A London Thanksgiving ~ Where are the Jays

Iconic London Bridge

For the last few years, Jeff and I have gone to Washington DC to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter. We started the annual trip since we had time and she only had a couple of days then her time off changed, and she had the whole week. Thus, this year off we all went to merry old England.

Our first day was a long travel day between overseas flights and the 3 of us meeting up at the Heathrow Airport in London, train to the correct part of town and finding our "home" for the week. However, one must eat so we did a traditional English meal that Jeff and I had missed out on during our long trip a couple of years ago - the Sunday Roast. It is such a popular meal that our first-choice spot for it was sold out. We then chose a pub close to our Airbnb. What we did not realize was that we chose a pub that is a meeting spot for an Italian football (soccer) club whose match was starting shortly after we arrived. It was a full and loud pub. We enjoyed the meal, and it was fun to watch the fans in their excitement with a goal and frustration when a second goal was overruled. Oh, I should add that all of London including this pub was already decorated for Christmas. You see without a Thanksgiving holiday as a starting point for Christmas the Brits were well into celebrating the season.

Pub for Sunday Roast

Sunday Roast with this Pub's take on Sticky Toffee Pudding for desert

This and many other of the photos were taken by our daughter

After a relaxing night in, we were ready to start being tourists. Our first stop was changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Us and a couple of thousand went to watch in a light rain. Unfortunately, we did not have a great vantage point, so Cierra was watching it on her phone held high as were others. From there we headed to the Tower of London.

Click above to watch the guard and band arrive at Buckingham Palace

Canada Gate entrance to Green Park next to the Palace

Happily, we stopped and ate lunch on our way to the Tower, because we spent the whole afternoon there. The crown jewels were our first stop. Then we explored the White Tower where we saw all sorts of armory from various ages for horses and humans. Hearing the stories of the royalty that had ended up there for various reasons such as one of Henry VIII's wives. It was all quite interesting.

Jewels are inside this building

The Ape on the wall illustrates how wild animals were kept on exhibit at the Tower

Then we wandered around the complex checking out views and saw the ravens that are there and the signs that warn you the ravens can be dangerous. We also saw the changing of the guards outside of the crown jewels building. As it was starting to get dark, we left and went for a walk along the nearby river Thames. Ending up at a very nice hotel's bar overlooking the river for a drink before heading out to our first theater production for the trip.

Our first of 2 theater shows was the musical Hercules at the Royal Drury Lane Theater. The theater was built back in Edwardian times (think Bridgerton) and was beautiful. We had booked the pre-theater dinner option, so we got time to explore the place a little bit without crowds. The ceilings were full of plaster work (very tall too). Our waitress also pointed out that the artwork in a nearby hallway was that of Andrew Lloyd Weber's so of course we had to check that out too. The show was quite good, but I have to admit the time difference got to me and I took a quick nap during part of the first half. Cierra could not believe I had managed to fall asleep during the show.

Next morning - Tuesday I had planned out another full day for us. We started at the Tate Modern art museum. It is an interesting place to visit and most of it is free. From there I had originally thought we would go to the nearby Globe theater, but when Cierra found out it was a replica, she nixed it and we moved onto the Borough Market. Borough Market is a huge food market (farmer's market on steroids) plus some other food related items. It was interesting, entertaining and packed. We ended up eating at a nearby pub for the main course and then getting coffee and desserts at the market.

Examples of art at the Tate

art exhibit in the Tate

Globe theater (replica)

Borough Market

Our morning had been spent on the south side of the Thames and now it was time to cross over to the north side of the river. That meant we used the pedestrian bridge called the millennium bridge. If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is the curvy bridge featured in one of the movies. It also ends in a walkway/pedestrian area that leads to St Paul's Cathedral our next stop. This is the cathedral Christopher Wren designed. We walked around and explored the main level and then went up a curving stairwell up to the upper level where we were able to look down on parts of the main floor and to see some of the windows better. We could have gone up yet another level, but that was outside and thanks to the weather not of interest to us. We had chosen a Tuesday to visit the cathedral since we knew there would be an evening choral service at 5pm. I was surprised that so many rows of chairs were being reserved for people before I found out that we were there on a day they honored "The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire." It is an organization that honors people who have done extraordinary things for the British people - everyday people up to well-known like military leaders and dames. Our one gripe was the church needed to amplify the choir since they were hard to hear well. After the service, we headed back across the river and found a Christmas market that went along the riverbank for a while. We enjoyed wondering and had some wonderful hot chocolate and then headed to a nice warm restaurant for dinner.

The bridge looks more exciting in Harry Potter when it's twisting and turning

Next morning was our early morning day. We caught the train to Cambridge. Unfortunately, somehow, we ended up on a train that stopped at all the small towns along the way versus the express we wanted so we missed the tour we had reserved - bummer. We still had an enjoyable day. Cambridge University is one main school/umbrella under which I think they said 30 colleges operate. You are part of a college, but you will take classes with people from all of the other colleges too. Some of these colleges are ancient so many of the buildings are quite nice from the outside and often had quads so you could wander around a little bit.

Each day, Trinity college opens its famous library for a couple of hours. The library was built by Christopher Wren (St Paul's architect). While the building was nice, what was really interesting was some of the books you could see in the display cabinets. An original copy of Winnie the Pooh, a very old copy of Shakespeare and a couple of displays related to WWII letters.

Nice view

For us at least, it was one long hallway

After lunch, we wandered some more including taking a tour of the King's College chapel. King's college is the oldest college at Cambridge, and its chapel is well known. Okay they call it a chapel, to you and me it is a full-blown church that took years to build and has gorgeous stained-glass windows.

King's Chapel

That's me there so you can see a very tall building - look at ceiling too

While it was still daylight and relatively warm out, we did a typical Cambridge activity and went for a punting tour. In other words, we rode in a shallow flat bottom boat while a man propelled the boat along with a long stick. We were on the back side of several of the colleges, so he told us about them as we floated along.

Wednesdays in Cambridge means evening song in the Kings College chapel so at 5pmish we got in line with others to hear the service. We enjoyed this service more than the one the night before because we could hear it so much better. By then most things in town were closing up so we found a nice restaurant for dinner before heading back to London.

Harry Potter Fan Shop in Cambridge

King's Cross Station leverages it's ties to the books and films.

Next morning still in full on tourist mode we went to Westminster Abbey. We walked around on our own some and then joined a tour led by a verger (type of staff member). We saw where Sir Issac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking were buried in one area, Winston Churchill memorial near a memorial for fallen soldiers and then into the Tomb of Edward the Confessor (kind of a chapel within the church), the nave and pointed out some areas to be sure we explored on our own.

Mary 1 and Elizabeth 1, sisters on the opposite sides of the reformation

Scientists' Corner
Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Issacs Newton to name a few

After we left the Abbey, it was time for another very British meal - afternoon tea. We chose to augment the tea with a couple of "savories" - we had welsh rarebit and avocado bites. The welsh rarebit was kind of a very good cheese toast. Then we moved onto the tea service where we had little slices of different sandwiches such as a cucumber, a salmon and a couple of salad-based ones. Then decision time do we eat the scones or the desserts next? I went for scones then the desserts. One of the desserts was a slice of Battenberg cake which I now feel the need to try and make since we all enjoyed it. The cake slice is flat and has 4 squares of cake in it - diagonally the same type, a filling and all wrapped in marzipan.

Later that night was our second show - Les Miz which is a family favorite. While we were dead center our view (at least mine) left a lot to be desired since everyone kept leaning forward, but oh the singing was fabulous!

Time to take my WWII buffs to the Imperial War Rooms i.e. Churchill's underground war rooms. We spent a couple of hours touring the rooms and the Churchill museum. It was all quite interesting. Jeff and I had a volunteer grab us and point out some modifications that had been made to the building for the war. Some modifications were useful like adding interruptions so to speak to the long hallway so that a bomb blast would not be able to go the length of the long hallways. Others he claimed were useless like how they reinforced the concrete slab that the first floor of the building above us sat on. He claimed the rooms weren't as safe as advertised. However, the people who worked down there thought they were safer because a couple of them made a point of sleeping down there during some of the worst raids. 10 Downing street is nearby so we stopped there or as close as you can. A delivery vehicle came by and Cierra took the opportunity to ask the guard if the cat still lived there. She was assured he does but that he does not come out much these days since he has gotten older.

Map Room - These phones lighted up rather than ring, each a different military command

Churchill seated in the back center with his commanders and their secretaries packed in a smokey room

Now our goals for the trip were: tourist sites, Christmas markets and shopping. At this point we had done a respectable job with the tourist sites and had seen a couple small Christmas markets, but no real shopping. So on to Harrods we went. We arrived hungry thus our first stop was a place to eat in the store and ended up in a middle eastern restaurant that was pretty good. Then while Cierra learned the joys of trying to get in demand Christmas toys, Jeff and I wandered around a little. We ended up in shoe heaven at one point where most of the shoes were fancy evening apparel types and very expensive. However, one brand caught our eye - Paris Texas. Never heard of it. Me neither, but I have a good friend who lives in Paris, Texas so pictures were taken. After a little more wandering around the store - fancy dress area for dreaming, we headed out into the street.

Another store we visited was Fortune and Mason. It is a department store dedicated to food and the items to cook and serve it properly. It was a 3 or 4 story building on Picadilly so a major area of London. When we entered the first floor, it was packed with people and goods. Lots and lots of tea options and some stocking sized packages of goodies - Cierra got Jeff a small fruit cake for his birthday. Jeff went to the basement to look at the wine and spirits while Cierra and I explored the upper floors. On the top floor they had all sorts of table settings and tea sets (to my younger generation's shock). And English crackers not as in edibles but the type you pull apart to a cracking noise to find little trinkets. I have been buying them here in the States for a few years and usually get a joke, a paper crown and a little toy like a wind up Santa. Oh no, here there were some that costs $30 or more each and had real implements in them like cocktail tools. I was VERY tempted to get one but told myself it would not travel well. The theme this year was crackerdiles. So, the cracker looked like a crocodile and they even had an oversized one hanging from the ceiling.

Fortnum and Mason Christmas windows

Example of some of their chocolates

The crackerdile - boxes in back of more crackers

Oh my, a friend had said London is magical at Christmas and boy was she right. Yes there are some decorated windows, but what they do incredibly well is lights. Lights on buildings, across the streets, in trees. Oh, is it gorgeous in many areas.

That's a video panel in the middle

We also went to THE Christmas market/festival in London that night. It is in Hyde Park. It was not at all like the Christmas markets we experienced in Germany. Rather it is more of a state fair meets Christmas market event. Yes there is a lot of food and drink offered but even more rides and carnival games with just a touch of shops. We had bought a combo ticket so we could eat and drink in the Bavarian Village which turned out to be a heated area with nice alcohol offerings but sad food. So we used our coupons for drinks and potato chips before heading back out into the main fair. It was nice experience, but not really a Christmas market.

Our last full day in London was spent shopping with the masses on Oxford Street and checking out the windows at Selfridges Department Store. Like the USA there was black Friday which continued onto Saturday which is when we went shopping. I was amazed to realize that there were multiple shops of some stores like probably 3 or 4 Zaras on the same street and not too far apart since we hit them while walking. While walking down the street we were just part of a mass of people at times. Cierra was on the lookout for a new winter coat so that was one of our main goals (we failed at that), but it was also just to be on the lookout for something different. Jeff and I have learned that we like the food at the Marks and Spencer's (M&S) chain, so we stopped there and bought some things to bring home. We ended our shopping day at Selfridges which I have never entered but here it is very upscale. We went there so we could see their store windows which had been done in conjunction with Disney. Each window was from a different Disney story. The windows were quite nice. But the mass of people here was crazy!! We were literally in a human gridlock by the front door. Those of us trying to get to the windows running into the shoppers trying to get in and out of the doors. It was at these windows that Cierra declared that people with little kids sleeping in a stroller should not be allowed to block the way for others. From there it was time to go back to our Airbnb one last time while picking up dinner on the way home. We all had to pack and get up early in the morning (predawn for Cierra) to catch flights back to the US.