Driving Fast and Slowing Down in Germany

We awoke of course to rain again in Belgium.  For the first time though the catering tent was not insane as many people had departed the night prior, so we were actually able to get to all the food easily and Andy was even able to order a hot meal for a few pounds.  We checked out about 10AM, but had 6 hours before Alec's second most anticipated adventure of the trip, driving the famous Nurburgring in Germany.  We had quickly assessed a few options the day before and opted for the Moselle River town of Cochem.

Unfortunately, along the way we needed to stop twice as our tires kept showing low and then upon arrival we couldn't find good parking to allow us to walk up to the beautiful Reichsburg Cochem Castle which drew us to the town.  Apparently this is quite the little hot spot as the car parks were packed and lots of people were about on bikes, walking dogs, and enjoying the shops and restaurants.  It was a picturesque town and would have loved to spend a day there. By the time we found a parking spot and walked into town (and after our 3 days in a row of walking back and forth to the race track) we opted to skip the castle, grab a bite to eat, walk in town a bit, and then head on our way.

We enjoyed lunch at Elli's Schnitzel-Haus.  The reviews on-line were mediocre to poor, but honestly the food was quite nice.  Prices were not crazy and the service was very friendly and helpful.  I would learn later after some research it was the owner who was serving us.  Andy had his first schnitzel, Alec pizza, and myself chips (fries) with a tatziki type dipping sauce.  It was very nice. A 20 minute walk back to our car and we were off...by the way, I forgot to mention Alec would get to drive fast later this afternoon, but Andy did get to drive the autobahn a few times on this day.  I will admit when he started pushing 90mph I chickened out and asked him to slow down.

We arrived a bit early for Alec's drive so we went on to the race course and visited the Nurburgring RingWerk, which is a museum.  Had we researched a little better I would say we probably would have explored a little more of the overall facility before committing to the museum. It was good, but had several attractions aimed at young children.

Needing to arrive an hour early we drove to Ringfreaks, the company Alec had spent weeks finding.  See at 18 there were many rules for driving the famous 28.2k Nurburgring.  In 2027 it will celebrate 100 years of racing.  It has hosted about every kind of motorized racing you can imagine and has seen the likes of Schumacher to Hamilton win on its famous curves.  Today it is mostly known for its 24 hour endurance races. Back to the rules...Alec's age, and budget, limited the cars he could drive.  He would wind up with a BMW F30 328i.  He also was required to have a coach in the car with him.  He could drive anywhere from 2 - 5 laps.  He spent his hard earned In-n-Out dollars and went for 5.  Andy went with him and checked him in.  I figured a nervous Mom would not do well for Alec's confidence.  The guys in the office were kind enough the point us to "YouTube Corner" for us to watch for Alec. Andy might have lied to me or limited my information upfront by saying it was the corner where YouTubers liked to video the fast cars.  After Alec was finished I would be told it was actually the corner where YouTubers like to record crashes.

Alec turned on his data so we could acess his Life360 location and be ready for photos and videos.  He would do 2 laps and take a break while the coach rode with someone else, then he would do 3 more.  We sat and waited patiently as he waited in a line to scan his pass and access the track.  We would learn ANYTHING...and we do mean ANYTHING can do the open track tourist drive.  We saw minivans, a car with a large Thule box, a work van, and lots of family wagons.  These were mixed amongst Lotus, BMWs, Porsches, and more.  It was incredibly entertaining.  Andy hid Alec's speed from me and I only got alerted when he was a couple minutes out so I could climb down the hill to the hole in the fence for photographers.  He had a great time!  And was very grateful for the coach.  The turns were so numerous and seemed never-ending that he said it was super helpful and allowed him to drive faster and more agressively overtaking many other drivers.  By the way if anyone goes and wants a coach his name was Marcell.  Apparently he has over 5000 laps on the course and has raced on it quite a bit.

He wrapped up around 7PM and drove the car back to the facility on his own and checked out.  Starved we stopped at a local petrol station and secured some snacks and hit the road to Cologne where we would check into our first real hotel, Artotel by Raddison, located right on the Rhine.  It was a beautiful location and our room was a corner with huge windows that opened on the second floor looking towards the cathedral.  We were disappointed that the hotel advertises a restaurant, but it only exists for a pricey (but plentiful) breakast buffet.  So we ordered via Uber Eats from Micki's   It was very fast, hot, and good Italian.  The hotel had provided us a large water with air ("sparkling water") and Andy grabbed his first Kolsh from the bar when he met our delivery guy.

We slept in and enjoyed the buffet which was very good.  Alec worked out in the minimalist hotel gym and we lazed around and I did laundry until nearly 2PM.  Then we had the fun adventure of returning the rental car to the train station.  We tried to go into the parking garage through the wrong entrance, then it took us about 15 minutes and several in and outs of the building to learn we simply drop the keys in a box marked Hertz and walk away. 

A quick walk around the corner and we were at the centerpiece of this city and UNESCO site, Cologne Cathedral.  It is the tallest twin-spired church in the world and the second largest cathedral in Europe. Construction began in 1248 but would not be well-funded until the 1840's.  It was amazing...definitely ranks up there with Notre Dame, St Peters, and Duomo.  It would take us nearly an hour to self tour the interior.

What else does one do after chuch, but have a beer so we headed off to Brahaus Fruh am Dom, which translates to the Beer Hall of the Cathedral, so very close.  It was started in 1895.  We settled into a table on the first floor and so it began.  Our beers were marked on a coaster on the table.  The server would only stop when we placed our coaster over the top...well not really...he was very used to tourists who did not know so he was kind enough to ask us if we wanted more and how many.  We would learn he was Persian, who came to Germany via L.A. to escape the Iyotollah's rule.  We were grateful for his kindness because by about 4 beers in we could not be trusted to remember to place our coaster over the top. We ordered traditional and appetizer of Halver Hahn (bread, cheese, butter, and onion) and our meals included Deftige Gulaschsuppe, Schweineschnitzel, and Ofenfrischer Schweinebraten and of course, Streudel, for dessert.  A very fun and filling afternoon as we would wind up spending nearly 3 hours there just chatting. We walked back to our hotel to enjoy more of the city sites and then off to bed as we had an early morning train to Berlin, our final stop.

Forumula 1 (2 & 3) at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Up very early...along with hundreds of our closest friends at our campsite we headed to the catering tent for breakfast.  It was a bit mad as it actually looked to be a rain free day, so everyone was headed to the track.  Included in our campsite was cereal, juices, coffee, and toast with jam.  The boys loaded up and brought it back to our campsite which also had a cute table and chairs set outside.  We ate quickly and started on our 45 minutes walk back to Circuit de Spa-Franorchamps.  This time for the flatter route which took us most directly to our seats.

First stop was down the hill to the FanZone area for the interviews.  Alec thought we would be way in the back, but we went around the side and I would say where 25 people or so back from the stage.  We saw interviews with Red Bull, Alpine, and Mercedes.  Which means yes we saw Max and for me I was happy to see George Russell.  They were very fun and made them do funny challenges at the end of their interviews.  The crowd was great.

We were on turn 1 between two covered grandstands.  The day was filled with Formula 1, 2, & 3 sprints and qualifying.  I personally enjoyed the Formula 2 best and when it was the English commentators turn I would learn their cars are made for overtaking, not overall performance.  I also learned they start reverse grid, so reverse qualifying order in the championship races.  I like this too as it is similar to skiing allowing the less tenured racers to have a shot at a cleaner course and start.  The day was insanely hot...actually I should say humid, which we are not used to anymore.  Alec also decided to forgo the classics exhibition to stand in a nearly hour line for swag.  Everyone around us was great.  To our left were 5 guys from the east coast celebrating a 40th birthday.  In front of us a British couple who were quit young and quiet.  To our right a large German family.

Our seats on the top row came in handy this day as we are the only ones who could stand and also got a breeze as we actually were not completely blocked in by bodies.  This seating would also come in very handy on Day 2...when yes in true Spa fashion it would rain...and rain...and rain.

We enjoyed the catering tent for dinner where Andy had chicken curry and rice, myself veggie lasgna, and Alec cheeseburger and fries.  And of course we went to the pub for a beer while we used the charging lockers for devices.  Plans were to crash early and be up and walking by 7:15AM the next morning to make the Formula 3 race.  Ear buds in we crashed hard and didn't awaken until....

....the pouring rain and our alarms at 6:15AM.  Andy checked the radar and we decided to forgo the Formula 3 race.  Glad we did as it was actually canceled.  This morning we skipped breakfast all together and donned our rain gear.  Yes, we brought full pants and jackets and started our 45 minute walk to the track.  Luckily getting in was a little easier this time and the rain had stopped a bit and we would see the Formula 2 race.  Breakfast would be fries (which the Belgians claim are truly Belgium fries, not French as we silly Americans mistook French-speaking Belgians who provided them during the war as French people and it stuck) as the waffle line was a mile long.

The day would go back and forth between sun, rain, cloudy.  Come Formula 1 time they did the drivers parade and it was overcast, then time for the National Anthem and it started to rain.  The drivers would take 3 laps before they red-flagged the race and would eventually push out the start time by an hour.  The DJ was awesome at keeping the crowd engaged all over the venue.  We literally tried to do the wave all around the track and dance parties and singing broke out everywhere.  And why does the top row come in handy by the way...because we are the only ones allowed to put up umbrellas.  And by the way for those who were grumbling about the rain...it POURED!  Yes, we do agree they have tires that are supposed to work in the rain, but we definitely could see how the spray and visibility would make it very dangerous.

Saldy the race was a little anti-climactic when it did occur.  We were excited to be on turn 1, but they did a rolling start (which we will agree was not needed), so it was very tame.  Piastri would overtake Norris early and from there the grid for the top positions nearly held the entire race.  We will say it was great to see Leclerc hold off Max to finish 3rd and Hamilton got tons of cheers for going from starting in the pits to P7.  But given there was serious chatter about the race being canceled we were glad it was not and we got to see some good racing in quals and sprints.

We debated the track invasion as people pushed their way towards gates in front of our stand, but in the end when it was all over and we were exiting...we decided at the last minute to make the turn and go join the masses.

After our long walk, hot showers, and dinner in hand...another treat was joining a couple of hundred again at the pub inside the soccer clubhouse to watch the British women's football team defeat Spain for the 2025 Euro in a shoot out.  What fun that was!  Another unexpected surprise on our trip.  Next up...Alec getting to spend a chunk of his hard earned money from his employment at In-n-Out to drive 5 laps on the famous Nuerbergring in Germany. 

Brussels Food & History Tour and InTentsGP

A decent night's sleep, we were off to the lobby area for our hostel breakfast with a ton of our Tomorrowland friends.  Very mediocre European continental breakfast...cereals, meats, breads, yogurt, but thankfully a coffee machine. That's OK as we were headed for a 4-hour food and history tour at 11AM today.

We quickly ate, packed our bags, and stored them again in the lockers as we wouldn't pick up our rental car until ~4:30pm after the tour. Then we boarded the Metro again to the Bruges station and made our way to a corner of the Palace area in front of a Chocolatier called Mary.  This is our 3rd time using Get Your Guide as we have been very happy with past bookings in Paris and San Francisco.  This time we were doing the "Brussels: Food Tour with Lunch, Chocolate, Beer, and Waffles."  We arrived with about 5 minutes to spare to find a young man having a quick smoke while he waited on us and the others in our party looked around.  We would find we were a small group.  The other 3 were a couple of a best friend from New York who were Dominican in ethnicity.  Super fun to talk to about travel, food, and of course the Grand Prix as they were going as well with plans to drive back and forth each day.

We started in the Palace area by entering Mary, the first female chocolatier, in Brussels in 1919.  They also have been providing chocolates, a Belgian Royal Warrant Holder, to the Belgium royal family since 1942.  We tasted several, including one we would purchase later a champagne rose.  Then out onto the Palace area we would get lots of history including the Free Masons, various artisan guilds, and Karl Marx.  He had lived there for three years until expelled in 1948 and it is where he would write his Communist Manifesto.

We would find our way now to our second chocolatier in the Palace area, Galler. Liked by many for it's minimalist packaging, free trade cocoa, and a collaboration indictive of the country with over 170 chocolatiers it's very much a forward looking business. After this we would wind our way through the streets seeing the famous Manneken Pis again and also seeing the museum that houses all the costumes he has been dressed in over the years.  Our guide informed us it was quite a treat for us to see him naked as he rarely is.  We also learned at this time due to Brussels being the NATO seat as as well as EU this is a incredibly diverse city.  Our guide claimed it to be the second most diverse city in the world.  I fact checked him and can not find that to be true, but do see that nearly 50% of Belgians do not have Belgium as their first country of origin in their registered status.

We eventually came to a store front and upon entering found several tables set for tours.  And here we would sample several beers while Tony, an elderly gentleman, prepared an amazing lunch.  First, we were each presented with a pot of mussels with onion, herbs, broth, and I think spinach.  And bread of course for soaking up the juice.  We would use our shells like tongs to eat the meat of other shells.  The second course was an amazing meatball with cherries served with a potato croquet and applesauce.  Absolutely delicious...and more beer of course.

With bellies full we walked it off for more history, different sectors of Brussels, old marina, China town, and more.  We also would visit Mannekin's mates...a girl named "Jeanneke Pis" and a dog named "Zinneke Pis."  Finally we would wind our way to the exclusive glass-domed high-end shopping areas of Saint Hubert Royal Galleries and our Waffle and Coffee tastings at Mokafe Taverne.  We learned the heavily loaded waffles you saw on other areas were not the truest.  The best were very light, cooked fresh, dusted with powder sugar, and served with a small carafe of chocolate sauce.  It was delicious!  Andy and I opted for cappuccinos.  And Alec for a super hot original hot chocolate which would require a lot of added sugar to get it to what he was accustomed.

Winding our way out we would stop again one more time at Mary for a last sampling and then a goodbye to our companions.  Again, another successful tour.  We were a little concerned at first as our guide was just returning from a month holiday, but he was a very sweet and talkative young man who we got to know well.  He's doing this while hoping to use his college education to do something in social work, preferably working with the homeless.

We gathered our bags, our rental car, and we were off to the countryside and InTentsGP for the next three nights for the Spa Formula 1 Grand Prix.  During our hour and a half drive we battled with our car to convert it to English, but we survived just fine and found a station playing live from Tomorrowland, which was fun.  Finally, about 6:30PM we pulled into a field across from a soccer club, checked in, and found our way to our large canvas yurt with blow up beds, but nice bedding for the next three nights.  Then we walked 45 minutes to the track where there was still one more race as well as to get the lay of the land for the next day.  Wow, there were a lot of people and the route we chose that night would be the only time we would take it as it was downhill there, but obviously a long uphill coming back.  We also learned our entrance was a long walk from inside.  Back at the campsite we would grab a shower in the portables they had set-up, and dinner from the catering tent, and a beer from the bar located in the soccer clubhouse.  In bed by 10PM we would be up the next morning by 6:30AM to get ready and walk to the track to see the interviews in the Fan Zone with several teams including Red Bull.

Brussels, Beers, and a Dance Party

In 2014 we were supposed to take the Eurostar from Paris to London with the kids for a day, but the booking got messed up.  Since then we have traveled on Amtrak plenty in the US, but we always heard the European rail was so much more.  Today we were up early and ubbered to St. Pancras station to take the Eurostar to Brussels.  It was so well-marked and easy to figure out.

We were booked in Eurostar plus with a table for 4 in car #8.  We did wind up being joined by a young woman, but there was still plenty of room for our bags, us, lapstops out for working, etc..  I thought I would be freaked out about the Chunnel.  The Official name which is the Channel Tunnel is 31.5 miles long and sits 23.5 miles under the English Channel.  But the Eurostar is going 100mph through it, so I hardly had time to think about it.  We also got a continental breakfast with tea, coffe, and juice.

We arrived into Brussels Gare de Midi.  After we disembraked we noticed people everywhere carrying flags and dressed almost like circus people, but all in a matching burgundy guiding people and answering questions.  It would be a couple of hours until we figured out that one of the, if not the, largest Music Festival in Europe was getting ready to start weekend #2 in Belgium, Tomorrowland.

Since in just over 24 hours we will need a rental car I got us a room at the hotel/hostel Meininger Gare du Midi which was less than a 5 miunte walk from the station.  With the festival, even though not in Brussels, the place was packed.  Our room of course was not ready, so again we crammed our bags into 2 large lockers and hopped the Metro to the city's center and walked to the Grand Palace.  Wow, just wow...love, love that everything is pedestrian. Chocolate shop after chocolate shop lined the streets as well as eateries.  And the architecture was beautiful with lots of gold.  In the plaza was a podium in the center with a DJ deck and it was set-up like a concert.  We thought perhaps they were tearing it down from something earlier or preparing for something later.  After all the festival itself is not in Brussels.

It was such a beautiful day we opted to get an outside table at Le "Roy d'Espange" and our first Belgium pints. Built in 1697 it was originally the baker's guild headquarters. Force, wheat, wind, fire, water, and security, all needed by bakers are prepresented from left to right by statues high up on the buildings facade. Above the entrance is Saint-Aubert, patron Saint of Bakers. During and after the French Revolution it went through a few iterations, before returning to a cafe in 1952.  Here we would enjoy our first Belgium Beers and chat with some of the festival attendees.  The Spainards next to us mixed up their AM and PM and told us there was to be a welcome set in the plaza at 3AM,  which makes sense as the festival itself goes until the wee hours of the morning. But we soon found out that was 3PM and we would wind up dancing in the plaza for 90 minutes.

Alec was beyond happy as he purchased a DJ deck to take to school and has been working hard to master it all summer.  And there were even songs, which the DJ duo called "old school" mixed in that Andy and I knew.  It was a lot of fun and a pleasant surprise.  Just like our trip to Europe 10 years ago with the kids when we wandered into a cheese festival and had our 8 and 10 year old out dancing to EDM tunes late into the night.

Exhausted we wound our way to the famous Manneken Pis.  Literally one of the top sites in Brussels and yes, it is a statue just over 2 feet tall of a little boy pissing in a fountain.  There are all kinds of stories about what he presents, but ultimately he was done like Cupid with no big story behind it.  Since then a girl version called Jeanneke Pis has been erected as well for equal rights.  And then someone thought they needed a pet, so a pissing dog refered to as Zinneke Pis was erected.  Then we hopped the nearest metro back to the station and walked back to our hotel to check out the new digs for a night.

Much larger than our last one...Andy and I have the classic singles pushed together.  And Alec is in a bunk bed again.  But this time we have a desk and all the normal bathroom amenities that we did not in our last location.  Hair dryer, soap, towels (were a charge at the last location)....we even have a TV.  We ate at a not very exciting place near the station and are now settling in for the night.  Tomorrow will be a long day with a 4 hour history and food tour in Brussels before getting our car and heading south for 3 nights of glamping at the F1 race.

How fast can you site see in London....24 hours?

Waking up on Day 2 we had slept pretty well.  Our hostel included a European breakfast of toast or rolls, humus, veggies, meats, yogurt, fruit. and a coffee machine that pumped out anything your heart desired.  Then we walked back to the Tower of London where we jumped on our Big Bus Hop On, Hop Off.  Like these things or not they are a great way to get around a large tourist city and garner some info at the same time.

We would take ours to Kensington Palace to see the changing of the guard with several thousand other tourists.  Unless you are pressed against the front gate the best view is from the center around the statues.  The downside though is there only two exit points when it is all over.  Still you get to see quite a bit.  Upon exit we made our way back to a bus stop to my most wanted attraction, Harrods.

No, I do not go for the luxury clothes and upscale jewelry, cigars, etc.  I go for the food halls.  The most amazing floor of chocolate, pastries, meat, seafood, coffee, cheese...shall I go on?  We walked it all and then grabbed some pastries for the next morning and I hit the Harrod's brand store for something for me and something for our missing Jolly.

Now mind you I am not a fan of Hard Rock Cafes, but when your son is into music just as much as your husband you do make a reservation at the original Hard Rock Cafe that opened in London in 1971 and is filled with things from the literal icons of rock-n-roll, most notable the British.  The Beatles, The Who, Clapton, Queen, Elton John, The Sex Pistols...and then throw in the iconic Americans like Madonna,  Prince, BB King, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Our server caught on quick to our interest and even gave us a pass to the vault that is not open on Wenesdays, unless you have one of these passes.  And there were the crown jewels of rock-n-roll.

Next up we went to another shopping area, Regeants Street.  Here Alec had to find his way to Huntsman, a men's handsewn suit shop which has served as the inspiration for Matthew Vaughn’s blockbuster movies Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and the prequel The King’s Man. From there Mom and Dad needed caffeine as we were now nearly 8 hours into our day and well over 7 miles of walking, so we went to a lovely little shop called Kiss the Hippo.  Little did we know it has won the UK Barista Championships twice.

Back on the bus we now had to make our way for the inconic Clark Griswald's "Look kids. There's Big Ben and there's Parliament."  He's supposedly stuck in a traffic circle, which if there was there is not anymore.  We walked all around both, as well as Westmentster Abbey, then being nearly 7PM the buses were starting to dwindle, so we hoped the Underground back to our hostel.

Alec had not yet had a traditional pub visit with folks just off work and playing darts, smoking (yes there is a lot of that still in England), and enjoying a pint with their mates.  So we crossed the street from our hostel and enjoyed a beverage, pizza from homemade dough, and of course European Women's football on the tele at Sir Syndney Smith, This public house has been serving the East End of London since at least 1809. Named after a British Admiral of the Napoleonic Wars, it has somehow survived for over 200 years to become one of the few remaining early 19th century pubs in an area of London which once had hundreds. Then off to bed for an early morning on the Eurostar to Brussels, Stop #2.

Back Going and Back in London

Life has come full circle.  I started writing these blogs when the kids were little, then they took over.  Now as the empty nest lies right in front of us (actually 3 weeks away) I am taking back over again as they are more interested in sharing their travels via snaps or stories.

Today we landed in London.  For Andy and I it was merely a cheap way to get to Europe directly from SFO.  For Alec though this is another country and place he has not been.  Well, let me back-up...we thought it was merely a cheap way, but what we have found in the 12 hours since we arrived is WOW London has changed in the 25 years since we were here last.  Really 25 years?  Seems like yesterday.

Back in 1999 there was not Uber so we trained in from Heathrow.  Now, at least for 3 people, it is more economical to Uber.  You pick-up the "Hail Rides" on the 4th floor outside the terminal.  Very well-marked and easy.  About an hour later and we had weaved our way to our first lodging.

To save money we have opted for hostels for stop #1 and #2.  We chose Wombats on Dock Street for its close proximity to a few major sites.  We were 2 hours before check-in so our room was not ready, but they had luggage lockers, so we quicky grabbed a few things, locked everything else away, and were off.

Only 15 minutes from the Tower of London and Tower Bridge we had grabbed tour tickets on-line at the airport and asked the front desk for a recommendation for lunch enroute there.  They suggested we check out St. Katherines Docks only a 10 minute stroll from the hotel.

Andy certainly enjoyed the walk as the docks were lined with beautiful boats as well as artworks and restaurants.  Once there we opted for this amazing building, The Dickens Inn, perched right on the water and 3 stories high.  "The Dickens Inn is an original warehouse building near Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and The Shard. Dating back to the 18th century, it is thought to have been built in the early 1700s as a tea factory or a local brewery. Years later, it was converted into a local tavern, with sawdust strewn floors and no bottled or canned beer would have been stocked. Diners also enjoyed candlelit meals on the balconies; this practice has been phased out due to modern fire safety regulations! In May 1976, The Dickens Inn was opened by the grandson of Charles Dickens, Cedric Charles Dickens.Charles Dickens was particularly fond of Thameside and East London with his work being stocked with characters and scenes memorably linked with the area." Here Andy and Alec would have their first pints and I opted for a Pimms Spritz.  I love Pimms and will be recreating this one back home.  Andy also got his first fish and chips, while Alec opted for a burger and myself a salad.  It is an overcast day with showers off and on, but we managed to dine outside without a drop.

Next we followed the water to London Bridge and after a few pictures made our way to the Tower for our 2:30 entry time.  We got our tickets straight through the Historic Royal Palaces website versus all the 3rd party travel vendors like Viator, etc.. Once inside as grabbed our audio tour and were off.  The showers have now made it a little muggy, so we sped through our 2 hour highlight tour in 90 minutes.  We saw the Crown Jewels, alongside torture chambers, the famous ravens, and more.  The humidity and our jet-lagged state caught up to us and we called it quits after listening to a few funny tales by one of the Yaomen Warders.  These soldiers and lengthy and decorated service are now charged to guard the Tower and all of its prized possessions.  We loved seeing the mix of soldiers present that day...including women which we had not seen in 1999 as well as representatives of various ethnicites, also not seen 25 years ago.

A quick 15 minute walk back to the hostel we gave into a 1 hr power nap, then we went to the basement of our hostel to this amazing little place, the WomBar, which was bustling with people and affordable drinks.  We would catch up with family via wifi, play cards, and manage to stay awake until nearly 10PM.  We might have also enjoyed when the gal running the trivia night shut down a group of young Americans from the south when they attempted to chant USA when we were introducing where we were all from. We and another group from Cali were a little more subdued.  And you wonder why Americans get a bad rap as tourists.  Really!?!? That's how you introduce yourself to a hostel bar full of people from all around the world. After a quick exit from trivia we onboarded some melatonin on board and crawled into our bunk beds...yep that's how you get a private with ensuite bathroom in a hostel for a family...and are ready to crash out and awaken tomorrow to cramming as much of London as possible into one day.