Just so we’re clear, I do NOT enjoy speaking about myself in the third person, but I had to use this title as an ode to one of my favorite childhood books. I remember reading it when I was little and hoping one day I would make it to the city of London, and now (many years later) I have accomplished just that!
After spending all night on a straight shot flight from Pittsburgh to London, I was not expecting just how quickly we would be beginning our driving tour. Before we had a chance to breath, we met up with Jan and David, our tour manager, and boarded our tour bus. While on the bus, our guide, who was also named Jan, explained a lot about the landscape and architecture as we drove through town. Before I knew it, we were pulling up to Buckingham Palace and hopping off for pictures. It was a beautiful to look at as I imagined, but its location was surprising to me. I guess I always assumed it was secluded, so I was intrigued to find that its actually by a number of other homes and attractions. As we were heading back to the bus, Cheryl pointed out that they were performing a smaller version of the changing of the guards, so we stayed and took a quick video before rejoining the group for the rest of the tour.
I was disappointed to find that the one tourist attraction I was most looking forward to seeing was under construction. The Elizabeth Tower, or Big Ben as most of us know it, was covered in scaffolding so it looks like I’ll have to start planning my next trip sooner than expected to see it in its restored state!
Our next stop on the ride was the Tower of London. We had much more time at this stop and were able to eat lunch and do a self-guided tour of the Tower. My first meal in the UK was at a chain restaurant called Wagamama where I got chicken and ramen soup. After filling up on the least British dish I could have gotten, we made our way over to the Tower to catch a glimpse of the Crown Jewels and get a nice view of the Tower Bridge. I’ve always loved the sight of this bridge because of its popular use in movies, so I was really excited to get to see it in person! Once we finished our personal tour of the Tower, we loaded ourselves onto the bus yet again, but this time to head to our first hotel of several on the trip.
The St. Gile’s Hotel was located in a fairly convenient spot, but we didn’t get to explore much as we had to prepare for a group meeting and dinner! I must say I was really looking forward to this meal as it would be my first authentic fish and chips in the UK (if you don’t count the UK in Disney’s Epcot). We powered through the meeting as we discussed using the Tube and our plans for the next day before making the twenty minute walk to the North Sea Fish Restaurant. The fish and chips was well worth the wait.
