London – The Chicken Scratches

London with David, Justin and Meredeth (25 June – 4 July 2016)

by Pat & Ray WhydeJune 27, 2016October 18, 20220

25 June – Saturday Pat and I left Singapore arriving very early into Heathrow at 5:10 AM. After landing we spent nearly 45 minutes getting through Immigration and Customs because of the crowds. We topped up our Oyster Cards and took the Underground to the Canada Water station (the closest one to our AirBnB – click to see the listing). Because we weren’t scheduled to meet our AirBnB host until 11:00 AM, we stopped at the Canada Water Cafe, just outside the station, for breakfast. Then we headed for the BnB, just to see if we could find it – we …

London III – Alison Joins Us

by Pat & Ray WhydeJuly 31, 2014November 19, 2023

July 22 Boy are we lucky travelers! Alison L., the exchange student from the Ukraine who lived with us in Charlotte over the 2012-2013 school year, came to London to spend some time with us. We haven’t seen her for over a year and we have lots to catch up on, including her successes at law school. Alison flew into Lutton airport last night but came in too late to get transportation into London. So she spent the night at the airport and met us at the Baker Street Underground Station around 7 A.M.. She had to be exhausted! After …

Fun with Coins – A Pound of London Fiddlybits*

by Pat WhydeJuly 28, 2014November 19, 2023

As our time in London was quickly closing in on us all – Ray, Alison, and me – we started gathering up all the flotsam that accumulates around a busy vacation. We started looking through what we had set aside to take home and what we bought for souvenirs. I always take some of the local fiddlybits* home. Alison and I noticed there were several variations of the British coins and were trying to find one of each kind. We then noticed that the newer minted coins had an odd asymmetrical design to each one, slightly off center and just …

A Dale Chihuly in London

by Pat & Ray WhydeJuly 24, 2014November 19, 2023

While wandering around London with Alison Litvinova, we ran across this sculpture in Berkeley Square! Totally unexpected! As we approached the Square, I said to Pat and Alison: “That’s a Chihuly” and it was. Can’t believe it’s outside in a public park, with no protection from the elements or from vandals. Amazing!

Clipper Round the World Race

by Pat & Ray WhydeJuly 12, 2014November 19, 2023

Last Monday we got to see the Tour de France when it went through London. Today we got to see the parade of sailing boats that finished the Clipper Round the World race. The boats sailed up the Thames and, just before the Tower Bridge, entered St. Katherine Docks. One of the prettiest was the Chinese boat…

London I – Michelle and Patrick

by Pat & Ray WhydeJuly 11, 2014November 19, 2023

At the end of our second day in London, Michelle and Patrick Payne joined us. July 2 After a day visiting the British Library, doing three geocaches (including one at the BL) and having lunch and dinner, we met them at Heathrow at about 10 P.M.. They were late getting through immigration and customs, so when we stopped at the Liberty Bounds pub for a beer and something for them to eat, the pub kitchen was closed and all we could do was drink and have some crisps (chips in American). Patrick had a Truman Attaboy; Michelle and Pat, Weston’s …

Plans have changed

by Pat & Ray WhydeJuly 9, 2014September 10, 2022

Plans have changed and Pat and I will be flying to Singapore from London at the end of July, rather than returning to North Carolina! This will leave the final packing to the kids, stuff that we thought we would be able to do the first week of August – but we will already be gone… We will cancel our return ticket to Charlotte and get a flight to Singapore instead. We certainly need to be flexible in this family!

Just Arrived In London

by Pat & Ray WhydeJuly 1, 2014November 19, 2023

Just arrived in our flat in London. Dumped our gear and headed out for lunch at the Town of Ramsgate Pub. Fish ‘n chips ‘n a pint. The weather is beautiful right now. Life is good! We rented a nearby flat for the month of July, using AirBnb. The listing for the flat is at http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2015390. The flat is located a 10-15 minute walk from the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Probably the two worst things about the flat: (1) it was a walk up 3 flights which at the end of the day seemed like 10 floors; …