London Day 5 and Journey Home

We said good-bye to our temporary home in lovely Bloomsbury today. The Bedford turned out to be just what we needed for our 5 days in London. We were close to bus routes and tour buses, groceries and wine, restaurants and shopping. It really was terrific - not bad considering there was a bit of dumb luck involved in the choice!

Daily English breakfast was included with our room,

and you could choose to sit outside on this pretty patio.

We had no time for sight-seeing on the last day, unless you include views from the van on the way to Heathrow! The ride ended up being 2 hours so  we did see a few new parts of the city!

We flew out of Terminal 2 which seems new, slick and quite lovely.

We got there with plenty of time for some lunch and a little shopping, although most of the stores were a bit too rich for my tastes and wallet :)

Seriously? A spa?

Mum and I were able to make a seat change - hooray! Our back row pair of seats were quite fine and we were relieved to be sitting together this time. (Unlike the screw up on the flight over). It was a huge airplane once again, with 9 seats across (3x3) and about 60 rows.

Although the flight was quite smooth and easy, Toronto was a welcome sight! Spectacular holiday, but we're glad to be home!

London Day 4

Mum and I are both quite exhausted and overwhelmed after our second full day of London sight-seeing. We did the hop on, hop off thing again, but with a bit more purpose today after learning a little about how it all works yesterday. We set off this morning ready to go directly to Westminster Abbey. Have I mentioned how London is really just one big traffic jam? In some parts of the city, the journey from one landmark to another is less than scenic, unless you love to look at rows and rows of red double decker buses, travelling at snail's pace. So getting to the Abbey took a bit longer than we thought!

However, there is nothing that could take away from the experience in Westminster Abbey. As mum reflected, it is the true heart of London ... England ... the Commonwealth. It is a profoundly magnificent building and holds history dating back centuries. It's not only royalty buried there, but scientists, poets, musicians, officers, government leaders and other prominent people. Some of the tombs date back to the 1200s. We saw memorials to Newton, Darwin, Handel, Shakespeare, Churchill, Burns, Chaucer, Britten, and .... I really can't continue listing them for fear of suggesting a hieararchy of importance. We were awed by them all. We both had profoundly sentimental moments as we moved from room to amazing room. Many of our friends and relatives encouraged us not to miss Westminster Abbey and we now know why. It is a treasure. 

FYI, you can't take pictures inside, so we were limited to some outdoor photos. This is simply a record shot taken from the bus.

After our time in the Abbey, we took our time and walked down to Buckingham Palace, then down The Mall to Trafalgar Square. 

I could have stood there for hours ........

The picture above was taken from the steps of the National Gallery, which holds a place of prominence at the top of the Trafalgar Square. Like the Tate, the National Gallery is a free welcoming space and is filled with interested locals and tourists. 

Mum and I each found art that touched us deeply.

Ah, Vincent, yes, this was my favorite wall.

And mum loved seeing many beautiful Turners - a painter she loved as a student and young artist. Seeing so many in one beautiful space was truly a dream.

This was a very full day.

London has triggered many wonderful memories of past trips, and special  thoughts of loved ones. These really are the treasures we will bring home from this trip.

London Day 3

Today we hopped on the 'Big Bus' tour close to our hotel and enjoyed a full day of London sights! This is what we had both been anticipating - old historic magnificent London!

Our first 'hop off' was at the Tower of London and we spent quite a bit of time there. The guided tour by #toweryeoman was amazing! You may have seen my tweets or Facebook comments. Somehow it seems a bit odd to be tweeting with a beefeater, but that's how the business has changed! This picture was actually taken from the Thames River boat cruise that we did right after our time at the tower. It was also amazing! (as you might tell from our selfie smiles)

:)

This is The Elizabeth tower which holds the famous Big Ben bell.

And Westminster Abbey - which we enjoyed from outside today, but will head back to tomorrow for a tour.

This is a view from our room as we sat with wine and feet up before dinner. 

London Day 2

Certainly, the highlight of today was meeting up with Fiona and Chris for lunch! We had such a lovely visit! Fiona chose a great location - we met up at The Drift, a funky modern restaurant a short bus ride from where we are staying (more about getting around London later). It was really wonderful to catch up with both of them and hear about teaching jobs getting underway, a new home in the near future, little sister's 30th in Edinburgh (HB Kirstie!) ...... and maybe a little family gossip :) We hope F&C will come to Canada soon!

After our great visit with Fiona and Chris, mum and I headed off to Tate Modern, a place that both of us have always longed to visit. To be honest, we both found it a bit underwhelming. Not the art (since I could never call any art underwhelming) but the venue itself. It's scheduled for a big upgrade in 2016, so maybe that explains why it looks so neglected at present. I love that the Tate promotes art for everyone by offering free admission to all. I really do love this, however, I felt like there were missed opportunities around every corner in terms of educating people about art in general, but particularly about modern art. So maybe I'll go work as a consultant to Tate Modern in my retirement, haha, or maybe not, but in the meantime, I thoroughly enjoyed viewing favorite Braques, Kandiskys, Picassos, and many others while we were there. Trish - look what I found!

OK, let's chat a little about getting around London. There are trains, buses, the tube, cabs, and foot travel. Yesterday we used a lot of cabs and spent way too much money in the name of convenience, so today, since we had more time and energy, we decided to try bus travel. Daily bus passes are very economical, but for London newbies, it is a bit of a challenge. We did well though, and got everywhere we need to be with minimal stress or error. Yay us! One bus driver actually said to me, " You've only been in London one day? You seem to understand the system pretty well!" Ha! Conquered!

I did a lot of screen captures of google maps - no data service en route is another whole conversation, and obstacle....but this solution helped a lot!

There is always way more foot travel than one expects, so we are enjoying a fairly lazy evening with feet up after a yummy Italian dinner just down the street.

Tomorrow, hop on hop off tour. Sounds simple. Yay!

London Day 1

We arrived by train to Paddington Station in London at 1:15 this afternoon. It was a pretty easy cab ride to the Bedford Hotel in Bloomsbury. We have a lovely room with plenty of space and everything we need. What a nice surprise!

We had a relaxing afternoon of unpacking, napping, and a short walk down the street to check out our bustling neighbourhood and pick up a few things at Sainsbury's.

Dinner was free tonight as part of a summer special deal we got at our hotel! Nice treat before the big event .............

ROYAL ALBERT HALL! An all Beethoven concert - the Emperor Piano Concerto followed by the 9th Symphony! Wow, what a thrilling night! The music was glorious, the hall gorgeous, the acoustics incredible, and the whole experience a dream come true!

Don't laugh - we had to do this!

Pub Life

Annette and Neil's pub is a thriving local establishment and has a loyal following of customers ....... Mum and me included! We felt like the whole staff was there catering to our every need! 

Every single item on the menu was scrumptious! One of our favorites was the fresh strawberries - grown next door - with cream and ice cream. Heavenly.

Also scrumptious were the broccoli bake and the Brie and beetroot tart. Yum.

Here is the beautiful bar, in the morning before the crowds arrived.

And here we are - Neil, Annette, mum and me.

Pub life was wonderful! We loved spending time with another branch of our big family! Thank you so much Annette and Neil for your most generous hospitality! I'm not kidding - I'll be back soon! Maybe I can have MY 60th at Rodney Stoke!!!!

xoxoxoxoxo Irene and Susan

"England's green and pleasant land"

We have just spent some wonderful family time at the Rodney Stoke Inn, not too far from Bristol in the Somerset area in the west of England. This lovely pub is owned and managed by my cousin Annette and her partner Neil. What a beautiful place!

We arrived very late on Wednesday evening so we didn't see the amazing setting of the Inn until the next morning. It really is glorious countryside.

Thursday afternoon, Annette took us on a lovely drive through Cheddar and the Mendip Hills to Wells. The Wells Cathedral was glorious.

The historic village dates back centuries - the cottages on this street were once homes for the vicars and other church staff.

We had a wonderful family dinner at the pub Thursday when we met wee Hamish, Andy and Mary Watt's adorable new baby! (apologies to all the adults whose pictures came 2nd in line to Hamish's)

Friday, Annette, mum and I headed through the Chew Valley to Bath. What a gorgeous city! We thoroughly enjoyed the Roman Baths tour, a little shopping and High Tea at The Pump Room at the baths.

The centuries old Roman baths were extraordinary to see.

A decadent champagne tea! 

Some final Aberdeen sights

Part of the Aberdeen skyline as seen from the Old Torry Battery.

The entrance to Robert Gordon's College where dad attended high school.

St. Nicholas Church, or the Mither Kirk as it was named in the 13th century, has a gorgeous new stained glass memorial to the Piper Alpha, the oil rig disaster of July 1988.

Marischal College in full sun. Wow.

Our Aberdeen Hosts

Mum and I have been truly spoiled during our week in Aberdeen. To give you a good example of the limits our hosts went to ......... yesterday, I happened to mention my yearning for a bakery fresh rowie and ta-da - look what Euan snuck out to get for our last morning! Still warm, flaky, buttery, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Another Aberdeen dream come true :)

Euan and Sheena live in the Bridge of Don, a lovely area in north Aberdeen.

They have a beautiful home and made us feel very welcome, not only with their warm hospitality, but by offering us everything we could possibly need to make our stay easy and comfortable. Last year when mum and I were in Scotland, I toyed with the idea of renting a car this year and doing the driving myself. I really don't know what I was thinking. I've been a front seat passenger for all of our wonderful driving tours this week, and my conclusion is that you could not pay me enough to get behind the wheel of a car in Britain. The right side of the car, the left side if the road, spinny roundabouts, ignoring your Canadian instincts on these fast paced, windy roads - no thank you m'am. And a big thank you Euan! You were an awesome chauffeur!

This lovely state of the art kitchen was where we enjoyed gourmet home cooked meals almost every night! Scottish favourites (remember the pic of the haggis and mince and tattles?), Euan's specialties - it was all scrumptious! We were truly spoiled. Have I mentioned that?

This was one of the amazing meals - mustard chicken, tattles, veggies. Mmmmmmm.

It wasn't just me who loved Naboo!

Thanks Euan and Sheena. We have loved spending the week with you, sharing special memories and creating such wonderful new ones!

xoxoxoxo from Irene and Susan

Above is our last lunch, at the Royal Hotel.