Sunday, March 10, 2024 - London Day 2: Parks, Palaces, and Puddles 🌳🏰
Day 2 marked our first experience with the hotel breakfast, and it thoroughly exceeded our expectations, outshining the typical American hotel breakfast by miles. The restaurant was consistently busy, leading us to strategize that one of us should go down ahead of time to secure a seat, preventing all of us from having to wait in line. Additionally, we discovered a new breakfast favorite — mixing our eggs into beans, which Abby particularly enjoyed!
Keep updated on our adventures!
Changing of the Guard 💂
Then we went back to St. James Park to begin our journey to the Changing of the Guards. We arrived 30 minutes early and it was packed, and there were already at least a hundred people waiting at the gate scouting out the best spot. Ttip: if you want good spots at Changing of the Guard, you need to get there early! The best spots are either along the Gate or at the fountain. It was raining a bit, so I put Abby in my jacket, where she just breastfed as we waited. However, we did have to break out in song the last 5 minutes waiting for the guards, because Abby was getting a bit fussy, but people near us did join in at times which made it fun. When the guards came out, Abby was entranced. She absolutely loved it. It was definitely an experience, especially with the added challenge of navigating umbrellas to get a view. Abby loved it and called them “marchies” and whenever the guards stopped moving she would say “more”. David and I really loved the changing of the guards as well. It was both of our first time seeing it, and we definitely enjoyed it.
After watching the changing of the guards, we decided to leave a bit early as Abby became fussy and the rain began to drench us. By the time we departed Buckingham Palace, Abigail had already dozed off in her stroller. Seeking shelter, we ducked into a nearby museum gift shop. There, a friendly museum host suggested we might prefer visiting a different museum and encouraged us to browse the gift shop. We picked up a few keepsakes, including Buckingham Palace-themed chocolate and a miniature replica of the royal crown for Abby. With Abby asleep and considering the tube's sporadic stroller accessibility, we opted to continue our adventure on foot, embracing the rain. Walking gave us the freedom to explore more sights at our own pace, especially since the estimated time to our next destination was the same, and it offered us the chance to see much more along the way.
First we took a stroll through Hyde Park, and walked through a rose garden with really cool statues. Then we saw Wellington Arch, which is where the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral procession was held. Then from there we went to Harrods, and explored the shops, but also quickly realized everything was definitely over budget for us. We went to their cafe and got really expensive, but some of the best blackberries we’ve ever tasted and sandwiches. Then we continued our stroll to the Natural History Museum, passing the Victoria and Albert Museum, which we didn’t get a chance to visit this trip, but definitely want to visit next time.
Natural History Museum 🦕
By the time we got to the Natural History Museum, Abby was still fast asleep, so we “scouted” out sections we thought Abby would love when she awoke. We felt like the Natural History Museum had everything imaginable, dinosaurs, diamonds, glass flowers, space rocks, rocks and more! When Abby did wake up we took her to our favorite exhibits, which for me was the interactive part of the museum where you can touch the bones and for David was the diamonds and rocks. However, Abby had her own favorite - the dinosaurs! Abby found herself a favorite dinosaur and walked around the dinosaur basically until the museum was about to close. Then she wanted to walk up and down the main staircase in the museum, and didn’t want to leave.
Blue Boar Pub: Sunday Roast 🍺
After our visit to the Natural History Museum, we considered walking back to the hotel but felt utterly drained from the day's explorations. So, we opted for our first London Black Cab experience. Our research had shown that, unlike Ubers in London which require a car seat for service, Black Cabs have no such stipulation. The Black Cab was a revelation! It's baffling why these aren't a thing in America; they're designed so you can simply roll your stroller inside, lock it in place, and you're all set. Thus, we took a Black Cab back to our hotel and decided to dine at the Blue Boar Pub once more, this time for the celebrated London Sunday Roast. Upon arrival, they inquired about reservations, which we hadn't made, but fortune was on our side as they had a table available. In the restroom, I overheard a couple of women discussing the challenge of securing reservations, so it seems we were quite fortunate. We ordered two roast dishes to share, indulging in a generous serving of meat to immerse ourselves fully in the experience. Dad enjoyed another pint, while I opted for a mocktail, which Abby and I could enjoy together. At the meal's end, mom and baby headed back to the hotel, leaving dad to settle the bill and finish his pint.
Our second night was not like our first in that Abby did not want to sleep. She had so much energy, and we tried everything: singing, book, bath, tv, calling grandparents, but she wanted to go outside. So we took her outside for a walk, but it was a little creepy to walk around at midnight mindlessly with a baby, so we quickly returned to our hotel and just chilled out in the lounge. Thankfully, the hotel workers were literal angels helping us entertain Abby and even went to the kitchen to get her an orange to snack on. By the time Abby fell asleep, it was like 3 in the morning, and David and I had no idea what we're going to do about our 8 am tour the next morning.