London...
I'm baaaaaaack!!! Paul and I got home yesterday afternoon after a wonderful trip to London! I want to share the things we saw and did for two reasons...first, because I want to tell everyone about it and only want to type it all once, and second, so that you'll have our own tips and suggestions if you ever decide to make a visit of your own. Here goes...
SATURDAY, May 21
My mom dropped us off at the Charlotte airport Sunday evening. As we were saying goodbye and unloading our luggage, there was a car parked in front of Mom's picking some people up. Paul and I headed on into the airport. Mom patiently waited for the people in front of her to load all their kids and stuff so she could leave as well. They took a while, so the man finally came back to thank her for being so patient, and it was none other than Kirk Cameron!!! I can't believe he was right there the whole time and I didn't get to show him the picture I always have with me of my sister and me with him when we were 6 and 8 years old!!
SUNDAY, May 22
We arrived in London at about 8:30 am London time. It took a few hours to get our luggage, buy our TravelCards (for the tube and bus systems), take the tube out to where we were staying, and unload. We were exhausted, but wanted to see a little of the city that day if we could. We ate at a pizza buffet place in Victoria Station and wandered around a bit. We found a movie theatre where Star Wars 3 was playing and decided to see it. It was an awesome movie, but the tickets were 9 pounds (which equals $18) each!! So, that was pretty much the most expensive movie we've ever seen!
MONDAY, May 23
We took a bus tour that you could hop on and hop off all day and it was wonderful! We rode on the second story of the bus which was open-air. We got to spend the whole day outside and see our first London sights...Big Ben, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey...we pretty much stayed on the buses all day, but it was awesome getting our first glimpse of the city! We ate at the original Hard Rock Cafe and turned in early.
TUESDAY, May 24
We spent the day at the Tower of London which was amazing! We saw the Crown Jewels, the scaffold site where Anne Boleyn and others were hanged, and lots of other neat things. It's definitely worth your time! That evening we went down to Covent Garden which was really cool. We ate at the White Lion and it was delicious! I had my first traditional English meal of steak and ale pie! :)
WEDNESDAY, May 25
Wednesday was spent in Oxford, about an hour's train ride from London. This was, by far, our favorite thing we did/saw all week. Oxford is a quaint English village that charmed our socks off. We saw Magdalen (pronounced "maudlin") College at Oxford University where CS Lewis taught and ate dinner at the Eagle and Child, where Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and others met weekly. Magdalen College is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been! It was absolutely stunning and breath-taking. We attended the evening mass at the chapel there.
THURSDAY, May 26
We went to Brighton (again, about an hour's train ride from London) Thursday. Brighton is on the beach and was very touristy, but still cute. They have the only nude beach in England, but we decided against that this trip! :) It truly is the Myrtle Beach of England, though....Crazy Mouse roller coaster and all!
FRIDAY, May 27
Friday we went to Windsor and saw Windsor Castle. The castle is ginormous!! You just can't believe how huge it is. It's the largest working castle in the world. We went inside and were amazed that people actually live there. It was awesome! We saw the chapel where Charles and Camilla were married a few months ago and walked over to Eton. The campus was closed, but the town was really cute. If you have plenty of money to spend and are looking for unique antiques, Eton is the place to go!
SATURDAY, May 28
Saturday morning we went out to Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It was so cute and would've been a lot of fun if there hadn't been SO many dang people!! You literally couldn't hardly walk down the street because of the crowd! We only stayed there for about an hour and didn't even get to see the Travel Book Shop from the movie because we were so frustrated. After leaving the market, we headed out to Greenwich where the Prime Meridian is. It was really cool to actually stand on THE Prime Meridian and learn all about how they came up with the whole idea of latitude and longitude. That night we ate at a Tex-Mex restaurant, Cafe Sol, which was horrible! My strongest piece of advice is to stick with the traditional English fare when you're eating out. All the English food we had was delicious, but when we tried to branch out, we were almost always disappointed. When we got back to London we hung out that evening in Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.
SUNDAY, May 29
We went to church with our hostess, Marion, Sunday morning. After church we ate at Pizza Express, which is a popular chain restaurant. "Express" gives you the wrong impression, though. It's actually a nice sit-down gourmet pizza restaurant that was very good, but a little pricey. Afterwards, we crossed the Thames on the Millenium Bridge to look at St. Paul's cathedral. WOW! It is so huge and impressive. We attended the Evensong service there that afternoon, which was amazing and inspiring. That night, we saw The Tempest at the Shakespeare's Globe theatre. It's a reproduction of the old Globe and so cool! We got the cheap tickets and stood out in front of the stage (just like peasants in the old days!). The play was fabulous, though. After the play, we went out and saw Abbey Road.
MONDAY, May 30
Monday was bittersweet because, by this time, we were pretty ready to get home, but still sad to leave. This was the only day where the weather was truly horrible! It was cold and rainy until late in the afternoon. We went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace that morning, stopped by Westminster Abbey (but didn't go in), and then wandered around Harrod's for a while. We had lunch at the Taratai Thai Restaurant, just down and across from Harrod's, and it was delicious! After lunch, we went to the Natural History Museum, which was amazing and free! :) On the way home, we stopped at King's Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4 ...they've actually put up a sign for it! After that, we were back home to pack and prepare for an early morning.
We flew out TUESDAY, May 31, around noon. It was truly an amazing experience, and, as you can see, we did and saw a LOT! By the end of our stay, we were totally exhausted. London and the surrounding areas did not disappoint, though. It was so awesome being in a place where you're surrounded by so much history. I hope you all get the chance to go someday!
SATURDAY, May 21
My mom dropped us off at the Charlotte airport Sunday evening. As we were saying goodbye and unloading our luggage, there was a car parked in front of Mom's picking some people up. Paul and I headed on into the airport. Mom patiently waited for the people in front of her to load all their kids and stuff so she could leave as well. They took a while, so the man finally came back to thank her for being so patient, and it was none other than Kirk Cameron!!! I can't believe he was right there the whole time and I didn't get to show him the picture I always have with me of my sister and me with him when we were 6 and 8 years old!!
SUNDAY, May 22
We arrived in London at about 8:30 am London time. It took a few hours to get our luggage, buy our TravelCards (for the tube and bus systems), take the tube out to where we were staying, and unload. We were exhausted, but wanted to see a little of the city that day if we could. We ate at a pizza buffet place in Victoria Station and wandered around a bit. We found a movie theatre where Star Wars 3 was playing and decided to see it. It was an awesome movie, but the tickets were 9 pounds (which equals $18) each!! So, that was pretty much the most expensive movie we've ever seen!
MONDAY, May 23
We took a bus tour that you could hop on and hop off all day and it was wonderful! We rode on the second story of the bus which was open-air. We got to spend the whole day outside and see our first London sights...Big Ben, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey...we pretty much stayed on the buses all day, but it was awesome getting our first glimpse of the city! We ate at the original Hard Rock Cafe and turned in early.
TUESDAY, May 24
We spent the day at the Tower of London which was amazing! We saw the Crown Jewels, the scaffold site where Anne Boleyn and others were hanged, and lots of other neat things. It's definitely worth your time! That evening we went down to Covent Garden which was really cool. We ate at the White Lion and it was delicious! I had my first traditional English meal of steak and ale pie! :)
WEDNESDAY, May 25
Wednesday was spent in Oxford, about an hour's train ride from London. This was, by far, our favorite thing we did/saw all week. Oxford is a quaint English village that charmed our socks off. We saw Magdalen (pronounced "maudlin") College at Oxford University where CS Lewis taught and ate dinner at the Eagle and Child, where Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and others met weekly. Magdalen College is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been! It was absolutely stunning and breath-taking. We attended the evening mass at the chapel there.
THURSDAY, May 26
We went to Brighton (again, about an hour's train ride from London) Thursday. Brighton is on the beach and was very touristy, but still cute. They have the only nude beach in England, but we decided against that this trip! :) It truly is the Myrtle Beach of England, though....Crazy Mouse roller coaster and all!
FRIDAY, May 27
Friday we went to Windsor and saw Windsor Castle. The castle is ginormous!! You just can't believe how huge it is. It's the largest working castle in the world. We went inside and were amazed that people actually live there. It was awesome! We saw the chapel where Charles and Camilla were married a few months ago and walked over to Eton. The campus was closed, but the town was really cute. If you have plenty of money to spend and are looking for unique antiques, Eton is the place to go!
SATURDAY, May 28
Saturday morning we went out to Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It was so cute and would've been a lot of fun if there hadn't been SO many dang people!! You literally couldn't hardly walk down the street because of the crowd! We only stayed there for about an hour and didn't even get to see the Travel Book Shop from the movie because we were so frustrated. After leaving the market, we headed out to Greenwich where the Prime Meridian is. It was really cool to actually stand on THE Prime Meridian and learn all about how they came up with the whole idea of latitude and longitude. That night we ate at a Tex-Mex restaurant, Cafe Sol, which was horrible! My strongest piece of advice is to stick with the traditional English fare when you're eating out. All the English food we had was delicious, but when we tried to branch out, we were almost always disappointed. When we got back to London we hung out that evening in Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.
SUNDAY, May 29
We went to church with our hostess, Marion, Sunday morning. After church we ate at Pizza Express, which is a popular chain restaurant. "Express" gives you the wrong impression, though. It's actually a nice sit-down gourmet pizza restaurant that was very good, but a little pricey. Afterwards, we crossed the Thames on the Millenium Bridge to look at St. Paul's cathedral. WOW! It is so huge and impressive. We attended the Evensong service there that afternoon, which was amazing and inspiring. That night, we saw The Tempest at the Shakespeare's Globe theatre. It's a reproduction of the old Globe and so cool! We got the cheap tickets and stood out in front of the stage (just like peasants in the old days!). The play was fabulous, though. After the play, we went out and saw Abbey Road.
MONDAY, May 30
Monday was bittersweet because, by this time, we were pretty ready to get home, but still sad to leave. This was the only day where the weather was truly horrible! It was cold and rainy until late in the afternoon. We went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace that morning, stopped by Westminster Abbey (but didn't go in), and then wandered around Harrod's for a while. We had lunch at the Taratai Thai Restaurant, just down and across from Harrod's, and it was delicious! After lunch, we went to the Natural History Museum, which was amazing and free! :) On the way home, we stopped at King's Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4 ...they've actually put up a sign for it! After that, we were back home to pack and prepare for an early morning.
We flew out TUESDAY, May 31, around noon. It was truly an amazing experience, and, as you can see, we did and saw a LOT! By the end of our stay, we were totally exhausted. London and the surrounding areas did not disappoint, though. It was so awesome being in a place where you're surrounded by so much history. I hope you all get the chance to go someday!
posted by Michelle at 4:33 PM
3 Comments:
Sounds like you had a spectacular time. That is so funny that K. Cameron was on your plane. Seems like celebrities fly to London a lot....Molly Ringwald was on our plane to London last year! Turns out she had a show there at there time. If you loved Oxford, you would go nuts over Cambridge (I sure did). Glad you had fun.
sounds like good times Michelle. Glad you are home.
So jealous!
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