I actually slept in … I think I got out of bed at about 7:40. Lazy me! After getting back into yesterday’s clothes (as I wrote above, lazy me! I simply didn’t want to unpack too much from my luggage, and hey, I wear merino wool and it tends to not smell!) I met up with Dan and Richard in the kitchen and Richard made me a lovely cuppa. Gotta have my coffee!
After hanging out for quite some time we headed out on a walk. And yes, I mean “quite some time” as we didn’t get out for a long while.
We walked on the street for a bit and then hit a trail or two. It really is a lovely area that Richard and Diane live in.
Back to the house we went, and again after a bit of time we made ourselves sandwiches and sat. And sat. And yakked. And yakked.
As a reader will probably realize, this is a family visit, and quite different than a trip overseas where we spend so much time wandering. It does take my brain time to adjust to a different kind of travel!
Eventually I decided it was nap time. Just a short nap, mind you, but when I went back out more family had arrived. We saw Ruth Ann’s daughters, Erika and Kirsten, and Erika’s family — husband Stewart, and kids Berlyn, Holland, and Dakota. The cutest kids ever!
I took a few more photos of the house and flora …
More yakking. More sitting around enjoying each other’s company. And eventually a delicious salmon dinner.
More sitting. More yakking. And then pear cobbler made my Richard and Diane’s son, Scott. Gee, did I mention him yesterday? Now I can’t remember! He’s here as well.
Tomorrow we are off to another country. But it’s not a flight away, unlike most countries we visit.
We are in the first row, in the Polaris lay flat seat area. Yes, we chose row one. Some suggest it is better to be further away from the kitchen, but I like being here: it’s quick and easy to get off the plane, and we are close to the toilet. (Except at certain times when they don’t allow us up there — I think it’s when they are serving the pilots or something. What I do miss, though, is a window seat. We’ve talked about maybe giving that a go next time. It means we won’t be next to each other, but we don’t do a lot of talking on a plane anyway.
I had ordered a special meal for this flight because I’d read you often get better food that way. What I didn’t realize when I ordered the “healthy, low salt and low sugar” meal was that I was getting the diabetic meal! And no, it wasn’t special or better. So next time I either go back to the normal menu or I try something different like perhaps the Asian or kosher meal. But, really, United doesn’t do great food. So it goes. These two images show all the food I was served. Doesn’t it look … um … oh never mind. And no, I didn’t eat it all.
After getting my “healthy” meal I was asked what I wanted for dessert. Well … duh … the ice cream sundae! I’m guessing they were wondering about me at that point.
I read for a bit and then put the seat down and slept. Time has no meaning on a plane: there is no day or night. There just … well … is, if you get my drift. You just spend 10+ hours being.
After a bit of a snooze I started reading some more, and eventually some food was brought out. Because of my (foolish) food choice I was given some sort of wrap full of eggplant and I don’t know what else … I took one bit and Dan offered to switch so I got his grilled cheese sandwich and chips and he ate my eggplant whatever. He said it was pretty good.
Then back to reading mixed with resting mixed with doing nothing.
At about 2:00 PM PST the lights were turned on in the plane. Shortly after we were handed our warmed towels and a flight attendant passed by saying “Morning!”
Hmm. In London it would be late at night. In California it’s mid-afternoon. I’m not sure what “Morning!” would be about.
Soon my next “special meal” was delivered, along with sparkling water. Too. Much. Food. They called it lunch, but it was more than I would normally eat for dinner at home. It wasn’t exactly an epicurean’s delight, but it sufficed.
When we landed it was a bit of a bumpy bit and my water bottle fell and rolled over to where the flight attendant was sitting. Made me laugh. After landing it took a while to get to the gate because another plane was still in that space. Then the person (or persons?) who were driving that thing (Dan told me the name but I’ve forgotten) that connects to the plane that we walk through to get into the terminal was having difficulty aiming things correctly so we had a bit more waiting. But finally, out we went! And out went my brain. I forgot to take any more photos at all.
My sister picked us up (thanks, Carolyn!) and we then had the wonderful joy of being welcomed back to the Bay Area with a lot of traffic. But so it goes. We got safely home, opened all the windows because the house was quite stuffy, and started to unpack, make up the bed, and do all the things one has to do.
And yes, I’m fully unpacked and the suitcase is put away. But I still have much to do: the house is quite dusty, and we have piles of mail. (Oh Jan and Greg, you should see your stack of mail!)
But now? It’s 8:10 PM our time and while I feel a bit dazed I don’t feel tired. We’ll see how I sleep.
So that’s that. We had a great trip. We are home. I am grateful.
As is typical, my watch let me know I didn’t get a good night’s sleep: this time the score was even lower. That came as no surprise since I’m the one who was awake a lot — my watch hardly needed to inform me of that! Part of it, I’m sure, is knowing we had a flight coming up. Part was also the sore throat. This is one persistent bug, and my nighttime throat is bad. (I barely even notice it during the day.)
At one point Dan looked at my open suitcase and said I wouldn’t be able to shut it. Because of that, I shut it. I’m not competitive. I just always win. Shown below is my daypack that will go on the plane with me, and the luggage which, even while it qualifies as carry on, will get checked. (Since Dan has to check his we figure we may as well get rid of mine as well.) And yes, that was all I carried for this 6+ week trip. The only things Dan took for me was my umbrella and my puffer jacket which packs into itself quite nicely. Odds are I might have even been able to squish that in my luggage, but maybe not.
We were ready ahead of time so we checked out and walked to “Dan’s underground station.” Okay, okay, that time I did lose.
Without much waiting we boarded our train. A nice man offered me his chair — wait, do I look old?! — I thanked him but said we would get off at the very next station so I was fine. Rarely has anyone offered us seats, and never have any people in their teens or twenties offered. But I won’t complain because then I’d sound like an old lady and of course I can’t possibly be an old lady. Um. Right?
And then we arrived at Paddington. To get to our next rain was so easy, but first we stopped for coffee. We wanted to use up the last £10 we had. Of course it turned out they don’t take cash!
After coffee we walked to Heathrow Express and got right on the train. Some would say we should take the Elizabeth Line, which perhaps is a bit less, but Heathrow Express is a 15 minute ride and with our “Two Together” card we get a very good price. Besides, it always has plenty of available seats. (Another Heathrow Express was right near us so I took a quick shot. Because.)
To Heathrow we went. Arrived easily, and then did the maze to get to the spot where we check our luggage. Lots of hallways, lots of those moving walkways …
We quickly checked our luggage and made our way to security. They are a bit slower here with the body scanner bit. I purposefully didn’t wear my barrette so I wouldn’t trigger the thing. Both of us remove our watches even though I don’t believe that would trigger anything. It’s just easier than dealing with that trigger possibility! Dan took off his belt (he was actually told to) even though it’s supposed to be the sort (it’s plastic rather than metal) to not trigger anything. Still he triggered the machine. I think it was because of the zipper on his shirt.
From there it was another maze to get to our lounge. Dan said it’s because we actually go under the runway or some such thing. Down a long escalator, then more walking, and then up two escalators.
We went into a store and managed to find a tin box with goodies for exactly £10 that we will enjoy later.
Then to the lounge we went. Dan asked if we qualified for more than this basic United lounge and yes, we did: we could do Air Canada or Singapore. The woman said Singapore was very good for their food, but nixed Canada. At that point, though, we just decided this one was closest to our gate and we were already there so we just went in. We both had breakfasts. I forgot to take a photo of mine, but did catch Dan’s before he dug in. I think Dan might be tiring of yours truly constantly photographing him! Could it be?
With about 45 minutes to go until boarding I went in search of the coffee machine. A cappuccino was made and back to my seat to do a whole lot of nothing. I am very talented at nothing, so I nailed it!
This is my view out the window in the lounge. Thrilling, I know. The United plane you see is most likely not ours — I think we are at the very end of the terminal.
And we are in the plane! I’ll post Part One now and get back to you when we are home. Ciao!
So this is it: our final full day in London, and our final full day of our trip. What a time we’ve had!
I woke this morning and took a no-slip shower. (I still say the paper bath mat is not as good a rubber one and it’s definitely too small.)
After showering and dressing I did my finances via Quicken. Yes, I’ve done those nearly every day — I like to know what we are in for when we get home and I have to pay for much of this journey (I love it when I can pay for portions before we get on that first plane as it helps minimize the pain, but we will still have a rather hefty bill, as you might imagine.)
We left the hotel and went back to the same place we went to yesterday for breakfast. The people there are incredibly friendly and, once again, the barista gave Dan TWO little cups! (We later gave him a nice tip. 😊 )
Once we finished our breakfast we got on a train. Today’s first destination was Westminster Abbey. I’d last been to see it all in 1974 and I can guarantee I simply didn’t pay attention to a lot. Dan had only been inside when we went to evensong and we could only see a bit of the place and weren’t allowed to take photos.
Getting off the train, we walked a bit and of course photos were taken.
We arrived early so we walked partway around. (Photos above.)
Then it was back again and after we were admitted to the grounds we first went to St. Margaret’s. Only after we used our cameras did we see the sign for no photography. Oops! I really don’t know why we weren’t to take photos, and I saw others using their phones. I wondered, in fact, if it was a sign left up from a service, as they do say no photography when a service is happening.
Then into Westminster we went. I’m not going to point out everything and/or explain … it’s getting late and I want to get this posted!
(I took a lot more photos of musicians’ memorials, or whatever those are called, but so far they have not drifted from phone to cloud and I can’t get them posted because my phone is misbehaving when I try to post from there. Ah well. Maybe later.)
After we went through it all we did what we had hoped to do at some point: it was afternoon tea time! I had looked up “best afternoon tea” on Google, but gosh it can be costly (as in close to £100 per person costly). This was still costly, but about half the price as the real fancy ones. (And actually we probably didn’t have the right clothing for those in any case.) It was yummy, and much, much more than I needed to eat but I ate it all! (Okay, I ate half of what is pictured: I did allow Dan to have the other half. I’m nice that way.)
From there we went toward Trafalgar Square. There was a anti-Brexit protest going on and it looks to me like it’s probably a daily event. I think a large number of Brits are unhappy with what Brexit did for them. The anti-immigration attitude kind of backfired, eh? Gee, sound familiar?
We decided to go to the National Gallery. First we just sat for a bit (my blood sugar was a bit messed up from the tea), and then we went upstairs. It’s such a fabulous place. We had limited time (I think we got in at about 3 but it might have been even later), so we couldn’t see a ton, but what we did see was wonderful. I took a few photos — it’s never as good a seeing the actual works, though.
We had to leave since closing time was announced, so we then headed to a place for dinner. Our final pub meal was at Horse & Guardsman. I’m sad to say goodbye to pub meals —
but I’m also happy to start to eat more responsibly. Obviously if we lived here we’d not go to pubs nearly as often, but we sure do see a ton of people getting off work getting a pint: most don’t go in to the pubs, but stand outside mingling.
Dinner was enjoyed and that was it for our pub life.
After dinner it was back to the tube, catching the Circle line to Bayswater — Dan’s favorite station and the one I will forever remember since it’s the correct station for our hotel!
A short walk later we were in our room and I began to do a bit of packing. I’m really hoping I can fit my walking shoes into the suitcase and wear my lighter shoes for tomorrow. We’ll see if I can manage. It’s probably going to mean smooshing the luggage down hard with my knee, but I’m pretty determined!
Off with me now!
10,560 steps, 4.11 miles, 7 flights climbed (Note: it’s so nice being back in a city with good public transportation but it does mean I don’t walk as much. Ah well!)
It was a slow start morning — I actually woke up, read a bit, and went back to sleep. When I next looked at my watch it was about 9:00! I guess I needed more sleep.
After Dan showered (no falling for him, but I had left that “bath mat” in the shower) and we both were ready it was time to get our free cup of coffee. Because free. Yes, I have a difficult time turning down free things.
But WAIT! Dan suggests that free doesn’t mean we have to take advantage of the coffee?! Really? Is that the American way?
Well, he was right: we were going to get coffee with breakfast, after all.
So out we went, off to today’s adventures.
Adventure one: coffee and salmon bagels. Dan ordered a single macchiato. The barista made my coffee first (the bigger one) and then did Dan’s. But he had extra coffee. So Dan got two. Perhaps that was the win of the day?
Oh — brief interlude here — weather! I’ve neglected to mention weather! I’m out of my warmer Woolx pants and shirts, and into the lighter things. Yesterday I also brought along my hoodie, but ended up wrapping it around my waist most of the day so I didn’t even take that. Today looked to be as warm or warmer than yesterday (77° predicted which is a tad on the warm side for my taste. I’m sure I’ll be hit hard by the heat at home!) and it was also predicted to be cloudy. That’s good for photography and for a bit of sun protection, but yesterday, even with those clouds, I did manage to get a sunburn which, for me, is rotten because I blister a bit. The sun and I aren’t friends — sun likes my sister much better!) In any case, no rain was forecast for yesterday, and the same goes for today.
After breakfast we caught the tube to reach our destination: British Museum, here we come!
I took a few shots as we got out of the train: I loved the colorful mosaics. Then we went up a long escalator.
From there we saw something we’d seen last time: a huge space with projections on the walls and ceilings.
Then on to the museum we went, passing by the theater where a musical was playing. I haven’t a clue if it’s any good (and no, I never saw the movie). But I liked the shoe (something I wouldn’t ever consider wearing, btw) so there it is.
The last time we were at the museum we had a meet up with Brandon and the line to get in wrapped around the block. We nearly gave up, in fact. This time? NO line. Hm. I wonder what was up with that earlier visit. We entered the library, but we couldn’t get very far in. Then we headed off to see more. I do totally wonder about the influencer types and those young women who dress up to be photographed. (One young woman, seen in the photos below, would have a photo taken, then check to see if it was okay, and this time she required a new shot. The woman with the microphone walked by one sculpture and rested her head on the hand of the thing … apparently “do not touch” is meaningless, as I saw this happen a few times. And yes, I’m incredibly judgmental. Shame on me!) We had the overpriced lunch at the cafe, wandered more, and spent about four hours in the place. Thankfully my back didn’t even ache — that’s rather rare for me!
After the museum we went to a pub (Princess Louise) that Brandon had introduced to us. I loved the small rooms so I wanted to revisit it. We enjoyed our very own private spot!
Then we walked a bit more. That walk included the very crowded and touristy Covent Garden area. We thought better of eating dinner there, though, knowing the tourist bit would mean it would be even more costly than in the neighborhood where we are staying.
Finally, after the tube ride to “Dan’s station” where we are so close to our hotel, we opted for Italian food. Should I have taken photos of the before dishes? Oh, maybe. But aside from the garlic flatbread, as you can see, it was too late!
Back in our room I noticed housekeeping had taken the shredding bath mat but hadn’t left a new one. Dan seemed to believe I could manage a shower without a mat, but no way was I going to chance it so I went to the front desk and asked for a few. (I did noticed someone had fixed a little pice of metal that the shower door fit into — I had knocked it off during my fall and for the life of me couldn’t figure out where it went! I was glad to see I hadn’t done permanent damage to it!)
Per my usual routine I put on pjs and set out tomorrow’s clothes. This time, though, I also set out my clothes for going home the next day. Yep, that’s me in a nutshell.
After that I made myself some strawberry-something sort of “meh” caffeine free tea. Because why not, right? I might have missed the free morning coffee, but at least I got something for free today. After all, Dan got that extra macchiato this morning. Seems only fair, somehow.
If I count days from May 5, when we landed at Heathrow, today is day 42 of our trip. (Obviously if I count from May 4, when we left SFO, it’s day 43. I’m going to bet readers could figure that out too. We are all so smart that way.)
I have to acknowledge that we are a people of privilege: so many can’t manage to do a trip like this. So I must remember to be very grateful. I also have to realize that any trip could our last, as we never know what the next day will bring. So again, I’m grateful.
Acknowledgement over ‘n out. But gratefulness is not over ‘n out. Ever.
Once we were dressed we went upstairs to get our coffees. We won’t pay £17 each for a breakfast here, but the coffee is free all day so that was fine by us. We made them (just one of those automatic machines) and took them back to the room with us as we figured out what we were doing.
Once coffee was done and we’d decided on our agenda we headed out. Dan suggested we grab breakfast nearby, so we did that first. Nothing close to £24!
Then it was over to the tube where we went, with one change, all the way to Richmond to visit Kew Gardens. And yes, Dan figured out the directions. Whew!
The Kew Gardens are huge. We obviously couldn’t see everything there, but we did see quite a bit. We went into most, if not all, of the houses … from tropical (so humid) to desert, and in between. The plant life at the garden is pretty amazing. (But their roses aren’t nearly as wonderful as what I find in San Jose, I must say!) We wandered and wandered. At one point we headed toward the “Redwood Grove”. What we found was one redwood (I think Dan said it was a coastal one). That was it! But there were other large-ish trees around. In any case, we spent a whole lot of time at the gardens, and I will just share photos, a video, and leave it at that.
(I’ve now managed to upload more photos and I think that’s enough. No one needs to see all the photos I shoot!)
We did have a nice, inexpensive lunch at the gardens. Exciting, I know.
From there we walked to where a boat would take us all the way to Westminster. It was a nice, relaxing ride, and it felt good to get off our feet for over an hour. We’d never done a Thames boat ride before, and I’m really glad we did this one. I wouldn’t mind taking another going the other direction, but we’ll see if we can fit that in. And yes, more photos without explanation. (I’m feeling tired and feeling a bit discombobulated right now — more on that later.)
Getting off the boat and heading out into the crowds was rather like culture shock. We had been in nature for so many hours and suddenly we could barely move. I’m so glad we aren’t staying anywhere near that area.
It was time for dinner so we went to a pub we’ve now been to twice already. I wanted to be able to go to the bottom floor (two flights down) because I had great memories of eating there on our first trip together to London: that time we met up with Jan and Greg and ate at the same pub! Yummy food was enjoyed.
Then back to the tube for an easy ride and short walk (because we went Dan’s way!) to our hotel.
But now for the tired and discombobulated bit. First of all, we did walk a lot, so of course I’m tired. But when we got back I told Dan I was going to take a shower. I had noticed a paper bath mat sitting on a shelf, but checking the shower floor I thought it wasn’t too slippery. WRONG. I started the shower and almost immediately fell to the floor. That is one dangerous shower. Fortunately nothing was broken and I got that darn paper bath mat and put it on the floor. What a dumb thing, though: it was falling apart by the time I was done showering. I think they should rethink their bath mat idea!
Now it’s time for me to listen to at least one recording I’m to study, and then off to sleepy land.
Here we go again! Once we lazily got up and got cleaned up we packed. We won’t get breakfast until later: I just won’t pay so much for a B&B breakfast, no matter how good it is. I won’t even do the coffee in the room since it’s instant here … no thanks!
When it was time to leave Dan asked the young woman at the door if she could call a taxi: it’s really too far for us to walk with our roller bags. Would we have walked with packs? Hm. I’m not sure, but I think I would have been willing since it’s maybe a bit over a mile. But anyway, she called. The service they usually use was full, so she called another and we were told 5 to 10 minutes. At over 10 minutes we started to worry so he went back in to ask her about it. She called again, getting no answer. At that point Dan decided to do what we had originally planned and ordered an Uber.
He was shown that it would arrive quickly. At almost the same time both the taxi and the Uber arrived. We hopped in the Uber and let the young woman deal with the taxi driver since he was late and hadn’t responded to calls. Then on to the train station we went.
Having had no breakfast we had a small bite and some coffee. Neither were stellar, but it was no biggie.
I loved that LNER texted me to say not only what platform we were on but where to stand to get in to our car. I wish all companies did that!
We barely had to wait and in to the train we went. We had reserved seats and no one was in them. Sweet! We got situated and I enjoyed some of the scenery but also occasionally just shut my eyes.
After about two hours we arrived. Hello again, London! We got off the train and stood a bit figuring out how to get to the hotel.
I had one route, Dan had another. Me being pushy we went with my route. I was wrong. Dan’s way would have been a much shorter walk. Sigh. When will I learn to let him deal with directions?!
We checked in early and our room was ready, so that was nice. We are in a basement room, but it does have a window so we can watch people’s feet as they walk by. Not that we have the curtains open in any case. This must be a fairly new place as it’s in very good condition.
After sitting a bit we went out to explore the area, and get a bit to eat for lunch. Turned out the “bit” was more than I expected — I thought the pizza slices would be half the size they were. I told Dan we could have shared. He looked at me like I was nuts. Go figure! (Poor shot of where we ate below.)
Then we walked toward Kensington Park. We went in and ambled. We even did a “Sunday in the Park with George” photo. (To those who don’t know, Sondheim wrote a musical by that name and Dan’s first name is George.)
Dan heard music and eventually I did as well, so we went to listen to a brass band play. Memories of muni band (although there were no woodwinds)! I will try and post a video later: so far it just gets stuck near the start and won’t continue to load. (UPDATE: Loaded!)
We then ambled more, ending up at Royal Albert Hall. We have good memories of attending a couple of concerts there, but nothing is happening now that is of interest to us so never mind.
We walked through a flower garden area, but the flowers were mostly behind fences so I didn’t take a lot of photos.
This is our first warm day in eons, and the first one that caused us to stop for ice cream. Well, I wouldn’t have stopped, but someone to my right was sort of pushing me toward the ice cream truck and what was I to do? So ice cream was enjoyed.
From there we wound up at Kensington Palace. Not that we knew that’s where we were going … these random walks just happen!
Finally it was time for some dinner. I ordered a veggie burger and couldn’t come close to finishing. I should have just ordered an appetizer! When will I learn? Can you tell the difference between the veggie burger and the meat one?
Because we knew we had some things to figure out for the next few days we got back to our room and did some research. I also began to listen to some recordings I am to study. And yes, I finished this blog entry.
Stay tuned to find out what we opted for tomorrow!
This was our only full day in York. We woke a tad slowly, having read that it was raining out. I finally looked out the window and saw that everything looked quite dry. Go figure!
When we were ready we went back to the gate we entered yesterday. We knew that the scone shop we wanted to visit (a memory from our first time here) opened at 10:00, so we had a bit of time to wander first.
The scones were, as remembered, quite delicious! Finger licking good, in fact. I’m so glad we were able to return!
We did walk through (in?) the Shambles. As charming as I’m sure it used to be, it’s primarily about Harry Potter and ghosts now and I fear it’s become the Disneyland of York. I wonder if that will eventually change.
Then more walking. We noticed some interestingly dressed people. We stopped to see what was going on. Turned out some Morris dancers were about to begin. There were a number of groups and I did videos of most. I think for now I’ll just attempt to get one to post. Maybe I’ll add others when I have a decent connection.
We walked back to York Minster to see if we could figure out where we were to enter for evensong and to ask someone there how early to arrive (last time we were here we arrived to late and sat in a different space where we could not see the choir and really couldn’t hear well either). The guide said 5:15 for the 5:30 service would work, but I did think that might be a bit incorrect. We decided we’d get there no later than 5:00.
From there we intended to try and get to the Train Museum so I plugged that in to my map. Turned out it was further than expected, but we still started out.
We reached a park and saw that something was going on. Turned out to be a 21 gun salute (with very loud canons — many people had earplugs in and, thankfully, Dan had some I could use and he plugged his ears) to celebrate the king’s birthday. Not that he was born now, mind you, but a man explained that while he had a winter birthday the weather was better now so this is when it is celebrated. It was quite the spectacle. Military were there, as well as a woman who might have been mayor, but the man said she could easily have been in some other position. Dan was mentioning that the woman and man looking militarily important went from group to group of soldiers and whatnot and chatted, and the man suggested they do that and he was a bit sarcastic about them all thinking very highly of themselves. It was pretty funny. He mentioned “all pomp and circumstance”. But hey, it was fun and he made a 30 minute drive to see it with his daughter! The park grounds were lovely, too.
Prior to chatting with him the band played a non-military piece you might recognize (or not) and that man and his young daughter danced along. It was quite cute!
From there we continued on the train museum trek, but again were sidetracked, thinking that perhaps going up and walking the Roman wall might be a better way to get there. Before going up that there were some lovely wildflowers. The sign explained that it was their small bit in trying to deal with global warming. Then up to walk the wall. And no, I really wasn’t scared. Amazing! (But there never was a huge drop off.)
When it was time to take stairs down we realized we were even further from the museum. Oops! At that point we decided we’d have to skip that after all and we went another direction.
Because I’d had something sweet for breakfast I felt a need for something savory. (My sugar levels go a bit crazy if I have something sweet in the morning.) We headed to the Blue Belle Pub, a place I’d read about and we’d looked at yesterday. They only serve pork pies, so that was what we had: when on trips like this I sometimes just have to give up my desire to not eat certain things. The pub was small and I enjoyed sitting there and resting my feet, having a half pint and a pie. We also cheered the Kennedy Center, having seen that it was finally back to what it should be called.
We then walked more and looked around for possible dinner spots (yes, right after our pies!). Our B&B owner had said we might have difficult finding a place to eat if we didn’t make reservations.
We started to really run out of steam. We had to get a cookie and coffee. Now please understand I didn’t want a cookie. It was a need. One must always pay attention to needs. I couldn’t even eat half of the cookie we were sharing. Dan helped with that.
Walking some more, I took a few more photos, including of some “cowboys”. Just sort of funny to see in York.
On our way back to the B&B we I saw some pink hatted women … most likely a hen party. We’ve seen a number of these as well as stag party groups. York must be the place to go.
When we got to the B&B I started this blog entry and then took a 5 minute snooze before we had to get back to York Minster. On the way there I felt something hit my head. Hm. Did someone throw something at me? I reach up to feel it … and … OH NO! It was a bird. Well, a “bird blessing”, if you will. And now my hand was blessed as well. I had tissues so Dan helped clean me up and said you couldn’t really see it any longer, Still, I went into a bathroom and got my hair wet and washed my hands thoroughly. I knew what I’d be doing when we got back to the B&B!
As we walked we saw another interesting group of people. No clue what it was all about.
We arrived a York Minster in plenty of time, and after waiting a bit we were let in. Eventually we were seated and we had great seats! The service was really wonderful, although I sometimes couldn’t understand what was being said and they don’t tell us who the composers of the works are, nor do we get the words in print, which I would have loved. No photography is allowed, so we could only look at the place and admire it. After the service a few people stuck around to hear the organ postlude, including us, which was fabulous as well. I’m so glad we could go this time. (Earlier today we had decided to skip the £20 per person fee to tour the place: we’ve seen so many cathedrals and I figured we might save the final tour for Westminster Cathedral — we have been there for evensong, but Dan has never seen the entire place.)
After evensong we went to dinner at Ye Olde Starre Inne. A tasty meal was enjoyed! Oh … and another napkin drop was recorded.
Finally it was back to the B&B.
First thing for me? A shower! I could finally stop worrying about my hair (I had avoided touching it at all, as you might imagine.) Then it was time to finish this entry. That always takes a long time due to slow loading photos and videos.
Tomorrow is our final moving day before we head back to the states. I’m sorry to see the trip end, but we can’t continue forever.
We lazily sat around for a bit after waking — and I woke much later than Dan: sleep wasn’t great last night and my watch said my sleep score was “ok” but that waking up several times “hurt my score”. Well yes, in fact, hacking away tends to wake a person up! (Yep, the cough decided to reappear. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Cough!)
When we did go out to find breakfast we simply walked across the street and headed to the corner and ate at a place called Wreck. I had the smashed avocado with poached egg on toast and Dan had the full Wreck breakfast. His was one gigantic breakfast! Needless to say, it will be a two meal day and I’m hoping the second meal (dinner) will be light.
We went to the hotel and, once again, I did a short video of the art across from the elevator. I had hope to see the swimmer and there she was!
Going back to our room we finished all the packing and had about 30 minutes to spare so we just sat around and did the things we do on our iPads.
Shortly before we left our room I remembered that my hotel key wasn’t out. I first opened my daypack, but then remembered it was in my purse that I had in the suitcase. At that point it was nearly noon, which was our checkout time, so I told Dan I’d pull it out at the desk. At the desk the woman said not to bother — they didn’t need that key. So never mind.
Then we walked to the train station. Now we know we could easily have walked from the train station to our hotel and avoided grumpy taxi driver! While we were seated Dan put his cap on me … I’m not sure I look quite as dapper as Dapper Dan!
We didn’t have to wait too long for our train, but we were definitely earlier than necessary. For PattyTime that is just fine! We stood in front of our coach’s door, but they kept them closed as they were cleaning.
While waiting for the doors to open so we could board a group of young school children walked by with very small suitcases. Hmm. Where might they be headed, and in which coach?
The doors opened and we boarded. And yes, those school kids were in our coach. I told Dan I just bet they were going to our location — I had seen one with a Harry Potter shirt.
At some point I realized the lock on my daypack was missing. I guess it fell on to the hotel bed when I was opening the bag to look for the key card and I didn’t notice. Fortunately I had an extra lock so that one went on. Overly cautious, maybe? But not really, when I read about luggage getting stolen and, besides, I’m married to Mr. Extra Cautious!
The train ride wasn’t spectacular: I found our seats a bit uncomfortable. The kids were noisy, but that’s what kids are like and that didn’t bother me. It was only a bit over two hours in any case. I did take a few from-the-train photos. Not thrilling, but hey, it kept me occupied.
And then we arrived. Hello York! We walked through the station, and then got into a taxi. He drove by Clifford’s Tower, which I remembered more from a TV show than from our last visit. (I was ill on that first visit, so we didn’t do as much as we’d have liked.)
We are staying in a B&B without purchasing the second B. I simply can’t see spending £17.50 each for breakfast. We don’t need that much food! I wish these places had the option to choose a smaller meal, as I’d happily pay for coffee and yogurt. But we’ll just find our breakfast on our own.
Our room is fine. It’s an older place, and there’s a bit of funkiness to it, but it’ll do! We met Durga, who runs this place with his wife, and he’s quite nice (and talkative).
When we were settled we headed out to the closest gate to go inside the walled part of the city, and we just ambled up the street. We are staying a bit further from the more charming part of the city center, but it’s merely a walk away.
We went down a small lane (I got a kick out of the name “WHIP-MA-WHOP-MA-GATE” … you can read about it in the photo below.)
More walking and we stopped so Dan could get water and we both had little snacks. The ginger cookies I had were so hard I had to be careful. I suppose they are intended to be dipped in tea or coffee …?
We walked more, and were also investigating dinner options. Eventually we settled on Guy Fawkes Inn, where we sat in the very back in an outdoor area. It was quite pleasant. And hey … just so you know … the color “olive green” fit our olives perfectly. (Yes, I’m sure you already know why olive green got its name, but yours truly is a bit slow ….!) I had duck and Dan had a steak pie which he said was delicious but very filling!
From there we walked back. Slowly, due to our full stomachs!
It wasn’t terribly late, but we were ready to put our feet up and relax!
Tomorrow we have a full day to explore, and we’ve yet to set our plans completely. The B&B owner did suggest we make dinner reservations because of the crowds, but we’ll see if manage that or if we just try and find a table for two somewhere. I’d prefer finding something that serves very light fare after tonight’s meal.
Goodnight for now!
9,304 steps, 3.60 miles, 2 flights climbed (What can I say? It was a train day!)
Sleep was much better … whew! I’m still coughing a bit (and seem to have pulled something from that wonderful hacking), but at least I slept lots more. I’m grateful!
I woke up before Dan, so I did things I do each morning (I haven’t mentioned that I do check Quicken every day just to see how horribly high our credit card bill will be. Thankfully I did plan for that, but it still makes me gasp a bit. The UK isn’t at all like Spain or Portugal — it’s quite a bit more costly.). Once Dan woke I could make myself a cup of coffee.
This is our last full day here and then we move on. As the trip winds down I think our energy is winding down as well. This seems to happen on any trip, no matter the length, although usually it’s about three or four days before our flight home. Maybe my cold isn’t helping, but honestly I think it’s more of a psychological thing.
A little side note about our room: this is the first place we’ve been where the thermostat seems to actually work. Up until now we’ve always had to open windows at night because, despite the cold and rain, our rooms were too warm for sleep. It’s a very new hotel (which is also probably why it was much more affordable). This is news you can use. Well … if you ever come to Liverpool, that is. We are staying at The Resident Liverpool.
Since we were in no hurry to go out in the pouring rain I took a laundry shower. We then prepared to head out.
Except.
I had forgotten to turn the switch on to charge my phone. Oops. Each outlet has a switch so the outlet is only on if you flip the switch. Before we headed out yesterday I switched them all off, attempting to be a good citizen and all. Heh. Kind of backfired on me. So never mind getting out quite yet. (But really, the rain … it’s not all that encouraging for an excursion in any case.)
Okay … a 70% charge will do, so off we went. At around 11:30 we went to the main drag where restaurants can be found since brunch seemed like a good idea (hooray … a two meal day!). We went into a spot that looked nice and we both ordered our coffees and the “croissant royale” plate (like eggs royale but using a croissant and I believe there was added smashed avocado. It was yummy. No, I couldn’t finish. Yes, I forgot to take a photo, but at least I took one of the restaurant.
Then it was time to go to see St. Luke’s Church. In 1941, due to incendiary bombs, it was pretty much destroyed, but the stone walls remained. They’ve fixed some things up (for safety) and it is now, believe it or not, used for music festivals and weddings sometimes. Certainly not today, though: the rain was coming down. It is moving to see things like this since we in America are usually so removed from the effects of war.
The last photo might remind some of the opera “Silent Night”, when the killing was halted and the men played a game on, I believe, Christmas Eve. I still scratch my head over all that was going on and then a game, only to be followed by more killing.
Then we walked to the Liverpool Cathedral. The cornerstone was laid in 1904 and finished in 1978. Obviously a much newer structure. It’s huge — the largest cathedral in Britain. We wandered for a good amount of time, and there were moments when a volunteer came up to chat. And chat. They seem to be drawn to Dan! I believe the last person to talk to us was actually an Anglican priest (are they called priests?). Everyone there clearly is quite friendly. And yes, one of the photos below shows the floor having been lifted — similar to our pit going up and down), so they could pull some folding tables out. Prior to them doing that I had no idea that that section of the floor would rise.
At that point we thought we’d head back to the hotel: Dan could transfer some photos from camera to iPad, and I could do some of this blog. The weather just seemed to encourage us to take it easy — but of course photos were taken on the way.
Reaching our hotel we went to our room. My eyes were tired so I figured maybe a rest was in order. It helped that Dan encouraged me. As he said, I had been dealing with this bug. So yes, I took a little nap.
The rain had stopped, so we thought to head out on a bit of a walk before the hotel drinks hour and dinner, so off we went. First we went toward the train station to see if the walk was doable. (Better to walk that have a grumpy taxi driver, after all!) The train station was, in fact, quite easy to reach (.4 miles with no stairs) and I realized we actually should have walked to our hotel when we arrived. I think I was mixing this place up with somewhere else when I thought we needed a taxi. After getting to the station we walked through a park that was full of memorials from various wars.
So much killing. Sigh. When will we ever learn …?
Back to our hotel we went, to enjoy our little happy hour bit. Again prosecco for me and white wine for Dan, and crisps for both of us. Hard to turn down the free stuff, after all!
We had decided to eat at St. Peter’s Tavern. It was formerly a church (St. Peter’s … duh!) but had been a variety of things since that closed down. Now it’s most recently a tavern and I must admit it’s rather odd to see a church turned into a tavern. As we sat there having our chicken pot pies (nice and small … perfect for me!) and beers we also could watch the tv. On it were commentators who were talking about FIFA. Not that the sound was on, but you could tell they were in New York and it was obvious that’s what they were talking about. It was funny to think that we were sitting in a place in Liverpool, watching men in New York talking about the games, and then the opening ceremonies in Mexico began. Our world is so small in some ways.
We went back to the hotel, but before getting into the elevator I took a video of something that is continually playing right across from the elevator doors. I hope to get another with someone swimming tomorrow if possible. It must be a very long video (an art project, I’m sure).
Back in our room I made myself some lemon ginger tea. I think it’s helpful for my cough. I also pulled out the remainder of my cookie stash that I’d taken from other hotels we’ve stayed in and I shared with Dan. Because I’m such a giver that way. He very graciously accepted some. He’s such a taker that way. HAH!
We don’t have to pack tonight, as we have a later checkout time tomorrow: I had become a member of this hotel chain and that allows for 1 more hour here. I highly recommend readers to always check to see if the free membership gives you that perk.
I’ve enjoyed Liverpool, but I’m not sure I’d feel a need to return. I suspect if I were a true Beatles fan I’d have visited all the places the die-hard fans visit, but while I enjoy the Beatles they aren’t the end-all for me, and we didn’t even attempt to visit the first place they played or do the Beatles tour. Just not our cuppa, I guess.
So far, in fact, Dan and I both agreed that the Scottish highlands would call to us more than any other place. We’ve loved visiting all the villages and cities, but the highlands are awfully special. The other highlight of the trip was being with Greg and Jan. I would happily do another walk with them if they were ever up for it!
Now I’d better post this entry before I ramble on and on.
