Travelling Home

   I didn’t sleep very well last night. I was having some anxiety about getting to the airport.  I realized that there was no way that I wanted to attempt going to Heathrow using the underground with all our luggage. Our experience using the tube yesterday made me see how difficult that would be.  I could envision us getting pickpocketed with our backpacks on and trying to haul our big luggage around. I was concerned that getting a cab might be difficult because the apps required a mobile number to set them up.  At 3:00 am I had the idea that I could just use my Uber app to get a ride in London. And so, after breakfast, that is what we did.  It was a comfortable 1 hour drive to the airport at half the price of the black taxi we took from the airport. We spent time at the airport lounge before our flight and it was delightful.

Airport Lounge at Heathrow, London

Our Westjet premium flight was a real treat. It was a very modern plane and I loved our lazy boy style seats. On the flight to Europe, WestJet had subcontracted to air Spain and their plane wasn’t near as comfortable as the actual WestJet plane. I feel quite spoiled and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fly to Europe in economy again. 

As I write this, we’re waiting in Calgary for our connecting flight to Edmonton. I booked a hotel room in Sherwood Park because I know I’ll be way too tired to drive to Mallaig tonight.  As I look back on the last 6 weeks, I can’t believe how quickly it seems to have gone by. We’ve experienced and seen so much and I’ll always cherish the memories that Ann and I have created on this adventure. 

Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace

 

Buckingham Palace

This morning we took the underground to Kensington Palace. We took the audio tour and learned about the palace and about Queen Victoria’s life before becoming the queen.

Kensington Palace

Some of Princess Diana’s dresses

Ann trying on a Victorian Styled dress

We had lunch at the palace cafe and then enjoyed a walk in the gardens.  I especially enjoyed the Sunken Garden. https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/whats-on/the-sunken-garden/ 

Sunken Garden

Princess Diana statue in the Sunken Garden

We walked through the whole length of the Kensington gardens and then walked over to the Victoria & Albert Museum. https://www.vam.ac.uk/south-kensington

Queen Victoria and Queen Ann

Prince Albert Memorial in Kensington gardens. https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/kensington-gardens/monuments#albert-memorial 

Royal Albert Hall, across the street from the Albert Monument

Victoria and Albert Museum

After the museum we walked back to where the Kensington gardens end and Hyde Park begins.

Markers indicating the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk

Just inside the park, we came upon the Princess Diana memorial fountain which is a large ring of running water. We stopped here and took off our shoes to soak our burning and sore feet in the cool running water. It was a wonderful refreshing break.

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Before finishing walking the length of Hyde Park, we stopped for a beer and snack.  

Hyde Park

Just beyond Hyde Park, we arrived at Buckingham Palace and entered the area next to the Canada gate. https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/green-park/monuments#canada-memorial

Canada Memorial near Canada Gate and Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Queen Victoria Memorial right next to Buckingham Palace

The Canada gate taken from the Queen Victoria Memorial

We spent some time just hanging out in front of the palace before taking the underground back to our B&B.  I learned that the doors to the subway close very fast and really hard as I got caught in the doors at one point. My right arm was sore for a while. For supper, we went back to the Rose Pub next to the River Thames. It has a great vibe. 

Walk along the Thames

 

 This morning at the B&B, we had breakfast with 3 Italians, 2 people from Switzerland and a young man from San Francisco.  After breakfast we walked along the River Thames all the way to the London Tower.

The Palace of Westminster, commonly known as the House of Parliament, and the Elizabeth Tower (housing Big Ben -the clock)

https://www.londoneye.com/

Tower Bridge photo taken from the London Tower

Poppy display at the London Tower

We spent a few hours there before crossing the Tower Bridge and making our way back to the neighbourhood where we’re staying.

Tower Bridge

  On the way, we rested at a little place and had some baking/tea/coffee.  For supper we went to the nearby Black Dog Pub. https://theblackdogvauxhall.co.uk/menu  It easily had the best pub food I have ever had. 

After supper, we hung out for awhile in a neighbourhood park and watched a movie with everyone

 We walked close to 20 km today and will turn in early tonight.

Off to London

  

Saying farewell to Craig as we leave for the airport to catch our flight to London 

Our flight to London was scheduled to leave around 1:30 this afternoon.  After getting through security and finding our gate, we found out our flight was delayed for over 4 hours.  We got some compensation from the airline for meals but it was a long wait nonetheless.   Once on the plane, we were told that the reason for the delay was that the plane we were supposed to take hit a bird and we needed to wait for a different plane.  I’m on the plane as I write this and I just saw a huge windmill farm in the middle of the ocean.  So interesting to see. 

Rows of windmills in the ocean

Once we landed in London, we were tired from all the delays and so I decided to spend some extra money and take a taxi to our bed & breakfast.  It was worth it.   It was late in the evening when we arrived and so we asked the people in charge of the B&B for a pub recommendation nearby and went to a place called The Rose, overlooking the River Thames. https://www.therosepub.co.uk/vauxhall It was perfect. We’re looking forward to a day of sightseeing tomorrow.

Cobalt Mine

Landscape at the mine

   Today Craig picked up another rental car which he had prearranged and took the four of us on a 2 hour drive to a cobalt mine for a tour.  

Nick and Ann preparing some lunch for our trip

The place is called Blaafarvevæket in Norwegian.  https://blaa.no/en/  We also met Shaun and Alex there as well as Shaun’s mom, Betty. 

Before the tour, with Alex and Shaun

 We went on a 4 hour organized tour into the mine. We went deep into the mine where the temperature went down to 4 C. We learned a lot about the history of the mine and the process for mining and processing cobalt to get it to the pure blue product. 

 By the end of the tour we were all very cold and so it was quite a sensation to step out of the mine and into a sunny 25 C day. It was all a very cool experience.

After the tour, we had a Norwegian waffle lunch with Shaun, his mom Betty and Alex