Category: 2024_005 UK

Next stop….Cape Town.

After waking at about 3:30am (which I do all the time at home) I went back to sleep a few hours later and slept until almost 10!! Yikes, I never do that. But it felt great. I decided not to play golf, so I just hung around the house in the morning. I’m still not able to get the stovetop lit and decided against microwaving the eggs (eew), so, about noon I headed back out for the afternoon. I stopped at Franco Manca on the main pedestrian street for sourdough pizza.

After lunch I headed to the river for a leisurely stroll. On the way I passed the Windsor Royal Shopping Center.

I found this inside the mall but there was no explanation as to what it is, but I thought it looked cool.

Once at the river, I found the Diamond Jubilee Fountain. It was commissioned in 2012 to celebrate Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne. The fountain was designed after the crown jewels. I don’t really see it, but ok.

I found this across the street from the fountain.

The narration on yesterday’s river cruise explained why this plane was in the middle of the park, but I don’t remember. Sorry.

Did you know that all the swans in England are owned by the monarch? Yeah, I didn’t either.

Because I didn’t have enough calories in the pizza and beer, I stopped for ice cream.

Then it was back to the flat, once more walking down Peascod street.

I was home by 3pm so it was a short day, but I still walked about 9,000 steps Once home I did a small load of laundry and watched reruns of the Great British Bake Off. While I repacked, I watched the Cubs beat the Pirates (barely, the bullpen really tried to blow the game…. again).

Tomorrow it’s back to Heathrow for my overnight flight to Cape Town. My original plan had been to take the train back to London (20-minute walk on cobblestone streets to station; one hour ride to Paddington Station) and take the train to Heathrow (another hour). But last night I discovered that Windsor is only 15 minutes from Heathrow!! So, I’m taking a cab which eliminates the long schlep back to the train station and dragging my bags on two trains. I’ll drop my luggage at the Left Luggage and head back into London for day. I have to be out of the flat by 10, so I’ll get to London by late morning. I have nothing special to do but I’m sure I’ll find something to keep me busy.

Speaking of London, here’s a video I took on Friday of a street performer. Enjoy and I’ll post again once I get to Cape Town on Tuesday. Till then…

It was a bit of a cloudy morning but by the time I got to Windsor at about 11AM the sun was shining. The main reason for visiting Windsor is to see the castle which is right in the middle of the town. Actually, the castle was here first, and the town built up around it.

Luckily, since I saw the castle with Peter in 2022, I wasn’t interested in going in, so I bypassed the lines and headed straight to the host of the Airbnb flat. This flat is professionally managed and as late as yesterday my contact at the office said it would be no problem to bring my bags to the office until check in time at 3pm. Unfortunately, when I got to the office (after climbing a fairly steep hill from the train station to the castle, and dragging the roller duffle through cobblestone streets), I found the office closed. I called the number on the door and after getting disconnected a couple of times, I finally reached someone who said he’d try to find someone to come to the office. Eventually he called me back to say that I could check into the flat early. I think it was just a matter of no one wanting to come into the office not just once, but twice. Once to drop off my bags and once to pick them back up. Alls well, though, as I was able to get into the house before noon and rest for a bit before heading back out to check out the town.

I found a nice outside tearoom for lunch, the Nell Gwynn. Nell was the mistress of King Charles II, who was the king after the monarchy was restored in 1660. Apparently, there was a tunnel connecting the Castle to Nell’s house, which is where the tearoom is now located.

Of course, I had to stop in at a church. This one was the Village Church of Windsor with its beautiful altar.

Then I strolled to the river and crossed to the Eton College side of town. A British college is for kids aged 13-18. Like Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the buildings of Eton are scattered around town, mostly without signage.

Before heading back across the river, I took a 40-minute ride on the Thames.

According to the narration, the Thames goes all the way out to Oxford, but it would take 2 days as there are 24 locks between the two cities.

Just before we docked, we got a great view of the castle compound.

After the cruise I went back to the castle for Evensong in St. George’s Chapel. I thought it would be interesting to experience an Anglican service. It was just over 30 minutes long and the best part was the choir. There were only 9 singers, but they sounded like a 30-person chorus. The acoustics were absolutely incredible. Photographs aren’t allowed in the chapel, but I found this one online.

Once the service ended, I stopped at the market on my way back to the flat. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to turn on the stove top. It’s a gas stove so you would think all I need to do is turn the knob, but nope. I hear the gas but there’s no flame. Of course, no one is answering email at the management office, so I just ate a sandwich for dinner. I’m not sure how I’m going to cook my eggs in the morning, but I’ll figure something out.

Anyway, that was my day. I walked another 15,000 steps but so far both the left foot (with heel spurs) and my relatively new left knee are doing great.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. Maybe play golf in the afternoon if I can get a tee time. There’s a golf club on the other side of the castle but I would need a cab. I’ll see what I feel like doing tomorrow. Maybe I’ll just hang out at the flat and rest. I’ve been doing a lot of walking the last 3 days and Monday will be a long day with an 11 1/2 hour late evening flight to Cape Town. It might be wise to hang close to home and just go out for lunch. We’ll see.

Love from the UK.

I made it until 8:45pm before falling asleep and, luckily, slept until 5:15 this morning. I’m still a bit tired but I think another good night’s sleep will do it. The morning started leisurely as the National Gallery doesn’t open until 10:00am so it was a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel. I set out for the tube around 9:30 and for someone who didn’t have much to do today, I sure did walk a lot….15,000 steps which is about 6.5 miles.

The National Gallery had a special exhibit of Caravaggio’s last painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, painted in 1610. I was there right after the doors opened so there was no wait to see it but by the time I left the queue was about 20-30 minutes long.

Once out of the special exhibit, I made a beeline for the Dutch Masters which are my favorite painters. There was only one Vermeer, A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal.

There were 8 painting by Van Gogh, including the famous Sunflowers.

There were a couple of unfinished works by Michaelangelo, including this one.

That is just a few of the many gorgeous works of art in this beautiful museum.

After the museum, I stumbled into to St. James Park. London is a very green city, with both large and small parks throughout. St. James is a gigantic park adjacent to Buckingham Palace.

Then it was off to lunch at the Red Lion Pub which stands on the site of a medieval tavern called the Hopping Hall. On the way I passed 10 Downing Street, home and office of the Prime Minister. On my first trip to London in 1990, you were able to walk right up to the door but now the entrance is behind gates.

Anyway, back to the Red Lion. Because of its location between 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliments, it’s a very popular watering hole for politicians. It was also the favorite dining spot of Charles Dickens. Peter and I really enjoyed eating there in 2022, so I decided to go back. It’s always crazy crowded but I made a reservation, so I got in with only a short wait.

Once again, I had the Steak and Ale pie, and it was just as delicious the second time around.

After lunch I headed to the Imperial War Museum. I visited in 1990 and we planned to go in 2022, but Peter tired very quickly so we didn’t get the chance to visit. It was just a short bus ride and about a 10-minute walk from the bus.

It’s a pretty small museum so it didn’t take long to walk through the exhibits and since it contained the “usual” military exhibits I didn’t take many pictures either. I thought this was interesting though.

Finally, it was a long trek back to the hotel. When I got back, I asked the concierge about how to get to the train for Windsor. He told me that rail workers are on strike, but he thinks the trains will run tomorrow. If not, I’m not sure how I’ll get to Windsor (where I’ve booked an Airbnb flat for the weekend) as it’s an almost 2-hour cab, which will cost a fortune. But I guess that’s a problem for tomorrow. For now, I think I’ll head to the lounge and spend the 10-pound coupon I got for skipping housekeeping services today. I had a gigantic lunch so dinner will be whatever my 10 pounds will buy and the sandwich I made from the breakfast buffet.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Windsor. At least, I hope so.

I hadn’t planned to post tonight but it’s only 6:30pm and I’m desperately trying to stay awake for a few more hours so I thought this would keep me busy for a while.

The flight was very comfortable and uneventful. Sitting in Polaris class was like having my own little travel pod. Even though the seat laid flat and was quite comfortable, I still didn’t sleep. The timing just didn’t work. I don’t usually sleep on planes unless I’m drugged and by the time we had dinner and it got late enough to be sleepy, we only had another 4-5 hours to go, not enough time to take an Ambien. I dozed a little but didn’t really sleep.

We landed a little early at 11am and I breezed through immigrations in less than a minute. But it took an hour to get my bag, another 20 minutes for my driver to arrive and about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the hotel. I could have taken the express train from Heathrow but in the past I’ve found it easier to hire a car. Well, not today. Traffic was a nightmare so by the time I got to the hotel it was over 3 1/2 hours after we landed. The good news is that it was late enough to be able to check into the hotel.

After a shower and a bit of a rest, I headed out for dinner at the Traitor’s Gate Pub just a few blocks from the Doubletree…

….where I had a delicious dinner of fish and chips and a Strawberry Bellini.

After dinner I took a walk, partly to walk off the dinner and partly because it was still only 5pm and way too early to go back to the hotel. I strolled to All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in the city of London, opening in 675AD. John Adams once went to service here. Pretty cool.

Then it was a walk across the Tower Bridge where I caught a nice picture of the Tower of London. I’ll visit that in June when I’m back with my niece and her daughters.

Ok, well this didn’t take as long as I had hoped….it’s only 6:45. Rats. But, I found Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on TV so hopefully that will keep me awake for a few more hours.

As always, thanks for following my adventures and I’ll post again soon. Love to all.

I’m all settled into my Polaris Class seat. I tell you, I can get used to traveling like this. Talk with you in London. Love, Lynn