Week 7: October 15-21
- Katie & Webster
- Oct 22, 2018
- 5 min read
Another week has flown by! We are making the most of every moment in London and exploring as much as we can.
On Monday, Webster had a soccer game. Although his team didn’t win, Webster got a goal!! He still won’t let me come watch so I missed it but he was so excited when he got home. I spent the evening catching up on some laundry. Our washing machine is so small here, I feel like we need to do a load everyday to get done a week's worth of clothing. When Webster got home we enjoyed dinner together at our little flat.
On Tuesday I visited Buckingham Palace at lunch. Since it is only a 5 minute walk from my office I try and go as often as I can. It was fun to see the queen’s flag flying meaning she was in residence. She has recently returned to London from her summer residence in Scotland.
Tuesday night we visited Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is very close to all the typical touristy sights so it was a fun journey there. When we arrived we we walked around exploring all the statues and watching some street performers. Then we walked along beside the Canadian High Commission. We think they should open a Tim Hortons inside the building for Canadians to visit in London :) Although we couldn’t go in, we peeked in some windows and saw a huge portrait of Trudeau in their main foyer. We then walked home past Buckingham Palace. On our walk we saw two black cars with a police escort - royals!! Lucky for us there was a light on in one of the vehicles. We saw a brunette woman - we think it was Kate visiting Buckingham since Meghan is away in Australia. It was such an exciting way to end our evening.
On Wednesday it was a gross morning in London, rainy and cold. It magically cleared up for lunch so Webster came to see me. We went to our usual spot at Buckingham Palace and watched the world go by.
On Thursday Webster was invited out for drinks after work with the CEO of the company he is working for. It is common culture here for coworkers to go for drinks and dinner everyday after work...we don’t know how people afford it. But nevertheless it was a great opportunity so he spent some of the evening doing that. I spent the evening submitting my application for Australia and packing for our weekend away.
On Friday morning we woke up at 5am to head to the airport for our trip to Lisbon! We took the tube to Tottenham Hale and then took a train to London Stansted airport. I was expecting a small airport but it was madness. Once we got through security we found some breakfast and headed to our gate. Since we were flying RyanAir, a very cheap budget airline, we finally got off the ground 30 mins after the planned departure time.
When we arrived in Lisbon it was about 15 degrees warmer than London. We figured out the metro and made it to our Airbnb to drop off our stuff. Our AirBnB was a flat owned by a local - it was very modern and clean! We stayed in the Alfama district which is full of history and culture. Once we unpacked a little bit we made our way down to the nearest lunch spot. Webster had calamari and I had a croissant sandwich. We spent the afternoon exploring the local area, posing with funny statues and finding a Starbucks for me to get my mugs at. Later Friday night, we headed to the Time Out market. Time Out is a free magazine distributed in big cities around the world, full of reviews about what to do and where to eat. The Time Out market is a collection of restaurants in one big building selected by Time Out judges. We had a lot of fun walking around, looking at food, and finally finding something yummy to eat. Afterwards we took the tram back to our Airbnb for a well deserved sleep!
On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to find half the city closed for the filming of a Bollywood movie. Almost all of the public transit available in the city was closed or rerouted for filming. So we made our way down back roads and alleys towards our first stop: Jeronimos Monastery. It was a beautiful big church, with a bell tower, and monastery in the back.
Afterwards, we headed towards the water to climb up a bell tower. The tower was used to defend the shore from attack. After climbing over 100 stairs we got a beautiful view over the water (and the people below getting hit by waves).
Then we headed to the famous Pasteis de Belém for some Portuguese custard tarts. These tarts are everywhere across the city but these were by far the best! The line was out the door and around the building but after 20 minutes we had the best tarts ever!
We then headed to the National Coach Museum to see all the royal carriages from the past 500 years. It was amazing how they have protected their local history for so long.
In the evening we headed back towards our AirBnB to find a local restaurant with Fado music. We found a restaurant called Fado and enjoyed a traditional Portuguese meal on our last evening in Lisbon. Webster had the Portuguese steak with an egg on top! We then came back to our AirBnB and watched TV - a luxury we don’t have in London!
Sunday was our final day in Lisbon. We woke up early, determined to find some amazing views of the city. After stopping for breakfast at a local coffee shop we ventured through Alfama to Miradouro de Santa Luzia, a square with a great view over Alfama. After winding our way up through narrow alleyways and staircases we arrived at the lookout. We could see everything from the water, to the Lisbon Cathedral, the Fado Museum and all of the orange roofs of the neighbourhood below.
At about 10am, we climbed further up in the city, determined to get a view of the bridge and downtown district. We climbed all the way to Castelo de Sao Jorge, a medieval castle overlooking the city centre. From there we could see for miles in all directions! We took some time to tour the castle’s battlements and say hello to the current residents of the area, the peacocks.
After the castle we wound our way down to the city center, where we visited Livraria Bertrand, the oldest bookstore in the world. We browsed the shelves looking at many classics, including a few of Webster’s favourites by John Grisham. From there we enjoyed the sun and visited Praça do Comércio one last time. After a few pictures of the famous arch we sat down to an authentic lunch at a restaurant on the square. Webster had Portuguese steak (again) and I had a chicken caesar salad (authentic right?)
At 4pm, we took our time walking back to our Airbnb, stopping to take some pictures and for gelato along the way. Then we spent some time packing up our things before heading back to London on a late night flight. Our flight arrived at 12:10am, and we were home by 1:30... just in time for a few hours of sleep before work this morning.
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