We got up, got ready for the day and headed down for another delicious English breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It has definitely helped having a good hearty English breakfast to start our day and keep us going. After breakfast, we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and stored our bags in the car before heading down to the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre for a behind the scenes tour.
We were the first tour group of the day and a small one at that. There were three other couples, all locals, and all older than our parents. Once again our tour guides were fantastic and took us all over the two theaters, back stage and even on-stage where one of the tour patrons seized the moment and recited a little Shakespeare while standing on the stage. It was pretty cool standing on stage in such an impressive theatre with someone reciting lines from one of the greatest writers ever. We all gave him his due applause when he finished and continued on the tour. Other highlights included seeing the dressing rooms, costumes, wig shop, with a final stop in the control room of the main theatre where the guides gave a detailed description of what all took place in the booth. It was neat, since I worked on a lot of theatre in high school, to see how a true professional company like the RSC produced things.
After the fantastic tour we headed over to Trinity Church (for the second time) to see Shakespeare’s gravesite. It was nice as there were only a couple of other people in the church so we were able to enjoy the moment in peace. As we were leaving a school group showed up so timing was definitely on our side that morning.
We walked back through Stratford one last time before driving to London Heathrow Airport to return the car. The drive was boring and seemed to drag on as it was mostly on crowded motorways. Before returning the car we filled up with diesel. I think I dropped £75 filling the car up…DAMN!!! We returned the car without incident, made our way to the Heathrow Tube station, purchased some Oyster cards (which we would use to pay for our future Tube journeys) and traveled into central London.
Getting off at Covent Garden station we walked the few blocks to the Waldorf Hilton Hotel to check in. We were welcomed at the check-in desk and were informed that we had been upgraded to a king suite room. We took the lift to our floor, entered the room, and were just in awe at how nice it was. The suite turned into a great home away from home for our four nights in London.
On the drive to return the car we had decided to book Afternoon High Tea at the Waldorf to celebrate our first afternoon in London. With our reservation time approaching, we freshened up and headed down to the main dining room. We were seated right near the piano player who played a wonderful selection of classical music. The waiter asked if we wanted the standard tea service or one with champagne. We decided to order the standard tea service and also requested the type of tea we wanted. I chose Earl Gray while Liz chose the Orange Blossom. Our tea was served along with a tower filled with finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, and little desert tarts and cakes. Everything was absolutely delicious and I think we ate everything on the tower.
After letting afternoon tea digest a little, I took Liz out for a little walking tour of London. We started by walking down to the river, then along the Thames walkway towards the Palace of Westminster (House of Parliament). It was a little cool and breezy but nothing too bad. We stopped along the way for a few pictures before arriving at Big Ben which was all lit up in the evening sky. It was great to be back in London especially with my lovely travel buddy by my side. We took a few pictures in front of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey before realizing that the Abbey was going to be open for a little more than an hour. We decided to tour the abbey that evening as opposed to waiting for another time.
After paying our entry fee (the only spot we visited that didn’t give Liz a student discount) we made a beeline for Poets Corner, the main section that Liz really wanted to see. We spent a little time there looking at all the writers, composers, and poets buried and memorialized there. I think Liz was a little overcome at the literary history that was represented in Poets Corner. We explored more of Westminster Abbey but unfortunately only got through half of it as they were closing. Majestic music filled the grand cathedral to signal closing time…we actually got played out of Westminster Abbey – how cool!
My walking tour took us past #10 Downing Street, the Horse-guard Parade where we saw some guards on patrol, through Trafalger Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Leicester Square. At this time we decided that we needed to figure out what we were going to get for take out and make our way back to the hotel to watch the Brit Awards, the UK’s version of the Grammy’s, on the TV. We decided on a vegetarian restaurant near the hotel stopping at a Tesco market for some sweets for later and some wine on the way. We ended up with a bottle of sub £5 Chardonnay which turned out to be pretty decent. We ordered our take-out and took all of our goodies back to the room.
We got in just in time for the show to start, donned our robes and slippers, enjoyed our Indian food and wine, and relaxed the rest of the evening watching the awards show.
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