Our trip to London was planned for 11 days (it ended up being 12), so fair warning: this is going to be a long post. I will give you the highlights here at the beginning if you don’t want to read the whole thing. If there is something that you are particularly interested in, I will link to each section of the trip so you can read just that bit. Otherwise, buckle up!
Since I’m sure some of you don’t plan on reading to the end, I will share the latest news here. We are leaving Leipzig at the end of February. We have decided that we have done what we came here to do and we are ready for new adventures. We have booked a car so that we can carry our stuff a bit more easily and go further afield. We are going to set out on a little road trip on Thursday to see some sights along the way to our new place. But I won’t spoil it for you all! Tune in next week for where we are heading for March and April!
The London Highlights:
Sightseeing (click here for the long version):
We’ve done most of the biggies before, some of them multiple times. But the things we missed in the past that we hit this time: Houses of Parliament, Greenwich Observatory and Planetarium, and the Cutty Sark. I had been to the Churchill War Rooms before, so I had to take Nathan to that museum. We took a day trip to Liverpool and saw the Cavern Club, The Beatles Story Museum, and the Maritime Museum there. We also visited Paddington Station to see a certain little bear sculpture.
Culture (click here for the long version):
We wandered around a lot (south bank of the Thames, Soho, Little Venice, the Strand). We saw three movies, just because it was so nice to not have to track down a film in English. Likewise, we went to church so that we could get the full message. We also went to a football match—AFC Wimbledon.
Theatre (click here for the long version):
We saw Guys and Dolls (for my birthday), The Simon and Garfunkel Story, and The Merchant of Venice 1936. All were excellent. We also saw three stand-up shows, including the taping of a TV show called The Stand-Up Sketch Show.
Music (click here for the long version):
We went to the Handel/Hendrix House (coincidentally, George Frideric Handel and Jimi Hendrix lived in two adjacent buildings 300 years apart). We saw the reconstructed Cavern Club where the Beatles (and a lot of other acts) played in Liverpool. We took a Rock n’ Roll walking tour around Soho and we went to the Blues Kitchen one night for dinner and some tunes.
Food (click here for the long version):
We did not slack in this department! We had tons of curry, tacos and Tex-Mex, sushi, and assorted pub grub. We went on a walking tour in the East End and had incredible hot wings, churros, truffles, and fish & chips. We went out for a nice meal on my birthday and shared a tasty rib eye and yummy desserts. Borough Market is a blast to wander around and taste all kinds of delicious things.
London: The Long Version:
If I go into detail for everything we did, it would probably be boring and it would eat up a lot time. With that being said, if there is something that I mention that you would like the skinny on, leave a comment or question and I will fill you in later!
We have visited London several times together and a few times apart. The last time we were there was for three weeks in 2019 at the end of our four-month trip all over Europe. We will never run out of new things to see and do and of course we have to revisit some old favorites, too!
One thing that was new this time was where we stayed. We were in a TINY studio apartment (I use the term loosely) in Fulham, which is on the west side of London. It was a great neighborhood with lots of good food and transport nearby. Another thing that we did differently is that we took the bus more than the tube (subway). We had enough time for the extra travel time and we could see more from the bus.
Also, this was the first time we have visited in the winter. We definitely had a couple of cold days when we needed to layer up so that we could be outside longer, but there were several days that were downright spring-like. We loved seeing the daffodils and crocus in the parks.
Sightseeing:
Palace of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament
For whatever reason, this has not been a priority for us in the past or we didn’t plan in advance and get tickets. But we decided this time we would visit this iconic building. It was really a good audio tour. It is quite stunning to see the ancient building (it has been in use for various things for 900 years) and to also get a taste of how their parliament works. The two houses are on different sides of the building and have different colored upholstery (red for the Lords, green for the Commons). One thing about the MPs voting that I find fascinating is that when it’s time to cast their vote, they actually get up and go into a two different halls, one for yeas and one for the nays where their vote is recorded. There are some beautiful symbolic mosaics and statues int he building. Since it is where the actual lawmakers of the land work, there is no photography allowed in a lot of the building. But we did get to take some photos and we really enjoyed our time there. Of course, there is also the iconic Elizabeth Tower housing the clock and the bell, Big Ben. When we were here last, it was covered in scaffolding for restoration. Now, it is all shiny and clean and absolutely stunning!
The Churchill War Rooms
This is a super cool museum pairing the underground rooms that the war cabinet used during the Blitz with a museum about Winston Churchill. Some of the rooms haven’t changed much since they turned out the lights and left at the end of World War II. We could have spent more time here easily. After visiting this museum and the Palace of Westminster, we followed up by watching the film “Darkest Hour” and got to see the drama that happened in those locations.
A Day in Greenwich
Another thing that we have considered doing in the past but haven’t wanted to spend the time or money on was Greenwich. It’s crazy that we never went to the observatory, especially since on the last visit we were staying directly across the Thames and we walked through the pedestrian tunnel to Greenwich often. We started the day with a walk around the Cutty Sark, the fastest 19th-century clilpper ship that is now in dry dock in Greenwich. The ship was originally meant to carry tea from China, and in that business time was definitely money, as the first shipment of tea each season received a premium. So the ship was built for maximum cargo capacity and top speed. Clipper ships were replaced in the tea trade by steamers, so the Cutty Sark was also used for wool from Australia, as well as other goods around the world. It was a good peek into that slice of history, gave us another glimpse into just how crazy the British are for their tea, and the ship is in remarkable shape.
We then visited the Royal Observatory and the Planetarium. We got to see the incredible clocks that they designed to try to solve the problem of keeping time at sea. We saw many different telescopes and scientific instruments and, of course, the Prime Meridian.
A Day in Liverpool
We decided that we just had to chase more music history and so we took the train to Liverpool for a day to see where the Beatles started. It’s a nice city now, with the waterfront experiencing a revival. There are references to Beatles songs everywhere we walked. We had lunch at a cafe called “Lucy in the Sky” and we walked past the “Hard Days Night” hotel. We went to the (reconstructed) Cavern Club and heard live music from a guitarist from Hong Kong. We also visited the Beatles Story museum. That was a fun visit and a lot different from the very memorabilia-heavy museum we visited here in Germany. It was a cold day, so we decided to warm up at the Maritime Museum. They had some really good exhibits about ships connected to Liverpool, including the Lusitania and the Titanic. We returned to the the “Beatles quarter” of town for dinner at the Cavern Club restaurant that was quite tasty.
Culture:
We walked a lot, just taking in the sights and sounds of the city and enjoying some very spring-like weather. We took a couple of different walks on the south bank of the Thames. We also went to Paddington station to take a photo of the Paddington Bear statue, since our grandson, Huck, is a fan. Then we walked along the canals dubbed “Little Venice” for a bit. We walked along the Strand and all over Soho.
I can’t tell you what a nice break it was to be in an English-speaking country for a bit. Although we get along fine here in Germany, especially with Nathan’s good German, it was a bit more relaxing to talk to people in our native language. We really loved going to church and being able to understand what was being said. We also took advantage of the movie theaters. On our many trips, we have found that seeing a movie is a nice way to get out of the weather, to get off our feet for a bit, and to feel a little taste of home.
The last thing we did to appreciate the locals was to attend a football match. We shopped around for some tickets and the one that had tickets available that wasn’t too much of a budget-breaker was AFC Wimbledon. We had fun watching the game, but it was just as fun to see and hear the fans and their chants and comments. The match was a tie 1-1.
Theatre:
I think attending the theater in London is just as essential as it is in New York.
We saw three stand-up comedy shows, again, because English. We went to two clubs, the Stand-Up Club and 21Soho. We also snagged free tickets to the taping of a television program called the Stand-Up Sketch Show. My understanding is that they film the comedians doing their sets and then turn some of the stories into sketches. The best of the three was probably the 21Soho show, but it was mostly dependent on the comedians.
We went to a show called “The Simon and Garfunkel Story”, a touring tribute show. They tell the story of the duo interlaced with songs. The two main musicians definitely gave the vibes of the originals. The back-up band was really good too.
When in London, see Shakespeare! We saw “The Merchant of Venice”, but it was set in 1936 against the anti-semitism that was heightening prior to the outbreak of the war. It was pretty good and the more modern spin made for some really chilling moments.
For my birthday, I chose to see “Guys and Dolls”. This production was staged in a theater-in-the-round, but with a twist. In addition to the regular seats, there were “immersive standing” tickets where the audience is on the stage floor and there are ushers and stagehands dressed as New York police officers, shuffling the audience around to accommodate the different scene changes and the moving platforms of the stage. We opted for the standing tickets and it was so fun. The production was excellent and the singing and choreography were world-class. The fact that we were right next to the performers gave it extra energy and the format made for some very fun moments of performer interaction with the crowd.
Music:
On top of our day trip to Liverpool, we sought out other musical experiences. We took a “Rock n’ Roll” walking tour all over Soho (in the rain). We saw various clubs and sights where rockers lived and performed through the decades. We saw locations that appeared on famous album covers. We walked past the Apple Records building where the Beatles gave their final performance on the roof.
We visited the Handel Hendrix House, where Handel rented for the last 36 years of his life and the flat next door where Jimi Hendrix rented when he moved to London. It was a really interesting place, with the two musicians’ lives bumping into each other. The museum emphasized how the two were both immigrants to England and both were greatly influential on music.
A favorite place that we had to return to on this trip was The Blues Kitchen. They have great food and offer live music every night. We enjoyed our meal and then stuck around to hear the live music. It was an open jam session, with people signing up to play with the members of the house band. We had a good time!
Food:
Bratwurst and mustard are good, but we have been craving some different stuff! So London was a nice change of pace, since one can get just about everything there (except for maybe root beer).
We love Indian food and there are great choices all over London. We revisited a favorite from our last trip, Dishoom, and ate way too much. We also found a lovely little place not far from where we were staying in Fulham called Chai Thali.
We have had Mexican here in Germany, but all but one of those has been less than satisfying. So our very first night in London we popped down the street from our flat to a Tex-Mex place called Yucca London for some seriously good fish tacos and a salad. We also tried out a chain called Tortilla that was pretty good and grabbed a meal at another chain called Wahaca on our way to the airport.
We took a walking food tour that was a little different than others we have taken. With this one, the guy took us around the East End and told us about the different restaurants and food vendors, but the food wasn’t included. He let us order whatever we liked or skip those that we weren’t interested in. It meant that we didn’t spend an outrageous amount of money for food that we didn’t really like and that we only ate as much as we felt like eating. It was great. We shared a small order of some really good fish and chips at Poppie’s (too many chips, not enough fish) and some very saucy and scrumptious hot wings at The Orange Buffalo. We stopped at a chocolate place called Dark Sugars that we have visited before for tasty truffles. We also had maybe the world’s best churro from Brazilicious at Brick Lane Market. They make the churros extra big and straight and then pump the chocolate or caramel into the center! It was so yummy.
We also had some good burgers, good sushi at Oka, and our meal at the Cavern Club was delish. We had to try the Liverpool classic, scouse (which is basically just a beef stew) since Liverpudlians are called “Scousers”. We enjoyed a nice dinner for my birthday with steak, salad, and delish chocolate tart and a sticky toffee sundae for dessert. We revisited a favorite Swedish cafe that we discovered when we were in Edinburgh, Söderberg, for a cardamom bun and a chokoladeboller. We had an excellent brunch at Vanston Cafe in Fulham (Nathan had an omelette and I had granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit). We always like to visit Marks & Spencer for inexpensive snacks and meals on the go—we especially like their sugar-free ginger ale.
My last mention of eating is the food crawl we did through the Borough Market. We had a raclette cheese “toastie”, a nice sausage roll, and an Italian pastry called an aragostine (flaky pastry stuffed with Nutella).
The End
Our flight into Heathrow Airport was delayed (we sat on the tarmac in Munich for an hour before takeoff) and our flight out of Heathrow Airport was…delayed! Due to the delay in London, a terrible airport design, and the most abyssmal immigration system we have ever seen, we missed our connection to Leipzig and had to spend the night in Munich and catch a flight the next day. We really usually have pretty good luck in our travels, so it wasn’t a big deal to get home a few extra hours later than planned.
Well, if you’ve made it through all of that, you are a dedicated reader. We had a blast in London and we are super excited for the next few months, too!
