Road Scholars

An Evening in London

After the London Eye, we set out to look for dinner and stop by Harrods.  

 Unfortunately, and much to Niki's disappointment, Harrods closed moments before our arrival.  

So...on to finding dinner.  We tried an Indian Restaurant and it turned out to be the yummiest Indian food we've ever had!  We ended up ordering seconds because the kids wanted more.  :)

 On the way home, we stopped at King's Cross Station and yes, we got pictures at Platform 9 3/4.  (But it's actually between Platforms 8 & 9.  It confused us too.)

     

Afternoon in London

After we had lunch at the Sherlock Holmes Restaurant, we hopped back on the bus to take us over to the Globe Theatre.  It is a replica of the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare's plays were originally performed.  I had Niki and Zachary stand up by the Globe to get a picture.  They complained because they said they'd already had their fill of Shakespeare.  (It was the only time in all of London - for this whole trip actually - where they were just not interested in the site.)

 Globe Theatre

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 Unimpressed Teenagers

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I told them they were going to enjoy seeing the Globe Theatre and not mope about it - this was their reaction  hahahaha

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 Chris & I literally stopped to smell the roses

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Chris near the London Eye

The moment we stepped out of the Tube, the boys wanted to go on the London Eye.  As soon as they saw it, they couldn't stop talking about it and begging to go on it.  We studied all the main sites of London this past year before coming here.  The great part is that the kids recognized all the sites and would tell Les bits and pieces about each place.  I was listening intently and basically grading myself on how well I taught the kids based on the description they gave to their dad.    

The London Eye was built ten years ago to celebrate the year 2000.  Each capsule holds about 30 people and rotates around the wheel about once every 30 minutes.  Chris told us before he ever came he didn't want to go on it because he was afraid of heights.  He closed his eyes at first and refused to go near the windows but after about 5 minutes he warmed up and was his normal self on the ride.  We e

London Eye

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London Eye and Big Ben

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Niki and I on the London Eye

 

 

 

Morning in London

We left the hotel early in the morning to catch the train and then the Tube (subway) down to London.  After having just used the NY subway, the Tube was a resort.  I wouldn't say it's spotless but it didn't smell of urine or staleness...at all.  The tube was clean, well ventilated, and pleasant.  All of us commented on it.  The only downside to the Tube at all was that you had to pay 30 pence each to use the bathroom.  Okay, fine.  You deal with it.  But...it only takes exact change and you can't use five or one pence coins.  Then, you have to make sure you have exact change for 7 people.  Thankfully, I had enough for all of us to use the bathroom but we made sure to hold onto our 10 and 20 pence coins for the ride home on the Tube. 

Train to London

 

The first thing we did when we arrived in London was hop on one of the tourist red double decker buses.  We took "The Original Tour" bus.  It turned out to be the perfect way to see all the sights in London from the top of the bus especially with kids.  I really like taking the tourist buses when you reach a large, new city for the first time.  1) It gives you an overview of the city and sites  2) You can orient yourself and figure out how far away everything you want to see is from each other  3) You can enjoy the sites and not have to worry about your husband looking at the sites instead of driving. ;)

Thames River & Tower Bridge

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On the double decker bus listening to a recorded commentary about the sites we were seeing

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The kids crammed into the old style English phone booth.  The little boys took it as an opportunity to touch all the buttons. 

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"Big Ben" - The bell was actually the part of the clock tower which was nicknamed Big Ben and over time the entire clock tower received the nickname

The best part about buying the tourist bus tickets was that they were good for 24 hours.  We could hop on and off at any of the stops.  It proved to be invaluable with the kids.  Most everything was within easy walking distance of each other but the little guys get tired and then whining commences.  It's nice to hop on the bus for a little bit so they can rest and then keep going.

The second nice thing about buying the tourist bus tickets is that it gets you on free for the ferry ride on the Thames River.  The kids really enjoyed the boat ride and it gives you a different perspective of the city.

The third nice thing about the bus pass was that it got us a substantial discount at the Sherlock Holmes Restaurant.  (Niki REALLY enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes!  She was thrilled we ate there.)  We spent 21 pounds for all seven us to eat at a sit down restaurant in London!  The only catch was that  this discount price only included one menu item - so we all had fish and chips.  We didn't mind.  It was absolutely yummy!