Hello London!!!

19-11-09
Once we had settled in at the hotel, we made our way out to have a look around our local area. London was nowhere near as cold as we had imagined, in fact the big Maple trees were still losing leaves so the scene was more Autumn than Winter. After trying 2 pubs - one was too full and the other didn't allow children under 18! - we found dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Night falls around 4:30pm in Europe in winter so we were in bed by 8pm that night!!

Our hotel -


The park across the road from our hotel, with the gorgeous Maple trees -



20-11-09
We were up early and excited to see the big London sights. After discovering that it would cost us almost 30 pounds extra to travel before 9:30am (it is peak hour) we decided to walk to the Thames River and get a feel for London at the same time. The two policemen we asked for directions thought we were crazy to want to walk there instead of taking the tube which we in turn thought was funny. They said it was a 'long walk' with much emphasis on the 'long' but it actually took us about 30minutes.

These are some of the sights on our walk -








We saw St. Pauls Cathedral on the way which was where Princess Diana was married to Prince Charles -





This was the view from the top of the stairs at the Basillica -






And yes, it was that dark and rainy at midday! And it looked like this every day we were in London. Good ol' British weather ;)!


We weren't sure at which end of the river we would arrive at but were happy to see Millenium Bridge and just over it, Tate Modern which is a popular art gallery.

Across the river from Tate Modern -


Millenium Bridge -


The view from Millenium Bridge looking over to Tower Bridge -



We had arrived at Tate Modern too early as it opens at 10am so we had to wait -


After a quick visit inside - thanks to Hannah wanting to touch everything and spilling hot chocolate all over Brian - we found ourselves walking north along the Thames. Very close to Tate Modern is the Globe Theatre which is a reconstruction of the theatre that Shakespeare originally perfomed his plays in.


We had not studied our London maps that well, hoping to just see and do things spontaneously as we had done during our last holiday and after walking for almost an hour along the Thames (which in this section, reminded me very much of the Brisbane river!) we came to the Tower Bridge.

Our walk along the Thames -



This is the actual London Bridge which was built after the original burnt down -



Tower Bridge -












After taking a million photos and walking almost all the way across the bridge Brian and I stopped to get something out of the bag for Hannah and a security guard came to say hello to her. We were then glad he did as he was a security guard for the Tower Bridge and after paying to go inside, he basically gave us a guided tour which was great! The history of the bridge is really interesting and the view from the top was worthwhile -



We then walked to the end of the bridge and had pizza at a restaurant underneath. We were planning to visit the Tower of London but it was too expensive at 17 pounds per person.
Tower of London -


After taking the tube to Westminister station we came up the stairs to see Big Ben staring at us! It was so cool, and right over the river we could see the London Eye.

Us and Big Ben -


Us and The London Eye -


London Eye -


The sun was setting as we took some photos of Big Ben -


and then we had a quick look at Westminster Abbey -


After getting directions, we then walked towards Trafalgar Square passing Downing St which was completely blocked to the public with gates and two guards facing the tourists.

Brian and Hannah in front of a traditional London phone box -


Trafalgar Square was quite busy even at night and there was an exhibition display of ancient tree roots which you can see in some of the photos.





Hannah found another little girl there to follow around which made her happy -


Later we walked through Northumberland Avenue -


and then we crossed the river to view the London Eye at night -





There were Christmas market stalls near the Eye and lots of buskers who were being statues etc. One lady is the world's most pierced woman and you can take a photo of her for a gold coin! So of-course I did! -



We decided not to go on the London Eye that night but to come back and see the view during daylight.

Our first full day in London had been really busy and we went back to the hotel via Waterloo station and promptly fell asleep!

21-11-09

We woke before dawn to walk just down the road to St. Pancras Station which is the international station that houses the Eurostar trains. Our train to Paris was leaving at 6:20am and we were running late. After the passport checks we made through only to find out that the gate had closed! We were then all literally freaking out about what we were going to do as our tickets had been pre-paid. Fortunately, a nice man at the information desk allowed us to take the next train otherwise we would have lost $700!!!

The trip on the Eurostar was really comfortable, they even have 2 areas on either side of the train where you can buy snacks and drinks which is handy although the trip is only 2 hours long so we didn't buy anything. The actual part of the railway that goes underneath the English Channel is only for about 20 minutes long and we all slept through it!!! When we woke up I told everyone we were in France (I had seen a billboard in French) and noone believed we were out of England so soon as we had expectedmost of the trip to be underground. In fact the majority of the railway is through France, as Paris is very inland, so we were able to see the lovely French villages waking up to a beautiful Saturday.

We arrived at the station in Paris tired but excited to be in that wonderful city! -


We took a bus to the inner city and it was great to drive through all the suburbs/areas of Paris as the station is quite a way from the centre. We even went through the Champs Elysees and could see that there were Christmas markets set up, waiting for all the visitors that night.

Our first stop was of-course, the Eiffel Tower!












Honestly, I've always loved Paris, even before I ever visited the famous city and seeing it the second time did not disappoint. It was amazing all over again, actually even better than last time! But it was super busy! Last time we were in Paris at the height of Summer and this time we were obviously in their tourist low-season....well, it's supposed to be the low season! The amount of people lining up to go up the Eiffel Tower was just phenomenal!!! Last time we waited about 10 minutes and this time I am sure it would have been an hour wait - I am very glad we had already seen it so we didn't have to line up, not with a toddler in arms. Hannah can see the view another time!



Some photos of us at the Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower -










Lunch was next and we found a spot at a cafe near the Eiffel Tower (in this pic from Wikipedia you can see the sign 'Cafe' on the right, this is where we ate!!! And I got a very similar shot ;))

Food is so expensive in Paris and I have to say that cafe's and restaurants in most Euoropean cities that I have seen do not cater to children - not a high chair in sight! If I was travelling through London or Paris for longer I would google some child-friendly restaurants in those cities before the trip. However, McDonalds has plently of high-chairs in their 'restaurants' ;)!

Later, we took the metro (which was a little confusing this time!) and went to the Sacre Coeur Basillica. Montmarte is the area of Paris where Sacre Coeur is located and is a bohemian, artistic hub. As we were there on a weekend we walked past artists in a square selling their original art - one lady offered to do a portrait of Hannah.

Our walk up to Sacre Coeur through Montmarte -










Sacre Coeur Basillica -






The view from Sacre Coeur -


Again, we were surprised at how many people were at the Sacre Coeur and even though the building and the view is magnificent, a young man busking by climbing up a light pole and spinning a soccer ball was almost more popular! -


Some shots as we were leaving Sacre Coeur -









After going to Lafayette, a famous French department store -

The window display -




The Christmas Tree inside Lafayette -


- we then strolled down the entire length of Champs Elysees viewing the Christmas markets and soaking up the Parisian Christmas spirit. It was beautiful; the only thing missing was snow ;)!













22-11-09
After a mild few days in London we all dressed down today (as in, didn't bring our golves or big jackets!) to visit Buckingham Place. Well, that was a mistake as it was our windiest and coldest day in London and we should have known the weather was going to turn. Here are some pics of the Queen's residence -









We then visited Harrods but didn't spend very long in there as we forgot it was Sunday, and it was so busy in there one could barely move! I wanted Hannah to have a photo with Santa taken but there were just too many people.

After lunch we made our way to the London Eye and bought tickets. One interesting thing is that the wheel never actually stops so you have to get on as the wheel keeps turning. It goes very slowly though so this isn't a problem. The cabins are really large and can fit about 20 people inside comfortably. We had about 12 in ours (Well, there is 7 of us alone ;)!). Hannah loved it and wasn't scared at all! Even my mum, who is normally afraid of heights found it fine. The view is pretty great and definately a worthwhile attraction. (photos of this coming soon!)

That night we went to Hyde Park to visit the popular Winter Wonderland Christmas Markets which was nice but we didn't spend long as it was getting quite cold and windy. They were similar to the markets in Paris and I bought a couple of trinkets for our xmas tree.

23-11-09
We were leaving for Croatia today but our plane didn't leave until after 4pm so we had some spare time. We decided to go back to Harrods to try and get Hannah a photo with Santa and buy a couple more souveniers. When we arrived and enquired about the Santa photos we were told that you had to make an appointment and that they had all booked out weeks in advance. However, she said we could ask at the counter if there had been any cancellations and lucky for us there was one for 11am, and we were there at 10:30am!!! Harrods had a Wizard of Oz theme in their Christmas Grotto as this year is the 70th anniversary of the film. We were lead into the Scarecrow room where Santa had a nice chat to us and we had a family photo taken :).

We decided to go to the airport early and after checking in, we were told that our gate number would come up on the screens about 20 minutes before boarding. Our plane was due to leave at 4:50pm. As the clock ticked over 4pm we wondered when where our gate would be as Heathrow airport is so big, some gates are a 20min walk away from our sitting area! We assumed we would board around 4:30pm. Yet 4:30pm came and went and then 4:50pm and finally the sign falshed up that our plane would be delayed. We were really hoping it wouldn't be cancelled as they only have two flights to Zagreb and the next one would be in the morning!

In the end, our plane was over an hour late but the flight was a bit quicker than expected and we arrived in Zagreb only an hour after our expected time. My uncle and cousin were waiting at the airport for us and we picked up our Smart Car's that we have on hire for the entire holiday. It was really great to see family again that night and we were happy to have made it to Croatia safe and sound.