My 2024 European Escapade - Part 7: London

Come along as I blog about my 2024 journey across Scotland, England, and beyond! This is part 7, but click here to start from the beginning.

June 27th

My first stop of the day was a museum I'd wanted to visit on my last trip to London, but did not. It's called the Museum of the Home, and it's free (but they do accept donations.)

I was not disappointed. There were elaborate room replicas from different eras, personal photos and real life stories of actual people, lots of old furniture, and displays of things like vacuums, TVs, and radios from different eras. They also had a garden with various sections based on English gardens from the past. All around, it was a really neat place.

The exhibit below was so cool... a photographer had visited an apartment building where all the living rooms were basically built the same. Then he photographed everyone's living room (and the variety of decor) and collected the people's personal stories. 

At first, I was one of the only museum-goers there, and I had the place mostly to myself (except for workers/volunteers randomly walking through), but as I was getting ready to leave, a couple of big tour groups came in. I was happy to just miss them.

Next I took a bus over toward Victoria Park. As parks go, it was average, not a lot going on, but big and green. There were clusters of rentable bikes available. Last time I was in London, I was able to rent a bike at a kiosk. Now, they seemed to require you to get the app on your phone. I tried renting a Santander Cycle, but I couldn't get my payment to go through, so I went for a Lime Bike instead. It turned out to be an electric bike! I'd never ridden one before, and it was... something. Wheee!

I rode around the park for about half an hour. It was a great way to see the whole park with minimal effort. Then came the tricky part -- trying to find a pod of Lime Bikes so I could park my bike and end my ride. I eventually found one, and then the app wouldn't reload/connect/let me end the ride! Finally, it did, but I was almost panicking there for a few minutes.

At some point between my last trip (2022) and this one, I got to wondering -- why do/did I spend so much time in parks, when London has so much else to offer? On this trip, though, I understood: London can be so boisterous and crowded (especially in places like Leicester Square) that parks provide the serenity and chaos-less-ness that I need in order to revive my senses. 

Amazing as it is, London can be... a lot.

Back to my hotel. I got a little mixed up and ended up taking 2 buses and several metros back to King's Cross (yay unexpected sightseeing!). At the station, I got some food (dinner for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow) plus a few other things I was running low on.

I couldn't believe I only had one more full day in London. Then I'd be going to Southampton... then the cruise. How was this going so fast?!?

June 28th

I started off relatively early today. First I headed for Hyde Park to see the supposedly cool playground (when I really meant to go to Holland Park... more on that later) but got off on a whim at Leicester Square instead. I was determined to visit the LEGO Store again when it was not as crowded (as it had been two days before). I found it more easily this time and was in line before it even opened. 

As I waited, I could see inside the store, where around 30 employees were standing in a circle having a meeting or a pep talk or something. When the doors opened, the employees applauded us customers as we entered. Well, then! 

So yes, it was much less crowded this morning, and I was able to get more photos. And mayyybe I bought a few more things.

I grabbed some breakfast foods at McDonalds before heading to Hyde Park (again, I had intended to go to Holland Park.)  

^Hyde Park geese & friends

Here's the funny thing -- I'd been to Hyde Park two years before... and I didn't even recognize it at first! At some point, something clicked, and I realized I'd gone to the "wrong" park. Okay, moving on...

My next destination was Portobello Road...

On Fridays the antique sellers come, so I had planned especially to come today. I bought a small vintage photo album, a postcard, and some mysterious photo negatives at one booth. Then around the corner, at another booth, they had tons of photos and postcards, and I spent about an hour poring through them. The sellers were a guy and his son... and their dog. 

A Scottish movie director with the initials LR showed up and tried to haggle with these sellers for some lamps and other stuff. I knew she was a director because she told the men so. She was talking about all the people she'd worked with, including "Wack-een Phoenix." I don't know if a deal was ever struck, or if those Portobello Road lamps will show up in this movie, but I personally bought some cool items -- vintage photos, postcards, and even an old British I.D. card.

Meanwhile, I thought this guy on a nearby mural looked kind of familiar...

Eh, maybe a long-lost cousin.

Next I headed to Holland Park (for reals this time!), passing through lots of posh neighborhoods, including Kensington, with houses that looked like they belonged to the Banks family from Mary Poppins.

Also saw this cool church....

Finally I made it to Holland Park. Sadly, its playgrounds turned out to be surrounded by fences and shrubs, and there were signs that said no adults were allowed in without kids. (I get it... but darn!) I could kind of peek in though -- the playgrounds were interesting, lots of wood, but in the end I wasn't too upset I couldn't get any photos.

^The one and only photo I took inside Holland Park, as I sat and ate my McDonald's biscuit and jam.

I took a bus to the Victoria & Albert museum next.

^I did a double take when I saw this table, because I was sure I'd seen it before! I'd either seen its twin or a replica of it when I was in Scotland (of course, now I can't remember where.)

^Knit rocking chair!

I spent around an hour at the museum. The V&A is huge; I could've extended my visit, no problem -- but I had one more thing I wanted to do in London, and that was attend an Evensong service at Westminster Abbey.

I arrived just as they were letting people in the doors. The bells were ringing and they were not music to my ears. Inside was very pretty, but they don't want people taking photos during the services (or before or afterward either.) (But some people did. And got asked not to. And then still did.) The huge stained glass window was being lit by the sun... very pretty. I was able to get a program for the service on my phone to follow along (they also had paper ones available).

Westminster Abbey is shaped like a big cross, and the service took place toward the cross-section of that, uh, cross. The audience sat in folding chairs in the two cross arms, facing toward the center. I was in the fifth row back, and could not see a whole lot of the action personally. I was, however, able to rely on the closed-circuit TV they had high up on a wall.

I'd never been to an Anglican service before, and it was definitely different. Lots of smoke and Latin. About the only thing that felt familiar was the sermon and the passing of the offering plate.

After it ended, I walked to a metro station and returned to St. Pancras/King's Cross, where I got some dinner. Then, back at my hotel, I packed as much as I could. The next day I would be leaving London and heading for Southampton!

Next up... Southampton! Cue the James Horner music!

My 2024 European Escapade - Part 6: London & Chatham

Follow along as I recount my recent trip to Scotland, England, and beyond! (Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

 June 26th 

Today was my first full day in London, but I wouldn't spend much of it in the city. I'd booked a special tour in nearby Chatham: One of my favorite shows, Call The Midwife, films a lot of its outdoor scenes there. I learned about this CTM tour from someone on Reddit, and had then booked myself a ticket.

 I needed to take a train to Chatham, and this was the one train ticket I didn't book in advance -- I'm not sure why I didn't. If I had done more research I'm sure I could've booked a cheaper ticket, but whatever -- I got where I needed to go.

In Chatham, I grabbed a drink at the Starbucks in the train station, then proceeded to walk toward the Historic Dockyards, where the sets/tour are. I was impressed by all the bricks in this town... many different colors and textures. I was not as impressed by the beaches. 

Don't look too closely...

I got to an entrance to the dockyards, but it turns out that entrance is not the one for people wanting to take the tour, so I had to keep going. It was another warm day, and I decided that on my way back to the train station later, I would definitely take a bus.

 I finally found the right place. I walked across a big parking lot and followed signs to the official entrance.

 Then I checked in for the tour at the gift shop. I was told to meet my guide outside at a vintage car. 

Our guide appeared, dressed as a midwife/nurse. There were about 25 of us on the tour, mostly women in their 30s-80s.

Docked right nearby us was a ship called the HMS Cavalier. (I would get to explore it after the tour.) It was used in several episodes. 

 

Our guide led us past the building they use for the exterior of "The London" (hospital) on the show. We saw where Tom proposed to Trixie. Walked down a couple of the streets where they often hang lines of laundry for street scenes. We saw the place where Chummy learned to ride a bike. 

 The guide had a book of photos from the show that she used to remind us what was happening in the episodes during some of those location scenes. I remembered all the plots she mentioned except for the more recent episodes, as I haven't watched the last few seasons. 

Even though ships no longer sail in and out of these dockyards, many of the buildings here are still in use, though not in the same way they would've been 60 years ago. They are rented out as offices, storehouses, maker spaces/studios -- there are even some homes here!

These carts were placed here in preparation for the episode that would be filming the very next day, we were told...

It was really interesting to learn how they can change the look of the streets for any occasion. Just by filming things from another angle, or by adding a fake door, window, panel, or decor, they can give the illusion that this is actually a full neighborhood with many diverse streets, when in fact it's basically one or two streets that they ever shoot on.

We also learned that, on days when they're filming, they just alert the people who work in the buildings/offices and ask them not to have anything modern within view of their windows. (The show takes places in the 50s/60s.)

Our tour guide gave out great info., but she would often take us to a new spot and not wait for everyone (or even half of everyone) to catch up with her before she began speaking again. Considering the clientele -- multiple people over 70 and some over 80 -- and the cobblestone streets we traversed in some places, it seemed like she wasn't tuned in to what the people on the tour needed. And if anyone was hard of hearing? Forget it. 

 At the end of the tour, we went into a "museum," where they had replicas of some of the interiors and props. You could tell this was created around season 6 and hadn't been updated much since, but it was still cool. Lots of signs with interesting information.

This is where the tour ended. So after spending ample time at the museum, I departed. On my way toward the entrance I passed by the H.M.S. Cavalier again. 

This time I decided to climb aboard. The ship was huge, with ladders to climb, narrow passageways to traverse, and lots of "outfitted as they would have been back then" rooms to peek in.

It was fun exploring the ship, and I happened to be there at a good time -- there were only a couple of other people looking around, and the ship was large enough that I almost never ran into them.

After disembarking, I got a few things from a cafe and also from the dockyards' gift shop. I took a bus back to the Chatham train station and then hopped on a train to London. I had purchased a ticket for "anytime return," since I didn't know how long I would want to spend in Chatham. The train back was super slow and seemed to make dozens of stops. 

London to Chatham dockyards, including walking through Chatham: 2 hours

Chatham dockyards to London, including taking a bus through Chatham: 3+ hours

 The train I'd hopped to take me back to London did not go directly to St. Pancras. So at some point I decided I might as well take a little detour, get off at Leicester Square, and visit the LEGO Store. (It had been closed during my last trip to London.)

I got off the train at Leicester Square, but then... I couldn't find the LEGO store! My phone's battery was almost dead, and for whatever reason I wasn't getting a signal, either. I wandered in the wrong direction for a bit, then asked someone carrying a LEGO Store bag -- and they pointed me in the right direction. I continued watching for people with LEGO Store bags and just went in the opposite way they were going, until finally... there it was!

It was just a wee bit crowded...

But I did manage to make two figs at the Minifigure Factory. Whenever I encounter one of these, I like to custom-make at least one torso that represents the city I'm in. I also will put the date on it. It makes for a pretty easy and compact souvenir!

 There was a McDonald's nearby, so after leaving the LEGO Store, I got some dinner there. I rarely eat at McDonald's here in the U.S., but I will go when I'm in Europe because they often have multiple vegetarian options. Why that hasn't caught on in the U.S., I do not know.

 I took the metro back to St. Pancras/King's Cross, and then proceeded to walk toward my hotel. This was only my second time walking to it from the train station.. and my phone was basically dead now... sooo I got a little bit lost at first. But then, recalling that my hotel was across the street from a noisy park, I looked for some green space and... voila! Thank goodness, my hotel!

Tomorrow: I explore London!