Welcome back! It has been almost two years since I last posted but after COVID befell the world and less life threatening set backs I have decided to try and maintain a minimal narrative of our life through this blog, starting with our much anticipated travels through the United Kingdom and Ireland in March, April and May of this year. This planned trip was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic but early in January we decided we had to take advantage of the lifting travel restrictions and once again set in motion the journey we had so long looked forward to. We did manage to grab 10 days in Cuba at Christmas which I will document at a later date with my son Phil's family and my daughter Christina and her two boys. So, equipped with all our vaccines and a new awareness of how to stay safe, we began planning our 50 day itinerary, arranging all lodgings, visits and ferry travel over the next seven weeks. Confident we had not overlooked any small detail we said goodbye to Canada and set out on the 22nd March. We had been scheduled to fly Air Transat on the 21st but after they had cancelled our tickets earlier that month we flew WestJet, a day later. Hoping that wasn't an ill omen we set out for Montreal, leaving behind the winter from hell that had given us more snow than we could ever remember.
 |
| somewhere under that blanket of white the car and snowmobiles! |
 |
| from Montreal airport, our journey begins |
After a short hop to Toronto on a cramped puddle jumper we embarked that evening on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner to London, a six hour flight that I found uncomfortable and with less leg room than I had anticipated. But we landed safely at Gatwick on schedule at 0915 to bright sunshine and temperatures in the high teens. Summer had arrived early in England it seemed. After a quick scoot through customs we took the next available National Express bus to London Victoria Coach Station and from there a taxi to our first AirBnB.
 |
| our jam packed flight to London |
 |
| Our first AirBnb, 197 Battersea Bridge Road, London |
 |
| Our first taste of spring in Battersea Park |
 |
| Chelsea Bridge |
 |
| British Museum |
ur AirBnB (thank you Pedro for your friendly welcome and lovely home- we wish we could have stayed longer) in London was a short walk to Battersea Park, a large 200 acre Victorian park built between 1854 and 1870 on the south bank of the river Thames. The cherry trees were already in blossom and carpets of flowers were already attracting butterflies. We walked about here a few times, enjoying the very warm weather and even catching a glimpse of some bright green ring-necked parakeets in the large ash and oak trees. The next day we headed out to the British Museum and, to get my art fix, the Tate Britain to view the works of William Turner, my favourite British artist. The British Museum was crowded but we wore our masks and tried to keep our distance from the throngs of yelling school children with their sketch books that were everywhere. We did a quick visit to see the highlights - the Holy Thorn Reliquary, the Lewis Chessman, Tang Dynasty figures, the Shiva Nataraja, a remarkable bronze sculpture from south India, the famous Rosetta Stone and beautiful sculptures from ancient Greece. We had plans to visit other sites but because of the unexpected change in airlines we lost a full day in London. The city was nice to see again but the traffic was horrendous and one is lucky to escape with ones life crossing the busy streets! Look right first is the mantra we kept saying and because we survived we lived another day and were ready to head to our next destination, Folkestone!
GWS
 |
| The Rosetta Stone |
 |
| Assyrian Lion Reliefs |
 |
| Parthenon Sculptures |
 |
| Trafalgar Square |
 |
| Westminster Abbey |
 |
| William Turner |
