London: Quick and Dirty Part II

On our first full day in London we took our touistness to the next level. Literally. We rode on the upper level of a hop-on-hop-off bright red tourist bus throughout the day. I find when visiting a large city for a short amount of time, and without your own means of transportation, the double-decker bus tours can be a great investment. They’ve come a long way since my first experience in 2005. Our London service included four different routes with both audio and live guides, a boat tour, and discounted tickets to The Tower.

Starting off in Victoria, our bus hit all the major tourist hot spots,  including Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Talfargar Square, Hyde Park, Westminster, St. Paul’s, Tower Bridge, Downing Street, Fleet Street, ect. We took the full tour, then jumped off to see certain sights,  returning to the bus for more London factoids. This gave us a good sense of the city and allowed us to navigate on our own the rest of the trip. Saturday also happened to be the hottest day of the trip (and also the hottest day we’ve had so far in  Britain, a full 80 degrees!), making the ride up top breezy, sunny, and very enjoyable.

After taking the city in for a bit, we hopped off our big, red chariot and skipped the line at The Tower with our pre-paid tickets. The Tower was my favorite experience while in London due to the sheer amount of history and important world-changing events that took place on that spot, and maybe due a little to the nice Yeoman Warden who took a photograph with me. Also I felt the interpretation was fantastic, inviting visitors to experience life behind the walls through interactive labels and hands on experiences. Amongst the great views of the Thames and Tower Bridge was Tower Green. Here, where so many lost their lives, is a well-done memorial comprised of an empty pillow.

Making our way to the river, we jumped on our river boat tour, which brought passengers from Tower Bridge to Westminster. A short but sweet trip as the tour guide was hilarious and the day warm and sunny. We managed to hop back on our tour bus, despite delays and detours due to an anti-war protest occurring throughout London, and rode through the city a couple more times. During these tours we were able to decide what we may want to see more of the next day, deciding that St. Paul’s Cathedral and Fleet Street were worth a visit. Unfortunately the protests did interrupt our last loop around the city and we were left to fend for ourselves near Hyde Park. Exhausted, our superior tube skills returned us to Victoria for a quick nap.

Unfortunately once again our nap became far too long and when we finally made our way back out to forge for dinner, all that was open was Pizza Express. Pizza Express has been quite hyped in my mind, as it is everywhere, more ubiquitous in England than Starbucks in NYC. So we went and found that it is not all that awesome, as one would obviously assume. What was awesome was the sheer amount of pouring rainfall that happened upon us just as we were leaving, and of course on the one evening I chose to leave the umbrella at the hotel. Unfortunately yet again I had on a vintage linen and embroidered tunic that I was not too keen to have wet. Off it came and I ran back to the hotel soaked to the bone in naught but my undershirt. At least I was able to entertain the few stragglers and loiterers on the street.