From Denver to London and First Day

Denver to London  and More:

Cabbie Shelter 

Royal Albert Hall

Peter Pan 

The Bears remind me of The Boys

Kensington Palace

Well we are off on another journey to nowhere in particular. Well actually off to London for a bit and then train to Barcelona, followed by a sailing on the Disney Magic to NYC.  In London we will be staying at The Royal Garden, in the High Street Kensington area of London. This is a good bit upscale for us, as we would normally stay at an Ibis property, but we decided to use our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points for this stay. We will be staying six nights before the journey continues via rail to Barcelona. Here we will simply overnight and then board the Disney Magic to sail to New York. The cruise portion was also made with our DVC points and we will be in a one bedroom suite concierge. There is a new concierge lounge on the Disney Magic, so we will see what it has to offer on this eleven night sailing. 

While in London our plan is to visit a few of the out of the way locations, such as Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Kew Gardens, and Bletchley Park. Some these side trips will be made by rail, which we rather enjoy the rail journey as we get to see the countryside. We do enjoy London and I enjoy the dining offerings of the Cabbie Shelters, and local markets, and yes the pub offerings. 

As some of you know, we enjoy visiting local markets and grocery shops, I believe it is at these locations where we get to the soul of the people by seeing this tiny window of their daily life. So this will definitely be on the agenda sometime or many times on this trip. 

I will probably be chronicling the first part of this trip on a daily basis, and then when on the cruise, reports will be sporadic due to Internet access. 

Flight over was nice, the beef was perfect, and we did arrive early. Quickly through Passport Control, bags were quickly out and we headed to the Underground Station at LHR. Checked out Oyster Cards and topped them up a bit. We made our way to Kensington High Street and then the short walk to The Royal Garden. 

Our room was not ready so we repacked a bit, stowed luggage and headed out for a walk about Kensington Gardens. The skies are overcast and a mist was falling. Walking along Kensington High Street I quickly located a Cabbie Shelter. 

There exist in London 13 cabmen's shelters - green, garden-shed like buildings often smelling of bacon and surrounded by 'black' cabs. They were provided by the Cabmen's Shelter Fund, a charity set up under the Earl of Shaftesbury and others in 1874 with the object of providing places where cabmen could obtain 'good and wholesome refreshments at moderate prices'. By this provision it hoped to keep the cabbies out of the pubs!

Between 1875 and 1914, 61 shelters were erected at a cost of about £200 each. As they were placed on the public highway, the police specified that they should not take up more space than a horse and cab.  

I have enjoyed a few Bacon Buttys from these places, to me a must while in London, and a bit of history. 

We made a circum navigation of the Kensington Gardens as the rain started to fall, passed Royal Albert Hall and The Albert Memorial, next we found the Peter Pan Statue as the Kensington area is reported to be the setting for Peter Pan. Continuing on, we find the Two Bears Fountain, a drinking fountain with a statue I rather like. As we continue we find our selves by the Princes Diana Playground and the passed the Orangery and Kensington Palace. 

We return to the hotel and our room is ready. We find the room to be well appointed with a very unremarkable view. Last time we were here we had a view overlooking High Street. No worries for us as I feel this is a larger room and we are here for six nights. 

Lynn has us unpacked and devices are being charged as we catchup on logs etc. 

We could walk across the way to the Goat but I feel we may journey to The Minories, a Pub near the Tower, yes  a favorite of mine. 

Oh, the South African Cricket Team is staying here. Kewl !!!

Yes we went to The Minories, shared the cod and chips and  a  shrimp tapas plate. All was good. Still a bit of rain falling so we decided not to walk around the Tower. So we headed back to the room and the sandman has tossed a full load of sand in my eyes. 

Oh before I forget, in this area one can find a house where  Kenneth Grahame, author of “Wind in the Willows”, once lived. There is a Blue Plaque denoting the residence. One should keep an eye out for the Blue Plaques as they can be found on various residences denoting where significant people once lived and maybe died. Easy to research before ones trip should you wish to find a favorite author or explorer, etc.