Wolter Family Vacation (London, Venice, & Caorle)

Tuesday, August 9

Today was the day we fly out to London to meet Preston's family. He was beyond excited! It had been over a year since he had seen his family. I was lucky and actually got to see them recently when I went home for my work trip.

Preston and I's flight got in before his parents did so that gave us plenty of time to enough a nice "normal" breakfast.

Once his parents arrived we all headed over to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Mayfair. Which ended up being the perfect location for us as the metro was just a block away for us.

Today was going to be a pretty chill day for all of us. Just wandering around the city, eating in a pub...

and then at night a Jack the Ripper tour, which was actually pretty interesting. We got to learn why the still mysterious murderer was named Jack the Ripper, see where some of the murders took place and walk in there footsteps and even see some of the gruesome pictures from the murders. Very interesting tour and especially if you want to know more of the spookier/gruesome side of London.

After this tour it was time to get some sleep before our full day of touring tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 10

Today we did not have anything planned for the morning, but we did have our Harry Potter tour booked for the afternoon. Which I was beyond excited for! So this morning was for exploring around London on our own.

First we hopped on the tube right by our apartment to bring us a little closer to Buckingham Palace. Once getting off we walked through Green Park towards Buckingham Palace. Very peaceful in this park.

(Princess Diana Memorial Walk)

 Now of course to take pictures in front of Buckingham Palace.

Then we got to see some of the guards riding down Constitution Hill or "The Mall" towards Buckingham Palace.

Along with some other monuments along the way.

We walked down The Mall up to Trafalgar Square where we saw Nelson's Column.

And then of course had to stop and take pictures with the infamous red phone booths!

Then we continued down Whitehall Street to see The Women of World War II memorial, then a little further down to Big Ben and a statue of Winston Churchill.

This brought us down to the River Thames, where we would hop on a river boat to take it up and down the seeing all the sights along the river. Across the river where we got on the river boat you could see the London Eye; we did not go on that this time but Preston and I did the first time we came to London and it was very pretty at night!

Very relaxing to just sit and enjoy the views going down the river.

(Bridge in Harry Potter)

(London Bridge)

We went all the way down to the Tower of London and then turned around and went back to our starting point. This is a great way to see a lot of sights if you don't have time, plus it's very relaxing. Right by Big Ben there are so many different companies you can purchase tickets from for tours up and down the Thames River, all with varying prices depending on what you want to see.

(Entry to the Traitors Gate)

(The Tower of London)

(Cleopatra's Needle)

After the river boat cruise, we still had some time left until we had to meet for our Harry Potter tour. So we headed over to see the Westminster Abbey.

Then off to find a quick lunch before the tour!

Time to hop on Hogwarts Express to the Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter! The bus ride was about an hour away from London. But while on the bus you got to watch one of the Harry Potter movies to keep you occupied.

You can tell how beyond excited we were when we got there!

The lobby of the Studio.

(First movie)

(Last movie)

There are many different time slots you can go into the Studio; we had one of the last time slots for the day, which for our day was 4pm. Some days are different with their last tour times. Which made it nice since we did not have hundreds of people coming in behind us getting in our way.

I felt like a little kid again walking into the world of Harry Potter and seeing all of the props used in the movies!

(The Sorting Hat)

(Weasley's House)

Of course when we got to the food I had to try their Butterbeer. Definitely different than the one I had in Universal Studios in Florida, not as sweet.

One thing I really wish I did while walking through the Studio is the flying on a broomstick. I'm so upset I didn't get to do it, but the line was super long and plus we still had the whole studio to walk through and we were a part of the last group to go through, so did not want to spend my whole time waiting in line there. Maybe another time :)

This tour is definitely worth it! If you like or even love Harry Potter, try and make your way over to do this Studio Tour.

By the time we were finishing it was dark out and time to catch the bus back to London.

Thursday, August 11

Today was our guided morning tour around a few parts of London. Our tour departed from Victoria Coach Station, which is generally where most bus tours leave out of.

The first part was driving us around to see some of the major sites in London, such as Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, and then driving down the by The River Thames to get to our first hop-off location, The Tower of London.

At The Tower of London we had a guided tour with a Beefeater, which they are technically called Yeoman Warders. They are the guards of The Tower of London. Our tour guide kept it interesting and did not make it boring for us, he was also pretty funny. He told us about the history at The Tower of London, some of the different tortures and murders that happened here, along with some of the items they have on display for us to go see.

(Tower of London)

(Tower where the boys were supposedly murdered)

(Place where multiple people had their heads chopped off at)

Next on the agenda was to hop on a river boat again down the River Thames to make our way to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. But first we got to go by St. Paul's Cathedral, see Shakespeare's Globe, and then onto see Westminster Abbey before hoping off.

(Boat ride down the Thames River)

After watching the Changing of the Guard, we decided to leave our morning group tour to find somewhere to eat for lunch, as the only stop left of the tour was just to see Buckingham Palace, which we had already seen the day before.

We ended up going to Hard Rock London, which is actually the first and oldest Hard Rock in the world; it was opened on June 14, 1971. It's always really cool to see whose items of clothing or instruments they have displayed on the wall.

(Jim Morrison jacket & Jon Anderson harp)

(Eric Clapton guitar)

(George Harrison,  Paul McCartney & John Lennon shirts)

(John Bonham's drums from Led Zeppelin)

(Jimi Hendrix outfit and guitar)

Lunch...

Plus, at this location if you go in their gift shop next door they have a special private room downstairs you can ask to go see some more belongings from famous artists and musicians.

(Red Hot Chili Peppers)

(Jimi Hendrix)

(Jeff Beck)

(Madonna)

(Sting)

(David Bowie)

(Duane Allman)

(Adam Clayton)

(Bob Dylan)

(B.B. King)

(Black Sabbath)

(Elton John)

(Bruce Kulick)

After this it was time to go back to the hotel to get all of our stuff ready, as our flight left later that evening to go back to Italy.

Friday, August 12

Even though we just got back from London late the night before, there was no time to relax, not if Preston's family wanted to be able to do everything they had wanted to. So this morning we hopped on a train down to Venice.

Instead of taking the boat down to the main square, Piazza San Marco, we all decided to just wander through the city and eventually find our way there. And along the way we had to stop and take a gondola ride. Every time I go on a gondola ride there always seems to be a big group, 6 to be exact, so it is always very funny to see our boat go by as it is usually lower than most hehe

I always enjoy the views through the city on a gondola, so pretty!

Next stop was to Piazza San Marco. Always a very lively square!

Then to take a picture in the same spot Preston and I did the first time we came down to Venice.

(Same spot we took our first picture in Venice)

We then found a place by the water to eat lunch. Which ended up being pretty good!

Then time to wander back to the train station. 

But first, gelato!

Saturday, August 13

Beach day!! Another reason why I love Italy and summer. There are beaches within an hour of base, can't beat that!

We decided to take Preston's family to Caorle beach, as this is one of our favorite beaches to go to. Only about an hour away and there's so much space that it never feels crowded. Plus, there is more room to lay out your own towels, instead of having the for rent beach chairs all the way up to the water like at some beaches.

After setting all of our stuff down and relaxing for a little, we decided to rent 2 paddleboats and 2 paddleboards for all of us. This was probably one of the best times I have ever had at the beaches here! We were all just playing around, having fun going down the slides and watching his family try to paddleboard.

Today was fun and relaxing day!

When we got back we had to take his family to one of our favorite places to get gelato sundaes before they continue their European adventure; as tomorrow is when Preston and his family do an Italian tour through Italy. Unfortunately I could not go and had to work because I needed to save up my leave anyway.

Recommendations

Hotel: 
Holiday Inn Mayfair
3 Berkeley St, Mayfair, London W1J 8NE, UK

Tours:
Premium Tours - Royal London Morning Tour
https://www.premiumtours.co.uk

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
Harry Potter Tour
https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

Jack the Ripper Tour