Re: Trip Report—London

CoffeeNut · ‎03-15-2010

@Alter Ego It was their version of deviled eggs. The lighter yellow was regular mustard based and the darker was brown mustard based. It tasted like they mixed the yolk with mayo and cream. It was delicious.

There was still no roof on Notre-Dame. The view from the side was all scaffolding.

roeroe1005 · ‎03-13-2010

Thank you for sharing your Paris portion with us!

I loved Paris - lucky to have visited 2 times, again chaperoning. I was surprised and thrilled that I was able to read signs, etc. Took French from 7th to 12th grade way back when and more than I expected came back to me.

CoffeeNut · ‎03-15-2010

Day 4 St Paul's Cathedral:

We decided to take the subway instead of walking since the hubby wanted to save his energy for later. (You'll find out why). We got off the nearest station and this was right around the corner. It's massive with one of the worlds tallest domes.

The next pic is me standing inside directly under the dome looking up.

We were lucky as soon as we arrived a free tour was about to begin. An elderly gentleman walked our group around pointing out interesting tidbits. You could tell he absolutely loves what he does.

This was the church Princess Diaina was married. So she would have walked down this isle.

Now for the reason for hubby wanting to save his energy. Look at the next pic. He, not me, is going to climb the stairs to the Stone Gallery and the Golden Gallery.

It was 528 steps from the ground level to Golden gallery (top level). The following pics are courtesy of hubby. This puts into perspective the size of the dome.

He said it was so windy up there he felt like he was going to be swept away. I didn't go with him because I get claustrophobic. The stairs are very narrow and it's only one way up and one way down. Once you start going up there's no way to change your mind. It's single file and no where to stop and rest.

He was gone for about an hour. So I took some pics. Visited the gift shop some then sat and people watched. When hubby exited the stairs he was drenched with sweat under his clothes. He's in very good shape but he said that was quite a workout. We spent around 4 hours total in there.

We found a little Asian restaurant close by. I had steamed buns with brisket and he had salmon salad.

That was it for the day. We were still tired from the previous day. So we headed back to the hotel and relaxed. Tomorrow we are exploring a neighborhood called Little Venice. It's a small water canal district in the middle of London.

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

@CoffeeNut Thanks for the picture's, they are beautiful. I remember the Grosvenor Hotel too and think I stayed there when I was younger. It is stuck in my head now.

It's funny, my brother and his wife seem to have the same itinerary as you do and are over there right now. I think they come home from Paris tomorrow. Enjoy!

bargainsgirl · ‎01-13-2012

We went to London in 2019. Loved it. Only there 4 days cause we visited 4 other countries. I wish I had known about Selfriges...I watched the series while recovering from hip replacement a year ago...who knew? I think you should be a travel guide! Thanks for sharing!

CoffeeNut · ‎03-15-2010

Final day -- Little Venice: I heard about this area while watching some YouTube videos on different areas to explore in London.

We started by taking the subway to King's Cross station. If you are into Harry Potter then you would know this is the station where the train to Hogwarts leaves from. Some of the movie was filmed here too. We noticed a very large crowd and wondered what was going on. This was why.

There must have been over a hundred people lined up to have their picture taken with the trolley.

We headed out of the station walking towards a water canal system known as Little Venice. It's a residential area full of restaurants and shops. The canal system is about 8 miles and is lined with house boats and floating businesses.

We stopped for lunch at a permanently anchored boat converted into a restaurant. We both had their freshly made fish cakes. It was chopped up salmon, cod and haddock and goodness was it delicious.

For dessert we shared a plum tart with pistachio ice cream

It was a perfect day. We did a lot of walking just exploring the surrounding area. Stopping to look into some shops and antique stores. We walked close to 10 miles and was worth every step This was our last day and heading home in the morning.

By the way at our hotel we walk past this door every day.

The final day I couldn't help myself. So I opened the door and peeked inside. It was just a small empty broom closet with a small sign inside that said. YOU PEEKED.

I hope you enjoyed our journey.