London Day 1

Our first morning in London...

We chose to have the complimentary continental breakfast in the lounge.  Coffee, fruit, pastries, yogurt and a British newspaper. The headline was that England was having a heat wave. (84 degrees!). "Take necessary precautions:  Keep fat kids indoors or in the shade!" (I'm paraphrasing but I swear the paper said something to that effect.)  

We made our plans for the day and agreed to take a Big Bus/Hop On-Hop Off tour. To get to the closest bus stop, we walked from our hotel at Old Brompton Road and Queens Gate just a few blocks from our hotel at Gloucester and Cromwell. 

After paying our fare, we scaled the steep stairs to the top deck of the bus, plugged into the English version of the prerecorded narrative and got ourselves some local knowledge. 

The bus took us by every place we could possibly want to go:  Harrod's, Madame Tassaud's, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Big Ben, St. Paul's...

Sadly, (but with great understanding) feeding the pigeons at Trafalgar Square has been shut down for years. Awww!  I remember that was such fun!  So, no point in hopping off there anymore. Climbing the lions was a hassle anyway. A drive by and a snapped pic...Trafalgar Square:  Done. 

Off to see Big Ben. (Insert Chevy Chase.) "Hey kids!  Parliment. Big Ben" 

The London Eye and The Milenium Bridge in the distance. 

I'm quite fascinated by the Thames!  I read that the tide difference is 24 feet.  What I can't quite grasp is how London is so far west of the coast yet the Thames has such dramatic tides. (Since our "machines" need wifi, I'll have to save that internet research for another time.)

Then, a drive by of St. Paul's

I can't believe the number of cranes! If the building doesn't have a crane on it, then it is quite likely to be covered in scaffolding. Mending, rebuilding, and cleaning have got to be just a constant.  My guess is that once a section of work is done, the workers just move their gear down a few feet. By the time all of the units on that block are complete, it's time to start back on the first one again. 

At times our bus sat motionless in traffic or just inched along. That was actually quite fun because we had plenty of time to examine the buildings, look in the windows, people watch and ... Oh look!  "Nicholas Lane".

We drove across almost every bridge...Including the real London Bridge and Tower Bridge. 

Our quick drive by of The Tower of London. We'll visit that tomorrow. 

Hey look!  It's us!

We stopped for a lunch along the Thames of hotdogs, hamburgers, and ice cream. Apparently, the Trafalgar Square pigeons have moved on. And feeding these guys was free and not quite so Hitchcock. 

After our lunch, it was time to go across the street to visit some of London's other iconic structures:

And then down the Princess of Wales Memorial Walk. Our kids got to be full on wacky!  They threw their water bottles around like balls, ran around, and jabbered the whole way!

Back on the bus, Gus!  It was time to go shopping at Harrod's!

Grandpa had his fill and chose to not hop off but to continue on to the stop nearest to our hotel. 

The Food Hall was as it should be:  elegant, packed full of people, stocked to perfection, and easy to get lost in!   (Literally!)

On our way out of Harrod's we came upon a handsome young bag piper. My mom and I could have stayed for longer, but the bus whisked us away. 

A lot of sightseeing was accomplished!  But, tomorrow we need to see:

The Eye, The Tower of London, Madame Tussaud's, St. Paul's, take a boat ride, see some museums...  There isn't enough time!!!