Second Day in London (including Afternoon Tea)
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- čas přidán 1. 05. 2022
- We visit Kensington Gardens and have afternoon tea at the Kensington Palace Pavilion. Then we head to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We take a boat on the Thames and then a Big Bus tourist bus for a few stops. Finally, we do a Jack the Ripper walking tour. Dinner at Pizza Express.
I'm a born and bred Londoner, and never once have I given a single thought to which side of the pavement I'm walking on. We just follow the path of least resistance!
That discretionary service charge is often added on by restaurants, but just bear in mind that paying it is totally optional. Don't feel shy about asking for it to be removed if you don't feel the service was up to scratch.
Nice video. 😊
So far I've been to New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Paris as my major cities and in every case everyone just walks wherever they want. I think it's just human nature. The service was very good so I probably wouldn't have asked for the charge to be removed but it's nice to know that if I go back to London that I can ask them to remove it when I see it.
I try to make a habit of going to the left when passing people on narrow pavements or by busy roads. Just because it means that the person closest to the road can see the approaching traffic.
Worth bearing in mind that you don’t HAVE to tip in the UK 🤣 - no one will chase you down the road for it if you don’t , nor will they give you a hard time
And, generally, if you pay the grats. (gratuity ie ‘discretionary’ or ‘tip’) that has been added to a bill with a card payment - particularly in large chains - the people who have cooked and served your food probably won’t see a bean of it as it’ll all get swallowed up by the management chain/owners via the card payment .... always better to tip in cash if you can.
(And, if grats has been automatically added to your bill when you get it, feel free to ask for the bill to be resubmitted without the grats added and then you can leave whatever tip you like in cash to the people you’ve actually had contact with)
@@TwoDisneyDudes I live in Australia where we also drive on the left. You are correct that we also walk on the left.
The "soft scone" is actually a Victoria Sponge cake, the name dates back to Queen Victoria who used to enjoy the sponge with her afternoon tea.
Wow... thanks for the info. I could have done more research about the typical sandwiches and tea cakes that were served but I wanted to be surprised.
This is a bit more understanding and knowledgeable than many American describing their visits to London.
Thanks for watching! I did a lot of research before going so hopefully some of that comes through in the video. I'm sure I messed up on some detail every so often though.
@@TwoDisneyDudes your tour around London is well paced.
Thanks for a great travel log.
Agreed 👍 most visit and won't pay for any attractions , makes for great video😆never understood that.
@@TwoDisneyDudes It definitely comes through and it's appreciated. Going to London for the first time was such a huge, HUGE deal for me after years of being a total English history nerd, it feels disrespectful when people go there and don't know ANYthing about it. I probably take it too personally because I love it there so much, but it just makes me cringe. No one would expect a first timer to know EVERYthing, but at least a nod toward having planned a bit is refreshing here in youtube land.
The 12.5% service charge is not just for tourists. It is usually added to everyones bill at many restaurants and cafes in London. Considering New York service charge is 20% or higher, 12.5% is not too bad. Unless the service was really terrible and you weren't happy with the service or food, it's polite to pay it.
I didn't mind paying it. The service was the best we had while we were in London. I would have tipped anyway.
Crumbs i thought that it was £85 per person when i saw the comments below. It was the total price. For an one off experience its not too bad. When on holiday you do need to push the boat out a little otherwise you would just end up ijust sitting in your hotel room doing nothing. Glad you guys are enjoying London.
Yup... we knew this was an expense so we budgeted for it and I'm glad I did it because every piece of it was delicious and fun but I wouldn't ever do it again.
@@TwoDisneyDudes You can get MUCH cheaper cream teas though (especially in places out in the countryside where the concept originates, such as Devon and Cornwall) so if you ever fancied it again, it doesn’t need to break the bank.
I'm English, but really enjoyed your video, despite having visited London many times. I hope you enjoy(ed) the rest of your visit to London and Paris.
Thanks for watching! We had a great time though we couldn't possibly do everything we wanted to in this single trip. Just an excuse to go back though.
Cream with jam on top is how it’s done in Devon. Jam with cream on top is the Cornish way. Clotted cream is made by slowly warming the cream for several hours, not whipping.
£85 for afternoon tea is insane, but that’s what you pay if you’re at a palace, I guess. You can definitely get them much cheaper. Every cafe and hotel sells them these days.
If you walk most places in England, you generally walk on the left but it’s rather fluid. I agree that because the majority of people you pass in London are likely from other countries - even people who live there - then they aren’t going to think to go left.
We chose this place because they weren't picky about the dress code and it was very close to where we were staying. But I'm sure I would have been just as happy with other afternoon teas both cheaper or more expensive.
I live in London - was born here, on the Kent border - and I don't know a single person who walks on the left or the right except on railway or Underground stations. I would walk so that the person next to the traffic is facing the traffic, because our roads are often fairly narrow and the pavements too.
Nah, Kensington Palace afternoon tea is not that expensive; at least not as much as Ritz, Shard or Fortnum (x3)
Its a shame you couldn't have gone to Betty;s in Harrogate for Afternoon tea, I nearly fainted when you said it was £85.
What a very pleasant couple you are :) I'm sure t's been mentioned elsewhere, but the sandwich was Coronation Chicken. It is indeed made with curry, and was invented for the Queen's Coronation in 1952. For the scones with clotted cream and jam, there is a huge debate in the UK about the correct order (we only argue about the most important things). Some people follow the Devon tradition of putting cream on first, with jam on top. The idea is that this is like putting butter on bread before jam. The Cornish tradition is to put the jam on first. The idea here is that the scone will taste creamy initially, but will then have the sweet "hit" of jam after a moment. Personally, I follow the Cornish tradition. The second huge cause of debate is whether scones are pronounced "scohnes" or "sconns". I believe they were always pronounced "sconns" in high society, and the lower orders called them "scohnes". The poet laureate Sir John Betjemen even made a subtle reference to them in the poem "How to get on in society", which is a whole poem about someone who is not cultured making a series of faux pas. In the poem, he rhymes "scones" with "stones", which was a sure sign that she was pretending to be upper class, but wasn't. You can read the poem here www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/john_betjeman/poems/785
I hope you both enjoyed your visit, and I am subscribing because I need more nice people in my CZcams feed.
Thanks for the kind words! And wow, thanks for all this info. I am a huge trivia nerd so I love to learn new things.
Kensington Palace serving their Earl Grey tea without lemon. Standards are slipping.
Interesting... I didn't know Earl Grey was normally served with lemon.
@@TwoDisneyDudesI know this is old but most English people, including myself, don't have earl grey with milk. You have it black with a slice of lemon. There's also lady grey which is a bit more 'fruity', it has bergamot which is an orangey flavour, generally speaking you wouldn't put milk in that either. You CAN, but the flavours clash a bit.
@@nickyjones88 Thanks for the info! I can think of a few teas I had while I was there where milk would not compliment the flavor. But I really enjoyed it with my English breakfast tea.
I'm so pleased to see you talking about the side that people walk on as it's a bug bear of mine. I know the Londoner on another comment said they don't consider it but I certainly do.
In train station staircases there is usually an instruction to keep to the left, and I remember at school we were told to keep to the left in corridors.
My guess is that it used to be a thing that was taught (a bit like 'children should be seen and not heard'), and got outdated as society became more about individuals freedoms.
I feel like I'm always looking three people ahead to plot their trajectory and am constantly tutting. It's quite possible I'm just old and grumpy though.
Anyway, I really enjoyed these videos so thank you. There's something fascinating about seeing reactions to your own country.
Thanks for watching! I've walked in a number of large cities and everyone just walks where they want so I think it's just human nature. Honestly, I don't think people give it much thought. They just walk the path of least resistance.
This series of videos is very good - very naturally paced. You feel welcome to share the experience.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words!
The curry taste in the egg sandwich is called Coronation sauce, and is more usually eaten with cold chicken. It was invented to celebrate a coronation.
Thanks for the info! Now I know what to look for if I look for it locally. It was very good.
@@TwoDisneyDudes I became a vegetarian after getting terrible food poisoning from a coronation chicken sandwich from Tesco supermarket on Portobello Rd in 1985.
Cold Chicken Curry:
We only have ourselves to blame!
ps on the tube escalators in London we stand on the left and walk on the right.
I walked through Hyde park today, it was beautiful.
Putting milk in your tea cup first I was told by my mother was to prevent the hot tea from making the delicate china tea cup from cracking . You crammed so much into such a short space of time, visited so many places of interest .. well done!
It makes sense that hot tea would crack a delicate cup. But nowadays I guess it's just a preference thing, right? It was a whirlwind of activities but we had a great time. We were exhausted when we got back home though.
You are half right. The good quality china could handle the heat, hence the rich people would put tea first and then milk. The poor people, who could only afford inferior china, had to put the milk in first to temper it so that the heat would not crack it.
The prefered courses for afternoon tea are sandwiches first, then the scones, then the fancy cakes. Savoury to sweetest. That's the supposed 'etiquette'. Although i stuff etiquette, i like my Earl Grey tea, instead of black unsweetened i prefer with milk & sugar like a true commoner! Lol. 🇬🇧❤🇺🇸
Thanks for watching! Based on the comments, it seems like a lot of people have many sincerely-held beliefs when it comes to how to enjoy afternoon tea. I've seen many comments from how to pour the tea to how much clotted cream to put on the scone. But I think most people would agree that if you're paying this much for some tea, sandwiches and scones then you should eat it however you damn well please, right? :-)
@@TwoDisneyDudes Lol totally agree, its just our strange British ways! I was absolutely shocked at the price you paid for your afternoon tea. London is extremely expensive. I live up North (Yorkshire) & prices are much cheaper here for everything. Sorry if i came across with an attitude, it wasn't meant in a bad way. 👍🇬🇧❤🇺🇸
The only tea supposed to be consumed without milk and sugar is herbal tea (even then, I add sugar)
@@helenwood8482 Well many would disagree with you there Helen. I have been criticised many times for drinking Earl Grey with milk/sugar. My reply as usual is 'well that's the way i like it so' lol.
Looking to visit London next year and came across your videos. Well done! I really enjoyed how thorough your videos are!
Thanks for watching! I try to think "what would I have liked to have known before I came here" and address that in my video. I don't always succeed but I try my hardest to remember those little things.
Guys you've hooked me! I can't wait to watch more, well done x x
Thanks for the kind words! And thanks for watching.
I'm very impressed by your efficient use of the London Pass. I was there in 2019 for a couple of days and hoping to get back this fall. After watching this, I may just get one just to copy this day. Nice job!
Thanks for watching! We planned two days around getting the most of the London Pass. We ended up saving something like 20 pounds over the individual cost of the attractions so it ended up being worth it. Plus we got 10% off at some gift shops so there was slightly more of a savings.
Really enjoying this btw, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it.
Your a great presenter. Glad you had fun in my city x
Thanks for watching! I miss your city so much. It's hard to return home after being to one of the best cities in the world.
Really enjoying your trip so far, have a good time guys.
Thanks for watching! We were having a great time and I hope that comes across.
I enjoyed going along with you on your journey. Very enjoyable video.
Thank you for the kind words!
The tower bridge stamp seems so cool!
It was a fun little scavenger hunt. I could see how kids would get really bored so this would be something fun for them to do.
Really enjoying your videos. x
Thank you so much for the kind words!
I've really enjoyed your London videos so far - they have been very enjoyable to watch! I'm glad you guys have been having a great trip!
Thanks for watching and for the kind words. I really did have one of the best times of my whole life.
Nice video. Very interesting.
Thank you for the kind words.
£ 85.50 for a scone a few sandwiches and Buns ,I'm Northern English and I spilt my tea ,bloody hell ,come up North next time ,I'd recommend York beautiful little City .with Roman ,Viking and medieval history all around you .
Oh yeah... we knew that it was expensive and the food itself wouldn't be worth that amount of money but I was happy enough with the experience. And we set aside money specifically for it so it didn't break the bank. Having said all that, I wouldn't do it again.
fully enjoyed gives me and my husband some get ideas to visit when we go to London
I think you'll have a great time! I look forward to our next (eventual) trip where we can do less of the touristy stuff now that we've gotten much of that out of the way. I'd love to do a week in just Great Brittan so we can go to Ireland and Scotland too.
@@TwoDisneyDudes Make sure you go to the Westcountry (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset) for some of the finest countryside and sandiest beaches you’ll ever see.
An excellent vlog.
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it.
Well done guys, a very easygoing informative vlog. With the current exchange rate it makes it a bit more affordable!
Thanks for the kind words! It was an expensive trip but we saved up for it and we're very pleased with how much we were able to do in so short a time.
You are very good at this. Perfect personalities and style. If you keep doing it, your channel will grow exponentially. I really enjoyed it and have subscribed. A Brit living in Spain.
Thank you so much! That is very kind of you to say. I do these videos because I enjoy it so it never feels like a chore and I hope that comes across.
@@TwoDisneyDudes It does; perfectly and they are very enjoyable to watch. Thank you.
Yes, well done , guys. I really enjoyed this. I loved the way you made us part of your learning experience. Just whiling away the time, prior to the Spurs match today.
COYS!
Following my post on your last post, I see you found the "tap your cards for tube tickets" solution. As you walk over Tower Bridge, down the steps to your left is a really nice Slug & Lettuce pub restaurant, next to the old St Katherine's Dock. Lovely location. Future visitors should try it.
Any time I go to a new place I always ask anyone I know who lives there what their favorite local restaurant it. I'd rather eat somewhere that someone I know loves than go to the touristy places. But I didn't know anyone in London at the time so I wasn't able to ask. But based on the comments, I now have a list of places to try and The Slug and Lettice pub is on that list.
For another lovely park with history, Battersea Park. Well worth a visit!
Thanks for the suggestion! It's on the list for next time. We enjoyed every park we went into while we were there.
Pleased to have found your vlog guys.
Strike me as really nice chilled out fellas.
I'm going to have to get back to the Tower of London its 50 years since I last went.
Looks way better organised than then.
Thanks for watching! I think we're both pretty chill and I hope that comes across in the videos. For the Tower of London, I liked that you could go on a tour but I also liked that you could wander around on your own and still have an enjoyable time. We did watch some of the tour if we happened to pass by it but I never feel comfortable filming a tour as it's their livelihood.
Don't forget to take out a 2nd mortgage to get in.........last time I went it was just a couple pounds, not so today. Same can be said for visiting St Pauls and Westminster Abbey (both free years ago, not so today! ).
@@Dave.Thatcher1 With the London Pass, we paid less that we would have if we had paid for everything separately but I take your meaning. I think we all have a general idea about how much something should cost and most of the admission prices seemed steeper than the value you get out of experience. Still, I'm glad we did the things we did once. I wouldn't pay to do them again.
Really enjoyed that, I feel like I’ve just been on vacation with you
Thanks for watching! I try to put as much of my real life personality into my videos rather than being "on" for the camera. I hope that comes across.
@@TwoDisneyDudes it does, thank you
The curry flavoured sandwich would have been Coronation Chicken. A mild creamy curry flavour with a sweet edge.
It was developed for the Coronation banquet of our current Queen Elizabeth II.
Agreed
Wow... that is interesting. Thanks! I enjoyed that sandwich a lot so now I know what to look for if I try to find it here at home.
@@TwoDisneyDudes At it’s simplest it’s just chopped cooked chicken in a mayonnaise flavoured with a bit of mild curry powder. Easy to make!
And a few sultanas thrown in 😁
@@DrDaveW That does sound very easy.
This was wonderful! Thank you very much for letting us join you on your adventures. I do hope you enjoyed your time in London, and that "As You Like It" was a success for you both. I'll be looking out for you day 3 flog.
Thanks for watching! Our trip was amazing. I didn't think I would miss Europe so soon after leaving but I already miss it.
@@TwoDisneyDudes Excellent! You are both so likeable that I am sure you made lots of friends.xx
Great video - if you’re still here I’d book yourself into the ceremony of the keys when they lock the tower of London at night / you have to book and it’s only £5 but it’s the oldest continuous military ceremony in the world and great fun to watch / only about 60 folk per night are allowed in to see it.
What a terrific video / you guys are so interesting and your curiosity is infectious. Oh and I’m a born and bred Londoner and haven’t done most of the things that you’re doing! I also appreciate the lack of ‘bubblegum’ music that other vloggers feel (wrongly in my view) has to accompany their videos. I’ll look forward to more of your vids. Cheers!
Wow... seeing the Tower locked up sounds like it would be a great experience.
@@TwoDisneyDudes it is amazing and I’m a Brit - spooky, atmospheric and quite incredible. Let me have your feedback - you can’t video it.
Good suggestion, Freddie.
I just love how you guys do your travel vlogs, it's inspiring, at least having some ideas how to do mine in case I travel 😁
Thanks for the kind words!
Your cakes look like chocolate and hazelnut tart, orange cheesecake and raspberry Victoria sponge cake…..very traditional cakes for English afternoon tea. 👍😋
I wanted to be surprised so I didn't research what I would get with afternoon tea. But in retrospect it would have been better to be able to say exactly what I was eating on the video.
Those cakes look amazing
They were very good but I was so full after the scones and the sandwiches that I barely had enough room to try the cakes. My husband at all of his and said every one of them was delicious.
we always keep to the left so your sword arm is free to fight off pick pockets...lol
Ah ha... I knew there was a reason! LOL. We made preparations so that we wouldn't be targets of pickpockets and it must have worked because we weren't pickpocketed.
What you thought was a modern looking make-over to the building is "Stucco" which was like a plaster finish put over the brick and favoured in the Regency and Early Victorian period, so the style is actually quite old, from late 1700s to early 1800s (although the stucco needs to be maintained by reapplying now and then to look good). It was only typically added to the street facing facade which is why the arch was left as brick and round the back of the buildings would typically be left as brick especially if they were backing out onto a railway line. The later Victorians hated it and thought it was "dishonest" architecturally and prefered decoration and architectural expression via naturally exposed brickwork.
This is interesting. Thanks for sharing.
The curry like sandwich was probably coronation chicken. Great video guys glad you're (or did) enjoying London.
Thank you for the info. Now I know what to ask for if I look for it locally. It really was very good. But I love chicken and curry so of course I’m gonna like it.
I knew from the thumbnail where you were from the china! Last time I had breakfast there (admittedly about 7 years ago) it was in the beautiful Orangery. It's a pity it's in a modern building now.
Pricewise; basic brekkie items then (granola and yoghurt, toast and marmalade, croissant) were, whilst not cheap, reasonably priced. Not stupid prices.
Enjoy the rest of your stay!
I had heard that many places had their own china so I guess this was no exception. It was expensive but not nearly as expensive as some others that I looked at. We chose this one because it was close to where we were staying and they weren't picky about a dress code.
You can walk wherever you like no one takes any notice of walking on the left or right apart from the escalators stands on the right walk up on the left side. I am for now I am from London and have never had tea sandwiches and scones
That ended up being my experience. People just walked where they wanted. No matter which side we were on, there was almost always someone coming right at us from the other way.
£85.50 bloody hell that's crazy. The joys of London tourist traps. Glad you enjoyed your trip to the UK. If you ever return try some areas like York and head up to Scotland.
It wasn’t cheap but we really enjoyed the experience so I consider it a worthwhile expense on a vacation. Yes, our next trip to the UK will be completely outside the city of London.
that is a crazy price for afternoon tea! If you ever come to the North of England - I will make it for you, you would also see a stunning part of the UK x
We chose this place because it was close to where we were staying and they weren't picky about a dress code since we didn't pack fancy clothes. It was expensive but we enjoyed the experience of having tea at a palace so it was worth it. I wouldn't do it again though. Our next trip will be outside London so we can see more of the countryside.
Oh you’re just adorable both of you! I was born in London … beautiful city … you must try a sausage roll x
Thanks for watching! Ugh... I did want to try a sausage roll but it slipped my mind while we were there. It's going on the list for the next time.
New sub to your channel its a pleasure watching your vlogs keep up great work 👍
Thanks for watching and subscribing! I sincerely appreciate it.
I have never seen people eat the sandwiches and the scones at the same time!
Adorable couple though and great video.
thanks for the kind words!
Just found your lovely vids. I'm ashamed to say I live 20 miles away from London yet haven't been since 1992!!! Bit too busy and expensive for me, so it lovely to see others enjoying it! Btw the sandwich with the curry flavour would 've been 'Coronation chicken'. sandwich filler created for the Queens coronation in 1953.
Thanks for watching! I get it. Out-of-towners like me think it's amazing but when you live that close to something it's not all that special. We visit my in-laws who live outside of New York City and they almost never go.
@@pjtufty66 unlikely to be Kedgeree in a sandwich.. much more likely to be coronation chicken.. 😊
@@pjtufty66 you’re talking Bollox. No one has ever had kedgeree in a sandwich. Meanwhile coronation chicken is famous for being in sandwiches.
If you don’t know, don’t just make sh/t up.
Our local castle at Colchester, Essex is a Norman castle built in 1076 but it's built on the foundations of the Roman temple of Claudius that was built 60CE. Incredible history and still standing and housing a good museum too.
The next trip will be outside the city so we can view more of the countryside, including a castle or two.
I want that Kensington Palace Fine China tea set
It was a very nice set. Not that I have much to compare it to.
A tip about toilets: you can always walk into a pub and ask politely to use theirs, as you can pretty much guarantee it’ll be clean. They’ll never turn you down.
Thanks! That's great info for next time. And there are pubs everywhere.
@@TwoDisneyDudes You’re welcome ☺️ It does come in handy. And of course, if they’re busy and you can just mingle with the crowd, you can get away with quietly slipping in unnoticed.
Clotted cream is actually a baked cream. I liked it so much I learned how to make it. It works best with non-pasteurized cream if you can lay hands on it. Super simple. You pop two cups of it in a 13x9 pan and bake it for 12 hours or so at 185 F. Then you put it in the fridge for half a day, scrape it off the top and save the liquid for making scones. I did my afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason and it was incredible. You know how you see desserts that are absolutely gorgeous but don't taste so great? Those tasted every bit as good as they looked. And you're so right...consider it a full meal because you will be STUFFED when you get done. At F&M they serve a full sized slice of cake after all that too. Luckily they were kind and made me a to go package. Expensive? Yep. And totally worth it. I am having SO much fun watching your video both remembering my last trip and looking forward to my next! Edit: I should just wait to comment until the end lol On the tube with your card, just be cautious that you are using a card with no foreign transaction fees (Capital One for example) or you will indeed be paying more than getting an Oyster card. Also, every person traveling has to have their own card. So there ARE some advantages to getting Oyster cards.
Walking on the right/ left- some thoughts. Firstly, most British people walk as much, or more, than they drive, so maybe don't see paths as 'pedestrian roads'. They will probably steer to whichever side seems easiest to pass you. But also, the advice for walking on roads (mostly country lanes) which don't have pavements (sidewalks) is that you should face oncoming traffic so you get plenty of warning if someone is driving towards you - ie walk on the right. Maybe some pedestrians are following this advice- though I think if they are it's probably subconcious.
I've been to a number of large cities and people just seem to walk wherever they want, following the path of least resistance. I think it's just human nature.
Legend has it, that a raven must be present in the tower at all times or England falls
I thought it was just the Tower but apparently it's all of England that will fall. I like those kinds of superstitions. Plus ravens are awesome so it was nice to have them around while we were doing our tour.
@@TwoDisneyDudes They clip their wings to stop them flying away.
@@jillhobson6128 They’re only partially clipped on one side to unbalance them a little. They can still fly and get away if they want to (a few have escaped before) but usually they choose to always return, because they actually have a nice life there. And of course clipped wings do grow back.
Looked like a very good afternoon tea. Your curry flavoured sandwich is my favourite Coronation chicken.
It was very good, thanks! I wouldn't do it again but it was nice for a splurge on a vacation. I think my favorite was the Coronation chicken too.
For the very wealthy, their china was thin and could withstand the thermal shock of containing hot tea. For the lower classes the china was much thicker and hot tea could damage it, so the milk went in first. This was a dead giveaway as to your class if you put the milk in first. Hence in the film Carry on Up the Kyber Kenneth Williams has instigated an attack on the Residency where the Governor is calmly having dinner (black tie) ignoring the chaos around him and his guests, and has the line "a thing like this leaves them unmoved, but put the milk in the tea first and they go berserk".
Thank you. This info is very interesting. I saw people do this in movies but I never knew why some added milk first and others tea first. I just always assumed it was a preference thing but it sounds like there is some real, scientific reasons behind the behavior.
London is so green that it is officially classified as a forest.... we do like our gardens
It was very lush and beautiful
Interesting video blog, as mentioned the discretionary service charge (ubiquitous London ) *is* the tip/gratuity.
That makes sense. It was pretty good service so I would have tipped on it anyway.
Wow you really made the most of that London card! :)
We planned our two days around at least breaking even with what we paid for the card. In the end, we ended up paying less than we would if we had paid for each attraction individually but not by a significant amount. Maybe 20 pounds or so saving. But we did save 10% at some shops because of it so that was an additional savings.
I was born in the UK but I live in Spain but I really enjoyed your tour of London
Thanks for watching and for the kind words!
Also, when you use contactless payment on the Underground, it’ll automatically charge you the cheapest fare, which means it will cap your charge once you hit the daily travel card amount, meaning you won’t pay extra for any journeys you make after that - and it includes all modes of London transport, such as bus and National Rail trains within London zones.
That's good to know! We did so much walking that we didn't use the Underground as much as I thought we would.
@@TwoDisneyDudes Yes and when you do walk, you realise how close a lot of the stations are. The Underground is fun, but you miss so much when you take it. That’s another reason I like walking tours. If you’re Beatles fans, there are tours for that which are very cool, and they take you around some of the places that were important in their career as well as - obviously - the legendary Abbey Road.
I was always taught look right then left and right again , and only cross if clear!
I look both ways before you cross no matter what country I’m in. It just seems like it’s the safest way.
Earl Grey is my favourite tea although I would suggest you try a few different ones. I am not a big coffee drinker; I only enjoy the flavour if is in a cake. lol.
I gained a new love of tea from this experience. In fact, I was just looking up the cost of a tea diffuser and some loose leaf earl grey and English breakfast tea on Amazon just before I saw your comment.
Josh’s moustache is excellent. Tempted to replicate it myself.
He says: thanks for the compliment! He's worked on it over many years and has gotten pretty good at curling it nowadays.
I believe that we drive on the left because in medieval times when soldiers were walking or riding a horse, most were right handed and therefore would use a sword on their right hand. So by walking/ traveling on the left you were ready to attack if need be!
This video explains! czcams.com/video/prNWTqOoeBs/video.html
This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the info.
Thank you for going to the Tower. Just to remind you that British Catholics were imprisoned there as they were not allowed to openly practice their faith until 1829 when they got emancipated. Something that some Americans are not aware of. Just a reminder 1829, despite British Catholics fighting in the British Army and Navy. Canadian Catholics got their right for religious freedom at least 40 years before British Catholics. So glad that you are enjoying afternoon tea and the sights of London.
Thanks for the info. I’m a history nerd but I don’t remember every single piece of history. I love to learn interesting facts like that.
Most Supermarkets have an excellent selection of sandwiches ,cakes ,picnic food and drinks that would have saved you a lot of money. I recommend Marks and Spencer.
The supermarkets we went into had great deli/picnic selections. We had planned on getting some sandwiches and then picnicking by the river one day but it never happened. We'll save it for next time.
Those in costume are actually beefeaters. And are part of the guard at the Tower of London. All have been in the British military usually senior non commissioned officers, including warrant officers or above. They form part of the sovereign guard.
I was about to comment that they were wearing uniforms not costumes xx
I wasn't sure if the people were actually military or were just actors dressed up for the tourists. But in retrospect, uniform would have been a better word that costume. But that's just part of the fun of unscripted commentary. Sometimes the wrong word slips out.
@@TwoDisneyDudes All the beefeaters (officially called “yeoman warders” have to have served in a senior rank in the British army for a certain number or years, so they are highly trained soldiers.
I only just discovered your channel! I am a new subscriber!
Thanks for subscribing! Glad to have you here.
The Beefeater who was our guide at the Tower of London made sure to tell us that they had to be retired military, but NOT Navy, he emphasized. He also warned us about getting too familiar with the ravens, who have a short fuse and a nasty bite!
As much as I admire the wildlife I’m smart enough to stay away from it and admire it from afar. Lol. That’s an interesting fact about the beefeaters. I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing.
Yeoman Warders not beefeaters. ..😊🇬🇧
@@Ionabrodie69 If you wish to be formal. But to say "not beefeaters" is wrong.
And apparently since 2009 they now allow former Navy personnel as well.
Nice video but PLEASE don't think that the rest of the UK is like London. We have an incredibly diverse country with so much variety it's stunning. I'm thinking of offering tours for US citizens so that they can see some of the real stuff, as opposed to the bubble that is London. I'd love Americans to see what we're really like. It's easy to concentrate on the London Tourist spots but you miss so much.
Oh, and by the way, that's the most expensive afternoon tea I've ever seen. Typically in the UK you would get a great quality tea for about £30 - £50 for two
No, I don’t think the rest of the country is like London. Cities are not always indicative of the rest of the country or state. My in-laws live in New York and as much as I love New York City it is very different than when we go visit them upstate. It’s funny you mention the cost of the afternoon tea because I thought the one we did was pretty reasonable. But maybe that’s because I was looking at a lot of top 10 list and of course the ones on there going to be the most expensive ones, right?
The beefeters are all retired military personnel, there is one specifically who looks after the ravens, they even have a breeding programme.
This is very interesting. Thank you for sharing. I really need to look at more websites about it because I find that kind of history fascinating.
*beefeaters*
Coronation Chicken, the sandwich filling you had was invented in 1953 for The Queen, by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume. It was inspired by Jubilee Chicken from 1935 when it was created for King George V. This year is The Queen's Platinum Jubilee so a lot of places in London will serve Coronation Chicken, but it is a staple sandwich filling in England at any time, even in cheap supermarket sandwiches. I hope you liked it.
I did like it. And it’s nice to know the official name in case I try to look for it locally. Thank you.
Our local pub in Lavenham suffolk charge 19.95 per person for afternoon tea it's so nice perhaps next time venture out to the out lying counties they are truly beautiful
We chose this place because it was close to where we were staying and they weren't picky about a dress code since we didn't pack fancy clothes. It was expensive but we enjoyed the experience of having tea at a palace so it was worth it. I would do afternoon tea again but I wouldn't pay that much for it. Our next trip will be outside London so we can see more of the countryside.
Glad you're enjoying yourself I've only been to our capital once I'm afraid but I live up north in Cheshire maybe one day il get there again
We enjoyed it but our next trip will be outside the city to see more of the countryside.
@@TwoDisneyDudes we do have some lovely countryside enjoy ❤️
A really interesting set of videos. I may have overlooked it but did you see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London?
We did go to see them but we weren't allowed to film in there so it's not part of the video other than my reaction to it after we saw them. Such beauty and extravagance.
That afternoon tea looked fantastic. Went to The Ritz for afternoon tea and was given a chipped cup !!
It was delicious! It's cost-prohibitive enough that I probably wouldn't do it again but I'm glad I experienced it at least once.
Odd to eat the scones with cream and jam before the sandwiches !
The "sweets" are actually "cakes" , go savoury first, then scones, then
cakes .... just better that way !
Hope you complained about the cup!. That afternoon tea, seemed reasonable, I would've asked for a doggy bag..lol...We did when in Chester, where afternoon tea in the Grosvenor Hotelfor 4 cost £154!!...
@@margaretflounders8510are we allowed to ask for a doggy bag ?
Really
my favorite city in the world. Hope to move from the US to London some day even though it's insanely expensive
I would LOVE to live in London too but you're right, the cost is very high. The cost for places in Denver is also high but it's even worse in London.
Great video , but the beefeaters are not wearing costumes but uniform they are the queens body guard on offical occasions e.g weddings, funerals , etc and they are all from the armed forces too 🙂
I wasn't sure if the people at the tower were true beefeaters or if they were just dressed up like beefeaters for the tourists so the word costume came naturally. But you're right! Uniform would be a better word than costume. Thanks for the correction.
@@TwoDisneyDudes Yes, they're true Beefeaters (officially "Yeoman Warders", but also known as Beefeaters). They're all retirees from the armed forces. They have their own homes in the Tower where they live with their families.
we just walk were ever we please especially on the sunny side of the street
That was my experience. It's not just London though. Every city I've been to has been like that. I think it's just human nature to take the path of least resistance whether it's on the right or the left.
In the UK we pronounce “buoy” the same as “boy”.
yes, that had confused me for years !
I think there are places in the US where there is no discernable difference between the pronunciation of buoy versus boy too. I can see how that might be confusing at the beach: "Hey, check out that boy/buoy." :-)
@@TwoDisneyDudes It's said like 'boy' as it's from 'buoyant' which is why a lot of us Brits find the US way confusing. The first time someone from the US said it to me it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what they meant :D
The cream tea looked nice and as a one off was not a bad price . When I was a kid the one real treat I looked forward to was clotted cream when holidaying in the West country because back then clotted cream was not available in shops in the the south East of England . I have not been into London for about 8 years but your video is making me want to go and considering I live just outside of the Outer London boundary there is not real excuse .
I'd never had clotted cream before but now I want to track some down now that we're back home. I wasn't sure what to expect but I found it deliciously creamy without being sickly sweet.
Lol, you stole my comment, my Grandmother came from Yeovil, so we would head for the West Country to visit her family at least once a year, and I’d sulk if we didn’t get to go out for a cream tea. There’s an old family story that when my parents got married (in 1970), my great aunt was tasked with bringing an industrial quantity of the stuff up to Nottingham to be served to the guests at their wedding breakfast. The car had reached Wiltshire when she realised they had left it behind, and they set about hunting for a grocery store in the hope of buying some, only to be told that such a thing wasn’t available that far out of the West Country, they’d have to head for Somerset (Wiltshire, best known for Stonehenge is the next county to the east of Somerset)
@@johnd6487 I like that story and did they head back into Somerset to get the cream ? . Now we can all get clotted cream anywhere so it has in a way taken the treat factor out of it .
@Martin Gregory I don’t think they did (I’m afraid none of them are alive to ask now, including my parents), I have a feeling there was a further complication, like it was getting late in the day - hence the problem finding somewhere to try and buy some, I’m assuming it was back when they headed up the Fosse rather than the M5. I do recall my aunt going on about having a fridge full of cream to find a home for after they got back. Now I think of it, didn’t you used to be able to have it sent by post as a gift? I faintly remember my Gran once getting sent some encased in a big block of polystyrene to keep it cool. I wonder if they couldn’t have ordered it. I do remember my excitement when I first saw it for sale up here, I don’t recall where, but I suspect it was M&S.. it usually is lol
The walkway you went on at Tower Bridge was how you crossed if the bridge was up(No charge)which it was many times a day because cargo boats
had to go to and from the docks,
That's an interesting tidbit of info. Thanks for sharking.
Should be strawberry jam...pleased to see that its Tiptree jam! Clotted cream is just boiled cream...you put it on in the Devon way, cream then jam, some put it on in the Cornish way, jam then cream! The cakes you weren't sure of were a citrous cheesecake and a victoria sponge and yes, its very filling! Those prices were London prices, not the norm!
Thanks for the info! We chose this place because it was close to where we were staying and they weren't picky about a dress code since we didn't pack fancy clothes. It was expensive but we enjoyed the experience of having tea at a palace so it was worth it. I wouldn't do it again though.
Great, entertaining video. Interestingly, there are segments of Roman walls in various locations in The City of London. I hope you went into The White Tower, the main, original, building slap bang in the middle of The Tower Of London. Very well put together. Bravo!
I remember seeing the middle tower but we pretty much did all the outside towers and battlements and then saw the Crown Jewels and felt like it was time to move on. But we probably missed something incredible in the White Tower, huh?
@@TwoDisneyDudes The White Tower is where they house the “Line of Kings”, which is a large exhibition of the immaculate suits of armour worn by the various kings of England (and multiple suits for each, such as Henry the VIII as he put on weight and needed bigger ones 😆), as well the most incredible antique, life-size wooden horses.
I absolutely would not have left any of those desserts uneaten 😂
Ha ha... I really wanted to eat them but I was so full.
@@TwoDisneyDudes I would have started with them, sod the sarnies 😄
Personally when having scones I put plenty of the jam on first followed by a lot of clotted cream only because it's a lot easier to spread.
The reason for the milk. / cream going in the cup first was many years ago the tea cups from China were very thin so when you put hot or boiling water in them they used to break so that's why the tea went in second .
It took Wedgewood years to find the secret of making tea cups like in china and it was bone , hence the name of Bone China
Thanks for this info! I knew there must be a reason for it but now it feels like it's one of those behaviors that once had a specific purpose but then just became a tradition. I have found after putting up this video that people have very sincerely-held (sometimes conflicting) beliefs about whether the jam or the clotted cream goes first.
I visited the Tower of London in the mid 80's. It doesn't seem to have changed.
I probably hasn't changed in hundreds of years, right? Other than getting updated with electricity and plumbing and other modern conveniences.
And how exactly would a 1000 year fortified castle CHANGE…? 🤷♀️😊🇬🇧
Best advice for anyone visiting London, spend some time visiting the historic sites but id suggest a hotel in the suburbs and for eating and drinking. Central London is a rip off. Btw, i live in north London and unless its for work i wouldn't bother going in the centre.
Although we were very pleased with our choice, if we went back then we'd get a less expensive hotel not in the city center. For this very first trip, we wanted to be more in the city.
I have my tickets for Bloom at The Town of London. This will be a wild meadow, celebrating the Jubilee in June 2022.
That sounds amazing. I'm jealous.
The diamond in the crown is only part of the Cullinan diamond. It is from south africa. It was cut into smaller pieces, of which 2 or 3 pieces ended up as brooches the queen wore.
Thanks for the info! The crown jewels were fascinating to see and even more exciting when we saw King Charles being crowned.
@@TwoDisneyDudes You are very welcome. Also the diamond in the scepter was the biggest piece they cut from it, the 2nd largest is in the crown itself.
I have a photo of myself talking to one of the guards at the Tower Of London I was 4 or 5 I am 67 now
What an awesome memory to have!
I believe that Pizza Express, or atleast its original owner, was responsible for bringing pizza to the UK back in the 60s. It has fell on hard times in recent years with so much competition, they are riddled with debt and currently owned by bondholders trying to save it.
You can buy ready made versions of their pizzas in supermarkets for about £4
I enjoyed it. It wasn't the best pizza I ever had but I like almost all pizza so it really hit the spot.
We always take the scones home…
I would have liked to have taken sweets home but we weren’t going to be back at our hotel for quite a while so we left what we didn’t eat. I would love to have some more of those scones as I write this. Lol
I just wanted to point out about the the mobile phone and sim you mentioned.
what you are referring to is called pay as you go and you would do excatly what you doing however just like America most people have contracts like the way you explained how it works for you back home. it's the same here
Ahh... interesting. I thought it was all top up sim cards. Thanks for sharing.
The thing with walking wherever you want and not bothering with sides isn't unique to London. Literally everyone does it (unless you're walking on a country road with no pavement, then you walk on the right so you can see oncoming traffic and know when to keep way off the road as they come by), its an acquired skill to be able to weave through crowds of people on the pavement effortlessly.
Oh yeah, it's true. It's the same when we're in New York City and was the same in Paris. People just walk wherever and you learn to weave through.
The only place where we strictly adhere to the left is on escalators on the London Underground, it allows those who wish to hurry get past you.
Everybody gets charged the 'discretionary fee'. You can refuse to pay it if you want. It largely replaces the tip - although servers are happy to accept tips as well.
We had a good time so I probably would have tipped anyway but it's nice to know that I could have asked them to remove it if I wanted to. Something to know for the future. Thanks for sharing.