A day in London

Even though we've been in England for almost four months the family has visited London only once before. So today we decided to make the trip - starting with - of course - a delicious cooked breakfast at Carluccio's. It's located next to the Windsor Central train station so was very convenient to catch the 9:50am train to Paddington.

James was looking forward to catching the train. In fact, it was the highlight of his day! With just change at Slough we were in London in only 40 minutes! Even faster than the weekday train I catch.

Rather than commuting via the tube we decided to travel by bus. Our travelcards allow any transport within central London. I'd printed a bus map before leaving this morning so, with a quick reference, we decided to catch the 23 bus to Trafalgar. They're a great way to jump from spot to spot. In the tube, as I've blogged before, you get no sense of the layout above.

Boarding the bus we went straight upstairs. These modern busses are very comfortable and afford a wide front view. We passed a lot of terrace homes and a vibrant weekend market at Portobello Road. After about 20 minutes Merrilyn looked at me and said something was wrong. It immediately hit me. We were headed in the opposite direction - out of central London. Of course, this is something I had to learn when I first traveled the tube. Know which direction you're heading in. By the time we realise this we were the last on the bus! So off we got, crossed the road, and picked up the bus heading back into Paddington. Fortunately they are on a frequent schedule and we ended up losing only about 40 minutes.

Arriving at Trafalgar Square we jumped off and explored. James loved the two giant fountains and of course the lion statues at the base of Nelson's Tower. He and Merrilyn pretended to be lions. James growled and showed me his claws.

From there we jumped on the tube and traveled to London Tower arriving at about 12pm. There we found a seat on the Thames overlooking the Tower Bridge. Merrilyn had researched last night and found that the bridge was due to draw up its base at 1pm. So we enjoyed some sandwiches and home made chocolate cookies - yum! At 1pm we saw two masted boats heading down river towards the bridge. Right on cue we heard a siren sound to stop the traffic; both vehicle and pedestrian. Shortly after we watched the bridge open. I said to James "Look - a boom gate bridge".

After lunch we just had to make a stop at Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Of course, we didn't need it but who can resist? I had a cookie dough and James - of course - a Chunky Monkey. Merrilyn was a shining example and abstained. Impressive.

From there we walked to St Pauls. Its was enjoyable to explore the streets and the weather, whilst overcast, was holding up. When we arrived we were disappointed to find that admission was 9 pounds per adult! We had toured the Cathedral previously so decided to skip it this time.

Continuing our walk we headed to the Thames and west to Westminster. Along the way we passed by Whitehall (lovely gardens) and Downing Street. It's no surprise to see the heavy police security behind the imposing iron gates.

I guess it was about 3pm when we arrived at Westminster. We wanted to tour the Abbey so had to accept the 10 pound entrance fee. However both Merrilyn and I were keen to visit. At this point James awoke. He had slept from St Pauls. So we sat on a seat in the Abbey and showed James the fan ceiling and stained glass windows until he was ready to walk. I find it fascinating to visit places such as this with both historical and cultural significance.

Wrapping up we walked back to Waterloo station and caught a 4pm train back to Windsor. Merrilyn and I are exhausted. But it was a fun adventure. As I write this James and Merrilyn are enjoying a story before he goes to sleep.

Photos - as always - are here.