Flying To Heathrow Airport In England & National Portrait Gallery Fun

Oh gosh, in case anyone was wondering, the food served in economy class on an international flight is ick. At least it was on American Airlines. Maybe other airlines are better. And obviously if you pay for business or first class, the food is edible.

But this? That's a chicken covered in sauce that reminded me of tar, flavorless rice, tough bread, crackers & some cheese (that wasn't too bad), and salad (I did eat that.) 

I still have nightmares over that chicken. 

Let me back up though.

We recently returned from a nearly 2 week trip to London, Scotland, and Ireland. It was a fabulous trip. Exhausting at times. But fabulous.

We flew from San Antonio to Chicago. Chicago to Heathrow in London. It was a little over 6 hours on that leg. We were supposed to sleep because when we landed, we were going on a walking tour of London. 

Could I sleep? 

Er. 

Not really. I tried. I think I got maybe 2 hours. 

Mind you, the airline did pass out pillows and blankets, but the seats are tiny and it's tough to find a comfortable position. 

So we landed and I was a bit out of it. Jet lagged, confused, and slightly stinky. 

But thrilled to be in London. Yes, it was raining, but it rains often in London. We were stationed in England for 3 years, so I know this. 

Luckily our luggage arrived (I had a fear that it would get lost and I'd be stuck re-washing the same pair of underwear for days) and we were taken to the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The National Portrait Gallery is FREE and is full of impressive art. 

My favorite area was the Tudors one. 

Name this Tudor.

If you said Edward, the longed for legitimate son of Henry VIII, you'd be correct. Jane gave him the boy he desired and then died soon after. Sadly, Edward died at 15. 

Name this Queen.

I mean, duh, it's Anne Boleyn, my fave Queen, who refused to give up the goods until Henry married her. Kind of. She was a few months pregnant when they officially married, but I'd like to think that she held out for as long as she could. But I get it, a girl's got needs, and she was getting up there in age and had promised Henry a boy. (She did not give him a living one. She gave him Elizabeth, who rocked, but Henry was like a petulant child and whined, "You promised me a boy!" and she was like, "Next time!" and he was like, "Okay!" and then miscarriages happened and he accused her of being a witch.)

Here's Elizabeth, Anne's daughter:

She kicked ass as a Queen. She basically told the men to shut up when they kept trying to get her to marry someone and eventually told them all she was married to England and to kiss her ass. Natalie's middle name is Elizabeth after Elizabeth I to remind her to not tolerate nonsense from men. 

The entire Tudor area was breathtaking, but we did venture to other parts of the gallery.

There are so many lovely portraits and the rooms are spacious with plenty of seating if you're jet lagged as we were. 

Oh gosh, honestly, walking through was like a dream. My brain was foggy for lack of sleep and it was hard to process that I WAS IN LONDON. 

Oh, we forget who this Old Hollywood actress was, but she kinda looked like Natalie:

I highly recommend the National Portrait Gallery. It's located by Trafalgar Square and again, it's FREE. 

Halfway through Natalie was like, "Oh, can we find that Lady Jane Grey execution painting?" You've probably seen it on Tik Tok. We circled the place and thought we couldn't find it because we were half asleep.

It turns out it was around the corner in the National Gallery. Completely different spot. 

Oh. 

So we left and headed over to pay our respects to Lady Jane Grey. (Google her. The story is frightening.)

Anyhow, have you ever been to the National Portrait Gallery?