Day 2: Wed, 3 July 2019
23°C
TfL Tube Piccadilly: King’s Cross St. Pancras to Kensington South; Central: Queensway to Holborn; Piccadilly: Holborn to KCSP
Kings Cross Station Platform 9 ¾; Natural History Museum; Science Museum; Kensington Gardens; Diana Memorial Playground
Starbucks; Central Cafe (Natural History Museum); New Fortune Cookie
17,609 steps
Sunrise was about 4.20am. It wasn’t too difficult to wake up with light coming in our room so early. After eating our hotel continental breakfast, we eventually set out to explore. King's Cross station was our first stop to check out Platform 9 ¾ from Harry Potter. The kids were also intrigued by the shop. We then purchased underground paper tickets for the kids and we used our credit cards as a Oyster travel cards for Phil and myself.
We navigated through the station and found the platform for the Piccadilly Line to Kensington South for the museums. We went to the Natural History Museum first. It was a beautiful building and had lots of great exhibits. We ended up having some lunch there. Next was the Science Museum which wasn’t as impressive and not as interactive as we expected. Across the road was the Victoria and Albert Museum which Phil and I would’ve liked to investigate but didn’t think it would’ve been a good idea with the kids in tow.
Our last stop was Kensington Gardens and the Diana Memorial Playground. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the playground which the kids really enjoyed. It was nice to sit, watch and relax. On our walk to Queensway station, we decided to find some dinner before heading back to the hotel. We had delicious Chinese food at New Fortune Cookie restaurant located near the station. A great end to a lovely day of 23°C. It was hard to get to sleep when it still looked like it was mid-afternoon outside.
Day 3: Thurs, 4 July 2019
26°C
TfL Tube Victoria: KCSP to Green Park; Piccadilly: Piccadilly Circus to KCSP, KCSP to Leicester Square, Covent Garden to KCSP
Buckingham Palace; St James Park playground; Trafalgar Square; St Martin-in-the-Fields; National Gallery; Cambridge Theatre; Covent Garden
Starbucks; McDonald's, Pizza Union
Matilda
18,483 steps
Today we set off to see the queen – not really, just her house. We joined the crowds at Buckingham Palace to catch the changing of the guards. We eventually got a good spot. It was exciting to hear the bands and watch the guards marching – a royal cultural experience. Lots of people were being told off for stopping in the middle of the road to take photos. We walked to St. James Park playground afterwards where the kids played a bit. There were a lot of school groups around. We ended up buying a Nutella waffle for a snack and watching grown-ups being told to go elsewhere for the WC as the ones there were only for children. It was a warm day and somehow after that we were able to convince the kids to walk to Trafalgar Square. We ate our fast food lunch on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields along with other tourists and locals on their lunch break. We then did a quick run through the National Gallery to mainly find the paintings of Van Gogh since Catherine recently learned about him at school. It was very busy at the museum. We went back to the hotel for a rest in the afternoon. Dinner was at Pizza Union at Kings Cross – good value and delicious pizzas. Our eventful day ended watching the musical, Matilda, at Cambridge Theatre. It was Catherine’s first musical which she and the rest of us enjoyed very much and we all managed to stay awake.
Day 4: Fri, 5 July 2019
26°C
TfL Tube Circle: KCSP to Tower Hill; Northern: Bank to KCSP; Circle: KCSP to Paddington; Hammersmith & City: Paddington to KCSP
Tower Bridge; Tower of London; Leadenhall Markets; Paddington Station
New Armouries Café (Tower of London), Honest Burgers
Great Western Railway Band
14,654 steps
We had another warm day in London. We joined crowds of tourists to explore the Tower of London. We saw the torture chamber, heard a talk about the resident ravens and queued for about 20 minutes to see the Crown Jewels. We had lunch there and went up to the White Tower afterwards. After walking along the waterfront and admiring the Tower Bridge. We walked to Leadenhall Markets where it was filmed as Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. We didn't find it too interesting but noticed a lot of businessmen in the pubs (and nearly no women). We had dinner back at King’s Cross at Honest Burgers which we found a bit salty. We were able to coax the kids for another outing after dinner and set out to find Paddington Bear at Paddington station. We succeeded and we also found the Great Western Railway Band playing. We bought ice cream from Sainsbury’s and sat and listened to the band for a while before heading back to hotel for the night.
Day 5: Sat, 6 July 2019
23°C
TfL Bus King’s Cross to Oxford Circus
TfL Tube Piccadilly: Piccadilly Circus to KCSP, KCSP to Green Park; Jubilee: Green Park to Westminster; Bakerloo: Embankment to Piccadilly Circus; Piccadilly: Piccadilly Circus to KCSP
Hamleys
Piccadilly Circus; Regents Canal; Westminster Abbey; Westminster Palace; The London Eye; Whitehall Gardens
Open-air market at Pancras Square; Itsu; McDonald's
Choral Evensong, Westminster Abbey
16,695 steps
There was much excitement this morning as we took a double-decker bus and we were able to get upper level front row seats! We were on our way to Oxford Circus but the bus terminated one stop early due to road closures for the Pride Parade. We walked to Hamleys toy store via Primark department store which was a great place to buy souvenirs. It was still early as we walked to Hamleys and the main road was closed and there were not many people around. It was fun being able to walk in the middle of one of London’s major roads with no one around. By the time we explored every floor at Hamleys and the kids chose their toys, the parade had started. There was lots of buzz and energy. Over a million people were expected. We had fun catching a glimpse of this big event.
Back at King’s Cross we walked to Regents Canal. There were open-air markets on where we found nice food – Korean fried chicken & rice, bugolgi bibimbap and gozleme for lunch. After an afternoon rest at hotel we were back out again at 4pm to attend Choral Evensong at Westminster Abbey. I’m glad we convinced the kids to go even though they didn’t enjoy it much. The music was divine and the cathedral magnificent. We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside. Stephen Hawking and Isaac Newton were buried there along with some composers too. We found mediocre dinner at Itsu and ate it along the waterfront. We attempted to walk to Waterloo bridge but the kids were too tired and grumpy. We made a stop at McDonald’s on the way back and were pleasantly surprised to find paper straws there. I also noted that paper straws are at Starbucks too.
Day 6: Sun, 7 July 2019
22°C
Coram's Fields Park; The British Museum
Pret; Wasabi; Tesco Express; Burger and Shake; Pizza Union
13,026 steps
Today was our last full day in London. We walked from our hotel to the British Museum via Coram’s Fields Park. It was an interesting gated private park where adults are only allowed if they are with children. It was a cool morning. The kids did not enjoy walking but the playground break in between helped. There was a double flying fox and a big round net swing. We stopped at a Pret for drinks before finding the museum. The museum was packed – mobs of people. Nicholas wanted to see most of the highlights which we did and to keep Catherine happy, I gave her my phone to take photos. We found lunch outside at Wasabi which had sushi kids liked. We also went to Burger and Shake and the kids shared a hamburger and fries. I had mac and cheese. Phil bought lunch from Tesco Express. After our late lunch, we went back to our hotel for our usual afternoon rest. Dinner was back at the happening and delicious Pizza Union.
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