And Then We Went to London...
Aug 1st, 2009, 09:38 AM
#23
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The breakfast does sound pretty good- I think you may have gotten the travel deal of the century!
We ate at the Tower cafeteria a few years ago and thought it was a great- pretty good food, really good prices, and it allows you divide up your visit. I don't see it mentioned too often in trip reports- I don't know why more people don't take advantage of it.
Your son's photos are fantastic.
We ate at the Tower cafeteria a few years ago and thought it was a great- pretty good food, really good prices, and it allows you divide up your visit. I don't see it mentioned too often in trip reports- I don't know why more people don't take advantage of it.
Your son's photos are fantastic.
Aug 1st, 2009, 11:35 AM
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Offhand, the only continental breakfast buffets I can think of that were better were the few we've run across that offered something hot, like sausage gravy in a crock pot. And once in a while, you get lucky and hit a hotel breakfast that offers eggs and bacon and such. But that doesn't happen often in our price range.
I suspect, Apres, that a lot of people just assume that the restaurant at the Tower is expensive and not very good. I'm really glad I saw the reference in the TR or I probably would've made the same assumption!
I'll pass along the compliment on the photos. Thanks!
I suspect, Apres, that a lot of people just assume that the restaurant at the Tower is expensive and not very good. I'm really glad I saw the reference in the TR or I probably would've made the same assumption!
I'll pass along the compliment on the photos. Thanks!
Aug 1st, 2009, 11:59 AM
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Caph--I am thoroughly enjoying all of the reports from your trip! I agree, Holiday Inn Expresses are great. We have stayed at quite a few in the states and they sure seem nicer than the Holiday Inn's from the past. And what a deal you got!!! BTW, we were in London in 2001 and had lunch at the tower and also thought it was good, and a good deal
Aug 1st, 2009, 01:57 PM
#26
hi caph,
enjoying the report. it's always interesting seeing the UK through the eyes of others.
the tip about the overground you got from the flight "attendant" was a good one - the overground is an excellent way of getting around, especially south of the river where the tube isn't. [mostly] for example, there is an easy way to get from London Bridge to Charing Cross on the overground via Waterloo east, that very few tourists know about.
We have used easyjet many times, and believe me, they are greatly preferable to Ryanair. for example, on easyjet with your luggage, you can pool allowances, so that if one case weighs 21kgs, and the other 19kgs, you're ok. on Ryanair, if one is 14kgs and the other 16kgs, they will charge you 1kg excess. and if you think that having to pay extra to use a debit or credit card is bad, on Ryanair you have to pay extra to check-in if you are checking luggage. checking in is hardly an optional extra!
looking forward to more,
regards, ann
enjoying the report. it's always interesting seeing the UK through the eyes of others.
the tip about the overground you got from the flight "attendant" was a good one - the overground is an excellent way of getting around, especially south of the river where the tube isn't. [mostly] for example, there is an easy way to get from London Bridge to Charing Cross on the overground via Waterloo east, that very few tourists know about.
We have used easyjet many times, and believe me, they are greatly preferable to Ryanair. for example, on easyjet with your luggage, you can pool allowances, so that if one case weighs 21kgs, and the other 19kgs, you're ok. on Ryanair, if one is 14kgs and the other 16kgs, they will charge you 1kg excess. and if you think that having to pay extra to use a debit or credit card is bad, on Ryanair you have to pay extra to check-in if you are checking luggage. checking in is hardly an optional extra!
looking forward to more,
regards, ann
Aug 1st, 2009, 08:10 PM
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Hi, mms. You've been so nice about reading all of my reports and I really appreciate it!
I think you're right about Holiday Inn Express. We used to stay in Holiday Inns often when I was a kid and they were pretty bare bones. No breakfast buffets back in those days! But they almost always had pools and that was all we really cared about!
Thanks, Ann! I guess we should be very grateful we flew EasyJet instead of Ryanair! As apprehensive as I was about EasyJet, frankly, I was much more so about Ryanair. And I didn't even know that they don't allow you to pool allowances! Thank goodness EasyJet does because mine was actually over and my son's was under.
I know what you mean about seeing the UK through the eyes of others. That's the way I always feel when I read Chicago trip reports. It's especially fun when I learn about something to do or a restaurant that I didn't know about!
I think you're right about Holiday Inn Express. We used to stay in Holiday Inns often when I was a kid and they were pretty bare bones. No breakfast buffets back in those days! But they almost always had pools and that was all we really cared about!
Thanks, Ann! I guess we should be very grateful we flew EasyJet instead of Ryanair! As apprehensive as I was about EasyJet, frankly, I was much more so about Ryanair. And I didn't even know that they don't allow you to pool allowances! Thank goodness EasyJet does because mine was actually over and my son's was under.
I know what you mean about seeing the UK through the eyes of others. That's the way I always feel when I read Chicago trip reports. It's especially fun when I learn about something to do or a restaurant that I didn't know about!
Aug 2nd, 2009, 10:20 AM
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Caph--Oh no...it has been a joy to read about your travels! When we were in London it was late February and it snowed our first night. I will never forget looking out the hotel window just watching it.
Aug 2nd, 2009, 12:22 PM
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Very interesting to know, Helen. Thanks for telling me that!
What a memorable first night, mms! I have the impression that it doesn't snow very often in London. Did it cause any problems for you the next day? Or was it not enough to "stick"?
What a memorable first night, mms! I have the impression that it doesn't snow very often in London. Did it cause any problems for you the next day? Or was it not enough to "stick"?
Aug 2nd, 2009, 03:19 PM
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<b>The Rest of June 13th</b>
We took the tube back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and went down to ask the best way to get to Stamford Bridge. The young lady working the desk said that it was probably walking distance but it would be easier to take the tube. So we did. It was all of one stop from West Brompton to the Fulham Broadway stop where we came up into a small shopping center/mall. When we exited onto the street it was a very short walk, I think less than a block, to the stadium. We actually managed to get there early, around 2:45.
Unlike our tour of Camp Nou in Barcelona, this one had a guide. Now, touring a football stadium would not have been on my list of things to do in London had I not been traveling with DS! But it meant a lot to him. And, considering how close we were staying, it would've been downright mean not to do it! Fortunately, if anyone could make it interesting to me, it was this guy! He was very good at his job.
At the beginning of the tour he asked people to say where they were from. Since no one spoke up to say they were from the US, I'm guessing we were the only ones. There were several people with kids dressed in Chelsea jerseys who I'm guessing were from England. Though I shouldn't have been, given the popularity of soccer there, I was surprised at the large number of people from South America. There were also several people from former Soviet Bloc countries, which we noticed on other tours, etc. throughout our time in the UK. Which leads me to wonder whether that's part of the reason (I realize there were many other factors) why we seemed to see many more tourists than DH and I had when we were there the first time (at pretty much the same time of year). The citizens of those countries would not have been allowed to travel back in 1982.
For the second evening in a row, we blew off a London Walk. We'd been planning to do the Hampstead Pub Walk. But there were times during the Stamford Bridge tour when I was so tired it literally felt painful! And my leg was really bothering me. As I mentioned in my Ireland report, our second night there I managed to come down wrong off of a step and twist my knee, aggravating an old injury. I wore a support for a few days and it helped. But, as the trip progressed to Barcelona and then London, doing more and more walking, it'd really flared up again. And, for some reason, I always seem to have a problem with muscle cramps when I travel, though I work at trying to stay hydrated. I'd had some killer charlie horses in the calf of that same leg. So between the knee and the very sore calf muscles, walking was beginning to be very uncomfortable. And we'd done a lot of it that day! So I was having a hard time working up much enthusiasm for making our way to Hampstead and then being on my feet during the tour.
But I didn't want to hold DS back. Fortunately for me, he wasn't very enthusiastic about it either at that point. By the time we finished the tour (and, of course spent some time in the store there!), we probably wouldn't have had time to grab a snack before heading for Hampstead. And the thought of having to wait a few hours before we could eat anything wasn't very appealing to either of us.
So we decided to stop in the Sainsbury's we'd noticed in the shopping center at the tube stop, pick up some snacks and head back to the hotel to eat and rest a bit. This was my first time trying Sainsbury's king prawn cocktail. Very good and, I think, a real bargain at £1.50!
I'm not sure how long we spent in the room. But eventually we felt ready to get back out there. We tossed around a few ideas but settled on taking the District line to the Enbankment stop to just wander around. And wander we did!
We strolled along the river for a while. It didn't take me long to realize that DS was developing a real fascination with the Eye. For some reason, in all the reading and planning I'd done for London, the thought of taking the Eye had never crossed my mind. Probably because I'm not overly fond of heights! He said he hadn't given it much thought either. But some friends of his who'd studied abroad spring semester in various parts of Europe had met in London at the end of the semester. They'd all said the Eye was their favorite thing in London. And now that he'd had a chance to see it, he thought it looked pretty cool. It took me a while to warm up to the idea. But, by the end of the evening, we were discussing the possibility of taking it the next day.
After taking a look at Parliament, we headed along Whitehall. Eventually we wound up at Trafalgar Square and sat for a while, taking it all in. We headed back along the Strand, stopping for our first visit to a Marks & Spencer. And I was not very happy with myself! In the midst of our trip planning, I'd had to change notebooks and had somehow missed transferring a page of notes on foods I'd read about on Fodor's. One of them was a chocolate cookie from Marks & Spencer. I don't know whether we found that exact cookie, but we did manage to leave with a package of very decadent chocolate cake/cookie type of things. And a few other snacks as well! DS had to pick up a bag of Percy Pig gummies to take to his sister as "Piggy" has always been one of his "pet" names for her. You can imagine how she loves it!
Younger brothers....! 
We had a little trouble because, when we got to the river, we were up a level from the tube stations. I'm not sure whether we were still on the Strand at that point. But we eventually figured out that we could cross the river, go down and walk back on the other side. We made our way to Westminster and from there took the tube back to West Brompton. It was actually kind of nice to get out of the hustle and bustle and back to our somewhat quieter area of London.
After a stop at the Prince of Wales for a drink, we went to Tad Mangal, a Turkish restaurant that was next door to our hotel. DS and I still talk longingly of that meal! My only regret is that we weren't able to finish everything we ordered. It still pains me to think of that wonderful food we left behind. One of those times I really wished we had a fridge and microwave in our hotel room!
Our mistake was in ordering an appetizer. But when we ordered it we didn't know they'd be bringing us wonderful bread and sauces/spreads. The appetizer, hummus with lamb, was <i>very</i> good. But without it we may have been able to finish our main courses. I wish I could find the carry out menu I know I picked up from there because I can't remember what our dishes were called (and can't find their menu online). We both ordered basically the same thing except that mine was in a tomato based sauce and my son's was in a butter/yogurt sauce. Mine was wonderful, his was even better! His was very rich though. The dishes had meat (we can't remember for sure what kind we'd ordered, possibly beef, maybe lamb), I think rice, onions and some wonderful little sliced mildly spicy peppers. I think I had two beers and DS had two orange sodas. The bill was £31.30.
We again stopped in the little store before going back to the hotel. When we'd stopped at the desk earlier in the day to ask about getting to the football stadium, we'd also asked about internet. We were told we could get two hours for £4. So, even though it was late (the time stamp on the restaurant receipt is 23:35), we arranged for that when we got back.
All the walking we'd done (we probably would have done less taking the pub walk!) was taking a toll. I realized that the muscle in my calf had stiffened up so much that the back of my leg, from knee to ankle, was as hard as a rock. That's when I began to wish there was a tub in the bathroom!
We took the tube back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and went down to ask the best way to get to Stamford Bridge. The young lady working the desk said that it was probably walking distance but it would be easier to take the tube. So we did. It was all of one stop from West Brompton to the Fulham Broadway stop where we came up into a small shopping center/mall. When we exited onto the street it was a very short walk, I think less than a block, to the stadium. We actually managed to get there early, around 2:45.
Unlike our tour of Camp Nou in Barcelona, this one had a guide. Now, touring a football stadium would not have been on my list of things to do in London had I not been traveling with DS! But it meant a lot to him. And, considering how close we were staying, it would've been downright mean not to do it!
Fortunately, if anyone could make it interesting to me, it was this guy! He was very good at his job.At the beginning of the tour he asked people to say where they were from. Since no one spoke up to say they were from the US, I'm guessing we were the only ones. There were several people with kids dressed in Chelsea jerseys who I'm guessing were from England. Though I shouldn't have been, given the popularity of soccer there, I was surprised at the large number of people from South America. There were also several people from former Soviet Bloc countries, which we noticed on other tours, etc. throughout our time in the UK. Which leads me to wonder whether that's part of the reason (I realize there were many other factors) why we seemed to see many more tourists than DH and I had when we were there the first time (at pretty much the same time of year). The citizens of those countries would not have been allowed to travel back in 1982.
For the second evening in a row, we blew off a London Walk. We'd been planning to do the Hampstead Pub Walk. But there were times during the Stamford Bridge tour when I was so tired it literally felt painful! And my leg was really bothering me. As I mentioned in my Ireland report, our second night there I managed to come down wrong off of a step and twist my knee, aggravating an old injury. I wore a support for a few days and it helped. But, as the trip progressed to Barcelona and then London, doing more and more walking, it'd really flared up again. And, for some reason, I always seem to have a problem with muscle cramps when I travel, though I work at trying to stay hydrated. I'd had some killer charlie horses in the calf of that same leg. So between the knee and the very sore calf muscles, walking was beginning to be very uncomfortable. And we'd done a lot of it that day! So I was having a hard time working up much enthusiasm for making our way to Hampstead and then being on my feet during the tour.
But I didn't want to hold DS back. Fortunately for me, he wasn't very enthusiastic about it either at that point. By the time we finished the tour (and, of course spent some time in the store there!), we probably wouldn't have had time to grab a snack before heading for Hampstead. And the thought of having to wait a few hours before we could eat anything wasn't very appealing to either of us.
So we decided to stop in the Sainsbury's we'd noticed in the shopping center at the tube stop, pick up some snacks and head back to the hotel to eat and rest a bit. This was my first time trying Sainsbury's king prawn cocktail. Very good and, I think, a real bargain at £1.50!
I'm not sure how long we spent in the room. But eventually we felt ready to get back out there. We tossed around a few ideas but settled on taking the District line to the Enbankment stop to just wander around. And wander we did!
We strolled along the river for a while. It didn't take me long to realize that DS was developing a real fascination with the Eye. For some reason, in all the reading and planning I'd done for London, the thought of taking the Eye had never crossed my mind. Probably because I'm not overly fond of heights!
He said he hadn't given it much thought either. But some friends of his who'd studied abroad spring semester in various parts of Europe had met in London at the end of the semester. They'd all said the Eye was their favorite thing in London. And now that he'd had a chance to see it, he thought it looked pretty cool. It took me a while to warm up to the idea. But, by the end of the evening, we were discussing the possibility of taking it the next day.After taking a look at Parliament, we headed along Whitehall. Eventually we wound up at Trafalgar Square and sat for a while, taking it all in. We headed back along the Strand, stopping for our first visit to a Marks & Spencer. And I was not very happy with myself! In the midst of our trip planning, I'd had to change notebooks and had somehow missed transferring a page of notes on foods I'd read about on Fodor's. One of them was a chocolate cookie from Marks & Spencer. I don't know whether we found that exact cookie, but we did manage to leave with a package of very decadent chocolate cake/cookie type of things. And a few other snacks as well! DS had to pick up a bag of Percy Pig gummies to take to his sister as "Piggy" has always been one of his "pet" names for her. You can imagine how she loves it!
Younger brothers....! We had a little trouble because, when we got to the river, we were up a level from the tube stations. I'm not sure whether we were still on the Strand at that point. But we eventually figured out that we could cross the river, go down and walk back on the other side. We made our way to Westminster and from there took the tube back to West Brompton. It was actually kind of nice to get out of the hustle and bustle and back to our somewhat quieter area of London.
After a stop at the Prince of Wales for a drink, we went to Tad Mangal, a Turkish restaurant that was next door to our hotel. DS and I still talk longingly of that meal! My only regret is that we weren't able to finish everything we ordered. It still pains me to think of that wonderful food we left behind. One of those times I really wished we had a fridge and microwave in our hotel room!
Our mistake was in ordering an appetizer. But when we ordered it we didn't know they'd be bringing us wonderful bread and sauces/spreads. The appetizer, hummus with lamb, was <i>very</i> good. But without it we may have been able to finish our main courses. I wish I could find the carry out menu I know I picked up from there because I can't remember what our dishes were called (and can't find their menu online). We both ordered basically the same thing except that mine was in a tomato based sauce and my son's was in a butter/yogurt sauce. Mine was wonderful, his was even better! His was very rich though. The dishes had meat (we can't remember for sure what kind we'd ordered, possibly beef, maybe lamb), I think rice, onions and some wonderful little sliced mildly spicy peppers. I think I had two beers and DS had two orange sodas. The bill was £31.30.
We again stopped in the little store before going back to the hotel. When we'd stopped at the desk earlier in the day to ask about getting to the football stadium, we'd also asked about internet. We were told we could get two hours for £4. So, even though it was late (the time stamp on the restaurant receipt is 23:35), we arranged for that when we got back.
All the walking we'd done (we probably would have done less taking the pub walk!) was taking a toll. I realized that the muscle in my calf had stiffened up so much that the back of my leg, from knee to ankle, was as hard as a rock. That's when I began to wish there was a tub in the bathroom!
Aug 2nd, 2009, 05:01 PM
#34
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Younger brothers indeed. CAPH - those chocolatey things weren't Extremely Chocolatey Minibites, were they? I have some friends who ADORE those things, perhaps not quite to the point of obsession...
CAPH - those chocolatey things weren't Extremely Chocolatey Minibites, were they? I have some friends who ADORE those things, perhaps not quite to the point of obsession...
Aug 2nd, 2009, 05:54 PM
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Hi Jen,
I think the ones I'd seen mentioned here were Extremely Chocolatey Minibites. And what we got were called Extremely Chocolatey but I'm not sure they were minibites. They were rolls, kind of like a smaller HoHo (but with choolate filling), maybe about three inches long. I think the mention I'd seen of them here talked about them coming in a plastic container so that's what I looked for. But all I could find were these, which were in a plastic tray inside of a traditional cookie package. I'm probably not doing a very good job of describing them. But they were delicious! They were too rich to eat more than one at a time. But we still managed to go through two packages of them! I'd put the pig icon here if I knew how to do it on my son's laptop!
I think the ones I'd seen mentioned here were Extremely Chocolatey Minibites. And what we got were called Extremely Chocolatey but I'm not sure they were minibites. They were rolls, kind of like a smaller HoHo (but with choolate filling), maybe about three inches long. I think the mention I'd seen of them here talked about them coming in a plastic container so that's what I looked for. But all I could find were these, which were in a plastic tray inside of a traditional cookie package. I'm probably not doing a very good job of describing them. But they were delicious! They were too rich to eat more than one at a time. But we still managed to go through two packages of them! I'd put the pig icon here if I knew how to do it on my son's laptop!
Aug 2nd, 2009, 06:49 PM
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Caph--The snow didn't stick, which was kind of nice actually. We had spent the prior week in Scotland and there was a blizzard the day we drove back to Edinburgh, so had had our fill of snow LOL at the nickname...definitely a younger sibling thing to do. I think the stadium tour sounds good. I like doing those different things, like when we toured Roland Garros. Not on any tourist guide list of things to do, but we were so glad we did. How is you knee now that you are home?
LOL at the nickname...definitely a younger sibling thing to do. I think the stadium tour sounds good. I like doing those different things, like when we toured Roland Garros. Not on any tourist guide list of things to do, but we were so glad we did. How is you knee now that you are home?
Aug 2nd, 2009, 07:41 PM
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Hi mms,
I'm glad the snow didn't cause you any problems in London. The blizzard in Scotland must have been fun! And I mean that sarcastically!
My knee is still bothering me to the point that I haven't gotten back into my walking routine. The slightest wrong move seems to aggravate it. When we visited my brothers a couple of weeks ago I talked to them about it. They both coach high school track and cross country (as does my sister-in-law) so they've had lots of experience with this sort of thing. One of them showed me a stretch for my calf which he said will take pressure off of my knee. And the other showed me an exercise to strengthen the muscles above my knee which he said would stabilize my knee. They said to try both before seeing an orthopedist.
Starting tomorrow, I'm going to get serious about doing both. And I'm hoping the knee brace I bought will help me to gradually get back into walking. I can't face my physical (with cholesterol blood work) unless I know I'm back to walking at least three miles a day! So if those things don't work, I will be calling my PCP for an order for the orthopedist.
How's your PT going? I sure hope you're able to avoid surgery.
I'm glad the snow didn't cause you any problems in London. The blizzard in Scotland must have been fun! And I mean that sarcastically!
My knee is still bothering me to the point that I haven't gotten back into my walking routine. The slightest wrong move seems to aggravate it. When we visited my brothers a couple of weeks ago I talked to them about it. They both coach high school track and cross country (as does my sister-in-law) so they've had lots of experience with this sort of thing. One of them showed me a stretch for my calf which he said will take pressure off of my knee. And the other showed me an exercise to strengthen the muscles above my knee which he said would stabilize my knee. They said to try both before seeing an orthopedist.
Starting tomorrow, I'm going to get serious about doing both. And I'm hoping the knee brace I bought will help me to gradually get back into walking. I can't face my physical (with cholesterol blood work) unless I know I'm back to walking at least three miles a day! So if those things don't work, I will be calling my PCP for an order for the orthopedist.
How's your PT going? I sure hope you're able to avoid surgery.
Aug 3rd, 2009, 05:24 AM
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Well, let's get that knee healed. Gotta get it ready for the next trip. Really do hope it gets better, and soon.
You mentioned just wandering. That's one of our favorite things to do, but especially in London. What great surprises you can find.
Since we visited quite a bit when my SIL lived there, we (or I more appropriately) got in the habit of picking a tube station we hadn't been to (maybe through but hadn't gone above ground) and get off and just wander. [yes, we knew of some places we didn't want to do this]. Always found something fascinating, maybe a little offbeat but alwasy interesting].
You mentioned just wandering. That's one of our favorite things to do, but especially in London. What great surprises you can find.
Since we visited quite a bit when my SIL lived there, we (or I more appropriately) got in the habit of picking a tube station we hadn't been to (maybe through but hadn't gone above ground) and get off and just wander. [yes, we knew of some places we didn't want to do this]. Always found something fascinating, maybe a little offbeat but alwasy interesting].
Aug 3rd, 2009, 06:32 AM
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Thanks, dfr. I certainly hope to have it healed by the next trip too! Just as I hope the next opportunity for a trip will come before I'm too old and frail to travel!
Picking a tube station sounds like a really fun way to see more of London. Certainly off the beaten path! I'll bet you <i>did</i> find some really interesting things! Having the opportunity to do that kind of exploring is one of the benefits of visiting the same city several times. If you haven't already done so, you should post that on Katie's thread about returning to the same place!
Picking a tube station sounds like a really fun way to see more of London. Certainly off the beaten path! I'll bet you <i>did</i> find some really interesting things! Having the opportunity to do that kind of exploring is one of the benefits of visiting the same city several times. If you haven't already done so, you should post that on Katie's thread about returning to the same place!
