Random thoughts of London.

When we were in a restaurant and asked for the "cheese lasagna" and the waiter said they were finished. We were like "what?". They kept saying they were finished. Come to find out it means they have sold out of that dish and there is no more. It wasn't even that late either.

Also on every corner it seems like are "Pret A Manger" cafés. They are inexpensive healthy sandwiches, wraps, snacks etc. for a very reasonable price. I hope they will open some up here in L.A. soon.

"Give Way" signs mean yield.

If you take the tube you will have this going through your head non stop.
"Mind the Gap" means "Watch your step".

CAA Cruise Addict Anonymous.

My name is Danielle and I am a cruise addict. There....I said it.
The adrenaline rush of pushing the button to book it, the excitement of booking shore excursions in exotic destinations and the comforting sensation of boarding the ship for a trip of a lifetime.
We have discovered the ease of traveling on a cruise ship by having to unpack only once, getting rocked to sleep, waking up every day in a new city, unbelievable cuisine, entertainment everywhere, unlimited food 24 hours a day, superb service, optional spa services and the list goes on and on.
As soon as I get off one ship I want to plan the next vacation.
Recovering......never.

The Ruby Princess

Docked in Liverpool.

Foooood glorious Food.

Now that you'll be singing that song all day feast your eyes on these amazing dishes.  Oh do I miss the food.

The Crown Grill.

Sitting kitchen side for dinner.

Vegetable Carving Demonstration

Blimey!

I've been planning this trip for months and it will be here in a couple days. After much research and help from fellow cruisers, the internet and cruisecritic.com I think I've become a wealth of information and I haven't even started the trip.

I've been to Europe when I was younger pre kids doing the bus tour through Italy, France, Germany, Swizterland, and a week in London. I always wanted to go back to see Ireland and Scotland and now that dream is coming true.

This time I have a husband, 2 teens and a cell phone.  Yes....that's how long it's been.

London Day # 1

We're traveling non-stop from LAX to London and depart from sunny So Cal around 3p.m. And arrive the next day around 11:00 a.m. which was 3:00 a.m. our time. I felt hungover without even having to drink. Going through customs wasn't too bad because it was mostly just people off our plane. 

There are a few ways to get to London. The "Heathrow Express" train which is the fastest and mid price. It will drop you off at Paddington Station and then from there you can either take the tube or cab to your hotel.  Since it overshot where our hotel was and we were getting a 2 day "Oyster Card" we decided to take the Tube to our hotel. The cheapest way to go and a few more stops. We only changed one time and found our hotel very easy which happened to be right by the London Eye.

Premier Inn is kind of a chain of hotels here in London. I believe this building was the "Town Hall" that was converted to a hotel. 

We were 4 dreary eyed tired people but knew we had to keep going so we could crash out at night. We headed out to the tube station and it happened to be the Tour De France that day so all the roads were blocked off and we walked straight into a protest with naked girls and the bobbies were trying to handcuff them and shoo away all the onlookers. Welcome to London.

I had pre bought tickets to "The London Tower" so on we go for our first castle of many. When in 
London it can rain at any time....even in July.

It was so nice not having any lines and getting to see " The Crown Jewels" without a wait. It is amazing, they're definitely something to see, but you are not allowed to take pictures.

History goes that the presence of the ravens protect the castle. If the ravens fly away, the tower and Britain will fall. Hence they clip their wings...or wing so they don't fly away.

Tower of London selfie

London Eye day and Night

We bought the day and night tickets since they were only a few pounds more. But being summer,  the sun goes down later and so you will only get dusk pictures, not the truly dark night twinkling lights of the city view. I took the night picture from the bridge.

More London Eye

The London Eye opens up at 9:30 and we got there about 9:00 and were at the front of the line. If you buy your tickets on line you still need to go to the ticket counter to get your tickets. Also, the last 5 minutes if you stand on the footprints in the capsule it will take your picture. Make sure you look left of the flash. My son was the only one who looked straight in the camera and of course I bought the pictures that come with the keychain and magnet.

Harry Potter Warner Brothers Tour

The Warner Brothers lot is about 40 minutes more or less north of London. One way to get there is the Harry Potter Bus from Golden tours. I think it was over £100 pounds for 4 people so I decided to take the tube since I had my Oyster card to Euston station. We then got off to take the train to Watford. It was very easy and quick as these trains are high speed trains and so quiet. I went to the ticket window and the clerk right away said "Oh, are you going to Watford?" I said "Yes, how do you know?" In his cute little English accent he says, "I can spot a Muggle when I see them" or in translation "you look like all the other tourists who come through here confused and dazed looking". I want to say it took about 15-20 minutes and was about £20 pounds for the four of us. Once you get off the train and head out the station you will see a double decker Harry Potter shuttle bus which is £1.50 round trip.

The Shuttle bus to the studios.

Make sure you buy your tickets ahead of time as they are limited each day.  
http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk. You can not buy them when you get there. I got the digital guides
which include the audio headset and extras but really didn't have time to watch all the extras on it. It's amazing to see all the work that goes into making these movies. Every little detail and the amount of people to make it happen is amazing.  You will see The Great Hall, which you don't have much time in there so take your pictures fast.

The next part you will start your digital guide and can take as long as you want and as many pictures as you can.

Dumbledore's Office

You just can't take pictures when they are doing the green screen room. You can choose flying a broom or in the flying car and they have quite a few rooms set up to do it in.

Being that it was mostly for little kids I didn't do it. And my teens would be too embarrassed to do it because.....well.......they're teens with their parents. So it's fun to watch all the other kids doing it. You can buy a copy but I don't know how much it is. You then proceed to the backlot to see the Knight Bus, Privet Drive houses, Hogwarts bridge and you can buy refreshments.

Hogwarts Bridge

The flying car was popular with the little kids.

My son got the Butterbeer which is like a sweet cream soda with foam on top. I only had a sip of it as it was pretty sweet but I like cream soda and my teen son drank the whole thing.

You will then go 
through all the models and animatronics etc. which is very creepy at times.

It's so interesting to know that these actors spent about 10 years on these sets growing up and filming there. I'm not going to lie to you. I think I liked it more than my kids.
Ahhhh....Diagon Alley.

Even though my husband was never a Harry Potter fan he actually really enjoyed the tour. The greatest thing was the replica 3D model of the Hogwarts Castle at the end. Amazing! 

Came back and ate out at another Italian place down the street I think it was La Locale and then walked around Big Ben and the Parliament in the rain taking night pictures. Some of the most interesting ones as the London Eye was all lit up in blue.

Time for bed.....zzzzzzz.