Headed Home from London!

 

Heading home from London! We leave from Heathrow in about three hours, 15 days and two hours after we arrived. And after 14+ hours of travel we’ll be plenty tired and the 12 limbs with whom we share our lives will be out of their ever-loving minds!*

Once, I traveled for two weeks. In 1986. Otherwise, it’s been a week every few years, and shorter trips in between. Bitten I am, although plenty of work got done from afar and plenty more awaits me on Friday morning.

The Trip

Places and Activities

We spent seven of our 15 nights in London, two each in Killarney (Ireland) and Cheltenham (England), and one each in Dublin, Cork, and Kinsale (all in Ireland) and Bath (England). Five hotels, including one, comprised of 10 rooms over a bar-restaurant in Cork, and four airBNBs. Not a bad stay anywhere … but a certain washer dryer combo will be hated forever!!! Ignoring the wasted time waiting for something right to happen, there’s nothing like a %38*%! machine which exists to clean and dry objects made of fabric making me feel stupid in my seventh decade. (And there’s gonna be a rumble in a day or so with Verizon and Motorola over what I didn’t get with the international package I’ve been billed for.)

The Larder, by the way, resides at No. 15 Great Pulteney in Bath. Smitten a year ago but you never get a first impression on a second visit. We noticed minor stuff: mixologist away, no crisps in The Larder, and different people to greet us when we checked in. (Lovely people, but different people!) Not bad at all; in fact, very fine. Just … not as magical.

We saw The Lieutenant of Inishmore in London and roared. A black comedy about the IRA? Yes, and it works.

We did the Discover Medical London tour. The Tates, Modern and Britain. London Nights at the Museum of London. Sir John Soane’s Museum. Photo exhibits at the Barbican. (And I’m sure I’m missing somewhere, even with a trip which did not involve a “see everything” mentality.)

In London we used the Underground every day. We also took trains from London to Holyhead, Dublin to Killarney, Killarney to Cork, Cheltenham to Bath, and Bath to London. We bused as well, from Cork to Kinsale, Kinsale to the Cork airport, and Heathrow to Cheltenham. A plane from Cork to Heathrow. And the ferry, from Holyhead to Dublin. Ten trips (excluding travel within London): each one easy and on time … but for the 30 minutes of the Cheltenham – Bath train, without A/C.

Food and Drink

We ate. No current pictures. Sorry. But we had fish and chips on five occasions. Fried oysters. Italian. Thai. Indian. Chinese. Fancy seafood. Bar food. Etc. A couple of so-so meals, but we enjoyed the others greatly, and the so-so meals got eaten.

We drank, too. Plenty of beer and my alternative: white wine. Several decent martinis, including two “fancies” and a couple of regulars—LB’s dirty (vodka) and mine clean (gin)—last night at Callooh Callay in Shoreditch. We were indebted to the place because, wandering a couple of nights ago in the midst of jam-packed everywhere as Britain beat Colombia in the World Cup round of 16, we got a recommendation to Dishoom for the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten. (Wishing we’d ask the bartender for his name.)

Celebrating

Finally, we celebrated. Our friends Susy and Pat got married 20 years ago and celebrated in Killarney. Their wonderful decision—and including us—provided the basis for the trip.

Home

The real world awaits us. In the meantime, there’s an airport to get to, navigating Heathrow shopping, a pond to cross, customs in Dallas, the flight home, bags and Uber, and lots and lots of barking in about 20 hours. Apologies in advance to any readers in the ‘hood.

*Leigh’s got Camp Corgi action, as Odin visits when his owners are away. So, 16 limbs.