I've been on a fun trip to London England! The trip was one hosted by Bonnie Hunter, my favorite quilting blogger, through a tour company "Craft Tours".
I was trying to make up my mind about going last December. When my sister mentioned she might like to go as well, I decided "yes", I would take the tour.
So, there has been a year to research and anticipate this vacation.
The tour company was dependable and efficient. Bean (sister) and I were picked up from the airport in a nice large bus and had a glimpse of parts of the city on our way to a Christmas market.
We crossed the "Tower Bridge".
It was mid afternoon when we checked into our hotel in the Canary Wharf area...with nothing scheduled until dinner, so we decided to make our way to the Royal Observatory in nearby Greenwich to see the official line that marks the Prime Meridian.
Bean was quick to figure out the Underground, or the subway system (after us making some beginner mistakes of not paying before boarding and going the wrong direction on the train).
We made it to the Cutty Sark station, which we soon learned has a history of escalators being out of order, meaning one must climb 121 steps to exit the station.
Yes, I had to stop and catch my breath a few times near the top.
We passed by the Cutty Sark exhibit.
Then toward the Observatory, which turned out to be an uphill walk. I couldn't make it.
I convinced Bean to go on without me and I had a nice rest on a bench.
She made it there and got photos. This is the agreed on line that marks zero degrees longitude and also from which global tome zones are based.
Bean was able to stand with a foot on each side of the line...one foot in eastern hemisphere and one in western hemisphere.
A great view from up on the hill too (Bean's photo).
We had sunny weather the next day also. Perfect for our bus tour of London. It is a clean city...no trash or cigarette butts lying around. Everyone dressed nice and walking fast. Most all were young people. Very few senior citizens in the crowd.
So many cozy looking warmly lit restaurants and pubs looking so inviting.
Included in the tour was a walk around some of the sights with a local guide.
Here's Big Ben.
St. Paul's Cathedral. Sure it's historic but also Princess Diana's wedding was held here!
Our tour had a stop at Covent Garden, an area with shops, restaurants, and entertainment. In the afternoon we continued on with a visit to Windsor Castle.
It included walking through many inside rooms as well. No photos allowed inside. It was enjoyable but like we found at other attractions in London, not a lot of signs to explain what we were seeing, no brochures or reading material.
Our tour bus took over an hour each time we traveled through the streets of London.
That was just fine because there was always a lot to see along the way.
It started getting dark around 4:00 in the afternoon so we could really enjoy seeing Christmas lighting and decorations.
There's the Harrods department store.
Westminster Abby
The London Eye.
Back at our hotel, we decided to walk to a nearby pub recommended by our bus driver...Wetherspoons.
We both ordered fish and chips with mushy peas. Really good!
The next day of our tour was a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is a huge museum with so many collections and exhibits. We looked around for a good while then decided to strike off on our own for the rest of the day to visit the Tower of London.
Bean figured out our Underground route and walking directions.
A view of "The Shard" building.
We arrived just in time to hear an interesting talk about the history of The Tower, by one of the Beefeaters...ceremonial guardians of the tower.
Lots of exhibits and areas to go through. Again, not many signs to explain things.
I was a bit disappointed that everything was bright and clean and not like the cold gloomy towers I had imagined, where queens and others were imprisoned.
No photos allowed, but we did see the exhibit of Crown Jewels, which included labels with a short bit of info.
Later, back to the hotel, then a walk to "Gallios"...a Mediterranean style restaurant. Delicious food and good service.
Our tour continued the next morning with a visit to Westminster Abbey.
Wowzer! Breathtaking.
King Charles' coronation took place here last year. Lots to see with many ornate tombs and memorials here as well. Lots of visitors too.
The afternoon was free so my dependable sister, Bean, planned out our route to see Buckingham Palace.
We could only look at it through the gates but it was one of the important sights I didn't want to miss.
We had a bit of rain that day. After finding tickets were sold out at Sky Garden (a modern sky scraper with great views of London), we checked online for good nearby restaurants and followed Google directions to Nicholsons, a pub where we found lots of locals eating.
I had another fish and chips and Bean ordered this hearty and delicious beef pie.
It was still early in the day, so after some discussion, we decided to go to a theater show in the evening.
So, we took the Underground to Victoria Station...
"Mind the Gap"
To Apollo Victoria Theatre, where we enjoyed "Wicked", which has been playing there since 2006.
It is an older theatre...with steep stairs and no handrails. I had to creep slowly down to our seats clutching onto seat backs along the way.
Our seats were good but there were some extra large people in the row in front of us blocking a bit of our view. A fun show though.
The next day on our tour was a trip to Bourton on the Water, in the Cotswalds area.
It's a small village of shops, museums, and restaurants, known for it's low bridges across a river that runs through...River Windrush.
After looking through a few shops we ducked into a tea shop/ pub and ordered tea and a scone. So good! I ate my scone with butter, clotted cream and jam.
There are different systems for ordering at food service establishments, and it's never really clear. Some places take your order at your table and some only take your order at the bar and you pay at that time. They bring it to your table. A service charge is added on the bill so there is no tipping. You have to ask for napkins.
Back on the bus, then a visit to Blenheim Palace, a huge castle/estate and grounds with a long and complicated history. It was a Churchill family estate and Winston Churchill was born here although his parents didn't live here. They were here as guests at the time he was born.
The inside tour was filled with extensive Christmas decorations which were lovely but distracting from the features of the rooms. No photos.
Downstairs was a nice Winston Churchill museum.
Churchill and Bean...
We had rainy skies the next day, and our tour took us on a drive through the country side to the city of Bath, named for Roman baths that were once built at hot springs here.
Bath Abbey...
There were Christmas market booths in town but we just stayed in and had dinner in the hotel.
The next morning we had clear skies for our tour to Highclere Castle.
Yep, that's it...the estate featured in the TV series, Downton Abbey.
It looks exactly like it did in the show.
It was a fun tour...seeing all the rooms mostly as they were in the series. Now I want to watch it again. No photos allowed inside. They had an Egyptian museum area in the basement but we realized some (or all) of the exhibits were only replicas.
They handed out large hardback recipe books at the end of the visit, written by the current Lady Carnarvon.
We had an afternoon bus/walking tour of Bath with a local guide...cut a bit short because of more rain. We walked from our hotel there to a local restaurant.
The next morning Bean went for a visit to the Roman Bath ruins and museum, while I went to a needlework group lesson by our tour host, Bonnie Hunter.
Bean enjoyed touring the historic baths area and said it was pretty interesting.
Then it was back on the bus and back to London. Better weather for enjoying the scenery and the rolling hills.
One last drive through London.
Trafalgar Square
We had been considering a side trip to Stonehenge on our last day since our flight didn't leave until six pm. It would have been a bit risky because we could have missed our flight if there had been a travel delay. It was decided for us when Bean learned the site was closed because of the past few days of heavy rain.
Bean did work in a visit to Dockside Museum near our hotel...historical info about when this area was a dock area along the Thames.
We arrived back at New York JFK around 9 pm US time. Out flight home from there left at 6:30 am so we decided to spend the night at the airport.
It was practically deserted so no problem.
It was a fun trip and I'd like to go back to England again and see more of the country.
I wouldn't really recommend the tour company, CraftTours. They were organized and efficient with transportation, hotels, and attractions but the tour manager did not give any information about areas we were passing through, or history, or anything else. She was just a general travel guide for the tour company...not one to help us learn information about London. Would have been a great trip if they had added a local, knowledgeable guide.
