London: Day Two

Certain parts of our trip are better planned than others. In London, we made a list of things we wanted to do (or I should probably say I made a list), and then decided we would just see how we felt and where the day was taking us. Which in theory sounds good, but I am a planner by nature. We had a rough outline of what we wanted to do yesterday, and then I threw it all out the window in the morning when I realized we had a chance to go on a London Walk. I've done so many London Walks, and even got Phil to do one in January when he came to London to get his visa in his new passport. They are usually full of history and really informative. This one, Brunel's London, focused on an engineer who built many bridges and buildings in England. We had seen one of his bridges in Bristol two years ago, and since Phil likes architecture, this seemed like a good choice. 

After meeting the group, we all went on a commuter boat up the Thames towards Greenwich. The boat ride was really lovely, and the guide pointed out many different sites, most relating to Brunel but also just interesting things in general. We had wanted to do a boat ride, and this was so nice to have someone narrating along to a small group (we somehow ended up being the youngest on the tour). 

The boat ride was about 50 minutes long, and we disembarked at a stop that no one else got off at on the Isle of Dogs (I still haven't learned why it is called the Isle of Dogs...will have to do some Googling). There, we saw where Brunel built the largest ship at the time, and then walked to the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) for a ride through Canary Wharf and to the Overground. The DLR is a driver-less train, and we sat right in the front - it felt a little bit like being on a ride at an amusement park, except at much slower speeds. From there we took the Overground (not to be confused with the Underground, aka the Tube) to the Brunel Museum which sits below ground in a shaft of a tunnel dug under the Thames. Overall, we gave the tour 6 out of 10, because most of the time was spent traveling, though we did enjoy the boat ride. 

The tour ended in a part of London where I've never been, and it took us a little bit of searching to find our way back towards the center. We ended up near London Bridge and stopped over at Borough Market where I had the best cranberry-lemonade with my lunch. From there, we decided to wander along the South Bank. 

I love the South Bank. This is where I spent a summer when doing the graduate program at King's College London. We just strolled along, stopping every now and then for pictures or to look at something along the way. And so many things are still the same as five years ago - the pizza truck is still here!

Since we clearly had not walked much, we kept walking all the way back to the Airbnb, passing by the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately, Big Ben is under refurbishment, so it doesn't quite look like it normally does. 

We ended up getting Pret for dinner and eating in our room, both being too exhausted to actually go out to eat. That gave us time to better plan out what we will be doing today, which is good because I do like to know what is happening. As a preview - a museum, some protesting, shopping, and a dinner reservation at a place Phil loves.