I had a nice long flight to London where the highlight was the food (Singapore Airlines Indian Vegetarian is always great) and the movies (my favourite this time was Maari, the Dhanush film in Tamil).
We touched down at about 3:30 in the afternoon and I was in my hotel at Holborn by 5pm. I quickly learnt two things - 1) This hotel is pretty centrally located and 2) The sun sets only at 8:30pm or so these days in London.
This meant that I had enough time to explore the area before it gets too dark. I had been to London once for just a couple of days in 2010 or 2011, and I don't honestly remember much of the details anymore. So I wanted to take the opportunity to see a bit of the city instead of resting, which was what one part of my brain was asking me to do.
So, soon after check in, I walked out armed with a map. I wanted to see the Thames river and the Covent Garden district which the hotel receptionist told me was the "nicest place near here".
And that's exactly what I did. I walked around for a couple of hours, exploring Covent Garden, walking along the Thames, taking in the sights, smelling the flowers in the air (spring is indeed here!) and enjoying the glorious weather (it was nice, bright and sunny and at a perfect 15 celsuis!). After a point, I realized I was exhausted thanks to the long flight and the lack of rest, so I walked into an Indian restaurant, ordered myself chicken 65, chappathis and dal and topped it all with a really good steaming cup of masala chai. It was the perfect drink to warm me up as I embarked on the journey back to my hotel in the crisp, cool, breezy weather.
By the time, I got back to the hotel, I was ready to drop asleep but also, feeling very warm and fuzzy because indeed, it was the best decision to push myself out of the door for that walk. I enjoyed it so much!
Tomorrow, the work starts.
456 more to go.
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