July 13 – Day 1

We Arrived into Heathrow, Navigated trains and the tube to our hostel, and dropped off our bags. We then got the tube into Central London to pick up our London Pass, and got breakfast (and a double espresso for me).

After breakfast, we got on a tour bus, and saw a lot of the places we wanted to visit. We stayed on the bus for most of the day, before retiring to The White Lion in Covent Garden for dinner and a few Pints.

The beer is incredible. So far, I have only been drinking real ale (also known as cask ale). This is ale brewed and served by traditional methods – it is not force carbonated in the keg, any carbonation comes as a result of the fermentation process. As it is not pressurised, the beer is hand pumped into the glass. Real Ale became a requirement for all future pubs we stopped at.

July 14 – Day 2

As we had a few hours left to use our bus passes, we took a different line and visited Kensington Palace. Next, we went back into central London and had a look at the houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Turns out, we took a lot of photos here.

We then went to have a look at Westminster Abbey, which was very impresive. The huge scale of these buildings is amazing.

On our way home, we went and had a walk around Notting Hill. It was a bit late in the day, and shops were mostly closed, We had a quick walk down Portobello Road – Rosie, you would love it here. I think we’ll go back when we are in London at the end of our trip.

July 15 – Day 3

We decided to get out of the city for a day, and got the train to Windsor. As we came out of the train station, we caught the end of the changing of the guard. We went to the Castle for a tour.

The tower was very impressive, and it was amazing to see the entrance that The Queen uses when she is in residence. We both really enjoyed the castle. Simone thinks she likes castles now.

After wandering around for a few hours we had sore feet and were getting thirsty. The Carpenter’s Arms came to the rescue with more ale (and a Pepsi). We stayed for lunch, then started walking down to Eton. On the way, it started pouring with rain. We were glad we had real rain coats.

We went and did the tour of Eton College, which was very interesting. The original classroom, from over 500 years ago, is still used on occasions. I really liked the old graffiti, carved with pen knives into desks and walls and anything that could be carved into. Some of this graffiti was allowed – I think if you got into Cambridge, you were allowed to carve your name into a window shutter.

They used to brew beer on site, as the water was undrinkable (the river was a sewer). I can’t imagine that beer brewed from sewer water would taste very good, but it must have been ok, as they did it for ages. The boys were also forced to smoke, to protect against TB. We were assured that this is no longer the case.

July 16 – Day 4

The Tower of London was our first stop for the day, and we did another tour here. Everywhere has self guided tours, and most of them were included in our London Pass. We looked at the Royal Jewels, which was amazing. The White Tower is a very imposing, very impressive structure. The amount of history within the walls was overwhelming.

After The Tower, we went to St Paul’s Cathedral. I climbed the 528 steps to the top gallery, and got amazing panoramic views. On the way up, I stopped in the Whispering Gallery, where the acoustics are so good, you can whisper at the wall of the dome and be heard on the other side.

Once I got back to the floor, the organ was played. It was very impressive, and sounded amazing. The only disappointment at St Paul’s was the cafe in the Crypt. It seems disrespectful to us. I was amazed that it was full – who wants to eat in a Crypt?

July 17 – Day 5

I am writing this on the train from London to Holyhead. There are rolling green hills and little towns dotted along the way. Very postcard.

We are hoping for slightly better accommodation than we had in London. I tried to take a photo of our room, but I literally could not get far away enough from anything to take a photo. it was about 3×3 m. I do not fit on single bunk beds, I hope there are not too many more of them

I am looking forward to my first Pint of Guinness in Dublin later today.

Wendy, please let me know if the photo count is too low, and I will try to step it up. Many thanks to Abraham House (the hostel across the road in Dublin) for their unsecured wifi