The start of Day 2 in London, started with a nice walk and a quest for breakfast. I am not sure if was the location of where we were, or the fact that it was Easter weekend, but it was quite difficult to find somewhere to eat. It didn’t matter if we looked up places to eat, 75% of them ended up closed once we got to their storefront. It was very sad because we were all very hungry and we ALL needed our coffee. There is nothing better than a great tasting cup of coffee in the morning to sooth the soul and start the day. Who else feels me on that?
It felt as though we were walking for HOURS, although it may only have been 15-20 minutes. It seemed like an eternity, though. We ate, filled our tummies and then walked to the underground (London’s subway) Today, we were walking in the direction of the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye.
The Thames River flows through the city of London and there you will find so many very cool interesting places, with many different neighborhoods. Today, we actually had a very large to-do list to knock out but this itinerary is very doable and highly recommend it. Let’s get to it!
We took the underground to the Westminister Station and it brought us right next to the Big Ben and a great plaza right behind the Big Ben. A bucket list item for me was to see Big Ben in person. I can now say I saw it, however, it was completely under construction and 98% invisible, so that also made me sad and a HUGE bummer to my day. It just gives me incentive to go back once all the construction is completed. Big Ben wasn’t the only London Landmark that was under construction, unfortunately. Many of the very beautiful buildings were covered with scaffolding and currently under restoration. But we just kept walking and captured the beauty of the buildings that were not covered by scaffolding.
Once past Big Ben, we crossed the Westminster Bridge where you can get a great shot of the London Eye. There are a TON of people on this bridge, so please use caution walking across it, as there people who pick pocket and take advantage of others. There are also quite a few people who play the game of hand with the disappearing ball in the cup. Here is where you have to find which cup contains the ball. They try to swindle you in by making it easy at first, but then they just get super, super fast and it can get confusing. I don’t recommend doing it all, but if you like to gamble, go for it.
Once across the bridge, there is the London Dungeon and delicious ice cream trucks. Do those really go together? Probably not, but the ice cream was really delicious and you can enjoy the ice cream while you are in line for the London Eye or the London Dungeon, overlooking the Thames River. FYI, the Eye is approximately $60 US if you are interested. It looks like a great view from up there, but we didn’t actually go. Maybe next time, because we will definitely be back.
We walked along the Thames River overlooking the Parliament Building across the river. We found an awesome little café truck that played awesome music and made great coffee and tea. Their baked goods were actually super delicious too. Everyone in that truck was incredibly friendly and provided awesome customer service
One thing I have to say that was awesome about London is that the people of London were so very nice and friendly. You can tell that they really enjoyed interacting with the people of the city and the tourists. It was really quite refreshing because we have been to several places where the staff and people of this city are just rude. Kudos to London and their nice demeanor towards us!
We walked all the way down to the river to cross the other bridge that runs parallel to the Westminster Bridge. It is not early as populated as the other bridge and is a pleasant walk to other side. We came upon a beautiful park that was right next to the Parliament building. It was such a beautiful park and everything was so green. These pictures have no filter and this is actually how colorful and bright the sky and grass were.
The other side of the Parliament building was found to be under restoration as well, so we were unable to actually see the structure for what it really looked like, so we will have to go back. But next time we will do our homework and find out what will be under restoration.
We went to lunch at Cellarium Café and Terrace which is part of a school and had communal seating, so it was likely that you would be sitting with people you did not know. We tried to be cordial with our table mates but they weren’t about talking to other people, despite our tries. They actually didn’t even talk to each other, so I didn’t feel bad. I had a refreshing quiche for lunch and my boo had the lamb and it was delicious. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are in the area. But please note, it can be difficult to find, but you have to walk through this tunnel (pictured below) and then make a left, go to the guard and then you can proceed into café.
From there were on the mission to get to Trafalgar Square. On the way we easily got distracted with souvenir stores and started buying, buying, buying, while we passed some really awesome pubs. It was fun to see the Pubs. We do not have these things here, so I loved seeing them there. They all did look the same relatively speaking but all had something different outside. Wait until you see Day 3’s post. My favorite pub will be shown. When we got to the square, they were actually having a free concert and the square was lined with market tents and small business owners. Of course, I love supporting small businesses, so support I gave.
I was recommended by one of my travel friends from London to check out Covent Garden, and it was close to the square so we continued our journey. Walking really is the best way to see a city, because you can see the most and cover a large amount of city. Covent garden was will filled with stores, pubs, restaurants, cafes and my favorite part….THE MARKET. It was a beautiful covered market that again is filled with small business owners. Unfortunately, they were closing up shop for the day but there was so much to do there, so much to eat, so much to buy. Shopping really is my preferred method of therapy, is it yours?
Our next stop from Covent Garden was Piccadilly Circus. If you have never heard of it, like me, it is a area of the city that is similar to Times Square in New York City. There are tons of people, the bright electronic billboards and street performers. It isn’t the magnitude in size of Times Square, but it did resemble.
Right next to Piccadilly Circus is Chinatown. We walked through there thinking they would have inexpensive London souvenir shops, but that wasn’t the case. They had some amazing singers, singing on the corner and amazing looking restaurants. They all looked amazing and no lie was the real thing. One thing that I feel about Chinese food in the states is that is very Americanized and really isn’t what you would actually find in China. Here, in London, was the real thing, no doubt. All of the food looked amazing and it was very difficult to choose a place to eat. There were ducks lined in the windows and every place was packed with people, so you can defintiely tell this is the place to eat if you want yum Chinese food.
After Chinatown, it was time to call it a night, so away we went back to the underground to get back to the hotel.
A very action packed day with amazing memories, so to recap, this was our sightseeing itinerary on day 2:
- Big Ben
- Wesminster Bridge
- London Eye
- Parliament Building
- Westminister Abbey
- Cellarium Café & Terrace-Lunch
- Trafalger Square
- Convent Gardens
- Piccadilly Circus
- Chinatown
Map of our Day
Lessons Learned
Things we learned from today? Well,……first of all, do some research on what a city does for certain holidays. Will many places be open or closed? That will allow you for better planning of your day.
The city was quite walkable, the weather was sunny and hot which made life so much easier. We really lucked out
Do your research if there is construction going on popular landmarks. It was a bummer to see Big Ben completely covered.
For my other posts about London, check these links out https://healthyworldtravels.com/lovely-in-london-part-1/
