London

It's hard to believe we've been in London a week. My plan was to blog regularly so I wouldn't forget details, however by the end of the day we've been exhausted.

So for now a quick little glimpse of what we've been up to.

First on the advice of a friend that lives here, we took the tube to get to the hotel. I'm not a huge fan of underground transportation but see the value in busy cities for the speed and efficiency in which they run. There was a direct line from Heathrow to Piccadilly station making it super easy. Only 6 pounds, versus a cab ride of 70. Anyone hesitant that they can't figure this out, do not worry. There were so many kind people that work for the tube willing to help. In fact that's a common theme here in London, kindness.

Our location in London has been ideal. We are in Soho right between the Piccadilly and Leicester Squares. I like to walk (a lot) when on vacation! This location has been ideal, we seem to be no more than 2 miles away from anything we've wanted to do, but most is within a mile.

My only plan for this week was the first full day to figure the layout of this city. From other major cities I've found the best way (as touristy as it may be, but that's what we are) is jump on the double decker bus tour. They really are amazing, you have a 24 hour pass of hop on hop off so if you're really organized you can maximize this. I typically prefer to stay on and ride the entire tour first, especially if you have a good guide. The history and side notes on these tours is something you wouldn't get just walking on your own.

 

We ran into a little hiccup, but it all worked out ok, fortunately we got up and got an early start. There was a demonstration (anti Brexit) gathering at the time we got on the bus, there were going to be modified routes later in the day, as 25,000 people were marching (peacefully I might add) . After the first part of the tour we came to the tower of London (this was top of my list as I love history) and because of the bus delays already happening and the tower being the furthest sight from our hotel we figured it was a good to jump off and spend some time.

 

The tower was impressive. Well worth seeing, actually I'd put it as a not to miss!

After a few hours we hopped back on completed the tour and walked over to the National Gallery (museums in London are free).

We spent the next few days visiting Westminster. The flowers are laid in remembrance to those that died or were injured last week in the attack.

 

Walked down a closed street right onto the set of the Crown. They were very gracious about our ignorance and lack of realizing the entire street was closed, and people had film crew vests on ALL over.

The street was apparently closed because the changing of the guards was about to happened (again unbeknownst to us), and they took the opportunity to film during this time.

So when these guys walked by, we followed

 

To here, and watched the changing of the guards ceremony

We went to the British Museum another day, it's huge. I'm not even sure we saw it all. Of course we've had to take in a couple shows. School of Rock (Luke's pick and it was excellent) and my all time favorite Les Miserables.

Lots of shopping has been happening for my son. Thank goodness he works!

Yesterday we went to the Warner Bros Studio and took the making of Harry Potter tour. Truly amazing but I'll do a separate post on that.

I would definitely say London has far exceeded my expectations. It's beautifully old, very clean, and the people are so polite. I am impressed.

 

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