We woke up on the fifth day of the trip to our ‘free’ day – a day in London that we set aside to do anything that occurred to us along the way. We discussed with my niece the day before, and the following things came up for us to do:
– A trip to the British Library (located right next to our hotel)
– Going back to the coffee shop that now inhabits The Leaky Cauldron location so that some souvenirs can be purchased (it was closed during our tour)
– Going to the Bipimbap restaurant near The Leaky Cauldron for lunch/dinner (it was closed when our tour went)
– Visiting the Korean cultural center to see their art exhibit
This means an easy day for me – because while I’m up for the British Library, I wanted some time to catch up on the blog and get ready to fly out to Scotland so I begged out of everything after that and after breakfast we headed over to the Library right away.
They are currently running a “Fairy Tales” experience at the library, and we went through as a family. They have some pretty cool things, themed rooms, and walk you through the lore and elements that build a great Fairy Tale. They also have examples, some from hundreds of years ago, all in the same genre. It was fun to walk through!
The tour starts off whimsical, with signposts on the walls
The little cottage has a little cottage painting inside!
This is also a family friendly exhibit – so there are things for kids to climb, genie lamps to rub with an ‘interactive’ prompt, and troll bridges to climb over that are either pressure or photo-sensitive – so Shrek actually yells at you to get out of his swamp as you run across.
We hung around the Library a bit more after completing the exhibit – they have some amazing documents including the original Magna Carta (one of the first known founding papers of any government structure or ‘rule of law’ in history (sorry, no photo. It wasn’t a room you took photos in, period).
After that, my brother-in-law and niece headed off to bipimbap and touring, and the rest of the family and I grabbed lunch at the museum cafe (which was… let’s say… forgettable and regrettable, if I’m honest). We headed back to the hotel, recharged, and reconnected for dinner once it was time.
On our last day in London not only was it raining and windy… but the Tube was also closed due to a labor strike. We wandered into the train station attached to the hotel (St. Pancras International), and ended up down in the shops and restaurants below the station where we found “The Breakfast Club” – an American diner that serves breakfast all day.
I had huevos rancheros with chorizo. It was also forgettable – way too ‘healthy’ to be what it was advertised to be. I should be mad, but a healthier diner breakfast? It was still passable, if not perfect, so I guess I’ll call it a win. My nephew was happy, for the most part, and who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? It was a good way to wrap up our time before we headed back to pack – and eventually that’s exactly what we did.
A sign in St. Pancras International – Miss you Carli!
I’m combining Days 5 and 6 here, there’s not too much for Day 6, so that brings me to:
Day 6 – Flying to Edinburgh, Scotland
We awoke lazily on the day of our flight to Edinburgh – the flight was in the early afternoon and we had to be out of our rooms and to the lobby by 10am. We had breakfast (I had the benedict, above!) checked out, and got to the airport and to the gate without issue. This was one of those airports where they don’t advertise the gate until 10 minutes before the flight, but we ended up doing well and finding everything we needed quickly and easily. We got onto the plane, and 90 minutes later we were in Scotland.
Even our plane was happy with the flight
Our travel agency arranged pickup, and we were whisked to our hotel – The Balmoral. The reason we picked the Balmoral is that it is the hotel where J. K. Rowling finished the final Harry Potter book. There’s actually a suite dedicated to her now, and we hope to get a picture of the door at least!
All of that said, it’s also one of the finest hotels in Scotland, and even the world – at least according to Forbes. It was listed as a “Top Place to Stay” by Forbes in 2026 – and it didn’t take long to see why. Our check-in experience was amazing, the staff was extremely friendly, and it just got better from there. We got welcome gifts of snacks and chocolates, they even had special foods for my niece and nephew the first afternoon and plush toy owls for them that evening waiting on their pillows after nighttime turndown service!
Both of them loved it – I was even told my niece ‘forgot to be an angsty teenager’ for a minute and was simply joyful for the little surprise. I can’t ask for a better memory than that on a trip like this! Her being happy and making memories is the whole reason for the trip! Thank you Balmoral, and staff!
One of the streets adjacent to the Royal Mile
We headed out from our hotel and up the “North Bridge” – this leads to the ‘Royal Mile” which is a part of Edinburgh between two royal residences I’ll tell you more about later this week after we take the tours. We wandered around a bit, looked through a few streets, and found a ramen place for dinner. Mine was delicious – maybe not the best I’ve ever had but for ramen this far from Japan – they’re doing just fine. The meat was great, the soup was delicious, I have very few complaints and none worth mentioning here.
We headed back to the hotel with bellies full, and got to sleep quickly (for the most part) for the next day – we have a tour of Edinburgh planned, a walking tour for Harry Potter and Edinburgh history. It should be fun! The weather here is a bit hit or miss – so we’ll likely see some cold and rain but hopefully it doesn’t ruin too much if anything at all. More to come on that as we go through it – more blogs are coming soon!
