Trip report - day 1
 

I've been travelling to Ireland each year for 6 years, and this year I decided to branch out and see England and Wales, too. But I couldn't not visit my beloved Ireland, so this was a 3 week tour! My co-worker and friend, Danny and I set out from Baltimore on Wednesday MAY 7 flying from BWI to London via Boston. We arrived in London at 6:20am, cleared immigration, and followed signs to the tube. We had bought a 3 day London Transport multi-zone pass before we left, so had no lines to buy a ticket, and just hopped on the early morning train. It might be harder later in rush hour, but our early morning trip was easy. Both of us had one 22 inch suitcase on wheels and a daybag. We went to our lodging in London, Cherry Court Hotel, Victoria Station http://www.cherrycourthotel.comkat.n...0location.html 23 Hugh St Victoria London +44 (20) 7828 2840 [email protected] This little B&B hotel is infamous for its TINY rooms - barely a foot on either side of the beds! No chairs, no luggage racks, nothing except a clean, small room at a very reasonable price for London, located a short walk from Victoria Station in the middle of the tourist destinations of downtown London, and a very friendly and helpful family-owned business! I'd happily stay there again! The B&B doesn't do much with breakfast - baskets containing fruit, crackers, and snacks are delivered to the room in the evening for the next day's breakfast...no problem - on the street corner is a great little sandwich shop that does a nice breakfast at a cheap price, and you can order a sandwich to go for a lunch picnic for less than 5 GBP. Anyway, our first morning, we dropped off our luggage and headed back for Victoria to catch the tube to the Tower of London. We had pre-paid for tickets, but found there wasn't much of a line in mid week, early May. Maybe later in the summer you need to buy ahead, but we didn't need to...but then, it didn't hurt anything, either! Heading in to the Tower, we spent a few minutes getting our bearings, and then joined a Beefeaters tour. Although it was interesting and the guide had a great sense of humor, it wasn't as "absolutely fantastic" as I had heard from a friend...we may have done just as well touring on our own...an okay way to see the sights, but not any real surprises. Maybe I'm just too much of a pre-planning type to not have known the bits of history told by the guide! What DID impress me was how friendly and courteous the Beefeaters are - they will talk to you, pose for pictures, and were just a delight! There was very little waiting - no lines for anything we wanted to see - just walked right in the see the Crown Jewels! I highly recommmmend an early May trip! After spending a few hours there we headed out to find a double-decker red city bus, the #15 to St Pauls...where we found there was a service going on, so tourists couldn't enter...no problem - we just walked around a bit then caught #11 bus that took us through Covent garden, to Trafalgar Square. We walked by 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, the Parliament and Big Ben, to Westminster Abbey. We took a tour of the Abbey -literally a walk through the history of England. It is so much a museum that you almost forget its a house of worship, but it is still actively used as a Anglican Church. We would have stayed a bit longer, but we had reserved seats for the Tea at the Ritz, so we had to run! If eating with a pompous setting appeals to you - go for it!!! Really, the setting is exquisitely upper crust, and very casual clothing is frowned upon...but this is a lot of fun for those of us who have dreamed of Tea at the Ritz as a lovely treat to be anticipated and savored...and I loved every minute! I've been to teas where the food was skimpy and expensive, but at this epitome of teadom, food was plentiful and delicious, service was perfect, and we had a glorious time! They treated the two of us lagging, jetlagged tourists so well that we didn't want to leave!!! But eventually we turned down refills of our teapot and sandwich trays. While looking at the dessert tray I mentioned that my favorite dessert is Creme Brulee. After sharing 3 of the desserts we were feeling pretty content...when our waiter showed up at our table with 2 small (utterly delicious) creme brulees! Talk about service! Wow - I was so impressed, and stuffed, and dead tired! So we left the Ritz, took a stroll through Green Park passed Buckingham Palace, by Victoria Station and back to our room to retire for the evening! And that was the end of our first day of our 21 day trip!

While every day wasn't as jam-packed full of activity, we had a great trip - daily reports to follow!
For pix, see http://community.webshots.com/script...bumID=75529581

http://community.webshots.com/script...bumID=75530792

http://community.webshots.com/script...bumID=75531890

Nice report - but just a helpful hint. It is very difficult - almost impossible - to read because you did not use any returns. I have copied/re-posted it so others might have an easier time of it.

Message: I've been travelling to Ireland each year for 6 years, and this year I decided to branch out and see England and Wales, too. But I couldn't not visit my beloved Ireland, so this was a 3 week tour!

My co-worker and friend, Danny and I set out from Baltimore on Wednesday MAY 7 flying from BWI to London via Boston. We arrived in London at 6:20am, cleared immigration, and followed signs to the tube. We had bought a 3 day London Transport multi-zone pass before we left, so had no lines to buy a ticket, and just hopped on the early morning train. It might be harder later in rush hour, but our early morning trip was easy. Both of us had one 22 inch suitcase on wheels and a daybag.

We went to our lodging in London, Cherry Court Hotel, Victoria 23 Hugh St Victoria London +44 (20) 7828 2840 This little B&B hotel is infamous for its TINY rooms - barely a foot on either side of the beds! No chairs, no luggage racks, nothing except a clean, small room at a very reasonable price for London, located a short walk from Victoria Station in the middle of the tourist destinations of downtown London, and a very friendly and helpful family-owned business! I'd happily stay there again!

The B&B doesn't do much with breakfast - baskets containing fruit, crackers, and snacks are delivered to the room in the evening for the next day's breakfast...no problem - on the street corner is a great little sandwich shop that does a nice breakfast at a cheap price, and you can order a sandwich to go for a lunch picnic for less than 5 GBP.

Anyway, our first morning, we dropped off our luggage and headed back for Victoria to catch the tube to the Tower of London. We had pre-paid for tickets, but found there wasn't much of a line in mid week, early May. Maybe later in the summer you need to buy ahead, but we didn't need to...but then, it didn't hurt anything, either!

Heading in to the Tower, we spent a few minutes getting our bearings, and then joined a Beefeaters tour. Although it was interesting and the guide had a great sense of humor, it wasn't as "absolutely fantastic" as I had heard from a friend...we may have done just as well touring on our own...an okay way to see the sights, but not any real surprises. Maybe I'm just too much of a pre-planning type to not have known the bits of history told by the guide!

What DID impress me was how friendly and courteous the Beefeaters are - they will talk to you, pose for pictures, and were just a delight! There was very little waiting - no lines for anything we wanted to see - just walked right in the see the Crown Jewels! I highly recommmmend an early May trip!

After spending a few hours there we headed out to find a double-decker red city bus, the #15 to St Pauls...where we found there was a service going on, so tourists couldn't enter...no problem - we just walked around a bit then caught #11 bus that took us through Covent garden, to Trafalgar Square. We walked by 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, the Parliament and Big Ben, to Westminster Abbey.

We took a tour of the Abbey -literally a walk through the history of England. It is so much a museum that you almost forget its a house of worship, but it is still actively used as a Anglican Church.

We would have stayed a bit longer, but we had reserved seats for the Tea at the Ritz, so we had to run! If eating with a pompous setting appeals to you - go for it!!! Really, the setting is exquisitely upper crust, and very casual clothing is frowned upon...but this is a lot of fun for those of us who have dreamed of Tea at the Ritz as a lovely treat to be anticipated and savored...and I loved every minute! I've been to teas where the food was skimpy and expensive, but at this epitome of teadom, food was plentiful and delicious, service was perfect, and we had a glorious time!

They treated the two of us lagging, jetlagged tourists so well that we didn't want to leave!!! But eventually we turned down refills of our teapot and sandwich trays. While looking at the dessert tray I mentioned that my favorite dessert is Creme Brulee. After sharing 3 of the desserts we were feeling pretty content...when our waiter showed up at our table with 2 small (utterly delicious) creme brulees! Talk about service!

Wow - I was so impressed, and stuffed, and dead tired! So we left the Ritz, took a stroll through Green Park passed Buckingham Palace, by Victoria Station and back to our room to retire for the evening! And that was the end of our first day of our 21 day trip!

Something is wrong with the URL for your photos..It won't let anyone view as they are not the owner!

Really wanted to see your pictures

I posted thiswhen I was too tired to get it right - sorry! and thanks for helping me out here, Janis and Moonbeam!

The correct URLs are
http://community.webshots.com/album/75531890ibhYyE

http://community.webshots.com/album/75530792STERNO

http://community.webshots.com/album/75529581VPvlBZ

DAY 2

Day 2 started with a walk along Hugh Street towards Victoria Station. We stopped at the corner for a cup of coffee and breakfast, and picked up sandwiches for lunch.
We went to Victoria Train Station to get the South Central line to Clapham junction then the Southwest train to Hampton Court. While waiting for the train, we were amused to notice the confusion near the restrooms...where the large picture figure of a woman is over the door to the men's toilet, and the figure for a man is over the ladies toilet!

The train excursion was included in the price of our 3 day Visitor Pass. We had also bought a Heritage pass before coming, and many of our destinations were chosen because they were included in the Heritage Pass. I highly recommend it - it saved a bundle of money, and also saved time as we walked right into attractions.

This was a perfect day - warm, bright sunshine...and ideal weather to enjoy the fantastic gardens of Hamptom Court. We loved the guided tours by customed guides and the bits of Elizabethan gossip! We picniced in the garden before moving on to see the magnificent Triumphs of Caesar murals in the Lower Orangery. We were the only visitors there - and the friendly guard shared the history of the paintings. No one else was there, and it seemed like a private showing of a rare and beautiful work of art!

But my favorite part of Hampton Court is the luxorious, formal privy gardens. If I could have only seen one palace or castle this trip, this would be the one I chose!

Mid afternoon we reboarded the train and then the tube to Kensington. We toured Kensington Palace. The displays in the state apartments were a glimpse into Georgian society.

The Gardens are worth exploring, especially the sunken garden. We considered eating something at the Orangery but neither of us were hungery, so we walked through the park, passed the Royal Albert Hall, and then to Harrods. Like most first time visitors, we had to explore the famous store!

We caught the tube for a quick trip back to Green Park, and walked around the park again.

an addendum to day 2 - see the restroom sign from victoria Station at
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/18368/photo1.html