Hear Ye, Hear Ye, the Missus and I are embarking on our first ever trip to England. Land of my fore fathers. According to Ancestry.com, my great-grandfather immigrated to America at the turn of the last century. On his marriage certificate, he was a 26 year old "laborer" and my grandmother was a 22 year old "spinster". Wow, how positively Jane Eyre. So I'm guessing neither of them lived on an estate or knew Mr. Darcy. Gramps grew up in Sussex in a little town called, Cheddar on Toast. I jest, but but he was close to Kent. Coming from a country saturated with Springfields and Greenvilles, you gotta love those English names. Stratford on Avon, Stow-on the-Wold. We will be visiting the later town and I will report back to you what a Stow is and who put it on the Wold! We will be in England for a month but the first leg of our tour is:
7 Days - London
4 Days - Salisbury w/ Stonehenge
3 Days - Bath
Ending with two weeks on a Rick Steves tour starting in Bath. Last fall we did a Croatia / Slovenia trip and loved it so much, we decided to try another trip. We have opted to identify as Canadians and have supplied ourselves with the appropriate amount of Maple Leaf-ed shirts and ball caps and numerous bottles of Maple Syrup to fool the public with our Canuckness. So sit back and enjoy the ride!
Roll Up, roll up for the Mystery Tour...mind the gap.


Our Mystery Tour starts on Virgin Atlantic. We have opted for Virgin's Economy Delight class, which is essentially Economy and then a flight attendant comes by every hour and says, "How delightful", but it is in a crisp English accent which is...delightful. Great leg room on the flight although it seemed like the seats were narrower?

Day One - Arriving in Londontown
The flight was fine, 9 1/2 hours. Left at 3:30PM on the dot. Highlight of the flight was that I found, Becoming Led Zeppelin on the entertainment list. I missed it in the States when it came out a few months ago. Spent two hours bopping my head and doing air drum rolls. The 20 something young lady next to me, smiled and said, my grandfather used to play Led Zeppelin records, good on ya gramps and thank you for your service.

Customs was a breeze, No stamp!!! Passport on the viewer and smile into the camera. Walked a fair distance to the Elizabeth line to go to Paddington Station. Cost 11lbs, 3 ounces. (Damn, I hope I figure out this money deal). We had watched numerous You Tube videos showing us how easy it was to catch the line, and it is well marked, but on arriving to where you tap in, all of the lines were backed up because only one reader was working. There seemed to be a bunch of assistants helping to get people through so it wasn't total chaos, just a longer wait. On YouTube the presenters simply step on the line and on their way, in our case the concourse was packed with people and a woman on the speaker telling us to Move Down, Move Down, but we packed into the tube and made our way to Paddington station.

We are staying at the Days Inn Hyde Park. Kind of embarrassing staying at a Days Inn but it was on points. So it was close to free. I will be calling it Ye Olde Days Inn for the rest of my posts. We were let into our tiny room at noon, which was nice. Unpacked a bit then took a walk for coffee and to the Wallace Collection. We are staying on Sussex Gardens and part of our street reminds us of Zagreb for some reason. Get a coffee and on to the Wallace Collection which is in an old mansion that belonged to the Duke of Hertford or maybe he was the Marquis, and then bequeathed to his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace. The collection is free, it's beautiful, and the perfect way to spend our first afternoon. Our goal here is to stay up as late as possible so we can get on a schedule for tomorrow. Had dinner at a place called Hayat on Spring St. Excellent, kind of an Egyptian meets Mediterranean cuisine. Met our first local, a nice gent next to us and wished us a happy visit to London. We had envisioned taking the Tube to the East End to visit Spitalfields Market...didn't happen. After dinner and returning to the Old Days Inn, about 4:30PM, we ended up visiting the bed and watching Indiana Jones on the on the other Tube!

The front of the Wallace House

Lots of Louis the 14th china, furniture and tons of paintings. It's really worth a visit when you are here in London, it's in Marylebone.

Painting by some guy called Rembrandt. I hope he was succesful


On the walk we saw all of these charming little gardens, but no way to get in, then we saw this sign. Did I tell you I know Mr. Darcy?

Behind the Paddington Station and St. Mary's Hospital is the Paddington Basin, once and still a canal, but now they are building really upscale building and apartments along the canal.

Another shot of the Canal

This is the door that Princess Diana and Princess Kate came out holding up their babies to show the world. An heir and a spare! It's right on the road called the Wharf Road and it's very non-descript, not Royal at all

Very interesting (and entertaining , following along!

Tdiddy there is the coolest pub close to your hotel called the Sussex arms, you can sit in an Concorde seat while drinking your beverage. It has this weird clockwork orange thing going on. You would never know if from the outside.. I always stop by if I am staying at Paddington.

Hey, at least the currency went decimal. In the Before Times (1970), my mother would hold out her handful of change and let the shop clerk pick out the appropriate coins.

You're off to a great start Tdiddy, count me in for the Magical Mystery Tour.

rialtogrl - So good to hear from you, I hope you have been well. The Sussex Arms is indeed right around the corner. I will have to go have a pint!


Pretty modern looking establishment.

Here are the seats of which you spoke.

Day 2 - Early AM
In 1972 I was a 19 year old snot nosed exchange student in the Netherlands. I was in Amsterdam and saw a poster for a film, the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park from 1969. Right after Brian died. That little bumpkin from Michigan, never thought he would ever be in Hyde Park! Today was the day. Mick and Keith, however, were nowhere in sight. Woke up at 4 AM, laid in bed until 6 and then thought, hey I am 6 minutes from Hyde Park, so out the door I go. Entered near the Italian Gardens, didn't stay long but it was memorable to me. It was also the beginning of day of firsts.


After years of scraping Americans and others off their roads, the British are giving us a big heads up. Your not in Kansas anymore Dorothy, look to the Right! Already saved our lives.

This was a gardner's cottage in Hyde Park. There is supposedly a pet cemetary behind it but I couldn't get a good view.

Victoria, looking out for the Garden.

I was so focussed on the two geese, I almost missed this heron!

Day 2 - Day of Firsts
Had a nice breakfast at the Ye Olde Days Inn and then off to the Tube. Second of firsts! We got off at Charing Cross and headed to St. Martin-in-the-fields, quick look around, over to Trafalgar Square to give our respects to Admiral Nelson (I hope that guy didn't have fear of heights) and then into the National Gallery. Stunning, I'll say it again, a stunning building with an amazing collection. Lunch was at the Chandos pub. Third first, my first warm beer in London. We had planned on walking down Whitehall but we were bushed so back to the hotel for a nap and gear up for the afternoon.

Let me say right here, some of my Canadian talk was hyperbole, we didn't bring any Maple Syrup and we haven't told anyone we're Sor-r-r-y. The Canadians will get that! I am wearing a Canadian hat though. We have met nothing but wonderful people, eager to talk to us, where are you from, first time to London etc. In fact in 50 years of travel I have never had any problems, people generally like Americans, they don't always like our government. We went to Paris right after Bush invaded Iraq, again no problems although there were protests everywhere.

Here's some photos:


Super simple to hop on the Tube. Whenever I see Baker Street, my first thought is of the Saxophone riff on the great song Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty. Then I think of that Holmes guy.

Cross above the altar in St. Martins-in-the-field. Probably the happiest cross I have ever seen. Enough of the grumpy crosses already.

Shot of the water court in front of the National Gallery

A hall way in the National Gallery. Such an amazing building. We were told it is the first building in the world built to as a museum. (You can fact check me on that but thats what I was told.

Look at those yellows. Do you think Van Gogh's parents had his stuff on their refrigerator. It's good son, but quite a bit of yellow?

Guess who this great painting is by? If said Picasso, you would be right. I didn't guess it when I first approached this painting.

Day 2 PM
After a great nap we are out the door again! Another first, first bus ride in London. Jumped on the 148 from Bayswater to Westminster Abbey. Up on the top deck right in front, great views, nice to not be walking. About a 30 minute trip. My advice for London, forget the Hop Off bus, just get on some random bus and go for a ride, it's a real treat. Walked around Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, out on the bridge looking back on the Parliament and then to a pub for fish and chips, last first of the day. Came back pretty tired but should get some good sleep tonight!


Photo from the bus, so many interesting statues. Road past Buckingham Palace, no one home.

This reminds me of the story of how the Dutch bought Manhattan from the natives for $23 and two tickets to Hamilton

The Man.

The Eye, it's about 40 pounds per person. As in Eye don't think so!

In this corner, the one, the only BIG BEN

Westminster Abbey

The person depicted in the middle of this frieze is Martin Luther King, I am not fibbing.

St. Stephens Tavern. Great atmosphere and fish and chips

Another shot. This is where the politicos hang out. The waiter said generally on Thursday nights. There is a light in the bar that lights up when a vote is being taken and the politicians scamper across the street and vote the way the lobbyists told them

Several posts have been deleted and/or edited for political comments and inappropriate language. Let's keep the travel boards a politics-free zone.

Stupendo! Here’s another one - tons of royal memorabilia
https://www.theheronpaddington.com
so cozy and good Thai food too.

Very strange, I saw your picture of the Tube map and immediately I smelt the Tube smell. The human brain is a very strange thing.

I note that the title has not been moderated ;-)

Hot Damn rialtogrl - the Heron is already on our list. We just walked by it Sunday and didn't realize it was so close to our hotel. Let me ask you, is there any part of the world you don't know about? LOL

Bilboburgler - we are loving the Tube. I have been properly chastened, no more politics. Just the facts, ma'am

yes, like 99% but I do know my London pubs. Too bad I get back to London after you leave or we could do a wee pub crawl

Day 3 - Stations and Horses
Actually got some pretty good sleep last night. Didn't wake up until 6:00PM and felt rested and ready for the day. Last night we walked down Whitehall from Parliament but it was almost dark and everything closed up. We are off to the Cortauld Gallery today in the Somerset House but we decided to take the Tube to Charing Cross and back down Whitehall from Trafalgar to see a few sights in the day time. We get to the horse guards and they were out in all of their glory. There is a gate between the horses which leads into the parade grounds, St. James Park and ultimately over to Buckingham Palace. Let's take a peak shall we? It's not quite 11AM so we walk through and notice a number of people standing behind a roped off area. Then to our surprise, here comes the horse guards, about 7 of the most beautiful black stallions. This is apparently the changing of the guard for the horses, not the famous changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace but one that was very exciting nonetheless!


Our center for transport in London, Paddington Station...

...our stop at Charing Cross

I don't know how long their shifts are, but it is a testament to both rider and horse.

Horse Guard with Union Jack

Here comes the Cavalry! They rode in and the then turned and formed a line and then they broke off in twos and probably relieved the guys we just saw, and eventually all seven of them rode through the gate toward Whitehall.

This is the line the broke from, you can see one rider in the back already moving out.

The head guy, I guess, he had the most gold braids and was bossing the other guys around!

VERY entertaining trip report! Thank you! I love your photography and commentary, I can't wait for more

Day 3 Part 2 - Painting and Bridges
After our good luck with the horse sighting, we are off down the Strand to Somerset House. The Somerset House is on the site of an old Tudor Palace, it's spectacular and the Cortauld Gallery is just a little part of it. I want to take a minute and talk about how amazing we are finding London. I can only think of two cities I have visited, Paris and New York, that contain those spots that have been burned into your mind over years of movies, documentaries, books etc. Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Big Ben. You know what I'm talking about, but so far every building I'm seeing is fantastic. I mean just the light pools are works of art. So we get to the Cortauld, great show, works collected by a Swiss collector who was a friend of Cortaulds and his museum in Switzerland is being refurbished, so his collection is here. It ends in 5 days so we were lucky to get in. Stopped for a sandwich at Dilietos. Sandwiches since 1911, did not disappoint, then in search of the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern. Crossed the bridge and in the middle of the Tate, a former Power station...we have run out of "personal" juice. No power left in our old bodies. So we Uber'ed home with a Ugandan driver who wants to come to America to see cowboys. How do we let him down easy!


Outside of the Somerset House going into the Cortauld Gallery

Great stairwell in the Cortauld Gallery

Another shot of the stairwell

My favorite Manet

This is a Monet of melting ice and it was fantastic

Another Manet

Some Random painting

One of the great Cezanne still lifes. It looks like the peaches are falling out of the plate

You are now entering the City of London. London is actually only one square

The Tate Modern looking form the Millennium Bridge, the pedestrian bridge over the Thames

This is one of my favorite photos. Looking back at the Millennium Bridge and St. Pauls in the background.

Day 4 - In the Early Morning Rain
First rain of the trip. A pretty steady sprinkle, but I still elected to celebrate my inner Gene Kelly and went for a walk in the rain. No singing though. We once were fortunate enough to attend a screening of an American in Paris and Gene Kelly's widow was there and she recalled that Gene had a 103 degree temperature when he filmed that scene. Think about that the next time you are Singing in the Rain.

Random shots of Paddington Station at 7AM


Trains of the Great Western Railway. We will be taking one of these to Salisbury on Sunday.

Statue inside Paddington commemorating some war

Cool clock. Hey looks like it's time for a cuppa

Paddington Bear. Michael Bond bought a stuffed bear for his wife in 1958 and named it Paddington after the station. Books and movies followed. His such a big star now, he wouldn't even speak to me

Paddington bench with plaque

Giant food court outside of the station. I get a kick out of this given my love of Mexico, the restaurant you can see is called Wahaca, which specializes in food from Oaxaca. How phonetic of them.