Day 27 – London, England
Today we slept in late (9:30am!) and had a slow start to our day in London. After so much travel, we are exhausted. We ate breakfast and left the Airbnb by 10:30. Our first stop was coffee, followed by a tube ride to Trafalgar Square. The kids had a blast climbing on the lions – until we sort of dropped Addie when trying to get her down. Oops.
We’ve been walking a lot – between six and eight miles a day – so we decided today was the day to take a hop-on hop-off bus. It was lovely to relax and listen to the audio guide while we took in the beautiful sites from the open upper level of the bus.
We hopped off the bus at the Tower of London and stopped for lunch at Wagamama. The first time I ever ate there was in London in 1998 with my friend Susana from college. I last had Wagamama in London when Kendra and I took our Lowell High students in 2012. Addie was with us, and we sat almost precisely in the same place!
Addie at Wagamama in London in 2012 and 2023!
The food was great, and we were all delighted to be full. However, Kendra was not so great. She was bit by a Black Widow spider in Caen, France (I cannot make that up), and though she has been in pain, and it’s not a pretty wound, she’s been trying to tough it out. (Because she is both lovely and stubborn.) She finally relented today because the pain was too much, and she visited the doctor and got antibiotics.
Meanwhile, the rest of us started our exploration of the Tower of London. Luckily, Kendra made it back to us in time to enter the Tower, and we all headed to see the Crown Jewels. Kendra and Priscilla were impressed – the rest of us were underwhelmed. I have a tough time stomaching wealth-hoarding and pillaging resources and treasures. Think of how many people could be taken care of with the jewels and precious metals on display?
We stayed at the Tower until closing, then grabbed some Starbucks for the rest of our hop-on, hop-off tour. The last stop was Leicester Square, which brought back some fun memories from when I studied in London. We ambled to the tube station and headed back to the Airbnb to make dinner.
Tomorrow is our last day in London, so we plan to get up early and make the most of it!
Jen, your writing and photographic journal has made your trip and family team alive for those of us who read it. How fun to see and read about places we have been and so many others. Thank you for your daily blog and to each family member who wrote. Have fun today and safe travels home.
6 to 8 miles a day!!! Fantastic effort by the young trio!