Traveling is both tiring and time-consuming. I'm thinking that travel abroad is never convenient, but that it's usually worthwhile. During my week away, about forty hours were spent in transit. We spent many hours in airport lines, waiting rooms and inflight. But, I've now flown over Canada, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, and England.
There were large bunnies chilling on the runway of the Dublin airport, which I found entertaining.
I was a walking zombie upon arrival in London. If not for coffee, I'd have likely passed out somewhere. I have trouble sleeping on planes. So by the time I was able to sleep on that first night, I'd been awake about 36 hours. I slept well that night.
On the way back, I dozed while in flight but felt no less drained on my way home. A bit of advice, wear compression socks while in flight, otherwise you'll have cankles, and no one wants that. No one.
So, what would I recommend doing? If you find yourself in London for a short trip, do these things.
1. Take a sightseeing bus tour. It'll drive you past all of the sights, and it'll tell you more about them. It's good to do upon arrival, non-strenuous and useful. You'll get accustomed to your surroundings.
2. Visit Whitechapel. It is slightly removed from the skyscraper central portion of the city. It still has old brick buildings and cobblestone roads. You'll also, of course, encounter Ripper tours there... and curry. One street we went down had almost fifty curry restaurants lining the pathway. I guess London is the curry capital. But, Whitechapel, to me, was what I expected London to be like. Old. Historic. A bit creepy.
3. Go to the Tower of London. Spend hours there. Wander on your own instead of with a guide. There's so much to see and discover that it would be a shame to have a guide rush you through it. Touch things. Read things. The crown jewels are sparkly, but were probably the least interesting part of the tower. I enjoyed walking the upper towers, the beast walk, and the bloody tower. If you do this, it makes sense to also visit Tower Bridge and to end with The London Bridge Experience. It'll be a long day, but will be worthwhile. Walk as much as possible. You never know what you might see.
4. Night time walking tours. Do them. You get walking tours for free with your big bus pass, also with the London Pass. So if you don't want the extra expense, just stick to those ones. Otherwise, the London Walks company hosts several tours (different ones each day) that cost the fair price of ten pounds. The tours last two to three hours. Be ready to walk. Practice waking before you go. You'll want stamina. I wasn't able to do all of the tours I wanted to do, but plan to do more next time. At the suggestion of one of our guides, I purchased the diary of Pepys. I'm excited to read it. He wrote while the great London fire was happening. The guides were fun and educational. They also have the knowledge to point you to a cheap pub or eatery. We also heard an entertaining story about Richard Harris at The Savoy.
5. Seek out the less prominent tourist spots... The Sherlock Holmes museum, for example. Then, go to some of the larger ones. Madame Tussaud's is an interesting experience. The wax museum includes a haunted house, ride, and 4D theater. They let you eat and drink in the exhibits and you're able to touch everything. They're rather trusting. I'd also suggest The London Dungeon. It is a live actor experience. You can also go see a Shakespeare performance in the globe theater for five pounds. So, why wouldn't you?
Like I mentioned last time, many of the London residents are not English. We had some good authentic French, Italian and Chinese foods. Go to grocery stores for bread and chocolate. Buy food from carts. Try jacket potatoes. Do not eat American food. London was more American than I'd realized. You could find Pizza Hut, Dominoes, McDonalds, Subway, KFC, and many more... You can eat that crap at home. Go get real food.
