Day 12: London

Our second day in London, I woke up to have a solo, early breakfast at one of the nicest brunches I've ever eaten at. They had stations of fruit/veggies, pastries, freshly squeezed juices, hot food buffet line, etc. And the dining room looked more like a formal living room! As big as my eyes got, and as much as I wanted to indulge, I had to keep it light...

...because I was meeting up with a friend from Kona, who now lives in London most of the year. I knew her mostly because I would bump into her running for years, and her husband was our beloved realtor. Jeanette was kind enough to come to my hotel to meet me, as it was only about a mile from her home near Kensington park. AND- she so sweetly and generously surprised me with a HUGE tote bag filled with Jubilee goodies! It was the most thoughtful thing ever!

We set off on a running tour of the two parks, Hyde and Kensington, which she knew quite well. She kindly stopped repeatedly so I could grab a few pictures of swans, equestrians on horseback, gardens and everything in between. And she was so thoughtfully checking in to make sure I would be okay and not running late for the two boys, who were eating and waiting for me back at the hotel.

Our adorable Queen's Jublilee treats from Jeanette!

Once I got back and showered, we went to the lobby and Ryan killed time waiting for Rich by practicing a little piano.

We promised Ryan some quality time on Oxford Street at his favorite stores so he could look for school clothes...

First up was the flagship international headquarters of SuperDry, a Japanese brand Riki introduced him to a few years ago. Super amazing quality. I love their clothes, but they're a little on the high side...so we just settled on one hoodie for Ryan. I kept suggesting other t-shirts that were more affordable and I thought- nice looking, but they were flatly rejected. Rude.

Once we were done shopping, we hopped on the Jubilee line again and headed over to Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We tried to coax Ryan into the church, but he said he'd rather look at the interior online as he didn't want to stand in the line to get in (fair point). He's 14 and kind of over the religious houses of worship he's been dragged to all his life because his mother is obsessed with them. 

Look at that smile from Ryan!

The first big event of the day for Ryan was the London Eye. We had bought tickets the night before, and were excited to check it out, as I've seen it a few times and been intrigued. It was built in 1999 on the River Thames, and in clear weather, you can see about 25 kilometers of London in every direction. It's about 135 meters tall, and the most popular paid attraction in the UK, with over 3 million visitors, annually. 

There are 32 capsules, and each one can hold up to 25 people. However, possibly because of COVID or it not being super busy yet, there were about half that amount of people in each capsule. It takes 30 minutes, give or take, for one full rotation.

I was initially a little worried we might feel rocking in heavier winds, but 95% of the time, I felt no movement whatsoever. 

Even though we had a reserved ticket with an assigned time, that place was a massive CF. Hoards of people queueing, and a 30-40 min Disneyland ride-style line to get in. If you show up 10-15 min before your assigned time (as we did), you'll get on the ride about 20 min after your assigned time. I believe it was about $100 US for the three of us, which is $1/min for each person? Well worth it, as the views were spectacular, and it was just fun to be in a glass capsule suspended over the city. I LOVED it. Highly recommended.

The smaller building in the center of the photo is Buckingham Palace! We could see lights flashing there as they were getting ready for the concert performance for the Queen that night. We were not invited, which was hurtful. But neither was Kim Kardashian, who was supposedly in town...so that's fair (ish).

That's The Shard! I tried to get tickets to up there, but was unsuccessful. 
So instead...we hopped on the train over to another surprise for Ryan!

 

But before we did (we had tickets for an assigned time as well), we went to a nearby mall where Ryan excitedly spied a store called "The Japan Center." Well of course he made us go there, and he got Pocari Sweat (the first larger bottle of it that he grabbed was 7.30 pounds, so I made him downsize), Hi-Chew candy and sushi.

Then we wandered over to the Queen's Olympic Park, which was all built for the 2012 Games. In the park, was the ArcelorMittal Orbit, the world's tallest slide. Even though I had a ticket to go on it, once I saw how tall it was, and how steep some sections of descent were, I said- oh heeelllls naw. The freaking slide is TALLER THAN THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, which I missed when buying our tickets...or I would have not gotten one for me other than for the observation deck. It looked dizzying/terrifying to drop so steeply. And- once again, my brain was not happy at the top of the building- my palms got clammy and I felt nauseous. Even after I decided not to go on the slide, I had to wait about 30 minutes for the boys (who were standing in line). I wanted to take pics of them as they got ready, so I wanted to wait up there. Even though I sat down on the floor, away from most of the windows, I couldn't shake that dizzying feeling. I felt the building swaying (it was not, I'm sure), and I had to focus on my journal writing to try and distract my brain from panic mode. I wanted to leave, but I wasn't going to cave to that fear too. Ditching the slide was enough!

However, the funny thing is, I got to operate the elevator by myself three times! It was the craziest thing, when we went up, they carefully checked our tickets, and we were escorted up by an elevator attendant. But when I decided not to go on the slide, I asked if I could go back down to get my phone/camera out of our locker (since you could not bring anything with you on the slide). The staff shrugged and said sure, and gestured that I could let myself down the elevator. Wait- say what?! An elevator that goes up as high as the Statue of Liberty? By myself?! I know I'm just pressing a button, but um...okay! Sweet! So I left myself down, and then when I wanted to go back up- the attendant had disappeared, so I figured- pfft. I'm an expert already... And I let myself back up, solo! It felt like I broke into the Statue of Liberty and got to play with the elevator controls by myself. What I should have done, was waited for more guests to arrive, and then carefully inspected their tickets, and then brought them up with me. :-D 

The world's tallest slide. The silver metal is not the slide. That would have been fine for me. It was a tiny metal tube you cannot see from this photo that had perilous drops. 

The brave boys. I was cowering nearby.

Ready to descend!!!

As soon as the boys were done with the slide (they declared it to be fun, which makes them both liars), we had to hightail it back to our hotel so Rich could go to the theatre and and see Wicked, the musical. He was on the fence going, but I encouraged him to see as many shows as he could, as living in Hawaii generally means you give up the arts. This kills my cheap soul, as these tickets are not cheap, but they're still cheaper than Broadway or LA, that's for sure. I believe the shows there have been running for years, so the tickets are not the outrageous $350/seat prices we were seeing for Hamilton a year or so ago.

While he was enthralled with the show there, Ryan and I were luxuriating at the Regency Club eating canapes...they served one portion of mini spring rolls that we both loved so much, we asked for more, and they indulged us! This was after we were forced to go back part of the way to our hotel by ourselves, as we ran out of time for Rich to escort us back. It's always unnerving without wifi (Rich had the router) and with my awful sense of direction, but with Ryan's help on one critical directional turn, we did it!!!