London- Accidental Tourists
Moving aimlessly through long tiring lines waiting for the next exhibit, the next tour to begin, the next boat ride, the next cab to stop..... All this waiting, standing or sitting, and waiting, and waiting again can only mean one thing: We are officially tourists.
Even the cabbies here tell us the congestion in London at the moment is beyond what one would naturally expect even during the summer holiday months. A mind-blowing number of cars, buses and the occasional wailing ambulance charge back and forth across town at breakneck speeds at all times of the day, making for the scores of tourists and other pedestrians on foot a nerve-wracking periless journey. Crossing a street here is like playing a high stakes russian roulette style game of dodgeball.
For example: Number of times I've almost led my children to certain death by crossing a London street at the wrong time.
Lisa 0
David 2
Thankfully, we had a wonderful guide this morning named Leia of Essentially London to safely navigate our way to Old London for a private tour of the impressive fortress known as the Tower of London. Boy those kings sure loved their weapons and custom fit suits of armor. And their torture devices. Sophia was fascinated by a pop up replica of a guillotine and the "rack", you know that table they used to strap poor souls, stretching their limbs right out of their sockets? Yes, such a wonderful keepsake toy for a child don't you think? Mankind back then was obsessed with war, weapons and overthrowing kingdoms.
I guess some things haven't changed.
We also went through the Crown Jewels exhibit and this what we learned:
1. The Queen is celebrating her 60th anniversary on the throne which is why purple banners are hanging across every royal street in London this year.
2. During her coronation ceremony in 1954, the Queens donned a 40 lb gold cape, sat in an extremely old and uncomfortable looking chair throneall while balancing a jewel encrusted orb in one hand, a gold scepter in the other, and a large crown on top of her head.
3. She didn't smile once during the whole ceremony.
We then moved on for a tour of St. Paul's Cathedral (church where Prince Charles wed Princess Di and many war heroes are buried). We climbed to the first level of the dome of St. Paul's called the Whispering gallery. If you are opposed to endless staircases or afraid of heights in the least bit, you should skip this part of the tour. When you finally get up to this point (and this is only halfway to the top of the dome) you are encouraged to sit on the benches in this no more than 6ft wide circular balcony. The novelty here beside getting a more Birdseye view of the incredible frescos on the ceiling is the fact that if you lean back, turn your head to the side and whisper a message, supposedly someone clear across the balcony on the opposite side will hear you.
So what did we whisper?
David: Hellooooo.....
Emily: Giggle,giggle, laugh....
Me (in my creepiest Voldemort voice): Harry, I'm coming for you...
Sophia (in her creepiest Voldemort voice): Luke, I am your father.....
I can't imagine why no one answered back.
For lunch we took in a traditional English pub lunch at one of the oldest pubs in the city off of Fleet street called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Sawdust still covers the floor of this historic pub rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire and is comprised of a series of cozy 18th century wood paneled dining rooms. Several influential writers like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Alfred Tennyson have had a pint or two here in their day, and I can see why. We had fish and chips served with mushy peas all around along with a couple of pints for Mom and Dad-an excellent meal after a long morning on our feet.
After that we headed to Hamley's, London's equivalent to FAO Schwarz toy store in NYC. This place is a literal playground for kids young and old, but I'm not sure it tops FAO. The girls loved it, of course.
We finished off our afternoon with a boat ride with 600 of our hot and sweaty tourist friends down the Thames river, sitting on the sunny top deck which afforded the best views of the London Eye, Big Ben and various other points of interest on the way.
Dinner was at Nobu. I've been wanting to go here for years. David has dined here several times so I let him do the ordering which of course did not disappoint. Highlights of our meal: Miso Black Cod (Nobu's signature dish- the cod marinates for three days in Miso and tastes like butter), Yellowtail sashimi with shaved jalapeño in lemon soy, rock shrimp and king crab tempura and Beef tataki with scallions and garlic chips over ponzu sauce. The girls enjoyed passion fruit and Lychee fruit kiddie cocktails.
Another great day for the Zimbler's!
RSS Feed