Hello my lovelies,
Almost two weeks ago my boyfriend and I headed off on our first holiday together. Ok it was London, but it was still a wonderful holiday. We only went for a few days, Sunday through to Thursday. We arrive on the Sunday at 11pm ish had room service whilst watching Ted 2.
The reason we arrived so late is because Euston station is having some work done on it, and so rail replacement buses are in service due to no trains in and out of Euston. We left MK at 17:45 and arrived at 23:00. It was a tiring journey, especially when I’ve only ever been to Euston station. So finding my way from other stations was daunting. However, saying that the hotel was amazing The Tower Hotel is right next to Tower Bridge and St Katherine’s Dock. Sadly we didn’t have a view of the bridge, but we did have the view of the docks, which was much quieter than the bridge side.
Day one consisted of going to the Imperial War museum, Tower of London and London Dungeons. We did plan to go on the London Eye, but the queue was so long. So instead chose the London Dungeons. I can remember going when I was a teenager, but it has changed since then and they’ve added new areas. It was a great experience, I did have to hang onto my boyfriend a few times, especially when flashing lights happened. Now I’m not photosensitive and lights flashing don’t cause my seizures, but I didn’t want to risk it. I was a bit upset that they didn’t warn people about the lights until the end of the tour. At that point I was like I’m going to sit this part out and went through the freedom door and into the gift shop.
Day 2 we ventured to the British Museum and I’m sad to say I wasn’t that impressed with it. The Egyptian section wasn’t as big as I remember it. It was also really crowded, but being the summer holidays I expected that. The Grand Court area is something I can’t remember seeing when I was younger and I was very impressed with it. I took the typical blogger photo on the second floor so I could get everything in.
After the British museum we ventured to M&M world and purchased quite a few bags of M&Ms some in colours I didn’t know you could get. Then it was off to Forbidden Planet where I purchased quite a bit. I got a Demiguse pop funko and a visual history of the labyrinth film. As well as a few other bits and pieces. We decided to go back to the hotel a little earlier than what we thought we would. However, on the way my boyfriend suggested we went to king cross station and to platform 9 3/4. Knowing I am a huge fan of Harry Potter he indulged my geeky side.
On the journey there I was planning on asking someone where to find it, by saying the exact same words from the film “excuse me can you tell me how to get to platform 9 3/4?” But sadly, my boyfriend found it before I could find a station worker. I had my photo taken at the trolly. Then went inside and it was amazing. It’s designed to look exactly like Ollivanders. It had the wands all in sections and you can select what one you want. Sadly, you don’t get the whole lights and wind experience that Harry got when he found his perfect wand. I also got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts. All personalised as well. When we got back to the hotel, we made a reservation at the hotel restaurant, then went back to our room and watched Big Bang Theory until dinner.
Dinner was amazing we were seated by the window so we had an amazing view of the Thames and Tower Bridge, it was very “romantic” watching the sun set as boats went on their merry way along the Thames. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.
Day 3, was our final day. I felt bad about the British Museum not being as good as I made out due to not being closed off, so I let my boyfriend plan the final day. It consisted of going on the HMS Belfast. I’ve only ever seen this from shore, so it was an experience. I’m not one for heights so this, along with The Tower of London, were My worse nightmare due to high spaces. Especially the Tower as we were going up over 300 steps and in tight spaces. My hands sweated a lot on both experiences. On the Belfast we were going up and down small ladders having to watch our heads. The corridors were small, it was amazing to think that during WW2 it was packed with sailors. We got lost at one point, but thankfully one of the workers came along and told us which way to go and then told us that there was a perfect spot to see the Tower of London.
Once we finished on the Belfast we headed over London Bridge to Monument station. On the way we walked by the monument to the Great Fire of London.
I’ve never seen this monument before so being this close to it was amazing. I’ve been to London a number of times, but only went to museums and London eye, London dungeons so seeing this part and Tower Hill was wonderful. Anyways, we went to monument station and got a train to Upton Park I think it was, we went here because my boyfriend wanted to go to the Who shop. Now for those who don’t know, it is a shop dedicated to Dr Who. It’s a tiny shop, but it has a tardis, a Darlek and loads of memorabilia. We then saw a sign saying tv and film museum so we enquired about this and was shown by one of the workers to the tardis. My boyfriend was given a key to open the tardis and we both stepped inside. On the other side was another room (like a real tardis) this room was full of props and costumes from Dr Who and Tourchwood. I’m not a fan of Dr Who, but I watched Tourchwood, so seeing all the props and stuff was amazing. They even had information on who played the character, what episode and what year.
Once we finished there we made our way to Whitechapel. Now the reason for this is because there is a Jack the Ripper museum. We walked about 19 minutes from Whitechapel station to the museum. In the museum a wonderful woman tells you what you can and can’t do and how to navigate the museum. We followed the instructions and went on our way. The first floor was a crime scene with mannequins and a map of his crime scenes. The second floor is what people think Jacks house would have looked like. In this room we were allowed to touch things and wear the costumes. My boyfriend put a hat on and I said to him. “Just think of how many people have worn that,” he just looked at me still wearing it. “How many of those had head lice.” Was my next sentences, to which he took of the hat and said “Ok spoilsport.”
The third floor was a mock up of a police station. You had letters from Jack both different in the spellings, which led us to believe that there may have been a copycat killer. In one cabinet you had all the police equipment that the policemen who found the first victim owned. The family donated it to the museum. The top floor was a mock up of a bedroom. Around the room you had pictures of the women and a little bit about them. All bar one had left their husband and children. The last one was a widow. So I don’t know if that had anything to do with why they were targeted.
The final floor was the basement, it was a mortuary and was located right by the toilet so it stunk. I had to put my hand over my nose and mouth to block out the smell. In this room it had the final pictures of the women, so after they were killed. Before you go in the room you see a sign saying please be respectful. Underneath each woman is how they died. One died in hospital after being attacked and stabbed. Another one had over 39 stab wounds. The others had slashed throats, one had two which showed hesitation. Once we finished, and walked back to the hotel, which took 7 mins from the museum. Don’t know why we didn’t get off at Tower Hill station to be honest, by hey ho. We got back to the hotel and had a good old natter about the museum. My boyfriend came up with some good theories. But, I won’t bore you with them now, we then had some food, and packed our bags for the following day. Laid in bed we watched Night at the Museum 3, which is set in the British Museum. My boyfriend hadn’t seen it before and said it was false advertising for the BM as there wasn’t a medieval section, nor was there any dinosaurs.
Day 4 consisted of us having breakfast in bed, then finalising everything and heading back to MK. The journey home was much quicker than the journey there. I had a wonderful time as did my boyfriend. We both agreed to go back sometime in the future and to see other parts of London and other museums. I think I’d stay in the Tower Hotel again. It was nice, clean and the staff were all very polite and friendly. The only strange thing was they charged you for the tray if you had room service.
I was sad to go home, but I have the memories and pictures. As well as future plans for another trip. Please comment below if you have any tips for our next adventure to the Capital. When that will be I don’t know.
