London ~ Day 7; England ~ Day 39

We left London a couple of days ago.

The final day of any vacation is a sad one for me.  I always have a hard time returning home.  No matter how long I am gone.  Two days, two months.  I never want to come back.  All I want to do is keep travelling.  I want to see what is around the next corner.  I am a geriatric gypsy at heart.

Don't get me wrong.  I love my family, my home, my friends, my career, my community.

What I don't love is having to return to reality. Housework, laundry, mowing the lawn, taking care of a cat, working for a living.

Joe knows about this weird quirk of mine, so he does his level best to shield me from any more sadness when we are on our way home.

He does ALL the packing.  I sit and watch.  And take photos of him in his underwear.

When we got to Gatwick airport, he surprised me with a bottle of cologne to remember our time in London.

And he brought along the left-over cakes from our high tea at Fortnum & Mason for a snack while we waited to board the plane.

Once we touched down at the Vancouver airport, this sight cheered me immensely.  It was our home exchange partners Jo and Alan, along with their daughter Claire, waving to us from the upper concourse as they were on their way home to England, about to board the plane we had just flown in on.

And then there is this.  'Project Runway'.  A television show that never fails to make me happy.  Instead of doing laundry, I have watched four episodes of Season 12 this morning alone.  Two more to go and I will be all caught up.  Then, and only then, will I be able to tackle the mound of dirty clothes that await me in my laundry room.

I am already planning our next vacation.


*Yay!  No more having to listen to me tell you to click on the photos to enlarge them!  That is cause for celebration right there.

London ~ Day Six

We have travelled hard these past 38 days. Especially this last week in London. Today was our final full day in this city.

So this morning when we woke up we said to each other, "Let's just take it easy today. Have our coffee, check our e-mail, see what's up on Facebook. We've done enough sight-seeing. Whatever we didn't see this trip, we'll catch the next time."

Yeah, right.

By 11:00am our conversation went like this:

Me: "Why don't we hop the bus to Trafalgar Square? And go to the National Museum? We haven't really seen any art yet."

Joe: "Sure! And there's a pub I'd like to go to that's near there. 'The Harp' in Covent Garden."

Me: "Okay! And you know? I'd like to go to Westminster Abby again. How about we go to the 5:00pm evensong service?"

So what started out as a self-proclaimed 'day off' turned into another fabulous day seeing the sights of London.

We can't help ourselves.

Trafalgar Square was buzzing. It was Eid today; the celebration to mark the end of Ramadan.


The National Gallery was great. It was free, it was full of amazing art, it was not crowded.





On our way to the pub, we happened across a sidewalk artist drawing the world's flags with coloured chalk.


People laid coins on their country of origin.


We continued up the road to Covent Garden to pop into 'The Harp' for a pint.


What a funky pub! Full of life, full of character.





Joe asked the waitress if she'd sell him a Dark Star bar mat. She said she couldn't. He must have looked so disappointed that she rushed over as we were leaving and jammed one into his hands.


Our last stop of the day was at Westminster Abby for the evensong service. What a treat that was! We got to sit in the quire with the choir!! To sit in a 1,000 year old abby while listening to beautiful voices sing the gospel was a lovely end to our week in London.


Seven hours after we had left, we were back on Edgware Road and feeling more than a little peckish. "How about some shawarma from Helen's Cafe?" Joe asked me.


The line-up of people out of Helen's Cafe goes around the block. Every single night. Joe got into the queue and ordered a few for our dinner.


They were absolutely delicious. (Except Joe ordered his a tad too hot and almost annihilated the back of his throat.)

Our bags are now packed. We've ordered a taxi for 6:00am tomorrow morning. All we've got left to do is get some sleep, then fly home.

See you soon Vancouver.


*Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Fifth Day in London

We walked our feet to the bone on Day 3. We were sight-seeing fools on Day 4. And because those two days damn near killed us, we decided to be sensible on Day 5. We only planned two activities yesterday.

Our first order of business was to make our way to the Tower of London. Once there, we made a bee-line for the Crown Jewels to beat the crowds.








We went on a highly entertaining (and at the same time educational) tour with a Yeoman Warder, better known as a Beefeater.

When I retire, I want to become a tour guide. I think I would enjoy taking people around museums and cities and castles and gardens; sharing my love of travel and history and throwing in my own anecdotes. One day.




From the Tower of London we made our way across town. By bus, of course, not foot!

We had reservations at Fortnum & Mason for high tea in the Jubilee Tearoom. I was a wee bit nervous because as you know I am not the most graceful person.




But I minded my Ps and Qs pretty well and I didn't embarrass myself too badly. (Well, except for when I kept making Joe take 'selfies' of us over and over again because my bra strap kept slipping down onto my arm. Keepin' it classy since 1958.)




Our server was absolutely delightful. We knew we were in the right place when the first words out of her mouth were, "Would you like a glass of champagne to start?"

High tea was delicious. The service was impeccable.

We started with a savoury dish. Joe had a lobster omelet. I went with my all-time favourite. Eggs Benedict.




The tea was poured perfectly. I chose to drink the 'Royal Blend'. Joe was much fancier and picked 'Assam'. There were hundreds of teas to choose from!




Then came the 3 tiered cake plates of scones and cakes, jars of jam and a silver pot of clotted cream.




And if that wasn't enough, there were four other kinds of cakes sitting on a table in the middle of the tearoom. All we had to do was ask and our server would slice us a piece. Joe asked. For three pieces. Just to taste, mind you.




And the kicker? We could eat as much as we wanted! Our server would replenish the cake plate with whatever we requested. Not that we requested. We were so full we felt as if we would burst.

And then this happened.

FORTNUM & MASON DO DOGGY-BAGS!

Seriously? We were shocked when our server said at the end of our meal, "I'll just pack this up for you." Whatever was left on the cake plates (and there was plenty) was ours to take with us. Even the jars of jam and lemon curd! I was so excited!

But don't worry. I kept my cool and pretended like this happened to me every day of my life.




*Click on the photos for close-ups!

London ~ Day Four

Okay. Forget that "we-love-to-walk-everywhere-because-we-see-so-much-more-that-way" nonsense I was spouting off yesterday. While it is totally true, my feet would be pulp if we were to walk around London for a week. And never mind my feet! I think I've got shin splints!!

To the rescue? An oyster card!

It takes us FOREVER to figure out which bus line to take to our destination, but since buses come along every few minutes and many routes run 24 hours a day, we've been pretty successful thus far.

Yesterday was a big day for us in the London sight-seeing world.

You know when I mentioned 'eating the elephant one bite at a time'? Well I think we gnawed on his tail for a little bit.

We had 10:00am tickets for the London Eye. Great views from up top!








And since we were down at the river, we figured we might as well cross it and tour inside Westminster Abby. It was a HIGHLIGHT of our day. Probably of our week in London. It was breathtakingly beautiful in there! History in every corner! I can hardly wait to return.








We headed back to the apartment for lunch and a much-needed rest. But we could not stay long! We had 2:45pm tickets for Buckingham Palace. Back on the bus everyone!

When Queen Elizabeth is on summer holidays up in Scotland, she opens several state rooms in the palace for visitors in August and September. Again, history in every opulent room.




There was no time to go back to the apartment because we had tickets to see 'Billy Elliott' at the Victoria Palace Theatre! What a show! I loved it. The singing, the dancing, the acting! What a great musical.








At the end of the show, we took the bus back up to Edgware Road. We were starving so we popped into the Lebanese restaurant directly below the flat we're renting.












Does no one sleep in this neighbourhood? We got there at midnight and families kept coming in after us! Grandmothers, parents and little kids all there for a meal. I couldn't believe the stamina of those children.

With full bellies, we waddled up the stairs to bed. Man, that was a full day!

But at least our feet weren't sore!

I'm now up and at 'em and ready for another great day on the streets of London! I wonder what's in store for us today?

Third Day In London

I think we walked a thousand miles yesterday! We have not yet taken a bus or the tube for any of our sight-seeing sojourns. It's been 'Shank's Mare' all the way!

I like to walk around cities. It's slow going, but you get to see so much more.

Our apartment is a couple of blocks from 'Speakers Corner' in Hyde Park. Yesterday morning we set off on foot with a spring in our step! Our first destination was Saint Paul's cathedral.

We stopped along the way in Trafalgar Square as it was buzzing with men in kilts. All drinking beer at 9 o'clock in the morning. At first we thought it was a political rally, but found out there was a Scotland vs England soccer match later that evening.


Before we got to Saint Paul's, Joe insisted on stopping in a bar for a pint of beer. AT 10 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING? No thanks. I went next door to a gift shop.


Saint Paul's was beautiful.


We toured the cathedral with a lovely gentleman named Tom. Such fascinating history. Tom chatted so much our tour went over-time! Right up my alley!


From the cathedral, we headed over the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern Art Museum. We stopped in a few galleries before we went in search of some lunch.


We strolled the Riverside Walk along the Thames. Lots of families, lots of children, everyone enjoying themselves.


There were lots of buskers too. This guy had quite a crowd peering down over the wall as he played on riverbank. How he got any money I don't know.


We hobbled home at 4:30pm and fell immediately into bed. We needed to rest up for our date with friends from Canada who now live and work in London.

We met at The Churchill Arms in Kensington. The pub was awash in flowers! And people.


Julia and Stephen are a couple of smart, creative and artistic kids. Stephen is a talented animator who creates special effects in movies. Julia is a history major, model and actress.


We enjoyed a wonderful evening together. It was so exciting to hear about their hopes and dreams of starting a new life together in London. Oh, to be young again! It was great to see them.

And no evening in a pub would be complete without a puppy!




*You know the drill. Click on the photos if you want to see them in greater detail.

My feet still hurt!

Day Two In London Town

I have never been overwhelmed by a city. Until yesterday.


Joe and I spent the morning walking. We walked as far as our short little legs would carry us. I was clacking photos left, right and centre.


When we had walked far enough, we hopped on an open-air tour bus. We wanted to get a sense of this city. We wanted to know where everything was.


GOOD GRIEF! Everything is everywhere!


We were on that bus for over three bloody hours! And the city kept coming at us!


We kept going and going and going and GOING!


"London never ends!" I said to Joe. "How are we going to manage it? We need a month in this city, not just a week!"


We returned to our apartment last night at 6:30pm. We'd been out and about for nine hours. With a gin and tonic in hand, we made a list of what we wanted to see and do.


Our list is long and our days are short.


I guess it's like that old joke: "How do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time."


Wish us luck today. We're off to eat an elephant.