DAY 1: FRIDAY – LONDON, HERE WE COME! We set off from Paris en route to London on the Eurostar “bullet” train, via the Channel Tunnel (“Chunnel”). The train travels at speeds up to 186 mph and only takes 2 hr 15 min. It really didn’t seem like we were going that fast – until another train whipped by going the other direction! Everything was going great and a nice start to our trip. The train was not that crowded and we had a nice little area all to ourselves (2 sets of seats facing each other with a table in the middle). Then we slowed down as we neared the Chunnel, which is normal since the speed allowed in the Chunnel and the UK is reduced to 100 mph. But, then we stopped. Pehr had been on the Eurostar before for a work trip and didn’t remember the train stopping. They announced over the loudspeakers that a shuttle train was broken down on the racks in the tunnel. So…our train sat on the tracks for an hour until we could get moving again.
When we finally got to the London train station, we had to navigate our way to our hotel via the London Underground – the Tube. What a madhouse! There were seas of people everywhere! Several of the routes were closed, including the one we were supposed to take to our hotel (unions in Europe like to schedule strikes during busy holiday weekends – aren’t they nice?!). Pehr stood in line for nearly 20 min to buy tickets. He even bought an extra pair of tickets, trying to be proactive and thinking we could use them later and wouldn’t have to wait in line again. Come to find out that, unlike the Paris Metro, the tickets are date and time stamped and you have to use them within a certain time frame! At 4 pounds per ticket (yes that’s $8 for ONE subway ticket!!!) it was so sad to see that money go to waste!
Anyway, we got on the Tube and had to make one transfer that finally landed us at our stop. We had our hotel confirmation sheet…but there wasn’t an address listed on there! Luckily we knew that it was located right near St. Paul’s Cathedral, but we still had a tough time finding it! We barely had time to check-in, throw our bags in the room and then we were off again to meet an online friend of mine for dinner. She and her husband are American, but they live in London and also have a 10 month old son. We were not going to try the Tube again and instead decided to take the bus (what a bargain – only 2 pounds, or $4 per ticket – for a city bus!!!) We were late to dinner (but so were they) and we finally had a chance to sit back and relax. We spent a few hours at the restaurant and then it was time to head back to the hotel to get Ryne to bed. After asking our waiter the name of the bridge we could see from our table, we located it on the map and realized it wasn’t that far from our hotel and we could just walk back. HA! We got so lost and couldn’t find our way back to the hotel. It was cold and late but finally a nice woman from Slovakia helped us and took us to a bus stop that got us back to our hotel safe and sound!
DAY 2: SATURDAY – HOP-ON-HOP-OFF LONDON BUS TOUR. We took advantage of the fact that we didn’t have a specific schedule that day and let Ryne sleep in and have an easy morning. We left our hotel around 10:30am and finally had some luck! Our tour bus was making the stop for St. Paul’s Cathedral right in front of our hotel! Talk about timing! We thought we would have to take a city bus to one of the tour starting points, but they let us hop on right there – whew! The day was cold, rainy and very windy. There were some short periods of blue skies, but that didn’t change the temperature. Brrrr! We took the bus tour around one full circle (about 2 hrs) and then got back off at our hotel so we could change Ryne and have some lunch. Then we got back on and stopped at some of the major sights. With the weather (and the long entrance lines) we didn’t have a chance to go in and tour anything, but it was nice to just get out and walk around for a little bit, not for too long though – did I mention it was freezing?! We saw: Tower Bridge and Tower of London, Big Ben and Parliament, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Marble Arch, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Trafalgar Square. I can’t even tell you how many times we passed Trafalgar Square – it was like the buses just kept circling it, as if drawn by magnetic force! Kind of like in National Lampoon’s European Vacation, except instead of Big Ben it was Trafalgar Square (“Hey kids, there’s Trafalgar Square again!”). It was nice because the tour buses, depending on which route it was, included either audio commentary or live commentary. So, we not only got to see the sights, but we learned some interesting tidbits as well…the kind of stuff you don’t read in the history books! The most memorable: Marble Arch – The term “hung over” comes from when all the locals would gather around the arch to watch public hangings and would drink themselves silly into the night. Piccadilly Circus – The first location where an advertisement appeared in neon. The ad was for Bovril, what we learned to be a hot drink best described as a “beef tea” – YUMMY (LOL)! Piccadilly Circus is much like Times Square in NYC – lots of neon and lots of theatre.
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Big Ben with London Eye in the background
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
Marble Arch
St. Paul's Cathedral
Trafalgar Square and National Gallery
Couldn't resist! Does anyone even use these anymore?!?
The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant
A friendly reminder that they drive on the wrong side of the road! Look out!
At around 6:30pm we were ready to head back to the hotel but needed to grab some dinner first. Even though it was a Saturday night, we had trouble finding places open to eat. Must have been because of the holiday weekend. We finally ended up at a gourmet burger place – HUGE burgers! And at 8 pounds each I would hope so (oh, that’s money, not weight…although I’m sure it was a close call on the weight as well – so, anyway roughly $16 each)! Honestly, I will never complain about the prices in the US again! The whole time in London I kept thinking “Oh, that’s not a bad price” and then it hit me – you have to double it for conversion to dollars! YIKES!
DAY 3: SUNDAY – STONEHENGE, WINDSOR & OXFORD TOUR! We woke up on Easter morning and it was snowing! Not sticking, but there were flurries and it was around 35 degrees. Our tour was re-routed due to Easter services at Windsor (the Queen was on site) so we went to Stonehenge first, about a 2 hr drive from London. We only had 40 min at Stonehenge, but it was enough time especially due to the weather – cold, rainy and windy. Figures as soon as we got on the bus to leave the clouds gave way to blue skies! Then we took the 1.5 hr drive to Windsor Castle. We only had 2 hrs at Windsor. Due to the late public opening and heavy security (because the Queen was there and in preparation for the French President’s visit) the crowds were insane and everything was moving really slowly. So, after waiting in line for over 45 min to get in to do the tour, we gave up and just walked around the outer grounds. Oh well! It was nice to walk around. We got a quick bite to eat at a little sandwich shop at the Royal Shopping Center – probably one of the Queen’s favorite eateries I’m sure! Then off to Oxford and another 1 hr drive. We only had an hour to spend at Oxford, but it was plenty. We just walked around and looked at the buildings. It was a really neat little area. Then back on the bus for the 1.5 hr drive back to London. Ryne was really such a trooper! With the weather and the long bus ride, he did so great! What a long day!
Stonehenge!
Easter at Stonehenge!
Windsor Castle
Walking around Windsor Castle
Streets of Oxford
One of the colleges at Oxford
"Mind Your Head": We thought this was so funny...because Pehr's SO tall (at 5'9")!
DAY 4: MONDAY – BACK TO PARIS! We woke up to more snow flurries on Monday. Originally I wanted to try to go to Abbey Road and re-create the famous Beatles album cover, but with the weather and the timing to catch our train back to Paris it didn’t work out. Plus, I asked the front desk staff the night before how to get to Abbey Road – and neither of them knew what I was talking about! I said “You know, the Beatles [blank stares]? The album cover with the Beatles walking across the street [still staring]? Abbey Road Studios [crickets chirping]?” They eventually looked it up online for me but it was all for naught. I couldn’t believe that two Brits living in London, working at a hotel had not heard of Abbey Road! Anyway, we ended up just taking it easy that morning before we had to leave for the train station.
Cheerio London!
The train ride back to Paris was uneventful – and on time! Ryne pretty much slept in my lap the whole way…and who could blame him? He had a busy weekend! It continued to snow on our ride and the French countryside with the small villages and farmlands dusted with snow was just such a beautiful sight! A nice ending to our trip!
We’re glad to be “home” though! You know, I never understood the saying “Home is where the heart is” more than I do now!
2 comments:
Looks like you guys had a good time. Too bad the weather wasn't great, but I guess that's what you think of when you think of London.
Really was a whirlwind, but you guys seem to be living a whirlwind the last several months.
But you make the most of and take in every situation and find the humor in it. Why not. Life is to short to be mad!!
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