The rain takes its toll - A week in London - 5
St. Paul's Cathedral and other destinations in the city center
Canary Wharf
Kew Garden
Southwark
One last morning and back home
Wed, Sept. 3, 2025 - The rain takes its toll
We have been following the weather forecast for today for several days now. Freya was desperate to go to Kew Gardens [↗] and Jürgen got tickets for today. Unfortunately, the forecast is accurate, and it is raining cats and dogs. It really doesn't make sense to go, so we decide to let the tickets expire.
Instead, we do what many other parents with children do. We go to the Natural History Museum [↗]. This was actually planned for Friday, and Jürgen had also booked tickets for that. However, these are free and only help us avoiding the queue at the entrance. But what the heck, we'll just join the queue.
The building itself is a hit. It's an old Victorian building, and even though nothing from Harry Potter was filmed here, it could have been. We have time, so we explore room by room. Of course, our childlike minds are particularly taken with the dinosaur exhibition. And the warning that one might be afraid of the T-Rex is somehow wrong. Hardly any of the children walk past the animated lizard without roaring at it - and yes, that can be scary 😉.
The huge stone collection on the upper floor and the plant pictures on the hall ceiling also keep us busy for quite some time. But of course, there is much more to see, and another visit might look very different.
At some point, it's enough, and it's not raining for once. So, we make our way to Harrods [↗]. Well, it's great, but Freya's old problem kicks in again - there's just too much and she can't make up her mind. We ride up and down the “Egyptian escalator,” take a look at the food department, and then leave the department store.
By this point, we're exhausted but somehow can't find anywhere we want to eat. The food at Harrods looked delicious, but we want to sit down somewhere and not grab a quick bite.
But on Sunday, we saw something near Trafalgar Square that appealed to us. Let's go there. Funny enough, we don't go to one of the restaurants we had our eye on, but to a Vietnamese restaurant in a small passageway. We have a delicious meal there and then return to the hotel. Freya wants to go to the spa again.
When she returns to the room, Jürgen is already ready to go. So, what option does she have? We drive to Westminster and walk across the bridge. We have to wait at the photo spot under the bridge because a scene for a pilot film is being shot. But the whole thing has nothing in common with the big American productions. Two actors and three or four people for camera, sound, and directing. That's it. Interesting to see, though.
On the way back, we walk past the London Eye, the Ferris wheel on the Thames. For some strange reason, it has already stopped operating. In fact, it is often open only until 6 p.m. But there are also days when it is in operation for longer. So, if you want to ride it in the evening, you should check their website [↗] beforehand.
