Yet another weekend in London: Day Uno

I told you I couldn't stay away from London. This time, it was a spur-of-the-moment response to an invite for the weekend, and I couldn't say yes fast enough. (Well, perhaps there were a few moments of shilly-shallying as I tried to figure out my schedule.) We all stayed in a charming hostel in the Swiss Cottage district; don't feel ashamed if you've never heard of it. I hadn't either, but it proved to be nicely central and adequately busy. 

Our hostel was friendly and competent; I slept in a room filled with bunk beds. I was on the top bunk, which made me strangely nostalgic for my childhood. Of course, my lovely little sister was a far better bunk companion than my latest one; she snored and was in bed by 10pm, making it very uncomfortable every time I needed something in my room before going out. I don't like having to tiptoe. 

Trafalgar, of course. This was our first stop, since there is a wealth of museums and galleries surrounding the square, and we were in the mood to inundate ourselves with culture. We went to the National Gallery, chock-full of classics, as well as several lesser known delights, such as a nude gentleman having his face bitten off by a dragon. These are the paintings that should be taught in schools.

The Portrait Gallery, not far from there, was fascinating. Like most people, I find portraits among the most interesting things to simply look at; it's like indulging in voyeurism in a socially acceptable way. So I loved it; it was mostly modern pieces depicting both the famous and the anonymous.

A friendly, animatronic Italian just rolling his barrel, over and over and over...when I said "friendly" I may actually have meant intensely creepy. Still, it did make me want to visit that restaurant. 

We also managed to find time to visit the Natural History Museum, sit down to some delicious Indian cuisine (is there any other kind of Indian food, really?) and have a night on the town. I also managed to spend what seemed to me to be a ridiculous sum of money. But c'est la vie, and c'est London. 

  More to come, I promise. I leave for Barcelona tomorrow afternoon, so you may have to wait. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat.