Open-Top Bus Tour of London!

Day 5 

On Thursday morning, I woke up early, went into the cozy little kitchen area, and boiled some water for tea, in Rachel's electric kettle.  Breakfast for Nuno and I, consisted of tea and leftover Victoria sponge cake! 

I went to tidy up, gather our things, and pack up our suitcases because we would be out most of the day with Morwenna and Nathan, touring London on a double decker tour bus!  I wanted to leave everything ready to go before we left, so that we could enjoy the day without having to worry about packing when we got back.  After all, our train was departing at 6 pm, and we had to squeeze in all of London before then!

Morwenna and Nathan met up with us at Piccadilly Circus at 9:30 am.  We had previously purchased tickets with the Original Bus Tour company, thanks to Morwenna's great idea!  I'm so glad we did the tour as we could hop on and off as we wished and only saw the things we wanted.  The tickets even included a river cruise on Thames River!  Won't you come along with us? 

We were exceptionally lucky, because the weather was FABULOUS!  The sky was blue, and the sun was shining!  I truly wasn't expecting this glorious weather in London!  But, boy was I happy!  It was perfect for sitting at the top of the bus and taking photos.

The first place we hopped off at, was Buckingham Palace.  I remember being a young girl, and fantasizing about visiting this place one day.  This dream of mine had derived from my love for Princess Diana.   When I approached the gates, I thought of Catherine and Prince William, and how only a few months ago,  they were right here, celebrating their wedding day!  

 Anita really wanted to see inside the palace, but when we got to the line up, it was immensely long and there would be at least an hour's wait just to purchase tickets.  We decided against it, as it would take at least another hour just to tour the palace.  We will save it for another time, when our stay in London is not so short. 

Here we are, standing in front of the palace gates

The majestic iron gates surrounding the palace.  

The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

Our view of Big Ben and the parliament buildings from the top of the bus

Isn't it gorgeous?

This is the Big Ben clock tower.  Did you know that "Big Ben" is actually the name for the large, 14 tonne bell, and NOT the tower?   Even knowing so, everyone still calls the tower, Big Ben.

Okay, this is the last one, I promise!

Here are Morwenna and I, inside a telephone box!  I mean, seriously, I couldn't get enough of these while I was there.  Can it get any more "London" than this??

This is the London Eye.  It is the world's tallest observation wheel, with views of the entire city of London.  We did not attempt it, because most of the Canadians were too chicken!

Here we are again, Houses of Parliament behind us.

I had to sneak this one in, too.

 

At 11:45, we boarded a ferry for our cruise on the River Thames.  Here are sweet Morwenna and Nathan, seated on the boat, with the London Eye behind them.   

The London Eye, view from the boat.

The London Bridge

The London Bridge, over the River Thames

I thoroughly enjoyed the River cruise.  Our tour guide was very dear and informative.  Unfortunately, I can't remember his name.  I think I can speak for all of us when I say, we had a blast!  The weather was perfect, dare I say, even hot!  Next, we decided to stop for some lunch.  

We ended up at a gourmet burger joint, close to where we exited the cruise.  Here are Annabel and Anita enjoying their milk shakes.

Just look at the size of this baby!  I have to say, this burger had gourmet written all over it!  I loved the melted Stilton cheese, smokey bacon, and delicious house relish!

The four of us, about to savor our juicy burgers.  The fries came shortly, thereafter.

Lunch was incredible!  We were all very satisfied.  The conversation was great too!  We felt so comfortable being here with Morwenna and Nathan.  They were so friendly and accommodating.  We were truly blessed to have them share the day with us.  I am so thankful to them for coming from so far (2 hours away!) to spend the day with us and make us feel welcome.  Words cannot express our gratitude!!

We got back on the bus and stopped off here, for a peek at the stunning Westminster Abbey!

It was at this very church, nearly 5 months ago, where Kate and Prince William were married!

And that concludes our tour of the City of London.  Due to our time constraints, we weren't able to go inside the buildings, as we tried to see as much as possible, in the limited hours we had.  I think we did very well, indeed, don't you?  We'll have to return to London again one day, to revisit places like the Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, but we will need several days to see it all! 

Morwenna and Nathan took the bus with us, all the way to our stop.   Thankfully, they walked with us and helped us find our way to the flat, where we said our goodbyes .  I will always treasure that day, our first encounter and our time spent together.  It was truly a dream come true!

Nuno, the girls and I, are so grateful to Morwenna, Nathan, Rachel, Paul, and Nuno's aunt, uncle and cousins, for extending their hearts to us while we were in London.  How wonderful it was to feel so welcome in a city we have never visited before.  We were never left alone, from the minute we arrived, to the minute we departed.  Rachel was there to welcome us, and Morwenna and Nathan were there to say goodbye.  Thank you, so much, from the bottom of our hearts!  You and London have stolen a piece of our hearts!  XOXO

Next Stop...London Town!

Day 4

On Wednesday morning, we woke up bright and early to get ready for our train ride to London, England!  Why did we decide to visit London, you may ask?  Well, first and foremost, two of my dearest friends, Rachel and Morwenna, live in England.  We met on-line through twitter and became friends and pen pals, nearly 2 years ago!  Secondly, Nuno's aunt, uncle and cousins live in London.  Nuno hasn't seen his aunt & uncle since childhood and the girls and I have never met them!  And lastly, I've always wanted to see London, the Big Ben clock tower, and those red telephone booths!  

We arrived at Paris's Gare Du Nord train station at 7:15 am

Just like at an airport, we had to check in, go through security, show passports and wait for our boarding call

The girls and I, just about to board the Eurostar train to London!

Now before I go on, I must tell you that this train ride and our overnight stay in London, almost didn't happen!  Can you believe it?  We had purchased our tickets weeks ahead of time, arrived at the airport early, we didn't forget anything, everything was perfect, and we were SO excited! But things weren't as perfect as they seemed!

Shortly after sitting down in our seats, I went into my bag, the one you see in the photo above, to put something away (I can't remember what), and out of habit, I searched around to make sure our money wallet was safely tucked inside.  Well, what do you know, the wallet was not in the bag, where it is always is and should have been.  We knew the wallet wasn't in the large suitcase and the only other place it could be was in the black bag.  But it wasn't there!!  Nuno said, "We have to get off this train!  We can't go to London without any money!".  I felt like I had no strength in my body and I was in complete shock.  I thought of Rachel, Morwenna, Nuno's family, all waiting for our arrival.  And now, with only 5 minutes left until departure, we had no money, and we were going to miss our train.   And to make matters worse, we had all of our euros, pounds, and canadian dollars in the missing wallet! 

I told the girls, "Get up, quickly, we have to go!".  The poor girls didn't even realize what was going on.  I knew that the chances of finding a wallet full of cash would be slim, let alone finding a wallet within 5 minutes, before our train departed.  By this time, Nuno was already off the train, with the large suitcase, waiting for us.  The girls and I walked quickly down the aisle, and then I heard the voice of a gentleman, "Excuse me?  Is this yours?"  Words cannot tell you the relief I felt, there it was, in front of me, the large, black wallet in the hands of this saint!  I yelled out, "Nuno, it's here, it's here!".  He came back inside, we thanked the gentleman so much.  He said he found it on the floor.  

I still don't know how the wallet came to be there.  All I know is that thanks to that gentleman's honesty, we remained on the train and departed shortly thereafter.  A woman sitting next to us, in her European accent, said to me, " Now, it's time to drink some champagne!".  I laughed, and agreed, still shaken up from the whole incident.  The gentleman who found the wallet, said this has to happen at least once in everyone's lifetime.  I just hoped that was the first and last time.

 

The train ride from Paris to London, is only 2 hours, 15 minutes.  The actual time spent in the under water tunnel is 19 minutes.  It was quite an experience, knowing we were traveling in a train, under the sea bed!  

Our arrival at St. Pancras Station in London!!

A close-up of the beautiful bronze sculpture - "The Meeting Place", by British artist, Paul Day.

As soon as we arrived, we went outside to wait in the line-up for a taxi.  The sky was blue and the sun was shining!  It wasn't very long before we were seated in a London taxi, and on our way to Rachel's flat in London.  My dear friend Rachel, and her husband Paul, were so gracious to offer us their beautiful flat to stay in for the night.  We are ever so grateful to them for their hospitality!  

I couldn't believe it when I first saw her standing there!  And, of course, we hugged and said hello!  It was funny because we had never met in person, but it felt as though we knew each other so well!   It was all so surreal and I couldn't believe I was there, in the same city, in the same room, as Rachel. We put our things away, sat, talked and drank some tea.  Rachel was every bit as dear as I knew she would be.  Soon after, we went out onto Marylebone Street and Rachel became our official tour guide for the remainder of the day.  Here are some photos we took along the way...

A traditional London pub

Annabel and I, standing in front of an old post box.  I believe this one dates back to 1901-1910.  We know this because of the ER monogram on the front - ER for Edward Rex VII

Lovely architecture

The Dominion Theatre

Rachel & I posing by a red telephone box! 

A peek into Neil's Yard, Covent Garden

Seating area in Neal's Yard, so bright and colourful.  I loved passing through here!  Rachel and I bought some special rose forks and spoons in a cute little shop, called RICE. 

We stopped for lunch at Kopapa restaurant, owned by one of Rachel's friends, Peter Gordon.  Rachel and I ordered this delicious assorted platter with grilled chorizo, olives, chillies, and sweet potato tortilla.  It was excellent.  Nuno had the New Zealand lamb, which he absolutely loved!

Covent Garden Station

Annabel was the star of the show, helping this talented, hilarious street performer with his magic act!

"A small piece of Canada, in the heart of London"

Beautiful Trafalgar Square 

King George IV statue in Trafalgar Square

Lord Nelson's Column

A peek at Big Ben, in the distance

Standing in front of the fountain

The girls inside the mammoth M&M store

London's China Town

Here we are,  taking a taxi back to the flat to have some cake and tea!

This is the beautiful Victoria Sponge that Rachel baked!  Isn't it wonderful?!  Two layers of moist Victoria sponge, sandwiched together with delicious butter cream and raspberry jam, and sprinkled with sugar.   It made me feel so special, to know that this cake was baked with so much love, carried in a tin, on the train, just for me!  Thank you so much dear Rachel, it was absolutely delicious!!

A special moment...two friends sharing a cup of  tea and a slice of cake...just like we always tweeted about!

After our tea and cake, Rachel and I still had some time before our dinner meeting with Morwenna.  So, Nuno stayed with the girls, while they watched The Railway Children, and Rachel and I went shopping, of course!  And where did we go?  Where else, but...

and

And soon thereafter, it was time to go for dinner and to finally have the pleasure of meeting our dear friend, Morwenna!  Rachel had made dinner reservations at the Golden Hind, 73 Marylebone Lane.  It is a popular fish n' chips restaurant, one of the best in all of London!  

Drum roll, please...

And here we all are, seated together!  It was wonderful to finally meet Morwenna. She was so lovely and radiant!  The fish and chips was delicious!  And, I tried mushy peas, for the first time ever.  Morwenna and I enjoyed them.  Rachel, on the other hand, did not want mushy peas, as she she said, if she wants the peas mushy, she will mush them herself! LOL!!

I don't think we realized a photo was coming!

The time the three of us spent together was short, but sweet.  I had to say goodbye to Rachel after dinner, as she still had to take the train back home.  I felt a pang of sadness having to say goodbye.  We had only just met, and already we had to say goodbye. But, in my heart of hearts, I know we will meet again one day, here or there.  Our paths will cross again! 

Morwenna and I said goodnight, but only until the morning, where we scheduled to meet up at Picadilly Circus at 9:30 am!  More fun London adventures to come on Day 5,  on the London bus tour with Morwenna and Nathan!  

My evening was not over, though.  After dinner, Nuno's family picked us up and brought us to their home.  I really enjoyed meeting Nuno's aunt and uncle and seeing Ricardo and Hugo (Nuno's cousins).  A second lovely cake was baked for us...still warm from the oven.  We spent some time talking and catching up.  Afterall, it had been so many years!  Anita and her cousin Hugo became friends and exchanged email addresses.  It was so nice to see them connect.  What a lovely evening we all had!  Here are a couple of family photos...

Left to right: Ricardo, Tio Carlos, Tia Isabel, Hugo, Nuno and Anita

Annabel is missing...she fell fast asleep in the car.

We arrived back at the flat just after midnight, feeling very, very tired.  We fell asleep, so very cozy in Rachel's flat.  I felt a little bit like Cinderella, after the ball.  It was a whirlwind of a magical day!  One I won't soon forget!  Stay tuned for day 2 in London!