Day 1/2 - April 1-2, Travel and a bit of London

Tuesday - Crossing the Pond

On Tuesday Ed and Jean met us at our house around 11:30, we drove to Bob K's house in Williston and he drove us to the BTV airport and will keep our car for us while we are away. It is one of the penalties you pay if you are a friend of the Jaquish's and live near the airport, but it is appreciated. 

Our Burlington flight to JFK got off about 14:30 just as planned, the weather was windy but clear, we are off to a good start. 

We even flew right down the lake where I could look out and see Potash Bay. 

We landed in JFK with a 2 hour layover.  We flew to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic for the first time. Again, we were pretty much on time and the flight went smoothly, the meals were good for airplane food, we had no complaints with Virgin Atlantic. 

We even got a nice sunrise over Ireland as we approached London. 

We landed around 0600 in London, we next had to figure out how to get to the hotel.

Our hotel, the Hilton Canary Wharf, is about 25 miles from LHR, on the opposite (East) side of London. London is a city of about 9 million people, traffic is awful. We were not yet tube'rs (Metro) so decided to Uber.

It took 2 hours to go 25 miles....rush hour traffic. We were pretty weary, but our rooms were not ready so we decided to set out on foot to find a good place for lunch.  We walked 'Mackenzie Walk'  which is very nice and follows the River Thames. It was breezy but it was nice in the sun. 

The girls enjoyed the hedge sculptures.

We then set our sights on a Pub called the White Hart, it was about a 2 mile walk and took us through a very industrial area of London, but we found it. It was only a bit over 2 miles. 

White Hart (est 1827), is a classic English pub, we shared a couple of appetizers, a light lunch. 

We also had some English beer, I ordered a Red Ale and it looked just like a Guinness when they set it on the bar, I asked if it was charged with Nitro but the bartender said it has no carbonation. They did pump it when they poured it, why can't we do this back home.

After our light lunch we were still bushed and had enough walking, so we decided to learn how to use the Tube, which is their metro. It did not take long to learn the system and it is quite good. You can go just about anywhere in London for 2-3 pounds and it is fast. 

So we Tube'd our way back to the hotel to see if our rooms were ready, they were not so we waited and napped in the lobby until 1500 when they were ready.  

When they say the Tube is underground, it is not an understatement. 

After getting settled into our room, we went back to the Tube and headed for the London Bridge.  The London Bridge is not falling down, in fact it looks new, last renewed in 1973. 

We took Queen's walk along the River Thames up to the London Bridge. 

The twins doing the Queen's walk, with London Bridge in the background (built in 1973). 

As we crossed the London Bridge we had a great view of the London Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast which was at anchor. It can be toured but we did not take the time.

The Tower of London is amazing and pictures really don't capture it, it has to be visited. 

Built around the 11th century, I find it interesting that it was used much of the time as a prison. 

We then walked across the Tower Bridge; it is both an automotive and pedestrian bridge.

From the Tower Bridge, we were hungry and looked for a place to eat. We found 'The Raven', it was a good stop. 

We had a nice meal. Ed had Fish and chips, June/Jean had  the Chicken, Ham Hock & Leek Pie and I got Bangers and Mash. We checked off three of the classic English dishes and they were all very good. 

We got back to the room and basically crashed......

We have to be up early for a tour we booked that will take us to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Lacock and Bath.....