Apologies right up front to Matt and Marysia van Wollen (aka the Newlyweds). I had been planning on blogging about their wedding (Poland Day #3) as my next blog. However, something changed all that (after they left on their honeymoon). I’m sure they’ll understand. (I promise to get back to their wedding story once things calm down around here).
We’re going to skip to the end of our trip to Europe. Last things first. After Krakow, Richard and I headed for a day and a bit in London. We had grand intentions of seeing the London Eye, the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral in less than 36 hours. Good plan.
On Sunday, we arrived at our hotel near Westminster Abbey and the Parliament buildings in the late afternoon on a clear day (very rare). We decided to literally drop our luggage in our room and immediately get to the London Eye since the sun was still in the sky. It was a good idea apparently because we got on the Eye virtually right away. (Sunday nights are good times to go – no waits). We talked with the employees and they said at most times (during the day) you have to wait in 2 long lines. First one to get your tickets (which are for a specific time) and then again when your time comes up. The second line is usually 45 mins at least. PHEW. We were up and back in less than 45 mins. We saw some great views from up there.
For dinner, we went to the Sherlock Holmes’ pub and restaurant just south of Trafalgar Square. Dinner is served upstairs (try to get reservations if you can). They have a glassed off area that shows “Sherlock Holmes’ study” as a museum. Meals are all named after characters or titles relating to the books (i.e. Hounds of Baskerville). We just HAD to take in the local beer (Pride) and cider (Strongbow) with our traditional English fare as well. For dessert, we had an amazing bread/yorkshire pudding idea just soaked in toffee sauce.
Next morning, we took the Tube/Underground (Mind the Gap!) to the other end of the city to see the Tower of London. The name is a bit of a misnomer. It’s got about 10 towers!!! It’s quite a big museum. From dark and bloody torture devices to the crown jewels. It was very impressive. It was also a very LONG morning. We spent more than 3 hours in the attraction. At one point, we both sat down and said, “Sorry St. Paul’s, you’ll just have to wait”. There was no way we were going to be able to climb the bell tower after all this. We were exhausted. Both of us had queasy stomachs too. Was it something we ate? Off to grab food at Pret a Manger and then eating the food in the hotel room. NAP TIME!!!! Sleep off the pain!!!
We woke up at about 8pm. Yikes, the entire afternoon had gone by. At least we both felt slightly better on the queasiness front. Both agreed that since we had a VERY early flight back to Vancouver the next morning (no time for breakfast probably), we needed to get something to eat for dinner. My knee was still really bad from all the stairs and walking at the Tower of London. I requested that we just eat in the pub downstairs. Richard said that his stomach couldn’t take two nights of English food in a row. Also, we needed to get some Galaxy chocolate and only convenience stores seemed to carry it. Since there was nothing else in our neighbourhood, it was off to Trafalgar Square.
We got our chocolate fix (for back home) at the Tesco Express at the square and then we decided that Italian food would be ok for our tummies. Café Zippi was the place. Since we were the only ones in there at this late hour (9pm), we got our food in 10 mins. It was great Italian food. We both really enjoyed it.
Walked back home along Whitehall passed 10 Downing Street (PM’s residence). Just as we were getting within eye-shot of Big Ben, he started ringing for 10 o’clock. Richard wasn’t getting there fast enough to see the exact time so I was pulling him forward saying “Hurry up! You’ll miss it!” At the corner of Whitehall and Birdcage (across from the statue of Winston Churchill), we stood there and listened to the bells chime. The rain had stopped and we just stood there both facing Big Ben.
Then, Richard turned me around and said “You make me so happy. Will you marry me? Kathryn, will you marry me?” I was already in his arms hugging before he got to the “marry me” part. So I just stayed there hugging him and said “Yes, of course! I love you!”
We’re going to skip to the end of our trip to Europe. Last things first. After Krakow, Richard and I headed for a day and a bit in London. We had grand intentions of seeing the London Eye, the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral in less than 36 hours. Good plan.
On Sunday, we arrived at our hotel near Westminster Abbey and the Parliament buildings in the late afternoon on a clear day (very rare). We decided to literally drop our luggage in our room and immediately get to the London Eye since the sun was still in the sky. It was a good idea apparently because we got on the Eye virtually right away. (Sunday nights are good times to go – no waits). We talked with the employees and they said at most times (during the day) you have to wait in 2 long lines. First one to get your tickets (which are for a specific time) and then again when your time comes up. The second line is usually 45 mins at least. PHEW. We were up and back in less than 45 mins. We saw some great views from up there.
For dinner, we went to the Sherlock Holmes’ pub and restaurant just south of Trafalgar Square. Dinner is served upstairs (try to get reservations if you can). They have a glassed off area that shows “Sherlock Holmes’ study” as a museum. Meals are all named after characters or titles relating to the books (i.e. Hounds of Baskerville). We just HAD to take in the local beer (Pride) and cider (Strongbow) with our traditional English fare as well. For dessert, we had an amazing bread/yorkshire pudding idea just soaked in toffee sauce.
Next morning, we took the Tube/Underground (Mind the Gap!) to the other end of the city to see the Tower of London. The name is a bit of a misnomer. It’s got about 10 towers!!! It’s quite a big museum. From dark and bloody torture devices to the crown jewels. It was very impressive. It was also a very LONG morning. We spent more than 3 hours in the attraction. At one point, we both sat down and said, “Sorry St. Paul’s, you’ll just have to wait”. There was no way we were going to be able to climb the bell tower after all this. We were exhausted. Both of us had queasy stomachs too. Was it something we ate? Off to grab food at Pret a Manger and then eating the food in the hotel room. NAP TIME!!!! Sleep off the pain!!!
We woke up at about 8pm. Yikes, the entire afternoon had gone by. At least we both felt slightly better on the queasiness front. Both agreed that since we had a VERY early flight back to Vancouver the next morning (no time for breakfast probably), we needed to get something to eat for dinner. My knee was still really bad from all the stairs and walking at the Tower of London. I requested that we just eat in the pub downstairs. Richard said that his stomach couldn’t take two nights of English food in a row. Also, we needed to get some Galaxy chocolate and only convenience stores seemed to carry it. Since there was nothing else in our neighbourhood, it was off to Trafalgar Square.
We got our chocolate fix (for back home) at the Tesco Express at the square and then we decided that Italian food would be ok for our tummies. Café Zippi was the place. Since we were the only ones in there at this late hour (9pm), we got our food in 10 mins. It was great Italian food. We both really enjoyed it.
Walked back home along Whitehall passed 10 Downing Street (PM’s residence). Just as we were getting within eye-shot of Big Ben, he started ringing for 10 o’clock. Richard wasn’t getting there fast enough to see the exact time so I was pulling him forward saying “Hurry up! You’ll miss it!” At the corner of Whitehall and Birdcage (across from the statue of Winston Churchill), we stood there and listened to the bells chime. The rain had stopped and we just stood there both facing Big Ben.
Then, Richard turned me around and said “You make me so happy. Will you marry me? Kathryn, will you marry me?” I was already in his arms hugging before he got to the “marry me” part. So I just stayed there hugging him and said “Yes, of course! I love you!”
Needless to say, I neither of us have had a good night sleep for a few days with all this going on.
It will be my highest honour and ultimate priviledge to marry Richard.
(Just in case anyone missed it… I SAID YES!!!)
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