Christmas in England - London Week

St. Paul's Cathedral Christmas Concert, watching skaters at Somerset House, celebrating a birthday at Salieri's Restaurant, worship services at St. Margaret's, Mozart by candlelight at St. Martin in the Fields, having family and friends to share everything with.

Quick Tips:

Begin planning 6 months ahead, choose a centrally located hotel, don't plan to eat 10 to a table unless you want really bad service, allow plenty of time for just strolling and soaking up atmosphere, pick only one main activity/sight per day, then take advantage of special events and concerts, buy the best walking shoes you can afford (SAS is the one for me!), buy Tube, bus and train tickets or passes before you leave the US.

Best Way To Get Around:

If your feet are in shape, walk everywhere. The Tube and buses will take you everywhere you want to go very cheaply. Everyone should have a ride in a London black cab just for the experience.

The Strand Palace is ideally located on the Strand, within walking distance of Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross Rail Station, Embankment Tube Station, National Gallery, St. Martin in the Fields, Covent Garden, St. Paul''s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, British Museum, the Temple, West End. You can find cheaper places to stay, but why waste time getting from your hotel to where you really want to be?

The rooms were nice without being fancy, medium size, ice machines on the club room floors. We stayed on the Club Room floor and had a secure .. only Club Room guests had keys .. meeting room for our group. There was a television, VCR, small kitchen, phone, comfortable chairs .. our own living room while we were in London. A couple of evenings, we brought in wine and cheese to consume while we watched a movie together. The Club Room floor is only a few dollars more and well worth it. Continental breakfast included fruit, cereal, rolls, bread, yogurt, coffe, tea, milk, etc. For 3GBPs more, you could get a full, cooked breakfast. Staff is friendly and helpful.

After a long day traipsing around London, I returned to my room to find a gift from the hotel on my bed. Inside a lovely green box was a delicious fruit cake .. totally different from the US idea of a fruit cake. This one was good!

This will be a hotel we'll stay in again.

We needed a place for one of our party to celebrate a birthday. Since there were 17 of us and it was Christmastime (12/18), we picked a restaurant near our hotel. Salieri's is directly next door to Strand Palace. A reservation for this large a group was a must, but it is also recommended for smaller groups as well since this is a popular place.

Our service was exceptional; we were even given a small birthday cake complete with candle, water and wine glasses which were refilled almost before you could request it. Most of us selected the set Christmas menu of turkey and dressing, which was excellent. We were allowed to linger over our coffee, and the manager spent quite a bit of time chatting with the birthday boy. Our special meal, including drinks, etc. was approx. $50 per person. Their menu offered several items in the 18-20GBP range. If you are looking for a nice, nearby (to Strand Palace) restaurant, this is a good one.

This is a must for all first time visitors to London. The sense of history, the location on the Thames, the Beefeaters in their red uniforms, the Jewel Tower, all make for a delightful few hours. On my last visit, December 2000, the special exhibit in St. James Chapel was the Domesday Book, something I've read about and heard about for years. It may sound silly, but it was quite exciting to actually SEE it. William the Conqueror made a list of every person, piece of property, cow, pig, duck and chicken in England in 1066. It is a fascinating inventory. You can see the 'graffiti' carved in the stone walls of the Beauchamp Tower, or the rooms where Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisioned, or the chopping block where so many lost their heads, or the changing of the guards at the Jewel Tower, or the cages of the famous ravens, or the suits of armor in the White Tower, but allow plenty of time ... a full morning or afternoon can be taken up with the Tower.

On one of our evening rambles, we walked in to Leicester Square and there was a carnival, right smack dab in the middle of London! Nothing would do, of course, but one of the boys must ride the scariest, fastest ride. The other two boys tried to win stuffed animals at the shooting gallery, with little success. The boys said this was one of the highlights of their trip to London.

What a joy to take children to the British Museum. I insisted we start with the Rosetta Stone, the Egyptian Hall full of granite statues, the Assyrian Gates and the Elgin Marbles. After I felt they had seen things they would later be glad they had seen, off they went to see the Egyptian mummies. They were fascinated, as were the adults, with the exhibit.

We got a peek at the Roman Britain section before we had to dash off to see Lion King. We made promises to each other to return another day, but alas, our time in London ran out before we could.

The British Museum is best taken in small increments. There is so much to see, so many interesting things, that it all begins to blur if you try to see it all. I recommend picking a section .. the Greeks, perhaps .. and spending time really absorbing what's there. And then plan your next visit.

Admission is free but please leave a donation in the box at the entrance.

Covent Garden was designed by Inigo Jones in the 1630s but, boy, would he be surprised today! It is now a flourishing center for restaurants, shops, cafes, bars and pubs. There are many street performers to watch, from opera to string quartets to rap singers, a little something for everybody. This is a great place to spend an hour eating a hot lunch in the center court. They have baked potatos (yummy!), pasta, etc., but best of all you can eat while listening or watching the free entertainment. There is also an arts and crafts market, the Jubilee Market (like a big flea market) and many, many boutique shops, offering everything from perfume to dollshouses to Limoge. The London Transport Museum is there, something the kids will enjoy. St. Paul's Church, also called the Actors Church, is all that remains of Inigo Jones' original buildings and well worth a look. Mostly this is a shopping or an eating opportunity. If you've always wanted to see Covent Garden, by all means go. If you are not a shopper, go to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Before leaving for London, I had told the three boys going with us, ages 9, 13, 14, that Hamley's was the largest toy store in the world and that I would make certain they got to go there. All three were anxious to see it, and each time we passed a large building, whether a hotel or a cathedral, they wanted to know, "Is that Hamley's?" Finally, on the third day, we made it over to Regent Street, but it was an early closing day and we couldn't go in. Three sad little faces only half believed me when I said we'd return the next day. All day the next day, they kept asking was it time to go to Hamley's yet? When we did arrive, thinking there was only an hour left of the shopping day, we found Hamley's was going to be open until midnight. Heaven! Each boy was given money to purchase whatever they wished and were eager to begin their search. The agonising over choices was comical to watch. All seven floors of this huge store were given a serious going over. There's a floor full of just stuffed animals, a floor of computer-type games, a floor of nothing but dolls and costumes, a floor of games, puzzles, etc., a floor full of rocking horses, miniature castles and forts and cowboys and indians, everything you can imagine is there. After their allotted hour and a half, each boy came back empty-handed, but satisfied they had seen it ALL. It may be that the entire seven floors is too overwhelming; I would suggest checking the store directory and selecting only a floor or two to explore.

Each time I go to London, I find myself having to go to Harrod’s. Now, I’m not a shopper and even if I was, I certainly can’t afford to shop at Harrod’s. This time, I went to Harrod’s to help a friend spend the gift certificate her husband had given her. While she sniffed perfume and felt the silk scarves, I wandered off to find the Christmas decorations. Much to the relief of my pocketbook, Harrod’s orders their Christmas decorations from China, just like Target and Foley’s do. Then I found myself on a floor I’d never visited before: the Furniture Department. It was just like being in a museum! There were fabulous antiques. There was ultra modern Italian furniture. There were room settings of Traditional English Country House furniture. There were types of furniture I’d never seen before ... beautiful things as well as truly weird pieces for unguessable uses. I happily whiled away an hour or more. So if you’ve done Harrod’s truly impressive Food Halls, seen the Egyptian Room and the Egyptian Escalator (all definitely worthy of a visit), but find you still have to go one more time to Harrod’s … give yourself a treat and try the Furniture Department.