Thursday, July 31, 2025

Riding the Chunnel, or Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel

If you've ever wanted to ride on a train or drive a car underwater, this is your chance! Travel from Europe to England and back through the Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel as it's commonly called.

The official website for the Chunnel, or Channel Tunnel, is here: Chunnel

You can drive your car through the Chunnel by using Le Shuttle and starting in Folkestone, England and arriving in Calais, France. The ride is approximately 35 minutes. It costs anywhere from 300 to 600 pounds for a round trip. The complicated part about driving between England and Europe is switching sides of the road once you get there.

You can also ride through the Chunnel on a passenger train, through Eurostar. This is much less expensive way to ride through the Chunnel. We rode the Chunnel in November and December of 2024. We couldn't see much when we were underwater because we were always inside the tunnel. Eurostar tickets all go to London in England, but can arrive in Paris, Belgium, or Amsterdam in Europe. Tickets cost 39 pounds or more. We chose our seats when we purchased our tickets online.

Our seats on the Eurostar train that took us through the Chunnel.

Once you come out of the water you can see the countryside as you ride the rest of the way to London.

The London Eye

The official website of the London Eye is here: The London Eye Tickets are 29 pounds per adult if you purchase them online. If you purchase them in person they are 39 pounds each. There are other more expensive options, such as a fast track ticket or ticket combined with a river cruise. It is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the summer, and 6 p.m. in other seasons except on certain occasions. You can book your tickets up to 5 months in advance.

The London Eye is located at Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7PB. It is 443 feet high. It is also known as the Millennium Wheel and was designed as part of a competition to design something to bring in the new millennium. It opened in 2000. It is on the edge of the Thames River and offers 360 degree views as it spins around. It is the tallest observation wheel in the world. It is on a slow rotation, with each ride taking about 30 minutes. It rotates slow enough for passengers to climb in and out as it continues rotating.

The London Eye is very close to the Westminster Bridge, and across the street from Big Ben

The London Eye was featured in several movies, including the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, as seen in this movie clip: London Eye in the Fantastic Four

It also appears briefly in this clip from Mission Impossible: Fallout: Mission Impossible: Fallout

The Borough Market

The Borough Market in London

The Borough Market is near London Bridge and is a fun market under a glass roof that offers many choices for food. We ate lunch there on our visit to London in November 2024. It is located at London SE1 9AL, United Kingdom. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. It is closed on Mondays.

Location of the Borough Market - very close to London Bridge

Map of the Borough Market

When we visited at the end of November 2024, the market was decorated for Christmas

The Borough Market has excellent macaroni and cheese

Incidentally, the Borough Market was used during the filming of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." The entrance to "The Leaky Cauldron" was filmed at the Borough Market in London, specifically at 7A Stoney Street, which is under a railway bridge. It is now a restaurant called "Tacos El Pastor," and their website is here: Tacos El Pastor

Next door at 8 Stoney Street was the "Third Hand Book Emporium" in the movie. This location is a restaurant called "Arthur Hooper's" and their website is here: Arthur Hooper's

This scene begins when the Knight Bus drops Harry Potter off at the Leaky Cauldron. The entrance to the Leaky Cauldron is the Tacos El Pastor. You can see the Third Hand Book Emporium as Harry exits the bus and heads into the Leaky Cauldron. A few minutes later in the film when Harry looks out the window at the train driving by, you see the glass roof of the Borough Market, which is very distinctive. This video clip shows the Borough Market as a train drives past the distinctive glass roof: Borough Market in Harry Potter and this clip shows Harry Potter getting dropped off at the Leaky Cauldron, which is also at the Borough Market: Knight Bus drops off Harry Potter at Leaky Cauldron

train driving past the roof of the Borough Market

Harry looking down on the Borough Market as people shop in the market

The Knight Bus dropping Harry off at the Leaky Cauldron, which is located at 8 Stoney Street in the Borough Market

distinctive roof of the Borough Market as seen in the movie

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

London Bridge

As a child, we all sang "London Bridge is falling down..." Well, the London Bridge is not falling down. It is standing, and can be visited at any time in London. It is located at London EC4R 3TN, United Kingdom. There is no charge to visit or walk across the London Bridge. From the London Bridge, you can view the equally famous Tower Bridge, which is a 14 minute walk from London Bridge. London Bridge is also very close to Borough Market, which is a fun market to visit with lots of eating choices. Borough Market was used in the filming of Harry Potter. London Bridge crosses the Thames River and was built in 1831. It is unknown how the nursery rhyme came to be that "London Bridge is falling down."

This is under the bridge. It's temporarily closed, but here is their official website: The London Bridge Experience

You can walk the Old Watermen's Walk between the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge

There are stairs that go down to the Thames River

My daughter wanted to touch the water

view of London Bridge from the Watermen's Walk

The Watermen's Walk

View of the Tower Bridge from the London Bridge (zoomed in a little)

Location of the London and Tower Bridges

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge in London, England has appeared in numerous movies, including Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mission-Impossible:Rogue Nation, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Sherlock Holmes, just to name a few. Tower Bridge was built between 1886 and 1894. It is 940 feet long, and the towers on either side are 213 feet high. It crosses the Thames River and is relatively close to the London Bridge, about a 14 minute walk between the two bridges. The address of Tower Bridge is Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UP, United Kingdom. You can walk across the lower section of the Tower Bridge at no cost and at any time, but if you want to climb the towers and walk across the upper portion, you have to book your tickets in advance. We arrived at the Tower Bridge in November 2024 and attempted to buy tickets on the spot, but it was fully booked. I wish we had reserved them in advance. Here is their official website: Tower Bridge

The cost is 16 pounds for adults and 8 pounds for children, and as long as you book your tickets one day ahead, you should be fine. Buying tickets allows you to walk on the glass floors and east and west walkways, and visit the engine rooms and towers. It is open from 9:30 am until the last visit time of 4:30 p.m. Their website also tells you when to expect a bridge lift, which is when the lower part of the bridge lifts in the center to allow ships to pass through on the river.