London Day One
London Day Two
London Day Three
London Day Four
Overnight Ferry London - Amsterdam
Amsterdam Day One
Amsterdam Day Two
Lufthansa Amsterdam-Frankfurt/Senator's Lounge Frankfurt/Lufthansa Frankfurt - Dulles
After exiting the plane we took the long walk from the arrivals gates at Heathrow to Customs and Immigration. Luckily United had given us a pass for their "Fast Lane" at Immigration and we were quickly through the line, grabbed up our bags and we were out into the main terminal about 15 min from when we stepped off the plane.
We exited into the main arrivals hall in Terminal 1 and saw the sign for the Arrivals Lounges. When you exit out of Immigration it is directly to the right all the way at the end of the hall. You then have to take the elevator on the right hand side to the second floor. From there you can enter the Star Alliance Arrivals Lounge. I apologize for not having any pictures...all I really wanted to do was take a shower to wake myself up a bit.
The lounge had a small seating area with tables. There was a light breakfast set up with coffee, tea and juice on offer. I requested a shower room and was given access to one of the twelve or so rooms they have. The room was just a big bathroom with a shower that flooded the entire bathroom when you had the water on...but it did the job for a quick 2 min shower.
Refreshed and ready to go again we headed toward the Heathrow Express Train. The Heathrow Express and The Tube are really the most cost effective ways to get into downtown London. A cab will easily run you in the 50-70 pound range from Heathrow. The Tube will cost you around 5 pounds, but will take 45 min - 1 hour. The Heathrow Express costs 19 pounds one way or 34 pounds for a "return" (read: round trip) ticket and takes 15 min.
We quickly boarded a train and 15 min. later we were at Paddington Station and headed toward the Tube. I can't say enough about public transportation in London. Living in DC we used to have a great public transit system in the Metro...but the Tube puts it all to shame. It is fast, efficient and almost always on time.
We decided to maximize our trip it was the most cost effective for us to buy 7-day travel cards for the Tube, even though we would only be there for four days. The cost of the 7-day travel card is 29 pounds. It includes all you can ride on all stations within Zones 1 and 2 (Which is most of the stations in central London) and the best part is that it also includes all bus routes! This is in comparison to 2 pounds for every bus ride and around 2 pounds per trip on the Tube. You want the travel card to be put on an "Oyster" Card which is a hard plastic card that you touch to a reader on the fare gates at the entrance/exit of every station or on the bus when you get on. This will save you time at the fare gates and you don't have to worry about losing a paper ticket.
The great part about the Tube stops in central London is that quite a few of them are close together. So we took the Bakerloo Line from Paddington Station to Piccadilly Circus and then took the quick 10 min walk to Covent Garden and Seven Dials where our hotel, The Raddison Blu Edwardian Mercer Street was located.
The lobby was modern and chic with a small check-in desk that was managed by two agents. But there was a bit of a wait as a few people checked out and others tried to check in. We were informed that our room would not be available until around 3 pm (It was 9 am by this time) so we checked our bags and decided to head out to do a bit of shopping.
This was something that Kelsey had been looking forward to the whole ride over. She made us hit up Harrods, the luxury department store in Knightsbridge West London, where we saw 2,000 puppies and million dollar diamonds. From there we headed to Tottenham Court Road so she could pop into British designer Dorothy Perkins' store. Then both of us headed to Primark, which I as someone who hates shopping was actually excited for. Primark is a brilliant discount British clothing retailer. I was able to find two pairs of dress pants for $16!!!! It is a must hit if you need some cheap shopping while in London.
After our shopping spree we were exhausted. We headed back to the hotel around 1 pm with the hopes that we could get into a room....any room. The front desk told us that they did have a room ready for us, a standard double room. We could have asked for an upgrade as Gold Members in Club Carlson...but we were so tired we were happy for any room.
Our room was on the fifth floor and as we got to the door I wasn't quite sure we were in the right place. The door featured a huge step up to it...a feature that none of the other rooms had. I opened the door and was faced with a matching step on the other side down into our room. Certainly one of the strangest features I have ever seen in a hotel room. I have a picture of the step down into the room below.
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| "Step" down into our room" |
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| Bed |
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| Sitting Area |
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| Shower |
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| Bathroom |
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| Bathtub |
Kelsey isn't a fan of fish so she ordered the chicken tenders and chips while I went with the cod and chips along with the ever so delicious British dish....mushy peas. If you have never experienced mushy peas...you have to give them a go. Yes I know you must be saying...isn't it just a pea version of mashed potatoes, whats so special about that? WELL LET ME TELL YOU....mushy peas absolutely make a great plate of fish and chips...it's like peanut butter and jelly...you can't have one without the other.
After dinner we walked around Covent Garden a bit more to burn off some of the calories and with the jet lag setting in we called it a night.
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