Our four-day, Thanksgiving weekend getaway to London
 

We just returned from four days in London over our Thanksgiving break. Mr_go and I are working on a brief trip report and photos, which we hope to complete in the next few days.


Mr_go seemed pleasantly surprised as he read the weather section in the <i>Chicago Tribune</i> the day before our November 24 departure. “Look,” he said. “It’s going to be 62 and sunny in London today.”

About 30 seconds later, he recanted. “Oops. I was looking at the wrong line. That’s Lisbon.”

Fast forward about 28 hours, to the morning of our departure. DD, sitting at our kitchen island reading the paper, announces, “Look, it’s going to be in the 60s and sunny in London!”

I said, “Let me guess…that’s actually the forecast for Lisbon.”

Pause. “Oh yeah, you’re right. How’d you know that?”

Well, we know no one goes to London for the weather, particularly at this time of year. So why London—and not Lisbon—in late November? In a word (or two, actually), cheap airfare.

Way back in mid February, I was playing around with airfare searches, as I tend to do sometimes while sitting on long conference calls (shhh!). I was surprised to find $500 fares (which now will be partially offset by vouchers, as I’ll explain later) from Chicago to London or Amsterdam for peak travel days over our Thanksgiving break. We’d taken a similar trip to Amsterdam three years ago and had a lot of fun. So with apologies to our families, who we will see in less than a month anyway, we decided to go for it.

It has been longer since we’ve been to London. Mr_go and DD (16) have been once, in 2000—our first trip overseas as a threesome. I’ve been a whole bunch of times; some for vacation but mostly for work. We’ve seen many of the major sights, so we felt this could be a nice opportunity to fill in a few gaps but mostly just enjoy being there. We didn’t do much advance planning.

The trip over went relatively quickly, aside for the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever been that cold on an airplane before. Maybe it’s a new cost-reduction technique—turn off the heat at 35,000 feet? Given the gloomy forecasts we’d seen just before we left (the real forecasts, not the Lisbon forecasts) we were quite surprised to see just light clouds and lots of sunshine as we flew in over Southwestern England. In fact, we were treated to a very nice view of central London several times as our plane queued for approach.

The much-dreaded LHR visitor immigration line looked a bit daunting, but it only took about 25 minutes. With Oyster cards already in hand (ordered in advance; arrived in just five days) and carry-on luggage only, we were off and rolling on the Piccadilly Tube line for the one-hour ride into central London. In total, elapsed time from wheels down to arrival at our hotel in Bloomsbury was almost exactly two hours.

Looking forward to your adventures in London!

Was it American Airlines you flew? I fly AA and the planes are always freezing cold. It's now a habit of mine to wear as many layers of clothes as possible onto the flight - and I don't even bother to take my jacket off. A few times I've complained about the cold temp to the FAs, and they did turn up the heat some.

<b>The Morgan Hotel, Bloomsbury</b>

On past trips, I’ve stayed in many other locations around London (our family trip on ’00 was based in Victoria), but I’ve always wanted to stay in and explore Bloomsbury. That narrowed the field considerably but still left a lot of choices. We’re not big-chain-hotel types. We can’t (or won’t, anyway) do Priceline with three people. Nevertheless, the price of a triple/family room can be a bit of a shock to the system. And, we really didn’t want to pay triple rates and be squeezed on top of one another in a tiny room.

After a little online searching and putting out a few feelers, we decided on the apartments at the Morgan Hotel. The apartments were only about £40 per night more than a regular triple room and offered considerably more space.

The location is superlative in our humble opinion--right around the corner from the British Museum and within walking distance of transportation, restaurants, pubs, major sights, etc., all the while being an interesting and vibrant neighborhood with a somewhat residential feel.

We had a large bedroom with a double bed and two singles; easily the same size or larger than many triple hotel rooms we’ve previously experienced. Importantly, the bedroom is on the back of the apartment, which meant street noise wasn’t much of a factor. In addition, the apartment had a nice-sized living room with newer furniture and a large flat-screen TV, and a small kitchenette with refrigerator, microwave, sink, and some dishes and utensils. The included wi-fi worked very well.

The apartments are in a walk-up just down the street from the hotel. Ours was on the top floor; not a problem for us, but the top floor may not be for everyone.

Our only complaint was that at peak morning shower times, the hot water pressure could be a little unreliable (a couple of times, it cut out completely), although usually a short-term problem. Just plan accordingly.

Full English breakfast is included, served in the main hotel about eight doors down the street from 7-9am. It included eggs made to order, sausage, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, toast, juice, yogurt, cereal, coffee/tea...more than enough to tide you over for quite awhile.

Overall, we felt the apartment was well designed and well appointed. At £190 per night for three, it was a bit of a splurge, but with space and comfort, the services of a hotel and a friendly, welcoming proprietor and staff. I’ll go so far as to say I thought it looked better in person than in the photos online.

http://www.morganhotel.co.uk/

Next up, hopefully tomorrow, what we did during our four days.

yk, no it was United. I've usually had the opposite problem on United: too hot. I was bundled up in an extra sweater, the blanket, a pashmina, and a second pair of (fleece) socks, and I was still freezing.

I stayed in that exact same top floor flat at the Morgan about three years ago - it was really nice. Looking forward to reading more!

Oh good, I love to hear what's new in London. More, please.

<b>Things we did, part 1</b>

We’ve been to many of the major palaces, churches, monuments, parks and museums before. We did have a couple of places we wanted to re-visit on this trip; for example, Westminster Abbey was so crowded the last time we could barely see anything. We wanted to keep our schedule somewhat flexible depending on the weather--maximizing outdoor time if possible and not overdoing museums (unless, of course, it was pouring the whole time). We like theater and the arts, but we decided not to make that a focus for this short trip. And, we’re really not shoppers, markets aside; we enjoy those for the food, people watching and photo opportunities.

In short, we went with a long list of possibilities but very little set in stone. I should add that this is not in any sort of chronological order.

<b>British Museum</b>
One of the main reasons for staying where we did was the opportunity to pop in and pop out of the British Museum as time and interests permitted. It’s a virtually limitless source of fascination, with exhibits and displays from everywhere and every time period in history. Plus, the building, itself, is an attraction and the Great Court opened not long after our last visit. It would be a shame to cram it all into a single visit. DD particularly wanted to see the Rosetta Stone (she barely remembered it from her first visit at age 7) and ancient Egyptian artifacts (but we passed on the mummies, which we’ve seen and which were too crowded). Of course we visited the Parthenon Gallery. We were in Greece just last year, so that was of particular interest. The Mesopotamian relics were remarkable. We sought out a few other things of interest, such as the Lewis Chessmen. Unfortunately, though, we found the Lindow bog man is away on loan in Newcastle at the moment.

One other thing about the British Museum. It’s open late a couple of nights a week, and it was much more pleasant to visit on a Thursday evening than it was on a Saturday afternoon.

<b>British Library</b>
Next door to St. Pancras station is the immense British Library. Again, one could spend days here if one were so inclined. The “treasures” room on the main floor is a literal treasure-trove of written and printed material. We spent several hours just in that room and barely skimmed the surface--a draft of the Magna Carta; a Gutenberg Bible; the Codex Sinaiticus; illuminated bibles and other sacred documents from many faiths, some over a thousand years old; an original collection of Mercator maps; Shakespeare’s first folio; and hand-written drafts, letters and works from Austen (one of DD’s favorites), Dickens, Carroll, Kipling, etc. And, not to be forgotten amongst the centuries-old relics were some handwritten lyrics from The Beatles. The British Library was a particular highlight for DD. But, a note to the family that let their small children run around the room yelling: Perhaps you should have chosen a different destination.

<b>Harry Potter sites</b>
DD has been a Harry Potter fanatic since about the first grade. Say what you will about the books, they are directly responsible for her love of reading. Although she’s moved on a bit in genre, Track 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station was still an imperative for this trip. She posed for a few photos with the cart disappearing into the wall--but then told all of her Facebook friends that the stately St. Pancras (its Gothic façade, anyway) across the street was much more what she’d imagined the station to be. We also made a quick stop at Leadenhall Market, the setting for some “Diagon Alley” scenes and tried to put our imaginations to work...

<b>The London Eye</b>
We rode the London Eye the last time we were in the city, but it was a bit foggy that day; that was back in its very early days when you had to pre-book tickets in advance and hope for the best. This time, it was sunny and gorgeous...and we’re suckers for a nice view. We went when it opened and were able to walk right on, without having to buy the fast track--and, we still had the whole day in front of us.

<b>The National Portrait Gallery “Beatles to Bowie” exhibit</b>
One of the few things planned in advance was a visit to this special exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. While the gallery, itself, is free, there is a fee for this exhibition. I booked the tickets online a few days before we left, and we picked them up at the museum. This exhibit has a year-by-year collection of portraits and memorabilia for musicians and bands that defined each year of the 1960s. It encompasses not only the Beatles and David Bowie, but the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, Jimi Hendrix and many others--definitely a treat for these music fans. We did a little exploring in the rest of the gallery afterward but found ourselves back in another (free) special photographic exhibition--the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize--which we enjoyed just as much. We also discovered that the museum has a Friday evening (one of its late-opening nights) music program.

http://www.npg.org.uk:8080/beatles/index2.htm

To be continued...

ms_go, I'm so glad you enjoyed the Morgan. I stayed there in June (a room, not a flat) and thought it was great, and you really can't beat the location! And I'm just a little jealous that you got to see the Beatles to Bowie exhibition! The Portrait Gallery is one of my favorite museums.

Ms_go:

I was in Lisbon for Thanksgiving and the weather was indeed beautiful!

Ms-go:

By chance, were you on UA #959 Sunday afternoon? I flew home via LHR and will agree that the cabin was very cold. Having an exit row window didn't help the situation either.

Weekender, I'm glad the weather in Lisbon lived up to the forecasts. London was pretty, too, if a bit chilly. It only rained on us once.

We were on UA949 on Sunday; be glad you weren't on that one. We had a one-hour ATC delay before take-off, the IFE system was inoperative, and the economy cabin was understaffed for meal service (no beverage service with lunch). The good news is that we've received $450 in vouchers (for the IFE, specifically) so far and are still waiting for one more.

Ouch! It was absolutely pouring at departure(3:25PM)but we only had about a 15 minute ATC delay which we made up enroute.

Ms. Go what an enjoyable report. Thanks for the tip on the Morgan. I will file it away.

Weekender... you have the life!

ms_go:

Well done - looking forward to more.

Sandy

Thanks, everyone!

<b>Things we did, part 2</b>

I’ll try to make this second part brief.

We revisited <b>Westminster Abbey</b> and <b>St. Paul’s Cathedral</b>. The former was so crowded the last time we visited (an afternoon in August) that we struggled to see anything. This time, we went in the morning, on a week day. There were certainly people there, but it was much more pleasant. We were able to move around at our own pace and see everything we wanted to. DD, of course, particularly liked the Poets' Corner. We also wandered out through the cloister to the College Garden in the back, where few people seem to venture. Similarly, St. Paul’s early on a Friday morning was quiet and peaceful; conducive to sitting and gazing at the Center Dome and the Quire. Mr_go and DD climbed to the lower outside viewing point (I don’t do steep, narrow, spiral staircases very well; not a claustrophobia thing, but a balance thing going down...).

From St. Paul’s, we crossed the <b>Millennium Bridge</b> (which had been closed during our previous visit) to the <b>Tate Modern</b>. Truthfully, we’re not really modern art people; we were more curious about the building. We went in for a few exhibits and a view from the coffee shop on the top floor, but we found the museum pretty crowded with lots of school groups. There was a key escalator closed, and it just generally took awhile to get around.

<b>The Old Globe Theatre</b>, on the south bank near the Tate Modern, was relatively low on our list going into this trip, but we were in the area and with some time to kill before lunch. In fact, this turned out to be a highlight. It is a painstaking recreation of the wonderful old theater where most of Shakespeare’s plays originally were performed. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but interior, including the stage, was more ornate than we’d expected—especially the beautifully decorated ceiling above the stage and the colorful backdrop. The 45-minute tour was interesting, with an excellent, knowledgeable guide, and we got to watch several student groups have their moment on stage. The open floor seemed small to us, but our guide insisted that they fit 700 people there for contemporary performances (1,000 back in the day). There’s also an interesting inside exhibit/museum.

As mentioned earlier, we enjoy markets. Even though it was a bit brisk, we decided to take advantage of the dry weather to visit a few. We arrived at the aforementioned <b>Leadenhall Market</b> too late for most of the stalls, so that visit was more about the building. We did spend some time at the <b>Borough Market</b>, which is primarily a food market. We’d chosen to eat just prior to the market in order to get out of the cold for a bit. On a warmer day, we would have made this our lunch. As it was, it was fun to sample various cheeses and other items. On Saturday morning, we had a choice of markets; we decided to head just north to the <b>Camden Markets</b>—a collection of five or six markets offering everything from cheap t-shirts to antiques. There’s also a nice variety of international food stalls (along with various regular restaurants and cafes); we didn’t leave hungry.

http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/index.php?pid=1

This trip report would be remiss without mentioning the <b>Leicester Square holiday funfair</b>—something we stumbled upon one evening on the way from the National Portrait Gallery to Chinatown. There are various carnival rides and booths set up in the square, along with decorations and even a snow machine blowing little flakes up into the air. Always the adventurous ones, mr_go and DD immediately had their eyes on a ride called <i>The Storm</i>—two giant arms each at least 50 feet long that rotate like a demented pinwheel. At the end of each arm is a pod of four seats set on an independently pivoting axis, meaning that as riders are spinning at high speed in a giant loop, they’re also spinning in a tight loop at the end of the arm. They both found the experience more intense than anticipated and agreed it was a good idea they did this before dinner rather than after dinner. In fact, after the first rotation around the giant axis, mr_go’s first thought was, “This is not going to be a good death.”

Beyond that, we just spent time doing what we like to do on vacation--wandering and exploring, mostly in within a relatively small radius of our Bloomsbury hotel.

Okay, maybe that wasn't quite as brief as I'd thought...

I will post some photos later today, and the next installment will be on food.

"This is not going to be a good death."

That has been my thought the few times I have been tricked into going on any kind of rides. It will never happen again.

Enjoying your report, thank you.

See, that's the thing, Nikki. I usually love going on thrill rides, and so does DD (ms_go... not so much). But this one was intense. Really intense.

I'm just very glad that we decided to do this <i>before</i> dinner, and not after!

I'm enjoying your report! My husband and I are taking a long weekend in London over MLK in January. Having been to London numerous times in high tourist season, I'm really looking forward to going in January. Can't wait to read the rest of your report.

We're still working on photos. These aren't necessarily in order yet or well captioned (some not at all)...

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p777115584

For some reason, that zenfolio link is sending me to the last page of the album, hon. How odd. Anyone else having this problem should click on the page [1] below the pix to start at the beginning.