wildflowersoul (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wildflowersoul) wrote2017-09-04 09:24 pm
wildflowersoul) wrote2017-09-04 09:24 pm
Last vacation entry!
Day 9- August 30 (Drew's b-day!). This was the only rainy day of our entire vacation. It started out just gray, got misty, then became a full-on downpour.
We started the day at the Tower of London. It was not crowded at all when we got there, so we basically walked right into the Crown Jewels exhibit, where West became obsessed with a sweet jeweled sword, then we walked all around the place and explored almost every nook and cranny. The biggest hit by far was the White Tower, with the armor exhibits. At the very top room of the tower, there's an enormous dragon made out of armor and weapons, and West lost his mind over how amazing it was. The dragon's name is "Keeper," and West could have stayed there all day looking at it.
After the Tower, we took a boat ride up the Thames to Westminster. Probably not a great call, since it was about noon, but I saw there was no line at Westminster Abbey and figured we could bang that sight out pretty quickly. So we went to the Abbey, but I'd forgotten how much it bottlenecks all over the place because so many people stop randomly to listen to their audio guide, so you get stuck in a slow moving line for the entire circuit around, so even if you want to glide through, it takes a while. Saw a pretty amazing tomb with an elaborate carving of a skeleton reaching up to grab a carving of a woman, saw all the royal tombs, and revisited Poet's Corner to quietly commemorate our engagement. West was super patient through the whole thing, even though I'm sure a tour of an old church filled with tombs isn't the most exciting thing for a kid.
Left the Abbey in search of lunch and had to wander in the rain until we stumbled on a pub. After lunch we wandered to the theater district so I could grab our will-call tickets for that night, and Drew went to a bookstore. We later reconvened at the hotel, fed West a peanut butter sandwich, then dived back out into the night for dinner and a show. We randomly went to a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown that was amazing, and I'm still obsessing over how good the food was. The broth was so spicy and good, and there was a conveyor belt with all the stuff you could get to put in the broth. Amazing!
Then West and I went to the theater to see Aladdin the musical. It was such a spectacle, really great sets and costumes. The music was a little meh, because there are basically 3 outstanding songs in the movie, and I think they had to make up a few original songs for the play to make it a true musical. West loved it, there's a part when Aladdin is in the cave getting the lamp where he touches some jewels that he's not supposed to touch, and the whole theater goes dark for a minute. There's another part where they set off confetti over the audience, and for A Whole New World the two leads get on a carpet that's rigged up to look like it's flying around. Totally worth it. Took a taxi back to the hotel at the end, and that's that.
Day 10- August 31. This was a tough day to plan because we had hit so many of the must-sees, and we were getting tired from so much non-stop action. We started the day with a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour, since we wanted to get down to the old part of the city and could get on the bus using our London Pass. We got down to the Monument area in time for a two hour walking tour done by London Walks. There were a lot of people on the tour, and while some parts of it were cool (like going through secret passageways through churches and secret gardens), it was a little too big of a group to really get into it, and so it wasn't as great as I'd hoped it would be. The tour guide also wasn't the most personable person, but eh, what can you do. West was really good for such a long walking tour. At the end of the tour it was lunch time, so we headed in the direction of a restaurant we'd looked up online that looked promising, only to arrive at it to find that it doesn't exist yet! It opens in a few months. So we wandered and found a Mexican restaurant that turned out to be good, and wonder of wonders, West agreed to eat a quesadilla.
After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum, which was bananas busy and crowded. It also wasn't air conditioned, and with all those people crowded in, it was hot. We saw the dinosaurs, which is what West really cared about, and he spent a while staring at an animatronic t-rex. Walked through their outdoor garden, which was quite nice and very tranquil (and had a surprise sheep!), then went back in, did a quick breeze through the mammals exhibit, then escaped.
Our last stop was the Princess Diana Memorial Playground near Kensington Palace. Aka, the best playground in the world. It was incredible, I only wish we had been able to squeeze in one more trip to it because it was so much fun for West. It has a huge pirate ship, a water play area, an adventure playground, an area with Native American tents, a secret tunnel to a music exploration area, a sensory garden, and a hidden little nook with a pirate treasure chest. Also has a kiosk selling kid-friendly food, so that was West's dinner sorted. Drew and I got Indian food take out and ate in our hotel room that night, and we watched some British tv while we packed and relaxed before the big trip home.
Day 11- September 1. Not much to report, went to Heathrow, in the plane we ended up sitting a few rows in front of an attorney from my work who was traveling with his family, got to Logan, got in our car service, and had a very loooong traffic-slow trip back to Salem.
That's the story of our vacation. It was perfect and amazing, I don't know how we can ever top it! West wants to go back to Warwick Castle, but man, that's chasing lightning, I don't know that a second trip could live up to the memory. But I'm already hoping we can do another trip to the UK sooner than ten years from now (Cornwall! Non-creepy Wales!).
We started the day at the Tower of London. It was not crowded at all when we got there, so we basically walked right into the Crown Jewels exhibit, where West became obsessed with a sweet jeweled sword, then we walked all around the place and explored almost every nook and cranny. The biggest hit by far was the White Tower, with the armor exhibits. At the very top room of the tower, there's an enormous dragon made out of armor and weapons, and West lost his mind over how amazing it was. The dragon's name is "Keeper," and West could have stayed there all day looking at it.
After the Tower, we took a boat ride up the Thames to Westminster. Probably not a great call, since it was about noon, but I saw there was no line at Westminster Abbey and figured we could bang that sight out pretty quickly. So we went to the Abbey, but I'd forgotten how much it bottlenecks all over the place because so many people stop randomly to listen to their audio guide, so you get stuck in a slow moving line for the entire circuit around, so even if you want to glide through, it takes a while. Saw a pretty amazing tomb with an elaborate carving of a skeleton reaching up to grab a carving of a woman, saw all the royal tombs, and revisited Poet's Corner to quietly commemorate our engagement. West was super patient through the whole thing, even though I'm sure a tour of an old church filled with tombs isn't the most exciting thing for a kid.
Left the Abbey in search of lunch and had to wander in the rain until we stumbled on a pub. After lunch we wandered to the theater district so I could grab our will-call tickets for that night, and Drew went to a bookstore. We later reconvened at the hotel, fed West a peanut butter sandwich, then dived back out into the night for dinner and a show. We randomly went to a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown that was amazing, and I'm still obsessing over how good the food was. The broth was so spicy and good, and there was a conveyor belt with all the stuff you could get to put in the broth. Amazing!
Then West and I went to the theater to see Aladdin the musical. It was such a spectacle, really great sets and costumes. The music was a little meh, because there are basically 3 outstanding songs in the movie, and I think they had to make up a few original songs for the play to make it a true musical. West loved it, there's a part when Aladdin is in the cave getting the lamp where he touches some jewels that he's not supposed to touch, and the whole theater goes dark for a minute. There's another part where they set off confetti over the audience, and for A Whole New World the two leads get on a carpet that's rigged up to look like it's flying around. Totally worth it. Took a taxi back to the hotel at the end, and that's that.
Day 10- August 31. This was a tough day to plan because we had hit so many of the must-sees, and we were getting tired from so much non-stop action. We started the day with a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour, since we wanted to get down to the old part of the city and could get on the bus using our London Pass. We got down to the Monument area in time for a two hour walking tour done by London Walks. There were a lot of people on the tour, and while some parts of it were cool (like going through secret passageways through churches and secret gardens), it was a little too big of a group to really get into it, and so it wasn't as great as I'd hoped it would be. The tour guide also wasn't the most personable person, but eh, what can you do. West was really good for such a long walking tour. At the end of the tour it was lunch time, so we headed in the direction of a restaurant we'd looked up online that looked promising, only to arrive at it to find that it doesn't exist yet! It opens in a few months. So we wandered and found a Mexican restaurant that turned out to be good, and wonder of wonders, West agreed to eat a quesadilla.
After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum, which was bananas busy and crowded. It also wasn't air conditioned, and with all those people crowded in, it was hot. We saw the dinosaurs, which is what West really cared about, and he spent a while staring at an animatronic t-rex. Walked through their outdoor garden, which was quite nice and very tranquil (and had a surprise sheep!), then went back in, did a quick breeze through the mammals exhibit, then escaped.
Our last stop was the Princess Diana Memorial Playground near Kensington Palace. Aka, the best playground in the world. It was incredible, I only wish we had been able to squeeze in one more trip to it because it was so much fun for West. It has a huge pirate ship, a water play area, an adventure playground, an area with Native American tents, a secret tunnel to a music exploration area, a sensory garden, and a hidden little nook with a pirate treasure chest. Also has a kiosk selling kid-friendly food, so that was West's dinner sorted. Drew and I got Indian food take out and ate in our hotel room that night, and we watched some British tv while we packed and relaxed before the big trip home.
Day 11- September 1. Not much to report, went to Heathrow, in the plane we ended up sitting a few rows in front of an attorney from my work who was traveling with his family, got to Logan, got in our car service, and had a very loooong traffic-slow trip back to Salem.
That's the story of our vacation. It was perfect and amazing, I don't know how we can ever top it! West wants to go back to Warwick Castle, but man, that's chasing lightning, I don't know that a second trip could live up to the memory. But I'm already hoping we can do another trip to the UK sooner than ten years from now (Cornwall! Non-creepy Wales!).