Madame Tussauds & the London Eye

---

Fresh from a good night's sleep and converting to London time, we woke up extra early (around 3.30am!) to get the day started... well, maybe it was more like 6.30am that we were restless enough to get out of bed... however, wasn't happy that the sunlight was streaming in through the windows at 5am.

We booked tickets for Madame Tussauds early with a combo purchase of the London Eye, so we ventured out to Baker Street to check out the 'Madame.' The first surprise for the day was Baker Street... had no idea it was the first underground rail station in the world, dating back to 1863. Plus it's the home of Sherlock Holmes, so that was an added extra 'win' for my boys. Luckily we got up early enough to be the second in line for the entrance at 9am and were in the first group of people to take photos of all the 'stars.' We took pics with most - I sat down and had a chat with George Clooney, the boys were contemplating deep and meaningfuls with Will Smith, they rode the bike with ET, asked Einstein what the theory of relativity really means, sat in the Oval Office with Obama, I got a hug from Robbie Williams (or maybe it was me hugging him!), and the boys got punched in the face by Muhammad Ali. After all the picture opportunities, we loved loved loved the Streets of London exhibition where we got to sit in a London taxi and see the history of London unfold. And then there was what the boys were waiting for.... the 4D Marvel Comic experience. Very cool!

We're finding the London Tube amazingly simple, and love how all the train stations have interconnecting lines. Wishing Melbourne had a similar system. From Baker Street, we caught the Jubilee line down to Waterloo to the London Eye.

We walked down to Southbank and found a few more people than just the couple who were in front of us in the Madame Tussauds queue. We thought we had our tickets, but they were just a voucher to go to the Fast Track ticket booth to exchange the tickets to line up in the standard queue... which was just a 50 minute wait. By this time, our feet were already sore and screaming to sit down (I had blisters on my toes from yesterday's walking around). The London Eye was quite spectacular looking at the historic grandeur mixed with modern architecture. The boys loved seeing Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminister Abbey as well as seeing the Royal Guards strutting their stuff at the Barracks.

We grabbed some sushi for lunch before catching the train to Green Park and walking through the park (complete with deck chairs) to Buckingham Palace. We were happy to see some of the Royal Guards in action, including one walking through the gate and smiling at us! That just never happens! We threw a coin each into the Victoria Memorial fountain and made a wish, before walking into Green Park for a little bit of a lie down to rest our weary feet.

We headed back home, with still so many sites to take in. However, we do like our little village of Chiswick we are staying in. It has a warm mix of trendy style and community as well as gorgeous architecture and charm.

---