The “Wild” End

SONG - I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan

Day 36 - Tue. June 4

On our final morning in London we met with friends in Notting Hill for breakfast at Wild. I had ordered a Wild Mushroom Omelette with a side of bacon - totally delicious!

Then we took a walk on Portobello Road to do some shopping and look for the Blue Door from the movie Notting Hill.

Found the Book Shop…

And the door….but what else might appear?

Mr. B posing as Spike in front of the iconic blue door

We shopped until we had to leave to meet our taxi for the airport.

To England & Scotland

And to all of the lovely people we meet along the way

Thank You 

for a lifetime of memories

I Say is That You Winston?

 SONG -  London Town by Paul McCartney

Day 35 - Mon. Jun 3

Our last full day in England as we head home tomorrow afternoon. We finally made it to Westminster Abbey today and it is spectacular!  We had taken a tour in 2017 so we knew some of what we were seeing. Mr. B did get headphones and I was armed with my camera. The last time we were here they didn’t allow photos inside the abbey but this time it was okay - just no videos or selfie-sticks.  

We took the tube back home to relax and then we were off to do some shopping.  Afterwards I decided that we needed a little tipple so we walked to The Gore Hotel to have drinks with The Rolling Stones….kind of!

It was where they held a release party for their album Beggars Banquet

Then a final dinner at our Spanish tapas place just across the street from our hotel. The night air was perfect!

So much to see & do in London! Oh but we mustn’t forget Winston for whom this entire post was named. 

Big Winston & Little Churchill Pozer

Night London.  I will miss you!

 

What More Could One Ask For?

 SONG - Theme Song from Notting Hill - When You Say Nothing at All

Day 34 - Sun. Jun 2

Mr. B doing the Oops A Daisy scene from Notting Hill when we came across this secluded little park the other day….

Breakfast at Paul’s and then off to the tube. We are heading to Westminster to catch a boat to Greenwich - as in Greenwich Mean Time! 

It was warm and a boat ride on the Thames (pronounced Tems) sounded great. Mr. B had gotten us tickets online before we left our hotel. We hopped on a train and within minutes we were at the boat dock.  

The dock is right across the river from the London Eye and next to Big Ben….

For some reason our ticket’s didn’t go though but the young lady at the gate told us to go on for free in the direction of Greenwich but we would need to purchase tickets for our return trip.  Yay!  After standing in the queue for 30 minutes we boarded our boat and Mr. B found us great seats up top! 

We did get to see The Tower of London & Tower Bridge….but not Greenwich!

 Well….our boat did a zigzag down the Thames picking up people at each dock along the way about every 2 minutes. Did I mention it was a rather warm day in London and unless the boat was moving it was quite warm? We hopped off after about 30 minutes as we had dinner reservations with old friends in Notting Hill and we needed to return to our hotel for a quick refresh.

I kind of thought this $85 million dollar pleasure yacht might give us a lift back down the Thames but apparently they were busy. 

 We walked across the Tower Bridge and over to an Underground Station. A very nice man who worked there laughed when he saw our paper tickets which cost about 3 times as much as just tapping our credit card on the booth scanner and voila you are in!  Why do we always learn these things just before we leave town? Anyway, such polite people here in England always offering older people their seats and insisting you take it too!  Very kind and very much appreciated!

Our hotel ordered us a taxi to Notting Hill that never showed up & the cab forgot to tell them they had cancelled so we had to order another one. Because of this we were a bit late for our dinner but our friends were holding our table for us. The place was packed to the point that it was filling up the sidewalk. 

The Pelican in Notting Hill -I tried to get a photo above everyone’s head but it was a happening spot! Luckily our friends mentioned this to us beforehand and told us to enter thru the side entrance. We were immediately in the arms of our old friends from California with a little puppy named Sally.

Great atmosphere, great drinks & food on a lovely warm night with dear friends. What more could one ask for?

Maybe some warm puppy love?

Hyde Park

 SONG - Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon

Day 33 - Sat. Jun 1

Breakfast at Paul’s and the tube to Temple Station. On our way to the Courtauld Museum today. It was a zoo outside as apparently there is some kind of big soccer final tonight between Germany & Spain here in London. But inside the museum it was calm, quiet and very few people. 

Manet

Van Gogh

Manet

Gauguin 

Van Gogh

Detail of painting above

Loved seeing their Impressionist paintings and spending time with each one.  And it was so quiet there that it felt like we had the museum to ourselves at times!

We were going to do something else downtown but it was too chaotic so we got a cab to Hyde Park and took a long leisurely walk through it. The cab we got was special to us as it was a Bridgerton cab and we have a very good friend who is now the show runner. 

Starting in the Hyde Park Italian gardens, 

then along the river to the Peter Pan Statue, 

watching birds nesting and children feeding the pigeons and swans out with their babies….

We came out of the park on the Kensington side and passed the Albert & Victoria Museum which is only a block from our hotel. It had large & small chunks taken out of it and what looked like bullet holes along its side exterior. 

When we arrived back in our room, I read that it had been bombed during the Blitz of WWII and although they had to do some structural repair work, they chose to leave some damage to show future generations what it had gone through. Impressive. 

Dinner tonight was at PJ’s Chelsea Brasserie which is about 4 blocks from our hotel. It was wonderful, casual, delightful and walkable! Yay. Great meal, wine and cozy atmosphere. Three thumbs up. 

Walked back to the Pelham and went to have nightcap in their bar. The bartender made us each designer drinks that he invented and both were delicious. 

Good day & good night!