Jolly Olde London

Yep, now I know we're in London.

Over last Veteran's Day weekend, Dallin and I finally made it out of the European Union over to England and spent a couple of days in the great city of London. I had been to London before and I remember when I visited the first time, I noticed and marveled over all of the differences between the United Kingdom and the United States. However this time around, after living in Italy for a year, visiting England was almost like coming home. Compared to Italy, the culture and customs of the English people felt so similar to our own, not to mention, their language. It was a nice break from the Italian people and culture.

On Friday morning we flew from Milan Bergamo airport to the London Stansted airport on good old Ryanair. From the airport we took a shuttle bus that dropped us off on Liverpool street in London. We promptly bought our oyster cards (for public transportation) and loaded some money on them. From there we hopped on one of the iconic red double-decker buses to ride to our accommodations. We loved riding on the top levels of the buses for great views of the city.

On top of the bus.

We made it to our accommodations located in the Southwark area of London. We rented out a room from a lovely born and bred Londoner woman named Marina. I found the room on airbnb.com here. For only $62 a night we had a clean room with a very comfortable bed. There was only one bathroom in the house so we had to share it with our hostess, but I think she cleaned everyday, because whenever we came home it was spotless. The flat was in a good location too, just a block away from a main street where a lot of buses pick up. Marina also gave us some tips on things to see and directions to various sights. Overall, our experience was great, and you can't beat that price for accommodations in London!

After getting settled in our room, we were starving so we hopped back on the bus and made our way to Trafalgar Square. We grabbed some sandwiches at a little cafe and started our sightseeing. We started off with a walk through the West End of London starting off at Leicester Square where we got some half-priced tickets to see Chicago that night. Then we made our way to Covent Garden, a very fun part of the city. It is a covered marketplace with lots of fun boutiques and shops. It was all decorated for Christmas and outside on the squares there were lots of street performers who were fun to watch.

Happy Christmas! from Covent Garden

This ugly skinny dude was lying on beds of nails for moolah.

The best thing about Covent Garden was this food fair they were having, where all of these vendors were selling lots of yummy foods. There was everything from Argentinian food, to cupcakes, to gourmet burgers. We got some snacks here and then returned here later for dinner. I also liked the giant Rudolph here.

From Covent Garden we continued our stroll towards Cambridge Circus and then down Charing Cross Road.

Busy Cambridge Circus.

We took a little detour down Denmark street which happens to hold a lot of British pop and rock history in its buildings. For example, in the building that houses the guitar shop pictured below, Wunjo Guitars, used to be  a music publishing house. This company employed as a lowly office boy, Reginald Dwight. In 1969 Reginald wrote "Your Song" on the rooftop of this building and went on to become Sir Elton John.

Denmark Street

We continued our West End tour by strolling through quaint Soho then up glitzy Regent Street all the way to Picadilly Circus.

Soho

Picadilly Circus

From Picadilly Circus we looped back to Covent Garden because we wanted to hit up that food fair again. When we arrived, they just happened to be starting the tree lighting for the big Christmas tree there. It was quite a festive occasion with free cider and a gay men's choir singing Christmas Carols!

Look at the tree!!!

After getting some yummy dinner and dessert at Covent Garden we headed to the Garrick Theater to see Chicago!

All that Jazz!!!!

Our seats were awesome and the show was great! I really enjoyed it. Our only complaint was that the character of Roxy was played by America Ferrera, you know, Ugly Betty. She just didn't seem like a good fit for the role. I don't understand why they casted her as Roxy. Her acting was pretty good but her singing was not. The singing parts for Roxy aren't even that difficult to begin with, but America was barely holding it together. She was flat probably 80% of the time. That was the only disappointment. The rest of the cast was excellent!

After the show we caught the bus back to our little room in Southwark and went to bed.

Day 2 in London was a busy one. I bought a London Pass, but just for one day, so to save money we crammed in everything that we wanted to see that was covered on the pass in one day. We began with St. Paul's Cathedral. We were welcomed out front by some lovely London Occupiers.

They were really making a difference out there. Way to go guys.

St. Paul's Cathedral was grand. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I have none of the interior. This is England's national church. The history behind this church and those that stood before it is overwhelming. Of course this is where Prince Charles and the beloved Lady Diana were wedded in 1981.

Exterior of St. Paul's

We climbed up the dome of St. Paul's for a view of foggy London.

Climbing down from St. Paul's lantern.

After exploring the cathedral we walked to the Tower of London.

The Tower of London. This fortress served as a royal residence, the Royal Mint, the Royal Jewel house, and as a prison and execution site of those who dared to oppose the crown.

We joined a tour group hosted by the famous Beefeaters. These guys are retired members of the British military and give very entertaining tours of the Tower.

One of the main sights at the Tower of London are the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately no pictures of these mindblowingly beautiful rocks are allowed. This very stately guard was in charge of guarding the jewels.

This is me in front of the White Tower. This served as the last line of defense within this fortress-complex. It now  houses a museum of the Royal Armory.

After touring the Tower of London we exited and got a great view of Tower Bridge, then hopped on a boat tour down the Thames River.

Though Tower Bridge looks medieval in style, it wasn't built until 1894 of steel and concrete.

Our boat tour gave us a great view of London from the Thames.

Our boat tour ended in the Westminster district of London. We walked around the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, snapping some photos, and then headed to Westminster Abbey.

Big Ben and the London Eye

 I had forgotten how beautiful Westminster Abbey was! Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. No photos allowed inside. England's kings and queens have been crowned and buried here at the Abbey since 1066. It also houses the tombs of many famous poets, politicians, and warriors such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Byron, and Lewis Carroll.

Me in front of Westminster Abbey.

Because we came over Veteran's Day weekend everyone in London was wearing these paper poppies. They commemorate soldiers who have died at war.

After touring Westminster Abbey we then visited the Churchill War Rooms. These were the underground headquarters of Churchill's war effort during WWII. It was interesting to learn more about Winston Churchill and realize how devastating WWII was for London.

We then headed to Trafalgar Square and did a whirlwind tour of the National Gallery, hitting up the famous ones: the Da Vincis, Botticellis, Velazquezes, Rembrandts, Turners, Van Goghs, and Monets.

Me outside of the National Gallery in front of Trafalgar Square.

Then we got some delicious dinner at Wagamamas! Me and my family loved this place when we came to London a couple of years ago and Dallin loved it too. It is an Asian noodle restaurant with several establishments around London. It is so yummy!

Dal lovin' the Wagamamas.

After dinner we were pretty dead from such a busy day of sight seeing so we hopped on the big red buses and headed back to our flat.

The next morning we headed to Notting Hill. I was not able to come to this quaint area of London last time I visited so this was new territory for me. I loved Notting Hill! Each Saturday morning they have an awesome street market on Portobello Road with lots of antiques, clothes, jewelry, books, and other treasures. It was a joy to just walk around this place.

Me in Notting Hill. We  also searched for Hugh Grant and his travel bookstore, but no luck. :)

We got strawberry and nutella crepes for breakfast at this crepe stand. YUM!

I love Notting Hill!

I'm glad we came early in the morning because it got quite crowded quite quickly as we were leaving.

We then headed to Kensington Garden and rented some bikes to ride through the park.

a beautiful fall day in London!

We biked past Kensington Palace where William and Kate are going to move in soon.

We also rode past the beautiful Royal Albert Hall. My family and I saw a concert here last time we were here.

After our pleasant bike ride we perused the overwhelming department store of Harrod's in Knightsbridge. Our favorite department was the toys. There were so many fun (and expensive) toys to look at. Every kid needs a their own kid-sized battery powered Ferrari to cruise around in! We also looked around in the baby clothes department for fun. They had Gucci, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent baby clothes. All of the necessities for our little one! Haha.

The Egyptian Escalator in Harrod's. As we were riding up it one time, there were  legitimate opera singers popping out of all of the different balconies surrounding the escalator and singing. It was so random, but cool!

Knightsbridge

After exploring Harrod's we caught the bus to Northern London near the British Museum. We got some lunch at an amazing Thai restaurant  and then toured the museum.

Me in front of the British Museum

We saw all of the amazing artifacts from ancient civilizations.

Me and Taweret, the Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility got along well. :)

We saw the Rosetta Stone, Ramesses II, and a Greek Temple.

Pound it.

After the British Museum, we headed over to Buckingham Palace to see the exterior at night. The royal standard (a red, yellow, and blue flag) was flying, so the Queen was home.

Buckingham Palace

We then searched for some dinner. First we went to Chipotle, because Dallin just had to have it because there are no mexican restaurants in Italy. We had spotted it the day before and grabbed some lunch there and Dal just had to go back to eat his beloved Mexican food. I, however, held out because I wanted some fish and chips. You can't go to London and not get fish and chips! So afterwards we found a pub and got some fish and chips. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I had hoped. Should have gotten the Chipotle. I wish I could remember the fish and chips place I went to with my parents last time. It was so delicious and it was what I was craving. Oh well.

After dinner, we walked down Whitehall towards Westminster to get some more shots of Big Ben at night.

Our last night in London

After taking a few photos we got on the bus back to our flat. We slept for a couple of hours only to get back up at 2 am to take the bus back to Liverpool street to take our shuttle at 3 am to the airport to catch our 6 am flight. Oy. It was early. We made all of our buses without a hitch, but when it came time to go through security I ran into some trouble.

I have this key chain on my keys. It's a bright pink bottle of pepper spray. I have had it with me since college, and I have luckily never had to use it. But I have always had it with me just in case. I had kind of forgotten about it when I travel and I have never been stopped by security before because of it. Well, that came to an end in London. The security people found it and they had to call in the police to take care of the situation. The situation being a little pregnant woman being caught with a pink bottle of pepper spray.

Apparently it is illegal for anyone in the UK to carry pepper spray. It is considered a "class 5 fire arm" or something. So I wasn't stopped for almost bringing it on the airplane, but because I was carrying it around London. So, I had to be questioned by the police. When the MP5s were brought out, I got a little scared. The cops led Dallin and I into an interrogation room. Luckily, the two cops were very friendly and cordial, so that put me a little at ease. I answered all of their questions truthfully. Dallin flashed his military ID and I got off with a "strong caution". Nothing went on my record (thankfully) but if I ever happen to bring pepper spray into the UK again, I could face some consequences! Luckily we were super early for our flight so we weren't in danger of missing it in spite of being set back around 30 minutes. But it was quite an eventful end to our trip to London! And you can be sure, you won't ever find me with pepper spray in the UK ever again! I learned my lesson!