"When I’m feeling blue All I have to do Is take a look at you Then I'm not so blue..."
A very late share of a summer trip in London and Paris that we did a couple of years back. It was documented in a physical album with printed pictures and journal, but I am posting it anyway to share with friends and loved ones… and start dreaming of travel again.
We’ve been looking forward to this summer trip for a few years, to a time when the boys have finished their high schools and summer vacations are longer. As soon as we received the confirmation from our travel agent early that year, I was giddy with anticipation throughout those waiting months leading to the event itself.
Day 1: 16 July 2019, Tuesday
We arrived at Gatwick Airport at 9:50am after a 6h42m straight flight from Montreal. Our transfer was late because there was a huge multi-car pile up accident along the highway. We were picked up at 11:30am and arrived at the hotel past 1pm.
We stayed at H10 hotel in London Waterloo. Our rooms weren’t ready yet when we arrived so we walked around town. We had our late lunch at Honest Burger in Southbank. It was a 15-minute leisure walk from our hotel. Shame that we didn’t have photos of our delicious burger meals. We passed by the Waterloo Station on our way back.
We had decent sized rooms and very clean, we loved it. We booked three rooms: one for Riel and I, a solo room for Raf 🙃 and another room shared by the twins Marco and Gabby. (It’s a new stage of travel for us. As the boys turn adults, our family can no longer share one hotel room, or two).
We were all tired and jet-lagged, called it a day after grabbing some bites at a nearby Korean mini grocery store called Oseyo Eats along Waterloo Rd.
You see, the boys were into anything K-pop these days and the mini grocery was like a novelty store to them. The food was okay with a familiar taste… and of course, there was rice! 😋
Day 2: 17 July 2019, Wednesday
The hotel’s breakfast buffet was ah-mazing, it was the best we’ve encountered so far. It offered a lot of variety: continental cold meat and cheese, hot sausages and potatoes, scrambled/fried/hard boiled eggs, meat pies, English pastries, waffles, churros, breads, yogurt, fruits, crudités, tarts and even Japanese steamed rice!!! 😋 No wonder the boys always look forward to breakfast. It is something that we talk about up to now.
Day 2’s agenda was a Hop-On Hop-Off city tour. We went to the usual touristy spots, got down, took pictures, snacked a bit, hopped on the bus again.
Nah… we were underwhelmed. The photo looked a lot better than it tasted. Maybe we were just not in the right place to go for fish and chips. What restaurant was that again? It was that forgettable, but not the food bill 💵 which was etched in my memory.
Day 3: 18 July 2019, Thursday
We had a day tour at Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. Our live guide was excellent, very articulate and funny. He shared interesting anecdotes and tidbits about the place. It was a whole day activity and we everyone it.
The first thing that caught my eye was the Philippine flag along Terrace Walk. It was a Filipino food stall called JC’s Kitchen serving mostly inihaws / barbeques.
The city of Bath is famous for its Roman period hot spring baths, Medieval heritage and stately Georgian architecture.
The spa water in Bath gushes up from the ground as a natural hot spring. It’s 46ºc. They say the water is full of minerals. I got to try it, from a faucet, mind you, not from the pool! ) The water has a strong sulphuric taste.
Our last stop for the day was at the Stonehenge.
We were back in London at 7:30pm. We were all hungry. We found this Korean Restaurant (I know Korean again) near the London Victoria Station. The food was good and very comforting especially after a whole day activity.
Day 4: 19 July 2019, Friday
Day 4 was a visit to Madame Tussaud. Judging by the long line we saw the other day, we decided to be there early. We had an express ticket and we were inside the museum by 9am. It was a good call because it wasn’t as crowded yet. I had enjoyed taking photos of the boys goofing around, posing wackily beside the celebrities. Marco insisted that we visit Mme Tussaud because he enjoyed it very much during his school trip in New York. Our tickets also included The Spirits of London ride and Marvel 4D movie.
For our last evening in London, we had dinner at the hotel’s Three-O-Two Spanish Modern a la carte restaurant. The staff were very friendly and accommodating… I remember that it was full that evening and we didn’t have any reservation and they moved things around for us.
Day 5: 20 July 2019, Saturday
Today wrapped up our five day stay in London. We boarded the Eurostar train at St. Pancras International Railway Station going to Paris, our next destination.
Next post: Paris.