LONDON IN 2 DAYS-OUR VERY UNIQUE ADVENTURE! DAY 2

Visit London in 2 Days

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE DID ALL THIS!

Welcome to DAY 2 of our adventure in London!

Our morning started out exploring Trafalgar Square.

This Piazza is basically a commemoration of the British Naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars against France and Spain, who took place off the coast of Cape Trafalgar;  you will in fact notice a display of statues (admirals and generals) and memorial fountains.

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The monument which mostly catches attention is the one dedicated to Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died in the Battle of Trafalgar.

Nelson’s Column is in fact 169 feet tall (!) and it is surrounded (or symbolically protected) by 4 massive and beautiful bronze lions.

The square hosts and has hosted several community gatherings, concerts and political demonstrations since the 1800s, which makes it a significant landmark.

We then walked a little over 10 minutes to Soho, in particular to 20 Frith Street, where Mozart lived, and Soho Square, where Giacomo Casanova lived.

Unfortunately we found out that neither the composer’s or the gigolo’s residences are still in place…at least not in Soho.

As we were in fact staring, nose up, at what we thought was Mozart’s residence windows,  a couple of locals wondered what we were finding so interesting in a….kindergarten! 🙂

I later discovered that both Casanova’s and Mozart original residences were demolished and that a commemorative plate in honor of the composer is on the (still standing) house on 180 Ebury Street in the Belgravia district , where he also lived and were he actually composed his first simphony.

We got a glance of the area anyways, which stands out for its colorful small restaurants and cafés facades, music clubs and movie businesses.

Soho has been the heart of the sex industry for over 200 years but has now cleaned up and is a residential area, largely hosting the gay community; its bohemian vibe definitely needing further exploration next time I visit.

NEXT STOP, THE BRITISH MUSEUM

My sister wanted to give a cultural twist to my nephew’s adventure and being me passionate about Egyptian history and relics, I got on board with visiting this completely free and renowned landmark.

The 266 years old museum (in 2019) displays a wide collection of HUMANKIND ARTIFACTS; not solely and much of Britain’s history here in fact, but Africa, Ancient Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt, the Americas, Asia, Middle East, and Europe in general.

A MUST GO VISIT FOR HISTORY LOVERS, the British Museum supports itself with donations, great books, gift shops and a large food court.

pic by Erika Price

ON TO CAMDEN TOWN 

We highlighted a couple of popular markets to visit: the Borough Market (Southeast London) and the Camden Market (Northwest London), in Camden Town, which is also where Amy Winehouse lived (and died), whom I am a huge fan of.

Once left the British Museum, getting to Camden was easy; we walked about 10 minutes to get on a double decker bus to Camden High Street and traveled for 11 minutes circa.

Camden Town has been a residence for the working class for a long time; as the railways and canal improved transportation and connections, industries, pubs and public houses (prostitutes) increased as well.

However, as the entertainment venues grew, the district cleaned up and became, during the 60s, the epicenter of the youth cultural revolution where music (Punk Rock particularly), culture and politics were one entity.

Eventually and as for today, the upper class populated the district as well.

LUNCH TIME!

Once arrived in Camden we were starving but luckily it only took us few steps before I noticed this restaurant with a very enticing name: The Blues Kitchen.

The welcoming sign was already inviting – you’ll understand once you see the pic below 🙂 – and as we walked in, I was stunned by the very cool décor (see more here) which included pictures of Blues Kings AND A STAGE!

I am a blues rock lover so it was a pleasant surprise to discover that this restaurant is also a live music venue.

Unfortunately (and logically) no live music at lunch time but definitely a place to go back to during evening times for the whole food/drinks and music experience.

I later found out that The Blues Kitchen is Winner of the 2015 and 2017 Certificate of Excellence and highly rated not only for its ambiance but also for its wide whiskey collection and quality food which we very much enjoyed.

Food at the Blues Kitchen is very much Southern U.S.A. oriented.

From the brunch/lunch/dinner menus you can choose from Cajun fried chicken, to shrimp jambalaya and gumbo. But also burgers, delicious mac n cheese, salads, fun cocktails, sandwiches and pancakes! Check out the menus here.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DINE HERE, IF YOU ARE A COMFORT FOOD AND/OR A BLUES-SOUL MUSIC LOVER.

AMY WINEHOUSE 

My very resourceful sister found out that, limited to that week, there was an exhibit about Amy Winehouse at the Jewish Museum!

As anticipated above, Amy lived and and died in Camden Town so the exhibit plus walking by bars and places where she used to hang out, made it the absolute cherry on the pie for me! Even though it wasn’t MY birthday trip :).

A short walk from the Blues Kitchen and you arrive at the Jewish Museum.

The ground floor walls pictured Amy in large scale and were actually the only ones we could take pictures of. No pictures allowed in the room were the exhibit was…

As we walk in the dedicated area, a consistent amount of Amy’s belongings were exposed in enclosed displays.

It was very touching to look at her first guitar, her notes and comments, her songs drafts, shoes, clothes and pictures of her unfortunate sad life.

I’ve read every single memo there was and found out elements of her existence, mostly family related, I had no idea of.

A TRUE STAPLE IN THIS SIDE OF LONDON, AND A TRULY TRAGIC LOSS; I have been lucky enough to stand in third row staring at her at the Alcatraz Club in Milan in 2007…

pic by Erika Price

CAMDEN MARKET

It is ONE OF THE MOST VIBRANT, big and hectic Market Worldwide! Definitely a lot of Punk Rock vibe still alive here from the look of some of the buildings to the people! A delight for young folks and less young with a Rock Soul ;).

BUT NOT ONLY!

With hundreds of indoor and outdoor shops, there’s really something here for EVERYONE:  antiques, vintage clothes, records, artisanal items and several food stalls, made our visit very entertaining!

It would take a whole day to explore it all so we mostly kept going and enjoyed the picturesque surroundings, which beauty is amplified by the adjacent canal.

The Market often schedules special events (art, cuisine and music) so check their calendar before you go! See more about what to explore, here.

SUGGESTION: IF YOU ARE NOT UP FOR MIXING WITH A HEAVY YOUNGER CROWD, OPT FOR MORNING TIMES.

In Camden Market – pic by my sis Monica Attivissimo
Image by VIVIANE MONCONDUIT from Pixabay

From the Camden Lock Market we walked 6 minutes to the nearest Tube which in 20 minutes took us to our next destination: Embankment Station.

We chose this station because it is 1 minute walking from the Embankment Pier, where we used the River Bus Service  to take a panoramic tour of the river.

YOU CAN BUY INTO A GUIDED TOUR OF THE RIVER OR YOU CAN DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND SAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF MONEY USING THIS PUBLIC TRANSPORT (on board refreshments for purchase), like we did; either way DON’T MISS THIS EXPERIENCE!

River bus ride

NEXT STOP, THE TOWER OF LONDON

We got an amazing shot at the TOWER BRIDGE as we approached our stop and LET ME TELL YOU, YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN TONS OF PICTURES OF IT, BUT AS IT APPEARS BEFORE YOUR EYES, IT IS ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING.

Tower Bridge

THE TOWER OF LONDON is a castle that was built to serve as fortress where the royals would reside in time of wars and where their valuables – along with the Nation’s money – were stored.

To these days, the Crown’s Jewels are also secured and guarded here, available for tourists to see.

The Tower also served a very dark purpose: PRISON AND EXECUTIONS with legends about ghosts of executed queens surrounding this landmark; we walked around and gathered a bit of its history by reading the various plaques.

FROM THE CASTLE, JUST A SHORT WALK TO AND ON THE TOWER BRIDGE.

We could not miss getting a close glance of this masterpiece, which regretfully ended our extraordinary visit!

pic by Monica Attivissimo

WHAT WE MISSED THAT YOU SHOULD NOT (from our original list of things to do):

  1. The Borough Market  , if you love diverse food experiences and fresh produce;
  2. The Basement Tea Room , in the heart of Camden Market, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED HOT SPOT for a wonderful and authentic Afternoon Tea Experience! My sister just recently hit this spot we missed in 2017 and LOVED IT!
  3. Tour inside the Tower of London: visit times end at 5:30 pm; tickets available on line. Prepare for the tour of this Medieval Jewel, learning more about it here

HOW DO YOU FIND THIS GUIDE? Leave your comments below!

See also: London in 2 Days – Our very unique adventure DAY 1

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LONDON IN 2 DAYS – OUR VERY UNIQUE ADVENTURE! DAY 1

Unique 2 Days Itinerary to visit London

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When I go visit my family in Italy, I like to take “trips within the trip” anytime possible; in fact there is a considerable amount of cities/countries that you can visit within Europe, with  just 1 to 2 and a half hours low cost flight.

This makes it very convenient for whom experiences this side of the world for the first time and definitely very exciting for travel eagers like me, my sister and my nephew.

It was the second week of May 2017 and both my Nephew’s birthday and Mother’s day were approaching. My sister was planning a gift to her son who wished to take The Making of Harry Potter Tour at the Warner Bros Studios, just outside London.

As I wanted to chip in for the gift and I had never visited London, I figured I’d ride along for the trip!

In this blog I will tell you how we planned this experience along with our itinerary, hints, notions and feels gathered in the little (but fully rewarding) time we had available.

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GETTING TO LONDON: TRAVEL DAY

Among the number of domestic low cost airlines available, we chose Ryan Air, which is one of the biggest in Europe and, as far as for London goes, flies to Southend, Luton and Stansted; with Gatwick, Heathrow and City that makes it 6 civil airports in London.

Our destination was London-Stansted; departure time 4:30 pm while our return was 1:30 pm which meant having 2 travel days plus 2 FULL days to explore all the highlights we marked on our wish list.

The roundtrip flight cost for 2 adults + 1 young adult (discounted fare) + 2 checked bags was $241.11 (US dollars) with departure from Venice-Treviso International airport (TSF); 2 hours and 10 minutes travel time, direct. NOTE: if your dates are flexible you can make it with way less than $200 (for 3 people!).

The flight was ok, meaning that it definitely takes you where you need to be but Ryan Air does not provide ANYTHING complementary, not even water.

In fact when I asked for a glass of water I was told by the flight attendant that it wasn’t available to them either and that they have to bring their own. HOWEVER, once you know this in advance and if you value the savings more than a glass of water, it’s just fine.

TRANSPORTATION FROM THE AIRPORT

You have few options here, depending where your hotel is and what your budget allows: you can take the Stansted Express train (at the airport) which reaches Central London in 46 minutes, or a Taxi (pricy) or a coach bus.

We chose the latter, booking our tickets on line 5 days prior our departure, with National Express;  at that time the total cost for 2 adults and 1 child, ONE WAY, was £ 13. One hour ride to our destination, very comfortable and we got to admire the landscapes.

BUT BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE AIRPORT, STOP AT THE TFL (Transport For London) VISITOR CENTER TO BUY YOUR TRAVELCARD!

London is RIDICULUSLY well served when it comes to public transportation; you can ride overground trains, underground (British call this tube, while Americans call it subway), trams, buses and river buses; and you can do so economically, purchasing an OYSTER CARD and/or a TRAVELCARD mentioned above.

These are basically pre-paid cards you tap on each public transport you use, easily re-loadable at any station using your debit or credit card.

The difference between Oyster Card and Travelcard can be confusing when you first look into it; the key to the best choice is the length of your stay. Learn more here.

NOTE: we found more convenient the pay as you go Oyster Card for a visit that is less than a week.

You may also purchase the London Pass, which at a flat rate gives you access to several attractions plus a certain amount of Oyster Card credit.

Since we weren’t sure we would actually visit the all the listed attractions and it seemed expensive for 2 days, we decided against. 

GETTING TO CAMBERWELL

London is divided in Boroughs (32 boroughs plus 1, London City, which is independent) and boroughs are divided in districts.

Our hotel was in the Camberwell district, within the Borough of Southwark, in south east London.

Our designated bus stop coming from the airport, was on Whitechapel Road (by the Royal London Hospital), conveniently 3 minutes walking distance from the Whitechapel Overground Station where we would catch a train to reach our final destination.

As we walk towards the station and look around to get a first feel of our surroundings, there it was, this egg shaped skyscraper: The Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe), impressively arising among centuries old buildings.

You’ll see a lot of contrasts like this, contemporary and historic side by side, which I personally find it a bit of a punch in the face (aesthetically speaking) however somehow fascinating.

The Gherkin

The Shard

At the Whitechapel Station we caught a train to Denmark Hill Station (46 minutes ride) then walked 12 minutes to the hotel.

SUGGESTION: I highly recommend you arrange a travel data plan for your smartphone so you can use your GPS!

It really saved us an enormous amount of time and effort, guiding us not only with walking directions but also (and more importantly) with public transport schedules and locations.

London is VERY BUSY GUYS! Picture a Manhattan or Los Angeles traffic, but in a European style city; meaning that London is NOT LAYED OUT IN SQUARE OR RECTANGULAR GRID like the two American cities mentioned above, so it can be difficult to find your way around.

As we approached our last few minutes walk to the hotel we passed a series of very quiet streets (almost no cars passing by) surrounded by geometrical and unadorned brick houses with a kind of “conservative” look so I could not tell if it was private houses or some sort of schools.

OUR HOTEL

Despite few bad reviews, we decided to book a triple room at The New Dome Hotel on Camberwell Church Street, for the total cost of £ 270 (circa $ 345) for three nights, breakfast included.

The room was not very spacious and not SUPER clean (a bit of dust on the desk and carpet) but the beds and bathroom were spotless, very friendly staff and satisfactory breakfast.

After all we only needed a clean bed to crush, a clean bathroom to shower and a substantial breakfast before approaching our tour de force – meaning being all over the places all day long –.

Camberwell Church Street is very lively; there are several restaurants with different Cuisines from Italian to Turkish to Chinese and more, along with cafés and pubs filled with young crowds, due to the vicinity of the Institute of Art and other schools.

Bus stops and a medium sized park are within few minutes walk and the surrounding architecture varies from Georgian Neoclassical to colorful strong Dutch Baroque accents.

THE NEW DOME HOTEL Photo by shrinkin’violet for Flickr

After checking in and starving at that point, we went on our FIRST ADVENTURE: look for a place to eat!

Well it wasn’t that big of an adventure because we literally walked in a Chinese Restaurant called Silk Road, right next door to our hotel ha!

I’ve realized only afterwards, how greatly reviewed this place is and that it is considered one of the best in London for its authentic Xinjiang Cousine , as also confirmed by its guests. Learn more about Silk Road here.

The restaurant was packed, with Asians too, which is a good sign in my opinion. CASH ONLY and SURPRISINGLY INEXPENSIVE, we had delicious courses and very much enjoyed our first impact with the locals: sociable, interactive (NO LOOKING AT PHONES OR TV!), loud and happy people.

PEOPLE BEHAVIOUR AND VIBE are absolutely joyful and cordial.

I knew about the Anglo-Saxon culture being extremely polite so quite frankly I expected it to be distant and a bit cold but I was gladly wrong! BESIDES, there is a great deal of diversity in London (Indians and Italians among the ones we more often encountered).

The European value of social life really stood out here, throughout our entire stay. Every bar, pub or restaurant we walked by was full of people, in and outside, mingling, laughing and drinking (oh, yeah… they seemingly drink a lot!).

DAY ONE: SOME CITY HIGHLIGHTS AND THE MAKING OF HARRY POTTER TOUR

The Warner Bros Studios are located 20 miles North West of London, which is totally opposite to where we stayed, South East; however it didn’t discourage us, on the contrary! We visited plenty of staples on our way there.

We left the hotel at 8 am sharp and got an Uber to reach the LONDON EYE, thinking we would save time to see more things…WRONG! Stuck in traffic…. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS DEFINITELY THE WAY TO GO.

Anyways, as we walk towards the iconic Ferris Wheel, we started breathing in some real London features, WEATHER being the first; it was a cloudy day and just like in the movies, we were constantly opening the umbrella up, closing it down…sun comes up, jacket off, clouds covers the sun, jackets on again and umbrellas open LOL!   

We didn’t ride the WHEEL and opted for a very lovely walk on the Westminster Bridge (over the River Thames), during which we were captured by the spectacular view of two of the most astonishing gothic masterpieces in European History: the WESTMINSTER PALACE and the Clock Tower (renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012), commonly known as the BIG BEN.

I’ve seen the Big Ben pictured pretty much anywhere from gadgets to movies to ads so I was kind of “giving it for granted”, but as I got close to it and even heard the bell, I felt a little emotional…as if London’s heart just emitted its beat.   

Visit London in 2 Days - Unique Itinerary - Pic by Erika Price
The Big Ben and Westminster Palace. Pic by Erika Price

Visit London in 2 Days - Unique Itinerary - pic by Erika Price
London Eye. Pic by Erika Price

Proceeding on to BUCKINGHAM PALACE, we stopped at ST JAMES PARK. This is the oldest of the Royal parks and spreads over about 57 acres including a lake and a cottage.

As we entered the park we were surprised by quite a few squirrels running towards us; we couldn’t believe they wouldn’t run away from humans as it commonly happens in other cities and we thought “HEY! EVEN THE SQUIRRELS ARE SOCIAL” ?

I realized afterwards, during a visit in NYC, that in all reality they are simply used to tourists feeding them, which ultimately is the reason why they run by you ha! What can I do, I’m hopelessly romantic….

Walking around the park infuses you with a serenity that keeps you away from the city noises and hyper activity.

From the gorgeous flower beds to the ducks, beautiful swans and even pelicans, there is a lot to admire here; you even get glimpses of the London Eye and Buckingham Palace through some of the ancient trees. 

But there’s more landmarks to St. James park worth to explore, which requires more time than what we had.  Check it out here!  

Us in St James Park

A SHORT WALK FROM ST. JAMES PARK TAKES YOU TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE

We wanted to see the notorious Changing of the Guard which happens on specific days and times our schedule didn’t allow, however we DID SEE THE GUARDS marching in The Guards Museum’s courtyard, on our way to the front of the Palace.

This has been the first element which got me the realistic perception that A MONARCHY still exists. Pretty fascinating, if you think how old this regime is.

As we approached the Royal Palace we were at first struck by the dominant Queen Victoria Memorial, a monument completed in 1924, built right in its huge courtyard.

We admired Buckingham Palace with its guards on horses for few minutes, wondering if the Queen was in or not; the Royal flag (called the Royal Standard) was not flown at that time, which means THE QUEEN WAS NOT IN RESIDENCE.

We then visited the adjacent QUEENS GALLERY, which exhibits works of art from the Royal Collection; the Gallery was built in place of the Royal Palace chapel, bombed down by Germans during World War II.

As we look for souvenirs, we enquired about all the different colors of the artifacts, Queen Elizabeth’s II in particular. The lady who helped us thoroughly explained the details with great enthusiasm, proudly underlining the Monarch’s longevity. She must seriously LOVE HER QUEEN!

Buckingham Palace&Queen Victoria Memorial

NEXT STOP HAMLEYS TOY STORE AND PICCADILLY CIRCUS

As a treat before the BIG (or bigger) treat, we satisfied my nephew’s wish to visit Hamleys on Regent Street; a toy paradise for young and less young folks, about 20 minutes ride from the Queens Gallery.  (Ride the tube at Victoria Station, stop at Oxford Circus Station and walk approximately 5 minutes).

Founded over 200 years ago, Hamleys is at least a 7 floors store filled with over 50.000 lines of toys! And there is entertainment too!

In fact several employees show how (and involve you) to play with toys (on the street and in store) while you can admire others dressed as “stuffed animals” as you walk among bubbles and flying devices. YOU GET THE PICTURE…

Make sure not to have big plans after this visit especially if you go with kids…you won’t be able to get out of it so easily! Luckily for us, all my nephew wanted was few Fidget Spinners and check out the -immense-Lego section ;).

Piccadilly Circus is basically a road conjunction characterized by a big rounded open space (circle) in the middle of it, which includes Regent Street, where Hamleys among bookstores, designer brands but also budget friendly stores are.

It is the perfect spot for shopping and entertainment enthusiasts, and a little like the New Yorkers Times Square, with its huge video display and big neon signs mounted on the corner building of the northern side.

We did not have time to engage in much shopping extravaganza as we rather wanted to enjoy a local meal in a reasonable amount of time before heading to the Studios.

I wanted to have and authentic Shepherd’s Pie so we stopped in a classic English style Pub where we had a terrific but yet VERY FILLING experience.

Like a good Italian at this point I needed a serious authentic espresso, DEFINITELY not something I would dare try (nor they would possibly have) in a Pub.

We left hoping to find a cafe’ along the way and there it was, a large fancy looking like Restaurant/bar/cafe’ to please my need: THE RITZ.

In all reality The Ritz is a hotel, which at first I didn’t realize. However the bar and dining area are available to anyone. As we walk in, we quickly realize by the décor and guests attire that THIS was gonna be A WASH…

My sister tried to dissuade me from staying but I thought “how bad can this be” so we approached the bar counter and sat down.

I quickly ordered 2 espresso but to my surprise the bartender hands me the menu, opened to the coffees page…I got the slightly frightening impression that he wanted to make sure I knew what I was about to face…£ 10 (about 12 euros) FOR 1 ESPRESSO!

Oh well… we live once…I can always say I treated myself to a coffee at the one the MOST ICONIC, HISTORIC, 5 STARS LUXURY HOTEL in London HA!

THE RITZ – Herry Lawford for Flickr

TIME TO GET TO THE WARNER BROS STUDIOS!

It was now time for us to make our way to the Studios so from The Ritz we walked 1 minute to the Green Park Underground Station and took a 5 minutes ride to Euston Underground Station; once here we walked about 4 minutes to the Euston Railway Station for a 20 minutes ride to Watford Junction Railway Station.

As you exit the station (about a minute away), you will see signs to the shuttle bus stop that takes you to Warner Bros.

The bus is CASH ONLY and it runs every 20 minutes; it has Harry Potter theme prints all over so you can’t miss it! The ride is comfortable and it is 15 minutes long. See directions to the Studios here

I booked the Complete Studio Tour Package  which I highly recommend because it includes a digital/audio guide and a paperback Souvenir Guide; you will not get all the interesting insights on the making of the movie and creation of the sets, without the digital guide.

I must say first of all that I NEVER WATCHED ANY HARRY POTTER MOVIE nor I was ever drawn to it, not my cup of tea.

I SOLELY took the tour to make my nephew happy so I didn’t expect much of it and wasn’t quite incline to walk around for about 3/4 hours (that’s approximately how long the tour takes) after having walked the whole morning already ? .

However! You will be pretty quickly amazed by the scenography of each of the multiple sets, which is absolutely magnificent in any single detail, big and small.

It really struck me to realize the amount of work behind the making of these movies, not to talk about the very enchanting special effects, some of which you can test yourself.

Absolutely a visit worth paying, whether you are into the genre or not.

THIS IS IT FOR DAY 1 GUYS! CLICK ON DAY 2.

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