Iceland & England Adventures 2023

OK, we awaken to our last day and hope that everything goes well for our long trip home. We shower and head downstairs for our free breakfast. We return to the room and pack our luggage. We are hopeful that we can carry on both our suitcases. The main reason is that we can land and go through Customs and then straight out of the terminal rather than waiting for our bags at the luggage carousel.  My priority before we need to leave our room is to post all the pictures from yesterday and get started on the text. Tina and Adrian send their pictures and I won't have a lot left to complete at the airport lounge. Our AC direct flight is scheduled to depart from Heathrow Terminal 2 at 15:55. Lana makes our logistics plan for getting to Heathrow Terminal 2 with lots of time before our plane departs. She always leaves a buffer in case security is a challenge or other unexpected delays to occur. At 10:50 we leave the hotel and walk a short distance to Waterloo Tube Station. We catch the Nor...

The forecast for London is a high of 26 degrees with overcast skies. We head downstairs for our complimentary breakfast in the Library. Another excellent breakfast. This morning for a hot plate I had the smoked salmon with eggs on a bagel. Lana had avocado toast. It was not busy this morning and Lana thought that most people with Marriott status are business travellers and they wouldn't be here on a weekend. We need to get to an ATM to take out some British currency in order to pay Tina and Adrian for our share of the go-karting and ABBA concert today. It's about a ten minute walk to a Post Office ATM to withdraw English Pounds. It is sunny now and already 20 degrees. This is our last full vacation day as tomorrow we fly back to Vancouver. We are to meet Tina and Adrian at the Waterloo Station for 11:10 am. We will then head to Canary Wharf.  Wallpaper in Hotel hallway--so British but Lana liked it! Wallpaper in our bathroom basically a map of London. The County Hall in the low...

No pigeons cooing, no cows mooing, dogs barking and no smell of distant manure during our night in the hotel. It's good to be back in the city!! We have a king size bed that is very comfortable and a coolish (temperature and decor) room. We wake up to a sunny sky with a predicted high of 25 degrees with mostly sun and some clouds. We shower and head downstairs to the free breakfast in the Library Room. Map of Central London Our hotel is the Marriott County Hall  located right at the south foot of Westminster Bridge. It's a great location despite being really busy with tourists everywhere. This is a high traffic area being right down by the water and close to the London Eye. Mascot for Din Tai Fung Restauran t chain. Cute! Not in a big rush today so not down to the Library for our free breakfast until around 09:00. We had a window seat looking out upon the Thames river. The breakfast was excellent. My only complaint was it took more than 30 minutes for our hot plates to arrive. ...

We thought we needed to catch the 9:04 R4 bus at Lifford Hall (bus stop just around the corner from where we are staying), but after arriving it became apparent the bus would come at 9:29. We have a long wait was we had arrived early, but found a bench in the grass across the street. It is overcast, but not too chilly. The bus costs 7.40 Pounds for two tickets for Evesham. Our train to London Paddington station leaves at 10:35 so we will have time to wait for the train. About a twenty two minute ride and then a short walk to the train station. The two tickets on GWR (Great Western Railway) cost 96.40 Pounds and no senior discount. The weather in London is very warm so I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. While waiting at the station it is not warm for me... Evesham Train Station The train trip will take us to London Paddington Station . On arrival we know to connect to the Tube via Bakerloo Line and then south to Waterloo station. Lana renews our Oyster Cards with 20 Pounds each credit a...