Nov 27
Upon our return from Paris on the Eurostar, we spent a bit of time at St. Pancras station taking pictures. It is really a very beautiful station, although since it had recently opened many of the restaurants and such were not yet open. (The picture doesn’t do it justice)

We then went to check into the Travelodge Hotel on City Road. I had gotten and awesome deal here (about $60 US per night). This is a really good deal for London!! And the place was really new as well. No troubles checking in. The room was a family room, so equipped with a double bed and a couch with a pullout underneath (sorry — no good pictures of this). Could easily have put 4-5 people in that room, especially if some of them were kids. There was also a small flatscreen TV. Good value for what I paid.

In order to maximize our day (I think I made a mistake in taking the middle of the day train back from Paris as it cut into our siteseeing time), we headed for the British Museum in order to get an hour or so in before it closed. You really can’t do this museum justice in that amount of time, however. It has some really ancient artifacts and seemed to have some really good Eqyptian things on display. They also have the Rosetta Stone there in a case. It’s a very impressive place but I don’t know how long we could have spent there anyway. If one was really into that sort of thing though, it certainly is a must-see.

We were pretty starved by this time so we walked down towards Covent Garden where the Rock and Sole Plaice is located. This was a fish & chips spot recommended by a few guidebooks I had read. It was a great first meal back in London! Great fish. I’m not sure I have ever had fish quite that good. And those chips were just perfect. I think I could easily live on fish & chips for every meal… Good value, too, even if we did sit down in the restaurant (cheaper if you “take away”).

Everything closes early in London. That is what we learned while there. If I was to go back I’d be sure to get an alarm clock and get up really early! Most shops and such close at 7pm. I’m not sure how people get everything done by 7 and what they do afterwards (pubs looked busy though)! In any case, we had a bit of time to stroll around Covent Garden before things shut down for the night. It’s a cool place and we of course ended up back there before leaving London. It was starting to rain but we did walk down towards Trafalgar Square and out to Westminster before calling it a night. It had been another long day.

Nov 28
This morning we were up early and headed straight for the Tower of London. It is so interesting to see how they have preserved all these old structures and how they sit right next to the modern City. It is a study in contrasts, to me. You would be so much less likely to see something like that in our country. We had 2-for-1 coupons at the Tower, which saved us a bunch of pounds. Justified our 7-day travelcards right there (they were required to use the coupons). Once inside, we were able to catch a Beefeater tour just getting started. He was so entertaining!! They really know just about everything there is to know about the history and he told lots of ancedotes about who had lived and died there over the years. After the tour, we saw the crown jewels. I mean, really, how anybody can wear those on their head is beyond me…. they look so heavy!

After some more fish & chips, it was time to head for yet another museum. This time it was the Dickens Museum near the Kings Cross station. We did take a minute to go find platform 9.75 (9 3/4) of Harry Potter fame. My sister would have been proud! The Dickens museum was very interesting. Unlike most of the other things we saw on this trip, it was small, manageable and not busy. A delightful change of pace if you ask me. He had a very interesting life and they had lots of things from his life that give a nice perspective on who he was.

From there, we traveled all the way across London to Harrods. On the Piccadilly Line. Around 5pm. Not recommended!!! Kings Cross has to be one of the busiest tube stops in all of London and that was a wild ride. But we made it to Harrods so mom was a happy camper, I think. We didn’t need to be there long as we couldn’t afford much anyway! Alas, this was the night I made some errors in my planning. According to my guidebook, the Victoria & Albert was open late on Wednesdays but this is apparently not the case! So we walked all the way over there (not really that far from Harrods) to be somewhat disappointed. Next door was the Natural History Museum which was supposed to have a Christmas Fair but that too was closed up for the night! And it was only a little past 7pm. London certainly is not the city that never sleeps…. We ended up back at Piccadilly Circus for some more pictures and just general strolling around.

I believe this was our night to eat at a British pub. We had a really great meal at the Cambridge — a pub located not far from Leicester Square. I had bangers and mash!! I was afraid at first but they ended up being really excellent. I mean I’m not sure I’d want that everyday but it was still good. Next time I’d like to try some of the other really neat places in London. I really did think all the food we had there was really great — not at all how we had been lead to believe it would be.

Nov 29
Our last day in London!!!
For a bit of change of pace, we decided to spend our last morning out in Greenwich. The trip out there on the DLR was covered on our travelcards so there was no additional cost and I had heard it was a nice little excursion outside of central London. This time I think I was spot on! Greenwich is an absolutely lovely spot with this huge green park. I swear it was just about the greenest park I have ever seen!

Taking the DLR was fun as well, as there is no driver. We stood right up front and could see it navigating the overground tracks all the way out to Greenwich. The Docklands area is really different from central London as well — very modern. Once in Greenwich though, it was back to old narrow streets and wonderful architecture. Our first stop was the little market not far from the main town. Mom enjoyed this market as well and got a few last things to take home with her.

From there it was on to the Maritime Museum (we certainly couldn’t have a day without a museum). I think this was our favorite museum in London. It really is a complete account of the maritime history of Britain and really of all the world’s ships and such. They had everything from models of pirate ships, to an art exhibit on what sailors have worn over the years, to some things on more modern cruise ships. It really did span the whole of maritime history. I don’t think we nearly did it justice so I would certainly recommend a return trip on that one.

Of course the reason to go to Greenwich is to straddle the Prime Meridian so we next walked up the hill to the Greenwich Observatory. This is the spot from which all longitude is measured in all the world. It also has a very official clock so everybody has to set their time up there as well. We just missed the 1pm “timeball”, unfortunately. There was again a museum up there with a few exhibits on the prime meridian and timekeeping in general. And the view was absolutely amazing of all of Greenwich and the Docklands.
And, of course, we did get our picture taken in two hemispheres at once!

It was then time to return to London. We had to maximize our last day in this great city! The DLR only takes about half an hour or so. Probably saves a lot of time over the old way of getting out there. I think it was possible to take a boat as well, but time was of the essence. We had planned on getting to St. Paul’s before it closed but unfortunately they seem to close at 3pm and we just missed it. I took a few pictures of the outside though. Something for next time!

Another busy Tube journey later and we were on Oxford Street, where we weren’t exactly alone…. There were shoppers everywhere! And the streets were really decorated up nicely (although I must say I think Paris does Christmas a little more festively). We visited all the big stores and a few smaller ones too. There were some streets just off of Oxford Street that seemed prettier and less crowded. It was fun walking down Bond Street even if we couldn’t actually afford anything! Our feet were *really* getting sore at this point but I wanted to get back to Covent Garden before it closed, which we did. And mom got to see a bit of their Christmas fair as well (although, yes, it was about closed for the day as well). I had plans for something more impressive, but we ended up eating at this little Cornish Pasty shop right at Covent Garden. You know what? It was great! I would highly recommend it. I was proud of myself since I didn’t eat at any “American” places the whole time I was over there!

We wanted to end our trip with something really “London”. We couldn’t think of anything better than going to Westminster and standing in front of Parliament one last time. And hearing Big Ben sound 10pm one last time. The sound it makes is unlike any bell I’ve ever heard. Really was a great way to top off such an awesome trip! I love London!!!!

Nov 30
Got woke up early by a firealarm at the Travelodge!! Maybe it was just as well as it got us up and around. It took longer to get to Heathrow than I had expected. We did stop in at Pret & Manger for breakfast. I was really, really glad of this as the food on the plane wasn’t so hot this time and we didn’t really end up eating again until we go to Toronto! Good place for breakfast though. I’d like to try their lunch next time out.

After this and the long ride out to Heathrow on the tube, the rest of the day was uneventful and we arrived home as expected after a long and eventful trip. I’m ready to go back…..

Underground Pics
Although it doesn’t fit in with the commentary here are a few of my favorite pictures from the London Underground:

To view the rest of my pictures: London and Paris 2008

Go back to:
Part 1 – London
Part 2 – Paris

Nov. 22-23:

On Thanksgiving day, we flew from Detroit to Toronto and onto Heathrow Airport in London. There was a bit of bad weather in Toronto so we arrived about an hour late to London. It was still rather early in the morning, however. We slept a bit on the plane and felt like we got great service on Air Canada. After a quick run through customs (which went very well), we found the Underground station at Heathrow. We got two 7-day travelcards and were on our way to London!

We weren’t able to check into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, but left our bags there before heading out to explore London. I thought this was a very decent hotel in a great location as far as transport links goes. I think there are three Underground lines at the Gloucester Road stop, which was right around the corner from the hotel.

We decided to work out the cobwebs from the flight and to get right into the London experience, we would walk towards Buckingham Palace. It turned out to be a bit further than I thought but we did pass by Harrods which I think mom enjoyed. Also a few museums (which it turned out we probably should have stopped in at). Eventually, though, we arrived at St. James Park, which was absolutely beautiful. You’d never know it was late November. From there it was on to Buckingham Palace. Although maybe not the most awe-inspiring place, it certainly was interesting to see the changing of the guard. Really, I don’t think there is a better way to start off a London vacation. There were SO many people there!!! Very exciting to see all the pomp and circumstance.

From there, we walked down towards Paliament and Big Ben. The first site of Big Ben was really exciting! I’m not sure it was until then that I really realized that I was in London! It’s a very busy area during the day and I took loads of pictures of course. Across the street is Westminster Abbey, which is like 1000 years old. So we got in line to see it, of course. Very somber place. More like a huge mausoleum than a church from my perspective, but it was very interesting to see all the graves and monuments to so many famous people. You couldn’t take pictures inside but I got several of the old exterior structure. At this point we were beat so we hopped on the Tube back to the hotel for a bit of rest…

After our nap, we went around the corner to a small chain restaurant for dinner. It wasn’t anything too special but we were really hungry so I think it worked for that purpose anyway. There are lots of nice looking places to eat but it was a bit early so several of them either weren’t open or looked fairly dead. I never think it’s good to be the only one eating in a place. After dinner, we hopped back on the tube to take us to the Tate Modern. This is a huge museum of modern art housed in an old power station. There is a cavernous hall with very little art that you enter first. Unfortunately, we were really too sleepy to enjoy it, but I was glad we went. Outside is the Millennium Bridge and St. Paul’s across the river. It’s worth the trip just for those sites, I think. Also not far is Tower Bridge. So I took a bunch of pictures there as well. We capped off the night in Piccadilly Circus. Since it was a Friday night, the place was really hopping! Very fun place for a little treat.

Nov 24
We had breakfast at a little (and I mean little) French pastry shop across from the Gloucester Road Tube station, Paul. Very good pastries. I think I had my first chocolate pastry, but far from my last!!! It was excellent and highly recommended.

The Tube was a bit of a challenge on this particular day as much of the Piccadilly Line (and all of the Circle Line as it was Saturday) was shut down. So I had to think on my feet in order to get us up to Notting Hill. But TFL gave us a nice Tube map so I referred to that and figured out how to get where we needed to be. London Underground really is fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. Anyway, this was market day on Portobello Road, so we headed up there for the morning. I think mom really enjoyed all the little markets in Europe and this one especially. It was very enjoyable. She got lots of little trinkets along the way. I do wish I had gotten a few more things though! And we should have eaten somewhere along there as it all smelled oh so good. Very fun place to spend a Saturday in any case.

Alas, I had plans on stopping in at a museum or perhaps strolling through the park but we opted instead to grab our bags. If we had time, we’d eat something at St. Pancras before boarding the Eurostar. Turns out that was the right decision!! From Gloucester Road to St. Pancras, one takes the Piccadilly Line. I don’t know why but on this particular Saturday, EVERYBODY was taking the Piccadilly Line no matter where they were going. So it was absolutely craziness, especiallly if you happened to be carrying 3 bags at the time… People would lean in when the door closed! And, of course, with all the crowds it must have taken an hour or so to get there. So we were rather pressed on time. We had no time to waste. I picked up our tickets and it was pretty much time to board the train, which is what we did. And we were off to PARIS!!!

The rest of the report-
Paris Report (Part 2)
Back to London (Part 3)

My photos are located here: London and Paris Album