London
England
Part Three of our Europe/UK Trip
Last Stop: London!
Once we arrived, and figured out our rooms we headed out to afternoon tea at The Adria Hotel. A traditional afternoon tea with both gluten-full & gluten-free options was the perfect start to our stay. After tea, we hopped back on the Tube to head towards our hotel. But, we took our time walking back so we could enjoy some of the sites in the evening. We took the scenic route back so we could take in Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey in the evening. Stunning doesn’t even begin to describe it. I forgot how incredible the Parliament building is and that it’s all made of stone! The kids parked themselves in their room and Mike and I went to do laundry in the tiniest laundromat ever.
We learned that the money we had from our honeymoon almost twenty years ago was no longer accepted and in circulation. We were able to exchange $10 at the front desk of the hotel but Mike had to do a small grocery stall to get the rest of the money we needed to do our laundry. Our intent was to do it in France, but the Christmas holiday made it impossible. But, we got it done and rolled out suitcases full of clean clothes back the ten minutes to our hotel.
Day Three/Four
Our third full day was New Year’s Eve. We knew it would be a late night so we took it easy for most of the day. But, we did walk a lot around the city. And, we had grown proficient in navigating the Tube & bus system in London (we had to ride a double-decker!).
I wanted to go to Notting Hill, I had never been. Sadly, Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant weren’t around but it was lovely nonetheless. I found a charming cafe for brunch. Farm Girl had a wonderful selection of gluten-free options in a super cozy setting.
We walked through Portobello Rd, stopped in some shops, and took it all in. It seemed a lot of folks had the same idea, it was packed. We meandered through streets and saw private gardens in Kensington before arriving at Kensington Gardens. We walked by Royal Albert Hall and then found our way to Harrod’s.
Harrod’s a scene of decadence and wealth. Crazy expensive cards lined the street outside Harrod’s. M & I walked around while the guys admired all the cars.
Then we headed to the British Library for some quiet time, but R and I stopped at King’s Cross to take a sneaky photo of Platform 9 3/4. The line was heavily monitored and we had to be quite discreet since we didn’t want to wait in a line about 50 people deep.
We arrived at Hawksmoor for a late dinner before we went to the fireworks. This was the largest restaurant we had been in on our trip. It was a giant steakhouse, but man was it fantastic!
We had to be “inside” at the fireworks by 10:30 PM. Once we got through the gates it was incredible to walk around Westminster with no cars or busses on the streets. We found a spot and then proceeded to hang out with thousands of other people. The Great Wheel had a cool laser & light show and M sang to every, single song that the DJ played. The fireworks were pretty spectacular!
After sleeping in the next day it was time to pack and do one final swing through London. We had great weather up until this point, but we got caught in a downpour. We were completely soaked through but found refuge in a Starbucks for a bit (along with about 50 other people!).
Our last tourist attraction was the Sherlock Museum at 221B Baker Street. It was fun & kitschy but not worth what we spent. We attempted to go to the British Museum to escape the rain but no such luck.
Our final dinner on our trip was the perfect way to end an incredible couple of weeks. I found a proper English pub a ten-minute walk from our hotel. The Queen’s Arms had great beer, wonderful food, and a huge gluten-free menu with a dedicated fryer to boot!
FIVE DAYS IN london
London was the last stop on our trip. We loved Amsterdam & Paris but in true American fashion, it was nice to be in a country where we spoke the language! We did notice there were a lot more Americans in London vs. Amsterdam & Paris. We decided it was the gateway city.
We took the train from Paris to London. The kids slept most of the way through the French countryside and my son, who was so excited to go through the Chunnel was out cold. Our train into London was a bit delayed we had to drop our bags and head to our afternoon tea reservation at The Adria Hotel. We had the most incredible afternoon tea; it was the perfect entry to London.
I forgot how huge London is. With over 9 million people plus a zillion tourists, it was busy while we were there. At this moment in time, we are traveling when our kids are out of school, I’m looking forward to the days when Mike and can take a trip in October!
We spent New Year’s in London and were able to get tickets to the fireworks on the Thames. We chose our hotel based on this otherwise we would have stayed elsewhere. There wasn’t a lot around our hotel, mostly office buildings and flats. We did find a Sainsbury’s, a Leon, Pret a Manger, and a laundromat not much else. The hotel was a ten-minute walk from the celebrations and we were not keen on riding the tube with our kids at 1 AM.
What we did
This was our third stop on our trip. We had tired kids, they felt a bit museum’d out, and we had logged a lot of miles on our feet. Traveling with teenagers is so great because they last longer (as long as you feed them!) but it’s a balance of trying to get all the things in and letting some things go. In London, we let some things fall by the wayside, which is just fine. Below is our full-day itinerary, it doesn’t include our arrival day into London.
Day 1
On our first full day, we intended to get up, find breakfast, and head to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We all slept in later than we wanted to so we did the hotel breakfast buffet. Our hotel was filled with Americans which was such a change from our Amsterdam & Paris hotels. I was bummed, but we booked it for the proximity to the Thames NYE Eve fireworks. And, there was very little for M to eat; she had to do yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and a bit of fruit. There was nothing wrong, it just wasn’t what we wanted.
Then we were off to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We wanted to get there early as we knew it was going to be packed. By the time we made it we had 15 minutes to spare. M and I worked our way through the crowd so we were only a few rows back from the gate at the Palace. There were thousands of people there, it was wild. Then a sign was placed on the ground in front of the gate reading “there will be no changing of the guard today” so M snapped a photo of that and we got out of those crowds.
We got lost for about twenty minutes; the plan was to walk near 10 Downing Street but because I suck at Google Maps I took us in the complete opposite direction. By the time we figured it out we were too far away so we circled back to the Palace and headed over towards Trafalgar Square via the Horse Guards and St. James Palace. We had to stop for a snack along the way too and we may have listened in on a tour group or two.
We made it to Trafalgar Square but the monument & lions had fencing around them. So we couldn’t get super up close. A Christmas Market was going on so we wandered through and found an amazing German Spot to have lunch. We all had brats and they were so delicious!
After our lunch we walked a few short minutes to London’s West End. We bought tickets to Les Miserables, my favorite musical of all time. We did have a bit of extra time so the boys went to the giant Lego Store and the girls went to the TWG tea store.
We arrived at the Sondheim Theater, found our seats, and picked up the pre-ordered snacks. We got crisps (chips to us), lemonades & chocolate. The performance was incredible! The actors who played Jean Valjean and Javert were amazing and I cried the entire second act, as I always do. I think this was my 7th or 8th time seeing Les Mis and it never disappoints! I also bought the commemorative program, because when in Rome, right?
After the show, we headed to Hobson’s Fish & Chips for dinner. Hobson’s has a dedicated fryer and an extensive gluten-free menu. We had a BIG time at dinner, fish & chips, onion rings, sticky toffee pudding, and apple crumble were all gluten-free. R had a deep-fried Mars bar (not gluten-free) for dessert. They do not take online reservations so be prepared to wait. You can call for a reservation though.
Day Two
On the docket for the day was Tower Bridge & the Tower of London. Mike and I were excited about this day; almost 20 years ago we kicked off our honeymoon in London and these were two of the spots we went to. We were excited to show the kids.
M powered through on a breakfast of nuts, popcorn, and a smoothie. The rest of us had sausage or bacon sandwiches from Leon and I grabbed us fresh squeezed OJ from Sainsbury’s because we are now obsessed after Paris. The boys didn’t totally enjoy the brown sauce and R was surprised at the lack of egg on his bacon sandwich! A bacon sandwich is just that, bacon, bread, and sauce; it’s so good.
We arrived at Tower Bridge, it was so windy!! We downloaded the audio tour onto our phones in advance so we didn’t have to fight with WiFi when we arrived. We all enjoyed learning about the bridge itself and some of the history of London dating back centuries. Walking over the glass floor was a little unsettling with the Thames & cars in what seemed directly below our feet. We finished off the Tour across the tour in the pump rooms which was fascinating. The original pumps are obviously no longer in use but they are still there!
In between Tower Bridge & the Tower of London, we walked to Borough Market. This is one of those instgrammable markets you see all the time. We found delicious gluten-free pad Thai for M (I had it too). The guys had spicy Reuben’s then we got the Instagram-famous strawberries & chococolate. They were delicious but I can only imagine what they taste like with in-season strawberries. Mike got a cinnamon roll! We ate all of it in front of Bridget Jones’s door too which was so exciting for me; the kids not so much.
After we had fueled up we headed back to the other side of the Thames for the Tower of London. I could have spent an entire day there, but my daughter not so much. We also had pre-downloaded the audio tours, hours worth. We ended up being there for just under three hours. We saw the Crown Jewels, walked inside buildings almost 1,000 years old, and watched the ravens devour mice. And, we were able to see the changing of the guard outside the Crown Jewels, with far fewer people!
For dinner, we went to Indigo which is an award-winning gluten-free & dairy-free restaurant in the One Aldwych Hotel. Mike and I enjoyed the food the most, the kids really loved the mocktails. M didn’t love her entree, which is ok, it’s not always going to be a winner. We left full and happy, but I think they liked the fish & chips better from the night before.
