Our Final Day - London Aquarium

We were incredibly lucky with the weather in London pretty much the entire time we were there.  We had temps in the upper 40s during the day with sun (yes sun, in London!).  However, as we knew, this couldn't last.  And our last day the weather was... blech.... it started off with some rain (surprise!) and temps in the lower 30s with a promise of only improving by a few degrees.

Our last token shot by Big Ben...

And the London Eye (the aquarium is the building right in front of it)

This made our choice for our final day in London all the better - the Aquarium.  Situated near Big Ben and the London Eye, we figured we would also try the latter if we had enough time.  Similar to every museum we have been in so far, the Aquarium was equally busy with a lot less space to put everyone in!  It was the first line we had to wait in since we actually had to pay for the aquarium unlike the museums in the city.  But it went fast and before we knew it, we were in.

As far as aquariums go, it wasn't too bad.  It wasn't the best nor the worst.  I would say it has less species than the one in Barcelona but it is a whole lot more kid friendly than the one we have here.  The aquarium here in Barcelona is more formal feeling and kids can't just be kids - they are expected to be silent.  But here in London, the setup was more like a pirate ship which oozed kids.  There was a shark tank which you could actually walk over - a pretty cool experience.  And of course, lots of places for the kids to sit and watch the fish swim by.

Walking over the shark tank... I will admit, for me, a bit nerve wracking!

Kids playing on top of the shark tank - yup, a little more nerve wracking... can we move on already???

Touch tank!  Unlike at the New England Aquarium, there was only 2 things you could touch in this tank, but the kids were happy nonetheless.

Of course, because it was so crowded it was hard to sit and just watch the fish.  And Aidan, like myself, isn't a fan of crowds.  So we worked our way through the aquarium a bit faster than I think we normally would have liked.  But it was fun regardless and we had a good time checking out all the fish!

Seahorse looks like he's dead but I assure you he isn't... he's just holding on to the seagrass.

We waited to see if he would attack any fish below him but he just kept sitting there... BORING...

Watching the turtles

SHARKS!!

After the aquarium we had a few hours to spare before having to head over to the airport.  We grabbed lunch nearby - sadly it was not the most impressive lunch and I really hate leaving a city on a "bad" note.  But we were all in good moods and so we didn't let it keep us down.  I think overall we covered pretty much everything, well everything except the London Eye which that day didn't have any availability til 3PM when we had to head to the airport.  So I guess we'll have to save that one for our next trip ;)

All in all, London was more than I could have hoped for it to be.  It was a little taste of home and yet, totally and completely different from home.  It was fun, educational and a really great family trip!!  Up next month for the fam... Malta!!

Besos,
Julie