I recently took a trip to the UK for personal and recreational reasons. It was definitely a whirlwind trip as I arrived on a Tuesday night and left Thursday night.
In terms of transportation, the best way to describe it would be a plane, a bus, a taxi, another taxi, a train, the tube, a taxi, a double-decker bus, a whole lot of walking, the tube, a train, and a plane. I have to say that getting around London on public transportion is so easy, and it is even fun. Now, let me fill in the blanks a little as to what I did there.
One reason I visited was to see an old college friend, Nichole, whom I had not seen for several years. My timing was such that she was home without her family, so we had a lot of time to just chat (with a few interruptions from Hunter). She was a great hostess, and she took me to Buckhingham Palace, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, among other sites. I arrived at her house on Wednesday afternoon. She met me at my train station and helped me find the right tube line to take to her neighborhood. It was raining, so we took a taxi from the tube station to her house instead of walking. Hunter and I were ready to just relax, so I am glad we just hung out and tried to catch up on each others' lives that evening.
The next day we headed out to see a few sites before my flight that evening. We started by walking to a bus station, not far from her house, my suitcase and diaper bag in tow. We mounted a double-decker bus (you know, the red ones you associate with London), and we got great seats right up front on top. Nichole pointed out Hyde Park, Harrods', and some other sites . We dismounted close to Buckingham Palace, and started walking.
Unfortunately, we missed the changing of the guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace. They do it every other day in September, and we missed the "on" day. I didn't even see any of the guards dressed in red with the tall black, fuzzy hats. I was bummed, but it was still neat to see the palace. We then walked toward Big Ben, and they we tried to find a place to eat. Between a breastfeeding mom and a pregnant woman, we were pretty hungry. It was also a good time to feed Hunter. We walked around, looking for a restaurant, and not finding one. We finally found a group of restaurants together, and we settled on a place called Aji Noodle Bar. After a delicious meal, I ventured toward the bathrooms to find a place to change Hunter. The bathroom was deficient in any sort of place to change a baby, but there were many deep windowsills along the way to the restrooms that proved to be a perfect place to provide Hunter with a clean diaper, or "nappy" as they call it in Britain.
After leaving the restaurant, we made a beeline for Westminster Abbey. When we were paying the fee to get in, the man informed us that we would not be allowed to roll around our bag inside. So, we decided to take turns walking around the Abbey. It was incredible to see the architecture and to realize that so many famous people are buried there. One of the highlights as far as tombs go was the Poet's corner. Names such as T.S. Elliot, Tennyson, D.H. Lawrence, and more that I had studied in school were all in front of me. Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth I also stood out. However, the best for me was discovering that William Wilberforce was buried right in front of where we were sitting to watch the bag. If we had not switched off, I would have missed his grave completely.
After Westminster Abbey, it was time to head to the station to catch the Circle Line to Liverpool Street so I could make my train to the airport and not miss my flight home. Thanks, Nichole, for a fun time!
