We headed out to the Westminster boat launch and bought 1 way tickets on the city tours boat to Greenwich. That was the last time I saw my travelcard. The boat ride was pleasant, but I realized that I lost the card before we got off the boat. Upon landing I tore apart my purse, triple checked my pockets... nada. Oh well - I had used it for 4.5 of the 7 days...
We walked up the hill to the observatory. It was MUCH cooler than I expected.... Very interesting to see the importance of accurate time for navigation, and how they dealt with it. We also straddled the prime meridian line (along with everyone else there). Definitely worth seeing if you're in London.
Then it was time to travel back - We got to the Greenwich DLR station and I picked the button for travelcard - it had an option for a 1 day pass - I selected it without noticing it was a 1 day BUS pass. Doh! It was accepted for entry through the turnstiles to the DLR platforms. We discovered it was the wrong ticket when a ticket collector got on the train. She was very nice about it though (especially since I wasn't on the DLR legally.) She suggested we go to the ticket office at our terminus (Bond station) and explain the situation. Nice idea but there are very few manned ticket offices due to budget cuts by the mayor. (This info is from an underground employee who gave us advise but wasn't able to fix our problem since she wasn't a ticket agent. She advised us to go to the (manned) ticket booth at London Bridge station after we had our planned lunch at Borough Market.
Borough Market is a foodie lovers giant food court. Yum. Amazing selection of prepared foods, produce, adult beverages, and the site of where The Leaky Cauldron was located in a later Harry Potter movie. (An oyster bar in real life). We had some amazing "baps"... What's a bap you ask? (I asked - so I assume you'd ask)... It's a sandwich on a roll. Piero had a lamb and paprika bap, Rigo had a wild boar bap, Lou had a steak bap, and I had a porkloin bap. All were only 5 quid each. (No pictures - we ate them too fast.)
After food we attempted to rectify the ticket mistake again... After making a few false attempts to find the manned ticket booth (there are a LOT of entrances to the London Bridge underground) we found the booth. The guy basically said we were out of luck. So - it ended up costing me 9.8 pounds to get home - 5 lbs for the all day bus - and 4.8 for the 1 way tube ticket.
Here are pics from today and some from yesterday's Harry Potter tour.
T
he blue opticians shop in the background of the crowd was used in the first HP movie - painted black and with different doors. Also the scene where Hagrid tells Harry all the items on his school list can be bought in one place "if you know where to go" was shot right under that glass awning in the upper foreground. This is all at Leadenhall Market.
In a later Potter movie the Leaky Caldron pub is moved to Borough Market - under the train bridge, - the black sign that said "Shucked". The sausage place next door was dressed up as a rare book emporium for the move.
Here's another look at Borrough Market - foodie central (and where we had lunch today.
Cool photos! Did you happen by Chanel's original shop?
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