UK TRIP 2022 – PART II

 May 7, 2022

London

Our travel agent, Julie, wisely booked a day tour of London for our first day in town.

We had left a wakeup request for six a.m. with the desk. Larry also set the alarm on his iPad. Good thing because the call came about six-twenty after we were already up. (We used the iPad alarm each day thereafter.)

After we showered and dressed, we went down to the breakfast room. Our reservations included the “Full English Breakfast” each day. This consisted of eggs, prepared to order, bacon, English sausage (which I loathe), blood pudding (same), toast, and lots of other choices, all cooked to order. It also included the continental breakfast. We chose this by itself instead.

I adore Greek yogurt. This was offered along with two other kinds: plain regular yogurt and fruit-flavored. Alongside were several fruit compotes. (The mixed-berry one was divine!)

I added fresh fruit on top for a delicious and satisfying meal. Larry also had a couple of sweet rolls and a fruit smoothie.

The coffee was terrific.

Meals were served on tables with fresh, starched, white linen cloths and napkins, lovely porcelain china, and silver flatware. My kind of dining!

One of the reasons the hotel garnered a five-star rating was for the number of staff in attendance at all times. They are uniformed, gracious, and very formal, fulfilling the English archetype.

We made our way to the Victoria Coach Station (as opposed to Victoria Station where the trains arrive and depart). We located the representative from Evan Evans Tours and checked in. Finally, we received instructions to board our “coach,” a lovely, large, modern bus.

Sheila, our guide, was funny and very informative. As we drove around the city, she provided a running commentary about English history and architecture.

We couldn’t go to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was only done every other day. The palace itself was also closed in preparation for the queen’s platinum jubilee. We walked to the gates and took pictures.

Yep, we were there

Connie and Dave, with whom we shared the tour

Then the bus tour continued. It stopped at several different locations, including the Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall, and the Prince Albert monument, where Larry jumped off to take photos.

Next we went to the changing of the horse guard, where we saw the guards in their red uniforms atop beautiful horses.

From there, we walked through St. James Park and Green Park. Larry’s hay fever started acting up badly, so we left the park and walked back along the road. He was sneezing, and his eyes ran.

While we were waiting for the rest to catch us with us, a large group of horse carts came racing by—perhaps four or five dozen. It appeared they were out for a Saturday run. So much fun to see.

Back on the bus to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We entered and were able to see most of the inside. (The front—the American Chapel—was blocked off in preparation for the jubilee.) Sheila led us down into the crypt where the tombs of famous people are located.

After a stop at the gift shop, where I bought a few items, we took the bus to a location near the Evan Evans offices. Here were many small restaurants as well as a food court.

We had spent our wait time as well as time on the tour with Dave and Connie from New York. The four of us decided to go to Market Hall, the food court. We got our lunch at Cappadocia Kebab and Sandwich Bar. Larry ordered lamb, and I ordered chicken and a falafel to split. They were each served atop a great salad. We had diet sodas to drink.

Dave ended up with a plate of huge ribs and fries, while Connie had a burger, also with fries. Both got beer to drink. We enjoyed our lunch and the company.

When we finished, we walked the two blocks or so to the Evan Evans offices, where we used their restrooms. Then back on the bus and over Waterloo Bridge to see various sites on the south side of the river. We drove back to town via Blackfriars Bridge.

On the way to the Tower of London, we saw the London Bridge. This is the current one. Various others have occupied the same location since the Roman days. The previous one now sits in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

At the Tower, we saw the Traitor’s Gate and the Bloody Tower. As usual, Sheila provided the details of these locations and the origins of their names. At this point, she left us on our own to explore the complex. We were exhausted, so we only climbed the tower to see the crown jewels. Astounding!

Queen’s Guards at the Tower of London

We had been moving since early in the morning, and we were fading rapidly. Our ticket included a boat ride down the Thames, but we were so exhausted, we discussed taking a cab back to the hotel and saving the boat ticket for another day.

On the way out, we spotted the Armouries Café and decided a rest in a cool place was just the ticket. We ordered two diet cokes and a cookie to split. I think we were probably a bit dehydrated, because after cool drinks—and a bit of sugar—we felt refreshed.

We walked over to the Tower Pier and caught our boat. What a fun ride! We had a running monologue during the whole trip. The “captain” probably moonlighted as a standup comic. He was hilarious.

The boat docked at Westminster Pier, about a fifteen-minute walk from our hotel.

We visited the New York Bar again for soft drinks before returning to our room. We decided to watch a little TV. We discovered there was a last season of our favorite British TV show, The Vicar of Dibley. This show always makes me laugh out loud. I immediately went to Amazon (US) and ordered the DVD to add to our collection. Can’t wait to watch the whole season when we get home.

We were more than ready for sleep, so we called it a night.

UK TRIP 2022 – PART I

May 5-6, 2022

L.A. to London

After several years without travel, we were finally more than ready to head out again.

In June of 2020, my oldest friend, Kathleen [Murphy] Stewart passed away. A few years before, when she was about to undergo very serious surgery, we had a long talk about what she wanted to happen following her death. She wished to be cremated. Although her husband wanted their ashes to be place together in the columbarium at their church, she wanted to be on the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Larry and I promised her, if her husband saved a small amount of her ashes, we would take them to Ireland for her. (Larry and Kathleen started kindergarten together, so he was also her close friend.)

Of course, we were unable to make the trip until now. We had originally intended to leave the first week in May, starting in Ireland. However, we discovered the Hill of Tara would not open until May 19. [When we got there, we discovered the visitors’ center wouldn’t open until the 28^th.] We reversed the trip, so we could fulfill our promise to Kathleen.

Visiting London had been a longtime item on my bucket list. So, we began our trip with a flight there.

We set our alarm early, but we both woke even before it went off.

Our driver arrived at 1:00 p.m. as scheduled. Very few services will drive from Dana Point to LAX. If they do, the price can be more than the price of the flight! However, our AAA travel agent, Julie told us about Angels Transportation. Their rate was considerably lower, and although not cheap, far more reasonable than our other choices—including long-term parking in an outer lot. The trip was efficient, and we didn’t have to drive or leave a car while we were gone.

This was our first time traveling on British Airways, and the flight was lovely. We flew on a Boeing 777-300. Julie, booked our seats in the section with only two seats on each side. This meant, we had a row to ourselves.

Although it was a “red eye” flight, departing at 5:30 p.m. from LAX, we both watched movies for the duration. Neither of us slept. We were able to enjoy a couple of films we had wanted to see: The Lost City and Belfast. Then we each watched a couple of other films.

We arrived close to noon on the sixth.

We were supposed to be met at Heathrow by a driver to take us to the hotel. We chose to walk to the arrival area rather than taking the train. We weren’t aware that the pedestrian route went through three terminals. It took quite a while, but after sitting for so long, the stretch felt good—except for hauling our bags.

We finally got to the arrival hall. After walking back and forth four times (the arrival hall was the length of two terminals), we did not see anyone holding our names. A couple of other drivers from a different company noticed us wandering around and took pity. They called our transport company and connected to our driver. Apparently, he was late and had finally arrived. The other drivers determined where he was and pointed us in his direction. We were very grateful to them!

Our driver took us to our hotel, Rubens at The Palace, a five-star location across the street from Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, because they are preparing for the queen’s platinum jubilee, the palace will be closed in preparation while we are here.

A bellman arrived at our car to collect our luggage. Ever since 2014, we have traveled very light. We only carry one SMALL rolling case, which fits in the overhead, and another bag. Larry takes a backpack to hold his iPad and other clothing items. I have a bag with my computer and purse.

We were greeted by a doorman, dressed in red livery. On other occasions, there have been two. We got to know Aaron and took a photo with him. [Lost when Larry’s phone died. Aaron is the young man on the far right.]

We entered the small lobby, where three people manned the reception desk. The young woman who checked us in told us our room wasn’t yet ready.

We were nearly asleep on our feet by this time.

We had been served dinner not too long after we took off from LAX. I had chicken with basmati rice. I ate the chicken and sweet peppers, but left the rice, roll, three-bean salad, and mousse dessert. Larry chose the pasta. He ate everything on his tray plus my dessert.

Before we landed, we were served croissants, fruit, granola bars, etc. I only ate the cheese out of the croissant. Larry ate everything.

However, it was two-thirty in the afternoon, and we decided to eat a light supper. We went into the New York Bar in our hotel where the waiter, Frank, who looked like central casting for an English butler, took our order.

I had the chicken cobb salad, and Larry had a burger. The food was quite good. By the time we finished, our room was ready.

The room was on the third floor. It was called a “cozy double.” The spin doctor had worked overtime on the description. While the décor was beautiful, with a crystal chandelier, the room was stuffed with furniture. The bed was as described: a double bed. We already knew many “double” rooms in Europe were fitted out with twin beds. They would not have fit in our room.

It contained tiny, mirrored side tables, a very small (about 14” in diameter) table, and a tiny, mirrored “desk” at the foot of the bed. In addition, two upholstered chairs had been placed in the room. They were large enough that they did not fit under the desk. Therefore, it was rendered virtually useless. All the drawers in the room (desk and nightstands) were far too small to be of much use (about 6” wide and 12” deep). I thought of our friend, Bernie, who likes to unpack as soon as she arrives. Not really possible here.

While the bedroom was tiny, the bathroom was enormous. Marble covered the floors and walls. The shower was huge.

Unfortunately, the shower had a rain showerhead (which I loathe). It is impossible to control the spray, and I don’t like the water coming down straight onto my head. However, instead of miniature containers of shampoo, conditioner, and bath gel, large bottles were provided for our use. (I was reminded of the gym at the Entente in Japan. Their showers contained dispensers of the same items.)

There was a small bar of soap on the counter next to the sink.

After our brief repast, we retired to our room for a much-needed nap.

After the nap, we continued to rest in our room. We had done a lot of walking at the airport and had been up for over twenty hours, so we were pretty tired. We made coffee and tea in our room and ate protein bars for dinner before going to bed for the night.