Another Katie & Mike Adventure 2006

After landing, we asked for handicap assistance for Kathy. We had to spend some time with a plesant British chap who worked for BA. We were forced to wait for a contractor airport employee, this was a timely wait for people who had just endured an Atlantic crossing.

The contractor arrived, another pleasant and helpful chap. We were able to ride a golf cart from point to point. He helped us to clear customs, stop at the money exchange, get our bags and eventually to transportation transfer.

We rode in to the city on a commuter train. At the central train station, we hailed a taxi to our hotel.

See (my add)...

Nice, older building in good neighborhood. Close to tube station. Friendly staff, helpful conseirge, clean. Breakfast was varied and good, not necessary to pay for "upgrade"

My main complaint is that there is a bit of a walk to reach the nearest Tube or Bus stop.

We passed through this airport several times during our journey across Europe.

I knew that we should do something after our landing to start our "body clocks" off correctly. I learned years ago, when I was stationed in Germany, that one should try to stay awake, then sleep at a "natural/normal" (i.e. night) time beginning the first day you arrive overseas. There is a five hour (in advance) time difference between Atlanta and London.

I also knew that this sort of activity would be perfect because we could tailor our activity level and schedule to what and how we felt. All while getting to see and learn about where we were visiting. (In some ways, we tried to do this at every major city we visited.)

We enjoyed it even more as our first tour guide (and the one that we spent most of the tour route with) was a bit of a character himself. He was what most of us would picture as a stereotypical British chap by his gestures, accent, manner of speach and other things. He would crack jokes and insert things in his presentation that made the trip very enjoyable. We parted company when we left that bus about 3/4 of the way around to take the Thames River cruise to Greenwich and back.

Most of the sights listed on this site, day two, we saw during this tour. We ended with dinner

Close to Westminster Abbey, which we were unable to visit (the Abbey) due to it's short opening hours.

Interesting to see an item with SO MUCH history! The ship was very large. In fact, too large to get into one camera shot. This attraction was very close to Greenwich park.

We arrived here first after taking advantage of the included Thames river cruise that was included with The Original London Sightseeing Tour.

Didn't get to "Stand in both hemispheres" as the operation was closed. A little disappointing as I was looking forward to doing this! Probably just as well that we didn't go, since the building was on top of a substancial hill and Kathy doesn't do hills very well!

Neat to visit the original Hard Rock again! This allowed me to buy another tee shirt to add to my collection. Funny, since this was the location where I started my tee shirt collection in the first place back in the 1980s.

They now have a new attraction. It is called the vault. They have a very NEAT collection of rock memoribillia there, to include Jimmy Hendrix stuff (I got to hold one of his guitars!), Elvis stuff, Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff. It all is housed in a real bank vault (from I don't know where).

We mostly rode the Tube while in London. It is fast, timely and will deliver one very near to wherever one needs/cares to go. Then a bit of a walk sometimes, supplemented by taxi rides from time to time.

It was impressive to view the second largest cathedral in the world. We even found the tribute to Florence Nigthtengale!

We were quite impressed at the skills and construction techniques that were used to create this beautiful structure!

The chapel devoted to the WW II American military was impressive as well.

We walked in, searching some supper as we had a full day sightseeing. We tried to go to Westminster Abbey, but arrved there after their early (15:00) closing.

We were returning from finding the New Scotland Yard and noticed the entryway. It looked appealing and we dropped in.

I ate what the menu called a "Toad in the Hole." It consisted of: A huge Yorkshire pudding, filled with a half-pound Cumberland sausage ring, buttered mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and covered in a rich gravy. Kathy had a steak sandwich. Of course, since we WERE in London, we felt obliged to imbibe in some ales, you know, because we HAD TO!

Harrods is a famous department store where you can find almost anything under the sun. Ultra-luxe items and an incredible selection make this a fun place to browse for hours.

The best thing about Harrods is the food hall. You can find absolutelly everything you ever wished to have for cooking and maybe even stuff that you never even considered. Everything is fresh and displayed exquisetly. The candy section is expansive and stocked with many brands from around the world. They even have a Krispy Cream store! The "Hot Light" happened to be on when we arrived...!

Oh, the prices? Well, if you have to ask, then I guess that you probably can't afford it...!

By the way, Mr. Al Fayed has created a couple of shrines to his son and Diana in the store. Definately a must see for those who are into that subject!

Cool & creepy walk through London's East End after dark. In addition to the neat story line, our tour guide was quite an attraction in his own right. He has been a Ripper historian for abut 20 years. Has gotten to meet many interesting people through his own studies to include members of royalty and Johnny Depp. (Whom he said was quite a nice fellow.)

Our man seems to have a good idea to the resolution of the mystery. If you want to know his answer...

We went to this pub after the "Jack the Ripper" walk/tour. Had a few pints and chatted with the tour guide.

This is where he relayed his story of intregue and little known facts about the background of the Ripper story.