MDATS Day 3-4: London
My Journey: A Night and Day in London
11/7/2024 Night in Londan
After the museum, I went looking for fish-n-chips for dinner. FishPlaice was right across the street from the museum and advertised a well-prepared fried fish and fries.
I then headed back to the hotel to change in to clothes more suited for the night. My first stop was Vault 139. This is a gay cruising bar, and on this night, it was a naked night, so needless to say, there are no pictures. After getting tired of the crowd, I headed back out onto the streets… I mean after getting dressed.
Vault 139
I was on a mission to find dessert, and while I headed to my destination I took pictures of the London Cabs and Double Decker Busses, as well as the holiday lights.
London has a Venchi gelato place, so of course that is where I went for dessert. It's not quite as good as the Rome one, but it's still great.
From Venchi I headed to Soho to visit some gay friendly spaces and a few adult-oriented stores.
Then I wandered into Chinatown.
Chinatown
After walking all the way down to Chinatown I was quite tired, so I hired a London Cab to take me on a driving tour before dropping me off back at the hotel.
The instructions were to give me a good view of Big Ben and Tower Bridge. I was driven to London Bridge, from which I had a good view of Tower Bridge. This checked the London cab off my must-do list.
Tower Bridge From London Bridge
After the Bridge tour, the driver took me back to the hotel where he kindly took a picture of me with his cab.
11/8/2024 London
I slept well that night, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Ridgemount Hotel
The next morning, I packed up, had a traditional English Breakfast, left my bags with the front desk, and headed out. The hotel ended up being a very good location at a very reasonable cost. I did have to share the shower and WC with others in the hotel, as there was a common facility between floors with two WCs and two showers. I never had to wait to gain access to the facilities.
The hotel location was very convenient to both the river and to King’s Cross. Morning plans were to take a walk to the river, do my sight seeing, and then walk back to the hotel to collect my bags.
The walk to the river took me through a shopping district and by many statues and historical buildings.
I had not even thought about going to Trafalgar Square, but it was on my way to the river. I am glad I just happened upon it; it is a definite must-see.
Fountain of Trafaglar
Besides the history of the square, I absolutely loved the fountains.
From the Square, I walked down Whitehall. As you look down the street, you can see Nelson’s Column at one end and the clock tower at the other.
Finally, I made it down to Westminster. I visited the Parliament Square Garden first. Just kinda wandered around with no specific goal other than to see Big Ben.
Me in Parliament Square Garden
From Parliament square I had a great view of the clock tower and Westminster. All around the square were statues. Of course, having studied Churchill for a semester in grad school, I had to pay homage. If you would like to read my paper from that semester here is the link.
After visiting the statues, particularly those of social justice warriors of their times, such as Nelson Mandela, I headed down to the clock tower. It kind of helped me process the political climate back home to visit these statues and think not just about the individuals they depict, but the times in which they lived.
Palace of Westminster
I spent quite a bit of time exploring the Westminster Palace and Abby area. It is just so much eye candy. I wish my knowledge of Parliament’s history was stronger; I am sure I missed things I should have seen.
After enjoying the architecture, history, and the culture I headed to my next must see.
Boadicea and Her Daughters
As a feminine person, I have always held a special place in my heart for women who find themselves interacting with society through the violence of war. Boadica is one of these women that I have always worked with in my classes when teaching about SCA period gender and warfare. So, of course, I had to pay homage to this statue too. From here, I found myself as one of many taking selfies from Westminster Bridge.
From the bridge, I headed along the river to see about getting a ride on the Eye.
Lykania
It turned out I was early for the Eye. But if I took my ride on the boat for a tour of the river first, I would be back just as the Eye opened, and I could get a package deal for the tickets.
I had a little time to kill before boarding the boat, but as most things were not open, I just wondered about them for a few minutes. As I then lined up for the boat, I was perhaps the second person in line.
From the Eye, the boat headed to Westminster before turning around and heading down to Tower Bridge. The view from the water is spectacular, as long as you can catch a view free of other passengers.
Westminster
As we headed towards Tower Bridge, there were many things to see on both sides of the river, from boats to modern buildings and historic sights. Our tour guide was great and had his hands full as the boat was mostly occupied with school kids. He made a game of getting pedestrians on the bridges to wave. I have to say that the kids were very well behaved. Much more than even the best kids in the States would be.
The tour took us all the way down to Tower Bridge with excellent views of the bridge as we passed underneath it.
We continued on past Tower Bridge towards London Tower.
Tower Bridge
The view of London Tower from the river is difficult. If I am in England again, this is a place I want to visit on foot.
The boat turned around at London Tower and headed back to the pier at the London Eye. I went right up the the Eye to get in line.
The view from the Eye is spectacular. It moves at just the right speed to keep the view changing while giving you time to move about and take it all in.
The best view is that of Westminster.
Westminster
The descent is no less exciting than the ascent. The money spent on the boat and Eye combo ticket were well worth it.
From the Eye, I headed across the Jubilee Bridge and then along the river to Cleopatra’s Needle. I believe this is the only Egyptian obelisk in London that was not stolen.
It was now time to walk back to the hotel. I just took the most direct route and trusted I would see stuff on the way.
As I walked, I tried to get pictures of the cityscape. However, my GPS data was not captured by the photos, so sometimes I was not able to figure out what I had seen.
Agatha Christie memorial Area
I ended up strolling through the same shopping areas I had earlier in the morning before getting back to the hotel. The staff helped me to get the tickets for the train to York on an app and gave me directions to the bus stop. The bus stop was only a couple of blocks away, and I caught a double-decker bus.
Everyone on the bus was super nice helping me make sure I did not miss the stop for King’s Cross. I had no idea how the process worked, but again the people helped me figure it out. You look for your train on the board and it will tell you the platform, then you go there. I was good and early, so I went up to the food court, which is situated on a balcony overlooking the departure board. I had an English breakfast in a hand pie. Meh, beans and flavorless sausage is not my cup of tea, well neither is tea. I then headed to platform 4 to catch my train.
The platform was very close by. I would have loved to have taken more pics, but I was mostly scared of messing up so I boarded as soon as I could.
Platform 4
Tips and Lessons Learned:
I would have been able to walk to everywhere had I wanted too.
Use the app to get tickets.
Take the boat tour and go up in the Eye. It is worth it.
If you have GPS make sure it is linked to photos.
Thank You
Editing and Preparation: Trish, Heather, and Becky.
Patrons: Laura Terhune, Brian Bottoms, Leslie Hodgin, Ellen Rawson, DeAnna Gilbert, Alison Petrisek, Christine Seelye-King, Brianna Ariane Sykes, Laura Gosnell, and Janice Gaulke.
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