The Thompson Family Adventure: London

If you don’t already know this… London is a very expensive place to visit. Thankfully, we had cheap air and cheap hotel… how you may ask? Well, we flew RyanAir, a European discount airline. They are very specific on their regulations, but if you are aware and follow their regulations there really is not a problem. They are very similar to Southwestern Airlines in the States – only cheaper! Also in looking for a place to stay we found things to be very expensive. At first we were looking at 400-600 pounds for the 4 nights! Yikes – 1 British Pound =$1.63 USD!! We have never been hotel snobs, though we do require cleanliness. In our search, Don comes to the rescue. He found this site called http://www.easyhotels.com/ (there is an easyjet.com too); these hotel rooms are very small and very sparse and pretty clean. But we figured, it was just the two of us and we were not going to London for the hotel room –so 52 pounds/night we booked it! We had one double bed and a very small private bathroom (toilette, shower and sink basin)… it was so small; you could sit on the toilet, rinse your feet in the shower and brush your teeth…at the same time! No way could you fit more than one person in the bathroom at a time.

We arrived in London late Saturday night. We flew into Stansted, England and took a bus to Liverpool Station, London where we took the tube (subway) to Paddington Station. It was quite a sight. The last time we had been on a subway system was when we went to New York and it was nothing like this. We bought a 7 day pass for the both of us and this was a seriously good investment. From here, we walked a short distance to our hotel. What was truly strange was the driving on the opposite side of the road!- and we never really got used to the this! It was strange sitting on the bus, listening to the driver speak “English” and watching him merge on the “wrong” side and drive on the “wrong” side. Goodness, we are glad we did not drive at all! Truly, seeing taillights where we normally see headlights will really mess with your head! Another thing that was different, not one advertisement along the Highways! Some sayings that we ran into right off the bat – a bus is called a Coach and if you are sassy, you are Cheeky! J

As I said above, our hotel room was nothing to write home about, but I am anyhow! It was SOOOO small! I love it! Truly, I did not measure it, but imagine a double sized bed. Then imagine that bed pushed in a corner and a small walk-way around the 2 open sides. Can you imagine it? Well, that is what we had. No chair, no table, no closet… we had air, a bed w/ clean linen, 2 towels, and a small private bath, oh, and 2 hooks. BUT…it was only 52 British Pounds a night!

As stated our blog w/ Aunt Mary – we checked in every morning to talk to the kids and start our days off! It was a real treat to talk to them before we started our days! And we missed them something fierce!

Each morning we started our days out w/ a small breakfast on the run – except one morning. This one morning we stopped at a small café and ordered a Traditional English Breakfast. Well, Don did anyhow. He is much more daring than I… I had a “light” English Breakfast! Mine was very simple- toast covered w/ lightly scrambled eggs, and of course a coke zero. Now, Don’s breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon (though nothing like American bacon – more liked ham), black pudding, beans and toast. OK, the beans really looked and tasted like VanCamp pork and beans (they were cold) and the black pudding – well, this did not taste the best – it was made with pork blood and other things, I have read it has a high proportion of oatmeal in it too. Well, we did not eat another Traditional English Breakfast but stuck to a coffee (for Don) and bagels and fruit. But in our opinion, you cannot go to another country without at least trying their traditional foods for breakfast and dinner. Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised, other times we are sorely disappointed.

Sunday ~ We had been told that a great and entertaining place to venture to on Sunday mornings is Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. In 1872 it was made legal for people to assemble an audience and address them on whatever topic they chose. We had hoped to find some interesting conversations – but we were disappointed. There was only one orator there and we were not going to be the lone audience. We were not completely disappointed though because we were able to view the Marble Arch. The Marble Arch was designed in 1827 as the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. However, it was too narrow for the grandest of coaches, so it was moved to this location – opposite the Speakers’ Corner, in 1851. How they moved such a grand structure, I do not know!

From here we decided to take the red double-decker buses (not the Original Double Decker Tour Bus – these cost more money and we had a guidebook). We loaded to the top deck and had a great view of much of the city from here. From here we got off at Westminster Abby (not Westminster Cathedral). We walked around (though we did not go in for a tour) – and saw Big Ben, Statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Parliament, a statue of Winston Churchill that was protected by a fence from the “protest area”.

The protest area was interesting. A bunch of people set up camp – literally. They posted signs objecting to war and famine and you name it. Much of it involved the US as well. The “facts” they had were very wrong, wonder where they got their information – but they believe in it and felt strong enough about their cause to have a “sit-in”.

Big Ben – wow, what a wonderful clock! It still chimes on the hour, and listening to the bell was fabulous! The size of this clock, the faces, was breath-taking! It reaches a height of 320ft and was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was the Chief Commissioner of Works when the bell was hung. Both the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben were designed in 1834! The bell in Big Ben was hung in 1854! – This bell is 14tons! Its dials are 23 ft in diameter and the minute hands are 14 ft long! They are made of hollow copper for lightness. This is the largest clock in Britain.

Parliament – we actually came back to this area a few times on our trip. So I will address this a bit later.

We walked back to Victoria Station and grabbed a snack – Don got a great little pastry called a Sausage Roll, much different than the kind I make – but so good he got one a couple days later too.

We wanted to make the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, which occurs daily at 1130. So we headed over and made it just in time. However, there were such crowds (which we completely underestimated), that we only saw the soldiers coming into the Palace gates. This was quite a show and because of this we decided to come back early on Tuesday to get close up seats at the gate. We did enjoy watching the British Police man direct pedestrian traffic, he instructed a lady to “move along, it is rude to cut in line”… and then he protected a little girl from getting trample by the mobs of people. It was fabulous! Loved the accent too!

British Police officer...
"Move Along...its very rude to push in front of people"

Front of Buckingham Palace

Statue in the round-about in front of
Buckingham Palace

British Guards marching in at the Changing of the Guards
They march from the GuardHouse

We grabbed lunch at a local chain, though had we realized it was a chain we would not have eaten there, called Bag O’Nails. This was a pub and at pubs in England your server does not come to your table to get your order. You go up to the bar to order your food and then it is brought to your table when it is complete. As w/ our English Breakfast, English Peas are a normal part of any meal it seems. You can have them mushy or whole. How long did we sit before we realized this? Not too long really – So we ordered our Fish N’ Chips, whole peas and a beer (OK, I got a Coke light).

Throughout the day I found it kind of comical to how much I personally have acclimated to life in Germany already. I caught myself a good bit trying to remember to use German for common greetings and salutations, instead of English! What a hoot!

Rain… please go away! We got caught in it. We made our way to the British Museum and were grateful to be out of it for a while. We spent the afternoon here, out of the rain. We were able to cover most of the museum, it was free! At least we saw the areas we wanted to see; coins, medals, the Greek and Roman collection, Egyptian Mummies, Sarcophagi, European collection, etc. The highlights for Don were the exhibit of Sutton Hoo Treasure (this is a remarkably well preserved 7^th century ship burial) and all the Roman Artifacts and the busts of Caesar, Cromwell and others. I personally liked the great room that had a variety of artifacts but looked and felt like a HUGE library, I also really liked the grandness of some of the architecture recovered from the Roman times. But this was really a place for Don – not me.

Statue of Ramesses II see below

up close Egyptian writing on the Sarcophagus from above

Pericles

Alexander the Great

Another view of ATG

Socrates

Homer

Roman Horse at fullsize - huge!

look how tiny Don is!

Just thought it was cool! Dates back to
5300-4500BC!

King George III

Ancient Greek Bronze Leg Armor

Ancient Greek Bronze Chest Armor

Hercules

Sutton Hoo Helmet

Side view of the Sutton Hoo

Replica of the Sutton Hoo

Death mask of Oliver Cromwell...warts and all!

Wooden depiction of the Last Super...it was by a Flemmish artist
and it was only about 8 inches tall! With such detail!

A Roman Helmet...one of a series below

Mummy in a Sarcophagus

Augustus ruled from 27BC-14AD
Personally...Dana thinks his bust is creepy -
Don thinks it is cool

Petrified person

Julius Caesar

Explains the series of Armor below

We found the "foot" protection interesting

When we left the museum it was really coming down – so we broke down and bought a small umbrella. Because of our baggage restrictions we could not buy a large one L…which I would have preferred! It was getting close to dinner by this time so we found a place along Leicester Square. Since it was Sunday Don had the Traditional Roast Beef dinner – I opted for a burger. Both were pretty good – but they were pretty skimpy on the beef. As for drinks – he ordered a Local beer – London Glory – it was very bitter and he did not drink it. When he took it back to get another drink, the bartender even said, “yeah, I don’t care for it much either!”

Even though it was not the best of weather we were not ready to let it “do us in”. We took a bus over to the Tower of London to ‘scope’ it out. Everything practically closes down around 530pm… so there really is not a lot to do. So we made plans. We hopped off the bus and as we were walking we literally ran into a section of wall that is from when the Romans occupied

England

. There are several areas of this wall that have been preserved over time, some are w/in the Tower of London, while others, like the ones we came across here are just marked off. You can even identify the newer parts of the wall.

Part of the Roman Wall...

Don with part of the Roman Wall...
see the top...less structure to the structure

Hadrian with the Roman Wall behind him...
it is because of his orders the walls were built

cold...wet... getting hungry...
quick look at the Tower of London and the Roman Wall

One of the Towers in The Tower of London...looking in

After this we walked around

Leicester Square

for a while and decided we were just not ready to call it a night, but wanted a little treat. We found a little café. It was cold and rainy and we were wet – so I had a nice cup of hot coco and Banoffie Pie, this is a banana, banana cream and caramel pie. Oh my, this was very tasty! Don had a coffee drink, cappuccino I think and a Salmon and cream cheese bagel. Not something I would have ordered, but he enjoyed it a good bit. After this, we walked back to the underground and took the tube back to Paddington. We were quite tired and ready to call it a night.

Get this… we got to sleep for 10 hours! Seriously! I cannot tell you the last time I got to do that!

Monday ~ We had a full day planned. We headed over to the Tower of London. Don’s reaction – and I would have to agree – “one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!” It truly was fabulous to be able to walk through the Tower, inside the gates of such history! We took a short tour by the Yeomen Warder (AKA Beefeater). Since it was raining we were escorted to Chapel of St Peter's ad Vincula (St Peter in Chains) w/in the Tower of London and given our mini-history lesson (b/c it was raining – didn’t get a ‘real’ tour). Much of which I am pleased I knew (of course Don did too). In this church Ann Bolin, Katherine Howard and Lady Jane were buried. Though during the tour we were told that the bodies lie below the specific markers I have since learned that this is not true. Their bodies were exhumed and are buried in a vault under the main High Alter (apparently, this was done to appease the tourists and prevent robbery).

Dana with a Yeomen Warder -
Jewel House behind her

Jewel House -
Houses the Crown Jewels... guarded 24 hours a day

Don with the Sentry - they rest then they pace

Sentry at resting position
we did not time it, but he would pace for 10-15 min
then rest for at least 5...sometimes he even sat in the box

After our history lesson we went over and got in line to view the Crown Jewels, in the Jewel House. No

pictures were allowed in this building (so I snagged a couple off the internet) . Thankfully, the line was not too bad at this point and we entered the most heavily guarded vault in all of England. My goodness, what grand beautiful jewels, the scepter with the First Star of Africa Diamond (this is the worlds largest, flawless diamond of 530 carats) and crowns (10 of them – one of which has the 2^nd Start of Africa Diamond weighing 317 carats) were on display! These two diamonds were cut from a diamond weighing 3, 000 carats – given to King Edward VII by the Gov’t of Transvaal (South Africa) in 1907. Also on display were a variety of old gold and silver serving pieces from the times at court during the various reigns of England; if you are interested more on this subject you can find information at http://www.royal.gov.uk/The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheCrownJewels/Overview.aspx .

We went into the Royal Fusilier’s Museum, here is a sampling of all the medals given to the Royal Army as well as other artifacts that were confiscated by the British (the rain has stopped!). We went into the Bloody Tower, this is associated with 2 princes that were held here and disappeared from this tower in 1483. They were later found dead in a stairwell in the White Tower – though there is lots of controversy on this and how the boys actually disappeared.

We also went into the dungeon and saw where the torture took place. This was a dark and dreary place. Though back then they did not “torture” many because they had to have a royal order. However, they would often us the “interrogation assistance chamber” to obtain information from their “guests”. Before we headed out we stopped by the Traitors Gate; this is where prisoners, many on their way to die, entered the Tower by boat. It also was the location that brought the tide waters in/out to flush the moat, when water was still in it. One of the interesting facts we learned was that the Yeomen Warders are not just men dressed in silly uniforms. These men have spent 22 years serving the Queen as senior non-commissioned officers and are in good standing. They reside in the Queen’s House (with their families), which is the official residence of the Tower’s Governor. They have small apartments in this area.

Gate that used to close at Traitors Gate

Don at Traitors gate

Directly behind Don is Bloody Tower -
got its name b/c people that went in... did not normally come out
To the

Stairwell in the Tower

Sir Walter Raleigh held captive in the Bloody Tower
before execution for 13 years...WITH HIS WIFE!
It was a very small space

Don's arm fits in the "standard" arm armor

Jousting Gear - javolins are hallowed out!

King Henry VIII armor and Prince Edward's too

Garderobe... they "flushed" into the moat

King Henry VIII armor

King Henry VIII armor and horse armor
this all was on display in the White Tower

Another part of the Roman wall w/in the Tower of London

German WWII headgear captured by the British -
in the Royal Fuseliers Museum

After our tour we stepped outside the gates and ate lunch sitting on a picnic bench, the Tower of London behind us, a quaint little old English house to our right, Tower Bridge to our left and the HMS Belfast Battleship on the Thames River in front of us. Wow – with the sun warming our faces what a great lunch!

After lunch we walked over to the Tower Bridge. At first we thought this was the London Bridge. We were clearly mistaken (as many are). The London Bridge is the bridge to the west and is quite plain. It has been replaced something like 8 times since it originated over 2000 years ago – when the Romans were occupied England. Well, the Tower Bridge is a beautiful bridge. The Tower Bridge has two towers that are tied together by 2 upper levels that are walkways; the construction started in 1886 and took just 8 years.

The Bridge has a drawbridge that has a scheduled opening to allow boats to pass through. This was originally powered by steam engines; we were able to visit the old engine rooms too. It was quite neat to walk across the walkways – on both sides. The view was not really that great as the support beams prevented a clear view – but it was still a neat experience. Since we were on the opposite side of the Thames we took a moment to enjoy the view of both the bridge and the Tower of London from this side of the river.

For you Dad... these are wrenches that were used
on the Steam Engines for Tower Bridge

After a brisk walk back over the bridge, around the Tower of London again we grabbed a quick bite to eat (more fish and chips and a very creamy ice cream) before heading over to the location where all the public hangings took place. I believe there were 126 reported hangings from this site, which his now housed w/in the area of a memorial for the Merchant Marines.

We hopped on the tube to go back over the Westminster Area. When we came up from the Underground we came up right at Big Ben! Wow – what a magnificent structure! We walked around the Parliament building (AKA Westminster Palace) and found out that Parliament was in session! - House of Lords. So we obtained entry – went through security and entered inside Westminster Hall…of course we used their toilets (just didn’t have to visit them as often as we did w/ the kids!). This building was built in 1097! It has such history! The Palace was of great importance in the medieval period and Westminster Hall is the only surviving part of the original palace. People that lay in state in the Hall were Queen Mary, Thomas Moore, Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother. We walked through the grand halls and waited for our turn to sit and watch the House of Lords. Now, it was somewhat anti-climatic. I had hoped to see great oratorical debating occurring, but that is alright. Just to sit in the “strangers” gallery and watch the session and view this room that many only see in pictures or TV was truly breath-taking and surreal. They did not rush you, “Strangers” are allowed to stay as long as they like – we stayed about 10-15 minutes.

Don as we are leaving Parliment

Dana as we are leaving Parliment

Picadilly Circus...
a place we walked a few times to get our train
This is a very busy night-life area

After this we hopped back on a bus and headed over to

Leicester Square

to purchase tickets for a show this night. We had tried to buy some Sunday night – but they were more than we really wanted to spend. We opted for Chicago playing at Cambridge Theatre. The price was pretty good – like 42 British Pounds for the back end of the balcony. We grabbed a bite to eat at a hole in the wall and off to our show. When we walked up to the door we showed our tickets to get in and the doorman told us to go to the ticket counter to get an upgrade. Really? So we did and they put us in stage seats center left. Wow… what great seats. It is a small theater – but even still – it was a great show and great seats. We both really enjoyed it, and I think it surprised Don that he liked it too. I had seen the movie and was not quite sure how they would make it into a theatrical production. They truly did a great job! Well, by the end of the show, we were both tired from a very long day! Off to Paddington Station we went!

Tuesday ~ We had decided on Sunday we would head over to the Buckingham Palace early to see the Changing of the Guards – Palace Gate side this time. The changing occurs at 1130, as I stated above, and we arrived right about 10am. When we got there we met up with a great elderly couple from Australia. We stood and visited with them for 90 minutes and they kindly let me snuggle in next to them while Don stood directly behind the wife – she was quite short so Don not only had a great view but helped stand guard for her. People were very pushy – literally – trying to get in the spot we had waited for. They would push and put their hands in front of us w/ their cameras to try to get a shot. It was very annoying, but we held firm and did not budge much at all! Many gave up and moved along when they realized we would not move. Though it is ceremonial and put on daily mostly for the tourists – it is still held to tradition. The Changing of the Guards was very cool – and truly the production and ceremony is inadequate to put to words. I hope to put my video clips together to make a short film. If I cannot post here, I will post on youtube and link it. The Queen was not in residence this week – had she been there would have been an additional 9 Soldiers guarding the Palace; apparently she was visiting Prince William and Princess Katherine.

2 Guards over the Band

The Flag Bearer...
he marched back and forth several times

This soldier dozed a couple times...

Captain of the Guard

At the completion of this we said our thanks and goodbyes to the Australian couple and headed over to Victoria Station…on the way we stopped to pick up my souvenir, a beautiful English Bone china “candy” Plate – it truly is quite lovely. From Victoria Station we hopped on the Tube to Southwark. From this station we walked to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. Here we saw the Shakespeare’s play – Much Ado about Nothing. We had great seats – though I do not think you can have bad seats in this theatre – except the gallery floor (standing room only- they do not let you sit at all).

Loved the Thatched roof

We were on the Upper Gallery (top – 3^rd floor), left of the stage but right out front on the rail. The seats were very much like stadium seats – and very very tight! If you have seen the movie Shakespeare in Love – this is the theatre that was his (and used in the movie)! The building itself has been renovated – but it is much like the original. The play itself was fabulous! I had not been to play where the actors interacted with the audience so much! Both Don and I truly enjoy Shakespeare, so to see one of his plays in the Globe Theatre – well, this was my favorite of the London Trip.

Foot Bridge over Thames River...
we had a long walk once we got over

London Bridge over yonder

When the show ended we walked a bit and walked over the Thames River on the Millennium Bridge – then walked WAY to far to get to Westminster again to see the War Rooms. Well, because the play lasted so long, almost 3 hours! we missed the museums hours by 30 minutes!

So we walked a bit down

White Hall Street

towards Trafalger’s Square (passed this several times in our travels around town). We thought we might find a hole in the wall place for dinner –but no such luck. We finally gave up and ate at Garfunkel’s. It was not bad- I had to send mine back b/c they burned my sandwich. Don ordered Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding = roast beef and gravy in a bread bowl! J.. it was good –but nothing to write home about really. We spent the rest of the evening searching for the perfect gifts for the kids and Aunt Mary. After we had found everything we headed back to our teeny tiny hotel room to pack and get some shut-eye.

Protestors protesting Gov't cract-down in Syria

Just liked the building

Wednesday ~ Our last day in London (OK, last morning!). We packed it full too! We checked out of our room – suitcase in tow and headed over to the Winston Churchill War Rooms – below the Public Offices of the Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster. On our way in though I had remembered I didn’t know where I had put the tickets for our return to the airport! Don could not remember either. I tore our suitcase apart looking for these… they were no where! Ugh, I had a hard time truly enjoying the magnitude of the War Rooms because of this. But I tried. We did not go through the Churchill Museum, but we did tour the Cabinet War Rooms. These rooms are where the War Cabinet, first under Neville Chamberlain, then Winston Churchill, met during WWII when the Germans were bombing London.

Winston Churchill's Office

They are located below 5 feet of concrete – this was added in 1940. The War Rooms included living quarters for key ministers, military leaders and a Cabinet Room, where many strategic decisions were taken. Many of the rooms were never touched and closed up. Other rooms were put back in the exact order as it was during the WWII time using pictures to help with the layout. One of the more fascinating rooms was the Map Room – with the completed maps they had used, pins and all. We were able to listen to audio as we went through the Rooms, we were even able to listen to some recorded audio between Churchill and Truman.

After we left the War Rooms we headed back to Victoria Station and opted to buy another return trip to Stansted Airport…put us out 20 pounds, but we figured we saved a good bit on 2for1 tickets. We headed to the airport as it was a good hours drive via the bus. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare – allowing us to call home and talk with the kids one last time before we flew home. Our flight was on-time, with no delays, even landing in Frankfurt-Hahn on time too! When we got to our car – the car would not start. Nice, right!? Well, after some investigating we realized that the cable to the battery was a bit lose and with a little tightening and movement we had power again. We think that the cable was never fully attached from when they removed it for shipment to German.

We arrived back home to 4 excited children and one happy Aunt (her only demand was that we make it home alive! – SUCCESS!J). The first silly words out of Emma’s mouth were, “what did you bring us!?”… Emma is very fascinated with Prince and Princesses still, so we found her a mug w/ the picture of Prince William and Princess Katherine in their wedding garb – she loves is! Evan we got a London journal – he has been asking for one! Sarah and Gracie we bought tiny little I Love London purses – just their size. I found a pretty brightly colored scarf for Aunt Mary – when I saw it I thought of her and almost bought me one too! And of course you cannot forget the candy that we try to test from each country/city we visit.

This was a fabulous trip – one that I truly appreciated and learned a great deal about. This is by far Don’s favorite place we have visited so far – as it is rich in the History he knows so well. Will we come back? Yes – but not for a while. London is NOT a place for small children. Not one restaurant that we went into even had a child’s highchair. They hardly tolerate small ones from their own country – let alone a tourist. So we will wait until they are a little older and we will focus on the Country Side of England more than London itself. Throughout our research on places to visit and us actually traveling to places we have really found there is so much to see in each country it is impossible to see all that we want to see… so we prioritize.

Thank you again for sharing our trip with us! It has been a blast! Love to you all!

Here are a few more pix that were taken...