After 10 months in Asia we’ve come nearly full circle and landed in the UK. With just one night allotted for London initially, we wanted to make the most of it. So… $cha-ching$ we cashed in a bunch of Marriott points and stayed at the Grosvenor House by JW Marriott on Park Lane. Located across the street from Hyde Park, we’d be in a great place to have a walk around and see the sights.
Since our flight left Delhi at 3:30 AM we landed in London around 7:00 the next morning. We reached the hotel a short while later and were able to go to our room directly. Platinum Status has had its benefit more times than we can count. The last time was just a day before in India, where the Courtyard let us check out at 6 PM after we explained that we were flying out in the middle of the night.
Once we settled in and freshened up we set out. First thing was finding a geocache. Check! There was one 5 minutes from the door. Then we head for Buckingham Palace and on toward the Thames. We passed several parks and historic buildings along the way as well as tons of tourists. Even on a blustery winter day, the number of people walking between these sites seemed a little overwhelming.
As we continued we made an effort to go slow and meander down the side streets while passing Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the others. On the return to the hotel we strolled through Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus making a few stops here and there. In some way I couldn’t help thinking to myself, “We’re almost back in Kansas, Toto.”
In the morning we were taking the bus to Coventry to meet up with HT’s cousin John. We were again reminded of exactly where we were when we asked the door man how to walk to Victoria Coach Station. He said, “That’s faaahr. Go take the Underground or the city bus. You don’t want to walk that far.” The mile and a half walk to the coach station went by in a breeze and was much easier than figuring out which bus to take and where to get off.
The rest of the journey up to Coventry was smooth, and we enjoyed looking out at the countryside along the way.
Photos from London HERE.
