Summer 2026 Graduation Celebration: Edinburgh, London, Disneyland Paris, Paris - Day 7 London

We had a break from the tube strike! We got ready and got on the tube to meet up with a friend that Emmaline went to elementary school (Charlie) with and by extension my friend (his mom, Octavia). We haven’t seen them since our kids were little (they had moved away to Oklahoma and then to London - they both have dual citizenship). We met at Tower Bridge, something none of us had done before. It was fun to go up and across the bridge and they have it set up like a little museum, which is really cool. 

After that we grabbed some snacks nearby as it started to rain (again). We were going to part company because Octavia needed to write (she’s an author) but she decided to write later and hang with us for the day. Charlie goes to university in London and was done with school so they got to tag along our itinerary for the day. 

After our snack, Emmaline wanted to see Big Ben since the last time we saw it, it was covered in scaffolding so we went over there and took some photos in the wind and rain. From there we went over to a street with bookstores called Cecil Court and did some shopping. We also hit the Primark because Emmaline’s Chucks were trashed and had a hole in the side which isn’t terrible on a dry day, but it was a problem on this day. So she got a cheap pair of fake Nikes and we continued onward. 

After that we all enjoyed lunch together at Cafe in the Crypt which is literally a cafe in a crypt underneath a church. You literally just have lunch on top of dead people. Good times! It was the best meal I had in London, not joking (though Emmaline and Roger were less into their dishes). We parted ways with Charlie and Octavia and went back to our place to do some packing and also to get ready for our second theatrical experience in London. We did some packing and I ran out and got some coffees from a place around the corner while Emmaline showered and got ready. (The coffees were great. London was 2/2 in the coffee dept.) 

We took the tube back over to the theatre district and made a quick stop off at the London Disney Store before going to a pub for some more traditional fare for dinner. It was one of our better pub experiences. We didn’t have dessert because we were saving ourselves for ice cream at the show. They serve ice cream at intermission on the West End! 

Disney’s Hercules was fun and upbeat and colorful, but it wasn’t as amazing as I wanted it to be. The muses were phenomenal and the dancing and choreography was great, as was the actress who played Meg, but we didn’t love the Hercules actor and the show just didn’t have much pizazz when Meg or the muses weren’t onstage. Of the Disney produced stage musicals I’ve seen (Aladdin - both touring and Broadway, The Lion King on Broadway, and Beauty and the Beast touring) it was my least favorite. (Aladdin on Broadway is my winner but The Lion King is a very close second if anyone is curious.) The ice cream was good.

Since we could take the tube, it was much quicker for us to get home and we went straight to bed because we had to get up early to take the Eurostar the following morning to France.