London: 12,000 Steps a Day!!

8,500 steps

Arrival at Gatwick is perfectly on time. After train and subway we reach the apartment in Camden Town, where for now we unload the luggage then have lunch in the area. Our London tour begins with the statue of Admiral Nelson atop the column in Trafalgar Square. A few obligatory photos but we leave the visit to the National Gallery for tomorrow. We continue along the streets of the center, walk the whole of The Mall and arrive at Buckingham Palace; then the tiredness starts to make itself felt (we've been on our feet since 4:30 this morning) and the soft grass of St. James's Park is more tempting than any monument. Here we have our first encounter with the squirrels, which we photograph over and over, and after the well-deserved nap, we cross the park and head toward Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben and the Thames.

By now it's 18:00 and it's time to go take possession of our apartment. We settle in and after a refreshing shower we go out for dinner, staying in the Camden area, full of venues and very busy even in the evening.

12,500 steps

We start from Leicester Square where we give up on the line (over 1 hour of waiting) to snap up musical tickets at discounted prices and head toward Piccadilly Circus. It's strange to think how this intersection of streets that you almost don't notice until you're right in the middle of it is famous all over the world! As good readers of other TPC travel diaries, we too throw ourselves into the Lillywhite store and naturally come out with rock-bottom purchases of jerseys, shorts, tank tops and soccer shoes. The day is splendid so we go eat our sandwiches in Trafalgar Square, entertained by some street artists, before diving into…the fountain? No!! Into the artistic wonders displayed in the rooms of the National Gallery. By 15:30 we have to be in the London Eye area because we've booked the ride for 16:00.

Luckily we arrive a bit early, because the line to get on is really long, but once up there the panorama is truly fantastic. At the end of our ride we walk along the riverbank and blend into the crowd walking among the trees decorated with red paper with white polka dots, or we stop to watch the performances of the many street artists or the kids with skateboards or bikes doing bizarre jumps. We then continue our tour until we decide to take a bus to reach another very famous area of London: Covent Garden. We go into the covered area, peek among shops and stalls and then decide to rest our limbs at a table in the venues in the square to enjoy a beer and a mime's performance…but we hadn't reckoned with the crowds!!! We can't find a place to sit all 7 together, so we decide to move along the surrounding little streets, also full of small venues.

After a refreshing beer, we see a Tesco market and so we decide that our first full day in London can end with a nice dinner at home.

13,700 steps.

Today, finally, we devote ourselves to the area where we're staying. To the kids' delight we wander around Camden, among the various markets in search of bargains or oddities to buy as souvenirs of the vacation. Already along Camden High Street, the atmosphere is "alternative" and cheerful; huge colorful signs tower over the entrances of the shops that have tiny windows but that inside extend lengthwise or even over several floors. But it's in the northernmost parts and along the canal that the scene changes completely. Through Camden Lock with stalls mostly of costume jewelry and clothing, you then reach the Stables Market, venturing into a labyrinth of alleys both open-air and inside the old stables and horse shelters, enough to feel like you're in an Arab souk.

The many eateries with foods from all over the world, however, remind you that you're in the most multicultural city in Europe. So how could we not take advantage of it? While Bea had Chinese for lunch, Leo, Jacopo and Fabiano ate Turkish, Giampa tried some African food, while Roberta and I threw ourselves on Eritrean falafel. After lunch, still inside the Stables Market, we headed toward…the future!!! The contrast between the ancient and the modern is noticeable already from the entrance, where a giant robot stands, anticipating the environment inside: Psychedelic lights, music at top volume and clerks all in punk version with yellow or phosphorescent green mohawks.

While I was convincing my son not to buy a mega belt with a flashing inscription that scrolls along the buckle, my nephew bought the backpack with external speakers to connect an iPod to…!!! In the afternoon we then headed by bus toward Regent's Park, without however entering it; instead we walked along the shopping streets: Regent's Street, Oxford Street and surroundings and when the time came…we showed up at the entrance of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. We had bought the ticket online at half price (12.5 pounds) which is valid from 17:00 and since in August the museum closes at 19:00, we had all the time to visit it at a price that was, all in all, fair.

Naturally the kids liked it a lot even though they weren't able to get a photo with Michael Jackson (who had recently passed away) due to the too-long line!!! After leaving the museum we went toward the central area, we wandered the streets of Soho and then found ourselves in Carnaby Street, where my nephew's shopping light turned on and which we finally managed to turn off by 20:30 by going to dinner at a restaurant of some chain, without praise or blame. After dinner, we still wandered around the little streets of Soho peeking inside the many pubs we couldn't enter because of the underage kids and finally it was time for the signs and super colorful lights of Piccadilly. 23:00 we take a bus that gets us home and…see you tomorrow.

19,800 steps!!!

Today we gave our maximum and we had proof of it looking at the photos we took of ourselves on the subway on the way back!!!! The day is dedicated to the City area. We started with the subway headed for Tower Bridge and from there we went straight to the London Dungeon (attraction bought at a discount together with the London Eye ticket). The kids really wanted it and for them it was nice but it's not that it's particularly worth it. Anyway we did well to show up early in the morning (around 10:00) because when we came out around noon, the wait to get in was at least an hour. We stopped to eat at a Pret a Manger to let the downpour that had broken out at that moment pass and then as soon as it ended, we headed toward Tower Bridge.

We hadn't planned it but we found ourselves in the area right around 14:00, that is, at the moment when, as I had found on the internet, the bridge would open to let boats pass. In fact as soon as we heard the siren, we hurried toward the bridge and witnessed all the phases of opening, passage and closing. After crossing the bridge, the sun and heat also returned so we headed to the Tower of London. We hadn't bought the tickets online but in reality it was better because the line wasn't excessive and moreover we got for 5 of us (2 adults and 3 kids) the particularly discounted family ticket, then splitting the total cost among all 7. The Tower of London absolutely deserves a visit, both for the crown jewels and for the rest.

We happened to be there at a time when there was the Henry VIII exhibition and all his armor and moreover on the lawn there were reconstructions of camps and costumed performances of tournaments, battles and duels. After finishing the tour of the tower, we headed toward St. Katharine's Dock. Right under the bridge, you glimpse an arch that opens onto a little path, past which you enter another dimension. Inlets, little harbors, boats, small yachts, pedestrian streets full of little lamps and flowers and at the end of the little square the famous pub The Dickens Inn, which by the way is one of the few that accepts minors. Since it wasn't dinner time but snack time, we went in to rest and refresh ourselves and while the kids drank a hot chocolate and we had a tea, the men sat in the area with armchairs and, drinking a beer, followed a cricket match on TV.

They didn't understand anything but it was very, very English!!! The day is still long anyway and with a bus we head toward St. Paul's, which we don't visit inside, and so we opt for the Millennium Bridge. Crossing the famous pedestrian bridge inaugurated for the new millennium allows you to have a beautiful view of London and the dome of St. Paul's, from the river. Arriving on the opposite side we found ourselves in front of the old power station that has been repurposed, which today houses the Tate Gallery.

Since it's Friday and the Tate closes at 22:00, what do we do…don't we go in? Yes come on, let's take a look! The environment is vast, the works are enormous and occupy very large spaces and so even just to see a few you have to walk…walk…walk…..As if that weren't enough, the elevator from the sixth floor to the top doesn't work!! Some of us stoically decide to go up on foot and the choice is a good one because at the top, from the windows of the bar-restaurant you enjoy a beautiful panorama. Exhausted and hungry we go out and head for a bus and then the subway home. At 10 in the evening we use our last strength to make ourselves a plate of spaghetti and we drag ourselves to our beds with the awareness that tomorrow…there will be walking to do!!!

17,800 steps

On Saturday it's a must to go to Portobello but in August I strongly advise against it! Already from the bus we see a sea of people on the sidewalks and in the street crowding, trying to conquer a little spot in the front row at any stall, just to see something. Throwing ourselves into the scrum, the sensation is suffocating. The heat… the chaos….hundreds of cell phones ringing and hundreds of Italians and Spaniards answering!! After a successful attempt to buy something like everyone else (Roberta and I buy ourselves a t-shirt), disappointed, tired and hungry, we literally flee and with a bus we head toward the Natural History Museum. The museum is extraordinary, it would deserve the whole day.

We stood in line for the dinosaur area, but it's effectively not to be missed, for the variety of exhibits and the thoroughness of the explanations; moreover finding yourself face to face with the animated T-Rex that "roars" at you and shows its "teeth," has quite an effect even on us adults and not just on the little ones. The part of the museum related to biology and the human body is a succession of truly exciting and explanatory interactive stations and we had to reluctantly drag our son out, but time is a tyrant and the museum was about to close. After a refreshing break at a bar along the street, the walk continues with the visit to Harrods department store and here we split up, agreeing to meet an hour later.

We visit the wonderful food hall, buy gifts (tea, cookies, bags, etc.) and then after going up and down the Egyptian-style escalator (it looks like Las Vegas!) Roberta and I take a stroll through the evening gown department…..incredible!!! Ok! Let's get back to reality. The kids are demanding dinner and so we decide to spend the evening between Soho and Chinatown and here we stop to eat at a Chinese restaurant where we manage to get an amount of dishes that would have fed an army!!! We end the day with a walk to digest the sumptuous dinner and then we go home with our beloved double-decker bus.

11,000 steps

Today Greenwich. With the subway to Embankment station where we take the commuter ferry and not the tourist one and for a few "quid" we buy the ticket to Greenwich. Comfortably seated for 45 minutes we watch all the most famous buildings and monuments facing the Thames slide by on both sides; we pass the Docklands area and get off at Greenwich, at the Cutty Sark. From here a nice walk to the park and then up the hill to the observatory. It's almost one o'clock and in a bit we'll see the "red ball" descend, on the stroke of 13:00, as sailors once saw it, thus setting their clocks.

We then stay to visit the museum and the various rooms and apartments of the many astronomers and scientists who have followed one another over time, and then we get in line…..yes indeed! In line…… to be able to see the legendary "Prime Meridian" and to be able, like everyone, to take a photo with one foot in one hemisphere and one in the other. Hot and hungry we go down in search of a bar or pub and after an enormous "home made" hamburger, around 15:00 we head to the National Maritime Museum. It's quite interesting for the kids too but the thing they most wanted to see and try…wasn't working. It was the driving simulator of an oil tanker that made you experience the thrill of steering it personally into port.

Ok, let's console ourselves with a well-deserved rest on the park lawn and then with a walk among the little streets of the village of Greenwich and its little market which unfortunately we didn't visit as we would have liked, because we were close to closing time. We returned by train with the DLR and then the subway home for a family dinner and afterward, since the steps walked during the day were lowering the average, we strolled along the streets and along the canals of Camden.

11,600 steps

Today we met up with some friends of ours, also in London, in front of the British Museum. The British is truly a museum that once in a lifetime you must have seen. After entering the beautiful covered square, you can't help but admire the Rosetta Stone, wander among the mummies and sarcophagi in the Egypt rooms, feel a bit Greek among the marbles of the Parthenon, discover refined and important cultures like the Assyrian or Central American ones. There's something for every taste and despite being a more "classic" than innovative museum, the kids liked it a lot too, seeing live what they've studied at school.

On the way out, we decide to go for a picnic in Hyde Park, entering from the Speaker's Corner area and after eating our sandwiches in the shade of some trees sitting on soft grass, we get ready to reach the "Serpentine" lake which, between a deckchair and a coffee, we eventually circumnavigate entirely. It's incredible how Londoners live their parks. There are deckchairs scattered all over the lawn (paid, anyway), boats to rent for a romantic ride, dozens of signs forbidding feeding the animals (ducks, geese, fish, etc.) and absolute cleanliness in every corner (including the public bathrooms).

But the particular and rather strange thing compared to our parks is that there's also a swimming area, where part of the park is fenced off and the part of the lake in front is delimited by ropes in the water, thus creating a "lido" where you can sunbathe but above all swim, and most of the time together with the ducks who naturally aren't required to respect the boundaries. Continuing on our tour we then reach the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. This fountain is shaped like a concrete necklace in which the water flows and where you can wet your feet and walk its entire perimeter. On a sunny day like today, with lots of children (and adults) walking and running inside the fountain, set on a lawn kept perfectly like a carpet, the feeling you get is of joy and cheerfulness and if this was the intent of those who designed it, then it's perfectly succeeded.

Our walk continues passing by the Peter Pan statue and finally we exit at Lancaster Gate. At this point with a bus we head to the shopping area and wander a bit around Oxford Street and Regent Street and in the end we can't resist and enter Hamleys, the big toy store. After scampering between one shop and another, we say goodbye to our friends and sit on a bus headed home. A little moment of refreshment and then we try in vain to have our "last supper" in a pub, regularly asked to leave because of our two "minors." Ok, we just have to go eat a fish and chips in a restaurant of some chain and in any case we come out fully satisfied with our dinner.

5,500 steps.

Today is our last day but since we're leaving in the evening we still have time to go visit Westminster Abbey. The ticket is a bit expensive but it's worth every penny and anyway here too with the family ticket you save. We didn't stand in line by paying with a credit card and as soon as we entered they handed us the audio guide in Italian. The guide is very well made and the things