Let me take you back to the fall of 2022, where my loyal readers will remember that Lauren and I travelled to Germany (the first time) with a handful of friends to celebrate Oktoberfest. Towards the end of that trip we both came down (presumably) with covid and we experienced the beer tents, zombie like, until we left to go home. On our way home, we decided to stop in London for three days and attempt to hit the highlights of the city but we did not expect to be in the throes of covid and spent both days mustering up as much energy as we could and do our best to enjoy ourselves. Once we returned home, I dubbed our London stint as “the lost weekend” primarily because the fever I likely had rendered my memory useless and only upon looking back at the photos we took, I was able to recall the bulk of that trip. For that reason, I didn’t write about our time in London, but now, a year a half later Lauren and I returned, armed with every over the counter immune cocktail we could find and dead set to stay healthy, so much so, we’re both set to run the London Winter 10k on the 25th.

We landed in a dreary London the afternoon of February 22 and like most of our European trips, had to spend the rest of the day awake to avoid the dreaded jet lag. After proceeding through passport control (Heathrow doesn’t physically stamp passports anymore so don’t expect one here!) we took the tube to get to central London, checked in to our hotel and set out into the city.

The rain was an unwelcome but not unexpected occurrence considering its winter in England, but the moisture didn’t slow us down much. A few tube stops away was the Strand location of Twinnings, the world renown tea company. As you can imagine, Brits don’t take their tea lightly and if you were to ask any bloke on the street which tea they prefer, odds are they’ll mention a Twinnings blend. With a history that spans over three centuries, it actually predates the existence of the United States by over fifty years all at the same location we visited on the Strand. There, they sell every kind of tea imaginable, from light greens to an exotic oolong to a flavorful Earl Grey that would make a Frenchman like Captain Picard proud. Lauren and I picked up a tin of Earl Grey and a box dubbed the “wind down” in an attempt to help us sleep in the days to come.

Our final stop for the day was dinner and after a short but very wet walk, we arrived at The Flatiron. Not to be confused with the building of the same name in New York, this restaurant is known for excellent cuts of beef at an affordable price. For a mere 14 pounds (~$17) each of us were able to get eight ounces of a flat iron steak, made to order. In addition to the steak, their sides of parmesan kale salad and beef dripping chips (fries) were a perfect compliment and the bone marrow mashed potatoes had enough garlicky deliciousness that even a vampire couldn’t refuse. The night was capped with a free salted caramel ice cream, courtesy of Carlo Gatti (the man who made ice cream available to the masses in 1850) via the Flatiron and headed back to our room for an early night in.

Travel/Post Notes:

• Post includes travel from February 21-22
• Accommodation : Hub by Premier Westminster
• Featured Image: The Royal Courts of Justice as seen from the entrance of Twinnings (The Strand)
• Flight: PHX > LHR (British Airways)
• Upon arrival at Heathrow we each had a latte from Cafe Nero (Italian based chain). Definitely one of the better chains in London
• At the Flatiron Lauren drank a lime and mint fizz and I had a Freedom Craft Lager (British)