England

Location: London, England

Travel Time: June 14-15, 2016

That evening, we arrived at London Heathrow Airport. My first impression of London was that it was a very modern, up to date looking city. It didn’t have that traditional, historic European feeling but we were excited to explore nonetheless. The 6 of us took an Über to our hotel. We stayed at the Tune Hotel 13-15 Folgate St, London E1 6BX, UK. (http://www.tunehotels.com). The hotel was down a very narrow alley so we had to walk part of the way but it was pretty easy to find. The rooms were very clean and the wifi was great. However, I will say the rooms were very small. As a married couple, it wasn’t so bad. But for two friends traveling together, I would suggest getting separate rooms. Other than that, the service was great and the room was reasonable. They even helped us in printing our train passes for the following day.

Having spent the last few hours commuting, we were ready to eat. Based off the receptionist recommendation, we dined at Poppies Fish and Chips (http://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk). The ambience was very fun; a vintage 1950s diner. Even though we arrived shortly before closing time, the staff was very welcoming. Of course, we had to go with the traditional fish and chips. We were not disappointed! After stuffing our faces we walked back to the hotel for a good nights rest since we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

The next day, we had arrangements for a Bible Tour at the British Museum along with a walking tour of the city. Since we were also checking out that day, the hotel was accommodating in holding our luggage (2 bags per person or additional fee required). We took the London Underground at Liverpool Street to Central Station and walked a few blocks to the British Museum. We had a tour set through http://www.bible-tours.co.uk. Our tour guide Dia was waiting for us in the lobby. Since we only had a few hours before our flight out, she gave us a modified tour. My personal favorite attractions were seeing the original Rosetta Stone along with several scriptural references of false gods (see Flickr attachment for more information).

After touring the museum for a few hours it was time to take the double-decker bus to Buckingham Palace. Personally, I was excited to ride the bus in London. As we cruised around the city I couldn’t help but get flashbacks of me as a child reading my Paddington Bear books. When we got off the bus, we stopped at a bookstore for some coffee and pastries. We then crossed the street to enter Buckingham Palace. The traffic going in and out was insane! Fortunately we were on foot. After snapping a few photos we crossed over to St. James Park. I soon found myself having a Mary Poppins moment in feeding the birds. Dia had plenty of snacks on hand for feeding so we were pretty popular. All of us had a good laugh; except Tracy. I guess after dealing with New Yorker pigeons, the fun is a little short sided.

Treats at the bookstore

Since time was starting to flee us, we continued our walk around this gorgeous metropolis. We took selfies in phone booths, beamed at Big Ben and even ran into some of the local friends doing public witnessing. It was the perfect day to roam around London. We finished off our tour by taking a boat down the Thames river where we had breathtaking views of the London Eye and Tower Bridge. It was time to say goodbye to Dia. We had such a great experience and I highly recommend taking the tour when in London. It was easy taking the train back to the hotel where we each got our luggage, grabbed something to eat and headed for the airport. Our time in London only amounted to a day but we definitely made it count. The weather cooperating was a great help as well. Being one of the busiest and most popular cities in the world, London is definitely a’must see.’ I am looking forward to returning in the future. Now, we were off to catch our (very delayed) RyanAir flight to our favorite European country: Italy!