Our second day in London was Thursday, October 2nd, and we had a busy day planned: the London Eye, touring Westminster Abbey, another bookstore visit, and a stroll around Hyde Park. Oh, and we also planned to try public transportation for the first time!
We had a 10 a.m. ticket for the London Eye, so we wanted to leave the hotel right around 9:30. I woke up first, took a shower, did my hair and some light makeup, and then we had breakfast at the hotel. (Overall, the hotel breakfast was pretty meh; we weren’t huge fans.)
Our hotel was a few steps from the London Bridge tube station, so we walked over, and this is where things got a bit tricky. Truthfully, I should have done more research on getting tube tickets, but I figured I could easily figure it out while I was there. Unfortunately, the kiosks at the front were unhelpful, and we had to go to the ticket office, where I bought two day passes for 40 pounds.
Anyway, we got our tickets and found the correct line for where we were going (thank you, Google Maps!), but apparently, there are two separate types of lines: overground and underground. We needed to be underground, but I had just followed the first signs I saw, which led us to the overground. Oy, vey. Even with Google Maps guiding my every step, I still get lost! Eventually, we found where we needed to go, and I was able to navigate us to the London Eye from there. Whew!
I really loved the London Eye. Sure, it’s touristy, but the views were incredible, and it was one of the first times I wanted to pinch myself and think, “Omigod, we’re in London!” It’s a slow-moving ride (about 30 minutes) and you’re in an enclosure with about 10-15 other people, but it didn’t really feel too cramped, and we were all good about taking pictures and then moving out of the way for other people.
Near the end of the ride, one of the women in our pod turned to her partner and asked earnestly, “Worth it?” about the experience. For some reason, this tickled my mom and me so much! We immediately made eyes at each other when she said it, and then all throughout the trip, kept asking each other, “Worth it?” over the silliest things.
After the London Eye, we poked around in the gift shop where I bought some postcards (which I have yet to send out, lolol), a magnet, and a Christmas ornament. And then we were off to our next excursion of the day: Westminster Abbey!
I’ll mostly let the pictures do the talking here, since what is there to say about Westminster Abbey? It’s gorgeous and reverent and filled with so much history. My mom and I did the audio tour while we walked around and took time to sit and listen when we needed to. (We also paid extra to visit The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, which were interesting, but not sure if it was 100% necessary.)
We spent a few hours at the Abbey, and then hopped back on the tube to go to a bookstore! Daunt Books had a location in Marylebone, which was halfway between Westminster Abbey and Hyde Park. I was able to navigate us successfully (hooray!), and as I stepped into the bookstore, my mom left me to search for a restaurant. She parked herself at the aptly named The Marylebone and got herself a local IPA, while I browsed the bookstore at my heart’s content.
This bookstore had multiple levels, and I spent quite a while deciding what I wanted to buy. In the end, I wound up with two books and the cutest bookstore tote. (PLEASE LOOK AT THE COVER OF THE AGATHA CHRISTIE NOVEL! How could I not buy the book?!)
After my bookstore browsing, I joined my mom and ordered lunch, which was pizza. The pizza in London wasn’t great (most of it was Neopolitan-style, which isn’t my favorite), but it kept me fueled for sightseeing at least.
Then it was time for our last adventure of the day: Hyde Park! We decided to Uber there since our feet were aching and it was going to be a bit of a hassle to get back on the tube. This was the path of least resistance.
To be honest, we didn’t do a ton at Hyde Park. We rented out a paddleboat for 30 minutes, which was nice. Mostly, we coasted in the water, not doing a ton of paddling. The weather was great and the views were gorgeous. It looked like we were in an idyllic fall postcard! After our paddleboat adventure, we walked around the park for a bit, but we were getting pretty tired, and our feet were killing us. This is the part of travel that I like the least: All the walking! My feet are not equipped to walk 10,000+ steps on a daily basis, which I really need to remedy.
Anyway, we had quite the adventure getting back to our hotel! First, we walked about 15 minutes in the wrong direction because I read Google Maps incorrectly. Then, it took us forever to finally get out of Hyde Park and to the tube. And then, when we got to the tube station, none of the directions on Google Maps matched the lines at this station or the places they were going. I was hella confused. We must have been at the wrong tube station or in the wrong part of the station? I have no idea.
Here’s where I say, I TOLD YOU SO, to every single person who assured me I would have no problem navigating public transportation in London thanks to Google Maps. I knew I’d figure out a way to get lost because I am so terrible at navigation. And I did! Muahahahaha.
Anyway, I was not in the mood to do more navigating, so I made the executive decision that we would take the tube to the station that seemed the closest to our hotel and then get an Uber for the rest of the way. And that’s what we did!
We finally got back to the hotel and immediately decided to find something to eat ASAP. We didn’t even want to go back to our room because I felt like if we did, we wouldn’t leave. We considered stopping by the pub that was close to our hotel, but it was crazy busy and we knew we wouldn’t get a table anytime soon. So, instead, we found a spot at the bar in the hotel restaurant and had a nice dinner. I also had a prime view of the bartenders, and I don’t know what it is about watching bartenders work, but I find it so soothing. (One of them was also super cute, so that helped, too, ha!)
And that was day 2!
Do you have any great inside jokes from travel?
Wonderful pics and recap! I love how you capture the ups and downs and seemingly small but memorable moments of a big trip like this with so much grace and humor. I completely relate to the certitude of getting lost … I think those who have at least some instinctual sense of direction can’t quite fathom what it’s like to not! So they mean well but they just have no idea, lol. I literally called an Uber two miles away from my apt once bc I kept walking in circles trying to get back on foot (tbf, it was dark/I was newish to area/unfamiliar with the neighborhood and there was a 8-pronged intersection that I obv couldn’t figure out!). I also have both gotten on the metro going in the wrong direction and called an Uber bc I couldn’t find the entrance to said metro, despite supposedly being a local at that point, ha. I’ve actually heard the latter isn’t totally uncommon in the area bc signage/closures/reroutes make things different and confusing, often! So for tourists it can be impossible I’m sure. Anyway, sounds like you handled it all as well as anyone could! Looking fwd to future recaps!
Thank you for this comment, Kat! It makes me feel a lot less silly for not being able to figure out the tube like everyone told me I would. I like to think I have a good sense of direction, but I really don’t. I love the story about calling an Uber when you were two miles from your apartment! I relate so hard to that.
Love this so much! First of all, what more could you say about Westminster Abby- it’s incredible and your photos definitely do it justice. And, DAUNT BOOKS! I feel like I know that store from hearing Meredith talk about it on Currently Reading. If I were traveling with someone, I would definitely park them in a nearby pub with a beer so I could browse to my heart’s content. And, WHY are the UK covers of books so much cooler than ours???
Your stories of the public transportation are filling me with anxiety- it’s been a long time since I’ve had to navigate in a strange city! In the end you got where you had to go and that’s all that matters.
Public transportation is my nemesis! I am always so fascinated by people who can navigate themselves in any big city without issue!
How fun! I mean, I’m going to be honest, that all looks like too many people everywhere for me to enjoy, but isn’t it crazy how things like double-decker busses are REAL and not just things in Harry Potter movies?
When I was a teen, I was notorious for pointing things out like this. OH MY GOD IT’S A PALM TREE was a joke in our house (all caps) because there are no palm trees in the Midwest and in some places (like where you live!), they’re just there growing in the wild. That’s crazypants to me. I also made them (them = my parents, of course) stop at a cotton field once because I’d never seen cotton plants before. I still don’t understand how those little fluffs become the clothes I’m wearing.
Your story reminds me of a time when I was sitting on a bench and this couple started losing their mind over seeing a lizard. Lizards are such a common occurrence that it’s not something I’d even notice, really. But then they told me they were from Canada and it made a lot more sense, haha.
There were SO MANY PEOPLE, Engie. Especially at Westminster Abbey where we were constantly in these long lines to go into certain rooms. Gah.
I’m sorry that you had trouble getting around, but at least you got to enjoy a good “I TOLD YOU SO” moment! Great pictures, and I love the in-joke moments.
You did way better than I would have on public transportation. As a collgee kid in CA, I got soooooo sooooo sooooo lost on BART (and it’s, like, SO EASY TO FIGURE OUT. I rode that train AAAAALL day.
I think public transportation is kind of a muscle that needs to be developed/exercised. Some are born with that innate ability but most figure it out through practice. It makes sense that you got confused, especially with the above ground v underground. I have gotten quite good at public transportation but I get a lot of opportunities to practice on work trips and such. I was really proud of the fact that Will and I didn’t take a single uber when we were in Chicago last summer! The buses were the trickiest thing for me to figure out by far, but we still managed to figure it. I just had to really pad our schedule with extra time as I knew we’d likely wait at the wrong bus stop for the bus (which definitely happened).
One inside joke from a trip is from a hike at Griffith Observatory in LA. We went on a hike and got a bit turned around coming back and ended up going in the opposite direction. I was tired and hungry and said “I’m ready to be done” like a toddler. So now when I get overtired or annoyed with something Phil will say “I’m reading to be done!”
OMG, bus routes! We tried doing that when we were in Dublin in 2019 and that’s when I learned that buses don’t go in a loop – they come to the end of the line and you have to get off! It was a disaster. It definitely is a muscle that needs to be exercised – I don’t have any opportunity to practice it where I live!
I love that inside joke story!
Wow such a busy second day! The photos look amazing!
I didn’t go on the eye when I was in London. What a gorgeous view of Westminster. I love your photos of the Abbey. Was it crowded when you were there? I found getting round the chapels a bit much having to squeeze along with all the crowds, but the history of the place is just amazing.
I love taking public transport when we are traveling, we rarely need to do much else, but I always make sure I do some research before I go. FYI, London you can tap an and off for the public transport. When I was spectating for the marathon, there were so many people at some of the stations you couldn’t get any mobile reception. Luckily I’d been in London for 6 days by then, so I had some idea of where I was, or at least the general direction I needed to go.
It was SO BUSY at Westminster Abbey. Some of it was fine, but the smaller rooms definitely had long, slow lines that we had to deal with.
I definitely should have researched using my phone to tap in and out of the tube! It looked so easy for all of the Londoners, haha.
What a lovely day, those pictures are fantastic!I I love London, great walking city, I haven’t been in over a decade, your post is making me want to visit again soon.
SO MANY THOUGHTS.
1. Gorgeous photos.
2. Learning the public transport system is great, but it is LEARNING. We did some very wrong stuff in Paris when I was last there.
3. I’ve been to Westminster Abbey (back in 1993 on my honeymoon) and I still remember how amazing it was.
4. I was going through shoeboxes of photos today, and found a postcard from that trip to London!
5. I love your dedication to bookstores, I feel the same way.
6. I never had great food in London, though we did have a nice buffet at Harrods (buffet not usually my thing, but this was delicious). I’ve heard it has improved a lot since then.
I’m so, so glad that you went with your mom. So awesome.
7. When my cousin and I were in France, we found epsom salts, and soaked our feet every night. That really helped with all of the walking. For future you.
That is so smart! We even had a tub! All of the walking was really hard on our feet, even wearing good shoes.
Was the breakfast at the hotel meh because of what it was (like traditional English breakfast) or the quality of the food or both?
I love the Worth It? inside joke! So fun. And love how much you loved the London Eye. You cannot beat those views! WOW!
OMG THE COVER OF THAT BOOK YESSSSSSS!
I am sorry you had so many navigation woes 🙁