After the very late start (see the last post), we headed up to Ladbroke Grove Tube stop and were off to South Bank, home of the Globe Theater, OXO Tower, Queen's Walk, the Tate Modern, and the London Eye.
When we hopped off the Tube at Waterloo Station, and headed for the Thames. The boys were thirsty, so we stopped in for water and cupcakes at an excellent bakery, which were consumed once we got to the Queen's Walk along the Thames. As we walked along the Queen's Walk, we got to experience a faux Christmas Market (named the Cologne Market) as well as some impressive street performers posing as statues. The all silver guy still has Matthew convinced he's a robot or something, since he only moves when you toss a coin in his hat, and then only in the same exact motions.
The Eye was amazing and should definitely be an early daytime vacation stop when visiting London with kids, since so many of the sights can be seen, identified, and situated on the mental map. It was very nice that they didn't try to pack the cars, so we could easily walk around and take in the various views. As you can see from the photos, for the first 15 minutes or so Matthew stayed on the bench in the middle of the car. When we reached the top, however, he couldn't resist the views so moved to the floor along the windows. It was slightly overcast, but very bright, so was perfect viewing weather with no glare.
After riding the London Eye, we walked all the way along Queen's Walk to the Tate Modern. Since at the Tate Museums, along with many other museums in London, admission is free, we could duck in for a quick explore for as long as the boys could stand what we were willing to let them see (be very careful of the plethora of material not appropriate for young eyes). We then had a quick snack at the cafe on the top floor overlooking the north bank of the Thames, including St. Paul's Cathedral and Millennium Bridge.
After our snack, we walked across the Millennium Bridge and enjoyed a great view of London at night, lit beautifully. In particular, it was a great spot to see the Tower Bridge.
We stopped for a quick reminisce about the iconic scene in Mary Poppins, then took the Tube back to Notting Hill where we picked up some facsimile of a Thanksgiving dinner at the Grocer on Elgin.
After dinner (everyone was thankful for each other), we all blogged in our own ways, bathed in the flat upstairs (still no hot water) and headed off to bed. The boys didn't fall asleep until midnight - still excited from the day and with their body clocks not fully adjusted.
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