Finally - a trip report - London, Paris & Italy
Nov 13th, 2005 | 07:21 AM
#1
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 155
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Finally - a trip report - London, Paris & Italy
Finally I am able to sit down and write a trip report!
To preface my comments - my husband and I travelled to Europe in September (September 2 through September 25). Our itinerary was as follows:
4 nights London
4 nights Paris
4 nights Venice
3 nights Florence
3 nights Sorrento
4 nights Rome
We are both 30 years old and Canadian. I am personally no longer into the party scene. On our trip - we were go-go-go pretty much the whole time - which we know isn't for everyone.
This was our first trip to Europe.
I think I will make a separate entry for each leg of the journey - starting with London.
We departed from Detroit via Northwest Airlines at 9:40pm on September 2 on a direct flight to London Gatwick. After a maintenance issue resulting an hour layover in Newfoundland (our trip was during the NWA maintenance employees strike - bathrooms weren't working) - we arrived in London at Gatwick at about 12:00pm on September 3. (Even though our layover was only an hour - we ended up being 2 1/2 hours delayed in arrival - I'm guessing it is because of the slow down/speed up required in landing). I had been able to sleep most of the way on the plane, and with the layover, I probably ended up with at least 6 hours of sleep, though somewhat interrupted. I did use earplugs and an eyemask on the plane to sleep, and I purchased these inflatable pillows from Rick Steves' website which were great (not just the normal U-shaped pillow - there is an extra part which sticks up to give you somewhere to rest your check/tilt your head to one side).
Anyways - it took about 2 hours to deplane, gather our luggage and clear customs. We purchased 2 tickets on the Gatwick Express, a train which takes you into London proper, and dropped us off at Victoria Station. Victoria Station was very large, and after much ado we were able to figure out how to purchase tickets for the underground (subway) and made our way to St. Margaret's Hotel.
St. Margaret's Hotel is a larger bed and breakfast located about 5 minutes from the British Museum (home of the Rosetta stone), and about 5 minutes from Russell Square tube stop. The charge for the room was 92 pounds per night.
We checked into our room, which was sort of in the basement. There were decent sized windows, just a bit further up on the wall. We actually were given a quad room, with 2 single beds pushed together to make a king, and then 2 additional single beds. The bathroom however, was TINY. I'd say, the entire bathroom, shower, toilet and sink was maybe 5 ft by 5 ft. My husband barely fit in the shower - quite a sight to behold actually. There was also a separate sink in a cubby next to the bathroom as well. All in all, the room was more than adequate (nothing fancy, but clean and comfortable) - with the exception of the tiny bathroom. There was however a bathroom with a shower down the hall, which was larger and my husband did end up using a couple of times so he had more room.
After we had a chance to clean up, we headed off around 4pm to the British Museum. We made our exploration quick, as the museum closed at 5:30. We toured only the Egyptian and Greek wings. The Rosetta stone which taught scholars how to read hieroglyphics was pretty cool.
After the British Museum, we headed down to the Thames to ride the London Eye. We took the tube from Russell Square to Waterloo station - which is right near the London Eye (maybe 5 minute walk). It was a bit foggy, but we were able to get good views of the Parliament buildings, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. I had actually made reservations for the Eye on the website at home - but turns out this isn't really necessary - we picked up our tickets, but they aren't time stamped or anything - even if you have "reservations", you still get in line with everyone else.
After the Eye, we just lay on the grass in the park admiring the Eye for a while, and then decided to return to the area near our hotel for dinner. By now it was 9pm and we were both exhaused. We barely spoke during our dinner at the Italian Kitchen. I would not recommend this restaurant. My husband had fetticine carbonara which he really enjoyed, but my lasagne was, in a word, disgusting.
After dinner, we just returned to our hotel and fell into bed around 11. We awoke the next morning at 9.
The breakfast at our hotel was EXCELLENT. A big selection - hot and cold cereals, eggs, bacon, juices.
After breakfast, we headed off to do the Big Bus hop on hop off tour. As we were both a bit jetlagged (not too bad though), we decided to just ride around and not really get off the bus. This was a great tour (we had the audio guide, as opposed to a live guide - which probably would have been better). We saw all of the highlights of London. Near Kensington Palace, our bus had some mechanical problems, but rather than wait for a replacement bus, we decided to hop on the tube to Trafalgar Square. Before getting on the tube, we stopped for lunch at this deli chain restaurant - Pret A Manger - lunch was reasonably priced and there is a terrific selection of sandwiches.
After walking around Trafalgar Square a bit, we headed into the National Gallery. Like the British Museum, the National Gallery is free. We got the audio guide and checked out the paintings.
Included with our Big Bus tour was a river cruise on the Thames. We hopped on the tube and returned to Westminster Station to catch the boat. Turns out we had missed the last boat for the evening, but the attendant said we could ride the next day. We took some more pictures with Big Ben, and then decided to head down to the Tower Bridge via the tube.
Well - we didn't really catch that "London Bridge" and "Tower Bridge" aren't the same thing - so we got off on the wrong tube stop. We realized we were close and decided to walk.
I have to say, the tube system in London is fantastic - you can get anywhere in the city quickly, efficiently and cost effectively. Every major attraction is within maybe a 10 minute walk of a tube stop. The only down side is that when changing trains/lines, there is a LOT of walking, and a LOT of stairs, and many times there aren't escalators, or the escalators aren't working.
We stopped at a pub for supper, the Anchor Tap - again, I had a disappointing meal.
We walked across the Tower Bridge and made our way to the Tower of London, as I had obtained tickets to the Ceremony of the Keys at 9:30. The Ceremony of the Keys was pretty neat, but not as exciting as I had anticipated.
We returned to our hotel around midnight, and once again fell into bed.
The story continues......
To preface my comments - my husband and I travelled to Europe in September (September 2 through September 25). Our itinerary was as follows:
4 nights London
4 nights Paris
4 nights Venice
3 nights Florence
3 nights Sorrento
4 nights Rome
We are both 30 years old and Canadian. I am personally no longer into the party scene. On our trip - we were go-go-go pretty much the whole time - which we know isn't for everyone.
This was our first trip to Europe.
I think I will make a separate entry for each leg of the journey - starting with London.
We departed from Detroit via Northwest Airlines at 9:40pm on September 2 on a direct flight to London Gatwick. After a maintenance issue resulting an hour layover in Newfoundland (our trip was during the NWA maintenance employees strike - bathrooms weren't working) - we arrived in London at Gatwick at about 12:00pm on September 3. (Even though our layover was only an hour - we ended up being 2 1/2 hours delayed in arrival - I'm guessing it is because of the slow down/speed up required in landing). I had been able to sleep most of the way on the plane, and with the layover, I probably ended up with at least 6 hours of sleep, though somewhat interrupted. I did use earplugs and an eyemask on the plane to sleep, and I purchased these inflatable pillows from Rick Steves' website which were great (not just the normal U-shaped pillow - there is an extra part which sticks up to give you somewhere to rest your check/tilt your head to one side).
Anyways - it took about 2 hours to deplane, gather our luggage and clear customs. We purchased 2 tickets on the Gatwick Express, a train which takes you into London proper, and dropped us off at Victoria Station. Victoria Station was very large, and after much ado we were able to figure out how to purchase tickets for the underground (subway) and made our way to St. Margaret's Hotel.
St. Margaret's Hotel is a larger bed and breakfast located about 5 minutes from the British Museum (home of the Rosetta stone), and about 5 minutes from Russell Square tube stop. The charge for the room was 92 pounds per night.
We checked into our room, which was sort of in the basement. There were decent sized windows, just a bit further up on the wall. We actually were given a quad room, with 2 single beds pushed together to make a king, and then 2 additional single beds. The bathroom however, was TINY. I'd say, the entire bathroom, shower, toilet and sink was maybe 5 ft by 5 ft. My husband barely fit in the shower - quite a sight to behold actually. There was also a separate sink in a cubby next to the bathroom as well. All in all, the room was more than adequate (nothing fancy, but clean and comfortable) - with the exception of the tiny bathroom. There was however a bathroom with a shower down the hall, which was larger and my husband did end up using a couple of times so he had more room.
After we had a chance to clean up, we headed off around 4pm to the British Museum. We made our exploration quick, as the museum closed at 5:30. We toured only the Egyptian and Greek wings. The Rosetta stone which taught scholars how to read hieroglyphics was pretty cool.
After the British Museum, we headed down to the Thames to ride the London Eye. We took the tube from Russell Square to Waterloo station - which is right near the London Eye (maybe 5 minute walk). It was a bit foggy, but we were able to get good views of the Parliament buildings, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. I had actually made reservations for the Eye on the website at home - but turns out this isn't really necessary - we picked up our tickets, but they aren't time stamped or anything - even if you have "reservations", you still get in line with everyone else.
After the Eye, we just lay on the grass in the park admiring the Eye for a while, and then decided to return to the area near our hotel for dinner. By now it was 9pm and we were both exhaused. We barely spoke during our dinner at the Italian Kitchen. I would not recommend this restaurant. My husband had fetticine carbonara which he really enjoyed, but my lasagne was, in a word, disgusting.
After dinner, we just returned to our hotel and fell into bed around 11. We awoke the next morning at 9.
The breakfast at our hotel was EXCELLENT. A big selection - hot and cold cereals, eggs, bacon, juices.
After breakfast, we headed off to do the Big Bus hop on hop off tour. As we were both a bit jetlagged (not too bad though), we decided to just ride around and not really get off the bus. This was a great tour (we had the audio guide, as opposed to a live guide - which probably would have been better). We saw all of the highlights of London. Near Kensington Palace, our bus had some mechanical problems, but rather than wait for a replacement bus, we decided to hop on the tube to Trafalgar Square. Before getting on the tube, we stopped for lunch at this deli chain restaurant - Pret A Manger - lunch was reasonably priced and there is a terrific selection of sandwiches.
After walking around Trafalgar Square a bit, we headed into the National Gallery. Like the British Museum, the National Gallery is free. We got the audio guide and checked out the paintings.
Included with our Big Bus tour was a river cruise on the Thames. We hopped on the tube and returned to Westminster Station to catch the boat. Turns out we had missed the last boat for the evening, but the attendant said we could ride the next day. We took some more pictures with Big Ben, and then decided to head down to the Tower Bridge via the tube.
Well - we didn't really catch that "London Bridge" and "Tower Bridge" aren't the same thing - so we got off on the wrong tube stop. We realized we were close and decided to walk.
I have to say, the tube system in London is fantastic - you can get anywhere in the city quickly, efficiently and cost effectively. Every major attraction is within maybe a 10 minute walk of a tube stop. The only down side is that when changing trains/lines, there is a LOT of walking, and a LOT of stairs, and many times there aren't escalators, or the escalators aren't working.
We stopped at a pub for supper, the Anchor Tap - again, I had a disappointing meal.
We walked across the Tower Bridge and made our way to the Tower of London, as I had obtained tickets to the Ceremony of the Keys at 9:30. The Ceremony of the Keys was pretty neat, but not as exciting as I had anticipated.
We returned to our hotel around midnight, and once again fell into bed.
The story continues......
Nov 13th, 2005 | 07:32 AM
#2
Original Poster
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
Day 3
After breakfast, we headed off to tour Westminster Abbey. We arrived early, and entered without a line. We rented an audioguide for 2 pounds. Westminster Abbey was incredibly - in the words of my husband "a home for a lot of important people who have been dead for a really long time". There are tombs of kings, queens, noblemen, authors, playwrights. Unfortunately, not pictures are allowed inside the Abbey, and there were no post cards for sale of the interior - so it must remain a memory.
After the Abbey, we took our cruise down the Thames to our next destination, the Tower of London. Included iwth the admission to the tower is a one hour guided tour by one of the Yeomen of the Tower. The tour detailed the bloody past of the Tower. The highlight of the Tower was the Crown Jewels, which included a 530 carat diamond and a gold "punch bowl" the size of a bathtub.
After our visit to the Tower, we returned to our hotel to clean up for dinner. We decided to head over to Chinatown for dinner, which is near Leicester Square - a sort of "Times Square" for London. Dinner was okay, not great. We then wandered around Leicester Square for a while, where thousands of other people were wandering, even on a Monday night.
The next day we toured St. Paul's Cathedral, and climbed to the top of the dome - a very scary climb for my husband, but very worthwhile views of the city. The best part was, the Whispering Gallery, inside the dome. The dome as about 33 metres across, and in the Whispering Gallery, you can whisper next to the wall, and a person sitting 33 metres away can hear exactly what you said!.
We then headed over to the Natural History Museum, which was neat, but not really what I was expecting. WE then stopped for a quick lunch at Pret a Manger, and then headed over to Harrods. Harrods is just incredible. They had a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage for 11,000 pounds (about $16,000).
After Harrod's, we returned to our hotel to clean up, and then headed to see "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Excellent play - cool theatre.
So that is London.
I forgot to mention that every day we purchased a Zone 1 & 2 pass for the tube which took us everywhere we wanted to go for 4.70 pounds each. We did not take any taxis in London at all.
Next Stop - Paris.
After breakfast, we headed off to tour Westminster Abbey. We arrived early, and entered without a line. We rented an audioguide for 2 pounds. Westminster Abbey was incredibly - in the words of my husband "a home for a lot of important people who have been dead for a really long time". There are tombs of kings, queens, noblemen, authors, playwrights. Unfortunately, not pictures are allowed inside the Abbey, and there were no post cards for sale of the interior - so it must remain a memory.
After the Abbey, we took our cruise down the Thames to our next destination, the Tower of London. Included iwth the admission to the tower is a one hour guided tour by one of the Yeomen of the Tower. The tour detailed the bloody past of the Tower. The highlight of the Tower was the Crown Jewels, which included a 530 carat diamond and a gold "punch bowl" the size of a bathtub.
After our visit to the Tower, we returned to our hotel to clean up for dinner. We decided to head over to Chinatown for dinner, which is near Leicester Square - a sort of "Times Square" for London. Dinner was okay, not great. We then wandered around Leicester Square for a while, where thousands of other people were wandering, even on a Monday night.
The next day we toured St. Paul's Cathedral, and climbed to the top of the dome - a very scary climb for my husband, but very worthwhile views of the city. The best part was, the Whispering Gallery, inside the dome. The dome as about 33 metres across, and in the Whispering Gallery, you can whisper next to the wall, and a person sitting 33 metres away can hear exactly what you said!.
We then headed over to the Natural History Museum, which was neat, but not really what I was expecting. WE then stopped for a quick lunch at Pret a Manger, and then headed over to Harrods. Harrods is just incredible. They had a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage for 11,000 pounds (about $16,000).
After Harrod's, we returned to our hotel to clean up, and then headed to see "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Excellent play - cool theatre.
So that is London.
I forgot to mention that every day we purchased a Zone 1 & 2 pass for the tube which took us everywhere we wanted to go for 4.70 pounds each. We did not take any taxis in London at all.
Next Stop - Paris.
Nov 13th, 2005 | 07:57 AM
#4
Original Poster
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
After a late night at the theatre and packing, we finally got to sleep around 1:15am - our 6am wakeup call came much too early. We gobbled down a quick breakfast and made our way via the tube to Waterloo Station to catch the Eurostar (chunnel train) to Paris. After going through security and immigration, we boarded the train, which left promptly at 8:12am. The cars are nice and reasonably spacious (more room than a typical airplane seat).
The train ride from London to Paris is about 2 1/2 hours, plus a 1 hour time change - thus we arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris around 11:45am Paris time. It was at Gare du Nord where we encountered our first pay toilets. Public restrooms are scarce in Europe, and when you do find one, you have to pay to us it.
After paying to pee, we purchased a carnet of tickets for the metro (a pack of 10) and hopped on the #4 train to St. Germain des Pres. Our hotel, Hotel Bonaparte was located 2 blocks away. We checked into our room, which was located on the 4th floor (really the 5th floor as the ground floor is floor 0). We used the "lift" to get to our room because we had our luggage. The lift was so small that we had to each ride separately.
Our room was only 124 EURO per night, but was clean and comfortable. Good location. The room was only half the size as at St. Margaret's in London, but the bathroom was quite large, with a tub. The room was small, but not too small (everything fit comfortably, didn't feel claustrophobic). There was no curtain on the actual shower/tub, which made showering a bit tricky, but all in all a good choice, particularly for the price.
After a couple of hours of downtime, we ventured our onto the streets of Paris. At the end of our street was Saint Sulspice church. Very old and beautiful - and mentioned in the Da Vinci code for Dan Brown fans (home of the rose line - which is quite visible).
The thing I noticed about all these big old churches/cathedrals - there are no pews. If there are seats - it is rows of folding chairs.
We wandered around, crossed a bridge over the Ile de la Cite and made our way to the Louvre. To say the Louvre is huge is an understatement. We arrived around 5 or 5:30, and walked around the courtyard a bit, before heading inside. Because it was a Wednesday, the Louvre was open late (until 9 I think). We stayed until about 8:30. We encountered no line when we arrived (so I guess this is the best time to go) and walked right in. We rented audioguides and made our way to the highlights including:
Winged Victory of Samothrace
La Jaconde (Mona Lisa)
Madonna of the Rocks
Wedding in Cana
The coronation of Napoleon
Venus di Milo
Michaelangelo - Slaves
Cupid and Psyche
Even without the art inside - the interior and exterior of the Louvre would be amazing to visit - as it is a former place, and is just beautiful.
After so much walking, we decided to stop for dinner at a little place called La Procepe. We ordered off the fixed price menu (24 euro for plat,entree & desert). Our first great meal in Europe. I had onion soup, quarter chicken with thyme and creme brulee. Hubby had soup and chicken with a ice cream/almond/caramel/hazelnut concoction that was incredible. Hubby is a bigger guy (6', 220lbs) and found the portions to be small all over Europe.
We made our way home, and were so tired we fell right into bed.
The train ride from London to Paris is about 2 1/2 hours, plus a 1 hour time change - thus we arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris around 11:45am Paris time. It was at Gare du Nord where we encountered our first pay toilets. Public restrooms are scarce in Europe, and when you do find one, you have to pay to us it.
After paying to pee, we purchased a carnet of tickets for the metro (a pack of 10) and hopped on the #4 train to St. Germain des Pres. Our hotel, Hotel Bonaparte was located 2 blocks away. We checked into our room, which was located on the 4th floor (really the 5th floor as the ground floor is floor 0). We used the "lift" to get to our room because we had our luggage. The lift was so small that we had to each ride separately.
Our room was only 124 EURO per night, but was clean and comfortable. Good location. The room was only half the size as at St. Margaret's in London, but the bathroom was quite large, with a tub. The room was small, but not too small (everything fit comfortably, didn't feel claustrophobic). There was no curtain on the actual shower/tub, which made showering a bit tricky, but all in all a good choice, particularly for the price.
After a couple of hours of downtime, we ventured our onto the streets of Paris. At the end of our street was Saint Sulspice church. Very old and beautiful - and mentioned in the Da Vinci code for Dan Brown fans (home of the rose line - which is quite visible).
The thing I noticed about all these big old churches/cathedrals - there are no pews. If there are seats - it is rows of folding chairs.
We wandered around, crossed a bridge over the Ile de la Cite and made our way to the Louvre. To say the Louvre is huge is an understatement. We arrived around 5 or 5:30, and walked around the courtyard a bit, before heading inside. Because it was a Wednesday, the Louvre was open late (until 9 I think). We stayed until about 8:30. We encountered no line when we arrived (so I guess this is the best time to go) and walked right in. We rented audioguides and made our way to the highlights including:
Winged Victory of Samothrace
La Jaconde (Mona Lisa)
Madonna of the Rocks
Wedding in Cana
The coronation of Napoleon
Venus di Milo
Michaelangelo - Slaves
Cupid and Psyche
Even without the art inside - the interior and exterior of the Louvre would be amazing to visit - as it is a former place, and is just beautiful.
After so much walking, we decided to stop for dinner at a little place called La Procepe. We ordered off the fixed price menu (24 euro for plat,entree & desert). Our first great meal in Europe. I had onion soup, quarter chicken with thyme and creme brulee. Hubby had soup and chicken with a ice cream/almond/caramel/hazelnut concoction that was incredible. Hubby is a bigger guy (6', 220lbs) and found the portions to be small all over Europe.
We made our way home, and were so tired we fell right into bed.
Nov 13th, 2005 | 04:54 PM
#6
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 420
Likes: 0
Great report, harrowgirl. Keep up the interesting details. It's fun to read about a fellow travelers views on Europe. Pay toliets--I specifically recall those in Italy-usually found free, clean toliets in --of all places--McDonalds! Looking forward to your next "installment."
Nov 13th, 2005 | 06:14 PM
#7
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 7,142
Likes: 0
Enjoying your report very much.
<<We encountered no line when we arrived (so I guess this is the best time to go)>>
You were very lucky, they are usually VERY long - up to an hour. Good timimg - I've made a mental note.
<<We encountered no line when we arrived (so I guess this is the best time to go)>>
You were very lucky, they are usually VERY long - up to an hour. Good timimg - I've made a mental note.
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