London: Tidbits

 More photos from our little London trip...

Our hotel was near 800-year-old Southwark Cathedral, and I'd really hoped to make it inside. But our timing didn't work. 

Also, we were very near Borough Market, which is apparently an awesome food hall. But it was closed when we were available. We needed one more day!

We went to Covent Garden after the Tower of London, before heading back to get our bags and take the train to our Gatwick hotel Tuesday night.

We came across the Noel Coward Theatre, where Mischief Theatre was putting on The Comedy About Spies. This is the group that created The Play That Goes Wrong.

Again, if we'd had one more day! Or, even 12 more hours - a later flight Wednesday - we would have bought tickets for Tuesday night's show. The girls (and Stace and I) love Mischief and seeing the crew in person would have been amazing.

We happened upon one of the best-rated pie 'n mash shops, so we stopped in for a final dinner. It was delicious.

Violet wasn't excited to spend time in London - she's a nature girl, not a city girl. So Stace promised her a pair of Dr. Martens boots, talking them up, with their London history.

He got a bit of sticker shock when we went in, but he's a man of his word. Vi would have loved a pair of black boots with black embroidered roses she saw, but they were out of her size and they're completely gone online. So, she went for a very classic pair of eight-holes, with black thread instead of the traditional yellow.

With the amount they cost, hopefully they'll last her forever, and be a memory of this trip.

Just London scenes...

Stace and Cora went out early on Tuesday morning to see the site of the original Globe theatre, around the corner from our hotel. 

The letter "G" behind her is part of the outline of the theatre's site.

That'll wrap up our England trip, 2025. Lots of great memories made and experiences shared! 

Our flight home Wednesday was uneventful, as you alway hope flights are.

London: Tower of London

We packed up Tuesday morning and took our bags down to the hotel's holding closet before walking to the Tower of London. I'd visited on my first trip to London, with JT, in 2001, but hadn't been back since. It's castle, fortress, prison, center of government and museum, holding all manner of fascinating pieces of English history.

Here, we're in front of the White Tower, built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th Century. Now, it's a main part of the museum attraction, with the Royal Armouries and much more inside.

We had to start our day with a tour of the grounds with a Yeoman Warder, who gave us great stories and details with typical dry humor.

Two of the many centuries-old suits of armor, which have been on display for hundreds of years to tourists like us!

The 12th century Valasse Cross was on display, on loan from a French museum for one year. It's bedecked with precious stones from Egypt, Iran, India and beyond, with a relic said to be from Christ's cross inset into the gold.

The cross was displayed here in St John the Evangelist's chapel, within the White Tower. Built as a place of worship for William the Conqueror, it held medieval church services for the royals, and fills the same role today. It is a majestic space.

Above, a bedroom fit for king! King Edward I, to be precise, who reigned in the 13th century. 

We're posing together in the throne room of Wakefield Tower. 

We really enjoyed this day together, learning a lot in our 4-5 hours on the grounds. We toured the rooms used by Sir Walter Raleigh while he was imprisoned at the Tower, and we also saw other prison and torture exhibits.  
 

A crowd gathered to watch the lower bridge go up, to let a tall ship - looked like a wooden old Tall Ship - go through.

London: The Globe

After checking into our hotel and resting up, we grabbed a little dinner at the nearby Wagamamas and then walked to the Globe. (We couldn't have picked a better location for the hotel - thanks to JT for the suggestion!)

We arrived early enough to peruse the gift shop before heading into the open-air theater. Stace and I had seats on the wooden benches, while the girls had the "cheap seats," standing around the stage.

See the girls? Violet is leaning on the staircase. 

The play was Romeo and Juliet, set in the American West, cowboy times, but with the actors keeping their English accents. It was so well done! We all loved it. The actors made great use of the theatre, with Romeo hiding amongst the standing audience at one point, and Juliet's balcony scene taking place on a portable setpiece wheeled into the crowd.

It was fabulous seeing Cora smile so big! She truly enjoyed the evening.

St. Paul's at night, what a scene!

Before the show, we'd walked past the Anchor Bankside, an Elizabethan-era pub with tons of history, including visits from Shakespearean actors. Cora said THAT is where she'd like to get a drink. 

Stace had been interested in having a cider with his daughter at a pub, now that's she's of age in the UK. But, Cora hasn't been that interested - not a bad thing, of course!

But, since she had an interest here, we had to make it happen. 

With her makeup on, she didn't even get carded.

She chose a Swedish fruit cider. (And hardly drank a fourth of it.)

It took a little finagling to get Violet in, but it all worked out.

Such a great day together!

London: Arrival

On Sunday, we had lunch at the Prince of Wales with the family, and then spent time with Dean, Jenny and the children at Nan and Pop's house. That evening, it was time to pack up.

On Monday morning, we gave kisses to Nan and Pop, and took the train into London to start our short 43-hour city break. We had two things solidly on the agenda: a play booked at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and tickets to the Tower of London.

We found our Premier Inn, in a fabulous spot near the Thames and the Globe, and dropped off our big suitcases. Then, we wandered around for a while. 

On our wanders, we found the Golden Hinde, the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, so we bought tickets and went aboard. 

We learned the replica was constructed 50 years ago using the old, original shipbuilding method, and, like its predecessor, successfully traveled around the world. Stace remembers seeing it with his Pop when he was a boy, when it docked in Cornwall.

There were informational signs and activities for kids, and you could imagine what it might have been like to be a 16th century sailor (no thanks!).

Stace and Cora continued their longstanding argument over whether Drake was a pirate, or privateer, or if privateer was a synonym for pirate. A fellow visitor overheard and said she was a history professor, and he was indeed NOT a pirate. 

Then, in the next room, a sign labeled Drake a pirate. We got a laugh.

London is an amazing city. Maybe we were just in the best parts, but it felt safe, and every view was pretty.

Here, we were walking across the Millennium Bridge toward St. Paul's Cathedral.

Without prearranged tickets, we weren't able to go inside, but seeing it outside was special in itself.

Cora managed to get on WiFi and looked up "boba near me," and successfully navigated us to a boba shop. The girls were very happy to have their favorite drink, for the first time in two weeks. It's not easy to find in Somerset, but boba is all over London, we discovered.

Across the street was a fancy little bakery, where we got sausage rolls.

This bit of Southbank history - the remains of the 12th century Winchester Palace - was preserved near our hotel. Truly a great place to explore!

To London, and Beyond

Our journey back to London was smooth, and we certainly recommend the Eurostar.

London was warm when we arrived! We walked around the redeveloped St Pancras area, where the Wimbledon tournament was being broadcast to fans on the banks of the Regent's Canal.

Stace read about this interesting used book store called Word on the Water, located in an old barge, and he knew Cora especially would love it. Sure enough, she found some books to buy.

Who's that lurking in the porthole mirror?

After lunch, we collected our big bag from the luggage storage facility, and jumped on the Tube for our trip to our Heathrow hotel.

We were lucky to get a few seats. The train car filled quickly with each passing stop, and we were crammed in like sardines. I was so pleased to see my girls reading their new book together, rather than playing on a screen, for most of the hour journey.

Our night at our favorite Premier Inn was uneventful, and we got off to the airport smoothly Friday morning. Don't you love the Terminal Five umbrella art display?

Soon enough,we were off, homeward bound. Another successful summer vacation in the books.

Birthday Adventure

Our time in Somerset drew to a close on Wednesday, my birthday. For the first time in all of our trips, we rented a car for our return journey to London, as Dean needed to work and we had a morning flight Thursday.

On the positive, having a car allowed us some nice freedom in making stops on our trip to London. Our first stop was lunch, a birthday meal with Sue and Gord, who drove halfway up to see us off. (Thank you, Sue and Gord!)

We then drove on to Windsor to have a look around and show the girls the castle.

The Christmas decorations hanging between the buildings behind us were pretty. Windsor Castle is one of the official residences of the Queen, hence the purple crown decor.

We weren't able to go into the castle, as it was closing time (and it would have been very expensive had it been open). But we had a nice look around anyway. Through the arched entrance, we could see the chapel where Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle in a few months.

We got a drink and window-shopped before getting back on the road toward our home for the night, the Premier Inn just off of Heathrow's Terminal 5.





















We got checked in, and enjoyed a mini complimentary hot chocolate. Premier Inn has excellent customer service! We then drove our lovely rental car back to the nearby Enterprise and found the Underground at the airport to take us into London.

The second part of my birthday adventure was strolling London for a few hours. We took the long train ride into Piccadilly Circus, walked around there and then shopped in the Lego store.

Then we hurried down Regent Street to make it into Hamleys Toy Shop before they closed at 9.

The Star Wars display here is inside Hamleys.

The Sylvanian Families (Calico Critters in the U.S.) area was adorable.

Here's Hamleys exterior, with the beautiful Regent Street light display behind.

The glittery sparkly angels are a sight to behold.

Violet took her new navy blue dragon, Sapphire, along for the ride. I love still having a child young enough to insist on taking a stuffed animal! We're all too aware of how short these days are.

I normally wouldn't want a burger for my birthday dinner, but I have heard great things about Shake Shack back home but we don't have one near us. I had seen this one at Piccadilly when we first walked through. The burgers were definitely a treat.

On our way back to the Tube, we saw a group of three police officers standing in Piccadilly Circus. Stace and I remembered the photo he'd taken of me with two other Bobbies on my very first trip to London in 2001, and he asked these gents if they'd be willing to pose, all these years later. They agreed, as long as the photo didn't go on Facebook. Of course, we agreed. If we'd have known, back then!

We got back to the hotel very late, and our Tube car was empty. We weren't in bed until midnight. What an adventure!