We spent close to two weeks traveling around London, Dublin, and Paris while I was pregnant. With amazing public transport and great walkability, it was so easy to visit Europe while pregnant. Our second stop was London, England. In this post, I will go over what we did on Day 2 of our babymoon in London. If you haven’t already, check out Babymoon in London Part 1, Day 1, and Babymoon in Dublin Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Stay tuned for more posts about London, Paris and our last day back in Dublin!
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Buckingham Palace Changing of The Guard
We started our second day in London by heading to Buckingham Palace to view the Changing of the Guard. This was a splendid experience! We grabbed a bus and got off as close to the palace as we could and picked up breakfast along the way. The Changing of the Guard takes place every day at 11:00 am and at 10:00 am on Sundays and is free and open to the public. You will want to get there much earlier especially on a busy day. It is about a 30-minute formal ceremony in which a group of soldiers are released of their duties by a new group of soldiers. There is a marching band and a parade or horses. The whole thing is very cool and seems of a former time. We stood and watched from The Victoria Memorial and while you cannot see everything from any location we thought this was a perfect spot and there was space where I could sit down which was needed at times for this pregnant lady!
Walk to Westminster
After the changing of the guard ceremony ended we stopped for lunch in St. James Park and then headed to the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey. It was a nice walk through the park and we were able to see where the Churchhill War Rooms and 10 Downing Street were along the way. We didn’t stop at either, but it was still fun to see where they were. I highly suggest breaking up the walk with a stop in the park to either eat or just sit by one of the many ponds. There didn’t seem like there was a good or easy way to get a bus or a taxi so walking was really just easier and breaking it up with a stop to eat was very helpful when you’re pregnant and hungry. At Palace of Westminster, we really didn’t do anything other than see it and then walk over to see the Abbey. It is very iconic and we had a great time just walking around looking at architecture.
Tea Time
After a morning and afternoon walking around Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster this pregnant lady was tired and ready to rest, so we hopped on a bus and went back to our hotel for tea time. There are a number of amazing places you can get high tea around London or you can opt for a simple tea at most hotels or even tea shops. We were staying at The Waldorf Hilton in Covent Garden and our lobby bar had a great little tea time. While my husband opted for a happy hour drink, I had their tea time which included a choice of English teas and a selection of biscuits, scones, jam, and clotted cream. It was delicious. I love tea time and wish we did it in the states. After tea, we headed right upstairs for a nap and to get ready for our evening activities.
Sky Garden
After a nice little rest, we were extremely excited to head to our reservation at City Garden inside Sky Garden. Sky Garden is an indoor glass-domed garden 36 floors up at 20 Frenchman Street offering 360-degree views of London. There are a number of places to visit inside Sky Garden, including three bars and two restaurants. Access to Sky Garden is free, but you do need a reservation. We opted for a reservation at City Garden. After walking around and viewing the space and views we sat down at our table at City Garden where I had a delicious smoothie. The views were truly incredible and we had a fantastic time at Sky Garden.
Dinner at Shuang Shuang
My husband and I absolutely love trying different styles of food and Chinese Hot Pot is one of our favorites. Where we live there isn’t much as far as authentic Chinese. We had to take the opportunity while in Longdon to get Chinese Hot Pot at Shuang Shuang. This restaurant is a very modern set up for Hot Pot. You pick your ingredients from a conveyor belt and cook your food in your own broth. After you choose from a selection of broths and dipping sauces you get to pick your ingredients from the conveyor belt rotating around the restaurant. It is very fun and you only pay for what you choose. The ingredients are priced based on the color of the plates, so it can be very expensive or very affordable depending on what you choose. The meal was delicious and I wish I could eat there every week! It was basically a pregnant dream to pick EXACTLY what ingredients I wanted to eat and combine things as I wished.
After dinner, we headed back to our hotel for an early night in and got some much-needed rest. Our Day 2 in London was basically perfect. We did a combination of sightseeing and eating. We may have walked a little more than I wished at the time. Looking back it was a great day and walking was really the only way to see the buildings we wanted to see. Luckily a nap and rest back at the hotel was perfect before our dinner out.
Stay tuned for another post about London, Paris and our last day back in Dublin!
