Lost in London
Not really lost per se more casually distracted. Fortunately Phil's never lost even when I am. The kids, Phil and I rode the train down to London. The kids were happy with their crayons and coloring books and the treats we bought from Marks & Spencers. We arrived at the London station and then had to take the Underground to Victoria Station. Of course, it was packed. So, we stood with two kids and four bags (two small, two medium) as we raced under the streets of London to our final destination.
We met my in-laws and headed toward the Elizabeth Hotel. We had a two bedroom flat. The kids slept on the pull outs in the living room. The sun was shining when we arrived and we headed over to Hyde Park to let the kids play. They had row boats and paddle boats on the river which was fairly calm. We walked around the park for a bit before heading back to the grocery store and then the hotel.
The next morning the first thing to do was to go to the Tower of London. We took the Beefeater tour(Little Man's favorite), saw the Crown Jewels (Lady Jane's favorite), saw the Armor exhibit, saw the Raven's, ate at the cafe, explored the White Tower, and visited the torture exhibit.
We hopped a train and headed to Greenwich village. This was a purely Phil and FIL stop at the Royal Observatory. Can you guess why Phil was excited to go here? The Prime Meridian. My MIL and I both checked our watches against the time clock, but Phil and FIL didn't think about it. Phil was too entranced by the idea of being on the actual Prime Meridian and by the time museum to contemplate setting his watch. Meanwhile the kids and MIL and I sat waiting patiently for them to get through the multifloored exhibit. I fully expected the same the following day. After an interesting discussion on how to get back to the hotel, we headed back on the train.
The next day we headed to Buckingham Palace. This was where payback took place. After giving the direction of Lady Jane to my husband I happily went from room to room. Oblivious to my children I was able to enjoy a slow stroll through the palace. Normally I get drug through so fast I have to buy a guidebook just to see what I missed. The palace was lovely and quite over the top. The Victorians definitely loved their gilting.
We went back to the hotel for a much needed nap and then took a cab down to Westminster pier to take a boat tour on the Thames. We sat on the left side and the audio tour was geared toward the right side. Oh, well, we still enjoyed the ride and seeing all the buildings. We saw that the County Hall had some sort of Star Wars Exhibit on. I had tried to cheer Little Man up by pointing it out.
Guess where we went the next day to the tune of 45 pounds. Star Wars the Exhibition. Yeah, it was that cool. Little Man got chosen for Jedi training and got to fight Darth Vadar. Right after the battery crapped out on Lady Jane's camera which I was using and Phil didn't get a shot of him actually fighting Darth Vadar. We saw multiple models from all six movies, costumes, R2D2, 3CPO, and Han Solo in carbonite.
Afterwards we headed back to the little lake at Hyde Park and sat and watched the swans and geese. It was sunny and warm still. Then we boarded the train and headed back to Sheffield. Phil and I let Grandma and Grandpa sit with the kids, so the trip was very enjoyable.
Not really lost per se more casually distracted. Fortunately Phil's never lost even when I am. The kids, Phil and I rode the train down to London. The kids were happy with their crayons and coloring books and the treats we bought from Marks & Spencers. We arrived at the London station and then had to take the Underground to Victoria Station. Of course, it was packed. So, we stood with two kids and four bags (two small, two medium) as we raced under the streets of London to our final destination.
We met my in-laws and headed toward the Elizabeth Hotel. We had a two bedroom flat. The kids slept on the pull outs in the living room. The sun was shining when we arrived and we headed over to Hyde Park to let the kids play. They had row boats and paddle boats on the river which was fairly calm. We walked around the park for a bit before heading back to the grocery store and then the hotel.
The next morning the first thing to do was to go to the Tower of London. We took the Beefeater tour(Little Man's favorite), saw the Crown Jewels (Lady Jane's favorite), saw the Armor exhibit, saw the Raven's, ate at the cafe, explored the White Tower, and visited the torture exhibit.
We hopped a train and headed to Greenwich village. This was a purely Phil and FIL stop at the Royal Observatory. Can you guess why Phil was excited to go here? The Prime Meridian. My MIL and I both checked our watches against the time clock, but Phil and FIL didn't think about it. Phil was too entranced by the idea of being on the actual Prime Meridian and by the time museum to contemplate setting his watch. Meanwhile the kids and MIL and I sat waiting patiently for them to get through the multifloored exhibit. I fully expected the same the following day. After an interesting discussion on how to get back to the hotel, we headed back on the train.
The next day we headed to Buckingham Palace. This was where payback took place. After giving the direction of Lady Jane to my husband I happily went from room to room. Oblivious to my children I was able to enjoy a slow stroll through the palace. Normally I get drug through so fast I have to buy a guidebook just to see what I missed. The palace was lovely and quite over the top. The Victorians definitely loved their gilting.
We went back to the hotel for a much needed nap and then took a cab down to Westminster pier to take a boat tour on the Thames. We sat on the left side and the audio tour was geared toward the right side. Oh, well, we still enjoyed the ride and seeing all the buildings. We saw that the County Hall had some sort of Star Wars Exhibit on. I had tried to cheer Little Man up by pointing it out.
Guess where we went the next day to the tune of 45 pounds. Star Wars the Exhibition. Yeah, it was that cool. Little Man got chosen for Jedi training and got to fight Darth Vadar. Right after the battery crapped out on Lady Jane's camera which I was using and Phil didn't get a shot of him actually fighting Darth Vadar. We saw multiple models from all six movies, costumes, R2D2, 3CPO, and Han Solo in carbonite.
Afterwards we headed back to the little lake at Hyde Park and sat and watched the swans and geese. It was sunny and warm still. Then we boarded the train and headed back to Sheffield. Phil and I let Grandma and Grandpa sit with the kids, so the trip was very enjoyable.
posted by Amanda @ 1:18 AM
2 Comments:
At 2:09 PM,
Jill said…
My favorite town! I loved the Beefeaters tour, too - Wes was always partial to the armory. I'm glad you are having fun and getting to see the sights!
At 12:46 AM,
Amanda said…
The armory was cool. But the Beefeaters definitely take the cake. The man was energetic and had tons of crowd involvement. That's saying a lot for first thing in the morning. Though for the tourist attractions first thing tends to be around 10 am. :)
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