London
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Our first day in London before the tour started
Day of arrival.
As Rick suggests, we arrived one day before the tour started to help get over jet lag. We arrived at the Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel and checked into our rooms. After a short rest, Stan, Janice, Paul and Keegan went out for dinner while Trisha stayed back with Laila. After dinner, we took a short walk to Kensington Gardens before returning to the hotel and calling it a day. |
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Sunday, June 30, 2019
The tour starts today in London
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Before the tour starts.
The tour starts with a get together meeting at 3 p.m. today at our hotel, therefore, we had all day to explore London on our own. We walked from our hotel down to Kensington Gardens and then over to Buckingham Palace. From there we returned to our hotel through Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. We walked about six miles prior to our get together meeting. |
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Welcome to Europe.
At 3:00 p.m. we met our tour guide Martin De Lewandowicz and his assistant Ben Green along with the other tour members. We covered all the rules and regulations and chose "Buddies" (Rick's method of a quick check to make certain everyone is accounted for) before heading out to our first get acquainted dinner at the Admiralty Pub. After dinner we walked through St. James Park before taking a bus back to our hotel. |
Monday, July 1, 2019
The Thames and the Tower
Tower of London.
This morning our guide took us to the Tower of London, where we learned about England's oldest and probably most famous castle. It was a secure fortress, royal palace and infamous prison. We even got a glimpse of the Crown Jewels which are safeguarded there. |
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Thames River Cruise.
After our Tower of London visit, we grabbed some lunch and boarded a boat for our Thames River cruise. Our British Guide gave a hilarious narration on our Thames River cruise. It was really fun. We started at the Tower Bridge and ended at Westminster. |
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London Free Time.
The Thames River cruise was over and the rest of the afternoon was free time. That is one of the great features of Rick's tours; the guides are very knowledgeable and give great historical information on the guided tours and then you have free time to explore and experience things on your own. We wanted to experience an English Tea so we headed to Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly. It was a great experience. |
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Tomorrow we board the sleek Eurostar train and take the Chunnel to Paris.