U.K. - London and Oxford

We started the summer travels with a visit to Delhi, and a pit-stop in London. Since it's on the way you know. Fate had limited PTO days, so Mohit stopped by in London while Fate met him in Delhi. The Delhi post will shortly follow, but the contents of this post are solely Mohit's opinions :)

London is known for its constantly shitty weather, worse people, and, if possible, even worse prices. One of these remained true, the prices. The dollar to pound exchange rate was around $1.4 = £1. But I was lucky enough to get four partly sunny days, so I guess that makes it worth it? The people were much nicer than NYC and it felt more "international" based on the number of different languages I heard on the streets. Here's a quick recap of the 5 day itinerary.

Day 1

• Stay at AirBnB in Shadewell
• Natural History Museum
• Fish and chips at a random street market
• Roaming around Hyde Park
• Riding past Buckingham Palace (because it's really not worth more than a pass-by)
• Street art tour near Brick Lane
• Stand-up comedy at Angel Comedy
• Dinner at some pub

Day 2

• Day trip to Oxford
• Walk around the campus for several hours
• Lunch at Covered Market
• Tour of Balliol and Christ Church Colleges
• Dinner at Ya Hala

Day 3

• Brunch at Borough Market (Roast and Brindisa)
• Walk along the Thames from Tower Bridge to Parliament
• Walk by Westminster Abbey
• Sherlock Holmes Museum Gift Shop
• Dinner at Mousumi's

Day 4

• Ride a bike in Regent's Park and Hyde Park
• Lunch at Dishoom
• "Shopping" at Oxford Street
• Dinner at Siam Central
• Lion King (Musical)

Day 5

• Breakfast at Borough Market (Monmouth Coffee and Bread Ahead)
• British Museum
• More walking around Brick Lane

Advice if you visit

• Get the Oyster Card. You can get the £5 deposit refunded at the airport when you're leaving so there's really no fee. You get cheaper rides on the tube and you're capped at a maximum spend of ~£10/day if you're just travelling between Zones 1 and 2.
• If you're comfortable riding a bicycle, the Santander cycles are a great way to get around downtown. For £2 a day, you can rent the cycles for 30 minute intervals. Get the CityMapper app that tells you where the cycle stands are, so you can plan your route accordingly. It's really nice riding the cycles around the parks if the weather is good.
• If you want to take the Heathrow Express, book early. If you book 30 days in advance, the weekday one-way price is around £8, compared to £20+ on the day of. While the Heathrow Express gets you to Paddington in about 15 minutes, you do have the option to take the Piccadilly line into downtown. It's much cheaper, ~£3.50, but will take you about 45-60 minutes.
• Definitely check out Borough Market. It's great for breakfast and lunch but try to go off-peak hours if you can. A late breakfast around 10am or late lunch around 1:30pm worked pretty well with shorter lines. Must eats: chorizo sandwich at Brindisa and custard donut at Bread Ahead.
• All of the major museums are free, so if its raining outside, you can always check out one of them. But if the weather is nice, take some time to chill in Hyde and Regent's parks.
• Definitely make a day trip out of Oxford. It's really beautiful and it easily accessible by train/bus. Train takes 1.25 hrs, while the bus takes ~2 hrs. You can get tickets online in advance for cheaper fares. A weekend ticket purchased a day in advance was ~£8 each way.

Fun facts

• Fish and chips is misleading... its fish and potato wedges.
• It's pretty sweet that everyone in London knows how to pronounce Indian names without butchering them.
• Everyone raves about the British Museum being amaaaaaaazing... its like half the size of the MET. So relax London, its not that amazing.
• Watching the Lion King after forgetting the plot is the best thing to do in London, especially if your cousin-in-law is paying for the tickets :P

Summary of pictures

Chilling in Hyde Park

The street art near Brick Lane is definitely worth checking out

A nice river trail that's between the Oxford train station and campus

Oxford's famous make-out spot?

The random Asian girl who took this photo definitely knew how to work a DSLR

Balliol College at Oxford. About eight Chinese tourists immediately rushed this location two minutes after I took this photo, stepping all over these flowers in front of me. Classic.

Beautiful grass tennis courts at Oxford being used by shamefully bad players

That's right, selfies with DSLRs are possible. Though it looks even worse than taking a phone selfie.

Cycling around Hyde Park! Or is it Regent's Park? Who cares...

A visit to Dishoom is worth it just for the posters!

Don't get excited, I didn't get to see the play. Two months too early.