London Day Six: Monday

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Today was a beautiful day in London. As I’ve alluded to earlier in the day, the weather was very sunny, with a great blue sky — the first actual sights of the sky that I’ve seen since the beginning of the trip here, actually.

Today, I… met a friendly Londoner, over a delicious brunch and spent some time exploring the city, getting new recommendations for things do see and do along the way.

We went to a popular Indian restaurant called Dishoom. The inside of the place looked like a French bistrot, with European waiters, and exciting traditional Indian food. And a wonderful Egg-Roll Naan and an even better Dirty Chai (we both had several of those.)

After a lovely conversation, and two full stomachs, we walked all the way towards the iconic landmarks that are St Paul’s cathedral and Covent Garden. We left around the Seven Dials area, and I took the opportunity to grab a cup of coffee at Monmouth, one of my favorite places in the city.

On my friend’s recommendation, and before the day’s next appointment, I went for a long walk in Regent’s Park, arguably one of London’s best and biggest parks. It is located slightly to the north of the center of the city, while still being considered a part of the center.

My next meeting has been kind of a long-time bucket list item: visiting Monocle’s headquarters. In this case, I’m lucky enough to share a friend in common with Daniel Giacopelli, who runs The Entrepreneurs’ podcast. I’ve been listening to him for years, and through our mutual connection, we started following one another online.

Today, I not only got to meet Daniel, but he was also kind enough to give me a tour of the studio, a behind the scenes look at the office and the upcoming issue, as well as a small gift, and more London recommendations.

It’s hard to put into words how incredibly excited I was to visit Monocle HQ and finally meet Daniel afk, as well as how grateful I am for the opportunity and the conversation. Totally fanboy moment.

To wrap up the day, I went to the BFI IMAX again. This time for the newly-released Lego Batman movie. It was funny, as hysterical as the original, and very meta too. And obviously, as a big fan of both Michael Cera and (even more) Will Arnett, I could only have a great time watching this animated movie.

Finally, before ending the day in my hotel room I needed some food. Being alone I brought my laptop with me to get started on this very blog post. However, despite being a Monday night, the staff found a way to forget my order, and it took a literal hour to get my (delicious) veggie burger. To compensate, they served me another pint, on the house. It confirmed my theory from earlier in the trip, that my transition to a vegetarian diet has contributed to my decreased alcohol-tolerance. That second pint was enough to get me quite tipsy.

Tomorrow, I’m gonna need to pack, check out of this hotel, checking in to another one in Hyde Park / Kensington, and hopefully spend some time in museums at least.

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