We stayed in London for three more nights after returning from Paris. My husband and I decided to book a different hotel, just because we wanted to be in another section of the city for the sake of variety. The previous hotel we stayed in at the beginning of the tour near the Marble Arch area was excellent, but we already explored the Marble Arch neighborhood as well as Oxford Street and part of Hyde Park. This other hotel is situated in the south banks of the River Thames and is close to the London Eye, which we had planned to ride.
When we arrived, we were too tired to do anything, not even to walk around the area to scout around for restaurants. After checking in, we just had dinner at the hotel’s bistro on the ground floor to make things easier for us. It turned out to be a good choice because not only was the food delicious, but our attentive waiter even provided us with a lot of valuable information about the local tours we were planning to do, and which bakeries sell the freshest bread. My husband ordered a roast chicken dish while I tried their house special Indian dish - a perfectly-spiced curry chicken with saffron rice.
We booked our day tours through the hotel concierge, so the next two days were spent in the outskirts of the city. We missed the company of our official tour mates, but going around the English countryside in a smaller bus with random tourists enabled us to meet new people.
On our last day in London, we decided go for a ride on the London Eye. The concierge recommended that we obtain the fast-track passes from the ticket office so that we wouldn’t have to line-up for hours. My husband and I managed to find the ticket office right away amidst the tourist crowd and the zigzag lines.
Getting the fast-track tickets did save us a lot of time. We were both tired and it was sweltering hot, so we did not relish the idea of queuing for hours for a ride that would last for only a few minutes.
We got into our capsule after something like a five-minute wait, which was not bad at all. We bought regular tickets, so there were other tourists with us (they have tickets for private capsules where one can enjoy the ride with just family and friends, as well as those that include other extras such as champagne, chocolate and truffles, wine, canapés, and even a full dinner, depending on the theme one would pick). We didn’t mind the others. We were all focused anyway on the spectacular view of the city before us. We were blessed with clear skies that evening so we were able to see London from every angle and take good pictures. It was also twilight, so the cosmopolitan scenery appeared even more dramatic.
It was a good way to end our busy day of touring the countryside – just sitting there and taking in London’s charm from 443 feet up. The London Eye is considered the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel. Even though this ride may have seemed “tame” for my wild-rollercoaster-ride-loving husband, I thought he appreciated this mild, pleasant rotary tour.
We walked around the South Bank area by the River Thames before hailing a cab to take us back to the hotel and just chill for the afternoon. I even took a nap. We had dinner at the same restaurant there, ordering fish and chips this time, and then packed for the next day’s flight.
We both agreed that it had been a great trip. In a way, it was a bit tiring because of the travel pace, but well worth the effort because of all the wonderful experiences we had gained. It was something I had already expected from an introductory tour - catch a glimpse of various key cities in Western Europe, get a taste of their culture, and enjoy the main highlights of each place.
Photo Credits:
wheretraveler.com, afar.com
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