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Published: August 24th 2023
Big Ben
Taken while we wait for entry to the AbbeyOur first international trip since we went to Hawaii in 2020, just as COVID-19 was rearing its ugly head. Long time readers of this blog will remember that trip was memorable for perhaps the wrong reasons; the 54 hour marathon in the snow (Hawaii?) and Peter’s herniated disk. What will be the memorable moments of this trip? It’s going to be great! Great Britain!
As you would expect, we were well prepared for our trip due to Dianne’s great planning aided by great instruction from our London Airbnb hosts for getting to their site. There are three sections to this trip:
• 8 nights in London
• 14 nights on a cruise ship circling the British Isles
• 13 nights in various locations in the south-east part of England
The trip got off to a bit of a rocky start when our flight out of Victoria was delayed. Since there were 23 of us on the flight with connections to the London Heathrow flight the Victoria attendants felt “pretty confident” “they” would hold the flight. After a mad dash through Vancouver airport, we made it in plenty of time. The flight was a piece of cake after that.
Ready to go
Just had haircuts that have to last 6 weeks We arrived mid-afternoon on a very pleasant day. Dianne’s preparations made our purchase of SIM and Oyster cards easy. The underground and bus described by our Airbnb hosts took us directly to our lodging. Nice digs.
We got settled in and decided a grocery run was in order. This was when we hit our first snag. We couldn’t get out of the unit. The lock on the door seemed like one we had in China where you needed a key to get out as well as in. We couldn’t figure it out, so we emailed the hosts (upstairs!). The reply was “Andrew will come to your rescue”. He pointed out the door wasn’t locked, just stuck. In the heat it expanded. A little bit of shoulder and it opened. One doesn’t like to do this unless one understands the situation. He can’t shave any more off or it will be too loose when the colder weather comes.
Our first evening was spent trying to fend off jet lag by walking around Burgess Park, a huge area right beside our square. Beans on toast for supper. Doesn’t get more British than that.
St. Margaret’s Church and Westminster Abbey Home away from home
The square outside our Airbnb. We're the stairs behind the tree! We have been to England a couple of times years ago. We decided to try to find lesser-known places to visit. Having said that, the first place we went to was Westminster Abbey. We got there a bit early so had a walk about to see Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament etc. The crowds were huge. School is still out so there are many families, local as well as visitors.
But the Abbey is also huge and worth the visit. One new thing we managed to do was climb up to the Galleries (the lift was broken). You had to pay extra to go up to the galleries. I am sure that, and the lack of a lift, dissuaded a few. It was worth it.
We were advised to see the Abbey first then St Margaret’s. This required fighting our way back through the crowds as the exit from the Abbey was on the “wrong” side. But the gals in the Red Cloaks who monitor traffic helped us reverse course. Everyone was so helpful and cheerful.
Walkabout One of the places we wanted to tour was Tower Bridge. I have always been intrigued by
Burgess Park
Our square is at the bottom of the green area on the map. The park is huge. the workings of this bridge and Dianne found a tour. But you could only buy tickets online with PayPal which didn’t interest me. We decided to walk from the Abbey to the bridge and buy tickets at the door. It’s only 3 miles if you stay on the north side of the Thames and you pass some neat sites and sights: the London Eye, Cleopatra’s Needle, the Squirrel, the Embankment gardens, St Paul’s Cathedral and three sides of the Tower of London. All these views were free! We encountered one section of the remnants of the Roman walls which described a walking tour that, unfortunately, we may not have time to take in.
The lineup to buy tickets was too long so we just walked over the bridge and headed for home planning a stop at the Tesco Supercentre at the other end of Burgess Park from where we are staying. It was quite a hike, considering we had started at the Abbey. On our first trip through the park we had seen the Tesco store. We should have known how far it was from Tesco to our “home”. Foreshadowing.
It was good to get home to relax
Strolling in the park
You do have to watch out for bikers both standard and electric. after a fine day including a lot of walking.
Day 2 Theatre day today. As the show was after lunch, we took a bus to the north end of Kensington Park and walked through the grounds towards the theatre district. Getting better at planning bus trips with the cityplanner app. Pride goes before a fall. More on that later.
The plan was to see the show Wicked which is not a prequel or sequel to The Wizard of Oz but more a parallel universe to the familiar story. I had never heard of this show but since it has had over 7,500 performances on Broadway alone it must be popular. I wasn’t that wild about the music, but the staging, costumes and effects were fantastic. Dianne and the write-ups say the music was great.
One item that could have been a disaster was that the show was at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. No big deal except there is another theatre called the Apollo Theatre (I know about this one because I watch a lot of Facebook videos involving Michael McIntyre). Using Google Maps and the cityplanner app, I nearly had us going to the wrong theatre.
St Margaret's Church
Looks a bit lost beside the Abbey but very nice. That would have been somewhat embarrassing.
Day 3 Since today was Sunday, we started by going to Mass at Westminster Cathedral which is very close to Westminster Abbey. Another huge church although not as old as the Abbey. Lots of people at the service which was a sung Mass. Haven’t been to a sung Mass for a long time.
We weren’t too far from Buckingham Palace, so we decided to wander past this famous site. So did most of the tourists in London. Our plan involved walking to the Canada Gate Coffee Shop, the Canada Gate being one of the big gates into the palace grounds. Turns out to be just a kiosk so we satisfied ourselves with taking a bunch of pictures. Had a nice chat with three young adults from Chile who were taking pictures of the gate too. They were on their way home later that day on Air Canada! The young chap in the group had to be at work “tomorrow” after flying home that night. He wasn’t looking forward to that.
Our stroll continued through St. James Park and we stopped for lunch at Trafalgar Square
. The Play That Goes Wrong was at the Duchess Theatre. This play was recommended to us, and we highly recommend it to anyone else. It was hilarious. A much smaller theatre but very comfortable. The staging was fantastic, the comedic timing of the cast superb and the ending quite unexpected. A real treat.
When we got home, we had a delightful visit, including drinks, with out Airbnb hosts in their back garden along with Wilson (I think I forgot the mention their guard dog/alarm clock). A very pleasant way to end our day.
The first few days have been filled with a lot of walking and some great events. More to come in
ToBeContinued.
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