Day 2 : London River Cruise

We had a wonderful full day in London! We got up at a decent time but took our time getting ready for the day. We had determined that we were going to pick up our London Pass, which is our chosen method of sight seeing and then go on the river cruise that was included with it. We decided to just catch breakfast on the way. The really nice thing about where we live is that just down the road a little is St. Katherines dock where a bunch of sail boats and yachts are docked. just around all of this area are quite a few restaurants. We decided to stop at Cafe Rouge, a little french place right on the way to the train. We both got bottled water, which is just about the only way they serve it here, and eggs benedict. There were delicious. I had never had them before but I enjoyed it quite thoroughly! I am now completely in love with Hollandaise sauce. Here are pictures just to prove it!

So after all of that deliciousness, we hopped on the train and picked up our pass. We went to the West End to pick it up and it was busy, but really fun to see people all around on a Saturday morning. Then we hopped back on the train and went to the Westminster station were to our surprise we immediately saw the houses of parliament and Big Ben. They were huge. I was not expecting them to be so massive. It was kind of a fun experience for us to just come out and have them be right there!

Then we walked with the masses across the street to end up on the pier! We jumped the line with our little pass and got on our little cruiser the millenium. We sat on the top deck to be able to see everything we wanted to see. The best part was the waterman we had with us. Now I use the term Waterman very specifically. Apparently in order to take people or cargo up and down the Thames you have to have this title. It means that your family has done it for generations, it is something that is passed on and you can't just join, you have to be born into the group.  Our guy was so great that I decided to take a video.

Apparently the other boats usually just play a tape but our waterman made a special exception and gave us great commentary the whole trip! Here are some pictures from the ride.

The cool thing about this picture is that we can see the entrance to the traitors gate where they used to bring the convicts into the tower of London!

Then we got to Greenwich which is the center of all time, it is where time ends and begins. They have a big red ball that marks the spot. The first thing that we saw in the town was this ship on display. It is called the Cutty Sark, It started sailing in 1869. It mostly imported tea from china. So we looked at our little pass to see if it was included and it was so we popped right in and were shown in right away. It was so fun to see the boat up and personal. It had mostly original metal and wood!

Here is the view from one of the lower deck windows.

The Crew's quarters

The top deck

Then underneath you can see the bottom of the ship. Again it was very interesting to see it all together and so close,

Then at the bottom they had this little cafe with, of course, tea and pastries! I didn't dive into the tea but I did get a delicious scone that was quite good! It was fresh out of the oven with butter and jam. It was truly fantastic and such a good choice!

Then we walked around to explore the little town, and we came upon a little street fair of sorts in a little alley way. This picture really does not do it justice but it had all different kinds of authentic food from different cultures and some other artsy items to sell. It was fun to walk around. We decided that we were glad we went on a Saturday to see it, even though it was a busier day overall.

Then we headed over to the buildings on Greenwich, where we happened upon this, which was a very interesting and beautiful place to discover. A real, live palace!

The best part was that people were just lounging everywhere enjoying some lunch or just chatting.

Then we decided to make our way back home!

This is a picture of where the original mayflower, that landed in America, took off from. The man on the boat pointed it out to Alyssa and I specifically to help us see a bit of our history.

It was a really lovely boat ride and a great way to see a little bit more of London!

This is a funny sign around our little apartment complex. We decided it was a very unique choice of wording for us Americans, but we like it all the same.

Then for dinner we decided to go to the Captain Kidd pub just down the road from us. At first when we walked in on the first floor, we were a little confused because of the fact that no one had food, they only had drinks, but then we discovered that the restaurant was upstairs, so we quickly made our way up to this little place.

It had a lovely view of the water!

We decided to get two things and share so we got fish and chips and a pork pie!

They were both really delicious and we were so happy to have a big authentic meal. I think overall we have decided that the food is much better here in Europe no matter where you go, it is all good!

We did decide to travel by bike along the way  and it was really fun, You can rent a bike for really cheap, it is 2 pounds for a whole 24 hours! It was a really fun experience but a little bumpy on some of the cobblestone roads.

Though it is not pictured we did go out for hot chocolate to end our lovely day out! We really enjoyed being out and about today. It was a really fun experience to witness some of the splendor that London has to offer us.

There are a few things that we have learned. Don't order water unless you want to buy it by the bottle. There is no such thing as tap water. Also people look at you really funny if you don't order alcohol, only order a main course or just want dessert. We are trying to learn what is respectful and appropriate, but then we realize that we are just annoying Americans at times and we don't know what we are doing. Luckily people are still very nice to us anyways!

By the way to explain who is in all of these pictures with me, she is Alyssa, my traveling buddy. She is so much fun and we are really enjoying traveling together. We make a good team and we balance each other out pretty well.

I love being in England. It is a wonderful experience to take in what is the normal here, and I am excited to tell you all even more as the week goes on.

Ta, Ta for now,

Sarah