Can you believe these views from the plane above London?! I was fortunate to have a window seat and I believe Bea was asleep next to me at this time. Andrew and the other kids were at a different part of the plane so I got the window all to myself. Seeing the city like this was actually a bit emotional, having been to London a few times before and recognizing some of the sites knowing it had been 4 years since our last visit, and after a long day and a half of travel. Ok that was a long sentence but yes, this was magical!
In the above photo you can see the Eye of London and House of Parliament (Big Ben). Below you can see Tower Bridge and Tower of London, which we actually went to a few weeks later for our first time.
Our flights were Phoenix to Washington DC (a new one to me), then London Heathrow. After arriving in Heathrow airport we took the Underground to Kings Cross for luggage drop-off since we had a few hours before the train to Hull. I researched things to see and do in walking distance to make the most of that time. Always a different experience visiting England in December because it's off season with colder/wetter weather and much shorter days. The Christmas decorations around the cities we visited really made it special.
I do have to say because of covid we wore masks for two days straight, at the airports, on the planes, on the Underground, in London, on the train to Hull. I've never worn a mask so long! The kids did so good, it really wasn't a big deal. While we were in England there was an indoor mask mandate so we got used to it.
Platform 9 3/4 is a classic we love to visit! There are wands for props perfect for picture taking. This was our second time taking pictures here. It's close to the luggage drop-off, the coolest Harry Potter store, and award winning bathrooms in Kings Cross.
So much fun Harry Potter merchandise in the Platform 9 3/4 store! We saved our money for other things but the magical chocolate and wands of every memorable character is really cool.
Our bodies were so off with jet lag and changing time zones and this Cornish Pasty shop was our first taste of England. The sausage rolls were the best. Later we discovered a Greggs on the floor above this shop and went back there a few times because it has similar foods for half the price. We love Greggs.
This real tree was huge! Like 40 feet, right in Kings Cross. We passed this area a lot during our trip.
Outside, next to Kings Cross, is St. Pancras. It's a really nice hotel, and an entrance to the Underground. The architecture is just stunning.
I already posted our visit to the British Library which is amazing, I really hope to go back and again and explore more, but here's what we did next. We crossed a bridge over the Grand Union Canal to Granary Square. You can see boats in the canal that I believe are private property. Some people live in them and I imagine there are rides on the canal in summer months.
Ok this bookshop was so unique! It was a two story canal boat right on the water. We found it on our walk along the canal. The girls and I walked through it.
^ ^ See Avery and Zara inside? ^ ^
After walking along the canal we stumbled on the Canopy Market, a Christmas market, on the way back to Granary Square. The hanging stars were a highlight. Just so whimsical. We didn't get anything but it was funny walking through.
Here's Granary Square. In the summer there're fountains right here you can run through but at Christmas this light "tree" was interesting.
How cool is this larger than life Christmas cracker. There were actually two parts, as if it was broken in half, and the mirrors inside sort of felt like a kaleidoscope.
On the way back to Kings Cross we stumbled into the IFO swing. It was actually on my list of things to see, so I'm glad we found it. IFO stands for Identified Flying Object and you can actually sit in the swing and use it. The kids each took a turn.
I think technically we weren't meant to be out and about after landing because once we got to Hull we had to take covid tests and isolate until we got our results (which we had to mail and it took way longer than it was supposed to) but I'm so glad we did some exploring at the beginning of our trip. We had about 5 days of isolation after this, which was only meant to be two. Oh, and the testing was lifted after we got back home. Oh well!
