Travels with Amy and Dave: London; It's A Wrap!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

London; It's A Wrap!

Our last night in London; FINISHED! Today was a great last day in London. However, before describing our day; let me recap yesterday's. The weather on Saturday was so incredibly ugly. It was cold and rainy. I spent the greater part of yesterday in the hotel room nursing my sore throat. When I finally ventured out; I made my way to the previous night's pub for a hot cup of tea and bowl of soup. After heating myself from the inside; I walked to the Natural History Museum; http://www.nhm.ac.uk/ I spent the afternoon inside touring the museum. That evening all of us had a group dinner at the Bluebird restaurant; http://www.bluebird-restaurant.com/ The interior of the restaurant was very hip; their website states that the restaurant combines sophisticated graphic design with warm, rich colors and subtle lighting. It did indeed have a very cool decor. Unfortunately; the food was just okay. My waiter recommendations seemed off and I should have chosen my selections based on my gut.

Today was Dave's and my time together to be tourists in London. We started our day with breakfast then took the tube to the Tower of London. At the Tower we viewed the historical sites as well at the Crown Jewels.

Our Yeoman Warder tour guide:

After the Tower we took the bus past Saint Paul's Cathedral to the London Eye. Today's weather was phenomenal. The temps were in the fifties and the sun shone all day; it was perfect. All of London was outside today. We had the most beautiful views of the city from our pod in the eye. The London Eye opened in March 2000 and is more than just an average ferris wheel. It originally opened with British Airways as the main sponsor but now it's operated by the London Eye Company, Ltd. It's the tallest observation wheel in the world and there are individual capsules that are suspended and turn allowing a 360 degree panorama of the city. There are a total of 32 capsules with air conditioning and bench seating and holds up to 25 people. The 32 capsules represents the 32 boroughs of London.

Below: view of the London Eye from the ground

After our flight on the eye (yes; they call your ride a "flight") we walked over the Westminster Bridge to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately the Abbey was closed to tourists today; we were so disappointed. We stopped at a Pub called the Winchester Arms in Westminster for lunch then walked to Buckingham Palace. From the Palace we walked to Trafalgar Square. While it's considered off-peak in London; the city was packed! The square is known for the statue of Lord Byron Nelson which is surrounded by four enormous lions. Kids and adults were climbing on them and posing for photos. Here's a pic of the lions.

After Trafalgar Square we went into the National Portrait Gallery. They had an Vanity Fair Exhibit of portraits that was completely sold out for the day. Fortunately in London; many of the museums are free so we still were able to get in and see the remaining pictures. We left the Gallery and walked over to Picadilly Circus. It's a famed London landmark where it sits at the junction of five busy streets. Underneath the plaza is the Picadilly Circus London underground station. The name 'Piccadilly' originates from a 17th century frilled collar named piccadil. Roger Baker, the tailor who became rich making piccadils lived in the area. The word 'Circus' refers to the roundabout around which the traffic circulated. Today it is pedestrianized and a total ZOO!

We left Picadilly to return to our hotel to freshen up. Tonight we made our way to the West End of London to the theater district and had tickets to Pirates of Penzance at the Gielgud Theater. Tonight was it's last performance. It was very well done; a little pricey but worth the experience of a London show.

Tomorrow we leave at 9:00 am; back to the US. The trip was great! We hope to return to Europe soon.

Thanks for following along with us. Here are some London photos.

Tower of London