Day One Hundred Sixty-Five - June 19

Welcome to England!!!

Yesterday we were in Honfleur France where temperatures hovered into the high 20C.

Today it is cloudy with possible rain showers ten degrees colder than yesterday. Again, welcome to England my native country.

I woke up early to try to see the white cliffs of Dover but unfortunately, we had already sailed by their location. It is also hard to imagine that there is a tunnel called The Chunnel below us connecting commerce between the UK and France.

The pilot came on board at 07:35 and will direct us down the Thames River system before docking in Tilbury just at the very outskirts of London. Presently the outside doors are closed to the upper walking track and the pool deck. Rain showers were the norm overnight.

On our way down the Thames estuary, we pass what looks like large bird nests but in fact they are sea fort relics dating back to WWII. They were located eight miles off the coast and manned by army and navy personnel to help defend the UK.

As we continue up the Thames, we can see fertile farms lands and small villages dotting the landscape. An oil tanker passes us on the port side of the ship.

Before we reach the London's International Cruise Terminal in Tilbury, we pass the busy industrial port servicing the city. All passengers were required to have a face-to-face meeting with UK Border Force officials before entering the UK.

We were told to proceed to the gangway at the time allocated for independent guests from deck 8 at 11:15. The days when officials stamp your passport are over, all the officials do is slide the bottom of your passport through the computer. There is no need to get new passports for extra pages unless yours has expired. It was always nice to see where you have travelled based on the country's passport stamp. The times are a changing.

Making it through customs we meet up with Joan and Richard (sorry for the formal name) to walk to the Tilbury Town train station. There were no taxis available, and it was just over a mile to the train station.

This is an unmanned station, so you needed to buy tickets through the machine. I had purchased our tickets days earlier so just needed to punch in my confirm number to retrieve our tickets. A bus connection was required to reach the next station as no direct trains run to Tilbury on the weekend. The total time to get to the London Fenchurch Station was less than an hour.

I always like reading the names of train platforms especially in the UK. On our way to London there was Limehouse, Dagenham Dock, Purfleet and Rainham.

Leaving Fenchurch train station, the underground is less than 800 meters away at Tower Hill. We can see the Tower of London and a photo stop is a necessity before entering the underground. Taking the Circle Line to Embankment, we change for the Northern Line to Leicester Square. Our Z Hotel Covent Gardens is less than a mile away. It looks like our hotel room is smaller than the stateroom on the ship with the bed placed right up against the window and the only way to get out of the bed is to climb over the other person.

The idea is to freshen up, find out where the Vaudeville Theatre is in relation to the hotel and grab some lunch before the play starts at 16:00.

The White Swan Pub is just around the corner. One of Joan's must things was to eat in an English Pub (check). My main was Egg, Chips and Ham while Janice had a salad.

With lunch finished we are off to the Vaudeville Theatre just a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Our location in Covent Gardens is perfect for the theatre and walking to the main attractions such as Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square.

The Vaudeville Theatre is located on the Strand where Union Jack flags are strewn across the street. The Queens Jubilee celebrations were the previous weekend so many of streets are still adorned with the flags.

The play, "Six" is a musical that was originally directed by our ATW hostess, Carolyn's son. It is a high tempo, high energy production with an all-female cast and an all-female band. It's the story of the six wives of Henry VIII who turn back the clock to retell their stories regarding the man they all have in common. The wives in order were Catherine of Aragon - Divorced for not bearing a son; Anne Boleyn - Beheaded; Jane Seymour-Died a few weeks after giving birth to a son; Anne of Cleves-Divorced; Catherine Howard - Executed; and Katharine Parr - who outlived Henry.

The play was just over 70 minutes in length and was very enjoyable and entertaining.

With the play finished it was back to the hotel to drop off my raincoat and then off we went to explore. We are trying to find Piccadilly Circus but somehow got lost only to find ourselves in Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is in the square as is Canadian High Commission and St. Martin in the Field Church.

We are quite close to Buckingham Palace, so we walk under the Admiralty Arch and down The Mall. The street still has fencing up from the previous weekend's celebrations so many people continue to walk down the middle of the street. When the Queen is in residence the Royal Standard flies over Buckingham Palace however, I can only see the Union Jack which means the Queen is absent.

When we left our hotel, remember I dropped off my raincoat well it is starting to rain. St. James's Park is located along The Mall and the sign indicated the direction to St. James's Park underground station. Before returning to the underground a picture opportunity was provided with Westminster Abbey just down the street from the underground.

Afterwards it is back on the Circle Line to Embankment station then connecting to the Bakerloo Line for Piccadilly Station. Joan's second thing she wanted to see was Piccadilly Circus (check).

We were given incorrect directions in Piccadilly Circus to take us back to Leicester Square and ended up back at Trafalgar Square. Oh Well. It was nearing 20:00 and we wanted to find another Pub or coffee shop. Since it was Sunday, most places were beginning to close, but we did find The Round House Pub again close to our hotel. If nothing else London has many pubs to wet your thirst.

We covered a lot on this Sunday, and we need to make one more stop on Monday to complete the three things Joan wanted to see as it is their first trip to London.

Day One Hundred Sixty-Six - June 20

A second day in the British Capital we must fit in a little bit of shopping and a Pub lunch before making our way back to Tilbury. Today we have a direct train to Tilbury.

Thankfully the train and underground strikes are not scheduled until tomorrow Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday following our departure from England. I remember the last time we were in London and the Piccadilly Line was down for maintenance over the weekend. It caused quite an upheaval so I cannot imagine what these strikes will do for the city and those individuals that rely on this mode of transportation. The unions want a pay increase somewhere in the neighbourhood of 7-8% while the government is offering 2%. The local newspapers suggest the unions may consider extending these strikes through the summer months as well.

I leave the hotel early around 06:00 for a walkabout to see a different view of city when there are less people around. I continue past Leicester Square Underground Station to see where the road takes me.

As mentioned, our hotel is in Covent Gardens, The West End and The Theatre District where many theatres can be found. On my walk I tried to record as many of these theatres as possible.

Included are:

· The Vaudeville Theatre - Six

· Duchess Theatre - The Play That Goes Wrong

· Theatre Royal Haymarket - Only Fools and Horses the Musical

· Her Majesty's Theatre - The Phantom of the Opera

· Prince of Wales Theatre - The Book of Moron

· Wyndham Theatre - Life of Pi

· Trafalgar Theatre - Jersey Boys

· Criterion Theatre - 2:22 A Ghost Story

I now am back at the hotel for breakfast. I have discussed with Janice that I would like to spend the remainder of my morning walking to the Houses of Parliament while Janice takes Joan and Richard to Harrods (the third thing on Joan's list - check). Hi it's Janice. What Martin omitted to say is that he wanted to go back there to buy a new soccer shirt to add to his extensive collections

We will meet back at the hotel for our final meal at the Lamb & Pig Pub again walking distance from the hotel.

All together we have seen The Vaudeville Theatre's Play Six, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, and three different pubs in our stay in London. A lot is completed in such a small amount of time.

Our next port of call is Amsterdam where we will spend the next two days.