Week 13: November 26-December 2
- Katie & Webster
- Dec 2, 2018
- 5 min read
The weather has been dreadful here in London this week so we have been busy working on our plans for Australia! We spent three nights working on our visa applications. After completing twenty-five pages of questions, listing every country we have travelled to in the past ten years, and attaching twenty documents each, we both were approved in less than five minutes! We are now on the hunt for accommodation for our four months in school, while we plan our pre and post school term travel adventures.
On Tuesday, my work took a walk through Central London to raise money and awareness for arthritis. We walked 10,000 steps past Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, then through a few parks. It was a fun, team building activity for a great cause!
On Wednesday, Webster worked from home and came to visit me at our typical lunch spot. We had sausage rolls and took in the sights. The Queen was in, so there were lots of guards walking around. We are really going to miss these royal lunch breaks in a few weeks :(
On Thursday, we rushed home from work to get ready for a night out! We received some tickets for the School of Rock play from Webster's parents in October so we have been (not so) patiently waiting to see it! We took the tube to Covent Garden and headed to the theatre. It was packed, totally sold out, but it was small enough that everyone had a great seat. We were sitting right in the stalls, about five rows from the stage! The play followed the movie very closely, but featured more songs throughout as it was a musical. The kids in the show were phenomenal! They could all play instruments and sing like they had been in the business for years - it was so impressive. It completely exceeded our expectations and we highly recommend it to anyone who is in London (or New York!).
After the play we welcomed two special visitors who were in the city for the weekend. They flew in at 9pm, so we met them for a late dinner once our play was over. We had pizza at our local favourite, Franco Manca!
We woke up Friday morning and it was a beautiful day, we all headed to breakfast before Webster and I had to go to work. It was nice to catch up and share some stories about our time in London. We both headed to work and they headed to the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
I was lucky enough to have some banked hours that I could use Friday afternoon, so I left work at 1pm. We all met at the Royal Mews to explore the Queen's carriages and horse stables. It was really neat to read about the history, and all the events that these regal vehicles had carried her, and other royals to.
After the Royal Mews, we took the tube to the Tower of London. We spent some time walking around the grounds, looking inside the walls, and comparing the VERY old to the VERY new. It is an interesting area where lots of new businesses are moving in but where the city (and Royal Family) have also preserved the history.
Then, we took some time to walk across the Tower Bridge to the other side of the river. It was a beautiful day, so we took our time enjoying the sights.
Once we were across the river, we headed to Borough Market. One of the most famous markets in London with lots of vendors, shops, food stalls and entertainers. We arrived at dusk and all the little shops had beautiful Christmas lights on. We felt like we were on a movie set! We enjoyed a little snack and then kept on exploring.
We took the subway back to Oxford Circus and spent the evening looking for Christmas lights. We wandered down Oxford Street, Regent Street and Carnaby Street in awe of all the lights. Then we headed to Piccadilly Circus to see the big billboard, and all the people. Lots and lots of people must have had the same idea as us because it was absolutely madness! After our walk to Piccadilly Circus, we ended our evening in Covent Garden, where we saw more Christmas lights and had some dinner. We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant called Wahaca and had a much deserved break!
On Saturday morning, we slept in a little bit and didn't get going until 10am. We met them at their hotel and headed off for our Hop-On-Hop-Off tour! It was nice way to see so much of the city in a short amount of time. We stayed on the tour for the first two hours to just listen about what we were seeing and learn about the history. Then we got off and walked through Harrods! It was all decorated for Christmas. We visited the Harrods Food Hall for a bite to eat and then continued on the Hop-On-Hop-Off until we reached Kensington Palace. We walked through Hyde Park and explored the outside of the palace, the Sunken Gardens, and even saw where Will & Kate lived.
Afterwards, we did a big grocery shop for the week. Our special guests wanted to see what a British grocery had that was different from home, so we spent some time looking at crumpets and unique things. Then, we gave them a tour of our very tiny flat.
In the evening, we headed to Sky Garden, a viewing deck on the 35th floor of an office building overlooking the city. It was neat to see it all lit up. We spent a while taking it all in and trying to spot things in the distance. At the end of the night, we went to a wonderful Brazilian restaurant called Preto. The waiters came to the table with skewers of meat, and you were served directly off the skewer. They had sixteen varieties of meat - all delicious!
Today, Sunday, we attended an early morning service at Westminster Abbey. This is something Webster was really looking forward to doing in London, so it was nice to cross something else off our list. It is so neat that so many royal events have happened in the Abbey, and we were in the same place for a service this morning. We all loved it!
After the Abbey we headed to 10 Downing Street to see if Theresa May was in. We made a quick stop to see the horses that stand outside the Household Cavalry Museum.
We finished our London-in-a-weekend tour with a trip to the London Eye. Webster and I have done this a few times since we have been in London and we love it every time! We were so lucky to have a beautiful morning with lots of sun.
Then we walked back to Buckingham Palace to see it one last time, and dropped our special guests back at their hotel. They left London at 6pm (our time) and will arrive back in Toronto at 8pm (home time). Surprisingly, there were no tears when we said our goodbyes, but knowing we will be home in only 20 days makes it a little bit easier.
This week, we have a busy schedule planned as we head out of the UK for one more weekend away! It is bittersweet as we try to see everything we can before we head home for Christmas.
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