Visiting London 1

On our first afternoon we could visit the Big Ben and see Westminster Abbey. The Weather was cloudy and there were some gatherings at the Westminster Abbey, so we just walked around a bit and back to Trafalgar Square to our bus. It was exciting for our first visit in London.

We really started to appreciate our hotel, especially the location and easy transportation. the beds were comfortable and bathroom a good size. It was surrounded by stores and restaurants. We forgot an adapter and could purchase one at good price from a close by electronic store.

Next morning we woke up to a rainy day and I had to adjust our itinerary. We decided to go to the RAF museum. After a quick breakfast at the McDonald on the corner, we took the tube to Swiss cottage, then a bus 113 to Hendon center, and then the bus 186 to Heritage Avenue, which was very close to the museum. We arrived before museum opening and waited about 10 minutes with other visitors, then in we went as they had opened at 10AM.

The museum is big and was interesting to visit, although it doesn't compare to Le Bourget  museum North of Paris (nothing compares to it really). I found interesting they had included some Canadian aviation history as well in the RAF museum. It was bigger than the aviation museum in Ottawa, but the Ottawa one is also a good museum. We spent our morning there and then took the bus back to Hendon Center where we had lunch at a Subway.

The choice of subs were different from Montreal. my Italian sub which I requested all dressed was good but they also included some corn and carrots, very strange mix to the rest of ingredients. Back home when we order all dressed, I don't expect everything in store, but each sub has a specific filling. Well, this is London I guess.

While we were having our lunch the weather has improved and we decided to take the bus 113 to the teminus, Marble Arch, to see more of London. Some patches were really typical English but many were so similar to Montreal, which is a mix of some older and modern architecture.

We crossed most popular shopping areas in Oxford Circus and neighbor streets. We walked a bit to Hyde Park, then decided to take the tube back to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey in good weather for walking and pictures. More gatherings around the Abbey and they even closed the street for Parliamentarians to cross the street to the abbey for commemorations of a recently killed member.
We just stayed away, as I don't like big crowds. But Big Ben was really nice and so was the Parliament building. we walked across the bridge for nice views, and just soaked up nice weather and atmosphere before going back to our bus then picked up big buns from Ribman at the Euston station, right across from the bus stop.

My husband also had some sauerkraut, which was not as good as expected. Our son didn't like the bread, but the meat was delicious.

Arriving in London

We arrived in London at 9h30 AM on a Sunday, cleared customs and got our luggage, then went to buy our Oyster cards. Well, they don't sell discounted Youth Visitor card at Terminal5, I mean why would they do so, it is arrivals/departs from Americas. At the kiosk they referred us to Terminal 3 which directions we couldn't find for a while. I finally saw an indication in small characters, not for exhausted by flight and excited tourists. We have finally located a small airport train which is free within the airport. We only had 1 stop to go, then, we could find the kiosk, although poorly posted and misleading indications to the other end of the tube access. Wow! Didn't think things would be that disorganized and so poorly posted in UK.

Anyhow, the good news the guy at this kiosk was an immigrant, very polite, and knew right away what I was talking about, so he calculated and programmed our regular Oyster cards and our son's with Young visitor 50% discount.

We then had a nice ride on the tube into London. The tube wagons are very clean although small. I had all information on hand, so we located the lift at Kings Cross and went out. then took a couple of minutes to figure out the best exit for our hotel and walked with our luggage easily. The hotel was really close around the corner and our room was ready although we arrived earlier. I had previously checked in from home, so this was fast from the counter, the machines didn't work. So that part was very pleasant.
Encouraged by our success we went out and took the bus 91 to Trafalgar square. This bus stops right in front of the hotel on return. The departure stop was easy to locate after my previous searches on Google maps. The hotel was nice and air conditioned, but the windows couldn't be open. The advantage of the bus was to see more of the city and have a better feel. I was really enchanted by the bus rides, with very clear displays and announcements of the stations and of course double deck.

when returning to our hotel we purchased some fish and chips and chicken from Ed's. Also I enjoyed our shopping at the neighbor Tesco. They had everything including OTC medicine, wine and great sausages, bread.

Fish and chips and chicken from Ed's Fish and chips.

 Fish and chips were delicious and huge.

 Chicken looked a bit anemic, but tasted ok and chips were good. We couldn't finish everything, too much food for the 3 of us.

 A Pub close to our hotel

Going to London for a few days

Our son wanted to see London and some of its sights and museums, in particular the RAF airplane museum. Me too I was curious. My husband had spent 5-6 weeks in London and Windsor in the past, so for him it wasn't that special probably. I had started looking for tickets for a while. I did look in previous years too, but there were always something happening in London, some big events, and I wanted to avoid big crowds, high prices. I finally was able to book a reasonable air fare with British Airways to London and out of Marseille.

Then I starter planing our 4 days in London and became quickly overwhelmed with all information on Oyster cards, 2for1 offers. Not by the things to see themselves. I booked our Eurostar connection to Paris as soon as they opened reservations and got the tickets for a minimal price. They still were expensive as our Canadian dollar sunk. I was reading forums and discouraged at times as the hotel prices were high and the reviews just scary.

I first thought to stay in vicinity of Victoria station, but numerous works and and construction labyrinths were rather discouraging. I found some budget hotels, but really that was scary, with rooms in the basements, where breakfast rooms are, dodgy views to dirty backyards and even mice in the rooms. Tiny bathrooms with glass doors and showers and narrow rooms with no standing up and  about 50 cm left on a side of the bed to move. We are not claustrophobic, but we are tall people. I couldn't believe I had to trade off a central location to get a decent, non luxurious room. This didn't help much for me to be excited about London. I finally booked a room at a Premier Inn in Kings Cross for our early departure by Eurostar.

Then all people I knew telling me London was no where as nice as Paris and rather like Montreal. Great, I had spent a small fortune to visit my home city! I still did a detailed preparation for our visit not to waste a moment of this expensive trip.

We were booked on a late flight, since not many BA flights are available out of Montreal. I could complete the online checkout 24h in advance and get our seats together. I had also reserved a child meal for our son. On the day of our departure and after browsing through duty free stores we went to Montreal NBC VIP lounge. NBC had exchanged our cards to World. After clearing security we went there and were admitted. It is a nice place, although rather small and with no view on planes, not sure why. They had food like sandwiches cookies and cake, but also soup, and most importantly an open bar including plenty of drinks and sparkling wine. Our son enjoyed free WIFI, we could watch news and relax. The bar and food were constantly refilled. The only downside were the toilets, small and dirty. Really? The public toilets across the airport were rather clean. This is something to work on I guess.

On our direct flight to London the seats were so narrow, I exclaimed when we entered the plane. A family in the front row from us also found really small the seats, especially as compared to Air France and Air Canada. For a Transatlantic flight this is really too tight (I reviewed the flights back home).

The flight was otherwise quiet and the service was good, with as much drinks as we wanted. No champagne, so Air France is superior. Delicious meal for our son with nuggets and mashed potatoes. Ok food for us, at least we had a first choice for some chicken.