unknown (despite the claims otherwise by some).
We signed up for a walking tour with Discovery Tours and Events and it was well worth it. The tour is at night which adds an extra creepy element and takes you to a lot of historical places relevant to the Jack the Ripper story: streets, neighborhoods, and pubs, including the Ten Bells Pub which is still open for business. Note to self: return for a beer or two on a future visit. I don’t remember a lot of what I learned except that it’s possible he was almost caught on the night when there were two victims because it’s possible he was interrupted before finishing up. The story that was relayed made it seem that the 1st victim that night was found at the entryway of a dead-end alley and that Jack escaped when the person who discovered her went for help. Had he been discovered that night, the murders would have likely just been another violent footnote on history and Jack the Ripper would be an inconsequential nothing. But the murders were unsolved and Jack has remained unidentified, so Ripperologists will continue to debate and society will continue to be intrigued. More information can be found here.
Sunday
BFF had an afternoon flight, so together we did a couple of quick things: obligatory visit to the Harry Potter store at Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross Station & The British Museum. My flight wasn’t leaving until early on Monday so I filled the remainder of my time in London with a theatre show and debated taking in a Bears-Raiders football game at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium.
Harry Potter
BFF has a child that loves Harry Potter (as do I, despite vehemently disagreeing with J.K. Rowling’s spate of transphobic commentary) so a visit to the store was necessary. I didn’t buy myself anything and she got a couple of souvenirs for her kids. But yikes at how crowded that place is. Definitely not a pandemic-friendly space (and now I just outed myself for how long I’ve procrastinated on this post, lol). Neither one of us is particularly great at waiting in long lines, so we settled for taking pictures from a distance of the luggage cart going through the wall at Platform 9 3/4 rather than posing with it ourselves.
British Museum
It’s possible to spend all day exploring every corner of this museum, but we were on a time crunch with less than two hours before BFF had to get her luggage (shoutout to Excess Baggage Company at Paddington Station) and catch a train back to Heathrow Airport for her flight home. Fortunately for us, if you only have an hour, there is a handy “Don’t Miss” section on the museum map that tells you exactly what to see & how to get there in an efficient way. The museum isn’t without controversy though, primarily related to the contents of the museum being plundered from their locations of origin during the period of British colonialism. After quickly skimming the wikipedia entry, I’ve noted that at least five of the “don’t miss” list are disputed items with their countries of origin demanding their return: Oxus Treasure (Tajikistan), brass plaques from Benin (Nigeria), Hoa Hakananai’a statue (Chile/Easter Island), Rosetta Stone (Egypt), and Parthenon sculptures/Elgin marbles (Greece). Many of the items on the “don’t miss” list ARE amazing and are rightfully considered “don’t miss”, but I was particularly fond of The Warren Cup. Truthfully, it’s nothing special. I just have so many questions that can only be answered by traveling back in time: who made it? why? how did it get to Jerusalem? was it just casually used at mealtimes or were the pornographic cups only brought out for the holidays?
Theatre
After seeing off my friend, I wandered to Leicester Square to pick up a ticket to a show. There were more than a few shows that I wanted to see, but as I was still debating going to see a football game between two teams that I don’t care about solely for the novelty of seeing a U.S. football game in London, my options were more limited. I wound up seeing “Matilda” at the Cambridge Theatre and it was wonderful. I loved the book & the movie when I was younger and the musical was an absolute delight! The song “Revolting Children” was definitely stuck in my head for quite some time afterward.
Ultimately, I ended up NOT buying a ticket to attend the Bears-Raider football game. Owing to my inability to make a decision in a timely manner, the cost of the tickets increased on Stubhub to an amount I wasn’t willing to pay to watch a game between two teams that I don’t cheer for (I’m a Packers gal myself), even for a one-off novelty experience. However, I have a relative that is a diehard Bears fan, so I journeyed out to the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium to pick up some Bears gear for him. By the time I got there, there wasn’t much to choose from. Lots of Raiders stuff, but running low on Bears items. I can also say that based on my experience there were far more Bears fans in the city for the game than Raiders fans, but I suppose the flight is just a little bit easier from Chicago vs. flying from California. Afterward, I grabbed a couple of beers at a pub and had some dinner. Then it was off to Paddington Station to pick up my luggage and catch a train to Heathrow myself. Spent the night at YotelAir Heathrow, which beats staying in the city one more night and then finding my way to the airport at three a.m. The hot shower was especially welcome.
