London

This was our first actual day getting to see London instead of doing a day trip outside. 

Our hotel included a full breakfast every day while we were there at the pub across the gardens. 

Because the previous days we had to be at the train station before the breakfast area opened up, we finally had a chance to sleep in a little, and also get a nice big breakfast.

I loved their breakfast. They had the classic cereal, porridge, yogurt, along with croissants and meat and cheese. They then had hot breakfast options that ranged from the full English Breakfast (toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes) to just plain eggs. In addition, there were fresh fruit juices, coffee, and of course tea with your own personal tea pot. I loved everything about this.

After getting our fill, we took the tube into London. We were about 40 minutes outside of downtown London on the tube which was not bad at all. Our hotel was less than a 10-minute walk which made it easy for us to get anywhere we wanted to go. 

Our first stop was the Sherlock Museum at 221B Baker Street. I'm such a nerd and I make everyone come here when I'm in London.

 The museum is an entire 4 story London flat (not huge) that is made up to look like Sherlock's apartment from the books. it is full of memorabilia from his famous cases, as well as some authentic Victorian furniture pieces and decor. I always think it's worth seeing because it's fun.

After that we made our way to the Tower of London. Our trip to London just happened to coincide with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It wasn't planned, she just happened to pass the week before we left on our trip. Because this particular day was the day before her state funeral, there were some things that were not part of the experience. 

For example, normally you can join in on a 30-minute tour with the beefeaters to take you through the Tower and tell you stories, and history, before letting you wander on your own. Also, not all the crown jewels were there to see as some of them were part of the state funeral services. 

Before we got the tickets, they did give us a disclaimer so we knew what would be missing. We still went anyway. I guess these disclaimers turned a lot of people away as the place was not nearly as packed as I would have expected for a Sunday.

We wandered around, climbed all the steps to see all the towers, saw the crown jewels, took lots of pictures, and played around until we were ready to leave. 

From there we walked over to Tower Bridge and did what I have always wanted to do but haven't ever, which is go inside the bridge and up to the top. 

They have stairs you can climb up to the top, or you can take an elevator up and down. We voted for the elevator. 

Once you get to the top part, it's all enclosed so you don't have to worry about wind and weather. 

It also offered some really great views, and some people taking interesting selfies on the floor of the tower. I opted to take a picture of the selfie takers instead of laying on the ground myself. It was really interesting, and they let you wander around up there as much as you want. Totally worth doing. 

When we exited the bridge on the other side of the river we came across a very large line of people. Turns out this was part of line that went to Parliament for viewing the Queen lying in state. All the news outlets had said the line was closed and they were not allowing any more to step in. We understood why seeing how crazy long it was.

It was nearing the end of the day, so we jumped on the train and headed up to the British Museum to explore before they closed. By the time we got there we only had 45 minutes to explore the museum. That is not much time at all. (We had gone to the museum earlier in the day, but there was a line around the block in both directions, so we had decided we'd try again later in the day to avoid the line). There wasn't much of a line with 45 minutes to closing. 

We did have to rush through most of it and pick and choose the main things. We saw the Rosetta Stone, and the really cool Egyptian Collection. We then walked through other areas of the museum until they announced everyone to leave. 

We didn't get a chance to go back and spend more time, but we saw the highlights at least. I convince my partner that while we were in London we might as well be nerds. So we went to Kings Cross Station and saw platform 9 3/4. 

We did not wait in the line to get our picture taken, but we did take a look inside the Platform 9 3/4 store. It was very expensive, so we didn't buy anything. Also nothing we wanted there anyway. 

By this point we were very hungry. Lucky for us there was an Indian restaurant across the street from the station with some very high reviews. We took a gamble, plus we were too hungry to really hunt, and popped in for some real Indian food. Turns out this was the best Indian food we had in London during our trip. I still think about it often. It was so good, and filling, and hit all the cravings I'd been having for the real, good quality stuff. 

Once fully stuffed, we made it back to the hotel and crashed for the night. Miles walked 10.

Bath England

 I have been to Bath many times. It's a quaint little town with some great architecture that I think is worth seeing. In planning our trip the best day for us to venture here would be on a Saturday. We had another early morning to grab the train for the hour and a half journey out there.

It was early when we got there so we enjoyed not fighting tons of people first thing after arriving. 

It really is a pretty city first thing in the morning. 

We wandered around to the main area where Bath Abby is. 

This is one of my favorite Abby's to visit and I think they have the most beautiful stained-glass windows. 

The inside is also white, which makes it very bright and airy as opposed to many other cathedrals that are dark and cave like on the inside. Right next to the Abby are the famous Roman Baths. Of course, we had to stop in and see them. 

We got there right as it opened, so there was no line, and just a few other people already inside. We took the tour and enjoyed seeing all the history and details there are to see. They've done a great job of leading you through all the areas and explaining what everything is. 

They also projected scenes in many of the areas showing what that particular area of the bath looked like at the height of its use. 

The main area you see outside is full of green algae, which they clearly mark stating to stay away from. I would not want to touch that water as it does not look that great, and I don't want to get horribly sick from the bacteria involved in it.

At the very end of the tour before you exit, they have an area where you can taste the mineral water. 

All around this little fountain there are quotes from many famous and well-known historical figures describing the taste of the famous healing Bath waters. I have tasted it, but my partner in crime had no desire to taste the mineral water. The smell alone was a deterrent. I still think he should have just to say her did. He didn't bend to my peer pressure.

In case you are wondering, it doesn't taste good. It's warm water, that basically tastes like a copper penny. Now you know. The quotes around it are rather entertaining. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of them and regretted it after we left. No doubt at some point in the future I will be back yet again. We passed by the famous Pump Room but did not venture in as it is now a very fancy restaurant you need reservations for. 

As we left the Roman Baths, we saw all the long lines and tour groups waiting to go in. I'm so glad we got in early before the crowds came. Especially since it was on a Saturday.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city. Bath has a lot of hills, so we tried to plan it where we only went uphill one time. Bath also is a great place for anyone who loves to shop. I am not a fan of shopping, but my partner is. We spent a lot of the day in and out of stores, listening to the loud performers complete amongst themselves outside. It was a beautiful fall day with a nice breeze so we could not have asked for better.

Eventually we made our way along to some of the well-known architecture, got some great views of the city, and ended up on the other side of the town where the locals were at a kid's park. 

We walked until we were tired of walking, and tired of dealing with the millions of people, and saw everything we wanted before making it back to the train station and heading back to London. 

I was so tired I fell asleep on the train ride back. 

Because there were so many people in Bath we did not eat while there. We found a Japanese place near the hotel that had good review. 

While it was not at all what we expected it to be, the food was still very good. It was all fresh, nothing fried or cooked in tons of oil.

Since the hotel had a pub, and we'd noticed they had quite a dessert selection, we decided to end the night with something sweet before calling it a day. 

We ended up choosing a baked Alaska for 2. It was huge, it was delicious, and it came with a raspberry strawberry compote on the side that I could not get enough of. Would definitely eat it again some time. It was a fun day, though very long, and my feet were more than tired by the time they got to relax for the night. Miles walked that day was 12.

Day 1 in England - Warwick Castle

 Warwick castle is a little less than a 2-hour train ride outside of London. I've been here a few times. I like to take new people here as it is a great medieval castle to visit. I have not every taken the train out here.

Normally this is a place visited on the way to other places outside of London once a rental car has been picked up. But the train station is not a far walk to the castle. The way the city is designed it's very easy to pass by the castle without realizing it. But once you reach it, you can't imagine how you would have missed it.

Anyway, it's a great place to take some amazing photos of the castle. We got there right when it opened which helped cut down on the crazy large tourist crowds. There was also a fun event for little ones, where they can follow a path to a serious of adventures involving dragons. It looks pretty cute and fun, but we chose not to participate.

The castle has some amazing views if you are willing to climb the steps to the top. Such a pretty part of the world surrounding by so much green.

 It was a bit chilly in the sun, so we went over to the peacock garden where they had some cakes and coffees for purchase. I got a pretty fantastic pomegranate tea, and he enjoyed some coffee. I could drink the tea for a good 45 minutes because it was so hot. But once it was drinkable it was fantastic.

We stayed and watched their birds of prey show, which they have dramatized quite a bit since I was last there 5 years ago. 

It's still really neat to watch as they have these amazing eagles, hawks, and even vultures that fly closely over the crowd's head. I did get wacked in the head by the wing of a condor flying around. Not everyone can say that. 

Once we explored all the castle we wanted, we did something I've always wanted to do and saw the local cathedral, St. Mary's. It's quite beautiful on the inside, and the Earl of Warwick is also buried there. Along with a little plaque stating the George Washington used to worship there. Who knew?

We wandered through the rest of the small town, taking our time to look at the shops as we waited for our train to take us back to London. We had a long wait. 

We got back to the train station, and thanks to technology found an Italian restaurant that was a short walk. They had one table left in the chilly outside, but it was totally worth it. Amazing, really authentic, fantastic Italian food that I just can't find where I live. It was an amazingly full and fun day.

Total Miles walked for the day was around 11. We were tired. 

13 Arriving in London

I've been itching to get out of the country for a long time now. My partner in crime has never been overseas, so he got to choose the first stop of international adventures. His choice was London.

I love London. I've been many times, it feels like home to me, and it's never a bad idea to sneak away for a week. Especially since where we live has direct flights to London Heathrow Airport. It makes the decision much easier.

Overnight international flights are always rough, but we made it in one piece with not much to speak of. Other than the reminder that airplane food never sits well in my stomach. We arrived, got our luggage and through customs far quicker than I ever remember it being. That part was great. 

The downside was that we did not get a stamp in our passports. I guess that is done away in most places these days. I find that so disappointing. What is the point of having a passport book with all those pages if you no longer get any stamps to fill it up with? That part was a bummer.

Despite that hiccup, we ended up taking a cab to our hotel instead of dealing with the tube. Yes, it's always more expensive to get a cab from the airport, but the convenience was worth it. 

We stayed at a lovely place called the Fox and Goose Hotel. It is even part of a pub which came in very handy. As soon as we dropped off our luggage in the room we went straight to the pub for some much-needed real food. It was only 1pm, but it felt about 8pm for us. Jetlag is a killer.

Lunch was wonderful. Some classic fish and chips, and a standard burger with chips. It was all so very good. And very convenient to not have to go far. They had a decent menu selection, and we thankfully open for lunch. We were the only ones there and enjoyed our lunch in the beautiful garden area on a picnic table. The sun was out, but there was a wonderful fall breeze. It was rather heavenly.

To avoid falling asleep we walked the 5 minutes to the tube station and went to Piccadilly Circus so he could take in the madness of busy London.

 It also didn't hurt that my French pastry shop Lau durée also has a place in this area amongst the very expensive shops. We treated ourselves to some fantastic macarons, then walked around the area for a while. Eventually we made our way back to the hotel for a good night sleep and an early start the next day.