London, Baby!
27 June - 1 July 2019
Our Tour de Britain continued with a trip down to London to visit friends and family, and do a spot of sightseeing.
Setting off from Manchester first thing in the morning, we hit Wembley in time for lunch with our mate Lara, before settling in with friends in St Margarets, near Twickenham. How nice it was to be back in London!
On the Friday we took the train into the city to play tourists for the day, hitting up all of the obvious hotspots. The kids have never been to London before, so they loved seeing all of the main sights. From the London Eye, to Westminster, and Downing Street to Trafalgar Square, with glimpses of Buckingham Palace and on to Covent Garden, and finally around St Katherine Docks and Tower Bridge. We saw it all! And Sullivan walked the full 10kms without complaining once - not bad for a 3.5 year old. :)
Saturday brought with it some serious summer weather, topping out at 34C. Our wonderful hosts Mark and Luci took us on a local’s tour of Richmond, and we are now completely in love with this little corner of London! Crossing the Richmond Bridge from St Margarets, we wandered through the boutique shops and across the Green to gawp at the remains of Richmond Palace (former royal residence of the likes of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I).
Circling back along the water’s edge and under Richmond Bridge we continued meandering along the banks of the River Thames in the glorious sunshine. And about 2km down the way we took a charming private ferry across the river for just £1 each. It is one of only four remaining ferry routes in London not to be replaced by a bridge or tunnel, and is essentially just a man and his skiff taking passengers 150m from one bank to the other. What a delightful find in such a major city!
After lunching at The White Swan Twickenham (and avoiding the beer garden, which is IN the river at high tide), we headed over to the very quirky Eel Pie Island. Twice a year the Eel Pie Island Art Studios are open to the public, and today was the day! Only accessible by boat or footbridge, this little river island is eccentric in every way, like only the Brits can be. What a fitting way to conclude a day of wonder, intrigue and exploration!
We closed out our long weekend down south by spending some quality time with close friends in Marlow and with family in Stratford-upon-Avon. Plenty of sunny weather, ice-creams, and visits to the playground kept the kids entertained amongst all of the sightseeing and catch-ups. What a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the big smoke!