London 2011

London England.. 2011

We had a week to kill after my working contract had expired so we decided London was the place for us. Spend 5 or 6 days overseas, seeing what we can..sharing time together. Now Teddi had been here 2 years earlier for 2 weeks with one of our offspring. So I had the pleasure of travelling with a resident expert..hehe

We booked our flights and picked a small but highly recommended hotel in the Earls Court region of London. We packed our bags, maps, camera and moola and we were off on another Atlantic crossing.

We landed in Heathrow airport on a Saturday and discovered that this was the day that the transit people were going to replace a section of track and we had to find a bus to where we wanted to go. So we talked to the ticketing agent, she told us where we should go and off we went. After an hour and no bus, plus I was attacked by a couple of pigeons (..there is a recurring theme with bird attacks!) I asked a driver of a bus if there was an alternative one we could take to Earls Court.. he set us up and off we went..

We found our hotel and it was a quaint 1800's home converted into a small hotel.. rooms were about as big as my diningroom but it was perfect! The only 2 downfalls were, the other crappy guests who slammed their door and the street noise... otherwise it was lovely.

Our first day:

We hopped the Tube and went into town. We started to wander here and there.. looking at all the old buildings, all the other tourists looking at the old buildings and trying not to get run over at the intersections. I am programmed to look left..not right!  HAHA

Stairs to our room

Thank goodness for the signs

Big Ben 

Day 2:

We ventured by bus, tube and on foot till we found the London Zoo. The zoo was awesome and the penguins bite! Watch for those little snippers!! HAHA.. We ended up at the Sherlock Holmes Pub for lunch, so very Victorian and quaint. I did discover 1 serious flaw with the city of London... namely pancakes. I should have clued in when I ordered pancakes and they came with honey. Syrup was not something they knew! Well the `pancakes` were nasty little crepes! So let down!

Should have listened

The biter !!

Epic coffees !

Day 3:

This day we went to Harrods, holy opulent and WOW... We also hung out in West Minister Abbey with many a famous dead person. Very cool indeed.

Day 4:

We signed up for a tour of the Stonehenge, Sarum, Salsbury and Avery. Also part of the tour would take us to a wood henge and to a very old crypt called Long Barrow. The driver knew loads of stuff and went out a bit out of the way to show us Stings mansion.
While in Salsbury we got to see one of the original Magna Carta`s.. impressive piece of parchment.

 

Day 5 and 6 

On these 2 days we went to Tower Bridge and toured the White Tower. We strolled across the London Bridge and snooped around on the other side. So many kewl buildings and little shops in the weirdest of places. On the next day we travelled up to the White Chapel area. We found the 10 Bells and then went to see Mary Kelly, the last London victim of Jack The Ripper. St.Patricks Catholic Cemetery is where she now rests.What an amazing place.. old and so crowded.