This is the last of a four-part series on our trip to London. You can find links to each of the previous posts at the bottom of this post.
Our last week in London began with Andrew back and work and Maelle and me on our own. First up: Paddington!
We began our Monday morning hopefully at the playground, but when we began to feel raindrops, we made our way to the underground and rode the tube to Paddington Station! They have a Paddington store there (overpriced and small but worth a look), where Maelle had fun trying on the costume and browsing.
After finding a tiny Paddington figurine as our souvenir, we jumped back on the tube to visit Waterstones, which is like a Barnes & Noble. I was in the market for a specific book about being angry (Maelle was dealing with some BIG feelings on this trip!) and I found it there. I like practical souvenirs, and as her tantrums (unfortunately) made up a significant portion of this trip, I figured a book about anger would be fitting.
Andrew loves the Builder’s Arms pub, and we went there for an early dinner.
The following day, Maelle and I were on our own again, so we hit the Jubilee playground again, this time wearing our matching shoes! I have a pair in white that we got on our babymoon to Sicily and I LOVE them, so even though this pair maybe wasn’t my first choice (Maelle insisted we match!), I knew I’d get a lot of wear out of them. (As as of this writing a few weeks later, I have!)
After the playground, we headed to Borough Market for lunch. We ate there last year, but when we visited this time, there didn’t seem to be as many prepared-food stalls open (could have been the particular day) as there were produce/meat/fish/spices. Plus, the line for paella was SO LONG, so I quickly punted and we grabbed a quick (and healthy!) bite across the way at a Leon (like fast food but more options). Maelle ate chicken, peas and a smoothie, and we went back to the market to pick up treats for later. Maelle’s new hemp shopping bag is just her size and holds her play food in her kitchen at home!
After daddy was finished for the day, we watched a quick changing of the horse guard near 10 Downing Street, then headed over to Parliament!
Andrew knew that certain parts of Parliament are open to visitors after a certain time (!!!) so we popped in, got our passes, and sat in briefly at both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Very neat.
Andrew had some time off the next morning, and planned a special breakfast for us at the uber-Instagrammable Sketch! It’s this incredible restaurant with multiple, insanely decorated rooms. We had brunch in ‘The Glade,’ which is decorated a bit like a garden. Even the carpet was textured and layered with different colors to make it look like moss!
They are famous for their ‘egg toilets,’ and we were leaving just as they were opening up all the other rooms, so we got a quick tour! Very avant-garde. The doormen were so sweet and gifted Maelle with a tiny bear with a pink sweater emblazoned with ‘sketch.’ It was a very happy memory.
We were on Regent Street, so Andrew took Maelle to Hamley’s (again), while I got a chance to pop back into Liberty and actually browse a little.
After some shopping (ANOTHER stuffy for Maelle–how many does the girl need?!), we began our Strand walk. It is (I believe?) the oldest and longest street in London, and it has a bunch of historical landmarks along the way. We stopped at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, which is known for being London’s oldest pub. It was one of the first buildings to be REBUILT in 1667, just one year after the Great Fire. It features a list of monarchs on the side dating back to Charles II and was apparently a favorite of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. It’s a labyrinth of rooms; we missed lunch but grabbed some pints and tried our best to keep Maelle entertained with snacks and books.
We ended our day with Sri Lankan food at Hoppers in Soho, where I took no photos 😦 It may have been Andrew’s favorite meal!
The next day turned out to be a real treat for all of us: we went to LEGOLAND! Remember how we weren’t on the same flight on the way over? Turns out that a gentleman sitting near us at the gate works for Legoland UK, overheard our conversation, and after Andrew raced off to his gate, offered me tickets! (He also offered to watch our bags so I could take Maelle into a store briefly, which I appreciated just as much.) We exchanged emails and made arrangements to visit during our last week.
IT WAS A BLAST!
I’ll be honest, Andrew and I knew Legoland existed and that it was just over in Windsor, yet we hadn’t even considered visiting. It’s possible we would have if Maelle were older or SUPER into Legos (we’re still in the Duplo phase), but who FLIES ACROSS AN OCEAN to visit a theme park? Well, apparently us, now!
Maelle loved the roller coasters, and we all had a really nice time. It was fun to do something totally different, especially after more than a week of sightseeing in the big city. They have Miniland, which are models of London and other places in Europe and the USA, and is made up of more than 40 million legos! They even had a little section that showed the tube!
There is a mix of rides and attractions, so we started at Duplo Valley, which is tailored for the smallest kiddos. Maelle LOVED her first roller coaster (see photo above). There was even an underwater ‘ride’ through a small aquarium of sorts. She rode one of those up-and-down rides all by herself, and she and I took a very wet ride on the swings! Unfortunately, it started to rain toward the end of the day, but we got to ride the pirate ship TWICE, and it might have been the best part of our day! What’s nice about Legoland is that it’s designed for kids, so while there are roller coasters, there aren’t giant thrillers or anything scary. There was so much of the park we didn’t see, and we’re love to go back again!
We wanted to make sure our last day involved some traditional sight-seeing, so we headed over to Tower Bridge and even got to see it open! We took a tour, which was my first time, and walked along an enclosed hallway at the very top. It was very neat to be that high up and get such great views.
We saved some really touristy things for our last day! We started with a visit to the Tower Bridge, and even caught it opening briefly in the morning! We took the tour–which I’ve never done–and it was really neat!
You take an elevator to the top and walk along both sides, which is really high up!
They have windows along both sides, fun facts posted every few feet and even activities for kids. Maelle had a little ‘passport’ she had to get stamped at a couple different stations along the tour. There is a small section with a glass floor and mirror above, so you can see straight down to the water!
After our Tower Bridge visit, we headed for the Tower of London. I haven’t been since I visited as a kid, and it was nice to see it all again as an adult. The beefeater tours are always enjoyable, and it was a great day to be outside. Unfortunately, we visited a week before King Charles’ coronation, so all the good crown jewels were already taken away from the displays. Maelle’s favorite part was probably her ice cream, and seeing the ravens.
The following day we said goodbye (and hopefully ‘See you soon!’) to London. Funny story: guess who WASN’T in any of those bags? LOVEY. Yes, we managed to leave THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM WE OWN in the sheets of the hotel bed. Andrew and I discovered that neither of us had packed her–heck, we hadn’t even seen her that morning–over lunch at the airport. It was a classic case of both of us thinking the other had packed her, but I mostly blame the fact that our child had accrued FOUR additional stuffed animals on the trip. Insert HUGE sigh. Thankfully, we called the hotel and 86 pounds later, Lovey had flown across an ocean and arrived at our door safe and sound. Perhaps the cutest part is that Maelle thought she’d be flying on an airplane, in a seat, watching movies, but sad that she would be alone.
Speaking of movies…guess who watched 8.5 hours of shows on the way home without even taking a nap? Maelle…but also me. She literally fell asleep AFTER we landed but before we reached our gate. Thankfully, she slept for a couple hours and Andrew and I felt like we were on a date during our airport dinner!
By the time we arrived home, it was midnight (5 am in London), and I’d been up the whole time. We were all so tired, but also waking up SO EARLY. Those post-Europe mornings at home are the best–waking up at 5:30 am ready to start the day! Unfortunately, we’ve already re-adjusted to our own timezone.
This wraps up our travelogue of London! You can read parts one, two and three at the links here.
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