All Work And No Play....

We decided that we desperately needed a break from the non-stop boat refitting. We have literally not had more than a day or two break for 2 years and it was most assuredly time. If this means our departure date slips by a few weeks, so be it. We need some time away from projects and we needed to get Kitty to see her family in Scotland before we left. Maura has work (you go girl!), school work and rehearsals so she is staying behind with family while the 3 of us take off for a wee break.

The first person to comment that they 'really wish we would get back to the boat projects' has my permission to bite me. This was supposed to be a travel/sailing blog, not a boat refit blog but the Universe has a sense of humor. So for the next few days, we are going to pretend that we have been a travel blog all along. Don't worry, there are plenty of boat projects waiting for our return- TRUST ME.

And now, I give you a  day in London...

We just had a brief, one day stop in London. I know I am supposed to love this city and there is a lot I do like about it, but I just have never felt an affinity for it. The last time we were here we had the benefit of glorious weather. This time we were not so lucky and were drenched in rain the entire time. Not the soft, typical drizzle but seriously drenching down pours. This is why there are precious few photos out and about in London- it was too wet and I did not bring an underwater camera with me. My mistake.

Kitty was excited to fly on the plane. She is old enough and has enough knowledge to understand how truly amazing it is to be able to launch a piece of metal into the sky and to fly half way around the world. At 4 , flying equals magic. Who needs Disney?



It stopped raining long enough for me to grab this shot of the back of St. Pancras Church, just outside our hotel. I found these beautiful, but terrifying. Any Dr. Who fan who saw 'Blink" will understand why these creeped me out, being just outside the hotel...

No need to fill out enrollment forms, the kids are already enrolled...

Kitty thought riding on the double decker buses was pretty darned exciting. Here's a cheap travel tip. Skip the tour buses. Just buy a ticket for the Trafalgar Square bus (91) and you will get a drive by of a lot of the big sights. Sit on the second level and if you can get a seat up front, any small kids will be convinced you are on a roller coaster like adventure ride. You can take a short walk over to Parliament and Westminster passing by the Horse Guards Parade Grounds. Same kind of pomp as the Queen's Guard at Buckingham or St. James Palace but with horses so it's just better.

Trafalgar Square, from the top and front of the cheap bus which also has the benefit of being out of the rain.

Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!

I have become acutely aware that there are just about no photos of me with the kids. I am attempting to rectify this so the kids do not wonder what happened to me years from now.

We ended our evening in London at the Horse and Stables Inn near the Thames and London Eye. Despite having a limited menu due to the bank holiday, we enjoyed a great dinner of an incredibly fresh steak and ale pie accompanied by a pint or two of Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted which was a new ale for me and was it ever delicious.

So that was our brief stop in London before we moved on to other locales....

Postcards from London....

A few last snaps of London before we head to Scotland...

Disco dancing on the Thames

Best value in London- 7 pounds for 7 days bike hire Brilliant!

London again

We are at the mercy of a toddler so that has slowed our roll quite a bit which actually suits me fine. Kitty's favorite thing are the trains- give her a ride on the Underground and she thinks its a trip to Disney World. We didn't try to cram in too much and decided to take it easy. Our priority was wandering about the city just soaking it all in rather than trying to tick off a list of must sees. I have to say my favorite part of our time in London was just wandering about but that is pretty much my favorite thing to do where ever I go.

 We did manage to visit the Tower of London. I am completely underwhelmed. I'm a pretty big history buff and was really looking forward to visiting. Meh. The lines to get in were not too big as it is February but the young lady working the ticket booth did not want us to miss out on the fun that is standing in queue in London so she managed to keep us in line for 30 minutes even though there were only 5 parties ahead of us.

 The only thing you could do in this line was purchase tickets so I'm not quite certain why it took so darned long. Must have been the people protesting the ticket charges, as Mark did. When you finally get to the ticket seller, she drones in a monotone voice as she swipes your card-"That's 19 pounds 80 with the voluntary donation per ticket.". Wait a minute. Mark's Scottish brain registered the words 'voluntary donation'. When he questioned the girl she replied in an annoyed voice that the entry fee was 18 pounds, the additional 1 pound 80 was a voluntary donation. Mark asked to have that waived and of course that entailed a return form to be filled out, the card to be re-swiped to have the funds re-credited and then another transaction for the tickets. I think we have found the reason for the length of time in line. Some English guy in line behind us started telling Mark to stop complaining and just pay up. Mark gave him "the look" and that shut him up. We wouldn't have minded paying 20 pounds or whatever they decided was a fair price but we thought it was pretty sneaky to figure out their cost of business and to then tack on a voluntary donation without giving you the option of paying it or not. Oh and its not as if we are stiffing a home for orphans, the Tower is owned by the Queen and while I am sure its not cheap to keep her in hats and handbags I'm pretty certain that based on the crowds its definitely operating in the black.

After waiting in line for tickets, we got to wait in line to have our bags searched. Once inside we were free to learn all about the Tower of London and its history. Except, not so much actual learning took place. Most of the towers and rooms inside were empty and apparently they aren't really sure what happened where so when in doubt, they made it up. 'This MIGHT have been where the Princes were murdered in brutal fashion'. "This might have been where another famous brutal murder took place'.'Here are mock ups of the various ways in which people were brutally tortured'. I suppose that they blood and sex sells but  you can't have it both ways. In what can only be described as a bit of historical white washing, after plaque after plaque telling you how brutal and bloody the history of the tower is they then state that 'only 40 people were tortured'. Ha. My recommendation would be to walk around the tower but skip the interior and spend your money and time at Westminster instead.

Best thing at the Tower- Beefeater playing fetch with a dog. Could have seen THAT for free.

We wandered by the Thames and the St. Katherine's docks and decided that we needed to find out about transient slips there. St. Katharine's would be an excellent place to berth the boat for a week or so.
Had lunch/dinner at the most charming Dickens Inn at the St. Katharine's docks. It was fantastic ambiance and the weirdest cheeseburger I have ever eaten. (more on that later) Back to the hotel for a good nights sleep before we board a train from King's Cross to head North....

Late night in London.

Our first night in London and jet lag has left Kitty asleep during the afternoon only to awaken at midnight full of pep and energy. Nothing to do for it but to take her for a walk around London.

We left our hotel and wandered past the Old Vic Theater. Down past Waterloo Station and on to the Thames.

Kitty was entranced by the trees and the London Eye all light up on blue and danced around the trees. She was as happy to just enjoy the lights and the reflections on the Thames. There were steps to climb and lights to ooh and ahh over and room to run. She thought it was perfect.

Big Ben chimed to let us know we should head back and try to get a few hours sleep. We walked back to the hotel in the cold. The city seemed to be quiet except for the odd drunken college student here and there.

As we came up Black Friars, a thin orange fox made his way slowly and cautiously across the road. Mark spotted him first and pointed him out to me. As I turned to watch the fox make his way across the road, he turned and looked at me as if to say "good night" and he was gone.

We crept back into our warm hotel, shook off the cold and fell asleep.