Exploring Abroad: Gordon Ramsay, Big Ben, and Dippy the Dinosaur?

Special Note ~ How prophetic our blog about London follows the recent death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Her lifetime of service is truly remarkable. We join the millions of people around the world extending our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family.

Edd:  London is one of the most expensive cities in Europe, so our week there wasn’t a typical scouting trip to explore possible budget retirement expat destinations.

Cynthia:  You’re right. Our visits to both Paris and London were more of a 51st wedding anniversary gift to ourselves. 💖

E:  Which included a scrumptious lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant York & Albany beside The Regent’s Park.

C:  While we were in the area we took the opportunity to climb Primrose Hill for a view of the London skyline and stroll through the Park’s lovely grounds.

E:  We’re both fascinated with the whole concept of time, so a spontaneous excursion we took to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich was quite interesting. We once straddled the equator outside of Quito, and now we’ve stood on both sides of the Prime Meridian.

C:  Guessing not too many people can make that claim. An unexpected bonus was the view of London from Greenwich. We thought Primrose Hill was impressive, but this was off the charts!

E:  I always thought Cutty Sark was only a brand of Scotch whiskey. Turns out the namesake ship on its label sits right in Greenwich. It’s the last remaining tea clipper and was once one of the fastest ships in the world.

C:  We enjoyed getting off the Tube (as the metro system is called) and wandering around different neighborhoods with no planned agenda.

E:  Plus seeing lots of the “touristy” things in London like Buckingham Palace,

Big Ben,

Westminster Abbey,

and the beautiful Tower Bridge. I thought this was London Bridge from the children’s song.

That one is, sadly, just another bridge and not very photogenic.

C:  Not so the grounds surrounding the Tower of London. Superbloom is the new natural landscape unveiled for the first time this summer. We were thrilled to be among the initial visitors to enjoy the “Instaworthy” spectacle.

E:  By the time we arrived in London from all the previous European cities, we were kind of museum-ed and cathedral-ed out. But we powered through a visit to the British Museum, seeing super cool stuff like:

the one and only Rosetta Stone;

artifacts from the Egyptian and Assyrian empires;

sculptures from the Parthenon;

even a massive statue from Easter Island.

C:  I thought we were done with museums, but then Edd says, “We’ve gotta go to the Museum of Natural History to see Dippy!” Like me you’re probably wondering who or what in the world is Dippy.

E:  Who is Dippy? That’s Dippy. An 85-foot long Diplodocus that recently returned to London from a 5-year tour across the U.K.

C:  Nothing can top Dippy, so with that let’s say goodbye to London. One more “bonus blog” to share before we return to the U.S.

E:  And it reveals a surprise we never saw coming. Stay tuned—

Wish you could take more trips of your own but worried about the expense? Our budget travel wizardry can make it happen. Let us know what you have in mind and we’ll get to work.