Our Intro to London

After a few hours of delay at the Newark airport due to airport radar going down we arrived at Heathrow on our red eye to overcast skies. Immigration was a breeze and after collecting our luggage, exchanging some dollars for pounds we were heading into the city on the Heathrow Express. The express train gets you into London in 15 minutes. Once in Paddington station we contemplated walking to our accommodations but opted for an Uber instead. We arrived at The Hayden Pub and Rooms and were promptly greeted by the person at the bar. He offered to take our bags to our room once it was ready and helped us with directions to where we had to be at 11:00 for our walking tour.

The London Underground (aka Tube) is easy to navigate. We arrived at the Embankment station where we were to meet Jonnie our tour guide for our 2 hour private walking tour. We arrived early enough to grab drinks at Starbucks. While we sat outside enjoying our drinks the sun came out for the rest of the day. We walked over to where Jonnie said he would be and there he was waiting for us. I love when everything goes as planned. For the next two hours we had the most informative tour starting in Trafalgar Square and all around the City of Westminster. He shared so much of the history of the area and pointed out little hidden pieces of history that people walk by every day.

After our tour we stopped for lunch at one of the places Jonnie pointed out to us called The Two Chairman pub. We both enjoyed a beverage and shared a burger since we had reservations for Afternoon Tea at 4:30. We walked around the area and arrived at The Scotland Yard Hotel for tea at The Afternoon Tea Parlor for a proper English Tea, (a place Kristin recommended). Very fancy! After tea jet lag was getting the best of us so we jumped on the tube and headed back to Notting Hill where we are staying. When we got to the pub there were quite a few people there for a Tuesday. We still needed to check in so the person there asked us to have a seat at the bar while he checked us in and offered us complimentary drinks. We was ready for bed but didn’t want to pass up a free pint. We had no problem falling asleep when we finally got to our room. Looking forward to full day tomorrow!