Our London Vacation

Susan has been packed now for several days. I packed yesterday. We planned to leave at 1 p.m. Atlanta time. We finally left at 1:09 according to the clock in my car. As we were pulling out of our subdivision, Susan asked me if I had my teeth. She was referring to my retainer. I […]

Previous Day: Friday, We Leave for London About an hour and a half before our arrival, the flight crew turned the cabin lights back on and began serving breakfast. Breakfast included a fruit cup, yogurt, fruit bar and juice. Very soon, we were circling Gatwick Airport on a cloudy Saturday morning. The glimpses I got […]

We walked down Birdcage Walk, which borders St. James Park on the side opposite from The Mall. Birdcage took us back out to Horseguards Road. We noticed the sign pointing to the Churchill War Room, so we stopped in there. Susan and I are both World War II buffs, so we came to London with […]

Previous Day: Saturday, Our First Full Day in London We got up around 9:30, showered and went to breakfast, this time getting breakfast free (or at least as a part of the cost of the room). After breakfast we went back to the room briefly, then headed out. Tip: We ate heavy breakfasts–which is unusual […]

We left the museum and began walking back toward our hotel. On the way back we passed the National Gallery, which contains over 2000 portraits of England’s most famous individuals. Like the British Museum, the National Gallery is free, but accepts donations. Photos aren’t allowed inside the gallery, so we don’t have anything to show […]

Previous Day: Sunday, We Take In Some History at the British Museum We got up about 8:30 a.m. and went downstairs for breakfast, which included the exact same items as yesterday’s breakfast. After breakfast we left the hotel and walked to Leicester Square, which was the designated loading point for the tour bus we had […]

The tallest and largest building in the center of the grounds is called The White Tower. There are several floors with different exhibits, including weapons, suits of armor, torture devices and more. This building had many uses, including housing kings and their families, an armory, a chapel, etc. One of the more interesting things to […]

Previous Day: Monday, Tower of London, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast We got up at 8:30 a.m., showered, and went to breakfast. At 9:45 a.m. we left the hotel, and walked to the Hungerford pedestrian bridge, where we crossed the Thames River and walked to the London Eye. About three weeks prior to our trip, […]

…Continued from Tuesday, London Eye, Imperial War Museum, Westminster Abbey, Part 1 As we were leaving, we asked one of the people working there about catching a bus back to the area we needed to reach. The information and instructions were a little convoluted, so we ended up walking back down Lambeth Road, crossing the […]

Previous Day: Tuesday, London Eye, Imperial War Museum, Westminster Abbey We slept late this morning, getting up at 10:30 a.m. Because we had something scheduled for noon, we didn’t really feel that we had time to go somewhere else. So we decided to just take it easy this morning. Actually, I’d suggest that you pick […]

…Continued from Wednesday, Thames River Lunch Cruise, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Part 1 We went back into the hotel and changed clothes. Today was probably the hottest day of our trip, so we both wore shorts for the first and only time. I don’t know if it was the time of year we were […]

Previous Day: Wednesday, Thames River Lunch Cruise, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park This morning, we were up at 9 a.m. After a quick shower and breakfast, we stopped by the concierge desk to ask about our options for transportation back to Gatwick Airport. The concierge told us a taxi was about £100, while Hotelink (which […]

…Continued from Thursday, London Tour Bus, Kensington Palace, Harrod’s, Preparing to Leave, Part 1 The bus route loops back east toward Buckingham Palace and all the other places we had been. On the route back, we got off the bus in front of Harrod’s department store. Harrod’s is one of the largest department stores in […]

Previous Day: Thursday, London Tour Bus, Kensington Palace, Harrod’s, Preparing to Leave At 6:30 a.m. the alarm on the television went off, and we both got up. About 10 minutes later we received our wake up phone call. We showered and went down to breakfast just after 7 a.m. which is when the restaurant opens. […]