Lost in London
Instead of our usual Abrams family haul, this time we took a girls trip with my grandma and great-aunt, leaving my dad behind!👋 We have been to London before, in 2023-2024 (New Year’s), when we went with our cousins and grandparents on my dad’s side. The two times we were in London were very different, though: last time it was cold, rainy, and gray, while this trip was sunny and hot!
A lot of the things we did between the two times in London were the same, but different. For example, there are two different types of tea, two different musicals, two museums…
A classic tour to do in London is the Big Bus Tour, which we did many, many times. I am not sure how many times we did it last time, but this time we did one in the middle of the day and one in the evening. Even though we did this two times, we still enjoyed it, and we still talk about the facts we learned from the audio tour. (Also, can you see someone who photobombed us?)
Another classic is the London Eye, the humongous ferris wheel in, well, London. It goes really slow so you can get a view of the entire city. We were there in the evening this time, so we could also spot a World Cup watch party.
Last time we visited the Science Museum , which was really fun, and this time we visited the Natural History Museum. My favorite was the mammal exhibit, which at first we thought was just a small room, but there was actually a wayy bigger room behind it! I liked it because they had life-size models of the animals, and some, like the impala and zebras, looked exactly how they actually look on safari. From the museum gift shop (which also was enormous), we found ourselves a pair of matching polar bear bush babies!
Paddington The Musical was the best thing we did this time in London. It was cute and funny, and the acting and set were really good. Mia and my favorite song goes ma..ma ma ma ma ma ma marmalade… That probably doesn’t have very much meaning to you (you had to be there), but you’re in luck, because it is coming to Broadway in 2027! Last time, we watched The Lion King, which I liked especially because of the costumes. A fun fact about that musical is that it has been around for 26 years!
The tea that we did this time was Charlie & The Chocolate Factory Tea. I am not kidding when I say that more of our high tea (which we ate as lunch) was sweets than actual food. We also got big cotton candies that we got to rip into like maniacs!
The first time we were in London, we did Science Tea, which was basically a more kid-friendly approach to normal high tea (boring😏). We got to concoct a color-changing lemonade and stuff like that. We always joke with our grandma now, though, because my mom, my dad, my sister, and I went to tea while the rest of them got stuck in the rain at Stonehenge.
Even though we had already done a lot of things that London is known for before, we still created a list of new things we wanted to do. These are the things that were on our itinerary this time that we didn’t get a chance to do last time:
One of my top favorite things we did in either trip is the Harry Potter Studio Tour, which we missed last time because we couldn’t get tickets. It basically gives you a BTS (not the K-pop boy band) of the making of Harry Potter and has pieces of the original set like the Knight Bus, the Dursley home, and part of the giant Ministry of Magic.
The longest line we ever had to wait in while in London was for the Jellycat London Fish and Chips Experience. We bought a fish, chips (their names are Tuna, Scup, Mackerel, Robin, Cod, Fluke, and Osprey), a fish pie, an oyster, and a lemon slice. It also came with packs of stickers and enamel pins. The experience was fun because we got to (pretend to) cook our jellycats with seasonings and wait for them to cool down.
On the last day in London, we took a boat down the Thames to get to Greenwich Market to look around and have lunch. We mainly went around the big, bustling part of London, so it was interesting to see another part of the city. They also had a ship museum right off the dock (which is what Mia is standing in front of).
There is not too much that we did last time we were in London that we didn’t do this time, but the two things that stood out were:
If you have been to London before, or if you just really like big, beautiful churches, you probably recognize Saint Paul’s Cathedral. My dad also really likes it, so that’s why we went last time.
Mia and I had a blast at Princess Diana Playground last time! It is a big, sprawling park with different things to do, like a pirate ship and teepees. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations and would not be reopening until after we left. :(
London staaaats!
Best food: Not in any specific order: 1) Arôme Bakery. It is rumoured that j-hope (from BTS) went to this bakery and brought their signature honey butter toast to a nearby park just a few weeks ago! 2) The Ivy. We went here for a quick dinner before going to the Paddington musical and got a few traditional British dishes and truffle arancini (really good!) The only problem about this place is I think they hid all the families with kids in the downstairs section… 3) High Tea. A unique experience, with lots of sweets!
Best shopping: Fortnum & Mason. They have tea, biscuits, jam, and honey on one level, and then a lot more on the others, like a grocery store on the bottom level and a tea tasting room on the 4th floor.
Fun fact: In the Paddington musical, the voice of Paddington is played by one man, the puppeteering is controlled by the same man, and there is a woman in the suit!
Best things to see/do: Harry Potter Studio Tour and Paddington: The Musical
Where we stayed: Page8
How 2 pronounce: I would think most people would know this, but just in case: luhn-dn. Also: for River Thames; TEMZ (rhymes with Ben’s)
Calling Mia (not actually) from a telephone booth! Notice the big difference from our big puffy winter coats to our tank tops this summer 🥵