July 10th, Sunday
Like I said on the last page - we started today with the best breakfast buffet in the world. Look at this ridiculous selection- and this is only one of the tables (the cold food) - you can also order. They'll make you an espresso, you can have an omelet, there are pastries, french toast, vegetables, fruits, yogurts (you get the idea) ... So.good.
The tour group meets at 2:30 pm so we have the morning to do whatever we want. And what we want to do is see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace - just a hop, skip, and a jump away through the park.
Green Park is just one block from the May Fair. It’s a lovely space, we stroll through it to the gates of Buckingham Palace. www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/green-park Even though we’re early, the middle section, where most of the action will happen, is already packed.
The tour group meets at 2:30 pm so we have the morning to do whatever we want. And what we want to do is see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace - just a hop, skip, and a jump away through the park.
Green Park is just one block from the May Fair. It’s a lovely space, we stroll through it to the gates of Buckingham Palace. www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/green-park Even though we’re early, the middle section, where most of the action will happen, is already packed.
We weren't the only ones with the idea to see the changing of the guard. During the summer months it only happens a few times a week - we just happened to luck out on timing. We weren't right on center but we did get a spot by the gates. We almost melted but it was totally worth it. Plus, we got to watch the guards yell at people who were behaving poorly and pet horses. We deemed it a complete, sweaty success!
I was surprised by the music. I thought the marching band would play all old stodgy music, like all military marches (and they did play a few) but they also played some pop tunes. It was really unexpected.
I was surprised by the music. I thought the marching band would play all old stodgy music, like all military marches (and they did play a few) but they also played some pop tunes. It was really unexpected.
The rest of the group is tired (and hot) so they want to go rest at the hotel before we meet for the start of the tour. I can’t help but notice that we’re pretty close to Herrod’s… So, the girls and I decide to hop in a cab. We don't want to miss this shop-portunity to see it, even though we'll only have an hour in the store.
I love trip planning and traveling and seeing new things. But it is a lot of work. And as we have been making our way around cities and subways and hotels and sites and navigating all of the issues and problems and thinking about every dinner and lunch and whatever, I'm starting to realize that most of my work is about to be taken away and handled by someone else. We will still get to make all of the decisions about what we want to do in our free time- but that's it. Everything else is handled. The whole Rick Steves portion of the trip is already planned. That means, this trip is perfect for everyone. If you’re a detailed over-planner, this is your trip. You can fill up your free time and plan to your heart's content. And if you don’t want to plan a single thing ahead of time? This is your trip. (That is also what makes this tour super easy with family groups. Decisions about logistics are already handled. Each family just has to decide what to do in their free-time. It's such a great, friction-free way for a group to travel.) All "problems" and, I'm sure there will be some, will now be handled by professional problem handlers: people whose official job it is to “take care of it.” And that person is not me. What? It's so magical.
Tour time!!!
We met in a room in the hotel and the tour guides, Bea and Saso, greeted everyone and spent a few minutes introducing themselves and discussing their vision for how the tour group will work and their experience with Rick Steves.
Both of our guides lead their own tour groups all over Europe, and have been leading groups for years, but Saso hasn't taken a group on this exact trip before (and he'll be leading it in a few weeks so he's learning this route from Bea). After they’re finished, we start with introductions for the other tour members. It’s really interesting to find out how everyone ended up choosing this tour. |
Our group comes from all over the country. Two of our tour members have been on this same tour before (with a different grandchild or child) and now they’re back for the same kind of experience with another child. With 10 people in our group, we’re the largest party (by far). There’s another group with 3 generations like us, (grandma, aunt, daughter, granddaughter) they’re one of three groups of 4 and there’s a family of three and a mother son pair. This is the “family” tour after all. I’m guessing most of the other Rick Steves tours have a lot more couples and singles.
The first order of business... is to get a “buddy”. Everyone finds one person who is not in their family group to team up. This is a low stress situation - you just need to confirm that your buddy is present any time the group departs on a new adventure. They’ve found that family groups are already going to make sure that everyone in their family is present. So, selecting a stranger assures that everyone on the trip is looking out to make sure every other group is also present. Plus, we all really liked our buddies and it was a fun way to -very briefly- get to know another tour member.
The second order of business was hopping on a vintage double decker bus and seeing the sights with an absolutely fantastic tour guide for the evening, Alex.
The second order of business was hopping on a vintage double decker bus and seeing the sights with an absolutely fantastic tour guide for the evening, Alex.
The tour took us all over the city. The guide was obviously a favorite as Rick Steves uses him frequently. He was very funny and gave really good information. I felt like we saw a lot of London and... that we learned quite a bit about London as well.
Dinner was great. It was our first opportunity to get to know our tour mates. There was a main kid table with Saso (some other kids paired off and sat in smaller groups) and the adults got a chance to eat together and enjoy each other’s company. Any group that wanted to sit on their own, or with their family group, could do that. But a lot of us just kind of naturally gravitated towards a big table group.
It was a good thing we got to experience the Admiralty pub when we did…. It burned down two days later. No one was hurt (and I’m guessing the Rick Steves problem solvers got to work finding another historic pub for the next tour group they’d be bringing through in another week or two).
www.google.com/search?q=the+admiralty+london+fire&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
www.google.com/search?q=the+admiralty+london+fire&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
After dinner we walked back to our hotel via Trafalgar Square and Picadelli. What a lovely way to experience more of the city and end the night.
July 11th, Monday
Trying out the French toast at the May Fair breakfast buffet. (Our tour guide recommended it as the best French toast in the world. It was good … but it couldn’t live up to the hype. We don’t fault the French toast. It was PART of the best breakfast buffet in the world after all).
The Tower of London.
There's a "Superbloom" going on outside the wall, which makes the outside of the Tower really beautiful with all of the color. Our guide (Bea) took us all to the entrance, and we all just got to go right in. I very much approve of this whole "no waiting" thing. Also, high on my list of "things I like" is when Bea shepherded us all up to where the jewels are on display so that we could see those first before the crowds arrive and then she gave us additional information on the other available options at the Tower compound. So easy. And there were big crowds by the time we were done so it worked out for us.
No pictures allowed in the jewel section, so we just enjoy the extravagance and spend quite a bit of time in line (the sublimely air-conditioned line - "thank you" Tower of London) joking about the gold spoon and duck decanter that we're about to see. The duck and spoon are used in the royal coronation ceremonies. By the time we actually see the "most holy" duck and spoon, they are blown WAY out of proportion. Especially next to all of the actual jewels and crowns and scepters and extravagant clothing and dishes.
There's a "Superbloom" going on outside the wall, which makes the outside of the Tower really beautiful with all of the color. Our guide (Bea) took us all to the entrance, and we all just got to go right in. I very much approve of this whole "no waiting" thing. Also, high on my list of "things I like" is when Bea shepherded us all up to where the jewels are on display so that we could see those first before the crowds arrive and then she gave us additional information on the other available options at the Tower compound. So easy. And there were big crowds by the time we were done so it worked out for us.
No pictures allowed in the jewel section, so we just enjoy the extravagance and spend quite a bit of time in line (the sublimely air-conditioned line - "thank you" Tower of London) joking about the gold spoon and duck decanter that we're about to see. The duck and spoon are used in the royal coronation ceremonies. By the time we actually see the "most holy" duck and spoon, they are blown WAY out of proportion. Especially next to all of the actual jewels and crowns and scepters and extravagant clothing and dishes.
They have a replica of the "most holy spoon and duck" in the White Tower - so I do actually get to take a picture of what they look like. (Even though these aren't the originals).
I cannot wait for these to be used in the up-coming coronation of King Charles. I will likely scream and point at the TV whilst reminiscing about the time we saw the duck and spoon in real time. |
More pictures of us walking around the Tower, the most ridiculous looking lion statue ever, lunch outside at the food trucks in the shade - (THANK YOU SHADE), and the Dragon from the White Tower!
After the Tower the whole tour group is supposed to hop on a boat tour of the Thames and then we all have free time for the rest of the afternoon and evening. But there’s an issue with the boat (and now we have a conflict because we’re supposed to be at Westminster to tour around). So- we leave the group and Bea gives us our boat tour tickets so we can see Westminster first and then take the Thames boat tour on our own after we’re done with our other plans.
We are quickly discovering how easy and flexible this trip experience is going to be. There's just so much room for any plans that you make on your own. You can adjust almost any part of the tour (so long as it isn't a time where everyone has to be leaving for another destination).
We are quickly discovering how easy and flexible this trip experience is going to be. There's just so much room for any plans that you make on your own. You can adjust almost any part of the tour (so long as it isn't a time where everyone has to be leaving for another destination).
Westminster Abbey- 30 British monarchs are buried here (But none since 1760 because of space issues). It contains the tomb of the unknown soldier, a memorial to Shakespeare (he’s buried elsewhere) and over 3,500 others (mostly men though there are quite a few queens, and some women), Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, David Livingstone, Charles Dickens and so many other interesting graves reside in the Abbey. We take an audio walking tour.
Some of us walk over to the London Eye and some of us take a cab (it's just barely over a mile away). It’s HOT, and in the middle of the day so, while there’s no relief from the heat- there are a ton of landmarks we want to see- like Big Ben and parliament.
And just behind us as we look over the Thames at parliament is the National Covid Memorial Wall. Started in 2021 it runs 500 meters along the Thames on the south bank. Volunteers cleaned the wall and painted 150,000 hearts- representing those lost to Covid at that time. Done without formal permission, people continue to use the wall, filling in the names of loved ones on the hearts and adding new ones.
The view from the London Eye was spectacular. I might have preferred to use this time to see the British Royal Museum or the National Art Gallery, but the girls wanted to do the Eye with their cousins so, this is the fantastic experience we collected instead (quickly followed by our boat tour up the Thames). We definitely needed another day in London (another month in London) it’s so massive.
And while Jim and Darlene found dinner closer to the hotel, there was another experience the rest of us didn't want to miss out on - eating Indian food in London. our guides recommended Brick Lane as the place to go and so we set off on a food adventure.
It was getting late by the time we were done but we got off one subway stop early at Piccadilly for some souvenirs and the girls wanted to see the street dancing again. So, we walked the last few blocks to the hotel. The evening temperatures are finally cooling down, but a cold shower was on everyone’s bucket list after this wonderful, long, sweaty day.
Tomorrow we meet early and leave for France.
Tomorrow we meet early and leave for France.