Brian and Barbara RV'ing: Over the pond

We managed to fit in some dinners out with friends in between all of that so life is still good!

That was the theory anyway and for the most part it was true. British Airways have always been a good airline to fly. We were happy with the seats, food, free drinks and entertainment, so the hour the flight was late leaving and the 30 minutes we sat in London before they got us to the gate were easily forgiven.

We decided to ride the underground across the city to the hotel we had reserved in Greenwich. The theory was better than the actual trip which lasted a jet lagged 5 hours.

Jet lag probably accounted for us getting the wrong trains, miss reading the underground map and having to get on and off trains that were not going to where we thought they were going and finally us arriving at Greenwich station, only to find out that the hotel was actually in Woolwich in the borough of Greenwich, not Greenwich in the borough of Greenwich!

Perhaps it was because of the super long day we had that we really didn’t suffer too badly from jet lag and we set off the following morning to explore London.

If you are planning to visit London here are a few tips.

1. Use the Tube (Underground Trains ((Subway)) its the best thing for getting around. DON”T repeat DON”T rent a car, the streets are narrow, the traffic is horrendous and there are no places to park.

2. When you decide to use the Tube find a store or a station that sells Oyster cards. These are a prepaid card for the system and you pay with your credit card. You just tap it on the pad at the station turnstile then again at your final destination and it gets deducted from the card. It works on the Uber boats too (More on this later).

3, Get the London Pass online. It seems expensive at first but it gets you discount entrance to most museums (But not all) and onto the Uber Boats and "On and Off" tour busses

, We paid 111 pounds (about $160) for a 3 day pass EACH. It more than paid for itself and got us straight in to several places that had a line for regular ticket purchases. I highly recommend it, get it online and you just show the pass on your phone.

4, If you are moving east/west thru the city get down to the river and ride the Uber boats! High speed vessels get you to all the big riverside attractions in no time, and the views along the way are great! Use either your Oyster card or London Pass but if you use your London pass it’s included with your buy in. The Oyster card will deduct the fare from the amount on the card so if you have both use the London pass.

One Uber boat from another!

Clean and comfortable. The best way to travel.

Our hotel was in Woolwich near the Royal Arsenal and right on the River Thames. We soon found our way around and where the pubs were! Once we discovered the Uber boats we rode them every day.

Seein the sights from the river was great. This is the Tower of London.

Barbara has been making a list of places to see for the last year! We looked at the list and decided to start in St Paul's Cathedral which is a short walk up from the river.

St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's is a famous landmark and has a distinct silhouette, many historic figures are buried inside. It takes hours and hours to see them. The London pass got us in free and to the head of the ticket line.

Tower Bridge and the "Shard" to the left.

Over the next 3 days we visited Churchill’s War Rooms, The London Eye, The Greenwich Maritime Museum, British Museum and Westminster Abbey, riding the boat backwards and forwards each day and squeezing in lunches at various pubs around the city.

The London Eye

From the bottom

At the top!

The Woolwich Arsenal was also interesting with history going back to Henry the 8^th and beyond. During the first and second World Wars it was the largest manufacturer of explosives in the country. Now its all upscale housing. Quite amazing thinking about it.

The Royal Arsenal Woolwich. Guns and upscale housing.

Our week was soon up and we got a taxi to Euston Station then a high sped train to Liverpool. Time to see our relatives and find a motorhome to live in!