Well, surprise surprise. The Royal Standard is a living, working pub, a place where locals go to relax and enjoy food and drink. It counts its history back as far as 900 years (a claim I fear may have to be taken with a pinch of salt), and it is supposedly haunted by three ghosts.

We liked it so much that we visited it twice.

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For whatever reason (Martin and I are still trying to figure this one out) we decided to fit in five expensive cities into our final month traveling: Stockholm, London, New York, Washington DC and San Francisco. We’re able to stay with friends in each city, relieving us of the cost of lodging but we can’t stay in our rooms all day, can we?

We have to eat, so some of our money is spent on food. When meals are at least $10/person/meal, the trick to staying on budget is to find fun, interesting things to do that are cheap – free, even. Our first attempt was in London two days ago. It was a smashing success. London is a great place for free activities because they believe in a little thing called the Free Museum Entry.

We began our day with a visit to the swans at Kensington Gardens, which is obviously not a museum but free nonetheless. Though we weren’t particularly well received (we didn’t have anything to feed them), we paid nothing to see these huge creatures. Being largely ignored by the Kensington Garden swans – FREE!

London's Natural History Museum

Our next stop was at the Natural History Museum. It was a quick tour (we knew how much we had ahead of us) but was enough to bring out the kid in us again. Dinosaur bones, huge ammonite fossils, and stuffed Dodo birds – all for FREE!

Entrance to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Next up was my personal favorite (I’ve been there at least 25 times over the years), the Victoria & Albert Museum. If you’re into historical textile, fashion, sculpture, painting, furniture or, well anything, you will love this place. It has a bit of everything – on display for, you guessed it – FREE!

The amazing Turbine Hall of London's Tate Modern

After leaving the V&A we dashed over to something completely different: the Tate Modern. In a ten minute tube ride we jumped hundreds of years into the Modern era. On display was one of my favorite works by Francis Bacon, Triptych August 1972. An hour of pure modern art bliss – FREE!

Below the Tate Modern is an easily accessible Thames riverbank where we spent an hour treasure hunting, as Martin describes here. Finding bits of London history that we can keep – FREE!

Checking out bits of the Acropolis at the British Museum

Up next was the British museum, an absolute must see when you’re in London. Packed into their space is something for everyone. Literally. They have over seven million objects in their collection. We chose to concentrate on the Turkish items, since that’s our next destination. Turkey travel prep (with a quick swing through the Egyptian mummy exhibit and the Acropolis room) – FREE!

We polished off the day at a proper London pub, drinking a few pints of beer – NOT FREE, but well deserved.

The total cost for the day was 14 pounds each for an all-day travel pass for the London Underground. We ate on the cheap so were able to polish off the day exhausted, happy and only a little over budget (darn beer – gets us every time!) Thank you London for an amazing day.

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Now, just take a second and imagine all the stuff people have thrown into the river over the years. Uh-huh. A lot.

Next, imagine yourself walking along the river at low tide, picking over those very remnants. This is my very favorite thing to do in London.

Shards of history?

The riverbanks consist mostly of old brick fragments and other human waste – not too many things date from the present, thankfully (we only encountered the odd candy wrapper). Our findings this time were mostly blue and white porcelain fragments, a human femur (maybe!), broken clay pipes and rusty, handmade nails. With the help of a bit of imagination, we determined that the porcelain was from the days of the Opium War, the femur was a victim of Jack the Ripper and Shakespeare definitely used to suck on the clay pipes. The nails? We believe they once were used on the Endeavor – Captain Cook’s ship.

And this is...?

If you come equipped with a bit of knowledge about the history of the city, as well as a good dose of imagination, scavenging along the Thames is the perfect way to spend an afternoon. Oh and you’re never far from a pub, if you need to warm up between the tides.

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It’s a boardgame.

As seen in a Chelsea store. No clue to whether or not you get to yank Bin Laden’s beard if you win.

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