areweindisneyyet
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
We caught a cab to Gare Nord to get the Eurostar to London. We needed to pass through security and immigration just like at the airport. You do both French and English there so that when you hop off in London you are on your way.
The majority of the trip is through the French countryside before the darkness of the tunnel and before you know it you are in London. It was funny seeing cars driving on the right side and being able to read and understand everything after three weeks of thinking really hard.
We arrived in London at 11.30am and got a cab to our hotel just off Kensington High Street. Our rooms were not ready so we headed to a small coffee shop called the Muffin Man for lunch, freshly made sandwiched and milkshakes. The breakfast menu had porridge, crumpets, toast and bacon and eggs so we ate breakfast here each day as it was on our way to the Tube.
We hit the High Street shops for a quick window shop. Back to our room and we changed and decided to take an hop on hop off bus trip of London for the afternoon to get our bearings and work out what we wanted to see. It took 3 and half hours to do the whole loop which was just fine. We had a great time.
The streets and stores were still decorated for the wedding and their were literally hundreds of port a loos at Hyde Park. We had noticed a pub on High Street called the Archangel that were doing Sunday roasts for 8 Pound and kids eat free - perfect. They offered chicken, beef, pork or lamb so two beef and two lamb it was with every vegetable imaginable and a yorkshire pudding. A couple of ales. Perfect. So was the dessert, I know the others had dessert but I had Lemon Meringue Tart that had a sliver of lemon jelly on top, and then like a cheesecake and in the middle was hard crunchy meringue, how this was made I do not know but it is my mid year resolution to find out.
Our next day we walked through Kensington Gardens, past the Palace to the Diana Memorial Playground where the girls had lots of fun playing on a pirate ship. We then went in search of Peter Pan and the Memorial Fountain. We stopped and had a coffee at the nearby lakehouse.
We headed towards Hyde Park corner and the Australian War Memorial, then Buckingham Palace. The roundabout and roads were still closed and the broadcasting booths were still in place however all the red carpet had been taken from the palace and it was actually a little disappointing.
We headed into the Royal Mews to see all the carriages which was fun. We then headed to Harrods - must do this again without DH and DD's who by now think that shopping is only for them. Damn - I knew it would happen one day. We caught a double decker bus from here back to the hotel.
Day Two - off to Madame Tussaud's after it was spotted from the bus, we had a fun couple of hours in here. We head to Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, looked for some Harry Potter sights around the place before heading to Westminster Abbey. I had always wanted to see this since I was little, I could never quite get my head around the layout. The trees were still inside from the wedding and Catherine's bouquet was on the tomb of the unknown soldier. We spent a lot longer here than I had thought we would. It was really wonderful and beautiful.
Then back to High Street for some proper shopping. Had dinner at the hotel.
Day Three - We went to ride the London Eye which was better than DH and I had thought and no amount of trying to persuade DD2 this was her main thing to do. We then visited the London Aquarium, I have been to many an aquarium in my day and I am hard to impress but I really was pleasantly surprised. A good few hours of fun for us all. After a lunch at a cafe nearby we boarded a river ferry from the London Eye to the Tower of London. Again, I had wanted to see it and it so exceeded my expectations. We were all completely entertained for hours. It was a great day out.
Day 4 - Our last day, we had breakfast, came back and packed up and checked out but left our bags. It was a bit rainy so we headed for the British Museum to see the Egypt exhibit - DD1 is studying this at school this term and was a gun on the Rosetta Stone on returning. The kids had really hit we are going home and were hard to keep going today. We had a long lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then we headed back to the hotel were we sat in the lobby for an hour plating and braiding hair for the trip home. with a quick freshen up in the hotel loos we got in our car transfer for Heathrow and home.
The four and a bit weeks away were magnificent. The girls had moments but not any different to what would happen at home. Their confidence grew and they amazed us with what they enjoyed and the questions they asked. We are grateful for the time that we had just us. Being in non English speaking environments that even in the quiet times TV was not the main form of entertainment. We played cards, talked, played games, the girls wrote in journals and we had some amazing conversations. This is something that we are so glad that we have done. The cost was large yes, but as the Mastercard ads say the memories are priceless. The gift of four weeks alone as a family without the distractions of life at home were just amazing. We took no mobile phones, checked email every four or five days and did not phone Oz once.
Thanks for reading along and letting me share with you all. I look forward to reading your trips, they make me feel like I am off somewhere else as well. I hope to share many more trips with you over the years.
The majority of the trip is through the French countryside before the darkness of the tunnel and before you know it you are in London. It was funny seeing cars driving on the right side and being able to read and understand everything after three weeks of thinking really hard.
We arrived in London at 11.30am and got a cab to our hotel just off Kensington High Street. Our rooms were not ready so we headed to a small coffee shop called the Muffin Man for lunch, freshly made sandwiched and milkshakes. The breakfast menu had porridge, crumpets, toast and bacon and eggs so we ate breakfast here each day as it was on our way to the Tube.
We hit the High Street shops for a quick window shop. Back to our room and we changed and decided to take an hop on hop off bus trip of London for the afternoon to get our bearings and work out what we wanted to see. It took 3 and half hours to do the whole loop which was just fine. We had a great time.
The streets and stores were still decorated for the wedding and their were literally hundreds of port a loos at Hyde Park. We had noticed a pub on High Street called the Archangel that were doing Sunday roasts for 8 Pound and kids eat free - perfect. They offered chicken, beef, pork or lamb so two beef and two lamb it was with every vegetable imaginable and a yorkshire pudding. A couple of ales. Perfect. So was the dessert, I know the others had dessert but I had Lemon Meringue Tart that had a sliver of lemon jelly on top, and then like a cheesecake and in the middle was hard crunchy meringue, how this was made I do not know but it is my mid year resolution to find out.
Our next day we walked through Kensington Gardens, past the Palace to the Diana Memorial Playground where the girls had lots of fun playing on a pirate ship. We then went in search of Peter Pan and the Memorial Fountain. We stopped and had a coffee at the nearby lakehouse.
We headed towards Hyde Park corner and the Australian War Memorial, then Buckingham Palace. The roundabout and roads were still closed and the broadcasting booths were still in place however all the red carpet had been taken from the palace and it was actually a little disappointing.
We headed into the Royal Mews to see all the carriages which was fun. We then headed to Harrods - must do this again without DH and DD's who by now think that shopping is only for them. Damn - I knew it would happen one day. We caught a double decker bus from here back to the hotel.
Day Two - off to Madame Tussaud's after it was spotted from the bus, we had a fun couple of hours in here. We head to Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, looked for some Harry Potter sights around the place before heading to Westminster Abbey. I had always wanted to see this since I was little, I could never quite get my head around the layout. The trees were still inside from the wedding and Catherine's bouquet was on the tomb of the unknown soldier. We spent a lot longer here than I had thought we would. It was really wonderful and beautiful.
Then back to High Street for some proper shopping. Had dinner at the hotel.
Day Three - We went to ride the London Eye which was better than DH and I had thought and no amount of trying to persuade DD2 this was her main thing to do. We then visited the London Aquarium, I have been to many an aquarium in my day and I am hard to impress but I really was pleasantly surprised. A good few hours of fun for us all. After a lunch at a cafe nearby we boarded a river ferry from the London Eye to the Tower of London. Again, I had wanted to see it and it so exceeded my expectations. We were all completely entertained for hours. It was a great day out.
Day 4 - Our last day, we had breakfast, came back and packed up and checked out but left our bags. It was a bit rainy so we headed for the British Museum to see the Egypt exhibit - DD1 is studying this at school this term and was a gun on the Rosetta Stone on returning. The kids had really hit we are going home and were hard to keep going today. We had a long lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then we headed back to the hotel were we sat in the lobby for an hour plating and braiding hair for the trip home. with a quick freshen up in the hotel loos we got in our car transfer for Heathrow and home.
The four and a bit weeks away were magnificent. The girls had moments but not any different to what would happen at home. Their confidence grew and they amazed us with what they enjoyed and the questions they asked. We are grateful for the time that we had just us. Being in non English speaking environments that even in the quiet times TV was not the main form of entertainment. We played cards, talked, played games, the girls wrote in journals and we had some amazing conversations. This is something that we are so glad that we have done. The cost was large yes, but as the Mastercard ads say the memories are priceless. The gift of four weeks alone as a family without the distractions of life at home were just amazing. We took no mobile phones, checked email every four or five days and did not phone Oz once.
Thanks for reading along and letting me share with you all. I look forward to reading your trips, they make me feel like I am off somewhere else as well. I hope to share many more trips with you over the years.
:-
idea:, I could chaperone). I wanted to open their eyes up to a big wide world with lots of things to discover. We have traveled Australia a lot, but it is also great to expose them to how others lived. Everywhere they went they looked for schools or for other children to see what they were doing. 
I hadn't read it before, and its the perfect TR for me, it reminds me of parts of our last, wonderful European trip and is a teaser for the next one 
