Eight and a Half hours later, we're in London!

The redeye on Virgin Atlantic from SeaTac to London Heathrow was as painless as it could be (partially thanks to the empty middle seat in the row of three). Nate watched BlacKkKlansman (amazing) and Claire read (later post coming on the trip reading list), before each getting in the ballpark of three hours of sleep. Once we got our bags, we took the tube with our luggage from Heathrow to the Finsbury Park on the Piccadilly line.

This tube ride took a little over an hour. Claire read, and Nate enjoyed the people watching. Once we got to Finsbury Park, we schlepped our bags to our AirBnB, where we were met by our host, Greg. Greg gave us an extended lay of the land and helped us plan our day. After a brief rest and a quick change of clothes, we were off to Camden Town by bus!

The bus to Camden Town

We purchased "Oyster Cards", which is basically London's Metro Card, and hopped on the bus. The gentleman from whom we bought the cards was difficult to understand, so we didn't have a clear sense of how they worked, but we knew we could ride the bus and Claire repeatedly questioned whether we could get our 5pound deposit back (we later found out - yes). We jumped on the bus and enjoyed the snapshot of London city life. We took the 253 line to Camden Town, and enjoyed the animated conversation the gentlemen behind them was having in Arabic. We couldn't understand him, but could tell the story that he was telling was hilarious.

Exploring Camden Town

We got off the bus and made our way to the Camden Town market. The streets with bustling with people. The area seemed like a blend of culture and tourism, passing a combination of knock off product vendors and artisan shops. (There was a store entirely devoted to combat boots!) The buildings were also covered in statue facades.

We made it to the Camden Lock, at the opening of the Market, and each took a photo.

The Camden Market itself was full of artists and vendors, with food stalls surrounding. We quickly went through the artists stalls, as food was the priority, and ended up splitting a delicious coconut thai hand pie.

A walk through Primrose Hill and Chalk Farm

It was around 4pm, and we wanted to continue exploring before settling down for dinner. The jetlag was also starting to set in. We walked from Camden Town to Primrose Hill, but not before stopping to photograph the Banksy artwork along the way.

We walked underneath the Camden Lock to Primrose Hill, and wealthy looked neighborhood right next to Camden Market. It was filled with beautiful white row homes. We walked around Primrose for some time before deciding to head back to Finsbury Park for dinner.

The Tube back to Finsbury

We made our way to the Tube at Chalk Hill, where a kind Underground employee recognized how confused we were when looking at the map. "This is probably the worst map to look at", he told us before directing us to a different map, and answering all of our questions. We now knew where to go, and how our Oyster Cards worked!

We took the Tube from Chalk Hill to Kings Cross station and transferred to the Victoria Line to Finsbury Park. Kings Cross station was both incredibly chaotic and wonderfully orderly at the same time. There were countless people and countless faces, but everyone maintaining the respective side of the walkway as they hurried toward their connecting train.

An English gastropub for our first dinner in London

We made it back to the AirBnB and decided on The White Lion for dinner - an English gastropub within walking distance. Nate ordered fish and chips, and Claire got a wonderful kale and chickpea salad with Indian spices. For drinks, Nate had a Neck Oil Session IPA from Beavertown, and Claire enjoyed an English Cider. Overall, a delicious meal. Nate's unsure whether it was the food itself or the setting, but it was by far the best fish and chips he'd ever had.