On Wednesday, we headed out for our day in London. I was the most nervous about this part of our trip. Taking two kids to the absolute largest city they have ever been to seemed a bit daunting. But, we had a blast and it ended up being one of my favorite days!
We drove to the tube station in a suburb of London, outside congestion and took the Tube into the city.
After Westminster Abbey, we admired Big Ben a little longer and then headed towards Trafalgar Square. The walk down Whitehall takes you past Downing Street, official residence of the Prime Minister. On this walk, you also pass the Horse Guards where Mounted Guards are on post at the entrance to St. James's Palace. The boys loved seeing the guards and posing for a picture.
Trafalgar Square is quite grand and filled to the brim with tourists and photographers. We took a minute to admire the fountains and sample the chocolate coins the boys earned from the kind people at Westminster Abbey.
We headed out towards our next stop: Buckingham Palace. On our way, we walked past the Admiralty Arch, down the Mall and beside St. James' Park.
We brought along our This is London book and Joseph loved reading about the different guards. He figured out that the guards on duty were Scots guards. How fitting!
As we walked towards town, we passed some roses from the garden at Buckingham Palace. I wonder how many beautiful flowers are behind that wall and barbwire.
We walked to a tube station and rode to Covent Gardens to have some lunch. We listened to a string quartet and then a vocalist, all while we ate some Indian food for lunch at Cafe Chutney.
The tube station at Covent Gardens does not have escalators so you leave by crowding on a large "lift" with other travelers which takes you up to street level. You can only leave the tube at Covent Gardens and can't get back on there so they urge you to walk the short distance to Leicaster Square station. We walked and enjoy window shopping, including a live yoga demo. Next stop: Picadilly Circus.
The boys were really impressed with all of the screens and we walked around a little bit before making our way to the bus stop to ride our first double decker bus.
We rode the Heritage 15 bus route, which is a vintage double decker bus and takes you past several London landmarks. James loves double decker buses and the boys were so thrilled to climb to the top and see the view!
excited to be on the train
ready for our big day!
Joey had our day planned out so we could see and do all of the big sights. One of my favorite parts was getting into the city at Westminster Station. After a long tube ride past Wembley Stadium and London suburbs, we emerged from the underground to be right at the base of Big Ben. What a fun introduction to the city!
London Eye in the background, Big Ben, Parliament, Double Decker bus and cute boys!
I couldn't stop taking pictures.
Our first stop of the day was Westminster Abbey. I had been before but Joey really wanted to see it and the boys were actually enthralled by the whole experience. Joseph took our listening guide and could type in a number for it to tell him about a particular section of the Abbey. No picture taking inside but we saw lots of lovely monuments to people from Isaac Newton to C.S. Lewis's recently installed memorial. We walked where queens were coronated and royal weddings took place.
Buckingham Palace. The Queen is home!
Kate and her two princes in front of the Palace
We walked to a tube station and rode to Covent Gardens to have some lunch. We listened to a string quartet and then a vocalist, all while we ate some Indian food for lunch at Cafe Chutney.
The boys were really impressed with all of the screens and we walked around a little bit before making our way to the bus stop to ride our first double decker bus.
passing a bus similar to the one we were on
the Waldorf Hotel
The Royal Courts of Justice
St. Paul's Cathedral
The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge
happy James
We loved riding the double decker but had an unfortunate ending when we arrived at our stop. Sweet James tried to walk down the skinny side of the stairs and took a big tumble. He landed on his face at the bottom of the bus. Thankfully, he was fine but it was hard to tell that from all the blood coming from his lip and nose. The kind bus driver and a passing Englishmen offered to call an ambulance but, fortunately, it wasn't necessary. We were practically at the end of our day so we decided it was best to hop on the tube and head home. Joey had me take pictures of the Tower of London, since that would have been our next site, before heading on our way.
Tower of London
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