Two flights later, the Moore family arrived in London, England! We started the day with a trip to Leadenhall Market, across from our hotel. We had drinks at New Moon and realized this market was where portions of the Harry Potter series' Diagon Alley scenes were filmed...if only any of us were fans (still cool though).
We began with a trip across the London Bridge, which was indeed not falling down, with a great view of the river and Tower Bridge. As you do in London, we had fish and chips for dinner at a beautiful blue restaurant with a stout of beer (cider for me) and our first day was finished.
The next day, we hopped on a double decker tour bus and explored the city sight by sight, starting at the Big Ben clock tower and the Westminster Abbey, where Diana's funeral was and William & Kate were married. Jonah did indeed get a keychain for almost every one of these places, as did my Dad (a big victim of tourist trap gift shops). Abi and Mom preferred the shops in Soho (which wasn't until the next day).
As tourists, it would have been criminal to not have ridden the London Eye, so we did just that. Slow-moving and air-conditioned, it was a great way to see the city and the views were top-knotch--I do recommend trying to hop into a less crowded one, as the window space is priceless realty for pictures up there.
We had quick soup and sandwiches at the Broadway Cafe and hopped back on the bus to our next stop, Buckingham Palace and then Hyde Park. Plenty of walking for a bus route, but we got to see both sights with not a drop of rain, and loved seeing Kensington Gardens and Diana's memorial playground. We finished the night with a dinner riverside that Abi reserved, with a beautiful view of Tower Bridge.
Our last day, we explored the shopping districts of Oxford Street and Regent Street. This meant a trip to the biggest toy-store in London, Hamleys! We even got to meet the British Queen which was just the cherry on top. After exploring the area more, we saw Picadilly Circus, which reminded me of Times Square.
After a quick bite of pizza and pasta, we made our way to the Courtyard Theatre on the West End to see Matilda: the Musical. Between the catchy score and infectious energy of the kids, it was a bucket list item to cross off for sure. We, as we do, got ice cream after for our last night in London. It was truly a city to remember and bonus points for the theatre!
(One morning, I snuck off from my family and got what I had been missing for so long: a Chipotle bowl. Yes, it tasted just as good in the U.S. and maybe that is my heart growing fonder with distance, but still: so worth it.)
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