A whirlwind day in London

Ah... the lost, ancient art of getting real sleep on a large commercial jet aircraft...

It's difficult to tell how much sleep we actually got on the overnight flight from JFK to London Heathrow.  My guess is between two and three hours.  Riley maybe a little more.  Though he takes a long time to go to sleep, once he's there, he's a solid sleeper.  Us adults, not so much.

Practicing with the eye masks before boarding

We arrived at LHR at roughly 7:30am.  After about an hour of customs line and baggage pickup, we exchanged dollars for some British Pounds, grabbed a croissant and muffins at an airport cafe, negotiated with the Tube ticket machine, then were on our way.

We got off the Tube at Kings Cross Station, in search of our hotel.  We passed Kings Cross train station (though we didn't visit Platform 9 3/4) and the huge British Library.  Barely 30 seconds after we realized we were walking in the wrong direction, a very nice, old (and slightly amused) Londoner pointed us in the right direction.  He even walked with us for a few blocks.

Luckily, the fabulous Holiday Inn Kings Cross Bloomsbury had a room ready for us at 11am!  So we showered, changed, and headed our sleep-deprived selves back out for a day in the city.  

Here are some of the highlights of the day:

Picnic lunch in Green Park

Riley reporting on location for Live at the PLC
view the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BGEwn5p9-0&feature=youtu.be

The view from the London Eye

After the ride on the London Eye, we raced off toward the meeting place for the London Walks Harry Potter film sites tour.  I dropped Riley and Wayne off at a Starbucks to go in search of some food and a bathroom (preferably clean--and free, as we didn't know how much the tour would cost and we were down to our last 20 pounds) in the financial district.  I returned to find Riley asleep on the Starbucks table, and Wayne chugging coffee to avoid the same fate.    He denies it, though :)  (Riley, that is)

This was probably the best walking tour I have ever experienced.  Our guide was fantastic -- animated and extremely knowledgeable of both London and the Harry Potter books and films.  Richard showed wonderful talent at engaging both adults and children equally and simultaneously for two hours.  He pointed out several settings for on-location scenes of the various Harry Potter movies (this is where Hagrid and Harry walked down the street while discussing the list of school supplies Harry needed...).  He was also full of information on various general London sights, pointing out the Millennium Bridge, Renzo Piano's new office tower, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, etc., etc.

Richard, our Harry Potter tour guide

After the tour, we were exhausted, chilly, and fulfilled.  Back on the Tube, back to Kings Cross, back to the Holiday Inn, and into the most inviting beds we'd ever appreciated.  And slept for 11 hours.

Wayne took many fabulous photos.  Enjoy them on our Flickr feed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/waynesaucier/sets/72157629584575095/with/6836294264/

Next stop, Roma!  Ciao :)