Notes from the Channel Tunnel

I'm on the Eurostar, headed to Paris at 187 mph. Oddly, it doesn't look or feel much faster than when the Coast Starlight is going 80. I'd guess 100 or 110, but the Eurostar app seems pretty sure.

My flight went fine. The gluten-free meals varied from bland to odd (why would you use puffed rice cakes to make a turkey sandwich?), but at least I didn't have to worry about food. Landing at Gatwick was hilarious in its familiarity. Cloudy for the whole descent, and then in the last 500 feet the ground was finally revealed to be ... green and gray and drizzly. Happy to report that the English version of April is a bit warmer than Tacoma's, though.

Much like food, I don't think I've been anywhere that I didn't say this (well, assuming they have any), but nevertheless: London's public transit is great. I caught a train (still not sure if it was part of the Underground proper or a local train) straight to St Pancras, using the Oyster card I ordered. Seems to be exactly the same as an Orca card, except slightly better designed in terms of tapping off at the end of a trip.

Oops, I missed when we went in to the Tunnel. I wanted to see the infrastructure at the start/end, but I just looked up and it's very dark, so I guess I missed it.

Anyway, I dropped off my bag at my hostel near St Pancras, stopped for a scone and tea at the cafe down the street and headed off on foot in the vague direction of Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, I called Dad, and therefore didn't notice that I was going in the wrong direction entirely. Eventually I worked that out, and ended up tracing a vague path through Regents Park, Hyde Park, the Palace plaza area, St James Park, Piccadilly Circus, and finally to a gluten-free bakery called Beyond Bread which will, I assume, soon be awarded a Nobel Prize of some kind.

Post-lunch, I took the Underground down to Plimco (?) and stuck my head into the Tate Britain museum, which had nice art but amazing architecture. Der Trommler is my new favorite statue, though.

I took the Thames passenger ferry back up the river to London Bridge, which I would highly recommend as a fun way to see some of the major sights. I kept going back and forth from one side to the other so I could see everything. I don't entirely understand the ferries as a form of public transit, though. They're much more expensive than the buses or underground, and also slower and less frequent. On the other hand, if I could commute that way every day, I totally would.

I went up to a public "park" called the Sky Garden, at the top of a building that probably has an official name but is apparently colloquially referred to as the Walkie Talkie. To me it looked more like a sentient trashcan from Brave Little Toaster or something. It kind of looms. Anyway, I would highly not recommend the Sky Garden. It's a hassle to get the (free) tickets, slightly less of hassle to get in, and then you're up there and it's like someone took the food court of a fancy mall and stuck it on top of the Space Needle. It has a few plants and small trees, but other than that it's all glass and metal, so everything echoes like crazy, especially the very excited children. There's a glassed-in viewing area, but it's not pointed at anything that interesting, at least from a historical perspective.

The Monument to the Great Fire down the street was a lot cooler.

After the Walkie Talkie, I went back to my hostel and relaxed for a bit before finally surrendering to jet lag. In the end, I think I slept from 6 pm to 4 am, which is probably roughly the best case scenario.

Larger conclusions about London:

Given the exchange rate, I think London is cheaper than downtown Seattle, at least in terms of food. The full English breakfast and pot of tea I had this morning was at a snazzy restaurant in the same building as Google and cost under $20, including tax and tip. (It was so good, and also so huge, I love full English breakfasts, and it even had gluten-free flatbread to soak up all the delicious egg yolk and bacon grease.) I bought a pair of gluten-free mini-Bakewell tarts (sweet pastry cases filled with mixed jam and almond flavored sponge topped with fondant icing and half a glace cherry, apparently) for a couple bucks. Bottled sparkling mineral water is everywhere for under 1 pound.

London is quite large. I didn't change shoes when I dropped off my bag yesterday because I wasn't planning to walk that much, which was a mistake because I ended up going 11.5 miles and now my feet are a bit sore.

People in London walk as fast as I do, which is awesome, and completely ignore pedestrian traffic signals, which is alarming.

The food was so good! Tons of gluten-free options. I had this pastry from Beyond Bread that was like a puff pastry twist with both custard and chocolate. I went into a few mini versions of grocery stores, like Tesco and Sainbury's, and they had lots of gluten-free snacks that I didn't buy because my pack is overstuffed already.

In the days leading up to the trip, I was really anxious, but that went away mostly by the time the plane landed, and completely by the time I was walking around London. I really enjoyed having a day to wander around by myself, and I'm excited to do that in Paris today. It looks like the clouds are clearing up on this side of the Channel, so it may even be sunny.

PS, I just tried the Bakewell tart, very tasty if a little odd and oversweet.