Almost immediately, we logged into expedia.com and found a Memorial Day weekend flight/hotel package for London. We barely thought it over and then booked it! We wanted to go somewhere where neither of us had been and this being Evan's first trip to Europe, we wanted to go somewhere where the language barrier wouldn't be an issue. We wanted ease, history, and culture. London fit all the criteria.
Our Itinerary (May 26-28, 2007)
Saturday, May 26
When we arrived in London it was very early in the morning. The weather was downright gloomy, which we expected. I think the one and only time we saw the sun our entire stay was on our flight out of the country.
We took the train from Heathrow to the center of town. We got off in Piccadilly Circus (London's equivalent to Times Square) and walked to our hotel from there. It was pretty dead because of the early hour.
We made our way to The Grand at Trafalgar Square. It was a fantastic location and our room was really nice and big. The one downside is that we thought breakfast was included (no one told us it wasn't) so we were surprised when we checked out at the end and we had charges. Fortunately, they were very accommodating when we lodged a complaint and ultimately, refunded us. It was partially our mistake for assuming it was all-inclusive but I'm pretty sure that expedia led us to believe that.
We dropped our bags off and immediately set out to see the sights. Our first order of business was taking a cruise along the Thames. The boat ride was definitely worth it because it gave us the layout of the city and its main sights.
Our first walk was Shakepeare-themed. The guide took us to all of Shakepeare's old haunts and other key locations from his era. It was about 1.5-2 hours long. We stopped by the reconstructed Globe Theater but didn't go inside. I made a mental note to come back for a tour later in the trip.
The church Shakepeare's brother was buried in:
After our guided walk, we went exploring on our own. Throughout our trip, this was one of my favorite sights, the Tower Bridge:
Our meeting point - you can see the back of the Tower of London:
This guide wasn't quite as silly as our first guide but she was still cool. She took us by some of the most historically important sights in the city, including Westminster Abbey, which we toured on our own later.
We also walked by St. James's Palace and through the adjacent gardens.
Outside of Buckingham Palace:
We ended the walk in our area of Trafalgar Square and then back-tracked to Westminster Abbey for an interior self-guided tour. Needless to say, this is a must-see. Kings and queens of old are buried there, coronations and weddings have taken place there, etc. It was extremely crowded and smelled like one collective armpit.
Sunday, May 27
We were picked up in front of a hotel in Charing Cross for an all-day trip outside of London. This was something we pre-paid for as part of our expedia package. The tour company we went with was Premium Tours. The day started out at Windsor Castle. We were "dropped off" and given 45 minutes to an hour to look at the available/open-to-tourist buildings. We ran ourselves ragged trying to see everything we could see before we had to be back at the bus. Unfortunately, it was such a quick visit that I don't remember much. Queen Elizabeth's doll house made the biggest impact because it's something I do remember.
On the way to Stonehenge, we stopped at a local pub in the middle of the beautiful English countryside. I don't remember the name of the place and the lunch was just...OK. England isn't famous for its food and there's a reason for that!
When we got outside to see Stonehenge it was downright cold. This was by the far, the worst weather day. It was rainy, windy, AND cold. I was glad we got to see Stonehenge but to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. I mean, it's a bunch of stones resting on top of one another. *shrugs* We got a quick look and then hurried back to the warmth of the bus.
The last stop on our day-trip was Bath. It's a lovely and historic city and we actually had some free time to walk around. On our walk we stopped and picked up some pasties or meat-pies. That might have been the best food we had the whole trip and that's not saying much. We also stepped inside the Jane Austen Centre so I could get some souvenirs for my Jane Austen-loving friends. Personally, I'm more of a Bronte fan.
While we were in town we toured the old Roman baths and I believe, went inside the Bath Abbey, which I can't remember at all. :/
When we got back to London we had dinner at Garfunkel's Restaurant, which is a chain in the UK. The food was decent. It was kind of like going to an Applebee's or TGIFriday's in the U.S.
Monday, May 28
We spent today going back to some of the sights that we wanted to get better acquainted with. We spent the morning walking through St. James's Park and observing Buckingham Palace from the outside.
We found the nearest tube station and got off at Tower Hill where we walked to the Tower of London for a tour. This was probably my favorite experience in London. I've always been interested in royal history and especially King Henry VIII and his six wives. It was cool to be there and know how many people were incarcerated lawfully or unlawfully and executed. Our beefeater/tour guide was also really entertaining. Also, the royals jewels are worth checking out. They're some of the biggest I've ever seen!
We grabbed some mediocre fish n' chips at a kiosk outside the Tower of London and then made our way over to the Globe Theater for a tour. The tour was extremely informative and well-executed. For me, it was a must-see. It was neat to imagine what it must have been like in Elizabethan times where people were crammed in next to each other and smelling mint leaves to ward off everyone else's foul body odor.
They were setting up for the Merchant of Venice:
Millennium Bridge:
And then we made our way to Hyde Park and walked around.
Here's a picture of Kensington Palace:
I really wanted to get to Portobello Road, which for me, was made famous by the Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Unfortunately, toward late afternoon, I started to lose steam. I'm pretty sure I picked up some kind of bug on the plane ride over and it decided to hit me then. We spent the evening in bed relaxing and discovering Little Britain. This is one of the things I love the most about traveling - discovering new things. We had never heard of Little Britain before this trip and chances are, we never would have had we not been in London flicking through the TV channels. We now own all three seasons on dvd and watch them over and over again.
We saw a lot and we missed a lot. I'd love to go back to London for a whole week and just take our time walking through the different neighborhoods, see a show in the West End, go inside St. Paul's Cathedral, see Hampton Court Palace, get to Portobello Road and do some antique shopping, go for high tea, shop in Harrod's, and take a couple more day-trips. I'd also like to see some of London's world-class museums. We just didn't have the time during this trip.
I thought London was a fabulous and interesting city. Evan enjoyed himself but not as much as he has in some of the other places we've visited. London's main negatives are that the food isn't great and it's extremely expensive. It really is a cultural gem, though.
Check out my most recent trip to London here.
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