Off to London... cheerio!

Another day with an alarm clock to awake us.  After 2 days in Edinburgh, Scotland, we are off to London, England!  Packed up all of belongings from the city center apartment we had stayed in for the last two days and were off down the cobblestone streets, baggage in tow.  Luckily, the train station was literally right around the corner from our apt. so we were there within minutes.  We had gone by last night, to ensure that we knew exactly where it was and what we needed to do.  The ticket office was still open so I went ahead and turned in our E-ticket for real train tickets so we would have less stress
 in the morning.  This train trip is Brian, Diane, and David's first trip on a train of this type.  We had our luggage, and tickets, and Brian and David went in search of some breakfast before we boarded the train.  Once we located our train, we found a great seat and were good to go.  We are actually bound from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and then we will catch a connecting train from Glasgow to London.

Arrived in Glasgow without incident, but then, were told that our next train was NOT being picked up from the same station, and we had to speed walk over to the Glasgow CENTRAL station, which was a good 5-10 minutes away.  And our next train was only 40 minutes after we arrived, so we had to book it!  Got to the station and had to stand in line to trade, again, my E-ticket for real ones.  Long line, and a couple of scary moments when the lady told me that the tickets were NOT issued to me  (and she wouldn't tell me who they WERE issued to!) and I would have to get out of line...(and our train was leaving in under 25 minutes!) But, I was thinking on my feet, and quickly pulled out David's passport and asked if this was who the tickets were made out to...  and, thank heaven, they were!  So, received our tickets and without further ado, were off to get on the next train.  We are actually on the train right now, and I purchased a WiFi package so I could catch up on last night's blog, and get an early start on today as well.


We have comfortable seats and are watching the peaceful looking countryside go by outside our windows.  Again, green, green parcels of land, partitioned by bushes and surrounded by tress of different varieties.  Cows, sheep, and horses dot the landscape, with an occasional highway thrown in for good measure.  the train ride is smooth, and we will soon be heading to the cafe on-board to get some lunch for our growling tummies! Diane and I shared a tomato and cheese panini and the guys had a BLT, salt and vinegar chips, and a drink.  That hit the spot!

We arrived into London at 3:15 to NO RAIN!  Again, our luck seems to be holding as we bring the sunshine (or lat least no rain) with us where ever we go!  We took a taxi to our hotel, and on the way we passed Buckingham Palace.  The flag was raised, indicating that the QUEEN WAS IN!  So, here, I am meeting the queen!  :)  We arrived at the Dover Hotel.  SMALL rooms, but everything that we need.  We are currently lying on the bed with maps all around us, trying to figure out our plan of attack on this city.  We will be taking the underground rails and walking our little feet off for the next 3-4 hours.

OK...  let's say that the beginning of our trek to explore London did NOT quite start as smoothly as we had anticipated...  but, we are not quitters, and so we just rolled with the punches!  Our first stop was the Tower Castle.  Immense and beautiful in the late evening light.  The green grass represents where the moat would have been.  Then we walked over to the Tower Bridge.  We saw it before the sun went down, and then again after when the lights were all lit up.  Stunning in either light.


We were hungry again after our walking, (around 8 miles today and that was AFTER we were on a train for 6 and a half hours!  Brian spied a great restaurant called All Bar One, and we decided to try it.  We walked it and were so happy that it was Tuesday because they had an incredible special where you could get 4 tapas and a bottle of wine for 20 pounds.  An AMAZING deal!  So we ordered crispy duck dumplings, calamari, feta and spinach bureks, and slow cooked pork.  The food arrived and we jumped in and each and every dish was delectable!  So, we ordered 4 more!  A garlic flatbread, patatas bravas (a potato dish), lemongrass prawns, and chorizo with halmari (cheese) skewers.  We also downed these dishes with no problems!

On top of the incredible food, we met a great guy who worked at All Bar One.  His name was Patrick von Veenendaal, and he was not only a fantastic help with our food, he was also an extremely personable guy!  He had recently visited the states, California, and wants to come to Arizona on his next trip to the states.  We HIGHLY recommended that he go see the Grand Canyon and do white water rafting or hike down it, or both.  We had a highly engaging conversation comparing and contrasting our views of the different countries.  Such a wonderful time and a terrific guy, to boot!

After our incredible dinner, we were off again walking the pavement.  Our goal was to hit the St. Paul's Cathedral.  Up one road, down another, led us to our destination.  As we walked up, I took a double take, because there was a dome on top just like the White House!  Such an stunning piece of architecture.  Under the dome was a massive building with Corinthian columns and intricately carved details.  The night was getting late, and it was full dark before we were heading back to our home base at the Dover.  We hit the underground railroad, which was amazing!, and followed our way back home.  I sooooo like the underground for speed and efficiency.  We hit home right about 11 p.m.  Need to finish my blog and then get my butt to bed, because we are going on a tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.  Until then, chow, cheerio, and goodbye!