London
07 to 10 Aug 2024
On Wednesday, Julie and Anthony drove from Keswick to London. After checking into the Terminal 5 Hilton, we dropped off our noble steed at the Heathrow Hertz. We had logged nearly 5000 miles. Hertz didn’t have any traffic fines (yet) from the thousands of traffic cameras we passed along our journey.
Wednesday morning, Julie and Anthony took an uber into the Euston Hilton, just across the street from Euston Station where we will catch the train on our trip to Dublin.
Julie and Anthony walked to the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street, of course. The museum held a large collection of Holmes related bric-a-brac.
Kings Cross Station featured as a location in many of the books Julie (and Anthony) have read. Julie was excited to see it in real life.
Famously, this is the home of platform 9 3/4s where Harry, Hermione and Ron leave for Hogwarts.
Just Kidding, the above photo is from the Harry Potter Studios. Below is the line to take this photo at Kings Cross. Boom, if you are sad about missing another reenactment, this is the reason. We love you, but not that much.
Anthony did get a photo here with King Charles III, no lines.
Buckingham Palace was not open to the public our first visit to London, but Julie was able to book a tour on this trip. Like most of the British Palaces, there was no photography inside. Needless to say, Buckingham palace holds an amazing collection of paintings, sculpture, tapestries, ceilings, furniture and terrible plumbing as any English Royal palace.
Julie and Anthony toured the Mews, with an impressive collection of royal carriages, but no horses, much to Julie’s chagrin.
This was by far the gaudiest carriage in the collection
Buckingham Palace from the back
The Royal's back yard
Julie was a little sad that the back yard was not bigger, but then felt better when it took us almost 30 minutes to actually walk through it to get out.
Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square
On our first stint in London, Julie couldn’t book any West End plays that she wanted to see. Luckily we had a second chance. (Moral of the story, if you want to see a play in London, book it in advance) Julie was able to get great seats to see Six at the Vaudeville. We took the #21 bus to and from the theater but first stopped at the Cora Pearl for a lovely dinner before the play.
Six tells the story of the Six wives of Henry the Eighth, as a rock opera.
On Saturday, we schlepped our luggage to Euston Station and caught the train bound for Holyhead port in Anglesea.
The train took us under the Caerfilly Castle, sadly Anthony wasn’t able to get and photos from the train.
Anthony walked across the pedestrian bridge from the ferry terminal into Holyhead to get yummy takeout burgers and onion rings (last time we were at Holyhead we got takeout Chinese).
On the Ferry ride to Dublin, we both got 99 Ice Cream (soft serve). While eating hers, Julie broke a tooth! Obviously, the bad luck continues across the water. By now, Julie is seriously wondering if she picked something up on one of the ghost tours.
The Irish leg of Julie and Anthony’s journey begins here in Dublin.
Maps: 1) Buckingham Palace and Six 2) London to Dublin
