London Calling

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

(and hordes of people on the bridge)

London is another shock to the system, but instead of the oceanic, pastoral difference we found on the Isle of Arran last weekend, London promises an extremely urban experience this weekend! Teeming with people, it makes Glasgow feel like a country village. Everywhere we went there were crowds, making the city packed with life any time of day and night!!

We started our London adventures with a ride on The London Eye -- spectacular views!

view from the Eye

We saw many people betting on the "where's the ball" scam -- 20 pounds a bet, which is over $30 -- why?!?

After the Eye, we made a quick dip into the Tate Modern, where Cormac especially enjoyed seeing the Lichtensteins and Warhol. Then, the boys chased each other through these birch trees.

A walk across the Southwark Bridge, a tube ride home, a late dinner at Sen Viet (I definitely agree with this reviewer -- great food, cheap prices, and super-friendly service) near the flat ended our day.

Saturday morning, we were off to the hustle and bustle of Portobello Markets, where the crowds of tourists jostle each other to check out the hundreds of stands selling everything from toast racks and Banksy-esque t-shirts, which were what we bought.

Some of the more unusual items available to purchase. (Declan honked a very deep horn right in a man's ear -- funny!) We could imagine Tintin finding the ship model of the Unicorn in this market.

Remember the beautiful window art in York ( a lot of cat statues)? Here's London's version!

After a lunch of mediocre pizza and pasta (we should have eaten the amazing street food -- including paella, chorizo on ciabatta, churros, fried prawns, falafel -- but we needed to sit down for a while), we headed to 221B Baker Street. The Sherlock Holmes Museum was filled with furniture and objects from Victorian times, plus life-size figures of characters from Holmes' adventures. The best part was posing as Holmes and Watson in different spots.

Back to the flat to rest a bit, eat delicious take-out from Sen Viet, and change for the theatre.

We ended the day by seeing The Phantom of the Opera, which has been playing in the same theatre in London since 1986! The highlight of the show for Declan was the chandelier that swung over the audience onto the stage, while I liked the candelabras that rose from the floor in the phantom's lair. Liam's favorite part was when the phantom appeared above the audience inside part of the set that looked like it was part of the actual theatre. Cormac liked the scenery of the phantom's cavern, especially the gate and the candles on the floor of the stage. As you can tell, the set and the special effects were quite spectacular. After a walk through Trafalgar Square and past the fashion shops to Covent Garden, we hopped on the tube and returned to our flat to recover from the fabulous start to our London holiday!