London, England: The Changing of the Guard, Churchill War Rooms,Winter Wonderland, Hamley's, the Tower of London & More

​There was one city on our travels that wasn’t at the top of our bucket list, but recommendations from friends quickly put it to the top....London!  I’ve read the romance novels, gushed over the royalty, and had a desire to see London....it just wasn't number one.  However, we’re warm weather people. The Porratas thrive best in sunshine on a beach or on a boat; the last place anyone expected to find us was in rainy, foggy London.   This post is to share my experience in this big, swanky city, to include tips for travel to London with a family of 5.
 
***Airport tip: We flew to London on a budget airliner.  There are 6 airports in London.  Make sure you check to see which airport you’re flying into.  We flew into London Stansted and had to take a 1 hour-1.5 hour train or bus to the city, as London Stansted is in the outskirts. This is important information if you have an early or late flight and it’s an added cost.

Lodging and Transportation
We were overwhelmed with the size of London with all of the different sections of the city.  London is also expensive and I found hotels to be exorbitant, so Airbnb was the most affordable way to go for our family. We decided to stay at an Airbnb in a section of the city called Churchill Gardens.  It was in a nice area, close to public transport, and walkable to a good portion of the city.  Public transport is amazing in this city, with an underground subway they call the ‘tube,’ double decker & single decker busses, and trains. We used an Oyster card (public transportation card) from a friend that had recently been to London. You have to pay to initially have an Oyster card, so this friend saved us this fee, and we could go to a machine and put money on the card to use ‘contactless’ in whichever public transport we were using.  Buying multiple tickets is better than buying one, as the price is higher for just one ticket.  Every time we’re taking public transport, it’s for 5 people, so this quickly added up. 
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The Changing of the Guard
Number one on our list, on our first full day, was the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Our room was an easy walk to the Palace, so we made it in time to secure a good spot. This is, by far, the best Changing of the Guard I’ve ever seen in any country.....a full marching band, horses, crisp uniforms, a whole ceremony, and hoards of people.  It was crowded and difficult to see, so we found a wall to sit on, where we could see above everything.  It was impressive!

​After this, we walked through the city until our afternoon appointment at the Churchill War Rooms. My first and lasting impression of the city is that it’s swanky!  By definition, swanky means: stylishly luxurious and expensive. That’s the absolute best word to describe the city. It’s clean, old world, but at the same time futuristic, people are dressed extremely well, and it’s fabulous. We had our first fish and chips for lunch and were blown away. The fish was fried to crisp perfection and it was delicious. Chips, aka French fries, were just French fries to me, but pair perfectly with the fried fish.

Fish & Chips with Peas

Churchill War Rooms
The Churchill War rooms were recommended to us from friends.  I purchased tickets in advance, using this website, and we had an appointed time for our tour. My husband is something of a history buff and this was the top of his list to see in London. The Churchill war rooms are a bunker and museum-hidden underground. The museum catalogs the life of Winston Churchill, both personally and professionally. I learned of his love of Beef Wellington, his daily Scotch fix, and his love of Brandy, Port, and wine. I also learned of the life of a man that was in hiding, making decisions for the British Government during World War 2. His rise, fall, and rise again as Prime Minister.  I left this museum with a new respect and appreciation for the man who led Britain to victory. He refused to give in and his speeches were so inspiring to the people that heard them.  They kept many people going, even when odds were against them. 

One of the tunnels

Do you notice some familiar faces?

One of the rooms where planning took place.

​That evening, we rode in a double decker bus, had fun taking photos in the phone booths, had dinner at The Alchemist in Covent Garden, and enjoyed the city at night.  I highly recommend this place for drinks or a meal.  The drinks come in beakers and include fun things like smoke & dry ice. The food is eclectic and fun, with anything from fajitas to curry to jerk chicken, and every dish and drink we had was delicious. As a surprise, they even brought out a fun alchemy drink for the kids. They LOVED pouring the beaker of juice into the dry ice and watching the reaction. It was priceless! There is not much by way of ethnic food in Naples, Italy, so we always try to satisfy our cravings when traveling. 

Our cocktail

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park
The next day, we went to an enormous Christmas Market in Hyde Park. To date, I’ve been to Christmas Markets in Germany, Austria, England, Scotland, Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.....this is the largest market I’ve seen!!  We went on a weekday, so it wasn’t crowded. They had amusement park rides, beer gardens, tents with shows during the day and night, curling, bumper cars on ice, ice skating, an ice sculpture tent, an ice bar, ice sculpting workshops, a comedy club, endless food choices, and even more. Every corner we turned had more to discover. Needless to say, our kids LOVED it! At night, the comedy club and beer gardens come alive for the adults and during the day it’s catered toward families. You can actually book attraction tickets in advance on their website.

Roasted pig

So cool!

Racing Penguins

Curling

Hamley’s Toy Shop
Hamley’s ~ If you have children and you love them, and you travel to London, you MUST take them to Hamley’s Toy Store.  This place is NOT just a toy store; it’s an experience. It was Christmastime, so there was that added magic. There were elves dancing outside, inside there were magicians teaching kids how to use magic kits, the staff were flying drones, throwing balls, showing you how to use magic coloring boards, there were giant lego displays of Harry Potter and Queen Elizabeth, and so much more.  The treat for all senses was endless and our kids’ hearts were full of wonder.  

The boys in front of the store with the performing elves

Me & the Queen Mother

Roman in the Sorting Hat seat

School of Rock
That night, we walked the city some more, to include Picadilly Circus, which is similar to Times Square in New York, but on a much smaller scale (which made it more enjoyable). There was SO much life in this part of the city, with live music and street performers, that just standing there watching it all was entertaining. We had tickets for a show that night. It was near our son’s birthday, so he got to choose the show, and we watched School of Rock. Our whole family had such an incredible experience watching this show. There were so many kids in the show, that the boys enjoyed it even more. I’m happy to say that none of them fell asleep and they sat in rapt attention through the entire show!

***Insider tip:  A majority of the shows are in a section of the city called Covent Garden and there are tons of restaurants that cater to a meal or drinks before or after the theater. It's a very hip part of the city, so if you do have a show ticket, be sure to make a reservation nearby to make the most of the experience. 

The London Eye
****Insider tip:  Skip it. The London Eye is Europe’s tallest ferris wheel and the pods are heated, but it is outrageously expensive. At £30 per adult and £24 per child (ages 3-15) it is not worth it.  I bet the views are fantastic, but that would have been £138, equivalent to $178.76 at today’s exchange rate.  For a FERRIS WHEEL for a family of 5.  This doesn’t even include an appetizer or a complimentary cocktail, my friends.  Skip it. If this is a really ‘must do’ for you though, buy tickets in advance to save a few pounds, using this website, and combine with other attractions to save more.

The Tower of London
For our last day, we went to another part of the city to see the Tower of London. The tower was SO much more than we expected. The history of the tower is an incredibly rich tapestry, woven throughout time. The tours are given by extremely lively guides that are very proud of the history and their country.   It all started around 1070 with a stone tower in the center of William the Conqueror’s fortress to defend his royal claim. It was expanded over time, , it was a prison, it is supposed to be haunted, and is the current home of the Crown Jewels.  The people that care for the tower are called Ravens; they live there at the tower, and are cared for by the government. It is said that the Tower of London will fall if the six residents ever leave.  

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​Christmas Tradition ~ Christmas Crackers
Christmastime is very special in this part of the world and we truly cherished the opportunity to experience it.. We loved seeing the lights, trees, and the Christmas market. There is a tradition that we enjoyed taking part in, that my son, Roman, had learned about in school. It’s the popping of Christmas crackers! Christmas crackers are shown below. You and a friend or family member are supposed to pull from either side until it pops.  Inside is a colored paper hat, and a small toy, sometimes candy, a motto, joke or riddle on a piece of paper. We bought a pack of 20 and popped them all week!  It was fun to take part in this tradition.
 
So, we saw as much as could of this swanky city of London and there’s so much more to see. I highly recommend a trip here, and hope you’ll be as impressed as we were. Now, the flights back to Naples were very expensive for some reason, so we found it was cheaper to expand our trip to Scotland.........which lead us to spend more, but also leads me to my next blog post.

Roman popping a Christmas Cracker

Gabriel already popped his!

Some more random photos from our trip:

Picadilly Circus

Big Ben (under construction)

Next Blog Post: Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow, & the Highlands.