Review of the Windmill Guest House in Cricklewood, London
I went on a business trip to London. To save my company money (and to make it possible for them to say "yes" to me visiting this fantastic city), I booked a Bed & Breakfast in a residential area some distance from the offices in Central London. This is called the Windmill Guest House. This guest house was 40 GBP/night while the company-approved hotel in Central London was 141 GBP/night. I was popular with my bosses.
Why I now have a Premier League Team to dislike
Hate might be too strong, but as a futbol-fan wannabe, I now have a team to dislike: Fulham. Not because of anything the Fullham Football Club has done to my team, but because I had tickets -- expensive tickets 2nd row up on the equivalent of the 50 yard line for me and two English buddies -- and they moved the game.
Apparently since the English Premier League has so many matches both within the league and in the various cups and other European leagues during the course of a season, they move around games that conflict or to free up crowded schedules. Fulham had several Europa league games in addition to it's EPL schedule and moved their 4/10/10 match with Stoke to May. Fine, but that was my one chance to see a match featuring teams in the Premiership.
St. Paul’s Cathedral Awesomeness
Here's one of the most famous pictures of London, at least in my memory.
St. Paul's Cathedral was really cool. I saw it with my wife on a trip to London. I'm not going to write a lot about it, you can hit Wikipedia (see link in first sentence) for that. But here are some pictures from my very capable iPhone:
The London Eye
I was in London recently and visited the London Eye. My wife and I wanted to go at night, but they didn't have any after-dark times. It closed early.
We originally went on a Saturday, balked at the long line and went back first thing Sunday (10a) and got on straight-away.
The views were good, the whole thing was fun and I thought it was worth it, especially because my wife was really excited about it (partly because she's a huge Amazing Race fan and they were there once). The one regret is that we didn't know about the £3 little map/book that tells you what all the sites are. We found it in the gift shop following our 40 minute excursion. It shows pictures of the London skyline and points out some of the interesting points. It is definitely something the staff should be pushing harder at the ticket counter.
The London Traveller’s Basic “Tube” Howto
As an American from a small town without a subway, I was a little concerned I'd get lost in the comprehensive London Underground system. I was wrong.
My only other subway experience is with the Metro in Washington, DC, which I still find confusing and lacking instruction and direction for a newbie. The London "Tube" is much, much better. I did have help from a coworker who lives in London and that helps a lot.
