Whirlwind

 

It was a whirlwind of a trip. Ten days in the UK.  We called it our Ireland trip, but really it was a UK trip.  We spent two nights in London, one night in Edinburgh, two nights in Glasgow, one night in Belfast and three nights in Dublin.  I think if we were to do it again, we would pick two places and just concentrate on all the sights in those places.  When you spend part of the time travelling from each place and only one night some places, you miss a lot. Lucky for us it was a second trip for each.

Our flight over was a red eye, so we slept a bit on the plane.  British Airways is fabulous. We got fed two meals and a snack as well as beverages.  It was a nine-hour flight, but we are so used to how things are done here now.  We would call ourselves lucky if we got a snack and a small bottle of water.  

Customs was a breeze.  Essentially, we scanned our passport and walked out.  It is one big and busy airport.  We figured out how to catch the train into London.  It got us close, but we still needed a ride to our hotel.  

We stayed at the Limehouse Library Hotel, and it was a cute boutique hotel.  Two nights there.  There was a church right next door and sometimes we heard the bell ringing.  We ate breakfast in their dining room the second morning.  The first of many wonderful croissants.  

We made it to the Grapes Pub which is owned by Ian McClellan.  It was small and loud and interesting.  Everything was paid for upfront.  Even food.  That certainly curtails theft.  

Our full day in London included riding the Eye of London, walking around seeing the horse guards, Buckingham Palace and lots of architecture.  We ate some pizza.  

We had one talkative Uber driver who gave us a civics lesson on how they were working on climate control in London. He was fascinating to listen to. His name was Henry, and he did not agree that all the bike lanes would help as it slowed all the cars down waiting for bikes.  His perspective was one of an Uber driver and I certainly got that.  My one day in London said I would never drive there, ever.