London

Welcome to London! After 27 hours of traveling we arrived at our destination. We have vowed to break our next long distance air flight into smaller segments. It probably isn't so bad if you are traveling first class or in one of the new suites (who has that much money?) but there is a reason why economy is called the cattle car. All crammed in. We felt like we were on a charter flight to Mexico, but the plane was filled with Brits returning home.

Day One - Our early morning arrival meant that we had four hours to kill before we could get into our hotel room. We stored our luggage and started walking. It was a cold, crisp, dry day. As we walked up Kensington Church Street, we were delighted to find a Starbucks. Real coffee! We hadn't been in one since we left Canada. It seems that Aussies are not big fans of corporate America. In fact, Melbourne is the only city where you can find Starbucks. Re-charged with caffeine, we walked past Kensington Palace to the Victoria and Albert Museum. We spent several hours viewing the metalwork, fashion, Medieval and Renaissance galleries and before long, it was time to go. We hopped on the tube and made our way back to the hotel. We were able to fight yhe jetlag and catch a few hours of sleep that afternoon. Then we took the tube to Camden Town to meet John Crawford's sister, Cathy and her little dog, Monty, at the Lord Stanley gastropub. After our meal we went over to see Cathy's authentic English flat. Cathy took pity on us warm weather holidaymakers, and outfitted us with scarves, gloves and a few pieces of warmer clothing. It was all greatly appreciated.
Day Two - London is reknowned for its active and vibrant theatre district. We were dying for an artistic/cultural experience so we caught the Tube to Leicester Square and lined up to see what was on sale at the discount ticket booth. It is difficult to choose something when you haven't done much research and you don't place much stock in the critics' reviews, but we were able to get excellent seats for the evening performance of Jersey Boys. With our tickets safely tucked away, we made our way to the Tower of London. In spite of the cold and the rain, the place was packed. We went on a tour with one of the Yeoman Warders and explored the White Tower. We saw an impressive armour collection and Craig was able to try some on for size. Unfortunately, we had to take a pass on the Crown Jewels. It was pouring rain and the line-up was lengthy. Three hours in the cold was enough. We treated ourselves to an early dinner at a French cafe and then trekked over to the West end to see Jersey Boys. What a treat! We were baffled by the comments we overheard from one English lady behind us. She felt that she would have been better off listening to a cd at home. We thought it was excellent and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Day Three - Here comes the sun...What a lovely spring-like day! We got off the Tube at Picadilly Circus and walked towards Buckingham Palace. We just happened to arrive in time to see the changing of the guard. It took us a minute to figure out what all the hoopla was about, but our timing was perfect. We decided to go over to St. Pancras/King's Cross to purchase our train tickets to Loughborough. While we were there, we ate dinner at Yo! Sushi. The fun part of this colourful restaurant is the plates passing by on the conveyor belt and the individual water taps (spring and flat) at your seating place. After a quick meal, we continued on to the Barbican tube stop - the meeting place for the "Blood and Tears: London's Horrible Past" walking tour. If you are interested in Jack the Ripper, serial killers, grave robbers, prison escapes etc. then this is the tour for you. It was an eye opening journey around Fleet Street and London's business district. We had a great time, in spite of the cold.

We were very pleased with our accomodation. We found the Vicarage House hotel through Trip Advisor. This hotel is located on a quiet street within easy walking distance of both the Kensington High Street and Notting Hill Gate tube stations. Our room was located on the third floor (87 steps from the breakfast room in the basement), right beside the toilet/shower room. Every morning we started our day with a huge meal of fruit, yoghurt, cereal, toast, bacon, eggs, sausage, coffee, and juice. (Clearly, no one does bed and breakfast like the English.) Monica and her staff were both friendly and helpful. We would have no qualms about staying here again.

We traveled extensively on the Tube the entire time we were in London. Every morning we would buy an unlimited transit pass for 5.60. Armed with our Tube map, we were able to get everywhere we needed to go. We were surprised to learn that London has the world's oldest underground railway system. We passed through the Baker Street station which has been in existence since 1863. Now there are 270 stations, 408 km of track and 3 million passenger journeys every day. The Tube is amazingly efficient and we experienced very few service disruptions while we were there.

We said goodbye to London and hopped on the train to Loughborough. Although the train was running late and there was a screw up with the reserved seating, the rest of the journey was uneventful. We arrived in Loughborough by 12:30 pm and have now settled in with Kevin, Lara, Jaiden and Kai in their comfy, brick home. FYI - after eight months of healthfulness, Lynda has succumbed to the common cold. Quite clearly, all that airplane travel and the drastic change in temperature does have an impact.

Stay tuned for more adventures from the United Kingdom.

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