Category Archives: England

Friday, May 29 — Walk, Day Three

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It was nice to wake up slowly — at least for me: Dan was up before 6AM and I did wake up slightly before 6 but then set my alarm for 7:45 so I could sleep more. Sleep hasn’t been great much of the time (typical of me) and I knew an extra 45 minutes would be welcome.

It was nice, as well, to not have to pack everything and haul the luggage downstairs to its pickup spot. Today we are to walk to our destination and then get a taxi back. Cotswold Journeys, the company we are using, isn’t exactly clear about how we go about doing that. It says the car picks us up at 3:30, but I didn’t find info about just where that might be. Perhaps, though, it’s just right at the end of our route. We are using the app Ride with GPS, and it takes us through the entire route. (And it makes a sound when we’ve gone off the path. The weird voiced lady inside the app — she must be so tiny! — also tells us turns and the like. I don’t think, though, that she will tell us where our taxi is.

We got ourselves ready for breakfast and I started this blog entry. You can see that we have a fan running in this photo. You can also see the large TV. We make it a point of never turning on a TV when we travel. This is a vacation from everything, including TV!

We met up with Jan and Greg for breakfast. This place isn’t quite as extravagant with their menu: if we wanted a full English or the like we had to pay extra. In reality that means we ate a more reasonable meal, even while it not only included our egg dish but a bowl of yogurt and granola as well. Dan’s poached eggs on toast came without the eggs on top of the toast. It looked rather sad at that point! My mushroom and cheese omelette was tasty but I could only manage to eat half of it.

After getting teeth brushed (Funny: I must have misspelled “brushed” at first and it decided I mean “bruised”!) and putting things away in our room we met up with Jan and Greg to begin our trek for the day.

Out we went, passing some lovely homes on the way.

We then wound up on a path. We walked a good distance through beautiful areas. Early on we did get a few sprinkles, but nothing we worried about. Later it was a bit more, but never enough to worry me. Jan was smart and brought a rain jacket, but the rest of us had skipped that. It’s typical of me not to bring one, but it was surprising to me that Dan didn’t! Still, aside from my putting my camera away for a time it really wasn’t an issue. As you might notice, one photo shows a sign that warns of CCTV. I have no clue where they might have been … up in trees? Hidden on the fence? I never could see even one.

We saw the sign below, saying we were on the Gustav Holst Way. I will have to look that up to see why it is called that. But of course Dan and I started singing things from The Planets. Because.

More and more walking …

The app we use is handy to tell us about turns, but it also makes me laugh sometimes.

I thought the stone slab would be something huge and significant. See if you can figure out which photo includes it. (And do ignore our speed … we do a ton of stopping!)

We reached Naunton, which was a nice place to stop just for a beer. Then on we went. (Sorry, you don’t get a photo of our beers.)


We saw so much of a particular plant, but I’ve yet to figure out what it is. Maybe it’s rye, as we saw yesterday, but it seemed different to me.

Finally we were at our final destination: Guiting Power.

We were to meet our driver at The Old Post Office, but he had written to say he was running late. That was fine by us — we stopped at a pub and some of us had “zero zero”, some a half-pint, and perhaps one had a pint. We also had some cookies from our hotel room, so we pulled out those as well. That would tide us over until our 6:30 dinner reservation.

Our driver arrived and he chatted with us as he drove. The funny bit, for me, was hearing Dan, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, say how he then understood my whimpering! So I wasn’t as crazy as maybe we both thought, eh?

Back in our room we showered, I did more of this blog, and rested. And then … dinner!

We went to the spot we opted for after have some wine there last night. Okay, so it was a lot more expensive than the initial Italian place I’d booked, but we had the entire room to ourselves, as everyone else opted to eat outside (it was too sunny for us: it seems many are thrilled with sun, but we aren’t that sort). The food was delicious — or at least my gazpacho and chicken were. (And Dan’s salmon appetizer looked wonderful.) I didn’t take photos of everyone else’s plates, but I will assume they were happy with their meals.

We also had desserts (only two — one per couple) which we really didn’t need to certainly enjoyed.

Then it was a quick walk back to our home for the night.

Tomorrow we have to get our luggage downstairs for pickup by 8:30, and then our driver is to arrive at 9:30 to take us back to Guiting Power where we begin the day’s walk. It’s only 6 miles, and I’m hoping for an easy walk. Time will tell.

And now … goodnight!

19,705 steps, 7.84 miles, 12 flights climbed
(Just a quick note: Jan, Dan, and I all have Apple Watches. Each give a different number of miles and flights climbed. I expected steps to differ due to our strides, but it does seem to me miles and flights climbed really should be more similar. That shows just how accurate all of this is, I suppose!)

Thursday, May 28 — Walk, Day Two

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**I hope you know that if you click on images you should see them better!

We woke and had in-room coffee before packing our bags to get downstairs for the 8:30 required time. (Not that they ever pick them up right then, but they say 8:30 so I will not be late!) One annoying thing yours truly did was, as I was attempting to pull my adapter out of the wall socket thinking to myself, “You are forcing it and it’s going to break!” I broke it. Stupid me, but there you go.

Oh … and yesterday we saw a sign outside that announced a Motor Show. Or so I thought. This morning when I looked outside I realized it read “Moron Show”. Well, because I’m such a genius, when Dan laughed and said someone had changed it I said, “Oh. I just thought maybe there was a car called Moron.” Okay. Really, I did say that. And yes, Dan could hardly stop laughing. Since my goal in life is to make people laugh I guess I can say I’ve had a successful day.

We went downstairs, met up with Jan and Greg, and headed to the breakfast area. It was another lovely meal. I had eggs Florentine, and the others had equally delightful plates of food.

From there we went back upstairs so Dan and I could vote.

Yep. Vote.

Because we would be out of the country when ballots would be mailed we requested the overseas ballots and they had been sent to Greg and Jan’s. Greg delivered the morning after we first met up, but this morning was the first time we were really ready to fill things out. Then I walked them over to the post office, where it was £7 and change to get them sent. Now we just hope they arrive in time! (Only after we signed up to have these ballots mailed did we then get an email saying we could have actually printed ballots early at home and sent them. I sure wish we’d known about that earlier!)

We dropped by a store so Greg could get a hat (a nice Tilley), and soon it was back to our rooms to get our daypacks and start our walk.

The beginning of the walk took place on the road, and passed by a cemetery.

Soon we crossed the busy street and were on the path, which is much nicer to walk. It had sprinkled last night, but thankfully it wasn’t at all muddy. Unfortunately it was a bit muggy (and became muggier as the day progressed). The walk was quite scenic. It was also all downhill to begin with which was hard on someone who had a damaged toe. (Sorry, Greg! That is no fun, I know, having dealt with that myself. But you are so quiet about it. I would have complained and attempted to get a lot of sympathy!)

We reached a spot where there was, much to our surprise, a food truck. The woman had an espresso machine, as well as some goodies. We all ordered some form of coffee. How fun to run across this. In addition Dan, who had arrived there first, was conversing with a group of women. As it turned out (and I’m guessing that’s why I heard a big laugh from all of them as I walked toward them) they are from Los Gatos and Saratoga areas. One of them went to Monte Vista High School and certainly knew Lynbrook High — but they were probably ten years younger than I am. Once again, a small world.

We walked on through, mostly, meadows. I had read that there was a sign warning walkers about the possibility of a bull in a field, but we never did see one. I was ready, though, to use Dan and/or Greg as a shield so Jan and I could escape. That would have made one or both of them heroes, right?!

Then we entered the small village of Lower Slaughter.

At that point we were ready to have a seat for a while, so we stopped in at The Slaughter Country Inn for a light bite. As we sat clouds were rolling in and for a time we thought we might be in for a spot of rain, but it never did hit us.

From there we had the final leg of our short and gentle walk.

Now it’s Hello Bourton-on-the-Water! And hello major crowds. I had read it was the most crowded village, but I had no idea what the meant. It’s crazy and a bit of a shock. Our dinner reservation is just at a pub — nothing fancy as far as I can see — but I’m glad I made a reservation!

Our stay is at the Broadlands Hotel.

We have a slightly larger room than yesterday, but it’s pretty minimal. There is no place to hang towels, for instance, and luggage will have to opened on the floor or bed. But we shall survive, I’m sure. We stay here two nights and have transfers: the first is back to the hotel from tomorrow’s destination and the following day the transfer is at 9:30 in the morning, taking us to our starting point. Dan and I have learned to like these two day stays — it means we don’t have to wake up to pack tomorrow morning.

We both showered and did a bit of laundry. I’m happy I have my merino shirt: I washed it and about an hour later it was close to dry. That fabric really is rather amazing.

When we were all ready, we went out to walk a bit and went to the Co-op to look for a small bottle of laundry detergent (it wasn’t to be found). Then we headed back to make our 6:00 dinner reservation at Kingsbridge Inn.

We walked in to Kingsbridge pub and I told the man behind the bar that I had reservations. He said just to pick any table for four. Didn’t even ask my name. Hm. No reservations were needed at all. That was a surprise. We went outside to the patio there. All the tables were either occupied or very dirty. We weren’t impressed, but finally cleared a table ourselves and sat down. While at the bar we were told to order our dinners via our phones or else go up to the bar. We chose the former and placed our orders once we found things that were available: it seemed the majority of items were out of stock. Drinks were the same. But we managed to get our orders done and paid for (and then they give us the option of tipping them? For all the work we did. So strange. But yes, we tipped 5%.). A bit later Greg and Jan got their drinks (they ordered separately) and we sat and waited. Then a young man came up to tell me they were out of something I’d ordered but they could replace it with something else or refund me. Fine. Replace it. Eventually he returned again and said they were out of my drink so I had to choose something else. And after all that another man came and said the kitchen was too hot and they had to close it down. He said it was 60° centigrade. He said “no food”. I said we’d already ordered and paid and he said we should go to the bar to get a refund. Um. Okay. Greg went up and then the younger man came and said that yes, our food WAS coming. I quickly went to Greg since I thought he’d be asking for the refund (realizing too late I should have just let him do it and we could have left). But then our meals and drinks all came. With no silverware or napkins. I could go on and on about how crazy and poor the service was, but I’ll stop now and just say I’m sorry I chose that place.

After that debacle we really wanted to sit and relax elsewhere. We looked a bit nearby. We didn’t see anything there, but I did see the tallest lupine I’ve ever seen!

Then we found a lovely spot for some wine. The restaurant looked so nice. Earlier we had seen the place I’d reserved for tomorrow and thought it looked a bit questionable so I canceled that and made a reservation for this new place. I’m thinking tomorrow will be much nicer! We had a lovely time sitting under a fragrant tree with pretty pink blossoms (I think it’s a locust tree?).

Back to our hotel we went, and said our good nights. Tomorrow we have breakfast set for 8:30, so we’ll connect again then.

Oh … and it has been sprinkling a bit. I’m thankful it waited until we got back to our rooms.

Goodnight!

17,389 steps, 6.96 miles, 2 flights climbed (this last bit is surely inaccurate, as we climbed hotel stairs at least 4 times)

Wednesday, May 27 — Walk, Day One

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We woke rather early. Okay, Dan woke up first since he had his alarm set. My good ear was against the pillow so I didn’t hear a thing. I did wake up about fifteen minutes after his alarm went off, though, and that gave me plenty of time to pack.

This was to be the test day: will I be able to put everything into my suitcase that I don’t want to bring on the walk? I knew it would be a bit of a challenge.

In some places there is a service that will mail things back to your home if you want to dump some items. I wouldn’t mind at all if we could do that — it’s quite clear that both my wool hoodie and wool shacket will not be used for eh remainder of the trip. Had I been able to dump those I’d have plenty of room in my small carryon suitcase. Ah well! I just have to scrunch that doggone suitcase down to zip it shut. Dan has a bigger suitcase and it even expands, so he doesn’t have quite the challenge. (And yes, I can take some of my things, but I have this “I can take all my things myself” kind of pride going on.) The final “if” was whether I could fit my iPad in the suitcase.

Answer: Absolutely, positutely not!

So, hearing my mother’s voice, “You made your bed. Now lie in it.” I put the iPad in my daypack, figuring I could deal with that bit of extra weight. But Mr. Rescuer suggested he could fit it in his large suitcase, so I guess I don’t have to lie in my bed now. Nice!

After we packed we took our bags downstairs so the transfer company could pick them up and take them to the next locale. Then Greg, Jan, Dan, and I went to breakfast. And ate. Too. Much. Food.

Can we justify it due to a 7+ mile walk? Yes. I think we can! This first place we stayed, Manor House Hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh was incredibly nice. (And, odds are, nothing we could have afforded had we looked on our own.) What a great way to begin our walking holiday!

I neglected to take a single photo of our breakfast, but you’ll just have to believe me when I saw it was quite delicious. I had salmon and smashed avocado on toast, along with two poached eggs. The others ordered different things. All of us were quite satisfied.

Soon it was time to head out on our walk. I went out the door and went right.

Wrong.

I never have been good with north and south when in places other than my home town. But we did quickly figure things out and off we went. Jan took one very important photo, as you can see:

Thankfully the weather wasn’t quite so hot today, and there was a gentle breeze much of the time. We quickly moved from road to path.

Eventually we reached our first village, Longborough.

We went to St. James’ church, as I’d read about it, but I pulled on the handle and said it was locked. Um. Greg is smarter than I am: he turned that handle and we went inside.

I had read about a cafe/store, run by volunteers and we decided to stop in. Not that we were really hungry, but why not?! Three of us ordered cappuccinos and one had an espresso and chocolate croissant. As we sat a volunteer chatted with us a bit. He left, but returned shortly after, clearly enjoying chatting more than the work part. Greg asked where he was from since he clearly had a North American accent. Well, born Pennsylvania, but lived in Oakland. Heh. Okay then. Then he mentioned that he taught at Stanford so I asked him which department. Well gosh, music! He was in early music. What a world we live in!

We said our goodbyes (sadly neglecting to ask his name), and left Longborough.

At one point I lightly brushed against and evil plant. Stingweed or some such name. And just ouch. Even lightly brushing against it is unpleasant. Thankfully the sting didn’t last as long as it did some years back when I really got stung!

EVIL plant!

More walking. Frequently we ran across sheep, cows, and some horses. Such beautiful country! There were a few climbs, but nothing like we did on our other two walks. Still, we are a bit older now, so there’s that!

We continued the walk including going through the small village of Donnington, but it was a quick place to pass through.

And then we got to Broadwell, which is where I had suggested, in a write-up I made about each day, we get lunch. First we visited the church that I’d also read about, and then hit the Fox Inn. We actually weren’t all that hungry, so we got some bar bites and two of us had Donnington BB beer and two of us had Old Rosie cider (even though we are ever so young). It was just nice to sit and relax. Oh, and as I ordered our ciders the bartender said that those would help us get up the hill. Hm. Who knew we had another hill to go up?

From there it was the last stretch to our final destination for the day. On we walked.

And then there we were: hello Stow on the Wold! But what a sad photo that is below — it really is much more charming than that.

But we all were a bit weary and since I was having difficulty finding our lodging I didn’t take any other photos, but we did find it and we did get up to our somewhat small rooms. UP meaning we had to lug our luggage (gee, lug and luggage must be related, right?) up a flight of stairs. That IS one issue with these walks: so many place won’t have lifts and they won’t take our luggage up to our rooms for us. (Another good reason for backpacks, really.) But we did it, and then we showered and rested a bit.

Oh … and where we are staying? It’s called Sheep on Sheep Street. And guess what street it’s on? Yep. So we are staying at Sheep on Sheep Street on Sheep on Sheep Street.

We had agreed to meet up with Jan and Greg again at 5:30 to have a look at the village and then make our 6:00 dinner appointment. I had made reservations at “The Porch”. I did see our lodging also had a dining room so I thought I’d look to see what they had as well. Hm. Both places had the same photos of food. How curious is that? (Later, after our meal, we looked again at our place and, sure enough, they had a kitchen, so we never did figure out why some food selections were identical and others not. It will forever remain a mystery. As so many things in the Cotswolds are … I mean … we’ve seen those shows. We know about all the murders. In fact, I’m sure I’d be great at solving crimes around here.)

But back to what we did. First we went downstairs and when the person at reception heard that I’d already made reservations for dinner and, in fact, had made them for every night we are here she said something about me being a genius. Or perhaps I’m exaggerating. But I know she was impressed. (And to remind everyone, including the three I’m walking with, I’m not a control freak or anything close to that!)

We headed outside and saw where we’d have our dinner. Then we went toward a church, but first there was this “ture”. Something I’d never heard of before!

Then we headed to a church that had an image that JRR Tolkien is said to have in mind when he wrote the LOTR trilogy. Jan shot a photo for me. We shot one for Jan and Greg. I think we are having fun!

Then we walked back to The Porch for dinner.

Finally I didn’t order something too heavy. I also didn’t take a single photo of our meal although I did manage to shoot a sweet photo of Jan and Greg. But because I know you are dying to know, Jan and I had a salad with three (somewhat overcooked) falafels along with other yummy things. It was quite refreshing. Greg and salmon and Dan had a Caesar salad if I’m remembering correctly. My meal was just perfect!

It is so wonderful to share this week with Greg and Jan and my heart is full!

After dinner we opted to go straight back to our hotel (if that’s what you call this — I’m not sure what is a hotel, what is a B&B, and what is an inn at this point) and shared a bottle of wine with Greg and Jan in their room (thanks G&J!).

We agreed to meet around 8:30 since that’s when our luggage is to be downstairs. We have a much shorter walk tomorrow so we can really take our time.

Goodnight!

22,000 steps, 8.72 miles, 8 flights climbed

Tuesday, May 26 — Moving Day

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We woke earlier than necessary (7:00) for our 8:45 taxi ride so I turned off my alarm and slept a bit more. I had already laid my clothes out last night, and managed to fit even the thicker things in my luggage so I knew it would go quickly this morning.

I finally rose at 7:30, and made my Nespresso coffee, got dressed, and packed. Still more time to spare. So I sat around a bit, checked email and Quicken — just killing time, really.

Finally it was time to head downstairs and check out. Our taxi driver was already waiting for us. Dan said, “I hope we didn’t keep you waiting long,” but he didn’t answer, so who knows? The drive took a while due to traffic and the distance. I don’t know why we had the idea initially that the airport was closer to the city, as it was definitely not! But still we arrived nice and what I think I’ll call “patty early”. We checked our luggage and raced through security. Here they have you take out laptops and iPads, but nothing else. Both Dan and I triggered the thing that means they have to check us out. For me it was my barrette and Dan had a shirt with a side zipper and that triggered it. They are pretty darn careful here. I actually appreciate that, as sometimes I’ve gotten through with all sorts of things I forgot to remove and they don’t catch them.

We made our way to a lounge to see if we were allowed in (the AerLingus lounge was closed due to renovations but I read that we’d be allowed in the other one here … maybe). Sure enough, we qualified, even without first class or anything. The lounge was pretty tiny, and we were allowed to stay for two hours only, but since our flight was boarding in about 1 1/2 hours that wasn’t any issue. The real reason we wanted to get in was to get free breakfast. We are cheap that way.

As you can see above, Dan had what they call the full English, or is it full Irish? Hm. I didn’t do the meat or tomato and even with what I chose it was a ton of food. As you can also see, sitting in a lounge is so exciting Dan can hardly contain himself. The other people in the lounge looked equally thrilled to be there. Killing time is a riveting experience.

We decided to amble to gate 6, where we were to board our flight. It didn’t take long to hear the announcement that Group 1 was boarding. Alas, we were Group 2. And then, horrors! — Group 3 gets to board with us. Now how distressing can that be?

Okay, it wasn’t at all distressing. So never mind.

We were in row 2 of the plane, with another passenger in the window seat while we were middle and aisle. The flight was completely uneventful. At least for us. One man had to console his crying infant for quite some time. As this photo shows, Dan wanted our pants to match. Or maybe it was an accident. You decide.



And then we landed. Hello again, London Heathrow! At least for a very short time. But oh my, was it hot out! Cork was too warm already. This is “too warmer”!

We weren’t sure what to expect since we were coming from the EU and entering the UK. I’d been told by someone on the Rick Steves group that we could expect nothing, and that person was correct. No passport control or anything. So after getting our luggage we made our way to Heathrow Express.

Into that train we went for our fifteen minute ride to London Paddington.

We were going to have no problem connecting to our next train so I even asked at the station if we could change the ticket to an earlier train but that would have cost something so instead we went to the Mad Bishop and Bear in the station and had some bites and drinks. I tried the non-alcoholic G&T and it was surprisingly tasty! I should have taken a photo of what they used because I’d try it at home. Too late now, though.

Our train departed precisely at 3:23. Our seats were in the “quiet car” — I had reserved them (for no cost) but clearly there were loads of available seats. Right before we departed the station a couple came in with their cat (in a crate) and proceeded to yak. And yak. And yak. I don’t know if they didn’t realize it was the quiet car or if they didn’t care, but no one pointed to the sign. Quite different than another trip we were on when a woman acted as the Noise Police. She needed to be on our train! They got off in Reading though, so silence was then enjoyed.

We had a five or six more stops. I don’t really count them carefully, but I did pay attention because I sure didn’t want to miss our stop! Sometimes I did take a quick station shot. Just because, as well as other rather shabby shots out the somewhat dirty window.

And then we arrived. Hello, Moreton-in-Marsh!

We begin tomorrow on a week-long walk. I would love to say this will be a very easy walk compared to some, but it’s so darn hot I think it will still be challenging. Still, I am looking forward to it.

We walked to our lodging, provided by Cotswolds Journeys since we used them for this walk, checked in, and made our way to our rather large room.

And then the real fun for today: we met up with Greg and Jan! (My brother and sister-in-law.) They are joining us for the walk. I just hope we don’t melt.

After we met up we headed to dinner at the Black Bear Inn. I thought I might be done with fish and chips, but nope … had ‘em again. Food was plentiful, but hey, we have a 7 mile walk tomorrow, so there’s that.

We finished and walked back to our lodging.

And then it was G&Ts. It was just too hot not to. Trust me. (I grabbed this photo below from Greg’s What’sApp post. I’ll try and get the actual photo later.)

After drinks we said our good nights and went to our rooms. I’m hoping we can manage to sleep, but we’ll see. At least I have a fan in my room! (I’m not talking about Dan.)

For now, though … ciao! (I wrote this even more quickly than usual so I hat to think about the typos.)

6,701 steps, 2.69 miles, 3 flights climbed

PS This final photo shows our hair as being somewhat gray or white. I’m sure it’s just a camera problem and I will try and fix that.

HAH!

Wednesday, May 6

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I was so tired by 9PM last night I had to get to sleep. And sleep I did … until about 1AM. Then it was four hours of wakefulness. This wasn’t unexpected, but still annoying! Looking at the bright side, though, I didn’t have restless legs so I could just lie in bed. A dark side? Well, a Traviata ear worm was driving me batty. I think I need to listen to some music today in order to remove that thing. Of course it will just be replaced by something else. I very rarely don’t have an ear worm.

I did get back to sleep eventually, and then woke at 8:30AM. The other traveler here was still asleep, but he’d said to set an alarm for 9:00 so we’ll see if that gets him to stir. I could tell he was awake a lot in the night as well (we never talk — I suspect he feels the same way I do: don’t add anything that might cause sleep to become even more difficult. I’ll have to ask him about that!)

After Dan woke it was shower and pack time. By the time we were ready to head out it was nearing the time we had to check out (11:00 AM), so we did that, left our luggage at the hotel, and went out in search of a spot to eat and get coffee.

As we walked out I spotted a plaque on our hotel wall.

A short walk later we found a nice place, Dolce London, and enjoyed a leisurely meal that should cover us for both breakfast and lunch. (We do try to keep to a two meal plus an afternoon snack plan on these trips.)

Then we walked on one of our random walks. This place caught my eye.

Then, surprise, surprise, we happened upon King’s Cross Central and a lot of new things. We hadn’t heard about this before. Maybe we should have? Dunno. But an old spot that has been completely altered. It was fun to wander through.

And then just a lot more wandering, eventually going over Black Friar’s Bridge (we walked past The Mad Hatter Inn — the place we stayed last time we were here — but I didn’t bother with a photo).

For our afternoon snack, which was mostly about sitting down a bit, we ended up at Black Sheep Coffee (or whatever the chain is called). No coffee for me, though.

At that point we had to decide how to get back to the hotel. We opted to walk a bit further so we could head over the Millennium Bridge. We took a few alley detours as we went, shot a couple of signs for the info they gave, and made a bank visit so we could pay cash for dinner. Then to the hotel we went.

We opted to eat right at the hotel. It was just easy and that’s what we were ready for.

When Dan pulled the cash out (we wanted to get some change which is why we wanted to pay with cash) we were informed that they didn’t take cash. Heh. Shoulda thunk it. This seems to be more and more common.

Getting our luggage we walked to Euston Station for our train adventure. Because we have the sleeper car we could relax in the lounge and listen to far too many people coughing. Oh dear … we’ll see what happens next, I guess. (Dan and I did get a Covid booster before our trip.)

So here we sit. And here we blog. I will post this before I fill you in on what’s next since we haven’t a clue what kind of WiFi we will get on the train. I know sometimes it works. I also know sometimes it doesn’t.

And no, Dan isn’t unhappy. I just caught him looking serious. I think it’s his, “Don’t mess with me,” look. Maybe?

Anyway, stay tuned … just maybe I can post the rest of the story from the train. I can dream.

Well … DUH … we will be on a sleeper train. Hah!

And Now We Are Home

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We began our morning quite leisurely since checkout was at 11:00 and there was no rush to get to the airport. Packing is usually more difficult at the end of the trip, even while we never purchase souvenirs. This time, though, I had no issues at all. I suspect it’s because I had to unpack and pack so many times I knew where everything would fit.

When we checked out we called a car to take us to Paddington Station. Normally we’d just do the tube — the cost would be MUCH less and the time wouldn’t be much more. But with our extra luggage we opted to spend the big bucks.

Well … getting out of our area took quite a bit of time: traffic was rotten. We finally got over the Thames and our driver took us near Buckingham Palace. Who knew there would be a bunch of horses and riders in full regalia going up the street ahead of us?! More delays. Finally they headed straight and we turned a bit.

Only to find they were again in front of us!



We could only laugh.

Eventually we did make it to Paddington, but it took quite a bit longer than the tube and it was, oh, perhaps $50 more! But on a trip like this I suppose that’s a drop in the bucket. (That being written, one drop can make a bucket overflow … right?)

Next up was getting to the Heathrow Express. Again, this was a bit of an extravagant expense. But it was only a 15 minute ride compared to the longer, less costly way to go.

Except there was a delay!

This delay was nothing like the “horse delay” though, and we did get to the airport. From there we walked (and walked) to the United area to check our luggage. Easy peasy.

Next up was security. Being in another country our TSA pre-check doesn’t do much good, but we were able to get through via a speedier lane. Well, I had a good pat down at Frankfurt’s airport, and this time I set off the alarm again. No pat down this time … just had to remove my shoes. And yes, those were the culprits. I wonder if there’s a way to research and find out if a particular brand and/or style of shoe sets off the alarm. It sure would be nice to know. But if I wear these again (doubtful), I’ll just remember to remove them and put them in the tray, even if they say not to bother.

But wait, there’s more! We then had to navigate to the United area where our gate and the lounge were located. Signage made it somewhat easy, but when we got to one spot it said to reach the gates including ours was a mere (okay, they didn’t use the word “mere”) 15 minute walk! I can’t remember in which order we did escalators but there was some up and down and maybe down and up … or something. Clearly there were people who had arrived thinking they could just get to their gate quickly and arrived a wee bit late … lots of running going on! But of course we did make it, with no running, and we entered the rather full, and in need of an update (ripped seats and all) United lounge.



When it was time to get to our gate that was quick ‘n easy. Close to our arrival we were able to line up and get ready to board. The plane was not close to full, so boarding went quickly.

Taking off did not.

While we were ready to take off, the captain said that we were delayed due to other planes ahead of us, making our arrival time a bit later than we had expected, even while we would have arrived early had we been able to take off on time. We settled in, readying ourselves for a 10+ hour flight.


About eight hours into the flight I put the flight map back on: I love seeing where we are. Well, apparently the internet was down (a reason I rarely bother to spend any money on purchasing WiFi — and never on an international flight as it’s tremendously expensive) so while the info was provided (2h 19m to destination) the map showed the UK only and was pointless. Ah … but when I clicked on it it showed us over South Dakota. Hello USA! I guess we really were going to get home.

(United has updated their map and their safety video since the last time we flew. The map is better, I think. The safety video is definitely not (yawn). FYI … because you know you want to know.)

At the start of our flight we were served a rather substantial dinner. Then lights were dimmed and it was clearly time to rest. I’m not sure how airlines determine whose time to use, but I’d much prefer adjusting to the time ahead of me rather than the one I just left. When I get on the plane (or sometimes even right before) I set my watch for the destination time. What can I say? I guess I like to think ahead.

The flight was pretty uneventful, although I did end up with my restless legs and a bit of a stomach issue toward the end: the legs are no surprise, and the stomach was, I think, simply due to eating too darn much!

My sister Carolyn picked us up after we easily breezed through customs (thank you, Global Entry!), and she drove us straight to our house. THANK YOU, Carolyn!

And now we are home. Not unpacked, because of the time, but home. Tomorrow will be a washing, grocery shopping, and house cleaning day, for sure.

Over ‘n out.

Soooo … time to plan the next trip …?!

And Now Our Final Full Day

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The last day is always a bit of an interesting day. We do less most of the time, as I think our brains are busy thinking about the travel day and our bodies really let down because we know we are nearly done.

As is always the case, it was breakfast first, and then after getting ready, heading to the tube. It was Jubilee to Westminster this morning. We then walked over to Westminster Abbey: there were no (expensive) tours today since it’s Sunday, but there was Matins scheduled at 10:00 so we opted for that. Worship services are always free, and it was nice to worship on a Sunday in London! This time we were wiser than we were in York, got there early, and had lovely seats where we could see and hear better. It was all quite beautiful.

The formality of the service is, of course, not what I experience at home. I really miss a bit of formality so I enjoyed it. This was not a service with a sermon, but it was music, scripture, and prayer. I was moved.

No photography was allowed in the service, understandably, and it did make me realize we should someday pay the whopping amount they charge if we really want to see the entire building. I was ogling the markers for various famous musicians as we walked in and a guide came and clearly wanted us to move on.

On the way out people did pull out cameras, so I felt comfortable taking a few shots outside of the actual church.


From the church we ambled a bit, checking out some nearby spots.

After that we headed toward Trafalgar Square. When we were here the first time we met up at the Square with Greg and Jan and from there we walked to a nearby pub. Dan thought he could locate it and he did! All I remembered was that we got to go down two flights of stairs which I loved — it felt so private.

It hadn’t yet opened, so we continued our walk toward Trafalgar.

There was a huge area fenced off. Hm. And why might that be? Baseball. The Phillies & Mets are here to play, wouldn’t you know? So this was some sort of spot where they had a huge screen and I could hear someone talking and music playing. We weren’t interested in going in, so we continued to walk.

Eventually it was time to get back to “our” pub. It just opened, and the person opening it told us to go on up to the main floor. Ah well. We didn’t opt to ask if we could go down, being the shy retiring sort of folks we are. Today is Sunday so the menu was different … it’s roast time. Dan had chicken and I had some sort of plant-based nut roast. It was all quite tasty. (I think the roasted potatoes won the day, though!)



More time to walk, and we were on Fleet Street. You know what that means!

Okay … it doesn’t really mean “The Amicable Society of Lazy Ballerinas”. (I looked it up: it’s a wine bar.)

But this …

We headed to St. Paul’s.

I wasn’t interesting in paying £22.50 per senior to go in, nor was Dan, so we just wandered around it a bit and then went to the Millennium bridge, which took us toward our hotel. A quick climb up some stairs later and we were back.

On the Millennium Bridge.

Eventually it was time to head to Holy Trinity Church. Greg (one of my brothers, for those of you who don’t know) had mentioned that Gesualdo Six would be singing there and I was so glad he did!

The church is in Chelsea. Some restaurants were quite posh, and clearly the area is that way as well.


We found a more affordable place to dine, and then we headed around the corner to the church for the concert.

First a choir from Birmingham, Alabama sang, then Gesualdo Six joined them for one song, and then the Six sang an absolutely exquisite half. For both the choir and GSix I had to pull a tissue out. There is simply nothing like the human voice, and the music hit me in the way I love. If you ever have a chance to hear the Gesualdo Six I highly recommend that you do!


Finally it was another train “home” where I’m writing this and we will spend our last night. Our flight tomorrow doesn’t leave until 4:15 PM, but we will take our time packing, and head over to the airport which is a bit of a distance. But hey, the flight home is only three hours! We arrive at 7-something PM. Yep, I’m still funny as can be. Or not.

Some views from the Blackfriar’s Bridge: we crossed this bridge a number of times.

So this is it. End of vacation. Maybe I’ll post when we get home (if I have a brain left), and I’d like to post some thoughts on what I’d do differently next time. Having the Great Glen Way walk added to this trip did make it difficult to pack lightly, though. I’d love to see if there would be a way to do that despite doing a walk. (And honestly I think I’d see if these less expensive trekking poles we bought would make it through in carryon. If they took them away I’d just sigh and deal.)

Posting these blog entries has been cumbersome and I need to find a better way to upload photos, but that will wait for another day. For now it’s close to slumber time, and then let the packing begin!

Ciao!

Up Early & Off We Went

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So yeah … I write “early” and that just means we had to get our breakfast by 8:00. Not really early, I know, but for Dan and me, well, we’ve been taking it awfully easy.

After breakfast we took the Jubilee to Baker and the Bakerloo to Paddington.

I write that because I think it makes it sound like I know what I’m doing now.

Then we had a bit of time before we caught the GWR at Paddington Station.

What a crowded train it was. Fortunately I had reserved seats, but some people had to stand in the aisle the entire hour.



And we were going to … wait for it … wait … wait ….

Okay, don’t wait. We were going to Oxford.

Aside from some slow delays, we had a short ride. We exited the train station and really just followed other people to get where we were going. First up was a bit of lunch since by this time it was near noon.

Then it was more walking and we saw some cool buildings, went into a church, went to the river where we observed a few people punting, and then rambled more, including entering Trinity College. I’m just going to paste photos below and leave it at that.

There had clearly been a wedding somewhere nearby.
More of a wedding party.
There was a tour guide talking at one point, explaining that to get married here one has to get a reservation seven years in advance! Someone had done that and she still hadn’t found her guy, but she still has two years left in which to find him. Heh.
All the doors had these signs and they explain who they beat and in which year.

After Oxford time it was train time again. NOT a crowded train at all, plenty of empty seats, and an easy ride.

Back to the Bakerloo to Baker, and the Jubilee to Southwark. Into our hotel, dropped stuff off, and went downstairs for dinner. I had fish pie, Dan had chicken pie of some sort, and we shared sticky toffee pudding. Surely that must be good for our health.

The Cheshire Cat agrees, no doubt.


One more day in London and then home we go. Do I want to go home? No, not really. But I know it’s time.

Nearing sleepy time ….

Happy Friday in London

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Not a lot to write about or post today, really.

Breakfast. Check.

Tube to Embankment. Check.

Walk to the British National Museum. Check.

Meet up with Brandon again. Check.

Stand in line for eons. Check.

Go through security where they didn’t confiscate my cookies (whew!). Check.

But these days I don’t really take photos at museums, so we wandered, we ate lunch (where I did take this one photo)

… and we wandered more. The museum is so much about antiquities (obtained, I am guessing, in less that admirable ways sometimes). I confess I’m more of a painting person, but there really is something about seeing things that are so amazingly ancient.

From there we walked to a close, very old, pub. Also turned out to be incredibly noisy due to one group of guys. Go figure. I must say I’m enjoying the 1/2 pints I get, and all with lower alcohol content. The smaller beer works for me: I so frequently can’t even finish the pints!


We decided to head back to our hotel for a bit of a late night, nearly 5:00 siesta.

Brandon contacted us some time later, saying he was just across Blackfriars bridge so we walked back over to meet up and have dinner at the pub. We had a great time. It’s our last meet up with him and I’ll miss him a ton.

After dinner it was back to our place — and hey, the elevator was working! Earlier today it said it was out of order … I’m glad it’s fixed because I’d have hated to lug our stuff down stairs on Monday when we head home.

Tomorrow we are taking a short train ride to another town. We have to set our alarms, in fact, because we are going to have to get things done earlier to make the train.

Night!

A Full London Day

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We had such a lovely day. I find it funny that two taxi drivers (one in Edinburgh and one in York) said they much preferred Edinburgh to London. Oh well. We did love Edinburgh, but find London wonderful.

We began, after our hotel breakfast…

by heading to the Borough Market. We were there before and looked forward to a revisit (or two … who knows but maybe we’ll head back again?!).



Then, after a brief stop at our hotel so one of us could change clothes, we took the tube to Green Park, so we could meet up with Brandon, who was waiting at a pub.

Yes, we had “toasties”.

More walking …

Next stop after walking a bit was a pub (surprise, surprise), but what a cool pub it was. Little spaces for smaller groups, so sound wasn’t an issue for someone with one deaf ear.

(In case you are now worried about my alcohol intake, I have half pints, and this last place had a 2.4% alcohol beer!)

From there we headed to Sir John Soane’s house. What an amazing place! It’s hard to fathom someone living in such a house, to be honest, but he did, and wandering through was pretty astounding.


At that point it was time to head to Duke’s for martinis because … well … we are with Brandon and he knows his martini spots. You can’t make reservations and if you aren’t staying at the hotel (way beyond our budget!) you get on a waiting list, but we managed to get in in maybe 30 minutes. The man who did our drinks talked about them and explained all that went in. He was charming! There are only two small rooms, and I think maybe only 14 maximum in our room … so I could hear every word spoken. Ah, how wonderful! (But I couldn’t finish the drink!)


Finally, we ended up at Rules restaurant. If only they had restaurants like this in our neck ‘o the woods: again I didn’t have to worry about hearing a thing, as the space we were in was sort of separate. And when desert came out … they brought Brandon an ice cream with a candle! I guess I might have mentioned we were celebrating his birthday! I found that really delightful.

(Oh … and we toasted my friends Imani and Stephen … she said he so loved this spot, and I loved conversing with him. He was a dear man, and loved Imani so much. I saved the messages I had with him after he passed away, just because I treasured them so much.)

Then it was just a short tube ride “home” and now we are happily in pjs and ready for a good night’s sleep … as soon as I get some photos added to this post! (Any typos may or may not be corrected later … I’m tired!)

Night-night!