A British vacation (but I'm also going to Japan)

[rbjhan]

One New Change next to St Paul's


A great photo spot!


Millennium bridge was as crowded as ever.


Ah but I loved it.


Despite having zero interest in contemporary art, I went to Tate Modern.
For the sole purpose of taking pictures

 

[rbjhan]

Savoury afternoon tea in The Swan.


£42.5 per person, I feel like afternoon tea is a bit of a tourist trap....

Was going to take the uber boat to Westminster, but on the pier was advised that there's a traffic jam on the river(!) and it might take 40 mins....well tube it was then.

Got to Westminster Abbey a tad before 3pm, made it just in time for evensong!

I'm not a religious person but it was a lovely service. We were seated near the north porch and facing the beautiful Rose Window. Apparently if you arrive early enough you might get lucky and sit in the choir stalls...

We couldn't see the choir from our seats but they do have TVs showing the streaming feed

 

[rbjhan]

Back to hotel, mother needed some rest.
I went to Covent Garden, looked at some shops, didn't find anything interesting though....

The Bridge of Aspiration, connecting the Royal Ballet School and Opera House.

Booked another concert at St Martin in the Fields, Vivaldi's Four Seasons.


Burger and lobster for dinner.
I'm not familiar with this chain but judging but the fries they might be American?
Lobster was delicious.

 

[VPS]

St Dunstan in the East Church Garden
View attachment 481951

View attachment 481952

Walked to London Bridge, what great timing! (I didn't check at all)
View attachment 481953

I am loving these photos of London because it is one of my favourite cities but I think that photo is Tower Bridge and not London Bridge

 

[rbjhan]

I am loving these photos of London because it is one of my favourite cities but I think that photo is Tower Bridge and not London Bridge

If you read my words carefully, I walked onto London Bridge and took the picture there.
I went back to it and find my wording quite clear

 

[VPS]

If you read my words carefully, I walked onto London Bridge and took the picture there.
I went back to it and find my wording quite clear

My bad. Still loving the TR

 

[rbjhan]

My bad. Still loving the TR

I think (righly or wrongly) people assume tourists don't know the differences...at least our Yeomen Warder (we'll get to him!) made that joke...he had lots of other jokes too, oh Andy he's a funny guy

 

[elanshin]

Day 3

Started with a breakfast at the famous Fallow.

My Full Fallow
View attachment 481787

Mother had Croissant Royale.
And we shared the hash brown.
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£60, worth it? TBH I probably won't revisit...

I just had fallow's lunch menu at 44 pound per person for 3 course. Definitely feel its worthwhile at lunchtime will post about it when i have a moment to catch up.

 

[rbjhan]

Day 5

It was supposed to rain. So I planned the Wallace Collection for the morning and Greenwich after lunch.

Guess what, mother had other ideas...
She didn't exactly say no to Wallace Collection, instead just went about quietly sabotaging it

By the time she got ready to leave her room I was already thinking about alternatives....
Seeing the rain was holding off I decided we can go to Westminster Bridge and do a photo shoot there (which was, mother's favourite thing to do). You see, I'm the photographer, I love taking pictures. Mother otoh, loves putting herself in the centre of pictures. Problem is, she's got no selfie skills.... Guess who was taking those photos?!

Someone once said this bridge has the highest concentration of scam artists and pickpockets in London....



Alternative angle


Alternative angle No.2


Royal Horseguards.

 

[rbjhan]

I had booked tickets to the Painted Hall in Old Royal Naval College, so we were off to Greenwich.

The weather, le sigh...

 

[rbjhan]

Loved the Painted Hall!


Took 19 years to complete this!
I'm not surprised...



Upper Hall


Very useful in saving your neck!


The Nelson Room

 

[rbjhan]

Lunch at Trafalgar Tarven near the river.
Sunday roast for me.


Bangers and mash for mother.

 

[rbjhan]

Queen's House.


The tulip stairs, simply stunning!


Great Hall

 

[rbjhan]

National Maritime Museum

This place seemed to be very popular with kids...






My favourite was probably the "ship in a bottle" at the back

 

[rbjhan]

From what I read Greenwich Park is a great viewing spot, when the weather is nice...Obviously not this day!
Neither of us wanted to visit the Observatory, so we went back to hotel after the Maritime Museum..

Dinner was at Yakiniku Like in Soho.


This one is nothing like their Japanese restaurants though...those are famously designed for solo diners!
See here.

End of Day 5.

 

[rbjhan]

Day 6

Still raining
Luckily mainly indoor activities for this day.

First order of business (apart from brekkie) was to go to Wimbledon. The tennis club, I mean.
Yeah I'm a tennis fan, go to AO every year, watch tennis on tv when I can...you get the idea.

Some water from sky was not going to stop me! (And the fact it was already paid)



You are not allowed to wander...must join a tour. And there's an extra guide(guard) whose job description as far as I could tell was to do headcounts?

Anyways, we were off to Court No.1 first.


Can I just say, in terms of facilities, Melbourne Park is way better.....

The (in)famous Court 18, you know, where the longest match in history took place....


Apparently different colour lights do different things to the grass....


But yes, I can see why no one else does this lawn tennis thingy....

 

[rbjhan]

The centre court!


Yeah RLA is a lot larger, but I like the intimate feeling here. Impossible to get tickets though!

This court won't be in use until next Wimbledon, so the scoreboards will remain for a whole year.
Ouch, poor Amanda... (this Iga fan is not sorry though )


Aaagghh this one hurts...Thank God we have the US Open....






Tour concluded after centre court.
But you are free to visit the museum and shop.


I'm not a fan of the dish....why can't women also have a trophy....

 

[rbjhan]

I've been to Roland Garros twice.
Studied the Wimbledon ticketing system years ago, and then

In the name of "tradition", you need to enter a ballot, note that you cannot request dates, courts or anything! If you win a Court No.1 ticket on the first Monday, choice is either accept or decline.

If you win the lottery, hooray~~~odds are not good though, I certainly didn't get it.

Otherwise, there are a few other ways...
1. The famous queue. Yeah I'm not a camping person.
2. Hospitality.

2026 prices:



3. Debentures. Have a cool £100K to spare? This is just the thing!

Conclusion, this tour is as close as I'm going to be!


** Okay I had a quick look it's £116K now

 

[rbjhan]

This was me, watching Carlos Alcaraz in MCA this year, only cost $99!