In addition to the time I’d already spent alone with the girls in London, we spent five days as a family in London, and we still didn’t see everything we would have liked to see. I guess that means we need to go back! Ha! My heart says yes, but the bank account says, “You need to calm down.”
The TL;DR summary of this post: Our family's favorite activity in London was a tie between dinner at Dishoom and Afternoon Tea. Clearly, we’re all highly motivated by memorable food experiences.
FRIDAY
Chris finished up working on Friday. We drove from Crawley back to London, turned in the rental car at Heathrow, took the Heathrow Express train, and landed at Paddington Station, a convenient 5-minute walk from the hotel.
Friday was dedicated to a visit to the British Museum. The museum is home to many significant historical artifacts from all over the world (thanks to British colonization, and not without controversy). While the museum is free, reservations are recommended. I was incredibly grateful we had done so, as the line for those without timed tickets was long.
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This was Museum number 4 for the girls within seven days. I tried to make it fun by having them watch a YouTube video about some of the best treasures in the museum and choosing one item they were most excited to see. One of my closest friends had traveled to London weeks before and also shared a scavenger hunt she’d created for her kids. I was grateful to benefit from her spiritual gift as a travel goddess.
Adelaide’s favorite piece from the British Museum was the Lewis Chessman. This is a significant piece because it was one of the earliest medieval chess sets with bishops to be discovered (dated during the 12th century and significantly changing the game). It also provides a unique glance into medieval culture, and the intricacies of the facial features on the carvings show extraordinary craftsmanship. Evie loved the double-headed serpent (made of a stunning turquoise mosaic) and the mummy collection (so many mummies). Chris and I were both captured by the Rosetta Stone. The collection and breadth of scope are truly incredible. We were hungry after the museum and had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant, carb-loading in preparation for the weekend ahead of us :)
SATURDAY
We scheduled a full day for Saturday, and it ended up being my favorite day in London! The day began with 9AM reservations at Westminster Abbey. I was looking forward to Westminster Abbey, but I did not expect to experience such an emotional connection to the space. I cried four separate times while walking through the Abbey. I was deeply moved and awed by its spiritual & historical significance and the pure beauty of the craftsmanship and the stunning stained glass. We wandered through the Abbey for a total of 3 hours. First, we walked through using an audio guide tour, which was very well done. We ended the tour in Poet’s Corner, where I snapped a picture with C.S. Lewis’s memorial plaque. The plaque includes my favorite C.S. Lewis quote:
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." -C.S. Lewis
While I was getting a picture, they announced it was time for the 10 AM prayer. Everyone stopped, and a beautiful collective prayer was said over the loudspeaker (cue tears). After the prayer, we sat for a bit so that I could attempt to take the experience in. While we were sitting, they announced they were doing a family tour for anyone with children who wanted to join. The girls were game and asked if we could do it, so we went for round 2. It ended up being just us with a personal guide! Our guide was fantastic, explaining much of the significance behind various details throughout, and we were admitted to some special areas that were off-limits to the general public.
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After Westminster Abbey, we headed to the Churchill War Rooms. The War Rooms are the secret underground headquarters where Churchill lived and managed the war effort throughout WWII. This was one of Chris’s few requests for the trip. I wasn’t sure the girls would be into it, but Adelaide found it all very interesting, and we even had to move her along. Evie wasn’t as fascinated as the rest of us, but she did a good job. The visit gave me a new appreciation for the sacrifices made during WWII and the leadership capability of Winston Churchill. We left with a new family motto (and a coffee mug to prove it):
“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, sweat, and tears.” -Winston Churchill
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After the War Rooms, we walked through St. James Park to The National Gallery. I joked that our time in London could be called “Ducks, birds, and more ducks” because every chance the girls got, they chased the ducks and birds through parks while we walked from one attraction to the next.
The National Gallery has an enormous collection of beautiful and famous paintings including Monet’s Water Lillies and Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. I wasn’t sure that the girls would be as interested in this museum, but I was glad that they each found some favorites (and requested pictures with them) as we walked through.
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We finished at The National Gallery around 6PM. Starving after a full day of museums, I saw Dishoom was 6 minutes away and suggested we see what the wait was. I had seen several recommendations to visit Dishoom for their unique blend of Indian/Iranian food. Then, when my friend visited with her family and highly recommended that we try it, I was determined to see if we could handle the wait. The wait time was 40 minutes when we arrived, so we hopped in line.
This was, hands down, the best dinner of our trip. It was one of those magical moments when the stars aligned. The children were happy to try new and exotic things (foregoing the children’s menu, gasp!), each dish's flavors were remarkable and complementary to the meal, and we genuinely enjoyed being together. Evie asked if we could return the next night for round 2, and I seriously considered it. Looking back, I wish we had!
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After dinner, we went to Bilmonte for “the best gelato in London.” Adelaide and I got Strawberry gelato, which reminded me of the Strawberry gelato I enjoyed in Rome over 20 years ago. Approximately fifty pounds later, we jumped on the Underground and returned to the hotel.
SUNDAY
On Sunday, we had two things planned: laundry pick-up and a double-decker bus tour. Being gone for 15 days and trying to travel more lightly, we needed to do laundry once halfway through our adventure. Chris found a laundry service to pick up our dirty clothes, launder them, and return them to our hotel within 24 hours. Drop off at the hotel desk went smoothly, so we were off for the day!
Unfortunately, the double-decker bus tour was a bust thanks to a massive cycling event taking place all day: Ride London. At approximately 2AM, I received an email informing me that half of the bus stops were unavailable due to road closures. Cue travel drama! I'm not sure why they didn’t tell us this when we booked our tickets weeks in advance, but they didn’t. Picture showing up in Chicago for a double-decker bus tour, but it’s the day of the Chicago Marathon, so the streets are closed, and traffic is a nightmare. That’s what it was like!
SO! Instead, we walked around the city, did a Thames River boat cruise, and watched some of the cycling events. Watching the cycling, in particular, was a unique experience we didn’t anticipate having. We probably would not have chosen it if it hadn’t closed most of the streets, but it was definitely memorable and we all enjoyed it.
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Due to the Ride London event, there was no changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, so we took pictures outside of the gate. Our “ducks, birds, and ducks” tour continued with vigor as we lingered in St. James Park by Buckingham Palace. The girls started chasing pigeons, and a kind stranger gave them pigeon food (perhaps so they would stop terrorizing the poor pigeons?), and we sat and ate ice cream, enjoying the scenery.
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Dinner that evening was another family-style meal in Chinatown. Evie is the pickier eater of my two girls and has pretty strong preferences when it comes to…well…most things. Adelaide is generally up for anything most of the time. Traveling helped Evie become more flexible because she had no choice. This is one of the benefits of travel and something I was grateful to gain from this experience.
MONDAY
If you ask Adelaide what her favorite event of the entire trip was, it would be the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Both of the girls were PUMPED about doing this. Adelaide could have spent days here, but we had a strict 4-hour limit to catch our tour bus back to London (the studio is about an hour away by bus).
This opinion is unpopular, but I have struggled to get into the Harry Potter series. I finally finished the first book in preparation for our trip, and only because I had the Studio Tour deadline and wanted to see the movie in preparation for the tour. Chris has been reading the books with the girls and thoroughly enjoys them. Adelaide has read all of the books multiple times and is obsessed. I’m glad to have read Book 1 to connect with Adelaide on this topic, but I couldn’t appreciate all the details at the Studio Tour. I appreciated the deliciousness of the butterbeer. Adelaide’s enthusiasm tells me this is worth visiting if you love Harry Potter.
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We made it back to London by mid-afternoon and visited Regent’s Park so I could see Queen Mary’s Rose Garden. I could have spent all day here! The garden contains London’s largest collection of roses, with approximately 12,000 roses planted within it (Chris has joked that my phone has an equivalent number of rose photos, too). The girls were losing their minds, but Chris distracted them with ice cream while I tried to take in the beauty. This spot was so, so good for my flower-loving soul.
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After Queen Mary’s Rose Garden, we went to dinner at a historic pub: Ye Olde Cock Tavern, established in 1549. I loved thinking about the conversations these pub walls have overheard since 1549.
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TUESDAY
We enjoyed our final full English breakfast along with the Tower of London, Afternoon Tea, and a Double Decker bus tour (attempt 2) on Tuesday.
The Tower of London was established in 1078 and has served as a fortress, palace, and prison. It also holds the Crown Jewels, which we did see, although they do not allow pictures. Rick Steves told me to get in line for the Crown Jewels first, and I’m SO glad we did that. Rick was right, as the line was so long later that we would have had to skip seeing them. We did a Tour with a Yeoman, which provided interesting insight in addition to doing the Audio Tour. We spent 4.5 hours at the Tower of London and had to hurry out because we needed to make it to Afternoon Tea at 2. This was one of the most fascinating spots we visited. This was another spot where I kept imagining the things these walls have seen.
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We scheduled afternoon tea at The Cellarium Cafe at Westminster Abbey Tuesday afternoon as a final hat tip to our time in London, and a closing ceremony of sorts. We all agree this was a top highlight, which I was thankful for because it was pricey, although tea at the Cellarium was one of the better-priced options. I also loved having an excuse to go back to Westminster Abbey. Since returning home, Evie has become a tea aficionado and developed a daily tea habit. Pastries not included ;)
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Our final London adventure was a doubl- decker Big Bus tour. Our travel agent, Alexis, successfully got our tickets rebooked for Tuesday after Sunday was a bust, and it was fun scooting around London for one final time. The girls loved sitting up top and waving at countless strangers on the streets. They collected over 100 waves and we shared smiles with countless pedestrians :)
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As you can see from the length of this post, it’s hard to summarize such an extensive trip, but this captures the highlights of our time in London. There is still more to see and definitely more to eat, and I would love to return—hopefully, someday!