We have been aching to go on a big trip again. Right before we went on our last big trip, the first Covid case in Oregon was discovered. We were so worried that we wouldn't be able to go or that we would get stuck in London. We got lucky and were able to make it there and back! Then the day after we got home our school district announced that the kids wouldn't be going back after the weekend. Our kids have been home ever since.
Although London still isn't open for U.S. travelers, it doesn't hurt to dream. Here are some of our favorite things we did while we were there last March:
Food Tour:
One of our favorite ways to get to know an area and its history is going on a food tour. It's no secret that we love anything with good food involved, but when you make a food tour one of the first things you do in a new place, it also gives you an area to go back to where you know there's food you want. We always tend to find other places we want to try that aren't part of the tour as well. We usually end up pretty full and just need a lighter snack that night instead of a full dinner. On this trip, we booked our food tour through Secret Food Tours. Our tour was the London Bridge tour and covered Borough Market which is one of London's oldest markets, dating all the way back to the 12th century. If you haven't ever had sticky toffee pudding, make sure you get some! We had it for the first time on a trip to Ireland and were so excited to see it on this tour.
Plays:
I will go see a broadway play any chance I get, and Ben is a good sport about going with me. I think he even enjoys them a little. Sara Bareilles happened to be doing limited-time performances in the play Waitress while we were there. We somehow accidentally got second row, far left tickets, but it was still amazing to see her. We also saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is split up into two parts. Ours were two nights back-to-back, but I believe some tickets are available for a matinee and nighttime performance with a few hours break in between. It was a great play and we loved the first night a little more than the second one.
A Little Bit of History:
I am a sucker for history, so on our way to visit the Tower of London, we stopped at St. Dunstan-in-the-East Church Gardens. It was mostly destroyed in WWII, but it has a little waterfall and garden which were a fun little pitstop between the London Bridge and Tower of London. The Tower of London is a castle full of history and worth a visit. You can also see some of the crown jewels, royal mint, and there are royal guards posted outside of a couple of the buildings. There are free tours by the Yeoman Warders, but they ended up spacing them out a bit far so we opted not to wait. Like I said, if you are interested in history, it's worth a stop.
Emirates Stadium:
One of Ben's dreams is to go to an Arsenal game. That was one of our big reasons for going to London. We really did try. First, we got scammed on tickets, so we planned to just try to find scalpers outside on game day. Then Ben got a case of food poisoning in the midnight/early morning hours leading up to game day. We also were woken up early to the fire alarms going off and had to evacuate the hotel. While Ben had food poisoning. Fun times.
So, we didn't make it to the game, but we were able to make it to Emirates Stadium the next day and for a stadium tour. It was exciting to tour the stadium, but it did make us even more bummed that we missed the game. Game tickets are extremely hard to get- beware of scammers! We both had a feeling something was off when trying to buy the tickets, but Ben was so excited and let that blind us a little.
Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios Tour:
The Harry Potter Tour at Warner Brothers Studios isn't too far outside of London. We always get subway tickets in big cities. From the subway, we were able to get on a train and then had purchased tickets to take a double-decker bus to the studios. If I remember correctly, I think it was about 1 -1 1/2 hours to get there. This was pretty awesome! We were able to walk through some of the sets and see some of the props and costumes. And, of course, there was butterbeer. If you are even a little bit of a Harry Potter fan, I recommend it. Tickets cans sell out quickly, and we almost didn't get any even when we booked a few months in advance.
Food worth mentioning:
My favorite meal in London was Padella back at Borough market. The pasta was delicious. You need to get there right before they open and there will be a line. The restaurant is small, but they are quick. Definitely worth it and I almost made Ben go back.
One night Ben and I found the world's first cheese conveyor belt restaurant. The Cheese Bar was really close to the plays we went to and is located in Seven Dials Market (like a food hall). We love cheese. There are several different options (including cheesecake), you pay per plate, and if you don't get full there are a bunch of other food options all right there.
On our last day, we went back to Borough Market and decided to try some empanadas from Portena. They were so amazing, we went back for more. We wished we had found them sooner!
Where We Stayed:
For most of our trip, we stayed at London Marriott County Hall. It was right by the London Eye, and we had a view of Big Ben (which happened to be under renovation) and Westminster Abbey. You can see the view from our room. We are Marriott members, so we were able to use our points and upgraded to a suite. Another nice thing about being a member is that we were able to get breakfast, "appetizers", desserts, and drinks from the member's lounge. Sometimes we didn't want a full meal, so this was great.
On our last night we stayed over by Tower Bridge at The Dixon, also owned by Marriott. We didn't have our suite, but we would definitely stay there again.
With Ben getting sick and losing a day, we really want to go back again soon! Especially because we need to get that Arsenal game in!
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