With the boys nearing the end of high school, we have been wanting to take them farther afield and see more of the world. When the NFL announced it’s 2025 schedule with the Broncos playing in London the opening Sunday of the Douglas County fall break, we had all the motivation we needed. The trip would offer a little something for everyone.
We flew Friday night, arriving mid-day on Saturday. This gave us a relatively easy time zone adjustment, using Saturday afternoon to walk around central London in some beautiful fall weather. We checked into our hotel near St. Paul’s Cathedral, and struck out to explore the town. We crossed Blackfriar’s Bridge, then walked along the south bank of the Thames past Parliament to the Lambeth Bridge, where we crossed back again to circle around Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. It was a rare treat to see the sites in sunshine.
Sunday was game day. We hopped a train up to Tottenham, attempting to arrive before the crowds, but the train and the main street in front of the stadium were packed more than 3 hours before game time. It was legitimately an international crowd, but I would estimate nearly half were Americans. It was a rather slow, but tight game, and everyone had a great time.
Getting out of Tottenham after the game was an even bigger adventure. The authorities close the nearest train station to southbound traffic, forcing everyone heading back into London to walk about 25 minutes to the next station down the line. The trick is that there is both an Underground and Overground line by the same name. Not knowing the difference, we queued up for 15 minutes before realizing it was the wrong line. Luckily, we made it back without any other hiccups.
We decided not to let the day end. We rode the tube up to the Tower of London to take some pictures of Tower Bridge at night. There is a lovely spot at Butler’s Wharf where you can see the modern London skyline behind Tower Bridge. This made of some great cityscape scenery. Unfortunately, it turned out to be my last photos of the trip. Just as it happened in Ushuaia earlier this year, my camera came loose from the quick disconnect clip. This time though, it found the hard concrete of the sidewalk rather than some soft dirt. This will be another manufacturer repair once we get home…
Monday was more of a cultural day. We first toured the “treasures” at the British Library. The exhibit was under maintenance, so there were several things we didn’t get to see, but we did see the Magna Carta, the Shakespeare Folio, original Beatles’ songs, among others. We then walked over to the British Museum, one of the most incredible collections I have ever seen. We spent several hours viewing the artifacts of ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece and Rome, and that was just one floor of one wing! We ran out of time, but luckily we had time later in the trip to return.
Tuesday we started at the Tower of London. This is another amazing historical site. We saw the crown jewels, the original palace (the “White Tower”), the prison cells, suits of armor, and much more. This was my third visit to the Tower, and I still walk the grounds in wonder. It’s difficult to comprehend it’s nearly 1000 year history. Jumping to a relatively more modern history, our next stop was the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms, the underground bunker system that the Churchill government used to conduct World War II during the blitz. I would also highly recommend this for any history buffs.
Wednesday morning we toured both the Temple Church and Westminster Abbey, again, soaking in nearly 1000 years of history at each location. Westminster is now overrun by tourists, and almost weeping under the strain of the crowds. It’s difficult to see much of the sites, jostling among the other tourists in a one-way track around the Nave, but still a most-see. Even Evan was impressed by the tombs of ancient kings, poets, and other historical figures.
We totally changed things up in the afternoon, taking a tour of the Harry Potter movie sets at Warner Brothers Studios, London. As you would expect, the place was crawling with Harry Potter fanatics from around the globe. They made a nice display of the multitudes of sets, costumes, props and other random supporting artifacts from the movies. At times, you feel transported into one of the scenes. It isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoyed the movies, it’s worth the half-day to relive the stories.
Thursday morning we met up with some of Lara’s college friends living in the UK. We started back at the museum to allow Evan to get his mummy fix. We browsed the Egypt, Europe, and currency collections for a few hours before lunch, and then headed out for some fresh air and pub grub. Our new friends introduced us to the MINALIMA Harry Potter store. We wandered around town and crossed the Millennial Bridge, and then circled back to St. Paul’s Cathedral to climb to the dome before the Evensong service.
Friday we went back to St. Paul’s to finish the rest of our tour, and then wandered through the city looking at more random sites. We saw the artificial Sherlock Holmes home at 221B Baker Street; window shopped through Piccadilly and Savile Row, watched the furry-hatted guards patrolling in front of Buckingham Palace, and rode the London Eye at dusk. There is much more to see, of course, but we feel we got a pretty good overview of the London scene before it was time to pack up and head home.
