Westminister Abby and Churchill today

I didn’t think we would be physically ready to go walking again today. However we got ourselves out the door and rode the underground to Westminister Abby.  We were not worried about the lines as we had the London Pass which also allowed priority entry at sites like the Abby.  My concern was getting on the list for a guided tour as there were only 20 spots available every half hour.

We arrived about 15 minutes after it opened,  skipped the huge line and was able to get the tour time starting in 45 minutes.  If you go to the Abby, the extra  £5 for the 90 minute tour is absolutely worth it.  We had access to places that were off limits to the general public and learned way more than with the self guided audio tour.

Lunch today was the traditional fish and chips.  Yelp said it was good and cheap.  It was good but $60 for fried food for four is not a cheap lunch.

Afterwards we went to the Churchill war room museum.  This is the location of the underground bunker where Churchill directed the WWE efforts .  The rooms were preserved or recreated as they were from the war time period.  There was also a museum section just on Churchill.  Very interesting museum.

Finally we had a quick stop at the Household Calvary Museum.  The horses used in the royal ceremonies are stabled there and the museum shows the history and traditions of the royal guards.

When we got out to head home the sky was looking stormy and the dark clouds contrasted menacingly over the household cavalry museum.  We had our umbrellas ready as we have learned that London weather changes quickly.

Day 1 and my feet already hurt!

We had a late start for our first day in London.  Sleep was a good thing after two red eye flights and we took our time with breakfast in our apartment.  Anyhow our first destination was not open till 10am. Since we will be here a week and plan to visit all of the major sites,  I pre purchased 6 day visitor tickets called the London Pass that provides access to most of the destinations for one discounted price.  We had to pick up the passes at their office which wasn’t open till 10 am.

The nearest site to the pickup point was the National Gallery. Definitely not on the level of the Louvre but had some interesting art pieces.  The boys were bored pretty quickly so we didn’t stay long.  On the way out we walked around Trafalgar Square which was in front of the museum.

We were hungry but not sure where to go.  Since the London Chinatown was a few blocks away we walked into the first place that served dim sum.  For a family who gets dim sum regularly we were not impressed with the quality and the high prices.  We decided that everything is relatively expensive in London.

After lunch was the London Transport museum. On the walk there we discovered Convent Garden which is an old market with shops, stalls for artists,  street performers and food trucks.  I loved the little French Citroën food trucks but the vendors were just mobile versions of existing restaurants including the US based Shake Shack.

The boys were almost embarrassed to be at the London transportation museum as when we walked in it was full of little kids like the Pacific science center.  Leaning about the history of the underground train was super interesting.  We spent more time here than the national museum.

Our feet were killing us but on the way to the underground station we stopped at  another art museum called the Courtauld then headed home.

My fitness band said we walked almost 9 miles today.  No wonder my feet hurt.

Home for the next week

We made it to London during the middle of the evening commute.  Transferring from the National rail station at Kings Cross to the London tube at St Pancras was easy except for the hoards of people commuting home for the evening. From Kings Cross/ St. Pancras station would could take either the Circle (gold) or the City(pink) Lines directly to Paddington station.   Travelling during commute times meant crush loads on the tube, we were definitely crammed in our subway car.

Our apartment is only two blocks from the Paddington station.  We are on the ground floor of a 4 story walk up that’s part of a block long 1800s building with classic lines, columns, high ceilings and lots of period detailing.  I picked it for its proximity to the tube station and for the inexpensive eateries around the station but our grocery option are limited as they closed the grocery store at the Paddington station for remodeling.

Planes, trains and....

We are on our way from Edinburgh to London using rail. We could have flown in one of the many budget UK airlines but we thought this would be a great way for the boys to experience train travel for the first time. The trip is 4.5 hours with 8 stops before we get to the Kings Cross station in London and the trains run every hour. I discovered that the ticket prices varies greatly depending on the day and time.  By being flexible on the time. I found first class tickets for only a little more than economy.  Only £120 for the 4 of us and that includes WiFi and they keep offering hot food and sandwiches, drinks and booze after each stop.  I like train travel and the boys agree (at least in first class).

Overseas wireless option

I learned about renting a portable WiFi on the Visit Britain site and from friends but I was looking for a cheaper option than the £10 per day.  The websites of the UK wireless companies had pay as you go plans but it wasn’t clear if they were available to non UK residents if if there were other fees involved.  So our first stop in downtown Edinburgh was the Vodafone store.  They are a large telecommunications company like AT&T.  They had two starter pay as you go WiFi hotspot options, 3G for £50 or 4G £60,  both with 6gb of data which includes the cost of the device.  Since they were out of stock of the 4G hotspot device the choice was made for us.  6gb should be enough as lots of places including our train to London includes WiFi.  And from the coverage maps it’s mostly 3G or slower outside the major cities.

First time in Scotland

We landed in Edinburgh and were met with cool and dry weather when the cabin doors were opened.  Much better than the hot and humid weather we just left in Chicago. The airport doesn’t use jetways so we descended down the stairs to shuttle buses that took us to passport control.  Being near the back of the plane meant that we were the last to deplane and also meant that we were standing room only by the doors in the last shuttle bus.  That ended up to our advantage as the last shuttle bus was the first to leave for passport control so we were the first in a very long line from our flight to get processed.

Once we left customs we found the group that is part of number one’s summer camp at St Andrews so we said goodbye, gave him an embarrassing hug in front of the other students who had traveled there on their own and headed to the Airlink 100 bus stop for downtown Edinburgh.

I was impressed with the skills of our double decker coach driver.  He was passing and threading that coach through some narrow spots.   We arrived on the Waverly bridge in the middle of the old part of Edinburgh which was next to the train station to London.  Since we had a few hours before the train departure we went to the local wireless store to buy a WiFi hotspot and had breakfast but skipped the haggis option.  The English breakfast sausage was also not a hit, a starchy texture and unusual spices.

Roomy flight

We finally had some room to spread out on our flight from Chicago to Edinburgh.  When making our seat selection I booked aisle and window seats for the 5 of us about 2/3 to the back on the plane. This is because gate agents and passengers usually select the middle seats from the front of the plane. Again the strategy worked as we each had the middle seat free. 

 

It’s also nice that they retrofitted the old 757 with a decent entertainment system.  Here is number two super engrossed in one of the 20 e-books he checked out from the Seattle Library instead of watching a movie.