“I’ve been walking about London for the last 30 years, and I find something fresh in it every day.”– Walter Besant
Running a bit late on this one—sorry but things have been crazy lately—-and trying to circulate around the rising infection cases in Florida taks more time than I am good at coordinating about.
We’re returning to how you can do your own trip and make it yours
First I just saw this article which might prove useful to you:
Not my picture
Now this isn’t my cuppa—-but lots of people seem to enjoy it—-no two vacations are exactly alike—especially if you do it yourself—so I’m giving you a bit on this little bit of London—-which can be reached by the on and off tour bus.
Open daily except December 25
28-34 Tooley Street, London, England, SE1 2SZ
The immersive London Dungeon transports visitors into London’s past for a theatrical journey into the city’s underbelly. Participants make their way through a series of shadowy rooms, where costumed actors reveal the most horrible tales from the capital’s history, including accounts of the gory murders committed by Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd, the failed Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes, and the Great Fire of London. The meticulous sets, spooky special effects, and thrilling rides make for a memorable, shriek-out-loud experience.
Not my picture
Pimlico,
London SW1V 1QF,
Georgian-styled townhouse hotel ideally located in the heart of London. Our Westminster hotel is situated in the City of Westminster and is only minutes stroll from some of London’s main historical and cultural attractions, such as the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. Should you need to travel throughout the city, we boast great onward transport links: the hotel is within walking distance of London Victoria Railway Station, Underground Station and Coach Station. All guests can enjoy a free continental breakfast to get the day off to a great start.
So you see some of the reasons in different colors of why I picked the hotel—-in addition for us was the cost of the rooms of course and for me as I was doing my blog at this time—-they had free WiFI
Other things you might want to consider is if they have an area you can lock up your luggage—see we come in on an overnight flight and though they wll allow you to get all checked in, you usually can’t get your room until about 3 pm in the afternoon—-I always ask if there is a secure place to lock up my luggage so I can wander about and not wasting a day babysitting my luggage.
I’d suggest that you and whomever you’re going with set down and decide what you want in a hotel and then the level of importance—-cost vs location——size of room verses other hotel services etc—-en suite vs. share bathroom—this is especially true in the youth hostels and the like that are also available in London. That particular item is on I MUST HAVE—-I don’t want to walk down the hall in the middle of the night—–though if you’v got a family you might get a break finding a place where you have two rooms with a bath between.
And don’t forget that you might prefer a bed and breakfast or renting an apartment—that’s particularly nice if you’re not going to leave London (or what ever city you’re staying in). They usually have washer and dryer which is particularly nice.
Oh and one thing I’ve learned is the deal listed online can often be worked out with hotel management at a better rate that that lissted on line. It’s worth a try—all they can do is say no/
Not my picture
We are open every Friday and Saturday from 10.30am until 5pm, with last admission at 4.15pm.
Admission Prices:
- Adult: £7.50
- Concessions (Students aged 17 and above, Seniors aged 60+, and Disabled Visitors): £6.00
- Child 6-16 years: £4.50
- Children under 6 years: Free
- Carers (with a full paying adult, concession or child ticket): Free
- Family (2 adults, 2 children): £18.00
OK for all you nurses, doctors and people who just want to experiencce the out of the ordinary this museum located in what is asically an attic of a Norman church—-Oh and for you medical people it’s said that Florence (as in Nightengale) once trod the boards of this the oldest of it’s find in Europe.
I was never able to see this museum—we had it on the schedule one time, but when we got there it was unexpectedly closed and it just hasn’t gotten back onto our day plans. I’m told they do live talks and demonstrations of techniquess used among other things and ther is also a display of medicine with a lot of herbals.
Now there’s a few things about what to put in those suitcases you’re going to store……..First of all what are you allowed to bring—-if you’ve got one suite case with about 50 lb limit—–then you have to be more careful than when you go the mid-grade on say VIrgin which allows two bags and a 20 lb carry on. My friend who flies with me insists on only one bag and a limited number of clothes—usually darker so you can wear them a day or two without show of dirt and the like.
I usually take the two bags with room left for items purchased abroad on return. Usually my 2nd bag is a smaller dimension, but big enough to pack up—We never just stay in London but travel to some other cities so what I have worked out with the managers of most of the locations I have stayed out is to leave my 2nd bag with clothes or other items I don’t think I’ll need on my sojourns out of London in it. I always offer to pay but given that I stay several days in the hotel and am returning there for several days they usually let me keep it in their facilitiy and it has always been there when I get back and saves me having to move it about.
Another thing is the clothes to bring—the UK is chilly for those of us who are use to Florida’s temperature so we usually bring warmer clothes and we have learned to layer—-now with the temperatures raising—especially in the UK—the layers are important—I have been there in the last few years when it was in the 80’s in April. That is also a reason that now I always makesure that the hotel (not all of them have) has A/C.
All of these considerations can be reviewed for where ever you go and adjusted to the specific place you’re visiting—-like AC in Alaska might not be important, but if you’re visiting London and don’t speak Englsih just might.
When I first came to London in 2002 the
Teemple of Mithras
This temple was set in a busness area a stark reminder of the pagan roots of Rome that built London….in 2009 it was moved with an intent to place it at a new location—now finally it is being restored and maybe this next time in London I might get to see it:
Now deep down underground whence it came, the Temple has come alive with a dark gloomy space slowly revealed as lighting recreates long lost walls and chanting recreates the atmosphere that would have been familiar to Roman worshipers.
The Roman legions found the cult of the god Mithras who was born of a rock and went on to slay a bull in a cave with the shed blood producing all manner of valuable plants and herbals and from its semen all the animals that were valued then. This London temple is a reproduction of the killing cave. Originating in Persia (Iran) during the reign of Nero. It was one of many, but it’s emphsis was on truth, honor, courage and demanded discipline among it’s believers and became a popular choice for the Roman Legions.
So here’s how I do it.
Talk with everybodythat I’m going with
Find out their price rannge
What is and isn’t important to them
Look at what you’re planning on seeing and doing and where the best transportation connections are in relation to the possibe areas you can stay within your price ranges. If you have a budget price range around the Savoy probably won’t fit the bill.
Meet with Friends again and have them look at the possible combinations based on all that they want and what’s available in price range and get an agreement. (if it’s just you and the family or hubby or good friend or significant other (—OK did I cover everything?) as you have less to please and usually more in common as to where, what, etc you want and can afford.
Then start looking at hotels on your agreed price range and see which ticks off the most boxes—-this is easy just google—-hotels in x price range near Picadilly Circus for instance in London……
You can cut and paste names of and locations—from web site….include on the list what they offer for free or a small fee or whatever…i.e. breakfast free—or for a set fee….I stayed in a hotel on Edinburgh about half a block off the Royal Mile that had a bar in the lobby and as long as there was an attendant at the desk the bar was open—the fee for drinks was much lower than at the near-by bars—-something that wasn’t on my list but when I saw they had a bar I put a positive—-they had a breakfast for an additional amount—not excessive—-but there was a Starbuck’s on the corner from the hotel and at least one of my tour facilities (day trips from the capital) had a very reasonable breakfast from their faciity so we opted out.
After you’ve gone over everything you can think of and all the thing usually offered I go one step futher and check them out on Trip Advisor—and get their ranking with them…..if they don’t have them I look for similar review sites and add their score—-then you can talk it over with the hubby or friend—-or send a copy of the list from all your friends and get everybody to review and put in their favorite and take the most popular—with back of the 2nd choice in case they don’t have rooms available or there are other issues.
Make the reseervations—I prefer places that don’t charge you for the reservation or at least not until very close the arrival date but that isn’t always possible—so you gotta do what you gotta and so on and so on.
I read a legend that Tower Hill was an important site long bfore the Normans’s built the tower here many, many years ago. It is said to have been the burial site of Bran’s head, Bran being the Bird god in Celtic mythology. It is said that the whole thing with Britain and the Ravens remaining here or the kingdom falls is part of this mythology. It has even been said that Arthur (yes that Arthur) removed the head saying it was he that defended Britain and that’s what brought the Saxon invasions—-but given everything I’ve read lately the Saxons were imigrants not invaders and it is now believed that they were peaceful and settled in areas where they were welcome and were farmers developing the land and later defended it against others that would take it themselves—and seen findings from current digs and the like which find no history of invasions and the rumored battles and the bodies that would have accompanied them during this time period. So often we find that the history we thought was true is no more than another version of the legends—-it gets very confusing.
