2017-06-22 Europe

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This blog is about our trip to Europe with our granddaughter, Chloe. When she turned 10 years old we decided it was time to infect her with the travel bug. We did a Grand Tour which included London, Paris, Venice and Rome. We all had a grand time. She had a marvelous time and is already talking where she wants to go the next time we take her to Europe (Scotland and Ireland or maybe Switzerland).

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Blog Photos - London

Blog Photos - Paris, Venice, Rome

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June 22-23, 2017, Flying to London

Today we started our grand adventure…Chloe’s first trip to Europe. It is a Grand Tour of London, Paris, Venice, and Rome. We are flying out of San Francisco for the very long flight to London.

After we boarded we discovered that the airline had changed the plane from the one we originally booked and all of our seat assignments were changed. We ended up in three different rows. However, with a bit of seat swapping Mary and Chloe sat together and Paul was in a separate row nearby. The up side was that each row had an empty seat.

Chloe was able to spread out on two seats and actually slept for three or four hours. Paul and Mary managed to get two or three hours sleep sitting up. Chloe also watched several Harry Potter movies on the seat back screen.

Our home in London is the Mayflower Hotel, just around the corner from the Earl’s Court Underground Station. We have stayed here before. However, because we got an “apartment” we are down the street and around the corner from their main building. We have a small kitchenette, a separate bedroom for Nana and Papa and a sofa bed for Chloe. And we even have a small balcony but no furniture with which to enjoy it. And each morning we will have to take a short hike down the street to the main building for breakfast.

Our first meal this evening was at Nana and Papa’s favorite restaurant in London, GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen), where we had our favorite British food… the best chocolate (with chocolate chips) milkshakes anywhere.

Then it was back to the room for some preparation for tomorrow’s sightseeing and then early to bed.

June 24 The Harry Potter film studios and a bus tour of London

Chloe was awake about 4:00 am and Mary not much later. In order to be sure we got to our next tour in time (since we weren’t sure about travel times on the Underground) we were out the door about 7:15, stopped at a local coffee shop for some breakfast and then hit the Underground.

We arrived at Euston station with lots of time to spare. Eventually the tour guide showed up, we were give train tickets and then boarded the train to Watford Junction where we boarded buses to the Warner Brothers Studio where all of the Harry Potter films were filmed.

The studio had a great tour featuring many original props from the films and lots of information about the creation of the films. The tour had great attention to detail. After the 3 hour tour was over we had lunch and then went back into the studio for free time to revisit some of the displays.

In Front of the Studio

Hogwarts Express Departing Platform 9 ¾

Moving Stair Cases and Talking Pictures

The tour visited a number of sets...

including a large Diagon Alley.

And there was a big section with lots of props, models, diagrams and such.

Model of Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft ad Wizardry

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Video of Hogwarts model

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Before we left Chloe decided to have a pint of Butter Beer,..a staple with Harry Potter and his contemporaries.

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More Harry Potter Studio

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After returning to London on the train we headed over to the river front for a ride on the London Eye…the gigantic observation wheel along the Thames River. It’s cool today and a bit overcast. We had a few sprinkles but not enough to dampen our spirits.

The London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace in the distance

St Paul's Cathedral

Westminster Abbey

House of Parliament

After dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Thames we headed back to the hotel for some down time and then to bed.

June 25 - Tower of London and the City of London

Chloe was awake about 5:00am…having trouble adjusting to the time difference. After breakfast we headed out to the Tower of London.

Tower of London

We had “Skip-the-Line” reservations for the Tower. However, in order to get the tickets we had to get into a really looooong line.

Line to get Skip-the-Line Tickets

After a marathon crawl through the line to get the tickets our first stop at the tower was the Crown Jewels…a pretty awesome amount of bling…no pictures allowed. Then we hit several other sights including the Bloody Tower, the White Tower, the exhibit about the menagerie where animals used to be kept at the Tower, and the ramparts. Chloe was not interested in having her picture taken with a Tower Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater (the iconic guards with the red coats and Tudor Hats}. However, she did have fun taking pictures of the ravens.

Raven at the Tower

There is a superstition that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it." So they always make sure there are ravens at the Tower.

The Shard in the Background

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More Tower of London

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After our visit to the Tower there was plenty of time for some walking in along the Thames and through some neighborhoods. We saw the Tower Bridge which is near the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge and the Thames River

In front of the Tower was a giant sundial.

Around the sundial was a bronze ring with depictions of key moments in Britain's History.

Arrival of the Vikings

1085 - Founding of Westminster Abbey

1387 - Pheasant's Revolt

1940-41 - Blitzkrieg

A walk along the Thames River revealed some very modern buildings in the business center of London including The Shard, The Walkie-Talkie and The Gherkin…all nicknames based on the shapes of the buildings.