London 2011 - Part 1

Arriving In London

Tuesday - August 30th 2011

Our Lufthansa flight departed at Munich Airport around 7am and so we had to get up early, very early. After a cup of coffee we were on our way to Munich. We parked our car and checked in. Unfortunately our flight had a delay, but we arrived at Heathrow Airport just on time around 8:00am local time.

We gathered our luggage and took the subway to the center of London. At King's Cross Station we got off and purchased our London Travel Card, which allowed us to use the subway, the local train services and the bus systems. Then we took the subway, in London it is called the Tube, to Waterloo Station and from there the South West Train Services to Wandsworth Town, where our hotel was located.

We stayed in a small boutique hotel called The Alma. Our room was very beautiful and we enjoyed our stay there a lot. Breakfast was also included in our package and the hotel had its own pub.

The Alma Hotel

The Alma Hotel Pub

Luckily our room was already available and after we checked in, we dropped our luggage off. To start our London vacation, we had a cold English beer at the hotel pub.

Our Room

Our Room

Bathroom

Then we took the train back to the city center. Our hotel was conveniently located just across the railway station and it took only fifteen minutes from Wandsworth Town to central London.

In the city we went to Benito's Hat, a Mexican burrito restaurant, for lunch. We both ordered the vegetarian burrito, which was fine, but I still prefer Chipotle over it. Then we visited Covent Garden Markets and walked to the River Thames, passed the London Eye and stopped at Westminster Palace with Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, where Kate and Prince William got married a few months earlier.

Covent Garden Markets

Covent Garden Markets

London

London

London - River Thames

London

Palace of Westminster

County Hall and London Eye

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

London

Palace of Westminster

We made some pictures and then walked to Vauxhall Cross, the headquarter of the British Secret Service, because I wanted to get a picture of the MI6 Building, which is prominently featured in the James Bond movie The World is not Enough.

MI6 Building

Today we had a dinner reservation at a vegetarian restaurant and so we drove back to our hotel to get ready for the evening. The restaurant was called Manna and served only vegetarian food. It was fine, but we had already been to nicer vegetarian restaurants. I had the Bangers and Mash, while Claudia ordered the pasta. For dessert we shared a choco tarte with vanilla ice cream.

Manna Restaurant

Pasta

Banger & Mash

Choco Tarte with Ice Cream

Since we got up so early, we decided to go back to the hotel, where we had a beer and a cider in the hotel pub, before we went to bed.

London 2011 - Part 2

The Tower Of London

Wednesday - August 31st 2011

Today we wanted to see a musical and so after breakfast we were on our way to Leicester Square, where the official ticket office was. When we arrived, there was already a small queue and so we lined up. We couldn't decide what musical we wanted to see and since there was no discount for either The Lion King or Wicked, we tried the latter one, because it was completly new to us.

Afterwards we visited the M&Ms Store, which seemed to be idetical to the one in Las Vegas. I got a pin and then it was time for the Tower of London.

M&Ms Store

M&Ms Store

London

London

London

 

National Rail had a 2For1 offer, if the Travel Card was purchased in one of their offices. So we only had to paid for one ticket. We were surprised that the lines at the entrance weren't longer and soon we were inside the fortress.

Tower of London

White Tower

Tower of London

First we did the Tower Wall tour, which takes guests through the defensive fortification of the castle. Next was the exhibition of the Crowne Jewels, in my opinion the highlight of the Tower. There the crownes and zepters of the British Empire were on display.

Tower of London

Tower Bridge seen from the Tower of London

Tower of London

Tower of London

Tower of London

Tower of London

Tower of London

Later we relaxed a bit with a cup of coffee at a nearby bench in the park. Then we did a walk through the White Tower, where the Royal Armouries could be seen. We also got to see the ravens of the Tower. Legend has it, that if the ravens are gone, the British Empire will fall apart.

White Tower

Tower of London

Tower of London Ravens

Tower of London

We left the Tower of London around 2:00pm and had lunch at Wagamama, a British fast food chain that serves Asian cuisine. Claudia ordered a noodle soup and I opted for the fried noodles. Both meals were very good and it wasn't our last visit there.

Vegetable Noodle Soup

Fried Noodles

After we bought some snacks at a Whole Foods Market, we took the subway to Hyde Park Corner, where we spent some time at the Hard Rock Cafe. It's the original cafe that started the whole Hard Rock chain. We had a drink and I got a pin for my collection. An hour later we had to leave, because we had to get ready for the musical. So we returned to the hotel and refreshed a bit.

Hard Rock Cafe London

Hard Rock Cafe London

Our evening had a bad start, because we went to the wrong theatre. We just read Apollo on the ticket and assumed that it would be the right one. I asked a Police Officer, if we were on the right way to the Apollo and he told us that Wicked was shown at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Great! At least we had plenty of time and 15 minutes later we arrived at the right theatre. We got a programme, bought some drinks and got seated. We had fantastic seats in the middle of the fourth row and the view was just incredible. There we met a German couple who visited London for twenty years in a row just to watch musicals. What a great hobby. We loved Wicked. The music was wonderful, the actors were great and we had a fantastic time. Back in the hotel we had a good night's drink in the hotel pub.

London 2011 - Part 3

London Eye And Greenwich

Thursday - September 1st 2011

Like everyday we took the train to Waterloo Station and from there we walked to the London Eye just across the railway station. We bought our tickets already back at home on the internet and had just to pick them up at the ticket office. We purchased Fast Track tickets and so we were the first in line. I'm glad we decided to buy those tickets, because the stand by line was already very long and the attraction wasn't even open. We boarded the first gondola and luckily the weather was fine to make good pictures. After 45 minutes the round trip was over and we did the 4D attraction which was included in the admission.

London Eye

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Houses of Parliament

London

London Eye

Then we were on our way to Canary Wharf, a very modern part of London with skyscrapers. There we had a cup of coffee at Starbucks, before we took the DLR Line to Greenwich. We walked to the Royal Observatory, where you can see the Prime Meridian, but we didn't go inside. Then we visited the Old Naval College to see where Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides was filmed. After a quick visit to Greenwich Market, we had a beer in a pub and waited for our water taxi, which brought us back to the Tower of London.

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf

Greenwich

Old Naval College

Royal Observatory

 

Old Naval College

Old Naval College

Captain Jack Sparrow's Costume

Old Naval College

Greenwich Market

Water Transportation

London

London

London

London

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Back at the Tower we had lunch at Wagamama again, since the food was really good, the portions were big and the price was reasonable. Afterwards we took the subway to Temple Bar and St. Paul's Cathedral, which was a fantastic building. We went inside the church, but unfortunately it was not allowed to take pictures.

Fried Rice

Vegetable Noodle Soup

London

Temple Bar

St. Pauls Cathedral

St. Pauls Cathedral

Later we headed to Oxford Street to visit the Disney Store. I wanted to get a pin, but they only had one which I didn't like. A very friendly Castmember told me that they will get new ones on Saturday. So there was a reason to return.

Disney Store

So we went to Soho and had another beer and cider at the Clachan Pub. I really liked the atmosphere there, because after waork people were standing in front of the pubs and enjoyed their drinks and leisure time. Then we also walked to Carnaby Street and Chinatown. Dinner was at Maoz Falafel. The portions at Wagamama were so huge that we were still full and so Maoz was the right choice for us.

London

The Clachan Pub

The Clachan Pub

Carnaby Street

On the way to Maoz

Falafel Sandwich

Falafel Sandwich

Unfortunately that evening the objective of our DSLR broke. I don't know what had happened, but the auto focus didn't work anymore. At least it was still possible to make pictures. After Chinatown we walked to Trafalgar Square and via Houses of Parliament to Waterloo Station. Back in the hotel we watched TV and plundered the mini bar.

Trafalgar Square