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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:15:20 GMT
So, I had an opportunity to book a quick trip across the pond and I couldn't pass it up. London is only 4 and a half hours or so by plane from my home airport.
I"m most looking forward to the poppies at the Tower and the WWI exhibit at the Imperial War museum. I also plan to do a few London Walks and get some Christmas Shopping in as well.
Depending on the crowds, I may take in the Remembrance Sunday ceremony as well.
I look forward to writing about my experience.
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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:15:32 GMT
Day 1 My flight arrived at Heathrow early and we were lucky to get a gate. Often, when you arrive early at this airport, you end up circling because there is no gate availability. I quickly deplaned and spent almost no time at immigration. Bonus! My bags arrived quickly and I made my way to the tube station. I couldn't find the Oyster Card I had from my previous trip, so I got a new one and loaded it with 30 pounds of funds. Should be enough to get me through the next few days with the daily caps. I made my way to the Cumberland Hotel and was there by 11am. It took about an hour or so with one transfer of stations to get there. The Marble Arch tube station is literally right beside the hotel. There were no rooms ready, so I stored my luggage and made my way to the Tower of London to see the poppies. On arriving at Tower Hill station, I saw crowds like no other I have seen. The wait to get into the Tower was crazy. Luckily, you didn't need to enter the Tower to see the poppies. I made my way with the flow of the crowds to the areas to see. You had to be a bit patient, but eventually people would move and you could get in to see. The sight "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" was just amazing and to think that each poppy represented a soldier killed in WWI including those in the Newfoundland Regiment. At the time of WWI, Newfoundland was not part of Canada. I took my time looking at the poppies and taking some photos as well. I walked all the way round one side and across the tower bridge.      I decided not to go back by way of the Tower Hill Station as the crowds were just too enormous. I noticed the Shard and thought that the view might be good from the top. i know the Shard is ridiculously expensive, but in the end, I thought it was worth it to see the poppies with a much smaller crowd. The entry for the Shard is 29 pounds, and I was able to get up right away. The first level you can get off at is on floor 68. You can then go up to floor 72. i was right about the view of the poppies. It was just amazing. See below.  You can spend as much time as you want at the top. You can also buy champagne and photos of yourself at the top. I didn't go for either. I just admired the views. They are stunning. This is best to do on a clear day, not a day where it is raining or foggy.  I then made my way back to Embankment Station to meet up with my group for the Sherlock Holmes London Walk. There were only 8 or so of us and a few fellow Canadians. Our guide was Corinna, who was very knowledgable. We walked along the Strand and saw various locations mentioned in the Holmes stories. We finished at the Sherlock Holmes pub where there is a replica of Holmes study. Corinna finished with a song. She is a west end actress when she isn't guiding walks.   During this walk, came across the pub below, which I have always heard about, but have never seen.  I highly recommend London Walks. They have loads of different walks to choose from. Something of interest for everyone. They cost 9 pounds each. If you are doing more than 2 walks, it pays to get the discount card which then makes each walk cost 7 pounds. The cost of the card is 2 pounds, which is why it is only worthwhile if doing 3 or more walks. I then then headed over to Westminster Abbey to see the fields of Remembrance. These fields of crosses are set up every year around November 11 to commemorate the lost from the Commonwealth countries. It was very moving. I stopped to pick up a British poppy and the serving gentleman selling them asked my about my poppy. I was wearing the Canadian one, which is a different design. For those not familiar, the symbol go the poppy is very important in Canada, Britain and I believe in Australia and New Zealand. If by November 1 you are a politician and you aren't wearing a poppy, it looks very bad.    After having walked for hours, my feet were starting to rebel.    I headed back to my hotel where I could finally check in. My room was nice. The room was a decent size and very quiet. The best part was the Nespresso machine and capsules. I made use of that machine a lot during my stay. So much so, I've bought one since I've come home. I had a little rest and freshened up a bit. My dinner reservation was not until 8pm, so I had a bit of time. I also unpacked my suitcase. Since I was not changing hotels, I could do this. Saves packing up every night. I had dinner at the Criterion restaurant. This was featured in season 4 of Downton Abbey. i didn't choose the restaurant because of Downton, I chose it because I had eaten here on my last visit and loved it. The place was packed, so was glad I had made a reservation. My table was beside the piano player. He was quite nice on the eyes and his singing was pretty good as well. It was a lovely evening. I lingered over dinner, but did become very tired. I headed back to my hotel. There would be other nights for taking night photos. Attachments:
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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:15:43 GMT
Day 2 Had a bit of a lie in and then headed down for breakfast. The breakfast at this hotel is amazing. They have all manner of choices including the made to order omelets. I had one of these everyday along with some pumpkin seeds. This kept me full until supper time. I saved money by not needing lunch. I headed out to the West Ham tube station to meet up with my London Walks group. I was doing a tour of the Olympic Park. If truth be told, they should just have you meet at the Stratford station because as soon as we met up at West Ham, we got back on and headed to Stratford. Would have saved one tube fare. The park has lots of new builds in it. The athlete's village has been turned into apartments. There is a brand new Sainsbury's and lots of storefronts for cafes and the like.  We got to go into the velodrome and see some people practicing. We also saw the swimming pool and the stadium from the outside. They are currently redoing the stadium to put in retractible seats. The stadium will be the new home of the West Ham football team. The ironic thing is they would have saved lots of money by putting in the retractible seats when they first built the stadium.     The walk was a little over two hours long and really interesting. There was certainly lots to see. I then headed back on the tube to the Imperial War Museum. There were about 10 tour buses lined up outside. They were all there to see the WWI exhibit opened this year. I hadn't realized that a timed ticked was required to see the exhibit prior to 3:30 pm. The website hadn't said anything about a timed ticket when I checked it a couple of weeks beforehand. Luckily, one of the women working there took pity on me because I was by myself and let me go in. What a powerful exhibit. They really did a good job with it. There were diary excerpts and letters, ephemera, uniforms, videos and lots of photos.    On the top floor of the museum, they had an exhibit for all of the VC winners. I have never seen this museum so crowded. I stopped at the bookshop and picked up some books to take home with me. One book I had been looking for for quite a while and had been out of print back home. I headed back to the hotel to get ready as I had theatre tickets for the evening. It started to absolutely teem with rain as I exited the tube on my way into the West End. As luck would have it, i got disoriented and couldn't find the restaurant I was going to. I eventually did find it, but got a little wet in the process. I had dinner at Brown's. I had the two course special for 14 pounds 99. Caesar salad to start and fish and chips to finish. Delicious!!!! The play I was going to, Shakespeare in Love, was in the theatre next to the restaurant, so I didn't have far to go. Shakespeare in Love is one of my all time favourite movies. The play was not as good. I think because I have nearly every scene from the movie memorized and the play did not follow in the same way. I guess it's like watching the Sound of Music movie and then seeing it on stage. Not the same at all. I still liked the play, but I didn't come away loving it. |
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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:15:56 GMT
Day 3 Today was Remembrance Sunday. I had decided not to go stand in the crowds to watch the parades. Instead, I would spend the day doing some London Walks, including a special one just for this special day. I was up early and since my hotel was across the street from Hyde Park, I decided to stroll through and take it all in. Saw the Peter Pan statue for the first time.    These Paddington Bear statues were all over London. At 10:30am, I made my way to Monument Tube Station and the Monument to meet up with Simon, the guide for my first walk, "The Famous Square Mile, 2000 Years of History. We saw several Wren churches and view of the "City". At 11am we paused for a minute of silence to remember those lost. We continued winding out way through narrow alleys and lanes. A couple of the highlights were the bombed out ruins of the St. Dunstan in the East Church. It is now a public garden. We also saw a plague house (with skull and cross bones), the Bank of England buildling, Mansion House (the Lord Mayor's home), Leadenhall Market and the Guildhall.      The Leadenhall Market was quite interesting. It was totally empty, being a Sunday, so you could see a lot of the detail without the crowds. It was featured in the Harry Potter movies and the most interesting part the was the section with all the books hanging from above (I will try to post a photo so you can see what I mean). If you are in Canada, and have seen the series "London Next Stop", the host goes to the market to a famous pen shop and buys a very expensive pen. The series is hosted by one of the London Walks guides, Karen, who was born in Canada.     We finished up at the Guildhall and by this point, i was starving, so I grabbed a quick bite at a coffee shop and then headed back on the tube to my next destination.  My next walk, "River of Memories" was lead by Rex. This visited many of the memorials around the Westminster area and reflected on a lot of the goings on in the area during World War II. We eventually came upon the cenotaph and the crowds were crazy. i broke away a bit to get some close up shots of the wreaths that were laid by the Queen and Prince Charles among others. In doing so, I lost track of the group. Luckily, it was near the end of the walk, so I don't think I missed out on much and getting those photos was very important to me.      By now, I was done in from all the walking. I headed back to my hotel for a bit of a breather before dinner. Dinner tonight was at the Delaunay. This restaurant is right across from the Aldwych Theatre. I had schnitzel and loved it. I so rarely get to have this dish. It is a restaurant on the slight more pricey side of things, but it was worth it. The service and food were fabulous. I then went back around to the Tower of London to get some night shots of the poppies and they were floodlit. It was just as amazing as during the day. The crowds were lighter, but there was still loads of people.    |
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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:16:07 GMT
Day 4 Today was sort of a shopping day, although I didn't buy very much. I started out at Selfridges and immediately went to their Christmas floor. It was amazing to see an entire floor all done up for Christmas. I didn't buy anything because I didn't see any ornaments I really liked for a price that I wanted to pay. I continued along Oxford street and made my way in and out of various shops. I had never done Oxford street before, so this was a new experience. After, I made my way over to Fortnum and Mason. I had another look round the Christmas floor there and then made by way to the Diamond Jubilee tea salon. Now, yes, this is a very touristy thing to do, but I wanted to treat myself, so I booked afternoon tea. They treated me royally there and I loved my meal. The food was all you can eat in terms of the sandwiches, desserts and tea. The entree portion was really delicious, but you could not get more of this. I fell in love with lemon curd. i had never tried it before. It was so good. At the end, they gave me two jars free of charge to take home. i was a little worried it wouldn't be allowed because it's made with eggs, but I declared it at customs and had no trouble. I continued meandering my way along. i really didn't have plan for the day. I probably should have tried to see something, but I wanted a day where I didn't really have to be anywhere by a certain time. I did have dinner, very late this evening. My lunch was so big, I didn't eat dinner until 9pm. I went to the IVY. This is across from the theatre where the "Mousetrap" is showing and is very popular with actors. i didn't see anyone famous, but the place was packed. I had made a reservation, so had no trouble getting in. It was amazing to see the turnover of the tables. I had scallops and tried the Welsh Rarebit. Loved both. Then, it was time to head back to the hotel to finish packing up for my flight home. A few random photos:   Covent Garden Christmas Tree  Window display at Fortnum's  These bus displays were all over London  |
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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:16:20 GMT
Day 5
Up early and took the tube to Heathrow. Got checked in and was through security fairly quickly. My flight was leaving from the new Terminal 2. This is a fancy new building and much nicer. You can actually go to your gate instead of one of those little hold rooms where you are packed in like sardines.
There are a lot of upscale shops in the terminal. I limited myself to the duty free. I bought a bunch of tea to take back.
As this was November 11, at 11am, everything stopped and the last post was played. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people not familiar with Remembrance Day, who continued on talking through the piece, even though an announcement was made about it. Nothing irritates me more than people who don't show respect.
My flight home was uneventful. I couldn't get the direct flight back to Halifax and had to go through Montreal. But, it was the right decision to go through here rather than Toronto. The airport is much smaller and it is only an hour flight back to Halifax rather than two hours.
I was home by 5pm.
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Post by chech on Nov 5, 2014 1:50:59 GMT
LOL...I love the name you've picked for your very own tour. I'm packed. Are you?  |
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Post by Tulips on Nov 5, 2014 1:57:32 GMT
I'm almost packed. Just need to gather up my chargers and such.
Picked up a pair of waterproof Merrells and a nice warm waterproof jacket.
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Post by tiffany on Nov 5, 2014 12:40:22 GMT
Have a great trip Tulips! Looking forward to reading about it when you get back.
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Post by Tulips on Nov 17, 2014 0:20:18 GMT
Day 1 is up. Still trying to figure out pictures. The add attachments wants really small photos and isn't placing them where I want. I can't seem to copy and paste.
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Post by purvis on Nov 17, 2014 0:42:54 GMT
Day 1 My flight arrived at Heathrow early and we were lucky to get a gate. Often, when you arrive early at this airport, you end up circling because there is no gate availability. I quickly deplaned and spent almost no time at immigration. Bonus! My bags arrived quickly and I made my way to the tube station. I couldn't find the Oyster Card I had from my previous trip, so I got a new one and loaded it with 30 pounds of funds. Should be enough to get me through the next few days with the daily caps. I made my way to the Cumberland Hotel and was there by 11am. It took about an hour or so with one transfer of stations to get there. The Marble Arch tube station is literally right beside the hotel. There were no rooms ready, so I stored my luggage and made my way to the Tower of London to see the poppies. On arriving at Tower Hill station, I saw crowds like no other I have seen. The wait to get into the Tower was crazy. Luckily, you didn't need to enter the Tower to see the poppies. I made my way with the flow of the crowds to the areas to see. You had to be a bit patient, but eventually people would move and you could get in to see. The sight "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" was just amazing and to think that each poppy represented a soldier killed in WWI including those in the Newfoundland Regiment. At the time of WWI, Newfoundland was not part of Canada. I took my time looking at the poppies and taking some photos as well. I walked all the way round one side and across the tower bridge. I decided not to go back by way of the Tower Hill Station as the crowds were just too enormous. I noticed the Shard and thought that the view might be good from the top. i know the Shard is ridiculously expensive, but in the end, I thought it was worth it to see the poppies with a much smaller crowd. The entry for the Shard is 29 pounds, and I was able to get up right away. The first level you can get off at is on floor 68. You can then go up to floor 72. i was right about the view of the poppies. It was just amazing. See below. You can spend as much time as you want at the top. You can also buy champagne and photos of yourself at the top. I didn't go for either. I just admired the views. They are stunning. This is best to do on a clear day, not a day where it is raining or foggy. I then made my way back to Embankment Station to meet up with my group for the Sherlock Holmes London Walk. There were only 8 or so of us and a few fellow Canadians. Our guide was Corinna, who was very knowledgable. We walked along the Strand and saw various locations mentioned in the Holmes stories. We finished at the Sherlock Holmes pub where there is a replica of Holmes study. Corinna finished with a song. She is a west end actress when she isn't guiding walks. I highly recommend London Walks. They have loads of different walks to choose from. Something of interest for everyone. They cost 9 pounds each. If you are doing more than 2 walks, it pays to get the discount card which then makes each walk cost 7 pounds. The cost of the card is 2 pounds, which is why it is only worthwhile if doing 3 or more walks. I then then headed over to Westminster Abbey to see the fields of Remembrance. These fields of crosses are set up every year around November 11 to commemorate the lost from the Commonwealth countries. It was very moving. I stopped to pick up a British poppy and the serving gentleman selling them asked my about my poppy. I was wearing the Canadian one, which is a different design. For those not familiar, the symbol go the poppy is very important in Canada, Britain and I believe in Australia and New Zealand. If by November 1 you are a politician and you aren't wearing a poppy, it looks very bad. After having walked for hours, my feet were starting to rebel. I headed back to my hotel where I could finally check in. My room was nice. The room was a decent size and very quiet. The best part was the Nespresso machine and capsules. I made use of that machine a lot during my stay. So much so, I've bought one since I've come home. I had a little rest and freshened up a bit. My dinner reservation was not until 8pm, so I had a bit of time. I also unpacked my suitcase. Since I was not changing hotels, I could do this. Saves packing up every night. I had dinner at the Criterion restaurant. This was featured in season 4 of Downton Abbey. i didn't choose the restaurant because of Downton, I chose it because I had eaten here on my last visit and loved it. The place was packed, so was glad I had made a reservation. My table was beside the piano player. He was quite nice on the eyes and his singing was pretty good as well. It was a lovely evening. I lingered over dinner, but did become very tired. I headed back to my hotel. There would be other nights for taking night photos. Tulips I am so enjoying your tour tale . Had hoped to go once more to London but having returned from Florida two days ago and fallen on the escalator at Toronto International airport and sustained some nasty cuts my son (Doug) says my travelling days are over. I guess he's right as I returned from the previous tour with pneumonia so will now put my luggage away and be content to see the world through yours,Chech's and others eyes. Enjoy your London vacation and please post your experience and pictures for all of us to see. Purvis |
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Post by californian on Nov 17, 2014 1:22:30 GMT
Purvis, please don't say that you quit traveling, it only means traveling by yourself, but I am sure your son will be more than happy to plan another trip with you. Or a friend? Maybe a more leisure kind, a river cruise perhaps. I get intimidated sometimes if I get turned around and get confused, and I have fallen a couple of times as well, but it could and it has happened at home also! You are always so full of spunk, do not start talking about quitting!! Hope the winter is milder this year in Alberta. Stay healthy and warm.
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Post by californian on Nov 17, 2014 1:24:29 GMT
Good start Tulips. saw many of your fantastic pictures in facebook. Looking forward to the rest.
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Post by purvis on Nov 17, 2014 5:17:04 GMT
Purvis, please don't say that you quit traveling, it only means traveling by yourself, but I am sure your son will be more than happy to plan another trip with you. Or a friend? Maybe a more leisure kind, a river cruise perhaps. I get intimidated sometimes if I get turned around and get confused, and I have fallen a couple of times as well, but it could and it has happened at home also! You are always so full of spunk, do not start talking about quitting!! Hope the winter is milder this year in Alberta. Stay healthy and warm. Californian: I so wish I could keep travelling but I have to accept that the time has come that my travelling days are over. My son was with me when I fell on the escalator and I needed several people to help me get up . It was a terrifying and very painful event. I have been blessed these past 11years with the ability to travel but at age 80 it's over. I have visited cathedrals , western European capitals, gone up the Alps, cruised the main waterways of Europe and met many fascinating people on 14 Trafalgar tour, 4 trips to Florida, 2 trips to Cuba, and 3 trips to Hawaii so if it's over then I have no complaints . My travels from now on will be through others eyes. Purvis |
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Post by bet on Nov 19, 2014 5:00:57 GMT
I always enjoy reading about your adventures Tulips especially your WWI & WWII Battlefields tale, I'm looking forward to your next London instalment.
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Post by Tulips on Dec 1, 2014 22:51:56 GMT
Day two is now up.
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Post by Tulips on May 17, 2015 12:29:45 GMT
Hi Everyone.
I fell off the rails in doing this tale, but I have finally completed it. I'm now going to see about getting some photos up.
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Post by californian on May 17, 2015 14:38:13 GMT
Thank you Tulips! I was wondering how come and why I had missed the tale, I see now that you just finished posting it. What a great time and how well you organized it, all those restaurants, oh my! You did a lot in a very short time. I enjoyed it very much, made me want to go back to London soon.
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Post by Tulips on May 17, 2015 18:14:10 GMT
Ok, with a huge thank you to Chech, for helping me figure out how to upload photos, I have been successful! Enjoy!!
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Post by californian on May 17, 2015 19:44:42 GMT
Wow! tremendous pictures! so beautiful. Tulips, have you read the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? Your picture of the women of WWII made me remember that book.
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Post by Tulips on May 17, 2015 20:18:49 GMT
Thanks Californian! Yes, I have read that book. It's one of my five star books? I loved it!
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Post by tiffany on May 19, 2015 11:49:06 GMT
Great pictures Tulips. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of your tour tale (and re-reading the beginning). London is a great city, and I’m looking forward to stopping there on my way to Greece.
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Post by purvis on May 19, 2015 16:40:27 GMT
Tulips: Loved your pictures. Doug and I will be off to London for 6days this coming Sept. and am looking forward to the trip. We hope to go to Windsor, Cambridge, Greenwich and Hampton Court while there. Won't be spending all our time in London but enough to visit Harrods and Selfridges and a few other landmarks time permitting. Doug was in Italy last fall and off to Spain and Portugal this Nov. but we have both decided that I should not undertake such long tours as I will be 81years this Dec. & being away from home for a long time not for me anymore. Two weeks in Florida suits me just fine . Once again thanks for sharing your photos. Purvis
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Post by tiffany on May 20, 2015 11:52:52 GMT
Tulips, after reading your tour tale, I decided to check out the London Walks website. My friend and I were going to book a few tours through Viator, but I’ll see if there’s a walk that we like better. We really want to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace on the Saturday, and were planning on a Harry Potter tour on the Sunday, but we may do a walk instead.
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Post by Tulips on May 21, 2015 1:13:39 GMT
Tulips: Loved your pictures. Doug and I will be off to London for 6days this coming Sept. and am looking forward to the trip. We hope to go to Windsor, Cambridge, Greenwich and Hampton Court while there. Won't be spending all our time in London but enough to visit Harrods and Selfridges and a few other landmarks time permitting. Doug was in Italy last fall and off to Spain and Portugal this Nov. but we have both decided that I should not undertake such long tours as I will be 81years this Dec. & being away from home for a long time not for me anymore. Two weeks in Florida suits me just fine . Once again thanks for sharing your photos. Purvis Thanks Purvis! I I hope you and Doug have a great trip! |
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Post by Tulips on May 21, 2015 1:15:25 GMT
Tulips, after reading your tour tale, I decided to check out the London Walks website. My friend and I were going to book a few tours through Viator, but I’ll see if there’s a walk that we like better. We really want to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace on the Saturday, and were planning on a Harry Potter tour on the Sunday, but we may do a walk instead. Tiffany, they really are great. The guides are the best. They offer numerous different walks including one with St. Paul's. |
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Post by tiffany on May 21, 2015 11:50:11 GMT
Tulips, after reading your tour tale, I decided to check out the London Walks website. My friend and I were going to book a few tours through Viator, but I’ll see if there’s a walk that we like better. We really want to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace on the Saturday, and were planning on a Harry Potter tour on the Sunday, but we may do a walk instead. Tiffany, they really are great. The guides are the best. They offer numerous different walks including one with St. Paul's. I checked out their website yesterday, and saw the walk of St. Paul's. Unfortunately, it was not offered on either of the days that we are in London, so we bought the "skip the line" tickets from Viator. We also booked Viator's "Warner Bros. Studio tour London - The Making of Harry Potter". My friend really wanted to go on this tour, and the one offered by London Walks was too expensive, so we booked it through Viator. All we have left is to buy our entrance tickets to Buckingham Palace, which my travel agent is doing, and then we will be done. We only have two days in London, and as the Harry Potter tour takes up a full day, that doesn't leave us time for much else. I plan on going back to London next year or the year after, and I'll definitely try one of their London Walks then. Some of them looked really interesting. |
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