After a long, smooth flight, we arrived safely at Gatwick to a glorious, sunny day in London, England. We joined the throngs of confused tourists to navigate our way to the train station. After a few attempts, we triumphantly made it through the turnstile to Gate 4. We enjoyed a crammed ride to downtown London. A last minute decision on our part had us walking to our hotel rather than catching a bus. It turned out to be a great decision as we stumbled across the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Incredible! We had a lovely walk through Hyde Park with a stop at a cafe. We were both exhausted and struggling to lift our feet for the final part of our long, gruelling walk. When we arrived at our hotel, we were both concerned when we realized the walk was only about 3 km. We finished our first day with a delicious dinner at a pub across from Hyde Park, sitting outside on the upstairs patio.Read more
TravelerAmazing timing you 2 👍👍♥️ I'm having a hard time connecting to the internet so haven't been here much. I'm concerned as well about your 3 km walk 😂🖐️😩🍷😜
A fabulous day exploring London on a Hop On Hop Off bus. While we may not have chosen the best bus company, we certainly saw and enjoyed many sights. The other companies had busses with very few passengers while the one we chose was packed, so much so, we had to stand at times!! Maybe the other busses are empty for a reason?? Regardless we had a fantastic day enjoying London on a glorious sunny day. Some of the highlights include a river cruise on the Thames River, riding the bus over the Tower Bridge, a delicious lunch in Soho, and ice cream while strolling in St. James Park. Our day ended with a scrumptious pub dinner.Read more
TravelerWhat a gorgeous day! Glad you were able to see so many sights👍🌞 See you soon🖐️
Today was a typical English day. We started the day with a Full English breakfast (actually we had a half) at a family run cafe. Feeling full of energy and ready to tackle a day of exploring, we set off for a day of visiting museums. We began with a lovely walk through Hyde Park with stops at Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens. A particularly moving moment when we wandered the Sunken Garden that Princess Diana used to enjoy, and saw the monument that her sons commissioned in her honour for what would have been her 60th birthday. From there we encountered some swans and ducks in the pond, and a particularly mischievous swan who tried to steal from my backpack. We enjoyed and learned so much during our tour at the Royal Albert Hall, an ncredible feat of engineering and fascinating historical stories were a few of the highlights. We then continued to the Museum of Natural History and the Victoria and Albert Museum, both of these were interesting but didn't hold the same appeal for me. Mother Nature did her part to ensure we experienced a true British day with a downpour to walk back to our hotel. Dinner at the local pub concluded a quintessential British day.Read more
Our second stop was Burford, which is often referred to as the "gateway" to the Cotswolds . It's a bustling village with many of the medieval buildings housing various art boutiques and cafes. After wandering around the main street, we enjoyed a scrumptious bowl of soup in one of the quaint cafes and took a cream tea to enjoy on the bus.Read more
Awesome architecture!! Love the old buildings! [Denise]
A day spent exploring stunning landscapes and historical sites while learning about steeped traditions in the Cotswold region. Aptly named to reflect the sheep farming on the gentle, rolling hills. Cots = sheep enclosures, wolds = gentle rolling hills.
Our first stop was Bibury and a stroll down Arlington Row. These cottages were converted into weavers' cottages in the 1700s. The cottages, river and gorgeous flowers and plants were a treat for the eye in this picturesque, peaceful village.Read more
A very early start to our day with our alarms going off at 3:00 am. At 3:30, we left the hotel to make our way to Gatwick Airport for our 6:50 am flight. A surprisingly smooth and quick check in through security gave us time to enjoy breakfast at the airport. We arrived in Porto a few minutes before Mary's flight - perfect timing. A short ride on the metro and we were in the beautiful downtown area of Porto. A day of exploring, a siesta and dinner at a local cafe. We had the traditional dish Francesinha, which was created in the 1950s by a local from Porto. His creation was inspired by the French hot sandwich and includes bread, steak, sausage, cheese, egg, and a beer sauce served with french fries. It's a very heavy meal and one I probably won't eat again but glad to have tried it. We were all absolutely exhausted and thankful to have a comfortable room in the hostel.Read more
It was a great feeling to wake up after a luxurious sleep. We had a nice relaxing start to our day before exploring Porto. We meandered throughout narrow cobblestone streets that were lined with colourful buildings. We stumbled upon so many interesting sites including a cemetery, Crystal Palace, gardens, historic monuments and enjoyed listening to live music while sitting in a square at a local cafe. We also tried a traditional cod dish for lunch, in a very authentic Portuguese restaurant. It really was a magical day in Porto and we felt confident because we walked 14 km, surely we are ready for the Camino!Read more
My friend spent time in Porto and loved it there, enjoy! [Denise]
Traveler Hello pilgrims🖐️🖐️. Bon voyage✈️✈️
You don’t even look tired! [Denise]