A German, An American and a North Irishman Walk Into a Bar

With our trip to Germany for Christmas a given, I petitioned and lobbied for a stopover in London on our way there to get my city fix and to see a few friends.  The last time Martin and I were in London together was five years ago and it ended with me in tears over our then upcoming trip to meet his parents for Easter and the stress about how we were going to make our long distance relationship work.  Funny how just a few years changes things.

Martin and I landed in Heathrow just before noon, took a cab to our hotel and were back out the door after showers and a consultation of the city map.  We then took the short walk from our hotel (located in seemingly the middle of nowhere and booked using points) to Hampstead for lunch, shopping and a walk down memory lane (it was Martin’s old stomping grounds after all).    And from there we took the bus to Camden Markets where I had such fond memories from our first trip of shopping the boutique stalls and taking in the atmosphere.  Unfortunately the experience without the rose colored/champagne filled glasses was less romantic and more trashy than I remembered.  The place had lost its shine and reminded me more of Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf than the cool London experience I previously cherished.  Time, experience and maturity will apparently do that to you.

Thankfully we were saved by Martin’s old friend John who met us for drinks and dinner.  Knowing we had a 7am flight the next morning, we opted for an early Sunday Roast at The Albion, a local pub just down the street from St. Paul’s Cathedral and next to Blackfriars Bridge.   And while we started early, we did not end early.  Pre dinner drinks rolled into muled wine, then into a full bottle of wine and on to after-dinner beers.  Like the alcohol, the stories of the past and present were flowing too easily and the moment was too perfect to cut short.  By 10:30, John thankfully pulled the plug and called it a night on our behalf. 

We took a cab back to the hotel and another cab to the airport the following morning at 4:30.  And while we spent more on cabs that trip (to maximize our time) than on our single hotel room, it was absolutely worth the detour.