I started at the Tower of London since that was the only goal I was fairly confident I could achieve. First I looked up if you had to go into the "pay area" of the tower to see the poppies. Several people on twitter said you could see them for free. They were correct. You can see the almost 900,000 red poppies as you approach the tower. Each one represents someone who gave up their life in World War One. Its an emotional piece of art if you think about it. You can buy a poppy online for £25.
Like a local, I grabbed a sandwich and grapes at Pret as I set out on my next two goals. If I haven't mentioned, there are pre-packaged sandwiches at all of their chain coffee spots, M&S, Cafe Nero, Pret a Manger, Costa, Eat, Starbucks. You'll see Burger King, Subway and McDs here, but you'll see many many more of the coffee shops.
I'm not a big car guy, but I saw a stunning Ferrari as I walked out of the coffee shop. In fact, I noticed many amazing cars that day.
I stumbled upon a very small wedding at a beautiful little church. I noticed the church was connected to a "free house". I can't remember if I've mentioned that a free house is a pub that isn't tied to a single brewer. Many pubs will focus on a single type of beer or two, but the free house has many options. Maybe I'm the last to know that.
So I'm not big into cars or celebrities, but celebrity houses are exactly what I did next. It's pretty easy to guess that the houses probably aren't really theirs, and even if they are, it's probably just one of many homes they own, but I thought I'd look anyway.
George Clooney supposedly owns a place next to the courthouse for his wife, and when I found the place, it looked empty and there was a for sale sign up. Oh well.
I found myself walking through really nice neighborhoods in the heart of London so that was actually pretty fun. I noticed a store called Maplin a few times. Story on that place is that I've walked past the one in Guildford literally dozens of times and never noticed it. Then my daughters hard drive crashed and I learned that Maplin was the closest computer shop. Now that I know it's there, I see it every time. How did I miss it? Reminds me of knowkedge management, there are collaboration approaches hidden right in front of us, but we rarely see or use them until someone calls them out, or sees a specific need.
There's a restaurant called Heights that supposedly always has celebs in it, plus a great view, so I popped up there. It's the 15th floor of a hotel that's somewhat close to the BBC One radio tower. There were two people eating up there, but I didn't recognise them. The view was nice though.
Next I stopped by Lady Gaga's new flat. Pretty quiet spot right next to a tube stop, which is strange to say. No sign of lady.
I feel like I visited other houses but if course no one was home. I was the most excited when I got to Gwen Stefani and Gavin's house next to Regent Park. It felt the most "real" to me and I think they're great. I chatted with an older lady at the park, she was from Bari, Italy. A high school English teacher, she enjoyed speaking in English with me. I thought she was very wise and I could tell she's probably a great teacher. Photo below would be the view out the front door from Gwens house.
There's a secret little river walk in the nice neighborhood (Mayfair, Marylebone). I thoroughly enjoyed that walk. Although I realised I'm old, had walked about 10 miles at that point, and my feet/knees were starting to hurt. The view helped it feel better though.
I ate some brick oven pizza from a pub in Marylebone. I had a vibe of actors and actresses in there, but no one I recognised. The family right next to me had a mom that was a dead ringer for Sandra Bullock but I'm pretty sure it wasn't her. She could def play her as a stunt double though, it was that close.
Took the train home, had a great conversation with the people in front of me, watched X factor when I got home and went to bed.
Wait wait, how am I forgetting the highlight of the whole day?? I researched the places to buy cronuts in London. There are about 5 places and they're all a little different. The idea of geniusly blending croissants and donuts fascinates me. I was a little scared to hear they have cream filling, but I'll get over it. So the place I wanted to find was called Cocomaya. I knew these places sellout very very quickly and it was 15 minutes before close when I got there. I walked in and sure enough, 2 cronuts left!! I talked to the guys there, saying it's my first ever and how excited I am. They were very funny, telling me how much better theirs are compared to NYC. They pulled one more out if the back and gave it to me for free, and a plain croissant too. I walked to Marble Arch to sit and try this piece of food heaven. Oh man, that first bite was beyond words. I couldn't believe it was actually better than the hype. It's food genius. I'll try to not mention the km tie, but c'mon, combining two great ideas to make an even better one...with some effort and collaboration to pull it off... :)
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