Observation of the day: Uber may be controversial in many cities, but
it sure is a great way to get around a city efficiently without breaking the
bank. Hard to understand why taxi companies don’t just copy their model, is it just
because they can’t figure out the algorithm?
Today was a fun, full day. We started our day by meeting
Ricky Gervais' doppelganger when our tour guide, Joe, from Yellow Moon Tours (http://yellowmoontours.com) greeted us at
our apartment promptly at 9am. Shout out to Christine Tillinghast for this
great recommendation. Joe, a lively, comedic character with a quick wit, along
with our Czech chauffeur named Anna, took us on a whirlwind “highlights” tour
of London.
We started with Trafalgar Square, a central gathering plaza
for Londoners located in Westminster. The Square features a statue of Admiral Nelson,
one of the Brits’ major Navy heroes, along with some other major statues.
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| Admiralty Arch leads to the "royal" zone. Buckingham Palace is down the street and Trafalgar Square on the other. This, and much more real estate, has supposedly been bought by Qatar investors. Photo creds: HM |
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| Lion or Labrador? You decide. Photo creds: EM. |
But
our favorite part was the four lion at the bottom of the statue. Originally
commissioned by Queen Victoria, it took the artist 25 years to make them. It is
rumored he wanted them to be authentic and he might have even had a real
lion carcass brought to him from the London Zoo to achieve this. But the OTHER
rumor is it wasn’t a lion he used as a model, but a Labrador. Now, those
of you who know us, and know our love of all things dog, know we liked this
story much better. And in fact, if you look at the lion’s face and haunches, he
much more resembles a Lab than a lion. He’s even panting like a Lab, not
roaring like a lion.
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| Not sure their politicians know any better what to do than our politicians, but Parliament sure is housed in a stately building. Photo creds: EM. |
After a walk around the Square, we headed to Parliament and
then on to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Joe knew just
where to go & I had to laugh when the first song the guards played while
getting ready to start marching was “Yesterday” by The Beatles. Loved it.
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| These guys warmed up with The Beatles. Photo creds: HM |
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| We love the British pomp & circumstance. Photo creds: HM. |
We then headed on to Westminster Abbey to see where William
& Kate said “I do.” Joe told us all about the Abbey including it's modern history. Joe said Prince William had a choice of marrying here
or at St. Paul’s (which we’re seeing on Tuesday), but apparently, William chose
the Abbey as it is where his mother, Princess Diana, had her funeral. In fact,
before he and Kate left the Abbey on his wedding day, he supposedly laid a
single red rose just before he left to honor Diana.
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| Beautiful Westminster Abbey. Photo creds: HM. |
Our last stop with Joe was at the changing of the guard at the Horse Guards. This was a neat experience to see the guards up close and their beautiful horses. Again, we love the pomp and circumstance, but ours was a bit more comical as one of our soldiers nearly ate it off his horse. Between the long sword and the thigh-high boots, I think he was having problems maneuvering & the horse didn't care. Luckily, all was well in the end, but it made for a funny moment.
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| You can just start to see the left horse guard getting wobbly in this pic snapped by EM. |
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| Luckily, he recovered! Photo creds: HM. |
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| The Horse Guard have a bit of back up. |
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| McCarty clan: Horse Guards edition. |
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| HM made friends with the horse. Much like a dog, he leaned in when she gave him a pat. |
Joe and Anna left us at the Embankment Pier for our “007”
experience on the Thames River called the Thames Rib Experience. Again,
shout-out to Christine Tillinghast for this super duper recommendation. The
tour takes you on a James Bond style speedboat down the Thames River. Yes, a
bit cheesy, but totally and utterly fun & much better than being on a
sleepy river cruise with a zillion tourists.
While the first part of the boat trip is slower paced, where the guide points out the sites, once you go under the Tower of London Bridge the captain takes off. You zoom back & forth down the river listening to the iconic James Bond theme. If you need a reminder, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUC8dJ0D6sA. We could imagine the bad guys in hot pursuit as
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| EM channeling her inner Bond. |
Daniel Craig adeptly steered us
down the river. Or maybe that was just my fantasy!?!? After we heard 007, we
moved on to another iconic tune – the theme from Hawaii 5-0. Needless to say,
we had a blast.
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| Yes! It was chilly on the river. We were grateful for the extra gear. |
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| Take off point was just ahead! |
At this point, it was 2pm and our stomachs were talking. Our
fail of the day was a visit to the Sherlock Holmes pub. While our tour company
had pointed us that way, we’re pretty sure we had a new waitress who was
incredibly flustered. When she told us she was having a difficult time
writing our order because she had to write it in English and it was her second
language, we knew we were in trouble. After 20 minutes with only drinks and no
order yet taken, we decided to cut our losses and move on.
At this point, JM and I earned our parent of the year awards
in an hour & a half. As we were not far from the Primark on Oxford Street,
we decided to get this knocked out of the way as both girls (especially HM)
wanted to visit. Walking there was a treat as we walked along Bond Street, home
of the upscale stores like Hermes, Gucci, Tory Burch and Ralph Lauren. While we
weren’t shopping, we enjoyed seeing all the beautiful windows and seeing the
fashions Target will be copying in the near future…
This pleasantness did not prepare us at all for what awaited
at Primark. Holy cannoli it was a cluster. Primark is London’s equivalent of
Forever 21 with even better prices. Everything is trendy and will probably last
about 1-2 months if we’re lucky. Of course, HM was in heaven. As we were not
going to REPEAT this experience, we stuck it out and in the end, she and EM
were thrilled to walk out with quite a bit of clothes for less than $50 each.
As we’re heading to Downton Abbey (a.k.a. Highclere Castle)
on Wed., we then chose to go to
Those of you who have kids, may be familiar with a certain
bear who is named Paddington. I have an incredible fondness for this bear as
years ago, my grandfather brought me a beautiful Paddington Bear complete with
red rubber wellies, blue coat and yellow hat from London. I loved that bear but
so did my previous dog, Maggie, who shook poor Paddington until all his
stuffing came out. Years later, I still have a Paddington carcass that someday,
I say I’m going to have repaired. Meanwhile, I just had to satisfy myself with
a trip to the Paddington store in Paddington Station.
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| Just me and my bear. |
Our evening ended at Harrod’s. Long story how we journeyed
there after such a long day, but we decided to squeeze it in. For those who’ve
never been, it really is a must-see. And that says a
lot from someone who doesn’t really like to shop. It is an incredible store that has everything and anything your heart desires. Really.
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| John and his girls: Harrods edition. |
And while we Ubered and rode on our tour for much of the
day, EM is happy to report that we still broke 20,000 steps!
Both girls are wiped out and as I write, have both headed to
bed as we have another early day tomorrow to visit the Tower of London and St.
Paul’s Cathedral. Until tomorrow…
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