We were feeling pretty good when we arrived in London at 5.40am. I couldn’t imagine how we were going to get through to 3pm when we could check into our apartment but I didn’t want to waste a whole day in London so I planned every moment, realising that by 3pm we would be ready to crash.
We bought our Oyster Cards online before we left Australia and I was glad we were prepared. We started off with $50 on each card and only had to top them up once.
The first mistake we made when leaving Heathrow was to take the normal commuter train to Charing Cross. Apparently there is a specific airport train for people like us with masses of suitcases which would have made us a whole lot more popular than we ended up being.
I didn’t know there was another, more appropriate train so I didn’t care that we were being glared at for blocking the carriage with 5 large suitcases and an equal number of cabin bags. We were typical tourists, chatting loudly and completely oblivious to the grumpy start to the day that we had inflicted upon these poor London workers. I simply thought the hatred targeted at us for our thoughtlessness was typical London behaviour.
It is true that Londoners are not the most friendly. They are in a perpetual hurry so I suggest you do not dare stand on the left side of an escalator unless you intend to run up or down. You will be told in no uncertain terms to “Stand on the RIGHT!” as they try to mow you down.
I will say however that the staff on the London tube are exceptional. Even without suitcases, they always recognised us as ignorant tourists and jumped in right away to ask us where we were going and to direct us to the right platform. I can’t say that happened throughout Europe so a big star to London!
leaving luggage
By the time we arrived at Charing Cross, it was raining and clearly in the middle of commuter time with workers rushing all around us. For a city that is packed to the brim with tourists, London at that hour made us feel like the odd ones out – and to be honest, a bit of a nuisance. But my homework did us well and we found the tiny left luggage office tucked down the arcade.
Leaving luggage in London is a very expensive proposition but I couldn’t bear the thought of lugging around heavy bags all day whilst jet lagged. So we opened up our cases, took out our warm jackets and umbrellas and put everything else into storage. I tried to make happy conversation with the man in the left luggage office but he was as friendly as the rest of the people we had so far met in London – not very. But his mood seemed to pick up when he realised that we were leaving more than 10 pieces of luggage – each at a cost of 5 to 7 pounds. Ouch!
In retrospect, I should have asked for an early check in. To be fair to me, the owner of the property we rented in Bloomsbury through Tripadvisor was less than diligent in replying to my emails. I had sent a message saying when we were arriving before we left Sydney but hadn’t heard back before our flight. So spending half our holiday money on left luggage seemed to be the only option. When I finally heard from the owner’s housekeeper she clearly wanted to meet us earlier than 3pm to get all her visits done for the day. By that time, we had dropped off our bags and were on my very detailed trek through London so it wasn’t convenient for us but if you arrive in the early hours of the morning, I definitely suggest hounding your property owner for an early check in.
Hotels are obviously different as they usually have 24/7 reception and no-one has ever objected to us dropping our bags off early. London was the only place on our trip where we rented an apartment so it was the only time we had to pay the enormous left luggage fees.
So, after dropping off our bags, we stepped out excitedly into London, just a short walk from Trafalgar Square! Now, I lived in England for many of my teenaged years and married an Englishman so Trafalgar Square represents a touch of nostalgia for both of us. The boys couldn’t quite understand our excitement about standing in a square with a few lion statues and some fountains though.
Boys at Trafalgar Square 
Nelsons Column
walking through London
Trafalgar Square is a public square in Westminster that was named after the Battle of Trafalgar where Nelson led the British to defeat France and Spain in the Napoleonic Wars in 1805. The battle took place off the coast of Cape Trafalgar in Spain, hence the name. The Square has been an important place in London since the 13th century as it was where the King’s Mews were located during Edward 1’s reign – ‘mews’ meaning the place where the hawks where kept for moulting,
Being in London is like playing a giant game of Monopoly – at nearly every corner, a street sign reminds us of a property on the Monopoly board and, if you are like me, provides a sense of ‘value’ for the area.
Walking away from Trafalgar Square, we walked down Pall Mall, a mid range Monopoly property, and towards the more desirable ‘yellow’ Piccadilly Circus.
Pall Mall is, in fact, named after a ball game similar to croquet that used to be played there in the 17th century. The area was quite fashionable with high class shops during the reign of Charles II and was also home to the War Office during the 19th century.
Walking down Pall Mall, we soon reached Piccadilly Circus but were mightily disappointed. Where were the bright lights with the famous Coca Cola sign? Unbeknown to us, the lights had been switched off in January 2017 and came back on with a new ultra-high definition curved screen just a few weeks after our visit. There is no doubt that the new screen is state of the art but I have to admit feeling a little nostalgic for the old dated Coca-Cola and Sanyo signs.
The Piccadilly lights aren’t the only reason to visit Piccadilly Circus though. It is also the home of the Statue of Eros – only it isn’t actually a statue of Eros but of his twin brother Anteros. Eros was the god of frivolous, romantic love whereas Anteros was the god of selfless, mature love. Clearly a much better choice as a role model!
Many people might think that Piccadilly Circus is actually a circus where fun is to be had with trapeze artists and clowns. Even my boys were a little confused about the terminology. The term ‘circus’ actually from the latin word for ‘ring’ or ‘circular’ line and refers to how the buildings are arranged in a ‘circle’. Not as much fun as a real circus but the ‘Piccadilly’ part of the name is quite amusing.
Doing a bit of reading before we went, I discovered that Piccadilly Circus was named after a wealthy man called Robert Baker who made his fortune selling Picadils which were stiff collars worn by the fashionable gentlemen in court. As a merchant, albeit a highly successful one, Robert Baker was looked down on by the gentry who derisively called his mansion near the circus ‘Picadil Hall’ which led to the area becoming known as ‘Piccadilly’.
a taste of selfridges
Every street in London seems to have a story. We walked from Piccadilly Circus down to Oxford Street, home to some of the most prestigious fashion brands in the world. It is where Selfridges lives, the area’s most famous department store. Opened in 1909 by American businessman Henry Selfridge, it is now the second largest department store in London after Harrods.
Having watched the TV mini-series about Selfridges, I was fascinated by this amazing store that revolutionised the shopping experience. It was a place of decadence during the ‘20s, a place where shoppers were actually allowed to browse rather than have to ask snooty assistants to retrieve appropriate items for them from the cabinets. It sounds pretty basic to be allowed to shop for yourself but it was a wild, new way of shopping back then in the early 20th century!
Selfridges was also known for its incredibly beautiful interiors and some parts of the store still have the stunning décor from the past. We were a little disappointed to see how much of the store is simply modernised convenience now though. It is possibly true that it has stock that is more exclusive and expensive than the average, but nonetheless it is now just a boringly designed department store.
It was also a little amusing to see that we seemed to be rejected by the staff as simply tourists (perhaps Karl taking photos was a giveaway?) whilst ladies in burquas were almost dragged in by gushing doormen as they hovered around the entrance. I was actually glad to be invisible in my high street jeans and jacket – those ladies must feel pretty pressured to part with their money judging by how eagerly the doormen pounced on them.
It is interesting to know that Oxford Street used to be called Tyburn Street before its days as a fashion centre, due to the Tyburn River that is hidden beneath it. Prisoners used to be taken to their final journey from Newgate Prison to the Tyburn tree where they would be hanged. Today a stone at Marble Arch marks the spot where the tree used to be, an eerie reminder of the many lives that were violently ended on that tree.
marble arch and hyde park
Once we’d stopped pretending we could afford anything in Selfridges, we made our way to Marble Arch which is situated at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane (another Monopoly board property!) and Edgware Road. It is a striking white marble faced triumphal arch, designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance of Buckingham Palace. It actually stood near where the Palace’s famous balcony is today but was relocated in 1851. Not many people have actually been through the arch – historically, only members of the Royal Family and the King’s Troop, the Royal Horse Artillery, are allowed to pass through it and only in ceremonial processions so you won’t be able to get too close. But you can see it easily from the road and it’s worth a quick look and a photo before heading to Hyde Park.
We actually ran out of time for Hyde’s Park but it’s so close that if you have time, take a quick trip to Speakers’ Corner in this lovely park. Speakers’ Corner is well-known as a place for debate and public speaking where anyone can just turn up and speak on their chosen subject, as long as it is lawful.
Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and William Morris all spoke frequently at Speakers’ Corner and many protests and marches finished their routes there. Militant suffragette, Emily Pankhurst also led seven processions to Hyde Park on 21 June 1908 where 250,000 women gathered for the largest mass meeting that had ever been held in London, to demand ‘Votes for Women’. A lot of life-changing history was influenced by events that happened in Hyde Park!
sherlock holmes
With sons who have been avid fans of the TV series ‘Sherlock Holmes’ (and yet have never read the actual books by Arthur Conan Doyle…), it was apparently imperative that we visit Baker Street for the Sherlock Holmes Museum after our trip to Marble Arch so we jumped on the tube to Baker Street station on the Bakerloo line, which is in fact both the oldest station on the London Underground and the oldest underground station in the world. The museum is just a short walk from the tube station, past lovely old book shops and a few Irish pubs.
When we got to the Sherlock Holmes Museum we were a little dismayed by the queue which seemed to be pretty stagnant – and by now, we were experiencing the chilliness of the English autumn weather. We had to buy our tickets in the little shop next to the museum which is actually delightful and full of beautiful Sherlock Holmes and Edwardian England themed gifts, many of which were of a surprisingly good quality. The tickets were pretty good value too at around $15 each (no discounts for students).
We didn’t succumb too much to the temptation to buy souvenirs but rejoined the queue and tried extremely hard to be patient while the queue appeared to go nowhere. The issue is that there are only so many people allowed into the tiny museum at one time so they count who goes in and out but let people once inside, wander at their leisure. That sounds like a nice idea but it just doesn’t go fast and there is nothing to do in the queue except shiver and watch people have their photos taken wearing the provided deerstalker hats with the Edwardian-themed policeman standing at the door.
The ‘policeman’ did in fact seem lovely and obliging and it was a good idea to while away the waiting time but none of us were convinced to put on the hats worn by so many… Perhaps we are just germophobic Aussies because the many visitors from Asian countries didn’t seem to have the same qualms.
Anyway, we finally got in and it was quite a sweet museum. While ‘221B Baker Street ‘ is actually the address of the boarding house where Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were supposed to have lived, the museum is situated between number 237 and 241. The City of Westminster did however grant the museum permission to use the number 221B in their street address to comply with the address in Conan Doyle’s books.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s daughter was reportedly against the opening of the museum in 1990 as she thought it would encourage people to believe that Sherlock Holmes was a real person and not just a character created by her father. I think she had a point!
The museum however has been tastefully created – except for the gruesome wax models of killers from the Sherlock Holmes series which are quite amusingly horrendous. The rooms are filled with memorabilia from the times to reflect how they might have been decorated during the days of the fictitious Holmes and Watson. Not an amazingly exciting place to visit but a gentle and interesting excursion into the past. We all enjoyed it.
covent garden
After our visit, we headed back along the tube to Covent Garden. We thought we would walk part of the way in case we found a good pub for lunch but soon realised that there was little open. We found a great pub called The Kings Head on Westmoreland Street in Marylebone to stop for the boys’ first beer in England. It is worth checking out simply for its stunning Victorian toilets! We were soon exhausted and hungry though so jumped back on the tube to Covent Garden.
Covent Garden is a delightful area of London. Its name was originally ‘Convent Gardens’ in the middle ages when it was a garden that belonged to Westminster Abbey. It was laid out by Inigo Jones in 1631 who used his knowledge of formally designed piazzas in Italy as his reference.
By 1654, it was just a small open-air fruit and vegetable market and by the 18th century it had become a well-known red light district. Today it is an elegant piazza with entertainment, theatres, fashion stores, craft markets and a multitude of pretty old pubs.
We were starving by this point so we raced through the markets on our way to lunch at the Nags Head. This is a delightful Victorian pub with delicious meals – not your typical basic pub food but more creative versions of pies, fish and chips and bangers and mash. There were clocks on the wall from various places across the world – including, amusingly, one for Sydney that was upside down!
staying in bloomsbury
When we had finished, we were ready to head to our apartment in Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is a lovely central spot in London that feels a lot quieter and more civilised than some of the more commercial suburbs like Piccadilly. It was developed by the Russell family in the 17th and 18th centuries into a fashionable residential area. It is notable for its array of garden squares.
Bloomsbury became known in the early 1900s as a fashionable area for artists such as Virginia Woolf who used to meet there in private homes. Just across the road from our apartment (which was actually part of a two storey house) was the British Museum which is home to around 8 million works, making it one of the largest museums in the world. We ran out of time on our trip to visit the British Museum but Karl and I had both been before. We felt quite disappointed that the boys didn’t get to go as we all wanted to see the Rosetta Stone which led to the deciphering of hieroglyphs and the Elgin Marbles, statues from the 5th Century BC Parthenon. If you are short on time, you can actually do a specific tour route for the major exhibits like the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, Oxus Treasure, Lewis Chessman and the Mummy of Katebet. If you have more time and interest, you could definitely spend a whole day or more there!
The difficult part of renting an apartment is having to arrange a specific meeting time to collect the keys and go through all the paperwork. We arranged to meet the rather mad ‘Maddy’ who was the housekeeper for our property at 3pm and were very relieved to finally have a place to rest.
We found our apartment on Tripadvisor and it was one of the few 4 bedroom apartments available. We knew that we were going to have to compromise on space in hotels on this trip so I wanted the boys to have a few days to rest in their own double beds to get over the jet lag before we headed off to Europe.
Our apartment was in a great location and had received a Plum Guide Diploma for its creativity. It was a little eccentric – wallpaper that looked like bookcases, dramatic black and white bathrooms and weird antique lamps and fittings. It wasn’t quite finished – two of the ensuites poured water into the bedrooms when the showers were on which we think was a structural problem – but it was large enough and in a brilliant place, just a few minutes’ walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station and surrounded by pubs and restaurants. Perfect.
A short walk up the road was a delightful old pub called the Museum Tavern. We loved it so much we went there twice. I had the most delicious beef and beetroot pie and Karl, as usual, chose the bangers and mash. He became a connoisseur of bangers and mash during our stay in London…
Other things we planned to see on our first day but didn’t get around to:
Waterloo Bridge – built largely by a female workforce during the war, famous for the film named after it and of course well known from the Sherlock Holmes TV series
Cleopatra’s Needle – along the Thames, one of three ancient Egyptian obelisks – the other two are in Paris and New York.