Since we are not likely to get tickets to 2012, we decidednto pay an advance visit to her Majesty the Queen in the UK. We got ourselves some very affordable Ryanair tickets from Zaragoza and went for a little tourist action in London. (To see pictures from our trip, just click on the Big Ben)
Itinerary
Friday, March 11
Left Zaragoza mid afternoon and got to London at about 4 pm.
Got to our Marriott hotel to relax in a very spacious, by London standards, room. The hotel is located in Swiss Cottage, has a very nice pool and must have been renovated in the last few years. Very nice.
Auntie Glenda was waiting for us at the hotel already. She got to the UK a few days earlier so we planned to spend a bit of time together. We had dinner together at the hotel (menus in english! And dinner served at 6!) and made plans for the next day. Of course, much of the evening we spent watching TV about the Japan earthquake, horrible, horrible situation. Having lived very close to the Chernobyl disaster in 86, I could imagine the stress everyone was under to fix the nuclear situation. Still to be continued...
March 12
We got up really early (not because we did not want to sleep in, but because the girls were demonstrating the reality of 1 hour difference between Spain and the UK), went for a swim in the hotel pool and took the subway to the Parliament buildings. It was a beautiful sunny day, so our tourist expedition was to be marvelous. We stopped by the Westminster Abbey (did not go inside), had some breakfast at PRET (coffee shop chain with amazing quality products and brownies) and then we went to the South Kensington station to the Natural History museum.
The lineup was decent and the museum - fabulous. Best of all, it is free. We saw dinosaurs, live animal show about animal sight, mammal exhibit and, of course, the gift shop where Auntie Glenda treated the girls to a keepsake.
After the museum we met my boss Brian, went for a walk to the Prince Albert monument, which was newly restored, and then for a fab lunch at the Whole Foods.
By that time we had done plenty of walking and were getting quite tired, but given the weather was very nice, we decided to go to the London Eye ferris wheel.
We were lucky with a short lineup, so we got our tickets, saw a 4 D show of the eye (it was a short movie with 3 D glasses and real snow) and then we went onto the eye. The eye rotates every 30 minutes - enough time to get a fantastic view of London. All of us loved the experience and the 52£ was worth it. After the 360 panoramic overview of the city, we had about 0 energy left and kids, having done amazing, were ready to turn into pumpkins. We stopped at Tesco for some groceries, said good bye to Glenda and took the tube home.
We even did not go for dinner, as this would have required walking, which was unthinkable. So with a bottle of wine, grapes, cheese and a few drumsticks from KFC we celebrated our evening #2 in London. Cathy and the kids went to sleep, while I decided to maximize the day and do additional stress-test on my feet and took the tube to the Tate Modern museum. I had 1.5 hours there, which was amazing. Some big names at the museum: Kandinsky, Monet, Pollock, Rothko and many others. And lots and lots of modern exhibits, which always inspires me to do some more painting. I got home about 11:30pm and went into a coma.
March 13
We started the day with our traditional swim in the hotel pool. By 9am we were on the tube heading back to town, starting at Bond and Oxford street, where we handily got ourselves a Starbucks and some light breakfast. After that, we headed off to the Tower of London. By that time it started raining, so the mood for the tour was set. We started with Yeoman telling all the wonderful stories of the fortunate guests of the castle and their unfortunate endings. Made us appreciate the more civilized times we live in...
The Crown Jewels were AMAZING! We did a couple of rounds to see them. Kids were in awe, so were the adults. The masterpieces, the wealth, the craftsmanship and all the tradition on display. Nice to see that some of such old traditions are still well in use.
After we checked out the vistas of the London Bridge with the girls singing the "London bridge is falling down", we could not resist a quick Subway lunch. It still tasted the same, and, given it was my staple food for the last number of years in Canada, I must say I miss it. So it was a treat.
After the Tower we took the tube to the Victoria & Albert museum. We did not spend much time there, but did stop in their tea room.
A special note of apology to Glenda. Glenda suggested that the dining room at the V&A was excellent, which I readily dismissed and said it could not be better than cafeteria food, but that indeed was not true. They had a full spread, which all looked marvelous. We had afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream, preserves and tea. Thanks Glenda for your great advice.
Next, off to the Science Museum, which was also free. We spent time in the hands-on experiments area for kids. A bit similar to the science world in Vancouver, just much larger. They had a whole section on space exploration, similar to the Smithsonian exhibit in DC. I went on a 4D simulator ride to the moon, which was quite fun.
After the museums, the family headed back to the hotel and I went for a bit of shopping down Oxford street. We met back at the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant there. My first steak in 5 months... So enjoyed every bite. Wine, on the other hand, more expensive and less variety. So guinness was the order of the day. The kids had nice kids meals which came with very nice chocolate deserts, which adults enjoyed just as much.
That night we watched a bit more news on Japan and off to bed.
March 14
We got an early sub and train to Stansted airport. The day was sunny and warm. We landed in Zaragoza a few hours later to a cloudy and rainy day. The whole week after our trip was windy, rainy and relatively cold. But the sun is now out and temperatures are back to the Spanish standard.
We loved our trip and surely will visit the Queen again. After 2012 rush is over.
P.s. Lots of public works on the subway, many stations closed due to improvements. You can surely see London getting ready for the games.
Anatolijus and family
