I dropped off everyone at the airport entrance and proceeded to return the rental car. I was back at the entrance in about 15 minutes. When we were checking in, we were told that our luggage was too heavy, all 3 of them. If we wanted to leave them alone, we would be charged an additional 30 pounds EACH. Yes, 90 pounds which is around $145.00 US. We were informed that we could buy an extra bag upstairs and it would be less than the excess weight fees. I ran up and the shop was just opening. To my surprise, the cost for 1 small carry on bag was 49 pounds, yes sir $75.00 US for a carry on that would be about $25.00 at home. Lesson learned; bring an extra bag if you want to shop and bring back souvenirs. At least it was about half of what we were going to be charged if we did nothing.
After that frustration, we were off to London.
Late last night I went online and arranged for an airport transfer to take us to the London flat and I was a little worried since the booking was not made 24 hours in advance as they suggest. When we got off the plane, gathered our luggage and proceeded out we did not see a driver holding up our name. We walked to the area the online instructions instructed us and waited. After about 10 minutes, I called them. Whew, the driver was nearby at a different location in the terminal.We were at our flat in about 45 minutes.
The flat was rather small but neat and clean so we will just be a little cozy for a couple of days. It is located next to the Battlesea Power Station across the Chelsea Bridge from central London.
Our stuff seems to have grown a bit...the bag in front is the special one from Glasgow airport...
We dropped our stuff off and started sightseeing right away. We walked from the flat for about 1.6 miles to the tour bus office. If you purchase tickets online and pick them up at their office you save 25%. That walk took us along the River Thames:
Westminster Abby:
London Clock Tower that has the Big Ben bell:
The parliament building:
and eventually arriving at Trafalgar Square:
There are a lot of great buildings along the River Thames.
There was a lot of activity going on at Trafalgar Square. We found the "Original London Bus Tour" office which included a river cruise at no extra charge. The only challenge is that the tickets are only good for 24 hours from pickup. It was 3:00 PM when we got started. We jumped on the bus going on the red line and for the next 2 hours we enjoyed a beautiful sunny afternoon on the top of a double-decker bus looking at all the sights with a live English speaking tour guide.
Downing Street
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Marble Arch
Reflection while on bus
Trafalgar Square
Once off the bus, we were on foot again walking all over. After that, we had a nice dinner at Garfunkel’s café. I had a great meal of roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. It was delightful.
We ended up at the London Eye. It was just about sunset when Cameron and I went for the 30 minute ride above London, it was really cool.
View from London Eye
At the top of the London Eye
We did a little shopping and headed back to the flat using the Underground rail system. It costs 4 pounds each to ride the train. It did not go all the way to the flat so we ended up walking about ¾ mile to get back. Needless to say, we were really exhausted and promptly called it a night.
No comments:
Post a Comment