Winter Holiday

Schools here in Norway have a week off in February that they call winter holiday. We decided to take a trip during this time and headed to London! I had never visited the city before so I was very excited.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and after some train delays made it to London. We dropped our bags at the hotel then stopped in to a nearby pub to grab some fish and chips and a pint. Yum! That evening was spent wandering around the city, seeing the sites at night. London is very pretty after the sun goes down, very colorful with all the main attractions being lit up. At one point in time, we turned a corner and there was the Parliament building and Big Ben! At that point in time, I really realized that we were in London. We continued walking down along the river. It was quite cold but very pretty.

A very excited tourist on the top floor of a double-decker bus

The clock tower all lit up at night!

Down by the River

The next morning we got up and headed to the zoo. It was a really pretty (but cold) day and we enjoyed wandering around looking at the animals. Our favorite section of the zoo was the Rain forest house. Inside there was a open habitat that animals could explore in. Typically the animals hang out in the middle area, away from people but while we were there one of the sloths decided to 'escape' from the center area and go exploring. At one point in time she was just a few inches above our heads. The zoo keepers were totally freaking out and trying to figure out how to get her back into the center of the room. All of the visitors were excitedly taking pictures! There were also really cute monkeys, armadillos, flightless birds and other creatures in the area.

She was quite content climbing along the electrical conduit

We nicknamed him 'Wilford'

That evening we got dressed up and went to see Les Miserables. It was a really great show with beautiful sets. The actor who played Jean Valjean was very impressive!

The Les Mis spectacle begins where Chinatown ends

We woke up the next day to beautiful blue skies and sun, though it was still quite cold! After a full English breakfast we headed down to the river and got onto the hop-on-hop-off boat tour. We rode up to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge area to explore. The Tower of London was very interesting, much larger than we had realized.

Outside the Tower of London

There were a lot of interesting cannons on the grounds of the Tower of London

We also went up to the walkways at the top of the Tower Bridge. There was an impressive view of the river from the top of the bridge. I also never realized how colorful the bridge itself is!

Tower Bridge

That evening we went to see Monty Python's 'Spamalot.' It was a really funny show! Much different than our theater experience from the night before!

Right across the street from the Thames

Dressed up in her finest jewelry for the theatre

The next day we got up, packed up and headed to Kings Cross Station to catch a train to York. The only problem with that was that all trains to York were cancelled due to signaling issues. We were told that the only way we could get to York that day was to go to Euston Station, catch a train to Manchester then transfer to a train to York from there. So our 2 hour train trip to York ended up being a 4 1/2 hour train trip! 

That evening we went pub hopping! We had a lot of fun getting half pints and trying a variety of different beers over the course of the evening. We finished the night at the Royal Oak pub where a local couple was playing live music and Daniel's favorite British beer was on tap (Theakston's Old Peculier).

That's Monk gate in the distance

The next day we decided to head to York Minster. We wandered around the minster looking at all the impressive stained glass work and sculpture. We also climbed up to the top of the tower and got a great view of the surrounding area.

Part of the way up our tower climb.

All the way up our tower climb

We also took time to walk around most of the York city wall as we explored the city. We visited a few more pubs throughout the day and ate some really good Cornish pastys and toffee pudding.

A section of the York city wall

The next day we headed back to London on a nonstop direct train from York to London! However the train was so packed we couldn't sit down. Oh well! We spent part of the trip in the cafe car drinking some cider and the rest of the trip between cars hanging out with our luggage (drinking cider). 

Once we were settled into our new hotel, we headed out to experience Friday night in London. We ended up at Brew Dog, a Scottish brewery that makes west coast American style beers. We managed to snag a cozy couch in the corner and tried all the beers on their menu. I was very happy to drink some west coast style IPA!

On Saturday we met up with our friend Silas, who happened to be in London on business. Silas hadn't been out to see most of the city so we took him for a long walk to see the sights. We visited Trafalgar Square, walked through Hyde park to Kensington Gardens and the Italian fountains, walked along the river and visited Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey as well as a couple of pubs.

Daniel visiting with the lions at Trafalgar Square

Becca hanging out with Silas' beard

 West Minster Abbey

The next day we checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport. Thankfully we didn't have any train delays and made it to the airport in time to have one last meal and pint before heading home. 

Overall it was a wonderful holiday. We got lucky with the weather. Even though it was quite cold the entire time it didn't rain on us at all (we did get snowed on a tiny bit). We enjoyed the theater, exploring the city, visiting York and sampling beer and cider.

Four seasons four vacations?