Hey Fodorites!<BR>This is a trip report on the trip to London my boyfriend and I took December 15-23, 2002.<BR>To make it easier on you and myself I will break down the trip into airport, transportation, sites, hotel, restaurants and advice. Here we go....<BR><BR>Airport-London Gatwick-Decent airport although for security reasons you must stay in the shopping area until your plane is called to board. We found this rather bizarre. Also, the signs telling you where things were were not very helpful (I guess we need a flashing neon sign telling us &quot;You go here!&quot; And for the non-smoker-like us-avoid the second floor of the shopping area where the food court is-you'll die immediately of second hand smoke if you go up there! If you fly BA and are not checking luggage use the computer kiosks to check in. True, it's a bit scary to use technology for the first time (will the machine eat my ticket?!?!?) but it is so much faster than waiting in line and there is always someone nearby (a BA representative) to help if you have questions. <BR>Transportation-Gatwick Express-What a complete misnomer-&quot;EXPRESS&quot;-not so much! More like Gatwick Slow-the train actually stopped on the tracks a couple of times! It provided a few laughs though. Also, buy your food and drink (if you just can not wait to eat until the 30 minute trip is finished) BEFORE you board the train rather than purchasing their goods to save money. Also, purchase your ticket once on the Gatwick Express rather than having to talk to the slightly rude ticketman you upon exiting customes. One of our funniest personal jokes from the trip was the ticketman aboard the Gatwick Express asking a fellow passenger (in a heavy British accent, of course), &quot;Two pounds eight, is that too much?&quot; because she did not want to pay even though her travelcard had expired. To be continued....

&gt;in a heavy British accent, of course<BR><BR>What exactly is a &quot;British&quot; accent and what is the definition of &quot;heavy&quot;?

<BR>Sylvia, isn't a British accent what people have that live in England?<BR>stagic, I find the people who work on the trains to have a very dry sense of humor, actually, most Londoners do and I really like that

What did you expect him to have - you WERE in England afterall. Sometimes Americans don't realize that it is us who have the heavy accents when we are in the UK.

Janis, honey, relax. Stragic was just making an observation. To HER, the guy had a British accent, OK? That's all. No need to get your little knickers all in a bunch!<BR><BR>Stragic:<BR><BR>I'm going to London in Sept. and am anxiously awaiting the rest of your trip report.<BR><BR>Thanks!<BR>Jennie

Let us continue with the trip...<BR><BR>Hotel-Cherry Court Hotel-<BR>I believe this is a 2 star hotel. We got a great deal at 45 pounds/night including tax and breakfast. This was a discount off the normal rate of 48 pounds/night because we stayed for 7 nights. If you decide to stay at this hotel, ask NOT to be placed in room 8-very, very small with an even smaller bathroom. The wall was literally falling apart and the comforter was very thin. Fortunately, the hotel owner called us and asked us to move to room 6 across the hall because someone was coming to inspect room 8 (no kidding!) in the morning. Ask for room 6! It is much better than room 8. It is still a small room (the bathroom door slides open because the room is not big enough for the door to open in the traditional sense). But having such a small room really made us laugh. If you sleep with your window open (if you have a room facing the street) you'll hear the &quot;thunk thunk&quot; of wheeled luggage in the mornings as other travelers leave the other hotels that line the street. The great thing about this hotel is that it is only a 5 minute walk (at most) from Victoria Train Station. This is not to say you'll find the hotel immediately (we walked around the exterior of the station a couple of times before locating the right street to take us to the Cherry Court Hotel). But then, like I said above, we really need a neon sign pointing us where to go.<BR><BR>Sites (in order that we saw them)<BR>Tate Modern: Absolutely loved this! But I really enjoy modern art. Biggest surprise? 2 Dali paintings were on display-I was so happy to see his work in person for the first time. There is a HUGE red phonograph (?)that greets you when you enter-AMAZING!<BR><BR>Natural History Museum-Note: take the tube exit your guidebook recommends-we didn't follow our book's recommendation and had to walk farther than we would have otherwise. With that said, this place is great too! There are lots of hands on activities for the kid in you. Don't forget to go downstairs to the Q/Investigate lab. It's really for kids to do stuff like touch bones, fur, reptile scales etc. but they let us play around too. We liked the dinosaur and mammal exhibitions the best. There is also a great snackbar to get a jacket (baked) potato.<BR><BR>Science Museum-this is literally next door to the NH Museum. Again, we liked the rooms designed for kids (downstairs) where you can experiment with things related to physics and chemistry. We did not care so much for the rest of the museum besides a new wing called the Wellcome Wing at the back of the museum. <BR>Having trouble with posting this...

Jack the Ripper Walking Tour-London Walks-This was one of the highlights (for my boyfriend) of this trip. I was disappointed that world famous Donald R. who was scheduled to lead the tour that night was unavailable and that Sean and Andy would guide the tours instead. I did not think the tour was anything special as Sean would take us down a road and say to the effect, &quot;Back that way is where one of the victims was found.&quot; I wanted to go &quot;back that way&quot; to see the location even if today nothing remains of the original place. This was the only thing my boyfriend and I disagree about recommending to people. Also, we are students and got the student rate of 4 pounds/person although there are so many people on the Jack the Ripper tours there really is no way to verify if you paid or not.<BR><BR>Leicester Square-THE place to go for discounted theatre tickets. We wanted to see a matinee of the Phantom of the Opera and were lucky the show was discounted at LS. It was Weds. and I did not learn until I returned home that Phantom only had matinees on Weds. and Sat/Sun(?). Again, a lucky break! We got excellent seats F 27 &amp; 28 which are located on the side of the stage the performers primarily act on when not center stage.<BR><BR>Trafalger Square-Lovely! Although they were doing massive construction work to the roads while we were there. The sun was shining brightly this day and the view down the road to Parliament was impressive. <BR><BR>National Gallery-Don't get overwhelmed by all the art! Our guidebook (Eyewitness Guide) lists highlights for all the museums so we look at those and any other paintings that catch our eye. I was so thrilled to see The Ambassadors and The Arnolfini Wedding since one week before our trip I had taken a final exam in a Renaissance course over that material. We actually were able to get The Ambassadors on videotape although you technically are not allowed to videotape in the National Gallery.<BR>More in a little while...

Phantom of the Opera-From beginning to end this is an excellent musical! The costumes and singing were AWESOME! This was the first major theatre production we ever went to and it exceeded my expectations. As I mentioned above, the seats could not be better. The set was amazing. Definately a must see! <BR><BR>Hampton Court-we took the Tube from Victoria to Waterloo where we bought train tickets to Hampton Court. It's so funny to see everyone craning their necks to read the tv monitors that post which platform different trains will stop at. The palace was virtually empty so buying tickets was not a problem. We bought joint student rate tickets for HC and the Tower of London. Before going to the palace we visited the restrooms which appear to be in a former stable or something. Next was the maze which I was a bit disappointed in as the trail inside the maze was paved and the brush making up the maze was sparce so you could see through it. The palace itself was magnificent although I believe I prefer the exterior to the interior except for the Great Hall and the Chapel. We had a wonderful mini picnic of cookies and juice on a bench in the &quot;back yard.&quot; The sun was so bright and the garden was soooo green. It was quite strange to see several planes (modern) flying over the palace (historic). We wondered what Henry VIII would have thought. Also, when we were in Henry VIII area we walked down the hall as we imagined he would-just for fun since no one was looking.<BR>Back in a bit!

Totally agree with you on the musical. I have never been a fan of musicals, but this time while in London, early January, a friend talked me into going. Now I'm hooked. I fly to London about once a month, so I will try to catch at least one show per visit.<BR>As far as the Gatwick express is concerned, you must of hit it at the wrong time. I always fly into Gatwick, and the train never took more than 30 min. I think it's sceduled for about 28 or so. <BR>Glad to hear the rest of the visit went well for you. I love London.

Interesting report, stagic. You and I could form our own &quot;People who didn't liket the Jack the Ripper tour&quot; Club! My experience was similar to yours.<BR><BR>Are you saying you got half price tickets at the Official Half-Price booth in Leicester Square (the free standing building at the south side of the square)for Phantom? If so that is great news, it never used to happen. Or are you saying you got tickets at one of the other &quot;so called&quot; discount booths near there? If that is the case I'd be really curious what you paid and what the normal price for those exact tickets would have been. In any case -- I'm glad you loved the show, especially since it was your first major musical production -- you started with one of the real &quot;biggies&quot;!

Very much enjoying the report - keep it coming! I know exactly what you mean by the &quot;heavy British accent&quot; you'll be glad to hear that different British accents used on public transport announcements etc. amuse us sometimes too.

stragic, please keep on. Wife &amp;I hope to go to London soon. Your experiences will help.

To Patrick: Yes, we bought our tickets at the official half price ticket booth in LS. I think our tickets were 22.50 pounds/person for the stalls. Once at the theatre we saw that tickets in the balcony were 10 pounds each but those seats most likely would not have been as great. <BR>On with the trip...<BR><BR>St. Paul's Cathedral-Before our trip I had searched SPC's website for free concert information. On Dec. 19 there was a free Christmas concert in the evening so we went after our visit to Hampton Court. We arrived before the concert began but too late to get good seats (up close, center). We still had a bit of a view of the boys choir but not as good as we would have liked. The first twenty minutes of the program were honestly boring. We were both nodding off to sleep in our chairs (and we weren't the only ones)! I wanted to leave but my boyfriend would not let us-and GOOD THING too. After several people in our row left we moved down and had a better view AND the music picked up and it was quite entertaining. It really was quite extraordinary to share this Christmas experience with so many locals and tourists. When the concert was over I wanted to make my way to front to see the cathedral in further detail. After a security guard was rude to us about the way we were going not being an exit (which it WAS actually-and even if she didn't want us to go that way she didn't have to be rude) we reached the front had a look around and left.<BR><BR>British Museum-Walked through Russell Square to get to the museum. We've seen friendly squirrels before, but none were so friendly as the RS squirrel that came up and circled my boyfriends legs!! It kinda made me nervous! We learned from our Paris trip last year NOT to spend every waking moment in a museum. For us, it's get in, appreciate a few highlighted objects, and GET OUT. We know that you could literally spend an entire day in ONE room reading every sign and looking at every detail. With that said, I enjoyed the reading room (library), Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Egyptian mummies, and Lindow Man. Lindow Man was amazing because although he is 2000 years old you can still see his hair and beard. We just sat on the bench and stared at the Mausoleum until we were ready to search out the Rosetta Stone. We searched all over for this piece. When we finally found it, I was not as impressed with it as I was with the Code of Hammurabi in the Louvre only because the RS is encased in glass whereas the CofH is free-standing. <BR><BR>British Library-This was an unexpected surprise for how great it was! We both loved looking at the illuminated manuscripts, Magna Carta, and other literary documents. One of the things that sticks out most in my mind from the entire trip is looking at a book that belonged to Elizabeth I. Just the thought that &quot;This was her book and she held it and read it&quot; really gave me a strong connection to the past. The only bad part of the library was trying to find it. Also, coming up from the Tube at King's Cross and St. Pancras Station to find the library was the only place in London we felt questionable about our safety.<BR><BR>

I forgot to mention that we went to Harrod's after visiting the Science Museum and before going on the Jack the Ripper walk. We split an expensive pizza in the pizzeria downstairs. We did not have time to look around upstairs, however, we are not shoppers so we felt the one floor we did see was enough! <BR> <BR>Also, we rode the London Eye AFTER watching the Phantom of the Opera and BEFORE going to Hampton Court the next day. We rode the Eye at 6:30 pm so it was dark outside. There wasn't a line for tickets and there were only 10 other people in the capsule with us. I'm terrified of heights but it's one of the major things to do in London so I had to do it. I don't think I'll ride it again though-too scary being that high in a glass capsule over water! It did move really slow and the only way to tell that your capsule was moving was to look across to the other capsules. I also don't think it was worth the money because you can not stay/ride as long as you like (compared to Seattle's Space Needle and Paris's Eiffel Tower which I understand are NOT rotating observation wheels-but still...). It is definitely something to do once though for the experience. <BR>Sorry if this posts twice...again having trouble. <BR>

Yes, stagic, I see that Phantom is now listed on the Official London website as being available (at least some days) at the Half-Price booth. I've seen the show a number of times, but never in London and hated to pay full price for it. This adds a new one to what I can aim for this summer during my stay. Many people have said that London is the best venue for that show -- a lovely smaller old theatre --not like the big &quot;barns&quot; where I've seen a couple of the national tours.

Westminster Abbey-we just beat the crowd inside and a line began to form right as we began to pay (lucky break). We paid the student rate and they did ask to see our IDs. We did not have the Int'l Student Card and they accepted our regular University Cards. I most enjoyed seeing where Mary and Elizabeth are buried (together). Also, Poet's Corner is neat but I think it's funny how some poets are actually buried there while others have their name's there but are buried somewhere else. Odd moment of commercialization hit us when we walked out of the abbey toward the inner garden where there are people selling soup and sandwiches! Completely bizarre again to see the contrast of modern and historic. Do not get anything to eat or drink though because there are NO public restrooms in the abbey!!! Also, check out the museum-it's pretty neat. I'm amazed at how small people used to be (you'll notice this when you look at the clothes on display). I also thought it was interesting how the coronation chair is so important to the British monarchy yet it is clearly falling apart and is not regal at all (but I can understand the long tradition of using it).

Tower of London-AMAZING place-once you find the entrance! You can see the Tower once you emerge from Tower Hill Tube Station but the tricky part (for us) was finding the actual entrance to the Tower. Seriously, we walked around half of it before we found it! Best advice-turn and walk toward the right NOT left when you emerge from the Tube. I'm sure there are signs but again they don't help us! As we entered there was no line and a Yeoman Warder Tour was just starting (excellent!). Our warder was named Mick, I believe (very handsome). <BR>Absolutely do not miss the tour! I was afraid because it was gray and it could have rained at any moment that we would not have a tour (based on what I've read on Fodor's) but the tour took place and was much better no doubt because of the weather. Everyone was having their photo taken with the warder so my boyfriend pushed me to have one taken too. I held Mick's arm for the photo and after it was taken he wouldn't let go...Really, if he wanted me to go with him all he had to do was ask I was bitterly disappointed in the Crown Jewels. I guess I had built them up in my mind as being in a room filled with tons of jewels and gold etc. However, there are actually only a few crowns, orbs, etc. Fortunately, there was no line to see the jewels. People actually stopped to watch the videos that are there to entertain people who are waiting in line when it is crowded!!! We also went into the White Tower and several of the other rooms where prisoners were held. Another defining moment for me on this trip was looking out of a window in the White Tower toward the place where the scaffold had been for several beheadings and thinking about what it must have been like for Anne Boleyn on the day of her beheading. I highly recommend this site!

Picadilly Circus-I wanted to see the neon signs there because I always saw clips of it on tv before the trip. And guess what?!? Two of the neon billboards were removed for repairs! So to say the least this site was a tad disappointing but hopefully it'll be fixed if we ever are lucky enough to return. It was pretty cool though because when we came out of the Tube station someone was playing the bagpipes so that at least created atmosphere amongst the swarming sea of people! So many people! <BR><BR>Buckingham Palace-We saw the palace at night, basically to say we saw it. They do not have tours in December and we were not interested in watching the changing of the guard. So, we took a walk through Green Park (I believe) in the dark no less (always a bit intimidating-neo-Jack the Rippers you know) to BP and then continued walking to our hotel.<BR><BR>Speaker's Corner-definately interesting! A lot of talk about God. Wish they had benches out there to sit on in order to enjoy the commentary in comfort for a longer amount of time. Really cool because people are not afraid to shout their opinions to the rooftops! <BR><BR>Hyde Park-so pretty even in the winter! Saw some riders on horseback and lots of people with dogs. Another great moment for me...running and skipping (I felt so free!) through the park to catch up with my boyfriend after using the park restrooms. Note on the park restrooms-they have workers who sit in a room in the bathroom, I guess to make sure people don't vandalize.<BR><BR>Victoria and Albert Museum-Neither of us really wanted to go to this museum but it was recommended and we had the time. There was ONE thing we DID want to see there though. It is called the CASTLE IN THE CUP or something like that and even before our trip my boyfriend had seen it in our travel guide and thought it was cool. It became a personal joke before we even left for London, so we HAD to see it! When we actually got to the room saw it and were leaving I said &quot;I have to go back and look at it again...I did not come 5000 miles to look at this for just a minute!&quot; Other than that there are a few neat pieces in the museum...dresses, reliqueries, basically a lot of &quot;stuff.&quot; <BR><BR>Someone please post to let me know if this is helpful

Hi Stragic,<BR><BR>Yes, yes, yes! This is most helpful! And, I've been to London 5 times and am returning mid-March.<BR><BR>It it wonderful seeing it through your eyes and it's getting me all excited about my up-coming trip.<BR><BR>Please keep on, I LOVE your writings.<BR><BR>Thanks for posting,<BR>Sandy

To Sandy and everyone else who has posted-THANK YOU for responding! Let me know if you have specific questions because I'd love to help if I can.