Mark and Liz's Excellent Adventures

Thursday, April 11, 2019

London Day 6

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Today was another jam-packed day. We started our day at the Tower of London. We got there right when it opened and went straight to see the Crown Jewels because the lines can get quite long during the day to see them. It's the largest collection of crown jewels in all of Europe and it was indeed a sight to behold! There was a scepter with a 512 karat diamond, and many other impressive crowns, coronation spoons, and special gold dishes. The room was pretty close to empty when we were there so we had plenty of space to ogle over the jewels. The White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower of London complex, was a definite highlight. The top floor had a kid-friendly room full of interactive exhibits which Claire really enjoyed. She got to try her hand at archery, design her own castle, design a rifle to do some target practice, and dress a king in his armor in the proper order. We opted against doing a Beefeater tour since we weren't sure how Claire would hold up and we're glad we skipped it. There seemed to be at least 100 people in the groups. Instead we followed the Rick Steves tour and read what he had to say about the different areas along the way. But the Tower of London was fabulous. It was well worth the cost and we would recommend it to anyone visiting London.

Proof we saw them.

Chapel inside White Tower

Dragon made out of armor and weapons

White Tower

Tower of London selfie

Better shot of the Tower of London

Tower Bridge (NOT London Bridge)

After the Tower of London we headed over to Westminster Pier to take a ferry on the Thames over to Greenwich. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I was glad to learn that the boat was covered since it was a bit chilly outside. It was an enjoyable ride and as a bonus, the ferry line we chose accepted Oyster cards. In Greenwich we began by touring the Cutty Sark, a famous clipper which carried cargo (especially tea and wool) all over the world. It was a fun tour and again Claire enjoyed all of the interactive exhibits. Since it is currently Easter Holiday here, there are lots of extra activities/crafts for children going on at all of the museums. Claire got to make a daffodil, the national flower of Wales, in the bottom level of the Cutty Sark and then added it to their flower garden.

Sleeping in one of the crews' bunks

World's largest collection of figureheads. We forgot to get a photo of the entire collection but it was really impressive.

Claire posing with her daffodil

Our next stop was to see the Prime Meridian near the Royal Observatory. We had to walk up a giant hill to get there but there was an impressive view from the top. We didn't think Claire would enjoy a tour of the Royal Observatory, so we opted for the free but less impressive Prime Meridian marker outside of the observatory. It actually had a much shorter queue than the queue for the marker inside the observatory so it ended up being a win-win for us. After a quick break we walked back down to the Greenwich Market which we were much less impressed with than we were with the Covent Garden Market and took a train back toward the center of London.

Apparently this is a thing.

Straddling the Prime Meridian!

View from the Royal Observatory

Royal Observatory

Hamley's toy store was our next stop - a giant 7-story building full of every toy you can imagine. They had employees stationed in different areas throughout the store to demo various toys. It was a busy store. Claire was transfixed. The basement level was almost entirely dedicated to Star Wars and Harry Potter paraphernalia. Claire couldn't take her eyes off of the flying golden snitch. It was hilarious to watch. There were also life-sized Lego displays throughout the store. We stayed in Hamley's for a pretty long time and miraculously managed to leave the store without any purchases.

Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth

Life-sized Hagrid.

We found dinner at a nearby restaurant serving pies, sausages, mashed potatoes, and gravy. I chose a butternut squash and goat cheese pie with colcannon mash (it had some cabbage in it) and onion gravy. Mark had Prince of Wales sausages with Champ mash and farmer's gravy. Claire just had a plain sausage and mash. We tried a sticky toffee pudding for dessert served with some warm custard. Quite delicious!

Liz's dinner

Once Claire was in bed, I (Liz) headed over to check out the British Library. Their special collections area is beyond incredible. I got there about 13 minutes before closing so I had very limited time but I made the most of it. In those 13 minutes I saw one of the oldest complete Bibles from the 3rd century, the Magna Carta, drawings from a notebook of Leonardo daVinci, very old hand-drawn maps of the world, a Gutenberg Bible, among other things. Mark can detail a little more about this in tomorrow's entry. It was a FULL day.

Line at King's Cross Station for photos with Platform 9 3/4

Oh yeah. This happened today in London.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

London Day 5

Wednesday April 10, 2019

We woke up and had breakfast with the Wheelers, and then said our goodbyes. It was great to see them and enjoy their hospitality. Our next three nights are in a hotel in London, and we had a lot to do.

Mark geeking out at the train map

We took the Thameslink from Harpenden to St. Pancras, and dropped our bags off at our hotel, which is just a quick walk from the station. Our first destination was the London Transport Museum, with lots of info about the history of transportation in the city (as well as lots of trains and buses on display). As you can imagine, this was my kind of museum. They also had an art project going on for kids - gluing small pieces of tissue paper onto a larger piece of paper then having an artist's image printed onto it. It actually ended up looking pretty cool! We made sure to get a few good souvenirs before departing.

Mark helping Claire stamp her booklet at the museum

Art project

Probably will end up being Mark's profile picture on something

We grabbed a bite to eat at the nearby Covent Garden Market for lunch, Liz and I got wraps at a falafel stand and Claire got a bratwurst and bun. Our next stop was Trafalgar Square, where Claire got a kick out of chasing the pigeons. There were a few street performers there, including a guy who juggled and did tricks on his bike. Honestly, his performance was a little underwhelming, but Claire still enjoyed it.

Atop a double decker bus!

We had to wait in queue for this photo so hopefully you appreciate it.

We then went over to Kensington Gardens and Claire played at the playground. It was no ordinary playground, but the Princess Diana Memorial Playground with an awesome pirate ship and lots of other features. Claire had a fun time on everything. We got her an ice cream before continuing on our way.

We walked through Kensington Gardens and passed by the palace where Prince William lives with his family. We arrived at the Science Museum, and saw a guy doing giant bubbles for the nearby kids, who were loving it. Inside the museum, we saw lots of exhibits about space, machines, and a special video-game themed exhibition (which we didn't go to because it would have cost extra). Claire spent a lot of time in the downstairs kids area, and also at a spot where there was a fish pond projected onto the ground that she could interact with. Because of this we only ended up seeing about 20% of the museum, but Claire had a great time which was more important.

Ice cream in Kensington Gardens

Prince Albert memorial

Super fancy apartments next door to Albert Hall

Claire spent almost an hour "catching fish" at this projection

Claire told me to take a photo of this creation in the science museum

Finally, we entered the Ampersand hotel for science tea time. It was standard tea fare with a twist: Claire got a rocket-ship tier, they put some dry ice in there to make fog, and there were a few special experiments you could do like make your own sugar-water drink with mango or raspberry flavoring. You could also inject coconut flavoring into the macarons. Unfortunately, Claire was a very picky eater and had to be cajoled into trying a lot of her food. Liz and I, on the other hand, dug in and finished everything on our tier. I got ginger tea, Liz and Claire got hot chocolate. The food was delicious (I liked the chocolate mousse with passion fruit, the feta and spinach quiche, and of course, the scones). The service wasn't the best, unfortunately, but at least the food was delicious.