Category: London

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Our Last Full Day in London–Westminster and Kensington

On our last full day in London, we started the day at  Brew Dog again. It was delicious, and the young man who waited on us had Pennsylvania roots–his father was from Wilkes-Barre. We both had avocado toast with egg. Seth had his egg scrambled with chorizo and I had mine sunny-side up with bacon!

After we filled our bellies, we caught the City Cruise boat at Tower Hill and took it up to Westminster for the morning. As we exited the wharf area there was a guy dressed up as Spiderman! Our main objective was to visit the Churchill War Rooms. They did NOT disappoint! Rich in history, I was so intrigued I somehow forgot to take pictures!! I did snap some pictures from around the Westminster area, though. We found an adorable corner pub we wanted to have lunch at, The Red Lion, but it was way too crowded. We also opted out of going INSIDE Westminster Abbey due to the long line. And the famous clock tower (“Big Ben” refers to the bell not the tower) was under scaffolding!

Since The Red Lion was too crowded, we decided to take the Tube to Kensington. Before heading to the palace and its garden, we had lunch at a little place called Noah’s Kitchen. I had wanted lamb, but they were out, so I settled for a pizza with asparagus and ham which was very tasty. Seth opted for the Steak Burger which looked amazing!! We washed it down with a red wine from Sicily which tasted much better after it aerated a bit.

Once we were sated with food and wine, we strolled through Kensington Park and Gardens. Our first stop on the way to the palace was Princess Diana Memorial Playground with its replica of Captain Hook’s pirate ship from Peter Pan.

Kensington Palace was a highlight for me. Victoria has always been my favorite British monarch, and this is where she was born. We were actually in the room where she was born and I got a picture of her cradle! There was also a really neat family tree and memorabilia from other monarchs including William and Mary!

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Other highlights of Kensington were the jewels and the gardens, as well as an exhibit of Princess Diana’s wardrobe. I was in such awe I forgot to take pictures of the dresses!

We had wanted to have our last dinner at the Brew Dog, but it was too crowded (good for them, since they just opened a week before). We ended up having dinner at the hotel restaurant, Natural Kitchen. I had salmon burger and salad while Seth had a lamb burger. Both were delicious! We tried the “Porn Star Martini” which sounded interesting, but it wasn’t very strong. Topping off our last evening, I had an amaretto sour and Seth had an old fashioned. Then it was time to pack for Dudley!

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Adventures South of the Thames

Our third full day in London was spent south of the River Thames. First off, we discovered a brand new restaurant right around the corner from our hotel for breakfast. It had JUST OPENED a week before. The food was delicious and the service was top notch! Sadly, I forgot to take pictures, but Seth had some kind of avocado toast sandwich with chorizo  and I had a more traditional bacon and eggs. We fell in love with the place!

We walked past the Tower of London and over the iconic Tower Bridge on our way to visit the HMS Belfast, a decommissioned warship that had been involved in D-day as well as other assignments. As we walked, I took some great pictures giving another perspective of the Tower, as well as the Tower Bridge!

The HMS Belfast was SO interesting! I love to be on the water, but I can’t imagine living in such close quarters with so many other people! It makes me truly appreciate those who have done so for the sake of our freedom!

After the warship, we walked to the reproduction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. Again, the history nerd in me rejoiced! One interesting bit of trivia–this building is the ONLY one in London that is allowed to have a thatch roof. Apparently, after the big fire in the city, these were outlawed.

Our next stop was a great little restaurant/pub called Founders’ Arms. We were both torn between the duck and the tuna, so we ordered one of each and shared! We had a lovely wine that I really liked–it had hints of grapefruit which I loved! It was a Chilean Sauvingon Blanc from Marande! I will have to find it at home!

From there we went to one of the highlights of our London stay–the London Eye! We spent a little extra to skip the line and it was an amazing investment! I would DEFINITELY recommend this as the queue is usually quite long! The trip around the eye provides some of the most incredible views of the city!

Upon exiting the Eye, the wharf for the City Cruise was right next door, so we decided to take it back to the hotel. It makes stops at Westminster, the Eye, Tower Hill (where our hotel was) and all the way to Greenwich. If we had been in London longer, I would have loved to visit Greenwich, as well as Hampton Palace, Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath. Of course, Windsor was not in the stars for us since we were in London over the few days prior to the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan. Our tour guide on the City Cruise, Ted, was so funny and engaging, as well as informative! The marker in the first picture delineates the border between the City of London on the right, and Westminster on the left. The white ship is actually a private club for retired naval officers. Apparently, Prince Phillip has been a regular there, although he currently has been battling his hip issues. And, of course, I can never resist a good wildlife photo when I have the chance!!

That night we went to a traditional Bavarian restaurant very close to our hotel. Seth is particularly fond of German beer. We both got a liter of German beer and I got a free T-shirt for drinking 2 pints of Lowenbrau beer! I got a trio of wursts served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, and Seth got beef goulash served with braised cabbage and spetzel.  It was quite a hearty meal!

That concludes our Thursday in London. Check back soon for our last full day when we visited Kensington Palace and Gardens!

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Tower of London–AMAZING!

Our second full day in London was reserved for the Tower of London and its rich and diverse history, as well as the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. It was so cold that day we pretty much stayed on the bus, but we did get off at Buckingham Palace. We started the day with a “Full English” Breakfast and it was more food than we could eat! No “continental” breakfast at the Doubletree!

The Tower of London is the oldest fortified castle in Europe! The very first fortress at the site was built by the Romans, and you can still see portions of the original Roman wall. The White Tower dates back to 1078 when King William used it as his castle. King Henry III used it as his castle starting in 1240, making extensive additions and renovations. Over the years, the complex has been used for many different things–palace residence, prison, royal mint, treasury, and zoo!

There were so many amazing pieces of history at the Tower that I could have spent the entire day there and it could fill several blog posts, but I realize not everyone is as much of a history nerd as I am, so I will spare you! I was particularly interested in the ravens–Legend has it that if the Tower’s resident ravens ever leave the Tower, the Kingdom will fall. I was lucky enough to snap a photo of one of the ravens close up!

My favorite pictures from the Tower are the raven and the one in the previous group that shows the Shard in the background–it is an interesting juxtaposition of old and new!

The rest of the day was spent on the bus that went EVERYWHERE, and a short stop at Buckingham Palace. Sadly, the Queen’s Gallery was closed as it prepared for a new exhibition. We were able to decide which places we wanted to return to later in the week! I did take a couple of really cool pictures from the bus, though!

It was a cold day, so the only time we hopped off the bus was to visit Buckingham Palace and have lunch. We didn’t go INTO the palace, but enjoyed the lovely area outside! We found a great little place called B-bar. I had a grilled chicken Cobb salad and Seth had chicken curry. For dessert we shared some delicious honeycomb ice cream!

That night we went to a pub called Cheshire Cheese. I had a “Pie and a Pint” while Seth had a “Three-Way Chicken Sandwich”. It was crowded and boisterous and felt like a true British pub experience!

Well, that was certainly a FULL day!  Stay tuned for highlights from the rest of our London stay!

 

 

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Our Introduction to London

Our first full day in London started with a Tube ride to pick up our London Pass. As we walked to the area we stopped to pick up a quick breakfast at a little take out place between the Tube station and Trafalgar Square. The place we had to pick up our London Passes was about a block away from Trafalgar Square.  The National Gallery was on our list and it borders the square, but we opted out of going there. We overdosed on art in Paris and were much more interested in history and palaces while in London!

After Trafalgar we walked about 10 minutes to Piccadilly Square with its iconic statue of Anteros atop the monument to Lord Shaftesbury, a famous philanthropist during the Victorian era. Most people believe this statue is of Eros, Anteros’ brother and the god of love. It is also referred to as the Angel of Christian Charity. The rest of Piccadilly reminded me of Times Square in NYC.

We found a great souvenir store off of Piccadilly Square where Seth scored a lot of things he was looking for! I saw a great Union Jack beanie that Kendyl would have loved, but I figured I would find something similar later (I never did, sadly).  From there we walked to Covent Garden, an amazing area that has been a marketplace for centuries. It has evolved over the years and now has a multitude of shops, restaurants and craft vendors. We had lunch here at Punch and Judy’s Pub and had our traditional British fish and chips!

Near Covent Garden is the British Transport Museum. It was full of historical vehicles and information. I was surprised to find out that London built an underground railroad before New York did! I thought I had taken pictures there, but I cannot find any. I will check with Seth–sometimes during our travels my phone died and he became the photographer!

After the day of sightseeing, we took the Tube back to the hotel and had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Natural Kitchen, like we did the night before. I had the lamb again (love that mint pesto) and Seth had a rib-eye steak. We again enjoyed cocktails at 2 for 1! Life is good!

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Hello, London!

On Monday, May 14, 2018, we took the Eurostar Train from Paris and said, “Hello, London.” It was such a neat experience. It has been a very long time since I took a real-life train! My only disappointment was not actually getting to SEE the English Channel. The train goes through the Chunnel, but the entrance and exit of the Chunnel are too far from the water to actually get a glimpse of the Channel! Oh well, still pretty cool to think that we went under the English Channel!

Accommodations

By the time we got to our hotel, it was late afternoon. We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton, Tower of London. Like our hotel in Paris, it was a wonderful location. It had a great little restaurant called Natural Kitchen that we ate at a few times! On that first night, we ate there and they had some specials on cocktails (2 for 1) and steak (10 pounds off). I had a wonderful lamb chop dish with the most delicious mint pesto! I need to make some mint pesto! It was so good! Seth had one of the steak specials. I had 2 Cosmos and Seth had 2 drinks called “Penicillin”. Both were REALLY potent!!

Dinner and Drinks

Seth had the steak which was on special, and it was cooked perfectly!
Seth had a delicious steak at Natural Kitchen.
For dinner at the Natural Kitchen, I had a deliciously tender lamb chop with a fresh sweet mint pesto.
My lamb chop with a delicious mint pesto!
Our drinks after dinner in London--a potent concoction called "Penicillin" and a classic Cosmo. It was 2 for 1 night!
“Penicillin” and my Cosmo–it was 2 for 1 night and we had 2 each!

Getting Familiar

After dinner, we took a walk around our immediate environs. We found a Tesco (a supermarket) which became our go-to for things we needed during our stay!

Tomorrow I will share our experiences from our first full day in London! Click here to read that post!

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