Soggy Moose Travels

Monday, May 11, 2026

OFF TO LONDON TOWN AND A RIVER CRUISE

OFF TO LONDON:

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY ONE AND ALL!!!

We are up early finishing and publishing yesterdays blog entry. In room breakfast of scones and tea and coffee. Doing the daily communications etc etc and of course repacking for the journey.

We took a taxi to Dover Priory Station, normally we would walk this but too much for Lynn on this trip.

This journey to London only takes about one hour, arriving at St Pancras Station. We are very familiar with the station as it seems we depart from here often. First to the restrooms, then an ATM as we are getting low on £’s as we will be returning in October, and next we topped up our Oyster Cards. Now we should be ready for the October trip.

When we arrived at St Pancras we learned the Piccadilly line was not operating so our Underground route of travel was altered a bit. Victoria Line to District Line worked. We should be good to go on Tuesday when we go to Heathrow.

We are staying at the London Earls Court Ibis and there is The Goose pub close by for the evening meal.   We started to repack our bags in preparation for the journey home. We pack a collapsible duffle bag, which we will check, to lighten the carry on load.

Our plan for tomorrow is to take the Underground to Putney Bridge and have breakfast at The River Cafe. Then we have a hop on hop off Uber Boat which should keep us busy for the day.   Time for a cup of tea.

We walked to a nearby pub called Goose. We had their fish and chips which was very good. The fish was haddock. A nice batter and chunky chips.

We walked back to the hotel to plan tomorrow.

5/11 and Cruising the Thames:

I was up early and put the kettle on. This looks to be a lazy morn as one does not want to get to The River Cafe too early.   We gathered ourselves together and walked to the West Brompton station. Taking the District line towards Wimbledon, getting off at Putney Bridge, we made our way to the River Cafe directly across the street from the entrance of the tube station. It is best described as a greasy spoon with a very good fry up. What’s nice about the River Cafe is you can order what you want. There are set plates but you can customize your order.   This cafe is run by three generations and serves up some a great breakfasts. We try to make it here on our London visits.

As planned we were out of the room and walked to the West Brompton Station and took the underground to Putney Bridge for breakfast at The River Cafe. Lynn had eggs and bacon and I had porridge. All was good.   We then took the Underground to Embankment where we boarded the Uber Boat/Thames Clipper for our river cruise.

This is a nice way to see the sights along the river and having a day pass one can hop on hop off as desired.   We rode most of the route and it was nice to be inside when the rain started.

We disembarked at Tower Pier and walked to the Hung Drawn and Quartered. Here we split a steak and ale pie with mash and veg. It was very good and all pieces of steak were very tender. It was a nice way to get out of the rain.

  There is a Pret at the Tower of London and we stopped there for some breakfast pastries and a sandwich for our evening meal.   

We then took the Uber Boat to Embankment where we then took the underground to our West Brompton Station.   Back here in the room we are doing some final packing and getting ready for the journey home.

  This was a great trip, we enjoyed our time in Lisbon before the cruise, the HX sailing was wonderful and our time in Dover and London was also very enjoyable.

  Now we need to get Lynn’s hip replaced before we are off to the Arctic for the Solar Eclipse.

Dover Castle

Dover Priory Station

The bucolic English countryside

Must be in London

Love these old stations

Folding bikes to rent

The neighborhood

The Pub and their grub

Great breakfast place

On the River Cruise

Lunch time

Saturday, May 9, 2026

OFF A CRUISE AND ON A CRUISE

DEBARKATION DAY

Yes as with all cruises there comes a debarkation day.   We were up early to get some packing done before breakfast. We bid farewell to the serving team and did our final packing and made our way to the gangway.

Off the ship and into the Taxi Queue. The line was not too bad and we were in no rush. Most people waiting were wanting to go to the train station and soon a bus arrived and took the lot of them to the station. We were then the only ones waiting for a taxi.   We got to our lodging at about 0930 and stowed our bags and went for a walkabout. First stop was Poundland for only those things one finds there. Then to Greggs (think starbucks/dunkin) for a morning drink of chocolate milk and orange juice.

Then back to the room to reorganize. I feel we will be constantly reorganizing the next few days. Still hope we can make it home with just carryon.

We took a short walk along the Marine Front to take in the fresh sea air.   Then off to Blakes for dinner and a drink. Sadly the kitchen was closed so we went next door for takeaway fish and chips. They were ok to good but definitely not as good as Blakes. We did enjoy catching ups with Joe and learning most of the other locals were busy or away. It is still always nice to visit Blakes.   We then called it a night.

Our cruise to Calais on 5/9/2026:  

As Lynn is having a bit of a rough go with her hip I thought a simple activity would be to take the P&O ferry to Calais France and back. Something I have always talked about doing. Our round trip fare for both of us was only £57. In our more mobile days we would have just walked to the ferry terminal, but today we have a cab on order.

For breakfast this morning I walked over to Greggs and got us a couple bacon rolls. They are big enough they will also serve as lunch.   Soon it was time to make our way to the P&O Ferry Terminal.

One must arrive no later than 2 hours prior to your ferry scheduled departure time. First you check in, then board a bus that takes you to passport control which is away from the terminal, then there is a random security check before you finally board the ferry.

  We made our way to Deck 8 and found some seats right up front affording us a nice view.   On the ferries there is a food market with hot and cold items. There is a kids play area. Then there is a Pet Lounge with nice size individual stalls for you to sit with your pet. They also sell dog treats. There is also a lounge where more food items are available as well as a full bar. There are also some gambling machines and duty free shopping.

On can also up grade for £29 pp to a more private lounge where drinks and food are included.

The crossing takes about 1.5 hours. Upon arrival you board a bus which takes you to the Calais Cruise Terminal. Here you can rent a car or take a shuttle into the city center.

In the Calais Ferry Terminal there is, I am guessing, a replica of the aircraft which first flew across the English Channel. On July 25, 1909, French aviator Louis Blériot made history by completing the first airplane flight across the English Channel, traveling from Calais, France, to Dover, England, in 36.5 minutes. Flying his self-designed Type XI monoplane, he won a £1,000 prize and solidified the practicality of aviation. The spot where he landed is just outside of Dover Castle and accessible by a short walk.

  As we were on the turnaround ferry to return to Dover we had about an hour wait before we started the return process. Passport Control, immigration, and security check points need to be navigated.   Back on the ferry we went to have a look at the Pet Lounge. (Photos Below)

We decided to have our dinner on the return trip and had a pepperoni pizza.   Upon our arrival we took a cab to the M&S store to get some breakfast items. This will save us some time in the morning before we take the train to London.   