Day 7 On our Way to London (Sept 22)- Part 1

London~ the capital and largest city in England~also, the top destination on my bucket list, and we are on our way!
We had originally planned on spending our whole trip in London, but we decided to split the trip into two parts, countryside and city. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the countryside and am soooo glad we stayed out in Rutland, but I have to admit, I was really excited to head to London and see this iconic city. 

London is considered one of the leading global cities. It is a very diverse city, with people of many languages (over 300 spoken in the region) and cultures. There are over eight million people living in Greater London. That is a lot of people!! It is a mixture of old and new, artistic, expensive, crowded and exciting. If you love big cities (like I do), make sure that London is on your bucket list. 

Since were were looking forward to a two hour drive, we hit the road pretty early. Our first stop would be Heathrow airport to drop off the rental car. We had made the decision to drop the car off at Heathrow for two reasons, a cheaper rate and also because we didn't want to drive in London (good decision)! After driving around the UK for a week, I have to say that it was a relief to drop that car off in one piece, whew! I think that Eric was glad to not be behind the wheel anymore. 

Once the car was dropped off, we headed over to terminal 5 to catch The Tube (also known as the London Underground). 

Terminal 5 Station

Is the train coming soon?

Ready to catch the Tube

There were a few things that we did pre-trip in order to hopefully make things go a little more smoothly. One of which as purchasing a visitor Oyster Card (pre-loaded). In case you haven't heard of the Oyster Card, here's a little info. The card was first introduced in 2003 and is a form of electronic ticket for all public transportation in Greater London. It's valid on about 7 different forms of transportation. It's credit card sized, contactless and can be "topped-up" online or at the station. It's super easy to use and makes travel around London so easy. 

Have Oyster Card, will travel!

Our train arrived right on schedule and we hopped aboard, headed for Paddington Station. It took just a few moments studying the Tube map to see that we needed to switch trains mid-way through to Paddington. Easy peasy. 

I'm tired but ready to see London!

Finally, someone else is driving!!

As we headed to London, I texted my sis, Jennifer, to let her know we were on the way. So excited to finally meet up with them (they had been in London for a couple of days already)! After less than an hour we arrived at Paddington Station. Thankfully, our hotel was only a few blocks away from the station so it was a pretty quick walk.

We've arrived at Paddington Station!!

It was early afternoon so we figured we would go check our bags at the hotel and meet up with Chris and Jen until our room was ready. We were pleased to discover that our room was ready so we were able to put our bags away and call Jen. We made plans to meet up with Chris and Jen back at Paddington (their hotel was just a few blocks in the other direction), after grabbing a sandwich to take on the road. We found a cute, little cafe just around the corner from our hotel, called "Mimo's Cafe". Great food and the prices were good too (we would return here a few times during the week). The cafe is run by an Italian family and it was fun listening to the brothers and sister bantering back and forth as we placed and waited for our order.  

Quick stop for sandwiches to go at Mimo's Cafe. 

  Sandwiches in hand, we met up with Chris and Jen. I was super excited to see my sis in London as we had dreamed of this moment for a long time. I couldn't imagine seeing this awesome city without her (my fellow Tudor fan). 

Their afternoon plan was to head to Buckingham Palace and Chris had mapped out the best way to get there via London's iconic double decker bus. One of the first things of note when you step on the sidewalks of London is that the traffic is CRAZY and there are double decker buses everywhere!! We were glad that Chris had already had a few days to get the lay of the land. 

First glimpse of the iconic double decker buses of London

Since the bus stop was a little ways away from the palace, we took a stroll in the rain. Yes, first day in London and it's raining! Oh well, we are from the PNW, so we aren't afraid of a little rain. We were super excited to see the home of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. 

Buckingham Palace

Thankful for Jen's selfie stick!

This beautiful palace was originally built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 and was purchased by King George III in 1761. Since 1837, upon the accession of Queen Victoria, the palace became the principal residence of the Royal family. It is located in the City of Westminster, has 775 rooms, one of the most famous balconies in the world, and the largest private garden in London. We were not able to go in side, but were thrilled to at least get a look of the exterior of the palace.