London – the Rest of the Story

Though we were in London for the marathon, we did make time to see a few fun sites about town before we had to skip back across the pond. Of course, we did manage the secret bar crawl in the evenings during the week, but we took advantage of THE WHOLE day Saturday and we want to share the highlights with you. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us for a look at London – the Rest of the Story.

First…Finally saw Ben in ALL his glory

So this wasn’t our first time in London. In fact, this was third time I attempted to see Big Ben. Here’s how the first two attempts went:

When we came out of the Westminster train station, there he was. He was FAR MORE beautiful than I expected and it actually made me a bit teary. I turned to see someone with a fancy camera taking my picture at that exact moment, which caused ALL the emotion to immediately evaporate. (Poof) The memory of seeing him for the first time though, still makes me smile.

Then a stroll through St. James Park

Since it was the day before the marathon, we decided to walk through St. James Park to see if we could get to the finish line. As you can see…we were NOT successful.

But I’m still glad we tried because we got to see both PINK PELICANS and this amazing view!

‘Ello to the new King

Since we were in the neighborhood, we thought it only respectful to call on Charlie. Turns out he wasn’t at palace. (Get it, like we commoners aren’t at home?) Anyway…

Passing by the boats at Little Venice

On our way to lunch, we took a stroll through Rembrandt Garden and by the boats at Little Venice. We knew there were places to eat there, but we hadn’t realized that many people just live there. There must be some benefit to living that way. Makes me wonder if their taxes are lower. Well at least they wouldn’t have to mow the lawn.

A Little Tour of the Tombstones at Brompton Cemetery

With all the famous cemeteries and famous people in them, you might wonder why a taphophile like me would choose to go to Brompton Cemetery. I’ll give you three reasons…

• Location, location, location. This boneyard was near everything we wanted to see that day.
• Look at these monuments!
• Elementary, my dear reader. This cemetery was used in the filming of Sherlock Holmes and I love me some Robert Downey Jr.

And speaking of Sherlock Holmes…

The afternoon repose at the Sherlock Holmes Pub

Now we could have stopped by 221B Baker Street to see what the great detective was up to. But this place also serves beer. And it was the afternoon. On a Saturday.

Site seeing ended for the day, we made our way back to our hotel in Southwark before joining some other runners for a pre-race pasta dinner. And after the race…

“Just one drink” at the American Bar

That’s right, after Stephen finished the marathon, we got dressed up and headed to the American Bar at the Savoy hotel. We knew this place was MUCH fancier than we were, so we thought we’d go there for “just one drink”.

Well, this guy showed up and was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. So we stayed for HOURS. Much wine, cheese and oysters were consumed while singing along and dancing in our seats.

The Finest First Class Lounge Ever

The next day, it was back to reality. Well…not REALLY. Because Delta gifted us tickets on DeltaOne for this flight, as well as the ones to and from Tokyo, we were able to take advantage of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow.

Talk about “Imposter Syndrome”! We drove up to an intercom to give our names before we drove the private drive to the lounge. Once there, three people were standing outside to greet us and to help us with our bags.

After going through a private security line, we were given access to the clubhouse which has spa services, workout facilities, meditation rooms, a bar that goes on FOR DAYS and a pool table!

Flight home…mission accomplished!

Everything we saw and did in London was just AMAZING. But nothing really compares to what this guy accomplished as the first living kidney donor to finish all 6 of the Abbot World Marathon Majors. On our way home, he got some wings and the pilots let him sit in the big chair.

We loved sharing this trip with you! If you’d like our latest articles straight to your in-box, consider subscribing for free. And you can keep with us in real time on Instagram at The__Travel__Oracle. Until next time, cheers!