Tag Archives: Trafalgar Square

We Bid Adieu to Great Britain from London…

Wrapping up our 2004 Literary Tour of Great Britain with our daughter Katie with our old fashioned film camera. London was our final stop after a long train ride from Edinburgh and lugging our luggage across the train station to the tube that would take us to our tiny room with 2 beds that covered almost the entire floor minus a 6 inch space between them to walk to the very tiny bathroom. Oh boy! I forgot to mention the 3rd floor we had to haul our luggage up to. We managed to recover from  it all and enjoy some great spots in London.

Katie and Dear mastered the tube stations quickly and they always knew the correct trains to catch.

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The Tower of London was on the list of places to explore.

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We were in London for the Queen’s birthday on the 21st of April we saw and heard the 62 gun salute.

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While walking toward Buckingham Palace we were told that a better close up view option of the changing guard would be at the Horse Guards Stables. We enjoyed viewing the Queen’s Horse Guard.

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Up close and with a lot fewer crowds around us. I’m thinking by now the word has gotten around and the crowds are probably crazy here, too.

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Dear and Katie in Trafalgar Square.

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The pigeons decided they were a great perch.

Our favorites in London were the National Gallery and the British Library where so many great literary classics and authors are featured. Katie and Dear toured Westminster Abbey and viewed the small tablet to the memory of Jane Austen in the Poet’s corner of the abbey. We also enjoyed attending the live stage performance of Les Miserables.

Thank you for indulging me as I documented our trip from 12 years ago!

 

To London We Go…

On Friday September 20th we left the coast of Cornwall for the long trip to London. We were dropping our car off at Heathrow and then booking a taxi to take us to the apartment we were renting through the weekend. Soon we would be depending on the London Tube for our transportation. “Mind the Gap”!

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This is the street and building where our flat was located. It was a short walk to Portabello Road but a long walk to the nearest tube station that got you into London easily. We were close to a station that required connecting to a London central line.

2013-09-20 To London1The living space was roomy and comfortable.

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We each had our own king room and bathroom.

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After we settled into the flat we decided to head into London and see what we could see but first we had a nice long walk along Portobello Road to the Notting Hill Gate Tube Station.

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We walked up the steps from the underground and landed right in Trafalgar Square. Soon we would be quoting Laura every time we tried to get from A to B in London proper… “Oh the Humanity”. After being in the countryside it was quite unnerving to be thrust into such a sea of people.

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Now we were very hungry and Dear remembered a pub we ate in back in 2003 just down the road from here so we walked with “the humanity” and headed that way. The pub was packed to the gills but we found a nice spot in the back and settled in.

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2013-09-20 To London2Our food was good and we were revived and decided to try to take in as much of the National Gallery before it closed. It was getting dark outside.

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We saw some wonderful works of art but no photos were allowed in the National Gallery. We were all well spent from our long day and found our way back to the flat for a good nights rest before our Saturday in London.

Back here in the Northwest we’ve had a relaxing weekend and we’ve been cooking meat. I cooked a chuck roast in the slow cooker and we had roast beef sandwiches for dinner on Saturday. Today we had ribs slow cooking in the oven and will have them with some coleslaw and baked beans. Good thing we don’t have any vegetarians in our house. Our Katie is a huge Dr. Who fan so Saturday’s 50th Anniversary special airing in Britain and B.B.C.- U.S.A. was on the agenda. Judging from her squeals of delight it was all she had hoped for.

I had a fun experience today after church. We host a Toy Shop at our church for needy families from public school districts in our area. Church members donate toys for different age groups (new, unwrapped toys). Parents can then come to the toy shop and choose 2 gifts for each of their children. They take them to the wrapping table and we wrap the gifts for them to take home and give to their children on Christmas.  So after church I headed to Fred Meyer to do some toy shopping. I was in the Lego aisle and a grandmother with her two grandsons came into the aisle. The grandmother told the boys to choose a toy that they would like but the toy was not for them. The toy was for someone who had less then them. She was trying to teach them about giving. She looked at my cart and the list in my hand and asked me who I was shopping for. I told her all about our Toy Shop at church. She then said, “Ok, boys pick a gift and put it in this ladies cart, I’ll give her the money for the toy and it will go to the toy shop and a little boy your age will get it and enjoy it” Ha! After they selected the gift and gave it to me (and $15.00 cash) I told the boys that a boy their age would be really happy to get that toy. Then I said Thank you very much and Merry Christmas. The grandmother explained to me that she wasn’t sure where to donate a gift so she was happy to bump into me at the store…

How was your weekend?