Arrival In London
Once we purchased our Oyster cards and figured out which line to take, we were on our way into London. It took about an hour to get from Heathrow to Marble Arch, which was near our hotel. Our hotel, the Sumner Hotel, was about two blocks from the tube station. We were able to check in once we arrived. We had a nice room, which you can see later on the Accommodations page. In order to prevent Sean from taking a nap, we left quickly and headed to Burough Market.
Day 1 Adventures
Learning the London Underground took just a bit of time, but after a few rides, we were pretty good at it. Sean downloaded an app for his phone that really helped. He had also pre-purchased a SIM card for a UK data plan. This allowed us to have data while out and about on our trip.
Borough Market
Since it took us quite a while at passport control, the market was packed by the time we got there. I'm pretty sure that the ONLY research Sean did for the entire trip was watching YouTube videos on different foods to eat while in London and Edinburgh. So, we had some ideas where to go. I definitely wanted to get a doughnut at Bread Ahead and a Scotch Egg at Scotchtails. Honestly, I probably could have eaten something from each vendor as it all looked and smelled so fantastic. I would definitely recommend a market - but get there early to avoid some of the bigger crowds. The food we tried was very good.
South Bank Walk
After filling up at the market, we decided to walk along the South Bank toward the London Eye. It was a nice day - we even saw the sun a few times! We passed the replica of the Golden Hind and the Globe Theater. We also saw the Anchor Bar, built in 1615, and many other lively food and drink venues. We ventured to the viewing platform on the tenth floor of the Tate Modern before making our way down to the London Eye.
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London Eye
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As we approached the London Eye, the line was about 45 minutes - but the fast pass line was nonexistent, so we went in an bought tickets to the fast pass line and went straight on to the Eye. I have a terrible fear of Ferris Wheels, so this was definitely not on my list of things to do, but Sean wanted to ride, so up we went. Since it was enclosed and didn't really stop, I figured I would be fine. (By the way, it does stop if there is someone that needs assistance getting on/off - found that out while on board.) We did have a lovely view of the city.
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Day 2 Adventures
Day 2 started with a nice little breakfast at our hotel. We had a nice assortment of eggs, meats, cheeses, fruit, yogurt, tea, and coffee. We then took the Underground to the Tower of London. Since it was Sunday, the Underground was very quiet in the morning. A nice change from the busy Saturday the day before.
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Tower of London
According to my Rick Steves' guidebook, one should plan to arrive first thing on a Sunday to the Tower and head straight to the Crown Jewels to avoid the line. Well, seeing as I'm a (many) book carrying member of the Rick Steves' fan club, I tend to follow Rick's advice. We arrived early and were in line prior to opening. We made our way for the jewels as soon as the gates opened and had no wait to see them. They were absolutely stunning. Of course, there were no pictures allowed, so I don't have any proof that I saw them - you'll just have to trust me.
After seeing the jewels, we walked around a little bit before heading back to the entrance to get on a Yeoman Warder's tour. I would highly recommend this tour. It is very informative about the castle. Our Yeoman even once lived in the same apartment that Isaac Newton had lived in at the Tower. I found myself quite jealous. I thought about trying to sign up to see if I could get the apartment, but he assured me that it really wasn't all that interesting of an apartment. |
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After the tour, we visited the White Tower and its exhibit of royal armor, the carvings in the wall from prisoners past in the Beauchamp Tower, and even entered the Bloody Tower - where young King Edward V and his brother disappeared during the War of the Roses.
We saw the ravens and are happy to report that they are all doing well. They even had some baby ravens this year at the tower.
We saw the ravens and are happy to report that they are all doing well. They even had some baby ravens this year at the tower.
Food Adventures
After escaping the Tower, heads still intact, we headed off to get some lunch. We had decided to have some proper fish and chips, so we headed to Poppies. They did not disappoint! These were probably my favorite of the whole trip. We even got to sit with the Queen!
Following our lunch, we walked over to Brick Lane to find a place called Beigel Bake. This was one of Sean's finds. There they have salt beef on a Beigel (bagel). The street itself was PACKED with food vendors and music. It was a very happening place to be. We got our food to go and enjoyed it later at the hotel. The salt beef was tremendously tender and served with spicy mustard and a pickle. I would highly recommend. It was under 5 pounds for the sandwich. |
Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour
Sean and I had planned to have a proper Sunday Roast for dinner and we had some time to kill before our dinner reservations. We had made our way back to hotel and had decided to take our guidebook and get discounted tickets for the Hop on Hop Off Original Bus Tour. We had enough time to ride an entire loop through on the Yellow line. We hopped a bus with a human narrator and sat up top to enjoy the nice weather. It was a great way to see the rest of the city since we were only there for three short days and most of our transit was underground.
We did get involved in a bit of street race when our tour bus came upon a pack of luxury cars. The drivers were very occupied with revving their engines and taking selfies at all the stoplights. It was quite fun with the police decided to pull one of them over at Piccadilly Circus.
We did get involved in a bit of street race when our tour bus came upon a pack of luxury cars. The drivers were very occupied with revving their engines and taking selfies at all the stoplights. It was quite fun with the police decided to pull one of them over at Piccadilly Circus.
Favorite of the DayThe day we visited the Tower of London was the 483rd anniversary of the beheading of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Every year on the anniversary of her death, someone leaves a bouquet of red roses on spot where she died. Here, you can see the note attached. I've always been a fan of the Tudor family and history of the monarchy. I was excited to know that we would be in the Tower on such a day. I feel that Anne Boleyn left a powerful mark on England - and maybe got a raw deal in the process, but she is still remembered today for better or for worse, and she definitely had strength and conviction in a time where those were not common qualities for a woman to portray. |
Day 3 Adventures
Mondays on the Underground are a bit busier than Sundays. We once again had breakfast at the hotel before making our way to Westminster Abbey. As we waited in line for the Abbey to open, we were treated to a parade of horses down the road.
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Westminster Abbey
Because the Abbey was closed to tourists on Sundays, I expected it to be pretty busy on a Monday morning, but I had purchased tickets in advance. Once we made it through the gates, we went in and signed up for a Verger tour. We were able to get on the first tour of the day. The tour was very insightful and I would highly recommend. It was really nice to learn all the in's and out's about the Abbey. My highlights were seeing the graves for Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. I also enjoyed the Queen's Chapel. It was quite busy inside the Abbey, so the bit of the Verger's tour that takes you to the Tomb of St Edward the Confessor was a nice little break from all of the crowds. I would highly recommend the verger tour to get nice insight into the Abbey. (I would also recommend trying to avoid going on a Monday - according to our verger, they are just very busy on Monday's since they closed for services on Sunday.)
No Pictures allowed inside the Abbey, but below are few from the outside. Click to enlarge.
No Pictures allowed inside the Abbey, but below are few from the outside. Click to enlarge.
Boat Ride Down the Thames
After our tour of Westminster Abbey, we used our Thames River Cruise tickets that came with our Hop On Hop Off boat tickets to Ride down the river. It was a nice way to see the city.
I really enjoyed the river cruise portion and would recommend it. It was relaxing. We got good use out of our tickets for the Hop On Hop Off Original Bus Tour, especially since we had the Rick Steves' Discount. I had not originally planned on getting the tickets, but I'm really happy that we did. |
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Buckingham Palace and The National Gallery
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After our boat ride, we rode the Hop On Hop Off Bus (tickets are good for 24 hours) to Buckingham Palace to get a few pictures of the outside.
Afterwards, we headed over the National Gallery to look at some fancy artwork before getting some wonderful Indian food for dinner. This was the first time that Sean ever had Indian food - and what a place to experience it! It was a great meal! Dishoom ended up being my overall favorite meal from the trip. I wish we had gotten more Indian food while in the UK. We then finished our evening with some traditional Italian gelato at GROM before heading back to our hotel room completely stuffed. |