Eyeing London during unplanned stopover

August 13, 2019

Last month my husband and I planned to meet up with our college-age daughter in Grenoble, France, at the end of her study abroad program there. When our connecting flight through London Heathrow was cancelled (and not rescheduled for THREE days, so we ended up taking a train instead), we unexpectedly had 24 hours for sightseeing. Along with hordes of other tourists, we rode the London Eye.

The iconic Ferris wheel — technically a cantilevered observation wheel — rises high over the River Thames, to 443 feet (135 metres).

You and up to 24 other people ride standing or sitting in a windowed capsule that appears to defy gravity by staying upright on the exterior of the circular frame. It takes about 30 minutes to make one full rotation on the wheel, so you have plenty of time to savor views and indulge your vertigo.

The views of the city are jaw-dropping.

Not far from the Eye, we happened upon a pleasant garden between sleek new condos.

We visited the Tate Modern and enjoyed this balcony view of the Thames, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Millennium Bridge.

In King’s Cross Station, despite being Muggles ourselves, we located magical Platform 9-3/4 and spotted young witches and wizards pushing trolleys through the wall.

Ah, illusion spoiled. Check out the scarf holder — not feeling the magic, I think!

The next day we boarded a non-magical train through the Chunnel, hopped another from Paris to Lyon, and then rented a car to Grenoble, where we rendezvoused at last with our daughter. After a cool, drizzly morning sightseeing in Grenoble, we headed for sunny Provence. Stay tuned for lavender fields and sunset-hued Roussillon.

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11 responses to “Eyeing London during unplanned stopover”

  1. Alison says:

    We’re going to England next June, and one of my husband’s goals is a ride on the London Eye. I hope I can cope with it. His other big goal is to ride the Eurostar under the English Channel, which it sounds like you also did (but no photos, bummer). He would vociferously disagree that the Chunnel is non-magical, since he’s an engineer (albeit a computer engineer) and considers the Chunnel a magnificent feat of modern engineering.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I did think about that as I was writing “non-magical train through the Chunnel,” and you’re absolutely right that in terms of human achievement, it’s pretty magical! I’ve ridden the Eurostar train through the Chunnel twice (last year from France to England), and neither time did I take a single picture. I confess that it freaks me out just the tiniest bit to think about being under all that water, so I just bury my face in a book for the duration and pretend I’m at ground level.

      At the risk of sounding like a chicken, I further confess that the London Eye (indeed all Ferris wheels) freaks me out a bit too — way more than roller coasters do, in fact. It’s something about the going up that does it. Going down is fine. But hey, do something every day that scares you, right? So I insisted we ride it (David had already ridden it on a previous trip), and it was a memorable experience. My advice to you is just do it. I hope you both enjoy your trip!

  2. Nell says:

    That is a pleasing garden near the condos. It reminds me of the one Dan Pearson designed for the Garden History Museum in Lambeth, which is built around a very old church (where the Tradescants are buried) but I think is tucked in between giant modern buildings.

    How nice to be able to sub a train (or several) for a canceled flight! Looking forward to Provence.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      We barely got those train tickets. Most trains were sold out following a day or two of Heathrow cancellations after some bad weather in England and then heat-related rail issues in France. We were relieved not to miss more of our planned vacation with our daughter by getting train tickets, although we did have to pony up for first class in order to get seats (yikes – $$).

      I’m hopeful that some London native will read this and let me know who designed the garden I showed here. It really was quite nice to stroll through on our wanderings through busy London.

      • Nell says:

        :: heat-related rail issues in France ::
        Yikes. Glad it worked out despite extra $$. That must have been an awful stretch of time for a whole lot of people.

  3. Kris P says:

    I’m not at all surprised you managed to take full advantage of your unscheduled stop. Great photos!

  4. Fun! Well except for the unexpected delays and extra travel, kudos for making the most of it.

  5. Sounds like you made the most out of your unexpected detour.