[Monday/Tuesday] We took a 12:00 pm Uber to Bush Intercontinental Airport, Terminal E for our United Airline UA 880, direct flight to London Heathrow Airport. We pushed away late from the gate at 5:27 pm (scheduled for 4:20 pm) because we had to wait for a replacement copilot to arrive. We flew in Business class on a Boeing B777-200.

We arrived late at London Heathrow after having to hold about 10 minutes to land. We took an expensive taxi to the hotel. We had to wait stopped in traffic for a traffic accident for about 15 minutes. The taxi cost $163!

We stored our luggage at the Thistle London Piccadilly hotel because we were too early to get the room. We then spent a couple of hours at the National Portraits Gallery, while waiting for our room. We got our room at 1:30. The gallery contains portraits of royalty dating back to the 1300's. We toured two floors.

< < National Portraits Gallery

After getting set in the room, we walked down the street about 3 blocks to a Whole Foods store and bought a few things. On the way there we stopped at the entrance to Piccadilly Square subway station and topped off our Oyster cards for the London transit system. On the way back we stopped at the Shake Shack and bought burgers for dinner. They were pretty good.

< Thistle London Piccadilly Hotel.

[Wednesday] We ate breakfast in the hotel, and then walked to the Ritz Carlton Hotel and met the group for our 10:00 am London Palaces & Parliament Tour which lasted 3 hours. this is a tour we booked on Viator.

Here is how the tour group described the tour:

If you are visiting London for the first time or have limited time, discover many of the most iconic sights of London on this half-day guided walking tour. Follow your guide and stroll past 20 top London sights, such as Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. Plus, exploring on foot gives you a more intimate glimpse into areas that can not be accessed by cars or buses. See London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster, and Changing of the Guard.

< Buckingham Palace gate. < Buckingham Palace.

< Trafalgar Square.

< Entrance to Downing Street.

< Parlament. < Westminster Abbey.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Pret A Manger fast food restaurant (a favorite of ours) and ate lunch/dinner. We walked back to the hotel and then went next door to the Casta Coffee Shop and got some decaf coffee. After our coffee, we walked about a block from our hotel into Chinatown. It has many blocks of colorfully decorated streets lined with Chinese restaurants - more than you can image. We planned to return for food at some point in the future.

< < < Chinatown.

[Thursday] This morning it was drizzling rain off and on when we got up. We ate breakfast in the hotel and then took the subway to the Royal Albert Hall, where we had a 11:00 am tour. The tour lasted about an hour and a half. We got to see several areas used by the royalty when they attend. We saw the seats they use.

< The Royal Booth.

Across the street from Royal Albert Hall is the Albert Memorial monument.

< The Prince Albert Memorial.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and after a short break we went about a block to the Orient London restaurant and had Dim Sum Chinese lunch at about 3:00 pm. After another rest, we went back to Royal Albert Hall and attended the BBC Proms concert of Rachmaninov & Copland at 6:30 pm. We were with over 5,000 of our closest friends.

The "mushrooms" at the top of the hall were placed there to eliminate echos from the dome roof of the building.

< < The BBC Proms concert.

[Friday] This morning it was 57 degrees and no rain. The high was supposed to be 70. We ate breakfast in the hotel and relaxed in the room until we were ready to go to Buckingham Palace for our afternoon of tours.

We left at 11:30 and took the subway to Green Park and walked around the palace until we found the tour entrance. We sat on the steps to an apartment across from the entrance until it was time to queue for our 1:00 pm tour of the King's Gallery. We took the self guided audio tour.

< < < < The King's Gallery.

After we were finished, we went to the entrance to the Royal Mews, where the modes of transport are kept. There were horses and carriages and the limousines used by the royalty over the years, and even today.

< < < The Royal Mews.

After we were finished with that self guided audio tour, we went to the entrance to the Buckingham Palace tour. We stayed about 2 hours for that self guided audio tour. You are allowed to walk at your own pace through the State Rooms of the palace. No photographs were allowed. You don't get to see the private quarters. We were told that Prince Charles does not like to stay in Buckingham Palace, so he lives somewhere else. We walked through the palace park grounds to the exit to the palace. You would think that you were out in the country, if you didn't know you were in the middle of London.

< < <

< < Buckingham Palace.

We then took the subway back to near the hotel and ate dinner at The Bear & Staff Pub. We learned from displays on the wall that Charlie Chaplin was a regular visitor to it after performances at the Empire Theater.

While we were at the pub, a noisy demonstration parade passed by below in the street outside. They were demonstrating about the Palestinian crisis. Lots of police cars came by too. There didn't seem to be any issue of violence.

< The Bear & Staff Pub.

[Saturday] This morning after breakfast in the hotel, we took the subway to Leadenhall Market. The stores were just beginning to open. We walked around the area and ended up at Liverpool Street and rode the Elizabeth Line subway for two stops and walked the few blocks to our hotel. We stopped at Pret A Manger and picked up lunch and took it next door to our hotel.

< < Leadenhall Market.

In the afternoon, we walked to His Majesty's Theatre and attended a performance of The Phantom of the Opera. The performance has been in operation there for 39 years. The scenery and wardrobes are amazing. I think it is the best performance of Phantom of the Opera in the world! The theater was called Her Majesty's Theatre last time we attended, because Queen Elizabeth was still alive.

< His Majesty's Theater.

< < < Phantom of the Opera.

Afterwards we ate dinner at the Fallow restaurant and had a very enjoyable dinner watching the chiefs working.

< < < Fallow Restaurant.

[Sunday] After breakfast in the hotel, we walked to the Westminster Abbey and attended the 11:15 worship service. Westminster Abbey is an Anglican Church, a part of the Church of England. It is closed for tours on Sundays, and services are open to the public. When the service was over, we went to the Abbey's Cellarium Cafe & Terrace and ate lunch.

< During service.

< < < <

< < Westminster Abbey.

< Cellarium Cafe.

After lunch we walked down the street to the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, known as Westminster Cathedral and went inside and relaxed for a while. It is the largest and most important Roman Catholic church in England and Wales.

< < < Westminster Cathedral.

We walked back to the Westminster Abbey area. We went across the street to the Methodist Central Hall and had coffee and a cake in their cafe.

We then went back to the Westminster Abbey and attended a 5:00 pm Organ Concert. Organist was Keith Hearnshaw performing works by Handel, Elgar, Gigout and others. Keith is a graduate of The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The concert was impressive! Afterwards we rode a bus back to near our hotel.

[Monday] Today we took the subway to the King's Cross train station and after eating breakfast at a Pret A Manger in the station, we took a direct train to Cambridge. We then walked about a mile to Cambridge University, where we met our tour guide for the 1:00 pm tour. The young lady that was our guide was a student at Oxford University, but lived in Cambridge. Cambridge University was founded in 1209 and is the third oldest universities in continuous operation in the world. Cambridge is 31 semi-independent colleges that offer degrees. One of the most impressive buildings is King's College.

Here is how the tour operator described the tour:

Experience one of the world's most famous universities on a walking tour of the prestigious Cambridge University. Follow your guide, a University of Cambridge student, around architectural highlights like Trinity College, King's College, and Corpus Christi College; see the halls where alumni like Sir Isaac Newton, C.S. Lewis, and John Harvard once walked; and peek into student haunts like The Eagle Pub.

* See the Old Cavendish Laboratory, The Backs and the Mathematical Bridge, and more

The weather that day was cool (in the 60's), windy and intermittent rain showers, so it was not the best conditions for outdoor activities. We finished the tour at about 3:30 pm.

< Our train.

< < < < King's College.

< Church of St. Botolph's in Cambridge. < Church of St. Mary the Great.

< The mathematical bridge. < Punting on the Cam River.

We walked back to the train station, stopping at a restaurant for late lunch/dinner. On the way to the station we stopped in Our Lady and the English Martyrs church. It is a Roman Catholic church. It was built in the 1880's. The church tower was under renovation.

< < < Our Lady and the English Martyrs.

We then took the subway back to Piccadilly Circus and walked to the hotel. We got back about 7:00 pm. It was a long 17,000+ steps day.

[Tuesday] Today we got breakfast at the Costa Coffee Shop next to the hotel and afterwards we went to Russell Park and into what used to be The Hotel Russell (it is now The Fitzroy) We stayed there the last time we were in London. It was opened in May 1900, and operated as The Hotel Russell until it was closed for a long time for renovation. It reopened in April 2018 as The Fitzroy. We wanted to see if anything changed. It looks the same inside and outside to us. It is a very impressive building, inside and outside.

< < Fitzroy Hotel.

We walked across Russell Park to the British Museum, but the line was too long, so we decided to go to The London Transport Museum. It contains samples of all the transport modes in London since the city started.

< < < London Transport Museum.

Afterwards we took the subway to Mercato Mayfair. It is a old church building that was converted into a food court. We didn't find anything we wanted to eat in it, so we went down the street to a restaurant and had lunch/dinner.

< < Mercato Mayfair.

Afterwards we took a bus back to the hotel. We stopped in the M & M store and bought some candy. This store is amazing. It is 4 levels of nothing but M & M related items and candy. The store sometimes had a line waiting to enter. The store is always crowded. We also bought Churros from the stand in front of our hotel (we learned about them in Spain).

< < M & M Store.

[Wednesday] This morning we got breakfast at Costa Coffee and at 10:30 we checked out of the hotel. We had them store our luggage while we went out for the day. We walked to St. James Palace and arrived as the guard from Buckingham Palace were arriving back from the changing of the guard.

< St. James Palace.

We then used the bus to go to St. Paul's Cathedral. We took the self guided audio tour. It is an Anglican cathedral and in the Church of England. The church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and constructed in the 17th century. It was built after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

< < < < St. Paul's Cathedral.

Afterwards we took the bus back to the hotel and collected our luggage and took a taxi to the Hilton Airport Hotel. We checked into room 9025, overlooking Heathrow Terminal 2. We could watch planes landing.

After dinner in the hotel bar, we walked across to Terminal 2 and located the United check-in counter for use next morning for our flight back to Houston.

[Thursday] We got up at 6:00 am and checked out of the hotel and walked across to Heathrow Terminal 2 and checked in for our flight to Houston. We ate a good breakfast at the United lounge right next to our gate B47. At a little past 9:00 am we boarded United flight UA879, a B777-200 from LHR to IAH. The flight was 9 hours and 30 minutes. We were in seats 6A and 7A. We pushed back at 10:10 am. We touched down in Houston at 1:55 pm CDST and took an Uber back home.

< < Goodby London.

This draws to a close our brief trip to London. We hope you enjoyed the photos and brief descriptions of our activities. God willing, join us again soon for another travel adventure.

Ciao,

Lawson & Kay

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. (Psalm 146:1-4 - NKJV)