Tag:tower of london
It didn’t always go to plan
On our third day in London, we were due to do a Stonehenge and Bath tour. All five of us were (we thought) on the same tour. A cab was booked to pick us all up at 7 am and take us to the tour collection point. At 6.45 am we realised that our tickets show TWO different drop off points. Same destination – but different tours.
Cabbie decided to drop off the three at their pickup point for an 8.30 am departure – then took us to our drop off point for an 8 am departure. And naturally – we didn’t make it in time. While the others were still waiting for their bus to go, ours had gone. No refunds for missed buses, money done. Cue anger and frustration. We went for a very grumpy breakfast while we took stock of what to do with our day now.
Saved by the tour agent
After pulling up the big girl panties, we decided to start with the hop on hop off bus and take it from there. While we were on the bus back in Australia Benjamin Lord of Expert Class Travel had seen our post bemoaning our missed bus, and had pulled the iron out of the fire. Benjamin gave me a call and offered to rebook us onto a tour the next day, to which we readily agreed. He then booked us on the Bath/Stonehenge tour at no cost to, us which was extremely generous and him. So we decided we would change our ticket for the Tower of London from tomorrow, to today and visit the tower.
Riding around on the hop on/off bus, we rode around for a while and got off at Tower Bridge.
The Tower
We wandered around and over the bridge and down to the Tower of London on the opposite bank. By the time we arrived, it was already packed. It was term holidays in London. And considering it was a glorious sunny day, even the locals were out. The lovely lady at the ticket booth changed our ticket without a hassle, and we entered the tower.
The tower was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It’s amazing (to me) that the building is so old… old buildings in Australia are around 200yrs yrs old. This one was over a thousand! Loved the building and the architecture – but I must say I was very unimpressed with everything else. I expected rooms set up like it was in the day.. and while there was a couple – there wasn’t many.
The queues for anything were miles long (or so it seemed). I wanted to see the torture room – but that had a queue extending back to harrods.. and the queue for the Crown Jewels went almost back to the airport.
Characters in costume
Adding to the historical tone of the tower were several costumed actors, strolling around. They reenacted various events regularly. Sir Walter Raleigh on his way to the scaffold. Queen Elizabeth I as young woman was kept there, a courtier, a Lady in Waiting etc., I loved the characters in costume 🙂
Hop on/of bus
Leaving the Tower we headed back to the Hop-On/Off bus stop. And then got promptly got lost. So we walked all over and eventually found the stop for the bus before changing routes at another stop to get on the red line hop on/off. Finally arriving at Harrods Department Store.
Harrods
The store was massive and expensive! Up on the Christmas floor 2 metres of tinsel was 25 pounds (around $50!) The deli floor was fabulous. I loved the way they all dressed like back in Mr Selfridges time LOL
About 12 months ago, a group of us (all amateur photographers) signed on to do a 3-week trip covering Tromso, London, and Paris. The price looked excellent – too good to pass up. Add the lure of northern lights chasing, and we were all keen. But the initial cost proved to be only the beginning. I found there are many hidden costs of planning holidays.
While the price was undeniably great, there were hidden costs. Costs that I didn’t consider as a first-time long-haul overseas trip at the time before I said yes. Things you don’t think to factor in with the glow of excitement over an overseas trip to far-flung places. And no, I don’t mean travel insurance and spending money, which I had budgeted in.
No Regrets (do it all)
Considering the vast distances we are travelling to get there, (35 hrs travelling time Australia to Tromso with three plane changes). Add in the likelihood that, most likely, we are never going back due to distance and cost. Therefore, we all wanted to get shots worthy of bringing home. The last words I wanted on my lips at the end of the trip was “I wish”. I wish I had bought a wide-angle lens. I wish I had the new filters I have been looking at. I wish I had a better/bigger/smaller bag; I wish I had better clothing for the cold; I wish I could have afforded to take that extra tour. I wish, I wish, I wish. You see where I am going.
Gear
As it’s a photographic trip, we have upgraded our camera gear. Three of us have new cameras (two wholly changed over from Canon to Olympus. And yes, add all the new lenses that go with that. All of us bought extra batteries to cope with the cold. Some have new filters, others new camera bags, additional memory cards, lighter carbon fibre tripods, new smaller lighter laptops and externals to back up the images, and bigger camera bags to fit in snacks, water, and wet weather gear. The shopping went on and on and on and on.
Clothing
Also burning through the credit cards and savings was clothing. It’s forecast to be between 1C – 5C in Tromso. So thermal underwear, snow boots, waterproof hikers and photography gloves were on the shopping list. We also bought photographers gloves, designed to keep the hands warm but engineered work the cameras were purchased.
Add down coats, thermal hats, snow socks, and windproof, waterproof pants. London and Paris will be a little warmer. We had two nights booked out northern lights chasing. Plus day trips out on arctic wildlife spotting and night trips elsewhere, the arctic gear was the first thing we ordered
Hot Hands and Toes
Hot Hands (little heat-activated pouches that give off heat for 8-10 hours) have been purchased and stockpiled over the winter months to take with us. Sorry if you went to chemist’s warehouse and there was none left. But we needed them? One hot hand in each pocket to keep batteries warm (they go flat quicker in the cold), plus one in each glove. Buy packing cubes to find things when I need them instead of going through my suitcase like police with a search warrant. Add a couple of small laundry bags and cubes!
Electronics
Travelling overseas, everyone realises you need special power adapters. Travelling to Europe and the UK, we need one for each country. Add a powerboard to simultaneously charge camera batteries, watches, iPhones, iPods, and laptops. A power bank for charging phones on the go and recharging batteries quickly after being out shooting all day before going out again most of the night. Add a double camera battery charger.
Tours
Since we had some free days and followed on from the ‘no regrets’ mantra, we also planned to see and do as much as humanly possible while there. Cram as much in, see as much as we can, photograph everything, sleep when we get home. So, we needed to fill our ‘free days’ with tours, right?
In Tromso, add an arctic wildlife experience and add another night of northern light chasing to maximise our time. Add tours in London to Cornwall, white cliffs of Dover, Cotswolds, Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, Tower of London, Alice in Wonderland High Tea. in Paris, add a skip the line Eiffel tower to the summit and Mont St Michel. Stay an extra few days, travel to Germany, and take the train rather than fly. It’s all about the experience, right?
Add tours to the Castles and another to Salzburg, Austria. Oh, excellent, look, another $2k gone. Tetanus shot (doctor’s orders). Oyster cards, global sim, convert Aussie dollars to cash in three currencies, so we have some folding stuff on landing. Letter from the doctor for medications. New packets of said medications have to stay in their boxes and not be in pillboxes.
Forgotten Anything?
Ummmm, I don’t think I have, but despite that, we have more gear, backups, and planning than Roald Amundsen or Scott of the Antarctic. Despite covering every eventuality I can think of, I am confident when I get on the plane. I will remember something I should have bought or packed!