London Vacation: Day 6

I want to apologize for the lack in blogging lately. Part of it is the lack of motivation (but hey--London is pretty motivating, isn't it?!), but another part is work, and the last part is because I'm slightly addicted to the Twilight series. I have read 2 1/2 books in about 2 1/2 weeks. I'm not as addicted as Harry Potter, but I am definitely enjoying this!

Ok. So on to Day 6 for those who are still checking in...

On Wednesday, we decided to take a Big Bus tour around the city, and it started with a walk to Victoria Station. The streets were busy with people walking and driving to work. This was day 1 of the Underground Strike, and you could tell that people were not so happy with the situation.


Along the walk to the Station, we came across a lady selling tickets to the bus tour, so we took advantage of it and bought the tickets there. Now all we had to do was to get to Victoria Station and find the bus to get on. But also, there should be eating involved!!!


We found a McDonald's inside the Station, and grabbed some of their breakfast (they don't have McGriddles!). Afterwards, we walked around the corner of the station and found where the bus first stops to pick up the tourists.


There are 2 different options for the bus tour: the blue line, which has headsets you plug in and listen to the commentary as you drive by the spot; and then there is the red line, where there is a tour guide at the top of the bus, and you listen to them, and interact.


The bus stop we sat at for a while was crowded, but mom managed to find a couple from Missouri who were vacationing, too. They seemed to have a good time talking while rain fell around us. Mom was threatening to sit at the bottom level of the bus because of the rain, but I refused. I mean, I've sat at the top of the bus, uncovered, in November, getting soaking wet with rain. What's the big deal??? Oh yeah--I'm pregnant.


My sadness turned around when I noticed a blue line bus come up, with a partially enclosed top. I convinced my family that this was the way to go, because the top was empty. They obliged, and we hopped up there, grabbed the very front seats, plugged in our headsets, and got ready to go!


It was a drizzly, sometimes rainy day as we rode around, looking at the sites of London, and listening to the commentary of everything that had significance. One thing I am still baffled at is the amount of statues they have. There is a statue EVERYWHERE you look! And how many can you find in Dallas?


It was very enjoyable riding around, and just letting the world go by in some ways. Around lunchtime, we hopped off at Covent Gardens for lunch. We ate in this tiny restaurant, mom, dad, and I having hot chocolate with our meals (we were slightly chilly), and Cary having some hot chocolate. I can't remember all the food we had, but I do remember Cary having the Shepard's pie. He seemed to enjoy it, but the meat was lamb, which is not his favorite.


After lunch we walked around the shops for a little bit and I saw so many things that I 'wanted'...the only thing I remember now is a booth with beautiful black and white photography that I wish we took time out to look through. I could have bought a lot of stuff there!


When we finally decided to get back onto the bus, we chose to wait for the red line bus this time. And I'm glad we did. We got a very entertaining, young guy that we couldn't tell if he enjoyed his job or not. Maybe it was the 2 1/2 hour walk he had to work this morning due to the strike...either way, he was entertaining.


During the trip, what felt like towards the end but it really wasn't, London traffic came to a dead stop. Yet again, because of the strikes, the roads were really crowded and we hardly moved for a long time. We practically crawled along the last 3/4 (or more!) of the trip. But this is where the tour guide proved to be the funniest.


He told us about the red telephone booths that line the streets and let us in on an interesting secret: not all of the booths are real. And he proved it, too, when we were at a dead stop in the traffic and he saw a phone booth...he jumped off the bus, ran to the telephone box and checked it out...getting on the bus after we had moved maybe a foot and confirmed it.

Not long after that, more people got onto the bus, including...the couple from Missouri!

When a group got off at a stop, we noticed that the seats up front were completely empty, so we wanted to take advantage of the front row again. But it was a MESS!!! From the rain there were panchos, maps and ear plugs all around. Terrible. And of course, we know my mom...she couldn't stand it....she found a trash bag and started cleaning up! As a reward for her help, the tour guide gave her a map and head set...a very funny prize considering we already had 4 between all of us!

So not long after sitting up front and viewing London from this view, (nice and dry too!) we found a location that was close enough for us to hop off and walk to our hotel, where we dissasembled and then re-gathered after 30 minutes for dinner, where we walked to a steak restaurant. Mmmm! Even British steak tastes good!

After dinner we all craved a nice dessert, so we decided to hike out to Harrod's to see what kind of goodies they have. I remember from the first London trip that I saw a room of delicious looking cupcakes and cookies, and I was determined to have some! While walking, we crossed a really busy intersection. While crossing, we heard someone say 'Hey!'...when we turned to see who it was, we were lucky to see the couple from Missouri...again! We should have just stopped (in the middle of the street) and talked...how does one see the same people 3 times in a day, especially in a large, foreign country?!?

When we got to Harrod's, we had definitely walked off our dinner and anything else we had to eat earlier that day (it's a long ways from the hotel!). We found a gelato place in the food area and decided to give it a try.

Let me tell you this: IF YOU ARE IN LONDON AND CRAVE ICE CREAM, THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO: Morelli's Gelato!!!!

It was so delicious, so rich, and so many choices! Mom got a couple of scoops of regular vanilla and chocolate ice cream, dad and I got Hot Fudge Sundaes, and Cary got a Banana Split. I LOVED my hot fudge sundae: vanilla, chocolate, and caramel ice cream with a separate jug of hot fudge to pour on top....so good!!!

Mom's ice cream may have been simple, but she got the coolest spoon. It looked like a tiny silver shovel, which the waiter said was only available to buy from Italy. I will have to keep an eye out to see if they ever come to the US...and I need to find a picture to show everyone!

The evening was complete with a long stroll home (need I remind you how incredibly beautiful and cool London was this time of year? 65 degrees--at its hottest!!!) and then bedtime (but not before watching a little British tv!)