London - UK Day 3
I kept a journal, as I do on all my trips, and decided to transcribe it on the blog now that I am some, so I have an online record that is easily shareable when talking about my trip with others.
Monday in London was probably the longest day ever! We jammed in so many activities, but we are all so happy we did even though our feet could have fallen off.
We woke up exhausted, since hostels are not the best place to sleep especially with the St Paul's bell ringing and a roommate who was not ready to sleep when we were. All that aside, we couldn't be slowed down due to our crazy schedule!
We were up and out around 830 and set out on our plan of seeing:
St Paul's
Westminster
Tower of London
Royal Observatory - Prime Meridian
Harrods
Kensington
Marble Arch
Abby Road
(aggressive, we know!)
We walked over to St Paul's since that is the closest to our hostel and it was open the earliest. It was definitely my favorite cathedral and the scenes were breathtaking on the rotunda! Luckily, a lot of these tourist stops have audio guides, so we were able to walk and listen at the same time. We also went downstairs to see the crypt, which was also very interesting.
After St Paul's we got a pick me up at Starbucks and re-analyzed the agenda. We decided to go to the Tower of London and move Royal Observatory til the end as it was free and always open. At the Tower of London we went on a beefeater tour, which we would highly recommend to get a good lay of the property and the stories that accompany it. We also went in to see the crown jewels! Drooling over the diamonds and Ruby's we pretended what it must be like to wear those headdresses!
From the Tower of London we scooted over to Westminster Abbey. What a stunning piece of architecture, and so so different from St Paul's. We pretended we were Kate walking down the aisle! We listened to another audio tour and took in the masterpiece.
We decided to hit up Harrods next as we needed a snack and were heading west towards Kensington. We got sandwiches and cupcakes and I popped up to the gift store to grab a few items. We had a little trouble finding each other, but it worked out fine that we ate our lunches separate and met up to walk down to Kensington Gardens. Harrods was like Macy's in NYC, only bigger and more crowded! But a sight we had to see!
Walking to Kensington was refreshing and we saw many beautiful homes along the way. We saw many people in Kensington gardens lounging, tanning (it was sunny and almost 70!) and playing soccer. The palace tour was a bit deflated, and we were sure glad we talked with a guide prior to entering who told us the significance (Queen Victoria) and a little about the purchase of Kensington and who lived there in the past. It has just re opened that day from being renovated for the Olympics/Queen's Jubilee so maybe they had some more finishing touches to add.
We took a long walk through the gardens and up through Hyde park to Marble Arch. It was impressive, but we got a chuckle knowing that it could never been used since the arches were too small for the carriages to fit through. We hopped on the tube, which is so efficient unlike the metro, and took it all the way over to Greenwich. We were in search of the Prime Meridian! We asked a lot of folks throughout the day, but no one could tell us where we need to go after we get off the tube. We spotted a security guard and the Royal Maritime Museum and he pointed us to a huge park and up a huge hill! We hiked up to the top and found out that the Royal Observatory was closed, but we found a small part of the line that was open to the public so we got our desired pictures straddling the line!
While we were there, we met the Director of NOAA's Climate Program, who was in London for a conference and wanted to see the Prime Meridian as well! Only Geography nerds!
After our celebrity sighting we had dinner at a pub in the town to recharge. Our last stop was Abby Road and the American School in London. We got back on the tube and took it back across the city and sure enough found our way to our last to destinations via St John's Wood.
We took a few pictures at the American School in London and then walked down to Abbey Road. To our surprise the road was under construction as they were fixing the water mains! Grr! It was OK, because only half the road was blocked off. We ran between traffic and took a few pics of the road and Abbey Road Studios before retreating to bed.
It was a long day and we were astonished we crammed it all in but we did!!!!
Monday in London was probably the longest day ever! We jammed in so many activities, but we are all so happy we did even though our feet could have fallen off.
We woke up exhausted, since hostels are not the best place to sleep especially with the St Paul's bell ringing and a roommate who was not ready to sleep when we were. All that aside, we couldn't be slowed down due to our crazy schedule!
We were up and out around 830 and set out on our plan of seeing:
St Paul's
Westminster
Tower of London
Royal Observatory - Prime Meridian
Harrods
Kensington
Marble Arch
Abby Road
(aggressive, we know!)
We walked over to St Paul's since that is the closest to our hostel and it was open the earliest. It was definitely my favorite cathedral and the scenes were breathtaking on the rotunda! Luckily, a lot of these tourist stops have audio guides, so we were able to walk and listen at the same time. We also went downstairs to see the crypt, which was also very interesting.
After St Paul's we got a pick me up at Starbucks and re-analyzed the agenda. We decided to go to the Tower of London and move Royal Observatory til the end as it was free and always open. At the Tower of London we went on a beefeater tour, which we would highly recommend to get a good lay of the property and the stories that accompany it. We also went in to see the crown jewels! Drooling over the diamonds and Ruby's we pretended what it must be like to wear those headdresses!
From the Tower of London we scooted over to Westminster Abbey. What a stunning piece of architecture, and so so different from St Paul's. We pretended we were Kate walking down the aisle! We listened to another audio tour and took in the masterpiece.
We decided to hit up Harrods next as we needed a snack and were heading west towards Kensington. We got sandwiches and cupcakes and I popped up to the gift store to grab a few items. We had a little trouble finding each other, but it worked out fine that we ate our lunches separate and met up to walk down to Kensington Gardens. Harrods was like Macy's in NYC, only bigger and more crowded! But a sight we had to see!
Walking to Kensington was refreshing and we saw many beautiful homes along the way. We saw many people in Kensington gardens lounging, tanning (it was sunny and almost 70!) and playing soccer. The palace tour was a bit deflated, and we were sure glad we talked with a guide prior to entering who told us the significance (Queen Victoria) and a little about the purchase of Kensington and who lived there in the past. It has just re opened that day from being renovated for the Olympics/Queen's Jubilee so maybe they had some more finishing touches to add.
We took a long walk through the gardens and up through Hyde park to Marble Arch. It was impressive, but we got a chuckle knowing that it could never been used since the arches were too small for the carriages to fit through. We hopped on the tube, which is so efficient unlike the metro, and took it all the way over to Greenwich. We were in search of the Prime Meridian! We asked a lot of folks throughout the day, but no one could tell us where we need to go after we get off the tube. We spotted a security guard and the Royal Maritime Museum and he pointed us to a huge park and up a huge hill! We hiked up to the top and found out that the Royal Observatory was closed, but we found a small part of the line that was open to the public so we got our desired pictures straddling the line!
While we were there, we met the Director of NOAA's Climate Program, who was in London for a conference and wanted to see the Prime Meridian as well! Only Geography nerds!
After our celebrity sighting we had dinner at a pub in the town to recharge. Our last stop was Abby Road and the American School in London. We got back on the tube and took it back across the city and sure enough found our way to our last to destinations via St John's Wood.
We took a few pictures at the American School in London and then walked down to Abbey Road. To our surprise the road was under construction as they were fixing the water mains! Grr! It was OK, because only half the road was blocked off. We ran between traffic and took a few pics of the road and Abbey Road Studios before retreating to bed.
It was a long day and we were astonished we crammed it all in but we did!!!!
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