And now for merrie old England!
Day 18 (part 2): Paris to London
When we hopped on a train in Paris, we headed out of the EU and through the Chunnel to London. The border crossing in the terminal was a little hectic and unpleasant, as there were few clear instructions until you did something a little wrong, when you got firmly corrected, and at first we didn’t understand why we had to do the whole passport scan and biometric photo check twice in a row, ten feet apart. It made sense after the fact — the first time was leaving the EU, the second time was entering the UK — but as a first-timer, the system really feels designed by and for people who do it regularly and can breeze through, rather than newbies. Still, we didn’t make any major errors, got through, and got on the train without any real major hassle.
The train ride was as pleasant as any have been, with pretty views of the French and English countryside as we went. The Chunnel, of course, isn’t much for scenery, but it’s fun to have done that.
The train ends at St. Pancras, part of a complex with King’s Cross, so it was relatively easy to find our way to the correct Underground platform and make our way to the Tower Hill station. From there, it’s just a couple blocks around the Tower of London to the Tower Hotel where we’re staying. This is the same hotel we stayed at last time we were here; it’s a funky old brutalist exterior (according to Wikipedia, “voted the second most hated building in London in a 2006 BBC poll”) with very ’70s British interior and gorgeous views of Tower Bridge, and we like it a lot. We got settled in and called it a night.
Day 19: London
For our first full day in London, we didn’t have anything planned until the evening, so we decided to start our day with wandering around and exploring the local sights on foot. Since there’s a particularly notable sight right outside our hotel window, we decided to do something we’d skipped on our last visit, and do the Tower Bridge tour. Seeing a bit of the inside was neat — Victorians weren’t exactly minimalists, and even the interior spaces are impressively crafted. The tour goes up one of the towers, across the upper walkways (which now have glass floor sections), then down again, and then down into the old steam engine rooms (not used anymore). Fun start to the day!
From there we wandered up the Queen’s Walk along the Thames, wandered through the Borough Market and sampled a few different goodies for lunch, found the Golden Hinde and explored that, then went through the Clink prison museum, and then went back to the hotel for a bit to give our feet a rest.
For our evening adventure, we walked back up the Queen’s Walk to Shakespeare’s Globe to see Much Ado About Nothing. Their production was wonderful, as expected, and seeing a long-time favorite play at the Globe was a real treat. A nice nighttime walk back to the hotel afterwards, and off to bed.
Day 20: London
This day had originally been entirely unplanned, but then last night we were browsing the London theater options before Much Ado started, and we’d made an impulse decision to add another performance to our itinerary.
But that wasn’t until the evening, so we started our day by being very touristy and hopping onto one of the “hop on hop off” open-top city tour buses that constantly run around d the city. We figured this would be a good way to get a peek at areas of London we wouldn’t otherwise see, and maybe help us find ideas for more things to explore during other unplanned times. It was a grey and lightly rainy day, so while we were comfortable sitting on the open top deck for a while, eventually it got to be raining hard enough that we came down to the lower enclosed deck. Not long after that, the bus suddenly filled with other people who decided to use it as a good way to get out of the rain. We stayed on just long enough for the rain to slack off a bit, and then hopped off at Notting Hill.
We took a slow wander up Notting Hill (even spotting the storefront used for the film) to Portobello Road, poking in little shops along the way. We found me a new hat and a few more CDs, got lunch, and wandered back to the bus stop.
We hopped back on the bus, intending to ride it the rest of the way around the loop to where we started. Unfortunately, for some reason, it seemed this driver had other plans, and we ended up literally going in circles. We went around one block twice, then passed the Marble Arch at least four times, and eventually ended up going entirely rogue, heading down a street not on the published bus route. Eventually it got back on route, but by then it had taken much longer to get there than it should have and we no longer trusted the driver, so we hopped off at the next stop and took the tube back to the hotel.
We had about a hour or so to rest, and then it was back on the tube and out to the theatre district to see our impulse purchase show, Avenue Q. We’d both heard about it for years and had had it on our “want to see” lists, and it did not disappoint. Funny, raunchy, and sweet, and absolutely fascinating to watch, as the performers handled their puppets. After the show, another tube ride back to the hotel and off to bed.
Day 21: London
Having had two pretty full days, we gave ourselves a slow morning and didn’t leave hotel until after noon. Once we did, we took the Underground up to Trafalgar Square. We started with a couple hours in the National Portrait Gallery, then went on to the National Gallery, giving us a nice afternoon of gorgeous and historic art.
We found dinner, then went to our third show in three nights and saw The Producers. While we’re both very familiar with the film version of the musical, this was our first time seeing it on stage, and it was hilarious…and, honestly, at times a little unsettling. I mean, it’s one thing seeing “Springtime for Hitler” on your TV screen, it’s quite another, no matter how hilarious, to be sitting in a theater with giant red, white, and black swastika banners dominating the stage. Mel Brooks knows, though: Always mock fascists.
After the show, another tube ride back to hotel, and another late collapse into bed.
Day 22: London
Another more planned day today. We got up a bit earlier in the morning and headed out, taking the tube to Waterloo station, then hopping on the NRS South Western Railway out to Hampton Court. We then spent our day slowly wandering through Hampton Court, letting my Tudor-era Anglophile wife soak up the history. We did have some disappointment in that a large part of the formal gardens was taken over by an upscale car show (which we had no interest in paying £112 to see), but there were other gardens still accessible, and aside from that unfortunate bit of timing, we very much enjoyed the day. We came back to the hotel in the afternoon, and had a quiet hotel evening.
Day 23: London
Took it somewhat slower again, with another day where we didn’t leave the hotel until after noon. (At over three weeks into this trip, we’re definitely flagging a bit.) Once we headed out, we started with some souvenir shopping, then went back out to the theater district. Wandered there for a bit, then saw The Mousetrap (notable both for being a fun Agatha Christie mystery, and for being the world’s longest continuously running play, now in its 74th year).
After the play ended, we started to come back to the hotel and saw that the tube line we wanted from the closest station was delayed with massive crowds in the station, so we bailed out and walked to the next closest station that would have the final line we needed to get to the hotel. Got back, had dinner, and relaxed in the room. Just before crashing out, we got to watch Tower Bridge open and close for a cruise ship passing through.
Day 24 (part 1): London to…?
Travel day! The usual routine: Pack up, check out, and head off towards our next destination! Heading out was a little more trouble some than expected. Turns out today was the day for the London Big Half half-marathon, which attracts some 16,000 runners and starts by going over the Tower Bridge. This was pretty cool to discover when we were getting ready this morning, and we’d take regular breaks from packing to watch runners cross the bridge. But when it was time to go, this was the day we’d planned to give ourselves a bit of a break and take a traditional London Black Cab to our departure point, and we suddenly discovered that the number of roads closed around the Tower Bridge meant that cabs couldn’t get to our hotel. We checked with the concierge, and they just told us that the next closest taxi stand was near the Tower Hill Underground station, which gave us a vague direction to go, but wasn’t exactly clear directions. Apple Maps found us a taxi stand, though, and just a few minutes later a taxi pulled up to drop someone off, and we were able to hop on. And now we’re settled in and waiting to depart for our next stop.
