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Living in: Adelaide, Australia Read more Adelaide, Australia
  • TravelerUK 2023
    2
    Day 32

    Melbourne Airport

    August 23, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Well that flight wouldn't have been so bad if it had ended up in Adelaide. We basically flew over Adelaide - a pity they didn't drop us off on the way. So close, yet so far away. At least our phones work again.

    I wish I had put a change of clothes in my cabin bag. We are in the transit lounge and we don't have access to our big cases. I did bring a face washer and toothbrush so that's good to freshen up a bit. I was looking forward to some good Melbourne coffee but that's all closed.

    Even their grand piano is out of action (which Ian is pleased about as he thinks it mighty rude of anyone to make a racket after midnight). I will try to get some sleep on the benches here. It's pretty deserted. The most annoying thing is I left my neck cushion and homemade eyepatch in Doha Airport 🤨

    We leave at 5:30 am.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    Day 30

    Doha Airport: Missed connection

    August 21, 2023 in Qatar ⋅ 🌙 34 °C

    Our holiday is definitely over. The flight from London was delayed for about an hour due to technical difficulties then congestion problems with the runway.

    Not all the technical difficulties got sorted, as there was no power down the left side of the plane. There was a spare seat next to me which turned out hot property because everyone wanted to use it to charge their device. A chap sat next to me for the last few hours as he needed to work on his laptop. It also meant we were down one toilet.

    There was a 4yo sitting in front of us who clearly didn't like headphones so we listened to her entertainment 🙄

    We had a tight connection so we missed it and have been put on another flight leaving at 2am. They gave us a food voucher which didn't quite cover a drink and a pizza. So now we wait.

    Tricky to work out what time to take my evening tablets.

    Midnight edit: Just discovered our new flight is actually via Melbourne and involves 6 hours at Melbourne airport so we don't reach Adelaide until Wednesday morning 😵‍💫. I can feel the relaxation of the last few weeks might be reversed in a cataclysmic fashion.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    Day 29

    Heathrow Airport

    August 20, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Our holiday is winding up. We had a late check out (midday) of our Tower Hill motel. We were well organised and had time (and presence of mind) for a Memorial service before we left.

    My back has been playing up again, and Ian decided the cab to Heathrow was worth the expense. Sunday morning is a relatively good time to travel as far as traffic goes, and we had a peaceful drive through London. We passed Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey and a few other landmarks we would not have seen on the Tube.

    We are now at the Heathrow airport motel ready for an early flight tomorrow morning. The photo is the view from our room. On the right you can see the connecting tunnel to the Terminal, a 2 minute walk so no need for a shuttle. We've weighed our bags and they are under weight so hopefully no dramas tomorrow.

    Our motel is a 3-4 star budget one, and we decided to eat at the Crowne restaurant next door. Mine was tastier than it looks! Spinach and paneer curry. Yum. Ian had Nasi Goreng. Soon I will be back to having to cook 😒 but on the other hand it will be good to eat normally again. I miss my spinach and banana smoothies!    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    Day 28

    St Paul's Cathedral etc

    August 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We saw what we could of London on foot today - a Tube free day. St Paul's Cathedral looked doable at 25 minutes according to Maps. Thankfully my legs were in working order and it was pleasant weather. It's quite nice to go for a leisurely stroll, and we happened upon things that we wouldn't have gone out of our way to see, like the Monument to the great fire of London.

    St Paul's looked very grand. We didn't go inside, partly because a great coach load of tourists just arrived, and partly because we think we have spent enough funding the Anglican church for now. They certainly know how to charge for things here. It would set us back by $100. I've had Mary Poppins' "Feed the Birds" in my head ever since. It was very peaceful in the gardens.

    Next we walked over the Millennium footbridge to the other side of the river, which got us to the Globe Theatre. Again, we didn't feel the need to part with another $100 for the tour. We sound stingy today! (There was one show we were tempted to splurge on: it was virtual reality interactive theatre not far from our hotel. But when we checked the fine print it was not recommended for people with mobility issues, epilepsy, back problems, respiratory allergies, fear of the dark or blood, those of a nervous disposition or who don't like sudden loud noises (among other things). I think the only one we didn't tick was pregnancy!)

    We decided to cross back over the river on the Tower Bridge. Our stroll to the Bridge took us past The Golden Hinde replica ship and the HMS Belfast. We passed some vintage markets, but they didn't have much of interest.

    We did a LOT of walking! It was punctuated by Cafe stops and park benches, but we were glad to get back to the hotel. We rested for about an hour before we decided to stroll back to the pier to see the Tower Bridge lift up to let a Dutch ship through. It has been a good day.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    11
    Day 27

    St Martin-in-the-Fields

    August 18, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    This was the pinnacle of our holiday: the booked event I had been anticipating the most - A classical concert in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields 🤩

    I have always loved the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Loads of my first records were performed by them. They used original instruments and had a really intimate chamber feel to their art. Tonight's musicians were not 'the Academy' but the venue was still very appealing to me.

    It did not disappoint! Such a beautiful church. The gilt ornamentation glittered in the (fake) candle light. The acoustics were wonderful. It was as expected a very intimate group of musicians: a conductor, 1 bass, 2 cellists, 2 violas and 4 violins, plus 1 piano obviously!

    And the music 🥰. The chamber works were at a sprightly pace, and the pianist played very expressively. It was all repertoire we know well, but every one of them reminded me of everybody I love. Ian & I walked down the aisle to Bach's Air; Elizabeth & I play Eine Kleine as a piano duet; Jen introduced me to Mozart piano concertos; Moonlight Sonata reminds me of my sweet Jeremy (I played it to calm my nerves the night before I was induced to give him birth, and it is one of the few pieces he plays); Pachelbel reminds me of my unique Emily (who once accidentally played this in D flat major!); the violins reminded me of my lovely mother, and the pizzicato bass reminded me of my Dad pom pomming as he listened. I spent most of the concert with happy tears.

    He played Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu as an encore!

    We went to and from in a black cab as Ian is over the Tube, so it was a very special evening. The Tower Bridge was lit up when we got back.

    💖💗💜    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    Day 27

    Greenwich

    August 18, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The theme for today was "no expectations and no regrets". We have lost the zest to do many of the things we had planned to do. We decided the most peaceful way to spend the day was on a boat, so we booked a Thames River Cruise.

    It proved a good choice. We went to Greenwich first and the boat was fairly empty. There were a few markets on and we saw the Cutty Sark. We strolled towards the Observatory but didn't have the energy to climb towards the top.

    We reboarded the boat and went all the way to the Westminster Bridge. We didn't disembark there, but stayed on until we got back to Tower Hill.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    41
    Day 26

    British Museum

    August 17, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today we attempted to see Stuff the British Stole. It wasn't a huge success.

    Ian was feeling off. He keeps doing RATs and today he was feeling a bit dizzy. We caught the tube again, only 2 stops + 2 stops. We swapped lines at Liverpool Street station which is 34m underground and felt like we were descending into the bowels of the earth. The new Elizabeth line opened in 2022 and is an engineering marvel, but a bit disconcerting for the claustrophobic.

    When we got into the Museum, we were once again swamped by a ridiculous number of people. The noise was overwhelming - we should have used Jeremy's noise cancelling earphones. We couldn't see where we were going. No point taking photos. I did a quick whizz through the Islamic section while Ian found a seat, as I wanted to check out the Girih tiles.

    We decided we'd rather watch a good documentary, and made a hasty exit. At least we hadn't wasted £ on entry fees.

    On the upside, we got back to the hotel to find fresh sheets and towels 🙂    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    111
    Day 25

    Tower of London

    August 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We had booked tickets to the Tower of London before we came. Our entry time was 10:30 am, but entry times seem to bear no relevance here. We got there at 10am and went straight in.

    The place was absolutely thronging with people. Tourists! 😄 It made it difficult to read info signs or take decent photos. The crown jewels part was particularly crowded. We were herded in like cattle, and the most interesting part had us on a conveyor belt so you couldn't linger. I felt quite claustrophobic at times and the noise of everyone talking was overwhelming. Couldn't take photos, but some clowns got their phones out and got yelled at by the security staff. Some of the gold vessels were impressive.

    We enjoyed the armoury in the white tower better (apart from the numerous steps!). After that we discovered the chapel (where Ann Boleyn and others were buried). This was a peaceful spot to rest, and I got my daily pipe organ photo.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    111
    Day 24

    Getting to London

    August 15, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We were both apprehensive about today, but it worked out nicely. There was great potential for disaster which thankfully did not eventuate. I am feeling grateful 🙏
    * We navigated our way into London Heathrow under Murgatroyd's guidance - and we can't thank her enough.
    * We returned the car to Hertz with all windscreen wipers intact and no dings or scratches - phew!
    * We got ourselves and our luggage onto the correct train and to our hotel without Jeremy to guide us. (I convinced Ian not to spend £98 on a taxi, and that we were capable of taking the tube 🤞)
    * The hotel looks lovely! I was worried that we'd be stuck in some awful room for 5 days.

    To celebrate our relief, we had a fancy dinner in our hotel. I had salmon for £18 plus dessert. It was delicious. Our hotel has a mini fridge and kettle, but no cooking for me 🙂. We'll be back to M&S sandwiches tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll stretch our buffet breakfast to include a snack for later. (I'll have to remember my capacious handbag 🤫)

    Our hotel is Novotel Tower Bridge and we are directly opposite the Tower of London. It's in a very convenient spot. We had a stroll around the immediate vicinity and already saw lots of interesting things. I was intrigued by the ruins of a Roman wall which they've preserved and built around.

    London is teeming with people! Peaceful it is not, and I was worried that we might undo our de-stressing in beautiful countryside of the last few weeks. But I think it is going to be fun. I just have to remember that I need to take things at my own pace. There is no point rushing around like a crazy person and getting home knackered.    Read more

  • TravelerUK 2023
    1
    Day 23

    Rochester

    August 14, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    On the way home from Sheerness we deviated via Rochester as there were meant to be lots of good antiques shops. As it happened, some were closed on Mondays and some were about to close, so not much success on that front.

    But we happened upon Rochester Cathedral and poked our head in, as is our custom. What attracted my attention (after the pipe organ) was this amazing collection of textile artworks depicting the days of creation. Stunning! The artist is Jacqui Parkinson and her exhibition is going around several Cathedrals in 2023 and 2024. Wow!

    Her website is www.jacqui-textile.com    Read more

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