Glasgow to London

XXI BLOG Toto Travels
31 May – Glasgow to London


Happy end of May and up and to London today. We enjoyed Glasgow so much when we were here with Kimberly and Russ, it would be great to stay a while and enjoy Glasgow and he area, but not this trip. Our train leaves about 9:40, so we are up and on to breakfast at the restaurant in the Jury Inn. Mike must be distracted and concerned about the train trip, he put his scrambled eggs directly on his tray, no plate. He looked for a minute and started laughing, sheepishly grabbed a plate and started over.

There were some young businessmen sitting next to us and one heard us talking about London. He asked about our trip and told us he had lived in London for several years, then launched into lots of tips about the tube, sights, and getting around. Much of it was welcome advice, but we were amused by his fervor about London. His colleagues were almost snickering. I suspect that lauding London in the city of Glasgow is seldom welcomed.

We arrived for our train in good shape and checked bout using the Britrail passes. The guy at the counter told us to go to the train. It's a good thing Mike wanted to get on the train early because when he checked, we had to go back out to get his pass validated. But all was fixed up and we settled on the train for a scenic, interesting, easy ride to London.

On the "fast" train we don't have many stops: Glasgow, Carlisle, Oxenholme, Lancaster, Preston, Wigan North West, Warrington Bank Quay, London Euston.

As we are stopped on the train in the countryside around Carlisle for about 10 minutes, Lady behind me calls her friend, in a most precise English accent, "Hello, Clare - Rosemary here, there's been a delay on the train, don't put dinner out just yet. They've found elephants on the line or some such.."
Love the British wryness.

Along the canal boat route. We saw several of the long canal boats and thought of our friends, Johnie and Linda Miller who did a canal tour a few years ago. Overall, this is a great way to travel – fast train, nice countryside.

Our arrival in London was uneventful, although Mike insisted on carrying both of our larger bags., and trooping through Euston Station, getting on the tube and having to make changes was not easy. We arrived at Earl’s court under the impression getting a cab would be easy Wrong! Another couple of blocks to drag the bags until I stopped in at a hotel to check on a cab. The lady at the Lord Kensington Luxury Rooms and Suites was very helpful and called a cab for us.
We arrived at 17 Homestead Road, our B & B in Fulham, a little after 4:30 pm. It was good to be settled. Mike was frazzled and frustrated, but recovered enough to go out for dinner around 6:00. Our hostess, Fiona Grant, was most gracious and gave us suggestions and directions for pubs and places to eat.


The nearest good pub is called The White Horse and is very popular with the younger set. Fiona said it had a good selection of drinks and good food. It is called by the younger set The Sloanie Pony. The name comes from Sloane Rangers which is a group of younger yuppie types. Princess Diana was a Sloance Rangers and she frequented this pub, hence the name Sloanie Pony.

Fiona also recommended a lighter fare restaurant for dinner – Cote, which was just a few dors from the White Horse. The food was delicious and we chatted with 6 1/2 year old Max and Lucy and Serena the adult ladies that were with a cute Max. He told us all about what toy stores we needed to find.

Back to our room and tucked in. I talked to Karen set up dinner plans for tomorrow night.

Leaving Scotland was sad. I was definitely not ready to leave, especially the countryside and the highlands. Such beautiful and rugged country!