European Cruise - London

Neil and I left for London, England on June 13 to spend 4 nights there before departing on our Oceania "Northern Interludes" cruise.  Had a good flight on BA, and stayed at the Washington Mayfair Hotel in the Mayfair area of London.  The hotel was a couple of blocks from the Green Park subway stop.  The hotel room was small and not well organized (not unusual for Europe), but what made up for that was the extremely helpful, friendly hotel staff, even helping me find a dentist on a Sunday morning for a dental emergency.

We were quite tired from the jetlag and getting ready for the trip, but we managed to see a bit of London, in particular the art galleries.

But first off, we were blessed to have a friend, Michael, take us around London for day.  We had been to London many times and he decided to take us off the beaten track.  First Michael took us to see the outside and part of the inside of the St. Pancras Rennaisance Hotel, a fairy tale castle looking structure that had been built as a railing hotel next to St. Pancras rail station. It was formerly the Midland Grand Hotel, which opened in 1873 until 1935 when it was then used as railing offices.  It was then restored as a hotel, apartments and offices in 2011.

The hotel has grand staircase that formerly led down to the carriage entrance, but now is part of the hotel lobby.

Next, Michael walked us next door to the St. Pancras Rail Station, which is the London terminus of the Eurostar train from the continent.  The station was renovated and expanded in the early 2000's to accommodate the longer trains from Europe.

One thing we particularly noticed about the station is that the glass making up the curved roof is clean, and therefore clear, letting lots of light into the station.  My memory of other train stations in London is all the dark ceiling glass from the build up of years of soot and dirt.

Michael, statue of Poet John Betjeman, and Neil

Next to St. Pancras Station is King's Cross underground station, which has also been re-built, for the Olympics.

Then Michael took us on the underground to Hamstead Heath area, where we walked around Hamstead (very hilly and small windy streets) and visited some of the National Trust historic houses.  The first one we visited was Fenton House & Garden, a 17th century merchant's house, built at a time when Hamstead was quite outside of London.

The rooms were filled with National Trust antiques of approximately the same vintage and some wonderful collections of keyboard instruments and beautiful porcelain pieces.

Very lovely English gardens, plus magnificent views of London from the top floor balcony.

Then it was off to lunch at the local pub, The Holly Bush, in Hamstead, where Neil and Michael tried the beers.

Quote from its website:  "One of London's favourite pubs, The Holly Bush has been untouched by the ravages of time and has a captivating old-world charm. Bought from the estate of artist George Romney around 1800 it was turned into a public house and, as the headquarters of the Save Hampstead Heath Society, has played an integral part in the history of Hampstead Heath."

Michael was an excellent tour guide, one who absolutely loves British history, and enjoys educating others about the sights.  A great day.

On the other days that we were in London, we visited the National Art Gallery and saw the special exhibit in honour of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the National Portrait Gallery with paintings of the UK's greatest figures:  royalty, poets, authors, politicians, scientists, explorers, doctors, etc.

Walked by Canada House:

On Sunday afternoon we walked in the Marylebone area, where they were holding a summer fair.  Many wonderful displays of crafts, food, and some very patriotic window displays:

Found London hot, crowded and heavy with air and noise pollution.  Looked so much forward to boarding the ship.