London, England Here We Come!

After months of plotting, planning, dreaming and scheming, it was time to go to London with my sister and her husband! We were pretty excited and looking forward to visiting Dad's cousin Ann, his grandmother's house and generally exploring London. 0 sleeps!

Pam and I believe in the meaning of 11:11. While we were having coffee on the day of our flight and talking about Dad and his childhood, Pam looked at the clock and said "11:11." Yup, I hope Dad knows we're making this trip in honour of him.

And we're off to Halifax from Fredericton...nice evening for a flight.

Beautiful sunset over the St. John River...

With a quick stop in Halifax to change planes, we were on an overnight flight to London. Judging by the names, I'd say we were flying over Wales here. The flight went by quickly and we all managed to doze a little.

Not sure what the crazy zig zagging was for, but we arrived in London around 9:30 a.m.

And here we waited and waited for a wheelchair. Seriously, Air Canada? When people order a wheelchair, they don't need to be told they have to walk to get it. That's why you order it ahead. They didn't cover themselves in glory here. Eventually, we had a very nice young lady look after us and whisk us all through immigration.

Pretty giddy! Oh yes, let me warn you now...there will be many selfies to follow!

We were staying at Marlyn Lodge again. Jim and I stayed there on our last visit and loved the extra space of a flat, the proximity to several good pubs, and the two tube stations nearby.

The communication with the management team was excellent and, with our detailed instructions for self check-in, we were soon inside.

The first of many "wine times." We alternated meeting at each other's flats before going out for dinner. I guess the adapter is solid proof that we're in the UK!

Selfie warning! I think we were telling the guys to "look up."

And an exasperated Jim...

Ahhh...a familiar sight on any of our trips...the guys looking at the map.

Our first of several evenings at Goodman's Field, a Wetherspoon's restaurant, across the street from our accommodations.

Nom...we had the best french fries (chips) in London wherever we went.

OK...slightly out of control here.

Pam and Trevor and I went for a little walk after supper to the Tower Bridge, which was close by. Nothing says London like the Tower Bridge.

Another of the selfies that I'm not sure how I manage to take, but like it when I see it.

These catwalks are part of the Tower Bridge tour that you can take. The floor of the catwalk has a glass section so you can see the bridge below.

The old and the new...the sprawling Tower of London with all new construction on the skyline. The Gherkin used to be the dominant building, but is now disappearing among larger and newer skyscrapers. Pam and Trevor were last in London 36 years ago on their honeymoon, so this landscape was practically unrecognizable to them.

The Shard, which was completed in 2012, with City Hall on the left. Supposedly, the architect was offered $1 million for its design, which he refused, asking instead for a flat at the top, which he later sold for $56 million.

One of the many cruise companies on the Thames.

Here is how most of our days started and ended...our tube station of preference was Tower Hill, and it usually involved some view of the Tower of London. The sun setting on our first day...

Wow! Awesome temperature, London! Let's hope the rest of our days are as beautiful as this.

Tomorrow, a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city...

A Return to London, England

Our flight to London went well and we had arranged for a taxi to take us to our rental. We found this flat on VRBO and it worked out to about £100 per night. We liked the idea of having a bit more room and the ability to cook if we wanted to.

First impressions were that it was very clean, a huge plus. The kitchen...

Living room/dining room...

The bathroom with a rather strange shower arrangement...

And the bedroom. We were very happy here. It was close to two tube stations, several pubs, and the Tower of London.

Now this was different...a pay phone in the flat. You put your coins in and you could hear them clunking into the box below.

After arriving we went out for a bit of a walk. This pub on the corner, Wetherspoons, didn’t have a lot of old English pub atmosphere, but the food was really good.

One of many beers Jim enjoyed there...

The next day we headed over to the Tower of London to see the poppy display, which deserved its own blog entry. The Shard was completed in 2012 and is now the tallest building in Europe.

I think I took a photo of this monument one other time. It's a tribute to the Merchant Navy during World War I, but I always think of my father who later served with them.

We decided to do a tour of the Tower Bridge. There are a lot of new buildings around the area, including this very modern looking glass one.

Tower Bridge, just a short walk from our flat, got its name from its close proximity to the Tower of London. It crosses the River Thames and was completed in 1894.

One of two towers...the red, white and blue colour scheme dates from 1977 when it was painted to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee.

The old with the new...the massive Tower of London in the forefront.

We've done many of the touristy things in London on past trips, so this seemed like a good one to do this time.

A view of the surrounding area... Huh! One Canada Square...didn't notice that until we got home.

The tour was quite interesting...

During a movie that was playing, I looked up and almost had the big one. OK...not real people.

Buddy on his coffee break...

Neat information...

Tower Bridge as it was being built around 1893...

A view of Butler’s Wharf, known for its good restaurants and luxury flats. You can see how high the tide comes up along the pier.

We walked back across the bridge to go down to the engine room. The controls for the bridge are located beneath the towers. Originally, it used coal and steam to open the drawbridge.

A mighty clean engine room...

Flywheel provides continuous momentum to lift the drawbridge...

The tour was really interesting and I would recommend it. Outside once again, Jim got a kick out of this sign.

One of the iconic landmarks of London...

They do build uniquely shaped buildings. The one on the left is City Hall...

Part of the remains of London's City Wall...

Now that's old...

Back on our street, it was a great first day of touring around.

That night we headed to The Minories for dinner. Now this place had the old pub atmosphere, but it was always really busy and a challenge to get a table.

I'm surprised I have a glass of wine. It was normally a cider...or two.

I found it interesting how the pubs work. A lot of people just congregate at the bar to drink and talk. The Minories pub was built under an overpass so every so often you would hear the trains rumbling by overhead. A lot of history here...

Next up, the poppies display at the Tower of London...