Adventures in Europe: London, United Kingdom

I am on my way to Central Asia and, just like last year, this has resulted in being laid over in London and Istanbul. My Heathrow layover was less than five hours, and after getting through passport control easily I second guessed if I should really leave the airport. But, I had not slept a wink on the airplane and I felt I would much rather spend even just an hour walking in London than hang out in Heathrow longer than was necessary, so I spent 10 quid storing my bag and jumped on the Piccadilly line.

I got off at Hyde Park Corner and bought a coffee and a sandwich and then started walking east. Most of the roads I walked along are closed right now and there were thousands of people out walking, jogging, biking, scootering, etc.

I passed the palace . . .

. . . stopped for a few minutes in St. James Park to eat my sandwich . . .

. . . approached Westminster Abbey . . .

. . . and ended up at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. 

And really that was all the time I had, so I jumped on a Jubilee line train at Westminster, transferred back to the Piccadilly line at Green Park and was back off to Heathrow. It was a quick visit to London, but I definitely felt it was worth it.

Adventures in Europe: Oxford, United Kingdom

After breakfast and a morning walk in Birmingham, I took the train about one hour southeast to Oxford. Whereas I saw very few tourists in Birmingham, Oxford was crowded with throngs. I sense there may often be many tourists in Oxford, but there were Pride festivities as well that evidently contributed to full streets, overflowing cafes, and jostling at the best photo opportunities. 

From the train station I took a short city bus ride out of the central area to my guesthouse.

Back in the centre, I found a lovely ramen shop for some lunch, and then walked over to the Ashmolean museum. 

One could spend a long time in the Ashmolean and really get one's money's worth (well, actually, it's free), but I moved quickly, just finding the highlights in several of the halls. Above a staircase they are displaying what I assume are some of the "surplus" busts in the collection!

Back in the streets, I continued to enjoy my afternoon, walking somewhat aimlessly, stopping for a coffee here, an ice cream cone there, book shopping over there. 

Tomorrow I will catch the bus to Heathrow and head home to Edmonton.

Adventures in Europe: Birmingham, United Kingdom

From Dublin yesterday I caught the MV Ulysses for a sailing across the Irish Sea to Wales.

 

I love being on ships (best way to travel, I think), and I made the most of the upper outdoor deck as we cast off.

Eventually I went below and tucked into an "Irish breakfast," which a) satisfied my hunger and b) felt like a good way to say goodbye to Ireland.

About two hours later, Wales came into view.

As pedestrian passengers we had just walked on in Dublin, but here in Holyhead we jumped on a bus and were driven to the terminal, where we were very quickly through border control. 

From Holyhead I was catching the train to Birmingham, and the train station is immediately adjacent to the ferry terminal. 

But, I had a couple of hours to spare, so I walked into the town for a coffee and some lunch. My train left at 13:27, and was very comfortable, and I enjoyed watching Wales go by from the window.

My hotel in Birmingham is very close to the train station, so I checked in, and was a bit taken aback at how ritzy it is! Not even particularly expensive, but UK standards (99 pounds, I believe).

I was desperately needing to do laundry, so I found a laundromat and got my laundry going. In between laundry cycles, I enjoyed walking around, especially next to the canals.

I also sat down for a drink in this great pub.

I am not in Birmingham for any particular reason, other than I need to get to London on Sunday for my flight home, and figured it would be an interesting place to stop on the way. In some ways it was not as interesting as I thought it might be, but certainly it is a nice city and the mixture of old and modern architecture is especially noteworthy, I thought.