Blogs from Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 8

Europe. United Kingdom. England. Greater London. Heathrow Terminal 4. Holiday Inn Express. Undoubtedly comfortable and surprisingly well equipped room here but it has that ubiquitous familiarity that hotel room near airports have. It’s sort of cheap and will provide all services we require but it’s soulless and really the antithesis of so many of the pubs and BnB’s I’ve seen and stayed in recently. Drove from Newton Abbot to Heathrow today and with Lee as navigator the process was seamless and easy. Not having strict time constraints makes everything easier and the little stops we had were fine (except for the food which reminded us of the ’bad old days’ of English cuisine. The pub made zero concessions environmentally, serving several components of our meal in sealed plastic containers despite us eating at the table and ... read more

Today we planned to do many of the touristy things. We started out with a changing of the guards tour. While it’s definitely an option to just go watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, we did a tour which took us to several different perspectives. First we started at St James Palace. This is the senior royal palace where key events, like the pronouncement of the queen’s passing, takes place. The old guard came out and this time, they were a regiment from Nepal, the Gurkhas, they rarely have the opportunity to be the palace guards so it was a bit unique. From there, we marched with the military band to the Wellington barracks where the new guard came out. These were the traditional bear skin hatted grenadiers. We didn’t see much of ... read more

Following on from the previous photography workshops to Rannoch Moor and to Dartmoor (see and respectively), I'm indulging in more photography, this time to Harris and Lewis in Scotland. I had booked my flights well in advance and everything seemed to be sorted nicely. Heathrow to Glasgow, Glasgow to Stornoway and then returning the same route in reverse. Perfect. Then all the planned cancellations started (to relieve all the capacity issues at Heathrow) and, understandably, the domestic flights were the first to go. At least it happened well in advance so it gave plenty of time to find an alternative. That alternative was going out via Edinburgh. Sigh of relief, relaxed and everything is all still sorted again. But then, a few weeks later, that flight was cancelled as well. Ok now it's maybe time to ... read more

Today was all about the funeral of our wonderful Queen Elizabeth ll. We couldn’t be there but we have the laptop and I made sure we had a reliable wifi signal (thanks to the kind campsite reception who supplied me with a special sign on 😊) so we could watch the broadcast by the BBC. Before it began I took a stroll along to the little marina just by the campsite. An absolutely stunning morning which surely lifted the soul. We spent nearly all the day watching the funeral. The procession to Westminster Abbey, the service there and then the procession from there to Windsor Castle. Just paused our watching while the Royal hearse was travelling to Windsor, while I nipped along to the campsite restaurant for a superb takeaway Rosti which we shared. Then we ... read more

Introduction - Explore the Best of Britain on this incredible trip across England and Scotland, and travel over the sea to the Isle of Skye. Imagine life as a Benedictine monk at Buckfast Abbey, feel the hope of brave pilgrims in Plymouth and be inspired by the beauty of Lake Windermere. TOUR 07 – Best of Britain - Trafalgar – 14 Days – THU, 08 SEP 2022 - Day 1: Welcome to London - London's vibrant city streets are your launch pad to an epic journey through the iconic sights of Britain. Embrace the pomp and ceremony of this multi-cultural capital, exploring the treasures of its former Empire in museums, rambling through its picturesque Royal Parks or admiring the ancient façades that line its grand boulevards and hidden lanes. Hotel - Park Plaza Riverbank TOUR 07 ... read more