UK 05: London, Part I

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Thinh and I were up at 05:45 this morning so we could shower and then check out of the hotel. We met my parents in the lobby at 06:30 so we could make the walk over to Waverly Place train station. Today we were taking the train to London and thankfully there were no delays with today’s train. Before boarding the train, we grabbed some drinks and snacks to enjoy during the train ride. We departed Edinburgh at 07:30 and were again seated together around a shared table. We all napped a bit during the four-hour journey, but that meant we were better rested when, at 11:45, we arrived at King’s Cross Station in London.

I led everyone over to another train which we took over to Greenwich, where our hotel was located. As we were walking from the station to the hotel with our luggage, I tripped on the sidewalk and fell flat on my face. The heavy weight of my backpack only made matters worse by making it difficult for me to halt my fall. I hit my left knee, right hand and even part of my face on the ground! My glasses now had a large scratch on the right lense, my knee was scraped up pretty bad, and my hand was in considerable pain. I pulled myself together and continued on to the hotel. Thinh was very worried about me and felt bad that he hadn’t stopped my fall, but I assured him that there was absolutely nothing he could have done to prevent what happened. He is always so thoughtful and sweet to me!

Upon arriving at the hotel, we got checked in a decided to rest for a little while. The hotel was alright, though not as nice as the one we’d stayed at in Edinburgh. Our room was comfortable though, and there was a decent bar in the lobby as well.

This evening’s plan was to attend Phantom of the Opera with Al and Maddy. Later in the afternoon, we took the train over to Soho, where I dropped my parents and Thinh off at Pret so they could have something to eat for dinner. Al and Maddy were at a nearby pub, where I went to meet them while everyone else was eating (I wasn’t particularly hungry this evening). Al, Maddy and I had a round of drinks and hung out for about half an hour, before leaving to meet back up with Thinh and my parents. The six of us made the short walk over to the theatre for tonight’s performance.

Thinh had never seen Phantom of the Opera before and knew nothing about the story or the show in general. We had managed to get front-row tickets in the very middle – right under the famed chandelier! I was excited for these seats because Thinh would not only have a great view of the performers, but the chandelier would fall right above us as well! Phantom is one of my favorite musicals of all time (I’ve seen it over 15 times over the years), so I was happy to be able to share the experience with Thinh.

Before the show began, Al and I stopped at the theatre bar to get something to drink. Somehow – and I’m still not entirely sure how – Al ended up buying two bottles of wine for us to drink: one red for me, and one white for him. The bartender poured us generous glasses of our wine for us to enjoy during the first half, and we would be able to get the rest of the wine during intermission. Dad tried to jump in pay for the wine, but Al insisted upon paying. We offered to share the wine with the rest of the group, but no one else wanted to join us, so it would be a fun night of drinking for Al and me.

The seats were very good, as were the performers in the show. I still get tingles when the overture music begins playing and the chandelier rises up over the audience. There is something magical and exciting about this show that never fades, no matter how many times I see the musical. When the chandelier fell at the end of the first act, Thinh was quite surprised and enjoyed it quite a bit! He was thoroughly enjoying the show, as was everyone else in our group.

During intermission, Al and I refilled our glasses of wine (finishing off the bottles), which we drank during the second half of the show. He and I were both quite tipsy/drunk after drinking all the wine, but it was a good time. When the Phantom was finally unmasked near the end of the show, we could see his disfigured face very well. After the show ended, Thinh raved about how much he enjoyed it – he said it was his favorite musical that we’ve seen together so far.

We said goodbye to Al and Maddy outside the theatre and then walked over to the Tube so we could head back to the hotel. When we got off of the DLR in Greenwich, I drunkenly insisted on getting something to eat at McDonalds. My parents and Thinh humored me and we stopped for a quick bite to eat before walking over to the hotel. I was exhausted (and drunk), so we went to bed almost immediately when we got back to our room.

 
Wednesday, January 8, 2025

This morning was quite cold in London and we all bundled up before setting off to do some sightseeing around the city. My parents met us in the lobby and we walked towards the Royal Observatory Greenwich, which was just down the street from our hotel. The Royal Observatory was an important scientific facility established in 1675 and it was in continual use through the early 20th century. It’s location is along the prime meridian and it is from this observatory that Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was established. It is now used as a museum, where we planned to spend some time this morning.

We walked up the pathway to the top of the hill where the observatory is located and we arrived about half an hour before it was due to open. I had hoped to be able to walk around the grounds of the museum to show everyone the marker for the Prime Meridian, but it was gated off until the museum opened. We all decided to skip waiting around and walked off to see other sights in the city. At the bottom of the hill, on a nearby street, was another marker for the Prime Meridian with which we were able to take photos. Mom was tickled by the sign. She and I had visited the Equator in Ecuador during our trip in 2023, so this was another fun thing for us to do together. It obviously wasn’t as exciting as the Equator, but it was still fun.

Our next stop was at the nearby Naval College so we could visit the Painted Hall. There were a lot of graduates around the Naval College this morning taking photos in their graduation outfits. We had all purchased the London Pass, which got us access to dozens of sights across London, including the Painted Hall. Once inside, we received audio guides and we spent some time walking through the impressive hall. Painted between 1707 and 1726, the Painted Hall was initially used as a dining hall for what was then the Greenwich Hospital. The hall was stunning, with beautiful paintings covering the walls and ceilings. The colors were vibrant, and we were all quite impressed with the hall. In the center of the main section was a massive scale model of the planet Mars, which was an art installation.

Leaving Greenwich behind, we took the DLR over to Bank so we could head over to St Paul’s Cathedral. Our London Pass got us into the cathedral itself and access to the observation decks at the top of the gigantic dome. The four of us explored the interior of the cathedral, marveling at the architectural beauty of the place.

Dad opted to wait in the cathedral while mom, Thinh and I climbed to the top of the dome. The climb up required us to walk up over 500 steps and there is no elevator access. Dad needs to get a hip replacement (which is happening at the end of January), so the climb would have been painful and difficult for him. The three of us began the long climb up, pausing periodically to take breaks and catch our breath. The first section we came to was the Whispering Gallery, which allows whispered conversations to be heard throughout the walkway around the dome due to a quirk of the curved architecture.

The climb continued until we reached the outside observation deck, where we were able to walk around and see all of London stretching out before us. The lower platform was nice and spacious, while the topmost level had narrow walkways around the very top of the dome. Thankfully it wasn’t crowded which allowed us to easily walk all around the dome and snap photos. Both mom and Thinh enjoyed the views and experience, and I pointed out several sights around the city to them. It was blisteringly cold up there due to the wind, so we didn’t spend an extended period of time there before heading back down to meet back up with dad.

The final stop in the cathedral was the crypt. Several famous people were entombed in the crypt area, including the Duke of Wellington, Horatio (Lord Nelson), and Florence Nightingale. Our visit the crypt was short, but we visited all of the main tombs there, which I knew my parents enjoyed seeing. Thinh wasn’t familiar with many of the people buried there, so I gave him a brief explanation about who they were and why they were important people in British history.

Leaving St Paul’s Cathedral, we made the short walk over to Millennium Bridge so we could walk across the River Thames. On the other side, I showed everyone the Globe Theatre. Our London Pass would have given us access to a tour of the theatre, but no one was particularly interested in it, so we decided to move on with our sightseeing. Nearby was a stop for the Uber boats that sail up and down the River Thames and I suggested that we take the boat over to Tower Bridge. The boat ride was very nice and let everyone see more of the city during the journey.

We then used our London Pass to enter the Tower of London so we could visit some of the museums in the large complex. The primary highlight was getting to see the crown jewels. The exhibit of the jewels was extensive and showcased all of the major valuables of the royals collected over the centuries. The final section of the exhibit had the coronation regalia, including the Sovereign’s Orb and Scepter, along with the most impressive of the royal crowns. Mom was especially interested in the jewels since she likes the royal family.

I led everyone over to Tower Bridge after we finished at the Tower of London. Again, our London Pass gave us entry to Tower Bridge. Thankfully there was an elevator to reach the upper platform that dad could take with mom, while Thinh and I climbed up the stairs. We then walked across the upper walkway that spans the bridge. Not only did we get some nice views through the windows, but several sections of the floor had glass panes that lets visitors look straight down at the river and roadway below. I quickly walked across the glass panes, but Thinh was unafraid and sat down on the glass to take some great photos (he doesn’t have the fear of heights that I do). After climbing down from the platform, we visited the engine room where we could see the old machinery that was used to raise and lower the bridge.

It was dark by the time we finished at Tower Bridge and we all decided to head back to Greenwich for dinner. We took the Tube over to Greenwich and ate at a Pizza Express nearby. It was a good meal and by that point we were all ready to head back to the hotel for the night. It had been a long day with a lot of walking, so everyone was tired and in need of some rest. Thinh had enjoyed his first full day of sightseeing in London and we were excited to continue our touring over the next few days.

 
Thursday, January 9, 2025

Today we had another full day of sightseeing planned, so we set off from the hotel early in the morning. We took the Tube over to Westminster, where we were able to see Big Ben shining in the morning light. We had seen the clock tower our first night as we made our way back from seeing Phantom of the Opera, but now Thinh could properly see the tower.

Nearby was Westminster Abbey, which we used our London Pass to gain entry. The places was rather crowded with tourists, but we were still able to explore and enjoy our visit. Westminster Abbey is the location of the coronations of the British monarchs as well as several royal weddings. The place is full of tombs of famous and noteworthy British people from throughout history, from royalty to poets to scientists. We managed to find several of the more famous tombs, including Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Neville Chamberlain, and Isaac Newton. Among the royal tombs we visited were those of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, who were buried opposite one another. At the exit of the church was the ancient Coronation Chair, which has been used in the coronation ceremonies of the royal family for centuries.

Mom, dad, Thinh and I then walked over to nearby Trafalgar Square so they could see the famous square. There are often large art installations located in Trafalgar Square, but there was nothing on display at this time. The fountains were still running, which surprised me since it was winter, but I was glad that Thinh could properly see the square.

This afternoon we planned on visiting Windsor Castle, where our London Pass was also accepted. We took the train from Paddington out to Windsor, which took roughly 30 minutes, and then we stopped to get a quick bite to eat at Pret. We then walked over to Windsor Castle so we could go explore the famed castle, but we were disappointed to discover that it was closed! I had planned out our visit a while ago and nothing had been noted about the castle being closed, but the status had obviously changed in the intervening months. I was upset that we could not tour the castle as this was the second royal residence that was closed during our visit. (We had planned to tour Kensington Palace during our time in London, but it was closed as well.) Mom, Thinh and I walked around the exterior of the castle so we could see something of the place. We also stopped in several of the souvenir shops just to have a look around. I ended up buying a small sign that read “Portobello Road” as a gift for my sister (which mom would take back to Colorado).

Without much else to do in Windsor, we returned to London and proceeded to walk through Hyde Park. The park is massive, with several ponds and pretty walkways for us to visit. Our walk took us from one end of the park to the other, which took us a while to complete. It was a very pleasant stroll as the park itself is very quiet and peaceful. During the walk, I took us over to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain to show mom. We exited the park near Marble Arch and Apsley House (the former residence of the Duke of Wellington, which was also closed to visitors at the time).

The four of us hurried over to Buckingham Palace so we could see it before the sun went down. I had hoped to get tickets to tour the palace during our time in London, but there were none available, unfortunately. The square in front of the palace wasn’t too crowded, which was nice for us since it let us properly admire the building without having to deal with a ton of other people in the way. Our final stop of the day was back at Big Ben. It had gotten dark by that time, letting us see the tower lit up at night.

We used our London Pass to board the Uber boat back to Greenwich. The boat ride took about half an hour and let us see the city by night. It was a pleasant way to travel back to the hotel without having to take the Tube. When we arrived, dad decided to head back to the hotel to rest for the night, while mom, Thinh and I went to dinner. There was a Vietnamese restaurant nearby where we decided to eat tonight. The food was very good – both mom and Thinh had pho for dinner, while I had a rice dish. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel so we could get some rest. Before heading to bed, Thinh and I got some hot chocolate from the hotel bar, which was rather good. Despite the unexpected closure of Windsor Castle, it had been another very good day touring around London together.