Day 8 - Shopping on Oxford St and getting home

We sleep in a bit as we know we have a long time before we'll be back in a comfortable bed.  We pack up and get ready but get a little later checkout of 1pm so that we can browse some stores on Oxford St. before heading to the airport.  I had scoped out a store the night before when grabbing a Popeye's chicken sandwich that I thought Carrie would like and we started there.  Carrie picked up a few trinkets and then we headed to some other store around the British Museum for something for the boys.  I had thought that we might pop into the British Museum on our last day to see the Rosetta stone but it looked busier than the Victoria and Albert and I think we weren't up for it.   At least I got a snap of the museum we didn't go to.

We take the Elizabeth line to Heathrow and arrive 3 hours before our departure (yeah, there really are people that take that advice to heart).  I was planning on arriving 2 hours but we didn't have the energy to do much else and we had 2 more free passes to the lounge so I figured we'd just get our bags checked and go and have a few drinks in the lounge before the plane.  It was a much busier lounge than the one in Ottawa and the first chairs we found weren't super comfortable but after a few minutes we got to move into some comfy armchairs making the wait much more tolerable.

We boarded and got in the air early and the entertainment on the flight was great.  We had shopped around for some cheap disposable headphones that you used to be able to buy at the dollar store here for $1 of $2 but we could only find ones for £10 or more to use on the plane - as Air Transat was selling cheapo headphone for $10 on the plane.  Turns out Virgin provided the cheapo headsets which didn't fit well but were still functional.  I watched the entire first season of "The Chair Company" which is funny and Tim Robinson weird/absurd much like "I think You Should Leave".  I come armed with lots of entertainment though on my phone with my big screen projection glasses in case the in flight entertainment sucks (like it did on the Air Transat flight coming to London), but in this case I didn't need it.  A much more pleasant flight but we had another 2+ hour layover in Toronto and by the time we got home it was after midnight and we had been awake for 21+ hours so we were fried by the time we got home and got to bed.  The doggies were super happy to see us and we were super grateful to Maria and Mike for watching them while we were gone.

Day 7 - St. Paul's Cathedral and Tate Modern Museum

Our first few attractions were pre-planned but we left the last few days fairly open to see what tickled our fancy in terms of what we wanted to do.  Most of the travel guides recommended St. Paul's Cathedral and it looked pretty stunning from the boat cruise so we headed out on the tube on the first partly cloudy and considerably cooler day.  The cathedral is stunning and probably a bit more ornate than Westminster Abbey and Notre Dame Cathedral.  

Shimmering ceiling mosaics

There are more crypts in the basement and one of the things that stands out about this place of worship is the number of crypts of military leaders - probably more than anything else.  I guess the US isn't the only country in history that treats military conquest as an extension of their religion.  Ornate mosaics on the floors in the crypt in the basement and the ceiling in the main cathedral add to the intricacy of the ornate elegance. 

The sun came out again and it warmed up by midday

We grab lunch at a wood-fired pizza chain - Franca Manca - it's pretty good and very filling.  As a clear sign of how tired we are getting from walking, we then take a short bus ride over the Blackfriars bridge to the Tate Modern museum.  Another free museum for most exhibits and lots of funky exhibits with a shockingly large amount of penises.

Lots of body parts here

Lightning with Stag in it's glare

Andy Warhol

Catbus - My neighbour Totoro

St. Paul's cathedral viewed from the Tate

Both Carrie and I were pretty wiped and crashed on some couches in the family area after this museum tour.  We put a lot of steps in each day but the trend was definitely downward as we got more and more tired each day - the first day was over 22k steps and the last day was more like 14k.

We walked over the Millenium Bridge and grabbed another coffee.  Seven days of straight sightseeing was starting to take it's toll on our energy levels.

Postcard quality shot of St. Paul's

Cool shot from a street plaza next to St. Paul's

Day 6 - Hampton Court Palace and Avenue Q

 Time to get out of the city and see some countryside.  We were deciding between Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace and opted for Hampton Court Palace believing it would likely be less busy and we've already seen the opulent grandeur of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle is a bit longer to get to.  I mistakenly turned off national rail service navigation in Google maps so we are directed to take the Picadilly line and then a bus which takes about 1.5h in total travel time.  Happy accident though as taking the bus through a more residential part of London gave us a taste of what the single family homes are like outside the city.  Sitting in the front seat at the top of the double decker bus is a great way to see stuff too.  Part of Hampton Court Palace is closing at 2pm so we opt to head out and arrive earlier - we grab a nice sandwich and coffee at a place just outside the palace.

Yet another gorgeous weather day, sunny/clear and 19C or so.  We opt again for the audio tour and thankfully this place is not busy at all.  There are a bunch of school tours but as far as opulence, it's on par with Versailles (well maybe a little less ornate), but orders of magnitude less busy so we can actually have a much better experience.

This room looks just like the Palace of Versailles - minus the throngs of people

Chapel Royal - Henry VIII was religious even though he beheaded a lot of his wives

They borrowed from the French in their decorating style

We walk around and chill in the gardens for a bit too - again they are on par with Versailles although maybe a bit less manicured or maybe a bit smaller.  There is a huge wisteria vine - which Carrie says smells delightful - and the world's largest grape vine among the gardens as well

Chilling under a tree in a private spot in the gardens

Wisteria and the world's largest grape vine

I read in reviews that "the palace is a great sight to see that is only a 45-minute train ride from London" and I'm like "why didn't Google direct us to take the train".  That's when I realized I had de-selected the National Rail service as a transport option.  I turned that back on and sure enough Hampton Court station had a train service to Waterloo station that took only about 40 minutes.  We hop on that and we notice a theme forming that we generally have been taking different ways home than we take to get to places - which is nice as we have different experiences all the time.   We grab a quick ice cream at a stand by the river before hopping on the train.

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Waterloo station at the end of the trip

Thames river by the palace at the start of the train trip

We get back at a reasonable time and we aren't completely wiped out so we decide check for cheap last-minute tickets to another show.  We want to avoid the crowds so we opt for another comedy musical - Avenue Q which is at the Shaftesbury Theatre for a limited engagement.  We get decent tickets for a pretty good price and even have time to grab a pint and some pub food at Plough's near our hotel before the show.  Carrie gets "Bangers and Mash with peas" and she shares her bangers with me.  I have a lovely local IPA and Carrie buys the pub beer glass it came in.  We still have time before the show so we pick up some more wine and drop it off at the hotel before heading over to the show. 

Avenue Q is muppets mixed with human performers.  It's a bit odd at first (not knowing to focus on the human performers or the muppets), but you get used to it and it was a pretty good show.  It wasn't a sold out show like the Book of Mormon as there was a big area of free seats right in front of us so we had a great clear view of the stage from the "stalls" (orchestra) level.  I'm always amazed at the creativity of the creators of these shows and this one doesn't disappoint in that area as well - even a bit romantic.

A thankfully short walk back to the hotel and another event filled day is complete.

Day 5 - Victoria and Albert museum and Harrod's

 Even though our hotel is right beside the British museum, we opt to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington.   Another bus ride as it's practically door-to-door service on one route and we are liking the bus over the tube. 

This museum is huge with a lot of artifacts on display.  The building itself inside too is beautiful architecture.  Museums are free here and it feels odd to just walk in - with no security check even and just start browsing through the museum.  There is likely state of the art security as the jewellery exhibit alone has things like one of Queen Victoria's crowns among many other sparkly, expensive things.

Some masterworks and famous artifacts here too - like Raphael's cartoons and the Great Bed of Ware:

We spend a long time here (about 5 hours) as there are so many things to see like ceramics, ironworks, glass.  The more curated sections of the museum are a little bit easier to digest as some areas (like the ceramics and even the jewellery) had so many artifacts on display it was hard to take it all in.

We take a black cab for the first time from the museum over to Harrod's (though it's a short distance).  Harrod's is big, high-end department store.  I read they have good food there and their food market does look good - but there is nowhere to sit and eat your food once you buy it - so we opt for a snack instead before a late dinner.  The store itself is beautifully appointed but not very busy when they are selling sofa's for £20,000+.  We poke around but don't buy anything.

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We head back, had a short nap, got cleaned up and head over to Brunswick Square Gardens for some Vietnamese food.  They read my mind and put no cucumbers and added coriander to my Vermicelli dish.  We both fully enjoyed a delicious meal.  Popped into the gelato place next door for some yummy hazelnut gelato.  I wanted to walk through the park (at dusk) but my security detail (Carrie) eyed a sketchy dude and directed us against that move.  Probably good anyway, as my feet and body was pretty sore at this point - the days of walking were starting to catch up.