After a wonderful day of sightseeing, we plopped down in the beds of our comfortable sky blue and white room at Cartref House and turned on the telly.
Contrary to what you may have been led to believe by Monty Python, a penguin was not on the television set waiting to explode, but our whole family did enjoy a crazy show about cars, including a segment about full sized cars operated by remote control racing and crashing over an offroad course.
While Julie and Jay continued the rest break, Amy and I put our overcoats back on and headed out to find a smoke-free pub that served a meat pie, which was another English delicacy
Amy had dreamed of having in London.
Our enjoyable stroll eventually led us to the Duke of York at 130-134 Victoria Street, and it looked perfect, with a wonderful beef pie on the menu, but unfortunately it was quite smoky. We wandered back outside, and almost immediately found stairs leading to another pub.
We walked up the steps, and the restaurant was perfect. We discovered this was the smoke-free section of the Duke of York, and we headed back to our room to gather the troops.
We all enjoyed excellent meals. Amy loved her vegetable and steak pie, while I again enjoyed that traditional pub meal of fish and chips with smashed peas. Julie went with a more French dish of chicken in mushroom cream sauce, while Jay had a chicken Caesar salad.
Prices were similar to our American favorite restaurant, TGI Friday's, except, of course, the numbers referred to pounds instead of dollars.
As a general rule of thumb, you can figure most prices in London equate with dollars in the U.S., so with the exchange rate factored in, everything costs about 80% more.
If something seems like an unusually good deal, like the roast beef sandwich priced at about two pounds which Julie had earlier in the day at Calabria, then figure you probably won't be thrilled with the dish. In the case of Julie's lunch, she ended up with a thin slice of beef between two slices of white bread.
A double-decker bus ride is a must in London, and we hopped on one to visit the bright lights of Picadilly Circus at night.
Nearby Soho seems more like a redlight district than a hub of fashion, so families may wish to steer clear of it.
Going the wrong direction on our return trip gave us an extra long ride through the city at the front window of the red double-decker bus, and we were worn out by the end of our first day in London.
Contrary to what you may have been led to believe by Monty Python, a penguin was not on the television set waiting to explode, but our whole family did enjoy a crazy show about cars, including a segment about full sized cars operated by remote control racing and crashing over an offroad course.
While Julie and Jay continued the rest break, Amy and I put our overcoats back on and headed out to find a smoke-free pub that served a meat pie, which was another English delicacy
Amy had dreamed of having in London.Our enjoyable stroll eventually led us to the Duke of York at 130-134 Victoria Street, and it looked perfect, with a wonderful beef pie on the menu, but unfortunately it was quite smoky. We wandered back outside, and almost immediately found stairs leading to another pub.
We walked up the steps, and the restaurant was perfect. We discovered this was the smoke-free section of the Duke of York, and we headed back to our room to gather the troops.
We all enjoyed excellent meals. Amy loved her vegetable and steak pie, while I again enjoyed that traditional pub meal of fish and chips with smashed peas. Julie went with a more French dish of chicken in mushroom cream sauce, while Jay had a chicken Caesar salad.
Prices were similar to our American favorite restaurant, TGI Friday's, except, of course, the numbers referred to pounds instead of dollars.As a general rule of thumb, you can figure most prices in London equate with dollars in the U.S., so with the exchange rate factored in, everything costs about 80% more.
If something seems like an unusually good deal, like the roast beef sandwich priced at about two pounds which Julie had earlier in the day at Calabria, then figure you probably won't be thrilled with the dish. In the case of Julie's lunch, she ended up with a thin slice of beef between two slices of white bread.
A double-decker bus ride is a must in London, and we hopped on one to visit the bright lights of Picadilly Circus at night.Nearby Soho seems more like a redlight district than a hub of fashion, so families may wish to steer clear of it.
Going the wrong direction on our return trip gave us an extra long ride through the city at the front window of the red double-decker bus, and we were worn out by the end of our first day in London.
