Walking in Whitehall - A Perfect Day in London

Our first Perfect Day in London starts at Westminster Underground Station.  Revel at the views of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Bridge & the River Thames when you return to street level.  It's pretty fantastic that so many iconic London structures are within a 360° view.  If it happens to be near the top of the hour, do hang out to hear Big Ben serenade you.  Westminster Abbey* is just a short stroll toward the traffic signal along the Parliament fence.

Turn right at this intersection (Westminster Abbey will now be behind you) to begin walking up Whitehall.

The first thing you notice along Whitehall is that the buildings are stately pieces of architecture.  In just a few blocks you will walk by 10 Downing Street; this is the Prime Minister's residence.  Do not be alarmed by the presence of police with automatic weapons patrolling the sidewalk, they are just protecting the leader of The United Kingdom.  While you are near the nice policemen, turn around and face Whitehall for a dandy view of the London Eye. Go on, take a photo. 

Keep moving down Whitehall until you happen upon some handsome horses guarding the entrance to Horse Guards Parade. Walk between the guarding sentries through to the open space beyond the arches. This pad of land is used for state functions, such as the recent welcoming of the President of Mexico and his wife to London.  The Queen and all of her horses and men dusted off the royal carriages to put on quite the fanfare.  This space is also where the athletes played beach volleyball during the 2012 Olympics.  (Side note, the President of Mexico and his wife are gorgeous.) 

If you are at Horse Guards around 11:00 during the week you should stick around for a changing of the guard; it's not as flashy as the one at Buckingham Palace.  In my opinion, it was a lot of the horses just standing in formation, and I think the two guys in the middle were talking about football to pass the time.  Like I said, if you are already there.....  

 

Now you have a three choices for what to see next, and it should all be based on when you get hungry. 

1.  If you know you'll be hungry soon, tour the Household Calvary Museum (£7/$10.50) that is right by the arches you walked through.  With the abridged version of the audio guide, 30-45 minutes is all you need.  You will learn a little history of the calvary and maybe even see a few horses through the glass partition.  If you are a lover of useless facts, look for the display that explains the origin of The Riot Act.  

2.  If horses aren't your thing, walk across the street to Banqueting House (£6.60/$10 - slightly cheaper if you buy online).  The thing to see here is the gigantic ceiling painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It's quite impressive when you learn the ceiling is the only painting of its kind in it's original installation space - the fancy art term for this is in-situ.  Banqueting House provides comfy beanbags to use when staring at the ceiling and listening to the audio guide. It provides a great history of the building and the famous beheading that happened outside. 

3.  If you've packed a granola bar in your bag or ate a hearty breakfast, you can wait a little longer for lunch.  Backtrack a few blocks down Whitehall to the Churchill War Rooms (£18/$27 - yes a bit steep but completely worth every pence/penny).  Winston Churchill directed the war from the very rooms you'll tour. Fair warning that some of the mannequins are lifelike and sometimes cause a little jump when rounding the corner.  

You've got to be hungry by now.  One of my favorite lunch spots is up at the top of Whitehall where it runs into Trafalgar Square.  

Take a few minutes before (or after) lunch to admire more amazing London landmarks in this square. Check out the fountains, the lions & Lord Nelson way up on the column, the National Gallery, and the long view of Big Ben.  Trafalgar has four plinths (aka platforms) for statues and art, and the Fourth Plinth is a rotating art installation. They've just removed the blue cockerel and replaced it with a horse skeleton sculpture. If you visit in 2016  a hand with a long skinny thumbs up is said to replace the horse.  As with most tourist spots in London, a group of buskers (usually magically floating characters) shall beg for your coins as you walk through.  

Back to food....

Face the National Gallery and look to the right. St Martin-in-the-Fields church is across the street.  Walk over there and find the glass-dome entrance to the left of the main building. That's where you are eating today. Yes, in the crypt.  Trust me on this one. 

The Café in the Crypt at St. Martin-in-the-Fields puts on an amazing spread each day. From 11:30am they serve several lunch options: salads, meat main dish, vegetarian main dish, and my favorite - soup. I particularly like the soup because they frequently have a deal for soup & fruit crumble for £6.95/$10.50. An absolute deal for lunch in the heart of London. 

One thing you'll notice as you settle into your subterranean table, the clientele is on the older side; at my age of thirty-something I'm totally skewing the age average.  The double bonus of this lunch spot?  The Crypt has clean bathrooms, which is a win-win for the day. 

Depending on where you toured before lunch you might be exhausted or ready for more!  The Crypt puts you in good proximity of many Underground stations if you need to call it a day: Charing Cross, Leicester Square, and a little further down Tottenham Court Road or Embankment. If you have more energy, you can walk back over to the National Gallery (free!) to see a few pieces of art or wander the streets of nearby Chinatown & Covent Garden for some good old people watching.

No matter what you decide it's a Perfect Day in London!

Every day can be a Perfect Day in London as long as you are prepared.  Always have a collapsible umbrella in your bag. No matter the weather, dress in layers.  The shade-filled streets and parks can be significantly cooler than the sunny sidewalks.  The museums tend to keep a cooler temperature as well.

*I recommend avoiding Westminster Abbey during any high tourist season. It's just my opinion, but the abbey is so jammed that you really can't experience its true beauty.

A Perfect Day in London - A New Series!

This spring the Manor is booked with many guests, and we could not be happier.  In preparation for our guests I've begun thinking about where I'd like to take them in the city.  That spurred a new idea for a new series on the blog - A Perfect Day in London.  

In the next few months I'll share some day touring plans that you can use straight away.  Some of the places you'll recognize, and some will be completely new to you.  If I know a good spot to grab a snack or meal along the way I will certainly share those, too.  

Be assured that the I'm cognizant of admission prices since costs can add up fast.  Some of my best days out are the ones that only cost a ride on the Underground and a latte along the way.  If you like what you read when the first one launches next Tuesday let me know, and I will share more Perfect Days in London.  

Every day can be a Perfect Day in London as long as you are prepared.  Always have a collapsible umbrella in your bag. No matter the weather, dress in layers.  The shade-filled streets and parks can be significantly cooler than the sunny sidewalks.

Papa's Shadow

Youngest Kiddo and my dad go together like peas and carrots.  The boys are great partners.  Youngest Kiddo is an eager helper, and my dad is a patient teacher.  It's pretty much a guarantee that if you can't find the boy, he's hanging out with my dad.  

When dad works on a project, Youngest Kiddo grabs his tool belt, safety goggles, and speed square.  Dad always gives him a job to do, and Youngest Kiddo takes it very seriously.  The boy is an expert at holding screws and shining the flashlight.  

While dad's garage (aka the laboratory) was being built, Youngest Kiddo had a blast hammering nails into scraps of wood and measuring everything in sight. 

   

When the work is done, the boys have no problem relaxing.

Peas and carrots

I Went on an Internet Date

Yes, you read that right.  I went on an internet date.  I am still married.  I’m not cheating on my husband.  He knows all about her and likes her.  He even thinks her family is pretty awesome, too!  

I met her through Instagram's explore photos feature.  I randomly clicked on a London photo on my screen, and the caption immediately drew me in.  The gal had recently moved to London, and her captions rang true of our expat adventure.  She wrote of their plight of living in a temporary apartment with kids, needing to find a house, and needing to get the kids in school.  Those dilemmas sure sounded familiar to me so I followed her feed.  As I continued to follow along with their expat adventure, I messaged her my email address to say I had just gone through the same things, and if she ever wanted help or a sounding board to let me know. 

I did not hear anything for a while as she was busy doing all of the things above (and more).  Not wanting to be an internet stalker, but I continued to follow their expat adventure.  Just a few days later she sent me a message with a nice greeting and wasted no time getting to many of the same questions and face-palm moments I had just a few months earlier.  We swapped a few emails, and after they settled into their house & got the kids in school we made a date to meet.  

That was quite an out of the box moment for me.  I was to travel to an area of town I'd never been to meet someone I befriended on the internet.  No surprise, my husband was weirded out by the whole situation.  He texted me several times during lunch to make sure I had not put myself into a dangerous situation.  

I was only nervous that lunch would be awkward if our true life personalities were not compatible for conversations longer than a three sentence Instagram caption.

It was all good.  While she has a much more exciting & adventurous back story than my little family, we easily made conversation about all things moving to London and family.  We continued to email and text through until the October half-term break when our families had the chance to meet.  We met up for an afternoon at the observation deck at The Shard.  After introductions we became engrossed in the amazing view despite the rain.  
  

Then something spectacular happened.....  

Her girl and my girl started talking, and they did not stop.  At times they talked simultaneously, but neither one cared.  It was absolutely adorable.  The rain really bummed us out so we decided to drown our sorrows in lunch at Covent Garden.  Once we sat down, the adults finally had a chance to talk.  Again, insert the concern for awkward conversation if Matt and her husband could find nothing to talk about.  Turns out the men have some similar job experiences that made conversation easy for them, too!  It was all good.  

So that's the story of my internet date.  In the months since our first meetings, we've gone out several more times with and without the children, and our girls have had a playdate.  They even text every once in a while.  We have big plans for the winter term to find and devour some of the best pastries in London while exploring the architecture and history of the city.  

I'm so happy that I took the chance to use my limited expat expertise to help someone else in the same situation.  The bonus of it all is that our family now has new friends in London.  I'll keep you abreast of the pastry hunt.  

What's In The Diary For 2015?

Our little family has some big plans for this year.  

Oldest Kiddo gets to go on a two night school trip.  She has the chance to go canoeing, climbing, mountain biking, and zip lining.  It's a right of passage for the Year 6 classes, and she's pretty pumped.  

I'd like to get my UK drivers license.  We may only have a year left in England, but our US drivers licenses are no longer valid since we've been residents for over a year.  If we'd like to rent a car for a UK trip one of us needs a license.  

Travel (of course) - Matt and I plan to sit down and map out the year.  Italy, Ireland, Croatia, Poland, and Greece are on the top of our list.  If we need a tropical getaway the Canary Islands are up there, too. 

Welcome new guests to The Manor.  The spring is turing out to be a busy time for guests.  I'm excited to show our friends and family the amazing city in which we live.  

Check in through the year to see how we are doing! 

Stonehenge - Touring Tuesday

Our day trip to Stonehenge continued on after our picnic at Highclere Castle.   

I'm not sure about you, but I had some romantic ideas about Stonehenge.  I pictured the stone formations in the middle of a huge field surrounded by idyllic fields of grazing animals.  Well that's not exactly how Stonehenge is laid out.  As you can see, you can do a drive-by viewing from the road. 

Aside from the road bisection, Stonehenge is surrounded by the fields of grazing animals.

The visitor center for Stonehenge newly opened in January 2014, and it is a modern space.  The former visitor center used to be next to the rocks, and I appreciate that the new one is nestled at the bottom of a rolling hill and out of view from the rocks.  It is a mile and a half ride via the tram or your own feet to get up to the rocks.  The visitor center exhibition provides history and theory behind the rocks.   

Then we made it up to the rocks.

Wow.

Visitors are not allowed to walk among the stones as the composition of the dirt is heavily chalk based and therefore unstable for masses of people each day.  For a separate fee you can get up close to the stones.  Or you could be President Obama and just go among the rocks because you can.  

Oh and the clouds.  What a spectacular addition to the day.  

The Day We Ate Lunch At Downton Abbey - Touring Tuesday

The M25 is a motorway that rings the greater London area.  To some Londoners, the world does not exist outside of this road.  Up until August, we were content with touring within the border of the M25.  Partially because there was so much to see in London and because we don't own a car.  

Just before the kids went back to school we rented a car for a day trip to Stonehenge.  As you can see from the map below, it's way outside of the M25 ring.  I'm sure some were not sure if we'd ever return from the unknown.  Like good Brits we planned ahead and booked entry tickets for late afternoon to give us time to get lost or take any detours we chose.    

Matt rented a car from Heathrow which meant that's where he had to go to get the car.  It took a bit longer than expected because he had to travel on the Underground to Heathrow and then drive back to our house.  Lesson learned on that one.

As we crossed over the invisible M25 barrier, a sign caught my eye.  (I did not get a photo of the first one because I was slightly dumbfounded after reading it.)  Did that sign say Highclere Castle?  No, it can't be this close to us.  It is not the same Highclere Castle.  Or is it?  However the Rampant Cat seems intriguing, but that's for another time.  

A quick search confirmed that this was, in fact, the actual Highclere Castle.  It is home to Lady Mary, Anna & Mr. Bates, and the always overlooked Lady Edith.  We did not have tickets for the tour because all the online tickets were sold out, but a detour couldn't hurt.

Our effort was rewarded.

The parking lot was free, and we pulled in to take a few photos.  As we talked to the parking attendants they told us that it was a slow day at the castle and walk up tickets were available.  Unfortunately our timed admission to Stonehenge kept us from going in.  Fortunately for a small admission, the family could walk in the gardens of Highclere Castle, and we could bring our picnic!

I know that the rest of the family did not care if we ate lunch at the castle, but there was no way I was leaving without getting somewhat close.  We grabbed our gear and plunked down in the middle of the lawn.  Whether or not you watch Downton Abbey, the gardens of Highclere Castle are amazing.  

The gong rang to tell us it was time to leave for Stonehenge, but that did not stop me from taking a few sneaky photos through the window.