Saturday (Day 1)

With Monday off from work, Trixie, Willa, and I took the opportunity to go visit London. Even though Trixie had been before, it was a must-see for me, and since May is my birthday, we used it as an excuse to celebrate in England.

After taking an overnight Friday flight, we dropped our stuff off at an Airbnb on Saint George Wharf, complete with beautiful river views, and then we wandered around some sort of fair that appeared to be happening outside, grabbed an ice cream from the red snogging bus (Snog Frozen Yogurt), and enjoyed views of the Golden Jubilee Bridge.

We were supposed to fit in a boat ride on the Thames at 1130 from RIB River Tours, but our Uber driver got stuck in traffic, so we called the boat tour contact and told them we were running down the pier with 3 minutes to go. She said she would let the driver know. Sadly we were exactly 2 minutes late and the boat (with 9 people) left without us. When we called the operator and told her we were running down the pier, I had assumed that she was a part of some corporate office and that the boat operator would probably leave without us, as he wouldn’t have the immediate knowledge that we were literally running there. However, when we reached the docking point, panting and sweating, the woman we spoke to on the phone was standing there as the small boat zipped away. One of the children onboard waved at us, the little weasel.

Adding insult to injury, we all needed to use the bathroom at this point, but all of the bathrooms in the nearby area charged some small amount of change; we only had bills and credit cards, so we ended up holding it for the foreseeable future. A kingdom for a pence.

We rescheduled our tour for later in the day at a discounted cost after Trixie argued with the woman at the kiosk. At least we had gotten our exercise, which we needed for the next stop on our trip.

We showed up for afternoon tea at The Library, which is a teahouse located in the London Marriott Hotel County Hall that looks like something out of Downton Abbey with its velvet seating and opulent oak bookcases. Lots of dining establishments in London specialize in fancy afternoon tea, which also includes a variety of scones, pastries, and sandwiches on a tiered serving tray. We requested a view by the window in front of Big Ben, and even though it was under construction while we were there, the food, the service, and the building made up for it. Hilariously, there was a small leak in Trixie’s teapot, so she kept spilling it all over her teacup, and at one point also dropped part of a scone into the cup. While it was enormously fun, we may not be cut out for high English society.

We briefly stopped by King’s Cross to see an authentic British Platform 9 ¾, and browsed the adjoining Harry Potter gift shop. Continuing on with the Harry Potter theme, we then visited Leadenhall Market, reportedly the inspiration for Diagon Alley, which has tons of cute shops and restaurants. After one more stop to see Trafalgar Square, a landmark my mother remembered from her days living in England, we headed back over to RIB Tours for our ride down the Thames.

We were so paranoid, we went extra early and ended up getting the front seats. To be fair, it was one of the highlights of the trip, and I’m glad we went back and did it. Singing Bon Jovi with Trixie and Willa and feeling the adrenaline from bopping along over the waves and under the bridges was an absolute, ridiculous amount of fun.

Trixie found a delicious Mediterranean restaurant, but I’m blanking on the name. Before coming to London, I’d had preconceived notions of fish and chips, but I was fairly impressed with the quality and types of food that were available.

We ended the night after walking across Tower Bridge and enjoying its beautiful bright cityscape view of London.

Sunday (Day 2)

Trixie has often suggested group tours on some of our vacations. Typically it’s a hard pass from me. I understand the value of the convenience, and I have since had some positive experience with small tours, but I’m still not a great lover of “group fun” or being required to return by a certain time. However, Sunday was Trixie’s to plan and she came up with some interesting ideas including Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor, so I went along with the tour.  

While we were subjected to a few group speeches on safety, punctuality, and the importance of being able to locate the bus, explained with a weird sort of enforced cheer (“If you get lost, look for our bus. A white bus. This bus is white, so look for that. Everyone say it with me, find the white bus. Everyone now!”), the spectacular sites were more than a worthy trade-off for the speeches.

Our first stop was the requisite visit to Windsor Castle. The lines to get in were long and the castle itself was absolutely packed, but that might have also had something to do with the time we picked to visit London. Not even thinking about it, we had accidentally chosen the week after Harry and Megan’s wedding, so there were Harry and Megan paraphernalia everywhere when we were in line. We wandered around the castle, grabbed a quick bit to eat, and then we headed back to the white bus.

Our next stop was at Bath, an absolutely charming little town with famous Roman baths and adorable one-of-a-kind stores lining the streets. After walking through the Roman baths, we only had time to pop in one or two stores, grab an ice cream, and take a moment to stand on the bridge and admire the scenery.

After blissfully grabbing a nap on the bus, we arrived at Stonehenge, which I was probably most excited to see out of everything in England. I’ve always loved standing stones, partially because of Scottish lore (fueled by the likes of Outlander), partially because of stories my Irish mother told me when I was young, and just partially because of their beauty. Stonehenge, of course, is one of the most famous examples of standing stones, and seeing them in person didn’t let me down. While we weren’t allowed to touch them, the day was bright and clear and they just felt magical. After philosophizing with Trixie and Willa about how lucky we feel in life, we headed back to our starting point in London.

We ended up eating an amazing dinner at The Cinnamon Club, which was the best Indian food of my life. The restaurant itself has the feel of a gentleman’s club, and since we had mentioned my birthday when we made the reservation, they had the entire staff sign a card for me. Wild.

 

Monday (Day 3)

We only had part of a day left, but we started off the morning wandering Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which were even more vibrant than I expected. We then stopped in for brunch and cappuccinos at a tiny little breakfast nook, and headed to the airport.