Our last week of vacation was in London! I have always enjoyed being a tourist in London and now that I have gotten the hang of using the underground and buses; it really has made it easier to get around and do things faster and more efficient.
The first day we arrived in London we took the train into Kings Cross station, stopped off at Five Guy's to have a burger and then headed to our hotel to check in. Our hotel was located almost at the end of the District line. So we were off the beat in path. Which is fine, but just took us some time each morning and evening to get to the underground.
Our first adventure in London was the London Zoo. I have not been to that zoo yet, so I was excited to go. We had London passes so the zoo tickets were included in that price. It was a very busy day as we were running into Easter weekend and it seemed like a lot of people had that week off. Once we waited in a long line to enter the zoo, we got in and started to enjoy our day.
If you know me you know I love Harry Potter and so the first thing we did was the Reptile House. I was so excited to see the area where they filmed one of the first scenes in the movies at.
The reptile house and my kids looking inside one of the exhibits.
The best part about the zoo was how close you get to some of the animals. In two different areas you can walk through the monkey exhibits, walk through the rainforest area (where I was so close to a sloth, yes, I almost cried), and you can walk up and almost touch the giraffes. It was amazing how close we got to some of the animals. The rainforest area had other animals but the sloth was the big one for me. A small money did run past me while in that area and gave me a good fright but I laughed it off. If you haven't gone or are unsure if you want to go when you come to London, I say go! It was a great day out and we had a blast.
My youngest kiddo is a big history buff and absolutely loves trains. We arrived at Bakers Street underground and he about lost his mind. I was asking him whats the big deal and I believe he mentioned how old it was and that it was one of the first train stations... or something along that line. In any case, he wanted a picture of himself in the underground.
He was full of historical facts the entire trip which always impresses me. This kid has a great memory.
The third day in London we went to the Natural History Museum. Now, we have been here before but of course I will go back any chance I get. The building is massive and even going back a second time, I still saw tons of stuff I didn't see the first time. We found tons of new stuff to look at.
All the kids in front of the giant skeleton.
When we went to the museum the first time this was by far our favorite part. Myself and my oldest kiddo got Dodo bird shirts. This time the boys got Dodo bird stuffed animals and they are adorable.
We saw a few other animals as well. A mammoth that is another one of those animals I absolutely love. We did see a bunch of the Dinosaur exhibit and the kids all enjoyed that. They even had their Jurassic Shop open, which was under construction when we went last time, if I remember correctly. The museum is always changing and adding to their exhibits, so even if we go back again, I am sure we will see even more items that we didn't see last time.
We had dinner at this market called Mercato Mayfair which is in an old church. They have made it into an indoor dinning hall in a sense. They have small booths with different types of cuisine and you can pick and choose what you want and then find a table and enjoy the atmosphere. Its pretty loud inside, so be sure you are prepared for that. It seems like a fun place to hangout with friends and have a drink. Its not the easiest place to sit though, as tables are hard to hunt down. However, the food was all delicious.
This is from the second floor looking down. Below is the main floor and a lot more tables and booths.
The next day we did some sight seeing. We did a boat tour, walked around the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels and then had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. I always enjoy going to a Hard Rock Cafe as I know the food will be great and the service is always wonderful.
From the boat tour we saw the bridge that is attacked in one of the Harry Potter films. We went under the real London Bridge. We saw Tower Bridge, the eye and a bunch of other places.
The London Eye and Tower Bridge, both beautiful on a beautiful day.
Another great view of Big Ben and Tower of London.
The sweets at the restaurant was so colorful for Easter weekend and I did try one of the breads.
Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and the kids loved their guitar plates.
We did see Buckingham Palace as well.
Heres a few random pictures as well:
The last day of our London vacation with family, I decided to stay at the hotel. My knee was pretty beat up and I was too swollen. I decided to hangout and work but also rest. Everyone else went out that day and they did a few random things. They came back with lots of legos and were all wet. The final day we had Starbucks and said our goodbyes.
It was a ton of fun and I saw lots of new things but also a few items we already had seen. It was great weather the majority of the time which made the trip worth it. I was excited to be home and back in my own bed. It took about 3 days for us to catch back up on laundry and cleaning up. I was pretty happy with that.
If you are headed to London anytime soon I recommend the Natural History Museum, Tower of London, the Zoo and the obvious Buckingham, Big Ben and the London Eye. Thats all I have for now. Come back really soon and see my newest quilt for my Island Batik Crazy Quilt challenge.
Stay safe, stay healthy and be kind.