ABBA DAY!!!!!!

And a full day it was. Up early and off to the Borough Market. The market scene is often one of the first places we visit when we hit a city. A great way to check out the people, the vibe... and the food. The Borough did not disappoint. We got there about a half hour before it opened but we could still cruise around. It was fun watching them make the risotto, slice the cheese and cover the strawberries in chocolate. I could spend hours here... but we had to head to the ABAA VOYAGE concert by 11:30. Out to Pudding Mill Lane on the tube/underground. We grabbed a 'sip' and were ushered into the concert venue at about 12:50. The concert started at exactly 1:00 PM and ran for about 95 minutes.

A bit about the concert. A dedicated stadium was built to host the 3000 or so visitors for 7 concerts per week. It took several years of high tech programming, recording, etc... to create the concert. Probably the most amazing 'tech' experience we've seen. The company worked with the ABBA members (averaging 75 years of age) to put together the performance. A 10 piece band is situated a bit out of site. But on the main stage are the 4 members of ABBA as they appeared in the 70's. It 100% looks like 4 live people dancing around the stage. It was impossible to tell that they were projected avatars of the 4. If you get a chance ... Google ABBA VOYAGE and watch the 1 minute clip. It was incredible.

After a tube ride back to our hotel, we were off to Piccadilly Circus which to us, seemed like NYC Time's Square located in London. Tons of shops, bars, restaurants, buskers, a Chinatown and everything you could or maybe can't imagine. A real cool place to hang out. From there, back on the tube and off to bed. We were up at 7:30 to tube out to Heathrow for our flight home Monday afternoon.

As for the London Metro... what an amazing system. You can now just tap your credit card when entering the system and then tap out when you leave. It is a cheap, fast and efficient way to get literally everywhere. Our trip from downtown London to Heathrow cost us $1.74CDN per person. A cab was close to $200.00CDN. We travelled all over the city for 2 days and no trip cost us more than $1.74. So neat.

So this essentially ends another amazing trip. Thanks to Jim and Maura Lee Murray as well as Linda Juurlink/Iris Stanley (who we just ran into on the plane over) for making the river cruise part of our trip such a treat!! And of course to Colleen and Paul Kearney.... our Europe partners for the last 9 years. I think this was our 6th trip to Europe. Confident, flexible and keen travel partners. Until the next one.

Using local guides

We make a point of relying on the expertise of others when travelling:

-Travel experts like Janie and Chris Lumsden have in the past (and continue to) inspire us to hunt down neat spots to visit. We’ve hit a ton of Europe so far, but one look at the map reveals so many possibilities.

-Printed guides like Rick Steve’s are helpful to get a feel for the areas we’ll visit. One of the most exciting days of the planning experience is going on Amazon to purchase a few new guides.

-We take advantage of Rick’s Audio Guides as well. We download some of his ‘walks/tours’ to our phones and the plug in our earbuds as we move through neighbourhoods.

-We always believe in hiring a local city guide (or a free one) for our first full day in a city. It helps us gain a little better understanding of our neighbourhood and the city itself.

-We really believe in hiring some of the professional guides when visiting areas like museums and galleries as it is just not worth it to venture into these places with our untrained eyes and ears. Many of these guides hold a Ph.D. in History and Art and are an endless source of amazing facts.

Here are a few travel tips that we’ve learned over the years:

-Don’t carry too much cash as there are bank machines everywhere… but try your best to use one attached to a valid bank.

-When choosing accommodations, look for spots near metro, tram and bus stops as it can just make things so much easier.

-Eat where the locals eat. Look for a place that DOES NOT have a TOURIST MENU SPECIAL. Instead find a place with NO English on the menu.Read more