Our Night Out in London

Night time in the big city!

Even though we had been up touring all day and exhausted from our travels, we had booked a White Chapel Tour based on Jack the Ripper.  We had no idea what to expect, but since my mom and I both have a sick obsession with True Crime, we thought it might be kinda fun.  

When we got off the train at our White Chapel stop it didn't take long to realize that the neighborhood hadn't changed or improved much since the 1800's.  It was still a little bit shady....

The tour was full of interesting history on Jack the Ripper and life in London during the 1800's.  It was a walking tour around the areas where the murders took place...some of the buildings were the same with the same signs.  The Ten Bells was one of the locations pointed out on the tour and it was the popular hang out for 'The Unfortunates' (prostitutes in White Chapel at that time).   It still stands today with the original sign.  

***On a side note during the walking tour we saw a part of London that is not very well known.  It is called The City of London and it is completely separate from London.  It has its own government, police force, and laws.  Very odd.  The only way to see that you are in the City of London is these little posts with the symbol and colors painted on them.  There is a statue of a lion somewhere that protects the City of London, but we couldn't find it:( 

After that we were onto dinner at a fancy restaurant that was recommended to us, The Ivy.  It was beautiful and delicious...mom and I tried to get a picture, but the waiter said no photos inside the restaurant...lol.  That was a first.  Apparently there are often celebrities dinning there and they don't want people taking pictures...who knew?..?  The atmosphere was intimate and quiet...it was like a old steak house with beautiful chandeliers, but not stuffy or pretentious.  There is a private club upstairs that is part of the restaurant as well, but of course we were not nearly important enough to go up to that level to see it.

With our stomachs full of yummy food and tasty wine, we were off to bed and off to Paris in the morning.  

The Tower of London and Winsor Castle

Day 2 - The Tower of London and Windsor Castle

We are up early and off to take a tour of The Tower of London and Windsor Castle.  My mom is so good at scheduling these things, and booking the tickets ahead of time so we can avoid the long long lines at the popular attractions.

She was determined to get to The Tower right when it opened at 9:30am so we woke up by 8am and we were out the door by 9am...well her fussy daughter hadn't had breakfast yet.  I am so picky about my breakfast too and so we waited for the restaurant to open across the street from the hotel and I got some Starbucks coffee in the meantime.

Side note: One of my favorite things said in Britain was when I was in line for coffee or a drink anywhere when I was next and they wanted my order instead of saying "next"...they said "Yes Please".  It was so pleasant and I just loved it.  Sounded even better with an English accent;)

I finally got my breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, and side of roasted tomato).  We took the next train out of Victoria Station and on our way to the Tower of London.  Now I thought this was going to be London Bridge with the pretty towers in the middle.  But it was totally different and full of history of executions and royalty.  My kind of spot.  It also houses the Crown Jewels on display which were absolutely insane to see in person!!!  They are unreal!!!! ("no pictures, please" -signs everywhere and when someone took a picture my mother scholded them...lol once a mom always a mom)

The best part of The Tower of London were the "Beefeaters" or Yeomen Warders.  These were the guards at the tower back in mid-evil times and they now give the tours.  It is a huge honor to be a member currently and you have to have a huge amount of accomplishments in the British Military.  There are only 37 of them and they actually live with their families in The Tower of London currently.  Crazy, because it is and still looks like an actual castle.

I actually also loved the story about 'Traitors Gate' a gate into the Castle Walls that would flood with water when the tide came in making it deadly, but also served as a possible escape route for the prisoners.  It was where they would bring in all those accused of being a Traitor to current King or Queen.  (Reminds me a little of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.)

The Ravens were another cool sight to see.  If anyone knows my 'crow story' you will appreciate this even more.  Apparently the story is that if there are ever less the 6 Ravens alive and living at The Tower of London the current monarchy will crumble.  So, as a precaution The Tower of London houses 7 Ravens on the property (one as a back-up).  They are very smart calculating birds and so they just stare at you with suspicion the whole time you walk thru the courtyard.  Ravens are not to be trusted!!!

Next, lunch and off to Windsor Castle!  By this time, we have figured out the train system, we think so we dare to take the train directly from The Tower of London to Windsor.

As it turns out, we are getting good at the Trains and we end up in Windsor with almost 2 hours to enjoy the little town and tour the castle.  I had NO IDEA it was going to be so enormous!!!  ("that's what she said"...Office Fans)  It really was spectacular and the gardens were absolutely perfect.  The best part is that the Queen among other royalty actually still live there on occasion and hold royal functions in the rooms we toured.  There were rugs designed for the rooms that had been rolled up slightly to allow for the "tourist rugs" and you could see where they roll them back out when Royal Family is in Residence.


All I could think about while walking around this place was that William and Harry must have gone there and spent time playing around as children...in a castle...with gold everywhere...like a museum.  What must it have been like the first time William brought Kate there to visit.  They get to just walk around and sit and have tea, nothing is roped off...like seeing someones home for the first time.  The 'tour of the house' must have taken like a week....crazy!!!

Windsor town is so quaint, it is such a cute little spot..it would have been nice to be able to stay there a night!  Or at least have a whole day there, so much more to see, Im sure!

European Vacation - London

Day 1 - Arrival in London

We arrived in London at around noon local time.  We figured out how to take the train from the airport to the train station attached to our hotel.  Victoria Station we thought was near our hotel, and so we left the train station with our luggage and walked around the block and a park, realizing later that the train station is actually part of the hotel and there an entrance that links the two together directly.   We never did quite figure out how to use that entrance efficiently, always ending up in a strange section of the train station and finding ourselves on the London streets and in the midst of construction chaos!   Needed a couple more days to perfect that part aparently.

Our goal was to try to keep ourselves up until at least 9pm.  The best way (in my opinion) to avoid terrible jet lag is to keep yourself up and then fall asleep when it is night time where you are and wake up when it is morning in the time zone where you are.

After about 20 hours total of travel, we stayed up another 5 hours by walking around to the local spots near our hotel.  First stop, somewhere to eat!  I was determined to eat the local food (within reason).  This turned out to just be a burger and fries (although they put mayonnaise on their fries).  My mom got fish and chips, but even though I was trying cultural food I couldn't bring myself to eat breaded and deep fried food.  So I skipped that 'local cuisine'.

I had a local cider of some kind, too tired to remember what it was, but delicious and refreshing.   I think it was berry.

• Next we were off to see Buckingham Palace.  Aside from the darling little guards in their cute hats and outfits...they had beautiful fences and gates and fountains.  I was less impressed with the actual building, but it was interesting to see it all and walk around there.  They actually happened to be setting up for the anniversary of the Queens Coronation 60 + ago.  
• I did really want to see the 'Changing of the Guards', however it is quite a long process and only happens once a day and my mom had said the crowds are absolutely unbelievable.  Not my kind of place (I get terrible anxiety with large crowds and being bumped into).  So I settled or just a picture of a guard from a distance.

After walking around the Buckingham Palace area we headed off to find some dinner and to see Harrods a famous Luxury Department Store!
I was slurring my speech by this point and dazed a bit, but it was unbelievable how beautiful and amazing the products and departments were.  It puts Bergdorf's to shame!  There was a luxury pet department, furniture, interior design, lavish children's clothes, and many many more.  About 10 stories all together, each department having its very own 'shop'.  I didn't find anything to buy, however I'm kind of glad, because in my state who knows what I would have ended up with.

I fell asleep in the taxi ride home and finally hit my head to the pillow around 8:30 without even taking off my shoes.  Got up at around 11pm to wash my face and put on my PJ's to rest up for the early morning and long day ahead of us.