London Day 3: Platform 9 3/4 & Camden Market

 This morning we got up and headed out a bit earlier than was our norm. Why? HARRY POTTER THAT'S WHY!!! We went to Kings Cross Station and saw platform 9 3/4. We decided not to wait in line for the photo op (I still have mixed feelings about this decision, but that line was so long - it would have taken us at least an hour to get in to the store, if not more). That shop was just such a magical place (I know, I know, it's a wizarding world thing, but that's not the kind of magic I'm speaking of). So many fun trinkets and bobs, candies, ornaments, clothing, and wands!  We loved it there (even if the Slytherin cashier hard-core judged me for wearing my Gryffindor hat haha)!!

After we'd enjoyed perusing the shelves there, we started looking for a couple anime shops that Celeste had wanted to see and explore. Along our way, we got to ride a double-decker bus!

We found one store and then another almost right next door that we weren't planning on seeing,

As we were looking for the second store she wanted to see, we stumbled upon Camden Market. This place is HUGE!! It is several blocks long and wide and has so many different vendors of various kinds, street food galore...oh my goodness, it was the shopper's heaven! This solved our next quest of trying to find a place to go shop the afternoon away! 

We found the shop that Celeste had been looking for an then spent the next 5 hours wandering through the different shops there. We found a shop that custom paints shoes, so Celeste ordered a pair. We enjoyed street food while we waited for them to get done. Cashmere shops, hat shops, leather shops where you can build your own...fill in the blank, alley-ways and tunnels filled with tables and bays - every nook and cranny was filled! 

After our afternoon of shopping, we hopped on the underground and back to the hotel we went to relax and enjoy our finds of the day!

Unfortunately, Celeste started feeling sick. Slight fever and her lungs started to hurt. We found a chemist (pharmacy) and got a few things to help her get through the next couple days until we could get her home. She was still such a good sport through the rest of the trip though!

London Trip Day 2: The Thames, Eye of London, Sea Life Aquarium

 We started off the day with a traditional breakfast (provided by the hotel). Since Celeste isn't my most adventurous child when it comes to food, it was pretty basic for her: eggs, toast, fruit, and juice. Since I had tried much of these things a couple years prior, I stuck with the things I found I loved then! Chris tried all the things again, just to make sure his opinions hadn't changed.

We explored the underground again, deciding it was MUCH easier without all our luggage in tow, and found the Eye of London right on the Thames. We took a river cruise where we learned some fun and interesting things about the area (even with the heavy fog that morning, we were able to see many fun things). 

• There is a law in London that states you cannot hold a salmon in public suspiciously.
• You can hold a salmon. You can even hold one in public. Just don't do it suspiciously!
• The Houses of Parliament are color coded to keep the lords and commons apart from each other.
• I'm sure that went over really well, especially over time
• Big Ben is NOT the name of the tower, it is the name of the bell inside
• The tower's name is Elizabeth Tower, just so you know. Few people get to see Big Ben himself, but everyone can sure hear him, loud and clear!
• Shakespeare's Globe Theater is the only thatched roof in London.
• Back in the day, they used cannon fire to indicate thunder, or the entrance of an important character. One fateful time, it caught the thatched roof on fire. This instigated a new law banning thatched roofing. In 1997, however, when the theater was rebuilt, they equipped it with fire retardants and sprinkling systems, thus making it legal and able to look more authentic from the outside.
• The Anchor Tavern location dates back 800-ish years, the current tavern is more than 400 years old (I don't know if this is accurate, but the tour guide said so, so it must be true). 
• It was frequented by pirates and bandits, and became a spot of refuge when the fire broke out at the Globe theater in the 1600s.
• The London Bridge is NOT what shows up on google images when you search for it.
• Tower Bridge is the most famous view when you search for London Bridge, London Bridge is just a simple, concrete bridge spanning the Thames. Tower Bridge looks more alluring, I guess, so, I guess the internet does lie. Rude!
• Other sites we saw on the horizon (or should have seen through the fog haha)
• St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Ministry of Defence, and Eye of London

After the river cruise, we went on the Eye of London. It was foggy, so there wasn't much we could see after a certain point, however, what we could see was breathtaking! We just had to make sure we didn't look down (and by we I mean Celeste and me haha).

After that, we wandered our way down the shores of the Thames and found the Sea Life Aquarium. This was full of fun! We saw sharks, stingrays, "Nemo fish", "Dory fish", sea turtles, seahorses and all manor of other sea creatures. They even a rainforest display (snakes and tarantulas...ew, I waited outside that one for Chris and Celeste to get done viewing these creatures.

As we walked our way from the Aquarium to the restaurant, we saw a couple monuments made to honor those in the World Wars, a Sherlock Holmes pub, some magical looking Christmas lights, and a hilarious sign about being carded.

Since we were going to be by the seaside (ish...) Celeste wanted to try real lobster. So Chris found a restaurant that served some and it happened to be a "Texas BBQ" type place called Big Easy. They had country music playing and served up some of the best BBQ I've ever had! They also had my favorite dessert of ALL time: Sticky Toffee Pudding!  YUMMY!!!!