London - Day 5

Today I'm continuing our recaps from our recent trip to London.  We are on Day 5!  I took an embarrassing number of photos on Day 5, so I'll try to narrow them down to just a few.  If you've missed the other posts, you can find them here ~

Day 1 and 2          Day 3          Day 4

Day 5 of our London trip started bright and early at Westminster Abbey.  This was a location I had really been looking forward to visiting, so it wasn’t hard to get up and out of the apartment early!  We had walked past the Abbey several times since we arrived in London, but today we were going inside! 

 

Westminster Abbey has held royal weddings, coronations, and burials.  The stained glass alone made the visit worthwhile to me!  You can stand in one place and take in so much beauty around you.  And all the little features were beautiful.

 

Over 3,000 people are buried at Westminster Abbey.  We didn’t stop to spend time gazing at all of them, but we did pay special attention to Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I and Henry III.  

The Poets’ Corner was also part of the Abbey that we sought out.  Some of the poets I didn’t recognize, but William Shakespeare and Jane Austin were two I wanted to find.  Luckily for me they were right next to each other! 

 

The Coronation Chair is also on display here.  This chair was produced in 1300-1301 under the orders of King Edward 1.  Seeing something that old always amazes me!  Speaking of the Coronation, Prince Charles was the 40^th monarch to be crowned at the Abbey. 

 

After exploring Westminster Abbey, we met up with Ian and walked over to the London Eye, which was included in our City Pass. If it hadn't been, I'm not sure we would have made the time or spent the money for the ride. However, it turned out to be quite fun seeing the city from such a high vantage point. Just a tip: reservations are required, so plan ahead if you're considering it. We boarded right at our reserved time, and the entire experience lasted a little over 30 minutes. It was a fun detour, and I'm glad we managed to fit it in.

 

From the London Eye, we caught a train to Watford Junction Railway Station for our afternoon reservations at the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour.  It takes about an hour from London to get there.  Ian was super excited to go and we were thinking we would tag along.  We aren’t huge Harry Potter fans, but we quickly got sucked into the experience!  If you’re a Harry Potter fan at all, do this tour!  Make your reservations in advance because it does sell out.  Also, we arrived earlier than our ticketed time and they let us in with no questions asked.  If you do arrive early, you will have access to the Food Hall, Hub Café, and Studio Shop.

When we got off the train, it was a short wait for the next shuttle bus to take us to the Warner Bros. location.

 

While here, we got to see authentic sets and many behind-the-scenes secrets of the Harry Potter film series.  My favorites were the Great Hall, Diagon Alley and the train.

Even the snacks are adorably Harry Potter themed!

We stayed at the studio until nearly closing time, then made our way back to the city. Though we weren’t overly hungry, we felt like having a small bite. Whitebait had been on our list to try, so we found a nearby spot, the Blue Boar Pub, just a short walk from our apartment. Curious about whitebait? It's a dish of tiny fish, often herring, eaten whole—head, fins, bones, and all. Spoiler alert: none of the three of us were fans.

And that’s a wrap on Day 5 of our trip!  I’ll be back soon to share our sixth and final day in London.