Summer Vacation 2023
Day Ten
Early rise to head to train station for the Eurostar back to London. The lines for passports and security were a nightmare on this side of the journey, it took so long and was so disorganized. We finally got through, and had to wait in a very, very crowded waiting area. The reward, though, was that when were finally able to board, we were in the Standard Premium coach. The tickets for premium on this leg of the trip cost the same as regular standard, so obviously we took the nicer seats. Got a delicious little free lunch on board, and two little bottles of wine with the meal. The train ride back to London somehow felt shorter, though it must have been the same length of a trip.
Once in London we went back to our hotel and got settled in our room, then headed out for a trip to The Prospect of Whitby. This is the pub that's in one of the last scenes of the movie The Old Guard, and I've been obsessed with wanting to go there since I first became obsessed with that movie (that movie was my pre-Beatles obsession... still waiting for the sequel to come out!). To get there, we figured we'd hop on the "easy and convenient" Uber boat on the Thames. What we didn't anticipate was the huge tourist demand for the boats and the fact that the boats would be nearly at capacity most of the time. We waited in line for more than an hour to finally get on a boat. This happened to be the only other time it rained on our trip, while we were annoyed standing in line waiting for a boat. The pub happens to be in a very remote part of the city, a half hour walk from the nearest dock or tube station. We walked from the boat dock to the pub, but Google Maps took us through the most sinister and murderous looking deserted area to get there. Walked through a derelict park and around a deserted and derelict canal-side area. Not the best walk of my life! Finally go to the pub and had a nice dinner. We got an Uber back to the boat dock, and the Uber drove us through an alternate way could have walked to get to the pub- through a totally gentrified and upscale area!! Argh! Google!
Lovely boat ride back up the Thames, and we exited the boat to the most breathtaking sunset around Westminster.
Day Eleven
A big day out! Started the morning with me and West going to the National Portrait Gallery for a special exhibit of Paul McCartney's photographs from 1964. I'd been really looking forward to it, and it was delightful. Before we got to that museum, though, I first steered us to the large National Gallery, which is a totally different museum (luckily around the corner from where we needed to be). We waited in line to get in, finally got into the National Gallery, and I saw no signs for the big McCartney exhibit. I asked a guard where to find the exhibit and he said "exit to the street and go to the National Portrait Gallery." LOL LOL LOL.
After the exhibit, I walked with West over to a cat cafe for lunch. We had a nice little lunch while hanging out with a bunch of cute cats. West had a fantastic time!
Then we walked over to the British Library, where Drew met up with us so I could do a child hand-off. The boys went to the British Museum so West could see more ancient artifacts. I had an appointment in the British Library's Rare Manuscripts & Music Reading Room, to listen to a special recording. Big news on the BBC earlier this year was the discovery that someone had taped a Beatles concert at a fancy boys' school in 1963 and had rediscovered the tape in their attic. They donated the tape to the British Library, where it was digitized, but only available to listen to in the library. I made an appointment a couple of months ago to be able to go in to listen to it. I first had to get a readers room pass, so I did that and then was able to enter the special room, get a little individual listening carrel, and spent a glorious hour listening to an old Beatles concert.
Afterwards I met up with the boys outside of the British Museum, and we Tubed over to Greenwhich in preparation for a night football game. Grabbed a nice dinner at a pub, then Ubered over to the game. It was a Charlton Athletic FC game. The game was interesting, but getting back to the hotel after the game was a bit of an ordeal. Some Ubers cancelled on us, but we finally got a ride to a Tube station, then Tubed back to the hotel.
Day Twelve
This was a "take it easy" day because the day before was so packed. We started with a little journey over to Abbey Road Studio so I could pay homage (and spend money in the gift shop). I parted ways from the boys briefly so I could walk over to Paul McCartney's London house, which he's had since the 60s. Fans used to hang out outside of his daily all the time in the 60s (and they used to break in and steal his stuff too!). Good old 7 Cavendish Ave. It's only a ten minute from Abbey Road to his house, and I imagined he must have made that walk a ton of times over the years.
The boys had gone off to find a good pub in which to watch the Women's World Cup semi-final, because the England team was playing that game. I met up with them, and we watched the game in a pub with a bunch of loud British people.
After the game was over we went to get lunch at a historic pub we've always wanted to check out but had never been to- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. The pub has been there since the 1600s!
Then our next activity was a walking tour of the Southwark area. LOL, this is an "easy" day for us. We got to the George Inn, a historic old pub, and had a couple of pints while we waited for the tour time to begin. The tour itself was super interesting and entertaining, and it was a part of the city that we had never spent time in previously. Again, a gorgeous day. We wanted to stay outside and hang out into the evening, but we had to face reality that we were tired, so we Tubed back to our hotel, grabbed some snacks from the local grocery store, and gave ourselves a chill night.
Day Thirteen
Almost done! Last full day of vacation! We took a train out to Mountfichet Castle, which is not really a castle, but it is a living history folk museum, with a pretend Norman village, and one of my most favorite things ever is a living history museum. They even had a little fire going on in a hearth to give it that old timey smoke smell! Love it. There were goats, peacocks, geese, deer, and bunnies all over the place. The village was full of mannequins and little dioramas. Absolute heaven for a history nerd. We had a great time exploring there. There was a also a little museum of old toys and other random items, and a "haunted manor" area, so of course we explored all that. A goose hissed at us and scared the stuffing out of West.
After that we got on anther train and went to Cambridge for the afternoon. We'd never been to Cambridge, and it was a short train ride, so we figured might as well. Got a late lunch in a pub near the Cambridge train station, then walked to the downtown area. Stopped at the Fitzwilliam Museum for West to look at more ancient artifcats. Popped into a few book shops. Got ice cream cones. Then walked back to the train station and took the train back to London. By the time we trained and Tubed back to our hotel we were toast, and reaching the limits of how much mass transit a person can take before losing their minds. We set West up in the hotel room and had a cheeky little adults only time going down to a little pub near the hotel for a couple of pints.
Day Fourteen
And here we are at our travel home day. We took the Tube to the Heathrow Express to Heathrow. The lines at Heathrow were INTENSE and UNPLEASANT. Took over an hour to check in and drop our luggage. Another chunk of time to get through security. Then we had to take a little train in Heathrow just to get to our gate! We just barely made it to our gate with barely any time before boarding started. The plane ride home is always longer than the one going east, and we really felt it this time (plus the plane was delayed taking off). By the time we landed, sailed through passport control (thanks Mobile Passport app!!!), and then collected our luggage, we were absolutely fried. Had to wait a while for the Logan Express bus to arrive. Then we finally, finally got our car and got home. It was a long, long, long day.
The whole trip was pretty much PERFECT though. Huge bucket list trip for me. I think the boys generally had a good time, despite putting up with a lot of Beatles nonsense.
FIN