SideshowGreg: forum

Job found.  Thanks!

Thank you, all for tips!  I just got back home last night and had a blast.  The first part of the trip, I stayed near the Tower Bridge.  I walked a ton, and explored the different markets from there.  I did the Tower of London tour which was great. I got there around noon and it wasn't too crowded.  By the time I left around 4pm it was packed.   On the second part of the trip, back from Paris, I stayed more on the west end of London.  I saw the major sites, Big Ben, Westminster, etc.  I also did a tour of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace.  It was so beautiful to walk around the rooms and out into the garden at the end of the tour.  One of the days my wife and I did the Warner Bros Tour (My wife is a huge Harry Potter nerd).  She was blown away by everything there.

Paris was a lot of fun too. Since planning the trip, I had been working on my French and got to use it pretty often.  Although, a few times I walked into bar/restaurant expecting to try and order in French only to have the worker say something like "Hey, how's it going? What can I get you?"  They were all very nice and helpful but knew I was American the second I walked in.  I wasn't able to see everything but felt like I saw a bunch. Visited the Eiffel Tower, Monet Museum, Notre Dame, walked around Montmartre, walked along the Seine.

I ate quite a few times at a pub in London which was a great atmosphere.  Lots of good food and beer.  It was pretty funny, a couple of times I did hear a drunk English man making fun of Americans.  Both times it was some rant about how the English army is so much stronger than the US military. One of them said Americans can't pronounce certain words and mentioned that Americans don't know what "Cheers!" means when drinking. Of course I'm sure it was just a random guy and I minded my own business but I did find it humorous. 

Thanks again for all the info and no, I didn't have my phone stolen and wasn't robbed once lol.

Thanks for the tips.  It gives me a few more things to look into.  Good to know about the pub food.  I'm not big into fine dinning.  I enjoy good food but I'm not a fancy type of person.  

Yes, if you have any tips for Paris that would be great.  We are staying in Le Marais for only a couple days but the only thing we have planned so far is a pastry class on one of the mornings.

Thank you for your insight! We have tickets booked for a tour of the Tower of London and a tour of Buckingham Palace.  Good to know about the walk from Westminster to Tower bridge, I wasn't sure if that walk would be enjoyable but it sounds like it would be.  I'll definitely look into mudlarking, that could be a unique thing to do.  Thanks again for taking the time to share.

It will be my first time there so I feel I need to at least see some of the touristy things (Buckingham, Big Ben, etc.)  I'm staying near the Tower Bridge for the first stint of the trip (Taking the train into Paris then coming back to London for a few days) so I got tickets to the Tower of London. Is there anything in that area that isn't a big touristy thing to see?  I'm also trying to find a place that sells some neat antique things.  I want to buy something old from the UK as a souvenir.  Nothing crazy or big but maybe something like an old pocket watch or something.

I've looked up some videos on those markets.  Looks like there are great spots to try a bunch of different food options.  I'm going in July, how crowded is it going to be?  I know it will be crowded but will it be that bad to where I just walk in and walk out?

I'm visiting London for the first time this July. Any tips on where to stay, where not to stay?  Anything I NEED to check out?  I saw Duke's is in a prime location, maybe I'll get a drink there.  Thanks for any tips!

Job found.  Thanks!

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