Wedding of Wonders – The Blog

Our second full day in London took us outside of the city bright and early.  We took the Underground to the airport to rent a car (unfortunately from Budget) so that we could drive the 60 or so miles out to Stonehenge.  Luckily the rental car office was more than a crazy Egyptian man in a glass box, so we were able to pick up the car without incident (or the need to drive 30 minutes with strangers in the back seat).

We decided to rent a Ford Fiesta since Mike’s friend Nick had told him that this car would help to save Ford from the same pit of despair that the other car companies had recently fallen into.  Although Mike is fairly proficient when it comes to driving manual cars, the good ol’ London switcheroo of having the steering wheel on the opposite side was  a new challenge.  I must say that I was extremely impressed with his ability to pick it up in only a few short minutes, making the majority of the ride smooth and free of any stalling in the middle of the road.

The drive out to Stonehenge was incredibly beautiful once we escaped the London traffic and made it out to the countryside.  The entire region is filled with green pastures and farmland, making it a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city.  Once we arrived at the exit for Stonehenge, we noticed that the wind was starting to pick up considerably.  We had read online that the area surrounding the site was subject to high winds, but we really underestimated just how strong the wind could be.  We pulled into the parking lot and headed towards the entrance.

Donning our typical outfits (which was quite the challenge due to the wind), we made our way to our photo spot. We also took a quick video of the process we undertake for each photo.

(By the way, here was the shot we were going for with that one — it’s not perfect but we wanted it to look like we were holding a stone)

Stonehenge was a really interesting location, especially since it was only a few days before the solstice. It was packed with buses of schoolchildren, German tourists and crazy nerds studying the stones. The stones are standing on a bluff out in the middle of nowhere – it is completely empty and extremely windy. It is pretty amazing that after thousands of years the true purpose of the rocks has never been conclusively determined.

After our stop at Stonehenge (2nd to last stop!), we AMAZINGLY got a table at THE FAT DUCK!!! We were on the wait list, but had never expected to get in — this call was a complete surprise that was extremely welcome. And we had such an incredible time. As we walked up it looked just like any other quaint building in a small town in Southern England… but it was much, much more.

The Fat Duck is ranked the 2nd best restaurant in the world, and any chance we get to dine at an establishment like that, we must take it. It’s a pretty fun place, very cozy and with lots of innovative food. We started off with a palette cleanser of vodka, egg whites, green tea and lime juice deep frozen in liquid nitrogen, it was amazing. Another course featured liquid nitrogen billowing over a mossy box (and our table) as we dined on our forest feast.

We then received a conch shell with headphones coming out of it and a plate resembling the ocean. We were instructed to ‘listen to the music and eat, it will all be explained later’. As we heard the sounds of the sea and enjoyed the complex flavors of the incredibly realistic seascape before us. We later found out that the dish included deep fried baby eels and tapioca sand. It was a really ingenious creation.

Then it was time for ‘breakfast’. First we had Fat Duck ‘cereal’ which was parsnip cereal with parsnip infused milk.

And what’s breakfast without eggs and bacon? Not fun, if you ask me. Next the chef came over with an egg (that had been drained and filled with eggs infused with bacon) which he cracked into a bowl of liquid nitrogen. After a few quick stirs, he dropped it atop a piece of french toast and a bacon-looking piece of sugar. Having this strange egg/bacon ice-cream (since the liquid nitrogen freezes it) with french toast was really awesome — really cool idea.

Everything this restaurant did was a show. It’s not the kind of place you would eat every day (much too over the top) but it is an incredibly innovative experience that was really a lot of fun. If you find yourself in London with time to hitch out to the suburbs, make sure to get there! It definitely deserves its spot at #2.

And it was on that, very very full note, that Mike and I vowed not to eat tasting menus for a long time (we’ve gotten quite fat on this trip). Since the wedding is just around the corner, it’s time to slim down so that we will fit into our respective wedding outfits. And since we’ve never felt fatter, it’s extremely appropriate that Rio is our next stop considering it is the land of beautiful people (in very tiny bathing suits). Talk to you soon!!!

I’ll admit that one of the best things about our stay in London was the fact that our adventures were not as mentally draining as our previous stops throughout Europe and Asia. Although we got by in most places with our limited language arsenal (Mike’s fairly extensive German skills, a few language books and my ability to nag him until he asks for help and/or directions), being back in a place where our language is the official language is somewhat comforting. You really underestimate the extra energy necessary to navigate your surroundings when you must first translate whatever it is you are trying to read/find/etc. (Cairo was especially a nightmare since both the words AND numbers must be translated from Arabic, thus making conversing, driving, exchanging money and doing pretty much anything besides hiding out in your terrible hotel room somewhat stressful.)

So, with all that said, we had a fantastic time in London. It was another brief stay for us (i.e., less than 4 days); however, we made the most of our time and saw just about everything we wanted to see. We arrived in London from Dusseldorf in the late afternoon and checked into the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in the Knightsbridge section of the city. After dropping our luggage off in our room, we decided to scope out the area around where we were staying. Unfortunately, after only a few minutes of walking, the weather took a turn for the worst, so we ducked into a cute little pub around the corner. An order of fish and chips washed down with a few beers helped us to forget about the cold rain coming down outside and gave us a great first taste of London. Once the rain let up, we made our way back to the hotel and crawled into bed to rest up for the two full days of Wedding of Wonders excitement that awaited us.

The next day was filled with the quintessential tourist things across the city including the Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye, Covent Garden and numerous other stops in between. We arrived at Buckingham Palace just in time to be overrun by about a million tourists attempting to get a glimpse of the changing of the guards. Since we did not pack our German tourist coats for the occasion, we quickly moved through the enormous crowd, snapped a few pictures and made our way to the Underground en route to lunch.

On this particular day, we had plans to meet up with Mike’s friend Jim Vint from the FTI London office. Jim was one of the first people that Mike met when he started at FTI, so it was nice to catch up with him since he moved to London almost two years ago. We had a nice, delicious lunch at The White Swan in the Holborn section of the city where we reminisced about how quickly the last 5 years have simply flown by.

After lunch, we said goodbye to JV and continued east towards the Tower Bridge. Along the way we stopped to see St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge.

Although the clouds looked slightly ominous, the weather held up and made for an absolutely beautiful walk along the water. We passed the London Bridge (which is not at all attractive) and approached the beautiful, much more spectacular and freshly painted Tower Bridge.

We arrived just as a large boat entered the vicinity, causing the bridge to open in order to allow it to pass through. Since the bridge opens only 2-3 times each day, we were lucky to witness this considering we did not hang around for too long.

We climbed the steps leading up to the bridge walkway and headed north towards the closest subway stop.

A few stops later and we emerged next to the Parliament building which is home to the famous Big Ben.

Just across the water from Parliament is the super cool-looking London Eye. Although we did not have the opportunity to take a ride, I thought it was pretty awesome that you could actually rent out one of the bubbles and host parties inside as you look out over the city, drink champagne and hang out with your friends. That is something that we will definitely put on our list of future activities.

After we had our share of super touristy attractions, we hopped back on the train and went back to the hotel for a quick nap.  A couple of hours later, we woke up, got dressed and walked back to the nearest Underground station so that we could grab some food.  Once we arrived at the station, we noticed that all of the entrances were blocked off by gates.  There was one gate slightly open, with an employee blocking the opening, so we decided to ask why the train was closed so early.  He broke the unfortunate news that there was “a person under the train.”  Yikes.  He told us that it would be a few more HOURS until the train would re-open (double yikes), so we would have to walk around the corner and catch the bus to Piccadilly Circus.

For dinner, we made our way through Piccadilly and over to Covent Garden and wandered the cobblestone streets until we found a little restaurant on the main square.  A pot of mussels, a bottle of wine and a warm brownie later, and we were already tired and ready to call it a night.  The next morning we would be off to Stonehenge for a photo-shoot and The Fat Duck for a marathon tasting menu, so we needed all the sleep we could get.