Sunday
We
arrived at Heathrow on Sunday Morning April 3rd. We took the train from
Heathrow into London. The train station wasn't that far from our hotel,
but far enough away that we decided to take a cab to the hotel.
When we got to our hotel we were disappointed to discover that we couldn't
check-in until 2:00pm. We had hoped that we would have been able to unpack
and take a quick shower before starting our day. We were both tired so
we decided to take a bus tour
of the city. When we got to Trafalger
Square we got off of the bus and went to the National
Gallery. By the time we finished with the museum it was close to 2:00
so we took the tube back to the hotel and check in. After, we took the
tube to Victoria Station where we picked up the bus tour again. That night
we ate at a Thai restaurant that was about a block from our hotel. I think
that it was the best meal we had in London.
Monday
On
Monday we headed over to the other side of the city to see the Tower
of London. I made the mistake of not buying our tickets in advance
so we had to wait in line to buy tickets. The last time I had been in
London I didn't have to wait very look to get into the Tower of London.
The line was only about 45 minutes long, but it was raining so the wait
seemed a bit longer. The Tower took up all of our morning and a good part
of the afternoon. After we finished we walked across the Millennium Bridge
to the Tate Modern Museum. Both Randy
and I like to make fun of modern art, although there were several pieces
that we liked. That evening Randy and I took the Jack
the Ripper Walk of London
Tuesday
We
started out the day with Big Ben and
Parliament. We then went to Westminster
Abby. The last time I was in London I walked right into Westminster
Abby, but this time we waited in line for close to an hour to get in to
the cathedral. The church was very crowed and on the parts that we liked
the best was the garden in the back of the church which only a few tourists
bother to see. We spent the afternoon seeing Agatha Christie's The
Mousetrap, the longest running play in London. After, we tried
to see the British Library. Unfortunately, my map had the Library at the
wrong location. Randy and I walked around for about 15 minutes looking
for the library before figuring out that the map was in error. We then
headed over to the British Museum. We got there just as the museum was
closing. I remembered that the British Library was opened later than the
British Museum so we asked someone at the British Museum how to get to
the library. The directions that they gave us were probably accurate but
needlessly complicated. The directions required as to walk quite a ways
to a bus stop and then take a bus to the library. It took us a while to
walk to the bus stop and then we had problems with the bus. When the bus
arrived I asked the driver if the bus went to the library. He told us
it didn't, but we later talked to people at the bus stop who told us that
the bus that just left did in fact go to the library. It started to rain
so Randy and I went back to the hotel. Later I discovered that there was
an underground station not from from the museum that would have taken
us to the library. That night we went to a Chinese restaurant near our
hotel. The food wasn't very good, the service was poor and I was so tired
that I didn't noticed that they over charged me for the meal until it
was too late.
Wednesday
We
started the day at the Science
Museum and the Natural
History Museum. We made a quick trip to the Victoria
and Albert Museum. We had lunch at a French crepe restaurant in the
area which was pretty good. We then headed over to St.
Paul's Cathedral. Along the way the metro stopped for about 10 minutes
due to some security issue. St. Paul's Cathedral was Great. We walked
all the way to the top of the cathedral for a spectacular view of the
city of London. We then took a tour of the crypt in the basement of the
cathedral. Next we went to the Courtauld
Gallery which has a number of excellent Impressionist paintings. We
then went to Buckingham Palace.
We were there for about 15 minutes when it started to rain so we headed
back to our hotel. That night Randy and I had diner at a Pub that was
recommended by the staff at our hotel. The place wasn't bad, but the staff
didn't give us very good directions. They told us walk down the street
a couple of blocks. Well, it was more than a couple and once we got there
we noticed that the pub was directly opposite a tube stop. Fortunately
it hadn't rained.
Thursday
On
Thursday we decided to go back and find the British
Library now that we had a chance to look at a map with the correct
location. The British Library was very interesting and I was happy that
we took the time to see it. We then headed over to the British
Museum. The British Museum is quite large and we spent a lot of time
there. We then headed down to Piccadilly
Circus and did some shopping at Waterstone's book store. By that time
Randy and I were both exhausted so we want back to the hotel. That night
we had diner at an Italian restaurant not far from our hotel.