London and Heading Home!

 It has been a busy three days in London! 

We were greeted warmly by the staff at our posh hotel, Hayden Notting Hill, with free drinks and then had lunch while waiting for our room to be finished. After settling in, we took a stroll down memory lane to Paddington Station and to find the first hotel we stayed in on our first trip here 30 years ago, the Norfolk Plaza, which is now being converted into student housing. We then tucked in for the evening and planned our next day by signing up for a walking tour, and deciding to take a boat tour on the Thames!

We went for a sweet breakfast at a very pink and gold place that John found, called Pastada, which reminded me of Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Room from Harry Potter, and they had a lot of very unique decor that, while not my style, I thought was well done. I’d love to do a little place with a more creepy vibe with autumn trees, crows, and that sort of thing. It would be so cool! John had a very fancy avocado toast with edible flowers and I had a waffle and bacon with edible flowers. I think my waffle may have had rose flavor or something in it because it was slightly pink. After that, we went for a nice hike through Hyde Park along the Princess Diana Memorial Walk and saw the resident swans, cormorants and a bunch of kinds of ducks. 

We then met our Shakespeare and Dickens’ London Walking Tour group, and did an interesting walk for two hours with a bit of a scattered tour guide, but we had a good time. After that, we did the Churchill War Rooms Museum tour, which was a very long wait in line even for our pre-booked tour. It was a really interesting exploration of the underground bunkers where Winston Churchill and tons of other people worked and lived during WWII as they hid down here doing all the strategic planning against the Nazi’s. Incredible, and frightening. It also detailed a lot about Churchill, himself, and that was fascinating. 

Sightseeing Boat Tour on the Thames was on the docket for the next day so that I could rest my feet as much as possible. I developed painful, swollen bunions for all the walking and standing from the day before, and I was grateful to be able to sit but still seeing cool scenery and be outside. 

We have done some evening walks about, and we came across the coolest shop, the Magical Platform Harry Potter Shop, which is a spin-off, unofficial Harry Potter shop, but they had so,e of the most unique stuff Ihave seen yet! It was a wrench not to buy anything, especially the seals wax sets of all the houses!

We had reservations our final evening at the Swan Restaurant which is pretty posh and attached to the Globe Theatre. It was a delicious meal, and followed by a delightful walk along the Millennium Bridge where we got some pretty photos of a spectacular night skyline. After that, it was time to watch the play of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. It is very cool to see a play at The Globe, and a great way to top off our final night in London!