London with Fred & Maisie
Trip Start
Mar 05, 2008
1
83
107
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since we've written, but we've been pretty busy.
What an interesting trip over. We got to the Eurostar an hour early (like they told us to - because of the bike!), but they refused to let us through til about 30 mins before our train. Then they couldn't tell us which carriage we had to load it onto, and the train only stops for about 3 mins when it gets there! We flagged down some lady when it arrived, she said get onto carriage 10, they'll unlock the storage area for our stuff, then we could walk through the train to our seats (we were in carriage 3). The guy that came & opened up the storage area told us to go to carriage 14 instead, as it was closer. So we squeezed our way through all the 1st classies getting their dinner served, only to find that there were no seats in carriage 14! So we headed all the way back to carriage 3, only to find that there had been double bookings all over the place ... and there were already people booked in our seats! So the lady took us all the way down to the end of carriage 1 (we had now walked the entire length of the train!) and gave us the 2 seats at the end.
About 5 minutes later the train stopped & a family got on with about 10 tonnes of luggage ... and we were in their seats! So we had to move again ... after about 45 minutes of messing about, they finally found us 2 seats & we were able to enjoy the rest of the trip!
We got into St Pancras, figured out the tube system & piled all our luggage onto the train to Walthamstow, where we got off and rand Fred (Ian's uncle). Fred came & got us at the station & drove us back to their place in Chingford. Maisie (Ian's aunty) made us a really nice dinner and we settled into a long night of chatting away.
That weekend we all drove down to see the rest of Ian's relatives (on his dad's side). So apart from Maisie & Fred, I've now met Kitty, Joyce and cousin Patsy. It was really nice to finally put faces to the names I had heard so much about at home.
It was actually quite funny, because each time we walked up to someone to say hello, Ian always got the same response ..."Gosh, doesn't he look just like Terry!" So for most of the afternoon, then well into the night back at Fred & Maisie's, we talked about Ian's dad & what he was like as a kid, etc. We also saw a few nice family snaps too.
We stayed with Fred & Maisie in Chingford for just over a week, and were very grateful to have had a base to head back to after each day touring the city.
We saw and did lots in London during that time. These things included ...
Buckingham Palace (bit disappointed the Queen didn't pop out to say hi though)
Changing of the Horse Guards
A walking tour through the Tower of London & the Crown Jewels
Harrod's department store
The Tower Bridge
Royal Albert Hall & the Albert Memorial
Tour of Lord's cricket ground
Covent Garden
A night time walking tour of Jack the Ripper's crimes
The National Gallery (heaps of excellent artwork)
Madame Tussaud's Waxwork Museum
The 39 Steps (west end play - really funny, based on Hitchcock)
The Natural History Museum (big dinosaur display)
St Paul's Cathedral
The Millennium Bridge
Shakespeare's Globe & Exhibition (where they've rebuilt the old theatre)
National Portrait Gallery (portrait paintings & photographs of famous people throughout history up until recent times)
Hamley's Toy Store (massive store - about 5 floors in all!)
Jack the Ripper Exhibition @ the Docklands Museum
Wembley Markets (and a quick look at Wembley Stadium)
We've had a really great time so far ... and we still have so much to see!
We move over to Mark & Vanessa's place in Clapham for the next week, before heading off around the UK.
Comments
Wow...
You really saw a lot of stuff in London. It's always nice to have someone local show you around. Good show!
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager
How's the pommy weather
Hope you're getting a few nice days of weather over there. You must be kind of relieved to get back to a country where the signs just make sense. Hope the traffic doesn't get you down to much. If you haven't got the lakes District on your agenda then see if you can squeeze it in, and a play at the shakesphere theatre is always a good thing in Stratford upon avon. The new theatre to the right is great as you sit close to the stage no matter where you are. I'm sure you will go to Wales, the north is even better than the south. The great bike ride is on this weekend, Kim and I are doing the two laps (will make sure I take my water bottles). We're missing you both so hurry back.