Everything the fam and I did ...

Here is everything that the family and I did while they were here. There may be some slight repeats from the last post, but hopefully you will find this post full of more information. I don't feel like being formal, so yay to lists!!

THURS

-Met family at about 12:30pm. Got London Passes, which allows us to get into certain attractions for free (not really free, we paid for the passes... but it's a good deal)

-Went to their hotel, a bed and breakfast by King's Cross. It was really small, but good enough.

-We ate a pub called The Rocket.

-We went to see Nido.

-Saw Platform 9 3/4. Did not get into Hogwarts.

-Went to Lillywhites and bought a lot of cheap clothing.

-Walked around Piccadilly, China Town, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden (night)

-Our dinner was just a McDonald's McFlurry, but they were Cadbury cream egg!!

-sleepy time

FRI

-drizzly and cold weather, the fam decided to bring the crappy Wisconsin weather with them.

-Tried to go to St.Paul's, but it was Good Friday, so we couldn't go in unless we wanted to pray.

-walked across Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern, saw some Picasso, Matisse, Jackson Pollack, Monet, etc.

-Shakespeare's Globe, took a tour

-ate at Pizza Express for a late lunch

-walked along the South Bank, saw the Golden Hinde (http://www.goldenhinde.org/)

-Went to the Britain at War Museum. It was interesting, we're glad we got in with our passes, because it was not worth the 9 pounds they were charging. (http://www.britainatwar.co.uk/page1.html)

-HMS Belfast. It was really sweet, we got to climb all through the ship, even into the engine rooms and such. It hailed while we were below deck .... (http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.3188)

-Went to Tottenham Court Road to look for somewhere to eat (like Harry Potter!), but ended up going down a different road and finding Ed's Diner, where we had burgers, and Kirsten had a shake.

-We picked up some free stuffed animal bears (free with our pass) at a gift shop in Piccadilly.

-walked around a mall thing in Piccadilly

-went back to hotel, bought some candy bars.

SAT

-Banqueting House. Charles I was executed here.

-were walking around Scotland Yard (I think) and these horses popped out of nowhere and scared us, Dad was the only one who saw them coming.

-took the train to Hampton Court, where Henry VIII lived. We ate lunch at a little cafe near there. There was a freak blizzard while we were there, and we also saw Henry VIII himself as well as Anne Boleyn (aka actors, but don't tell that to Kirsten)

-Ate at Nando's, a chicken restaurant for dinner. I thought it was delicious.

-We went to Leicester Square, we were maybe going to see a cheap comedy show but decided not to. Then we walked to Piccadilly because Dad wanted a cheap hat (b/c it had been so cold) from Lillywhites, but it wasn't open, so we just went back and bought more Cadbury candy bars.

SUN

-It snowed all morning. EW.

-Cabinet War Rooms and Winston Churchill Museum, very interesting, lots of information. (http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/)

-ate lunch at a place called Dino's, got average pizzas, and apparently the last two pizzas, because the kid at the table next to us wanted pizza, but the waitress told him they were out. So basically, we made little Jack cry.

-Took a tour of Royal Albert Hall. An Islamic festival was taking place there that evening, so they were practicing and it was sweet. (http://www.royalalberthall.com/) They have had many famous performances here, and the Queen even had her own box and secret staircase.

-With our London Pass we got into four different movie theaters for free, so we saw 'Garage', an independent Irish film about a simple man who works at a garage.

-We ate dinner at McDonalds, it was close and cheap.

-We went to Canary Wharf (http://www.canarywharf.com/mainfrm1.asp), which doesn't feel like London at all because it is all newer buildings and stuff. Nothing was open, we just walked around.

-We then walked around the Angel area (area just north of where I live, there's lots of shopping and stuff there) and then walked back the the King's Cross area)

MON

-Victoria and Albert Museum, there is so much stuff here, it's overwhelming, we only covered one floor. (http://www.vam.ac.uk/)

-Ate lunch at a decent pizza place, but the service was realllllly slow. Afterwards we got Ben's Cookies, the best cookies in the universe.

-British Museum. Always interesting.

-dinner at Eddie's, a little place near King's Cross, Mom and Dad finally had the type of fish and chips they wanted.

-Les Miserables. Amazing, amazing, AMAZING!! I loved it, can you tell? Mom and I both cried. It was so good. Have been listening to the soundtrack ever since.

TUES

-St.Paul's Cathedral, we climbed all 530 steps to the top to see spectacular views (http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerID=26860QFKSv07X4ap3dTTDoGLBaIYdHaE)

-Tower of London, ate lunch at a crappy place with spongy chicken nearby.

-Camden Market

-Lillywhites, Dad finally got his hat!! for only 99 pence!

-dinner, we split up, Kirsten and I had paninis (she had a croissant sandwich) at a place called Ciao, Mom and Dad had some Chinese buffet.

-movie called 'The Edge of Heaven', about .... the plot is pretty complicated, it involves Germany and Turkey, if you want to know more about it, look it up. lol.

WED

-breakfast = muffins from Costa. Walked to Euston Station. Kirsten got a liter of chocolate milk at Marks and Spencers ... it was the only size they had and she really wanted chocolate milk ... she drank the whole thing before lunch...

-Kensington Palace, it was cool, but mostly focused on Princess Diana, Queen Victoria also grew up there.

-walked through Kensington Gardens, saw lots of swans. Saw Peter Pan statue.

-lunch = pasties in Covent Garden, they were yummy, Kirsten liked to feed the pigeons. We saw some performers.

-National Portrait Gallery, we also saw the special exhibition of Vanity Fair Portraits. (http://www.npg.org.uk/vanityfair/index.htm)

-National Gallery, we saw works by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Da Vinci, Seurat, Cezanne, Rubens, etc.

-dinner once again at Pizza Express.

-movie, Kirsten and I saw 'The Orphanage', a spanish horror-type movie by Guillermo del Toro, the same guy who made 'Pan's Labyrinth', it was scary, but had a plot and I really liked it. Mom and Dad saw 'Love in the Time if Cholera', a movie with Javier Bardem in it (he was just in 'No Country for Old Men'), I like to describe it as a sprawling love epic.

-sleep

THURS

-Abbey Road, we took pictures in the crosswalk, added graffiti to the graffiti wall

-Went to Baker Street, popped in the Sherlock Holmes Museum Store, went to the London Beatles Store.

-Apsley House, the house of the first Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.12679)

-lunch at a place called Katie's, had paninis.

-Watched Covent Garden performers

-went to Leicester Square and bought theater tickets, we wanted to see Mama Mia, but it was all sold out, so we got tickets for Phantom of the Opera (Mom's favorite!)

-walked to Temple Church, wanted to go inside, but it was closed.

-walked down Fleet Street

-St. Bride's church, quite interesting, this church's steeple is used as a model for most wedding cakes. They also have original Roman Roads in their basement. (http://www.stbrides.com/)

-for dinner, we got cheap pizza slices from a Leicester Square pizza stand, sat on the ground to eat it.

-Phantom of the Opera. It was good. The Chandelier fall was awesome, and the scenes where they went to the phantom's lair were sweet, lots of fog and candles appearing out of nowhere! Out of the two shows, I still like Les Mis better. :)

FRI

-breakfast at McDonald's

-went to hotel room and watched the fam pack

-went to the tube station, said our goodbyes.

-everything went well with their flights.

For more information on Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, or the Banqueting House, click here: http://www.hrp.org.uk/

Whew. That wore me out. You better enjoy it. Here's a few more pics: