A Damp Final Day in London

Well, it had to happen because there is no way you can be in London for 5 days without rain. But it wasn’t too bad. It only really rained on us once when we were on our way from the Tube to a store the girls wanted to visit. Other than that, it was cloudy, windy and cool but otherwise not bad.

Our day started at the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. There are no photos allowed but the collection is spectacular.

Did you know that the Tower of London is actually only one section of the entire complex, the White Tower. We didn’t visit there in 2022 as there are over 200 stairs and there was no way Peter would have been able to do it. I hadn’t seen it since my first trip to London in 1990, so I put on my big girl pants and hiked up the stairs. Luckily, half the 200 are going back down, so it wasn’t too bad.

There were some very cool exhibits in the Tower, so it was worth climbing the stairs.

We did a quick pass through of the chapel.

We saw lots of armories for both people and horses.

After we were done at the Tower, we headed to Tower Bridge just a short walk away.

We only walked about a quarter of the way across the bridge as the sky was getting dark and we wanted to get back to the Tube before it started raining.

Our next stop was a Beatles store the girls wanted to visit. On the way, my heart leapt in my chest when I saw L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele which has the absolute best pizza in the world. There are two restaurants in Naples, which is where the chain started. Peter and I ate at one in 2016 during his first trip to Europe. The pizza was so good! Today we were heading to afternoon tea at Kensington Palace, so we weren’t able to stop for lunch. Now I guess I have another reason to come back to London. Or I suppose I could just go back to Naples and eat at the original restaurant. But if you’re ever in London and want authentic Neapolitan pizza, this is the place. It’s on Baker Street and there is also one in Soho.

After the Beatles store it was on to Kensington Palace for a late lunch. I’ve had several afternoon teas and it’s a wonderful experience. They had a special kid’s tray, and the girls ate every crumb.

Nora had been practicing drinking with her pinkie up for 2 weeks. She finally got to put it to use.

Once we were done with lunch, we walked across the lawn for our tour of Kensington Palace. This is where Queen Victoria was born and lived until she became queen just a few weeks after her 18th birthday. After that she lived in Buckingham Palace.

The first room is the Jewel Room.

I think this was Victoria’s cradle.

And this was Queen Charlotte’s (wife of George III) dress.

There were costumes for the kids to dress up in.

We had a great time at the Palace. We didn’t see any real royals as their private apartments are behind the main building.

Our hotel is only a 15-20 minute walk from the palace and the sun had come out so it was a pleasant trip home. Dinner was at an Italian place across the street and then it was time for me and Nora to head to Covent Garden for our show.

The show was great, and I was excited to see that Samantha Barks was still playing Elsa. She played the part of Eponine in the film version of Les Mis and has an incredible voice. The highlight of the show, of course, was Let It Go which closed the first act. Everyone in the known universe knows that song by the first 4 notes so when it started playing you could hear the kids (and there were a million of them) getting very excited. I found this short clip of Samantha and the incredible costume change. It really was very cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gek5C-ZWxI

It was such a joy to see the wonder on Nora’s face during this show. I had just as much fun watching her as the actors on the stage. This is two West End shows in two days; she’s turning into a real theater kid.

We got back to the hotel only a few minutes before Christina and Drew, who had a great time at their show as well.

Well, my 5 1/2-week adventure is coming to an end. The safari seems a lifetime ago, but it’s only been 3 weeks since I was at the golf resort in Joburg. So much has happened since then. I missed Peter more than I can say, but it was such a joy to share my love of Europe with Christina, Drew and Nora. I’m not sure the girls have really processed everything they’ve seen and done in the last two weeks. It’s been such a jam-packed trip, so it may take a while for it to all sink in.

It’s almost 11pm and we have a car coming for us just after 6am, so I need to close this out. As always, thanks to everyone who traveled with me on yet another travel adventure. It was an amazing experience, and I will cherish the memories forever. Love to you all. Lynn