After a restful sleep, we awoke to clearing skies following an overnight rain.
We departed Allen House around 9:30am bound for the Sea Life London Aquarium located on the South Bank just across the Thames from Westminster. While the aquarium isn’t cheap (~$30 per person for adults, kids under 3 are free), it was actually much better than I expected given its location and general association with touristy claptrap (London Eye, Madame Tussaud’s, London Dungeon, etc.). The displays were fairly informative. Moreover, while the volume of sea life was modest (e.g., just a handful of penguins), the diversity of aquatic life and display quality were more than decent.
Sea Life London Aquarium (and London Eye) on South Bank
Libby and Emerson across from Houses of Parliament
After the aquarium, we walked back over Westminster Bridge, through St. James’s Park, around Buckingham Palace, and on to Victoria Station to pick up lunch (great selection). Following lunch, we walked a couple of blocks back down Buckingham Palace Road and visited the Royal Mews. Highlights of the Mews included the Windsor Grey horses and the really splendid Gold State Coach (c. 1760 – see photo below).
Gold State Coach @ Royal Mews
We left the Mews for Bayswater, as I needed to find a T-Mobile store to acquire my Internet access. Emerson fell asleep in my lap on the Tube ride across town. We exited at Bayswater, placed Emerson in her stroller, and headed down the block to Whitley’s mall (from which the T-Mobile was directly across the street). Libby also popped into the mall to visit the local Gymboree – since Emerson’s a member she can attend a class in the UK!
BTW, getting wireless broadband Internet access that works in both the UK and throughout Europe is a bit of a hassle. T-Mobile appears to be the best deal going from a single carrier. It’s about $15 for the wireless USB stick (or “dongle” – a word I much prefer), $10 for 7 consecutive days of access in the UK, and $10 for 50MB of data usage in Europe. All in all, I think it’s a good investment.
For dinner, we stopped by the Whole Wallet Foods (the world’s second largest… and always I highlight for me… Mom—having not been there before—was also suitably impressed) to pick-up dinner. I cooked gnocchi with a simple homemade tomato sauce and a shave of Parmesan (from WF’s swoon-worthy cheese room), which I paired with a green salad and some fresh bread. For dessert, we had tiramisu… good enough but not as good as mine! I also picked up a bottle of wine: a fairly inexpensive but highly quaffable Italian dry rose from Sicily.
Ah, la dolce vita in London…