24th day 13th + 14th of August 2016 - London - sunny

After 8 hours flight, we arrived in London Gatwick quite tired. It was 10:20 local time here and we went through the procedures like passport control and luggage pick-up. Then we looked for the train station as I had planned a connection to London Blackfriars. After getting lost several times with our suitcases, we finally found it in the South Terminal. There we were greeted by a crowd of people and a long queue at the ticket counter. However, it went quite quickly and we purchased an off peak ticket for 17 pounds for all 4 people. After about 50 minutes of travel time, we arrived at the train station, had a coffee for refreshment, and after about 15 minutes of walking (getting lost again), we arrived at the Z Hotel (Fleetstreet). We had a family room there and first we all took a shower. Then a nap (about 1.5 hours) - we were all exhausted and then I wanted to go out. It was very beautiful summer weather and life was buzzing outside. Anne and I left the hotel and went to Covent Garden. The hotel is really centrally located and you can explore everything on foot. Covent Garden was very busy and we enjoyed the city hustle and bustle in nice weather. Then we went to the Thames. Around 6:00 p.m., we returned to the hotel and enjoyed the offered free cheese and wine package at the restaurant. You could take as much as you wanted from 5 different types of cheese, there were olives, various sauces, bread and chocolate. You could also choose and drink as much wine as you liked. Everything was delicious. The children had cola to drink.

Since Marie wanted pizza, we went out again in the evening, through the city and theater streets, and found a nice Italian restaurant called Zizzi, where we could sit outside in mild temperatures. The streets were busy and it was very interesting to watch the people while having good wine, pizza, and antipasti plate.

Around half past ten, we went to bed. As expected, we all woke up at night and fell asleep in the morning.

On Sunday, we first had a delicious breakfast in the adjoining cafe. At 11:00 a.m., we checked out but were able to leave our luggage at the hotel. Then we walked from the Trafalgar Square, through Green Park to Hyde Park in beautiful sunshine. There we visited Speakers' Corner, walked over Oxford Street, Soho, and back towards Covent Garden. Sunday noon was also very busy here. We refreshed ourselves in a delicious Italian cafe and picked up our luggage. After a short walk to Blackfriars Station, we headed to Gatwick Airport, where we flew home in the evening.

On the one hand, we were looking forward to our home, on the other hand, we were sad that the vacation was over. All in all, it was a very nice time with great experiences and nice people.