London, England - A Fantastic Weekend

It was a bitter sweet feeling to leave Morocco. It has its own unique culture and way of life. . . yadda yadda. However, there is something to be said about the allure of western civilization and all the distractions it entails. Towards the end of our trip we were actually craving McDonald's food. With that said we traveled from Casablanca to London for a weekend in the British capital. This is by no means a city to do in a weekend or a week or even in just a year, but that is the time alloted. With the exception of The British Museum, I did no other tourist stops. I didn't see the Tower of London, ditched Big Ben and Parliament, and didn't even come near Westminister Abbey. By the way, why is Ripley's and these awful wax museums such a hit in all tourist destinations?! They are ubiquitous and need to be avoided everywhere - how do these tourist gouging money pits survive?

So with that I'll give you the top ten things I did.

10. Sushi and Sake at Roka in Soho

9. Stay at the Langham Hotel (http://london.langhamhotels.co.uk/)

Stay here for the love of god!

8. Order cheeseburgers via room service at above

7. Hit the clubs and groove to London's underground

6. Use the Apple store repeatedly (shamefully) to check email

5. Have my first Italian meal in a month on Shaftsbury Ave.

4. See the real Rosetta Stone at the British Museum while listening

to Vivaldi on my Ipod

3. See an Indian Festival in Trafalgar Square - It was a sea of brown people

2. Check out the Galleries of Convent Garden while they played Bolero

1. Lapse into a moment of pure bliss while having an Australian white

and spacing out on the water front of St. James Park

Everyone needs to go to London. Bring A LOT of money and if you can, avoid the tourist stops. Stay someplace central and then just pick a direction and walk. Leave the camera at home and lose your map on the way out of the hotel. Let me know if this works for you.

Well I'm back in San Francisco now. Can not tell you how good it feels to be back home. I can now sleep in my own bed, play with the cats, and give Maria all those kisses I've been saving for her.