London, UK

The travel drought is over...I'm back on the road.  The last two months have been highly unusual for me...no travel.  Most of it was a mandatory cutback at work, due to the global economy.  However, it sure was nice to spend some quality time with the wife and G-Man.  I even managed to do some things around the house ; )

Today, I'm in London.  The journey actually started in Boston and went through Frankfurt.  The Frankfurt Airport is a great one - although I had to go through security two more times, just to connect to another flight.  While there at 5am, I stopped by the McDonald's.  Readers of this blog know that I visit McDonald's in every country I travel to.  First, it's the only true global economic barometer (how much is a Big Mac in Rome? Russia? Taiwan?).  Second, I love to try out the crazy items that are specific to a particular country.  In the UK, that used to be the McTandoori Chicken Sandwich.  Today, I tried the McDonalds Frühstücks Wrap.  Stay with me on this one...tortilla wrap with egg, lettuce, sausage, tomato and some crazy sauce - all mixed together!  I didn't mind it, actually.

I'm in London for only a few hours, on my way north into the UK.  From Heathrow Airport, my first stop is Paddington Station.  

This is my absolute favorite UK rail station.  The name should be familiar to most - the beloved Paddington Bear is named after this station.  They have a statue dedicated to his honor:

Not exactly cute in bronze...

Don't ever let a commercial opportunity to exploit tourists slip away...

The station is fun - lots of trains, as well as shops and restaurants nestled alongside the train tracks:

That green store in the very back is a Krispy Kreme ; )

Paddington has been a "home base" for several of my trips to London. The best one was with my wife. We loved the fact that there's a Hilton Hotel connected to the station. They have a grocery store, as well as a Marks and Spencer food store (ask my wife about their lemon desserts). Great services and convenient to multiple subway and rail lines.

With a few hours to spare in London, having been there numerous times, what would you do? If you're me, you want to visit several of the unique toy stores in the city ; ) My favorite is called Forbidden Planet.

This is really "geek central". A huge store with one floor of action figures and another floor of comic books, manga and sci-fi DVDs. Star Wars and Doctor Who are prominent throughout.

The second stop is a unique place called Playlounge. This place has a nice selection of figures and collectibles from modern and "street" artists. Really interesting stuff.

I found Playlounge by accident, after walking near Carnaby Street (see Austin Powers opening sequence) one day - with no particular destination in mind.  There's a lot to be said about that...

Last on the list is always the biggest "traditional" toy store in London - Hamley's. It's a Toys 'R Us on steroids (or exactly like the Times Square Toys 'R Us). You'll find entire departments dedicated to Thomas the Train, Transformers, Batman, etc. Lots and lots of little kids here...but they don't get in my way ; ) I can't wait to bring G-Man here some day!

No trip to London would be complete without grabbing a Lion Bar:

What's a Lion Bar, you ask? It's just a little piece of candy heaven, found mostly in Europe. Take a Twix bar, lovingly mix in a Nestle Crunch bar...and throw in some flavors that I haven't been able to identify...and you've got the Lion Bar! I usually only get one per trip, or my Diabetes would scream at me ; )

That's it for now. I plan several future posts on my various trips to London, in the future. I'm now on a train to Birmingham and Leamington Spa...