London, England

Date visited:  July 2005

Okay, we didn't exactly do a London Pintathlon, but we had a few good reasons why not. First, we were only in town for about 12 hours en route to Belgium. Second, we were jetlagged beyond belief and coasting on no sleep. Third, London has a staggering number of pubs to cover so we'd probably need at least a week (ha ha).

 

Perhaps the biggest reason we didn't bother with a Pintathlon is that a team of gentlemen in London have already done a humblingly good job of covering greater London already. For an impressive survey of London's pub scene, have a look at fancyapint. For an account of Pintathlon's brief stint in Jolly Old, read on.

With no direct flights to Belgium from Toronto, we (Karen and Dave) connected through London, and all flights included at least a three-hour layover. So then the brilliant plan: we'd conquer the inevitable transatlantic jetlag by a) getting a little sleep on the plane, b) arriving in London first thing in the morning, c) having a full day in London, d) hitting Brussels late that night to sleep like the dead, and e) waking up the following morning completely time-adjusted. The plan worked, but it made for a hellish twelve hours in London.

By the time we got off the plane, stowed our carry-ons and navigated the tube to Covent Garden, it was about 8 am. (Karen always calls it Covenant Garden...so like a lawyer). The Garden is quiet this time of day, with just a few delivery trucks doing their rounds and a few keen shop owners polishing windows. We managed to find a small breakfast nook and treat ourselves to a true, greasy English breakfast. Sufficiently weighted down, we set out for a few of the must-see sights in London. Buckingham Palace made the list, as did Westminster Abbey, The parliament buildings, and Tesco. Why Tesco? Because we read that Young's Double Chocolate Stout (a magnificent beer currently unavailable in Ontario) is stocked in abundance at Tesco. Imagine that - a beer we can't get here at home, just sitting on the shelves at your local grocery store! Sadly, none of the Tescos we visited had what we wanted, so we settled for water and pushed on.

Having been to London before, we decided to get into some new territory, crossing the Thames to its lesser travelled south bank. And this is when the fatigue really set it. By now it was a little past noon, which meant we had been up for 24 hours straight. As we walked past the Tate Museum, Karen asked if I wanted to go in, and I knew it would be death standing up if we were to walk slowly about a museum, no matter how interesting. She instantly detected the glaze on my eyes, sat me down, and fed me a Power Gel. Within fifteen minutes, I was restored. The trip continued.

Karen sits delighted at the George Inn

Our main destination was the George Inn, so everything else we passed along the way was a bonus. The Borough Market was a particular delight, including a beer vendor who offered Unibroue products, which we declined to taste since we've had so much of them here at home. When we finally found the George Inn, we quickly shuffled past the throngs of tourists sitting in the courtyard and found ourselves a quiet, comfy spot by the window.

On our way back through the Market, we found another nice little pub called the Market Butcher. It was crowded and smoky inside, but we managed to find some window sill space outside, so we took out pints outside enjoyed. This, of course, is a novelty for Pintathletes who are accustomed to rigid Ontario liquor licensing laws, which would never allow patrons to walk freely with full pint glasses outside. In the picture to the right, a local family glares suspiciously at Karen as she snaps a photo of me (white shirt), grinning with that "look at me, I'm having a pint on the pavement" look on my face.

Our outing in London ended with a long Tube ride back to Heathrow (we did mind the gap), and a painful two-hour wait for our flight to Brussels. We were afraid of falling asleep and missing our flight, or at least I was, so I did everything I could to stay up. The only redeeming moment was seeing Morley Safer of 60 Minutes wandering about the airport. Smart guy, but he's a very small man.