A Very Long Trip Home

We had a long trip home.  It started early in the morning.  We finished packing our bags and cleaning the flat.  We left at 8:00 a.m. leaving the keys hanging by the door.  We took our familiar bus to the Notting Hill Gate station.  I had planned to use the Circle line to get us to the Piccadilly line, but we quickly found out that several Underground lines were closed for the weekend.  We had to take the Central line in the wrong direction for several stops before we could transfer to the Piccadilly line to London Heathrow.  This added 30 minutes to our commute.  We got to the airport and immediately went to the Covid testing center.  We completed our tests and then waited about 30 minutes to get the results.  Then we checked in, made it through security, and walked what seemed like a mile to our gate.  We arrived at the gate in time to take advantage of pre-boarding, and we took off at noon.  We flew to Newark, and as we passed over Greenland the pilot said it was very rare for us to have such a clear view of it.  It was nice.  We arrived in Newark, cleared immigration, claimed and rechecked our bags, went through security again, and then we found out our flight was delayed.  We waited about five hours for our connection.  We finally boarded at 10:00 p.m. and flew to Salt Lake City.  We arrived at 2:00 a.m. and then took a shuttle bus to get our car.  We drove home to Pocatello and arrived about 5:00 a.m.  We went to bed, and I didn't wake up until noon.  It's good to be home!

Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford

Our alarms went off at 6:15 a.m.  We had to dress, eat breakfast, pack our backpacks, and leave the flat by 7:00 a.m.  We took Bus#52 from Notting Hill to Victoria Station, and then we walked a couple of blocks to the Victoria Coach Station to check in for our Evan Evans Bus Tour.  We just had time for a cup of hot chocolate before boarding our coach.  Our tour guide was Leslie and our driver was Greg.  She handed out a small radio receiver and headphone to each person.  The first thing she said was how glad she was to see people touring again, and how lucky we were to have the good weather we had, and that there were very few crowds.  Our group had 22 people in it, which was not even half of a usual tour group.  She said that during a normal busy period (before Covid) they would have up to 6 full coaches going at the same time.  We left the coach station at 8:00 a.m. and drove to Windsor Castle.  Leslie provided a lot of background information about the castle and the royal family as we drove.  We walked as a group from the parking area and up the hill to the castle.  We passed through security, and then we were on own.  We went straight to the State Rooms and spent most of our time there.  We toured the King's and Queen's rooms which I didn't know were separate and distinct from each other.  Each side had rooms for receptions, dances, banquets, offices, bedrooms, and closets.  We got a look at where Queen Elizabeth lives.  We were told that she was "in residence" because her colors were flying on the central tower.  We then drove to Stonehenge.  We took the shuttle bus from the Visitor's Center to the Stones, and then we walked the path around them.  I loved that!  I just think there is something meaningful in the presence of something so ancient.  I didn't realize just how many burial mounds, or barrows, are in the area surrounding Stonehenge.  It would have taken over a hundred men pushing and pulling one stone on logs to move it from over a hundred miles away.  Incredible!  We ate lunch at the Visitor's Center cafe.  We had beef and pork pastries.  Then we drove to Oxford, and our guide took us in a big circle of the colleges, reading rooms, chapels, and shops.  By the time we finished that walking tour we were exhausted.  We returned to London, and as we came into the city Leslie started talking to us about Notting Hill.  We recognized our area and told her that was where we were staying.  She said they could let us off there, and so we got off the coach and said good-bye at Notting Hill.  That saved us about an hour of travel, but even then we didn't get back to our flat until 7:00 p.m.  We spent the rest of the evening washing clothes, cleaning and packing to go home.  

Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios

This morning we were up bright and early to make the journey to Warner Brother's Harry Potter Studios.  We left Notting Hill at 8:00 a.m.  We took the Underground to Euston Train Station.  We transferred to the Overground train to Watford Junction.  Along the way we got a nice view of Wimbley Stadium.  It is the largest soccer stadium in England and the second largest in Europe.  It can hold 90,000 people.  At Watford Junction we boarded a Studio Tour bus to the studios.  We arrived about 9:45 a.m. and started our tour.  We really enjoyed seeing the sets, props, models, masks, and costumes of the Harry Potter movies.  What a huge production that was.  Halfway through the tour they have a cafeteria that sells hamburgers and fries along with Butterbeer in souvenir mugs.  I loved how the cream on the drink would bubble and foam.  Some of the amazing sets included the Great Hall, the Forbidden Forest, Gringott's, Diagon Alley, the Hogwart's Express and Platform, and the final exhibit which is a large scale model of Hogwart's School.  We spent about five hours there.  We took the reverse trip, but we used a West Midland train instead of the Overland which was a much faster trip to Euston Station.  We split up on the Underground.  I got off at Bayswater while Wendy and Jeffrey continued on to Notting Hill.  I stopped to buy pizza.  I found a Pizza Hut just outside the station, and then I hopped on a double-decker bus to return to Notting Hill.  We ate pizza for dinner and called it a night.  We knew that the next day would need an early start and plenty of rest.

Westminster Abbey, Baker Street, and the British Library

We slept in this morning.  We didn't get out of the apartment until after 10:00 a.m.  We stopped in for breakfast at McDonald's.  Then we went to Westminster.  We were hoping we could go into the Parliament Building, but they told us that tours were only allowed on Saturdays.  We waited for Big Ben to chime, but the noon hour came and went.  I thought it was supposed to be ringing again starting with the New Year, 2022, but it never did ring.  We toured the Westminster Abbey for the next hour or so.  I never knew that so many people were buried or memorialized there.  It was interesting to see so many historical names.  After touring the Abbey we took the Underground to Baker Street.  We went to 221 B for a picture in front of the Sherlock Holmes museum and gift shop.  We decided not to go through the museum.  Instead, we left for the British Library.  We saw their wonderful collection of historical books and documents, including several Codex of early bibles, a first edition Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta, notes of Leonardo DaVinci, and many other examples.  We returned to our apartment in the early evening and stayed in the rest of the night.

Tower of London, Tower Bridge, River Boat, and Wicked

This morning we wanted to leave early enough to be among the first to enter the Tower of London when it opened at 9:00 a.m.  We arrived at the Tower Hill Underground station and walked up the steps to see the Tower of London directly in front of us.  We could see the Tower Bridge on one side of it and the Shard on the other side.  I loved it immediately.  We spoke with one of the Yeoman at the gate who gave us some recommendations.  After taking a picture with him we went straight to the Crown Jewels.  We then visited the White Tower and the rest of the buildings.  It was one of the highlights of our trip.  Very few people were there and the weather was perfect.  It began to be crowded by the time we were finished.  We went to the Tower Bridge and took the elevator to the top to walk across the sky walks with windows looking down on the street below.  We ate lunch at The Vault, a pub located below the south end of Tower Bridge.  We sat in the beer garden at a table with a view of the bridge and boats passing by on the river.  We boarded an Uber clipper boat and traveled to East London, and then returned to Westminster.  We returned to Notting Hill for a brief rest, and then we got ready for Wicked.  Wendy had seen it advertised.  We looked it up and there were still good tickets left.  It was a spur of the moment decision, but we were so glad we did go to it.  It was a fantastic performance with a live orchestra.  The musical finished after 10:00 p.m. and we returned home by double decker bus.

Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's, and the London Eye

This morning we took Bus#52 from our street, and it dropped us off right next to Buckingham Palace.  We staked out a spot against the fence right next to the gate an hour before the changing of the guard.  By the time the ceremony began the crowd behind us was pressing in.  I was amazed at the number of people trying to get a view.  I was able to video the ceremony through the fence, but we had arms reaching between us and over our heads trying to do the same thing.  We enjoyed watching the change of guard and listening to the band play.  It is something you do once, and then never again.  My legs cramped up from standing for so long.  After the ceremony we walked around the Memorial and up the Mall to Trafalgar Square.  We found an Italian restaurant and sat down to eat Margherita brick-oven pizza, Bruschetta, and Penne pasta.  We boarded the Big Bus close to the restaurant and rode to St. Paul's Cathedral.  We did a walking tour of the immense church.  Jeffrey and I took the 528 steps to the top to take in a view of London. My right leg just about gave out on my way down.  We hopped on another bus to Waterloo Station.  I tried to book tickets for the London Eye online, but I couldn't get it to work.  We walked to the ticket booth, and they were kind enough to give us three tickets for the price of two - so it worked out better.  We walked right on without waiting in line.  The ride took about 30 minutes, and we enjoyed it very much.  We stopped for ice cream cones and then returned home.

Notting Hill and the British Museum

We arrived in London this morning at 8:30 a.m.  We spent some time at the Heathrow Airport, clearing customs, claiming luggage, exchanging currency, replacing a SIM card in my phone, finding the Covid-19 testing center, and then walking to the Underground.  We could have used a bus or train to get to London, but we used the Underground Piccadilly Line and then transferred to the Hammersmith Line to get to Notting Hill.  We walked from the Underground station to our apartment (flat) on Arundel Gardens street.  We arrived just after 11:00 a.m. and only spent about 1.5 pounds each to get there.  We met Lilly who checked us in and gave us the keys.  We are on the third floor, and our living area window looks over the private gardens in the back.  We unpacked and Jeffrey and I walked to Portobello Road to buy some groceries.  It was busy with people walking and shopping along the street.  After a short rest we left to visit the British Museum.  We took the Underground again.  We used the Rick Steve's Walking Tour at the museum.  We saw the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek exhibits.  I didn't know that the stone artwork from the Parthenon was in the British Museum.  We also visited the Medieval exhibit where I was excited to see the Anglo-Saxon helmet discovered at Sutton Hoo.  I did a paper on that once for a college class.  We stopped to eat at Five Guys on our way back home.  We rested the rest of the evening.  Jeffrey was out of it and deep asleep by 8:00 p.m.

A Trip to London

Today we started our trip to London.  I was able to plan this several months ago, and then I surprised Wendy with it on Christmas morning.  We have been excited to go.  We left home after 9:00 a.m. and drove to Salt Lake City.  We thought of Ashley and Caz as we passed Layton.  They had just closed and received the keys to their new home.  We parked at the Parking Spot just in time for the shuttle to pick us up at our car and drive us to the airport.  We flew from Salt Lake to Denver and had a short layover for our flight from Denver to London.  We boarded a new 787-9 Dreamliner.  What a nice plane!  The windows had adjustable tint instead of shades, and a nice entertainment system.  The seating was arranged three, three, and three.  We sat in the left three seats.  Jeffrey hardly slept at all.  Wendy and I did sleep a little.