This year's Europe at Christmastime tour began in my favorite (or should say favourite) city on Earth...London. I flew out on December 11th and arrived about 6:30 a.m. on Monday, December 12th. I arrived to a snowy England that had seen an unusually early snowfall the night before.
After clearing customs, I took the tube to Earl's Court and walked to my hotel. Unfortunately my room wasn't ready that early, so I changed clothes in their common area toilet and headed out. I took the tube to Paddington Station and bought a train ticket to Windsor.
After she passed away, I knew I had to go to Windsor to pay my respect to HM The Queen. They are closed on Tuesdays, so the day I arrived was the only option. My ticket time wasn't until 2:00, but I had checked online and saw that earlier time slots were still available, so I headed out on an early train.
I was able to get in early and it looked magnificent snowcapped!
Sadly no photographs are allowed inside, but the Christmas decor was beautiful!
You can check out photos of this year's decor in this article
St. George's Chapel is where HM The Queen is buried and I was able to pay my respect.
I wondered why we couldn't go into part of the chapel, but it turns out HM The King was recording his Christmas message there the next day.
The only royal corgis I spotted
I had planned to go over to Eton, but since London was covered in snow, I wanted to take advantage of the unique opportunity to see it this way and headed back to see ALL the sights I could. First stop was Covent Garden.
Since it was Monday, the antique market at the Apple Market was happening, so I browsed the stalls.
I hadn't eaten lunch, but there was a place at Covent Garden that sold cookies and there was a line, so I joined the line and had a cookie to keep me going until I got to a location I wanted to eat.
Just some of the elaborate London Christmas displays...
Walking to Trafalgar Square...
The Christmas market at Trafalgar...
The tree Norway has given yearly since WW2 for appreciation...
It is hard to put into words how happy I was on this day.
Seeing my favorite place on earth blanketed in snow was a real dream come true and I just couldn't stop pinching myself to make sure it was a reality.
Just look at those snowy lions!
This began the portion of my day that was not on my itinerary. I wanted to see ALL the places that I could in snow, so I walked up the Mall a bit.
I walked through St. James's Park...
past Horse Guards Parade ...
the WW1 memorial...
up to where I could see Westminster Abbey...
Parliament & Sir Winston Churchill covered in snow...
to Big Ben!
Then I made a turn and went back up Whitehall (basically I'm making a big circle at this point)
The Cenotaph
WW2 Women's Memorial
I even saw the Downing Street fox running around as I walked up Whitehall!
My next destination was a mid-afternoon lunch at a pub called The Clarence...
I had a cider...
and fish & chips...
I then walked back up Whitehall to see Big Ben all lit up after sunset,
before taking the tube back to Earl's Court..
I was able to check in, so I dropped by bags in my room and then walked back up the street to the Mark's and Spencer Grocery that I like. I grabbed some sodas, water, snacks, and Percy Pigs before heading back to the room for the night.
According to my fitbit I had been 18,673 steps on basically an hour and half (maybe) of sleep so I crashed...
This trip I stayed at a different hotel than I have the past few times I've visited London. It was in the same neighborhood that I like and just around the corner. It was highly rated and I was pleased with the choice. There are several hotels in London called "The Resident ___" This was The Resident Kensington.
I booked a Standard Double Room
I liked that all of their rooms came with a kitchenette closet.
I actually paid more for a larger room. They had some that were larger, but also some that were smaller. Just something to keep in mind... London hotels are $$$ and small!
That's a wrap on Day One. I went to sleep at 7:00 and slept for 12 hours straight!
Stay tuned for Day Two (and my last day) in London...
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