"July 18-19, 2002 Scenes from the Big Bus" London Travelogue by grandmaR

Trafalger Square from the bus

After a flight of almost 8 hours, we landed a bit after 0800, and went through immigration.

The guy asked if we were on vacation, and I said that we were retired so how could we be on vacation - what were we vacationing from? Our daughter said that I shouldn't tax them with any unusual responses, but what can I say - I was groggy.

We went through the 'nothing to declare' maze and walked out into the airport. I knew we had to go to the other side of the airport to get a train to London, so we did that via moving walkways and non-moving walkways.

I saw a brochure that said Gatwick to London £8.20 and grabbed it thinking it was for the Gatwick Express. So I went to the ticket window and asked for that ticket. The ticket agent said to go to Track 1-2. So we did, although Bob protested that the Gatwick Express was Track 4. I had some problem getting onto the escalators with two bags, but eventually we made it onto the train before 0930. I figured out during the ride that I hadn't gotten the Gatwick Express, which I think would have been £14.20 each, but only the "semi-fast" train which stops about 5 times on the way to Victoria Station in London so it takes a little longer.

Embassy flags and red double deck bus

We got off the train a little before 1000, and it was warm and the station was full of people of course, so we went out front where I had intended to get a cab to the hotel instead of using the tube which I thought might be a problem with the suitcases.

Quel horror!! Because of the tube strike today, the taxicab line extends along the front of the station and around the corner, and there are NO cabs in the line - people are just standing there waiting. I don't want to stand and wait for several hours.

I look around and see a Big Bus (BB). I know the BB goes to within a block or so of the hotel because it has a British Museum stop on the green route from a brochure that our daughter sent. So I get us tickets £16 each. But the cab would have cost at least £8 and I was intending to get the BB anyway just a little later in the day (it was one of my Goals). So I really saved money this way.

Monument West front Westminster-Crimean War dead

The queue for the Big Bus green route was around on the other side of Victoria Station, and after we climbed on, we rode around by Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament and to the British Museum for the first time on the downstairs part of the bus. Traffic was really very slow because of the tube strike. Just to go from stop 67 at Victoria to stop 78 at the British Museum took over an hour. Then we walked up to the hotel and checked in about noon.

I was concerned that Bob was exhausted (he had not slept on the plane, and he had a heart attack last winter), so I told him to take a nap, and I slept a little too and then took a shower. I also decided that I didn't want to eat lunch yet.

Street somewhere in London - location unknown

I waked Bob about 1400 and we went out to Gower Street, with my trusty bus map, and hopped a bus (£1 each) over to Marble Arch as a shortcut vs. walking back to the British Museum and taking the green route around to Marble Arch.

There we hopped on the Red route BB, and went around via Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's and Mansion House to the Tower. I decided to do the free boat trip from the Tower to Westminster pier.

After we got to Westminster bridge boat dock, we walked a bit and had an early dinner/late lunch (we each had a club sandwich and tea for £15.00 total), and then got back on the BB and rode over to Hyde Park. The last bus of the day started off at 1900, so we took that one (green line) to the British Museum riding on top this time.

Fountains in the park

We had breakfast at the hotel (cold cereal, English bacon which is really ham, a poached egg, OJ, toast, butter and jam, tea and whatever the special item of the day was - either sausage, beans or tomato - I liked tomato best).

For pictures of the hotel and the British Museum, see Home from Home

Painted cow parade

Then we walked up to where we thought the beginning of the green route was around Russell Square, and finally found it about 0730. Took that bus (the second bus of the day -they start at 0700) around to Trafalgar Square where we got on the Blue route BB at stop 32.

The City

We rode the Blue BB all morning, finally getting off at stop 31 Leicester Square after doing a complete Blue circuit about 1130 (I figured we really got our money's worth out of those tickets).

We bought tickets to the production of "The Mikado" at the TKTS booth and ate lunch. Then we went to the Portrait Gallery, the Art Museum, and did a rubbing at St. Martins before having dinner and going to the theatre.

The next day, we started at the British Museum