The London Uncles suggested we meet up in Hamstead for a Sundya Roast at one of the nice old pubs. So we got on the train and made our way there, which was surprisingly easy to do. It was a quant little part of London and we did a little bit of shopping since we got there early.
After our sightseeing we went and visited with our friends Uncle Laurence and Uncle Mike who became known as the London Uncles. We had a really lovely lunch with them and as we were sitting there, a furries group walked by, so the girls went out and said hello. After lunch we walked through London to St Paul's Cathedral where we said good bye for now. We then went to Kensington for a fun make your own ramen dinner before calling it a night because the girls were exhausted, still a touch jetlagged.
We visited the armory in the Tower of London as it had some interesting interactive exhibits along with various weapons used at the tower. After walking through we got a great view of the Tower Bridge before we wrapped up our tour.
We took a tour led by one of the Yeomen which gave a good history of the tower, the various guests and what is happening there now. It was fun to see the various buildings including the chapel and the resident ravens. EV was really playing up the cat persona and was fascinatesd by the ravens. EV was surprisingly quite excited by seeing the crown jewels.
We headed into the city to the Tower of London to learn some history before catching up with our friends for lunch. We were quite excited to walk around a bit and for the kids to run around on the lawn before getting on to the tube. It was a chilly morning but we still enjoyed looking at the tower as we waited for the Yeoman to start the tour.
We arrived into London quite late and stayed by Heathrow to maximise our rest and minimise potential for tears. Our plan paid off as we felt much better in the morning and caught the train from the airport to our apartment. We planned well since it was a direct train which was quite easy to figure out once we got our tickets sorted. The apartment was in a little estate which was near the station and in a really nice London neighbourhood of Baron's Court. The girls made themselves at home as they turned on the robot vacuum and proceeded to make bridges for it to go under. One thing that surprised us was just how small and dirty the tube trains were, but the historic stations were actually not too bad. SV certainly didn't mind as she made herself right at home and read the local paper.
In the morning we made our way back to the airport quite well rested. We stopped along the pedestrian bridge to take a look at an exhibit and still had time to get our favourite Duncan Donuts. It was a really smooth trip back on the train and into the really nice Asiana business class lounge. Last time we were in Seoul we spent about 5 hours on a layover in that lounge so we knew it quite well. This time we had much less time, but we still enjoyed it.
