St. James’s Park

London 2016: Day 2

Laura Irwin

Despite the 5 hour time change and jet lag, I woke up promptly at 5:15 AM (which happens about 360 days a year).  Breakfast didn’t start until 7, so I had some time to ease into the day.  After breakfast, I was out the door for a Sunday morning walk.  I meandered my way through back streets in the general direction of St. James’s Park.  Almost all of the flowers in the park were in full bloom.  I walked through the park towards Buckingham Palace.  Along the way, I found a group of large pelicans and a family of geese, perfect photographic subjects. As I was walking, I could hear a bass drum occasionally in the distance and decided to find out where it was coming from.  I discovered a whole group of what appeared to be “guards in training” going through training exercises across the street from the park.  Pretty impressive to watch!

St. James's Park
St. James’s Park

Continue reading →

England 2015 – Day 1: Boston to London

Laura Irwin
Iconic London Phone Booth
Iconic London Phone Booth

“There’s no rest for the weary.”  Or so the saying goes.  In this case, there’s no rest for the jet-lagged.  After very little sleep (more like a few winks) on last night’s overnight flight from Boston, I arrived in London excited and ready to go.  That lasted for about 10 minutes.  Or the time it took to get from my gate to the “UK Border” sign at immigration (I love that sign!).  Exhaustion set in hard and fast.  Determined to beat it, I quickly made my way to the Underground ticket booth and discovered that my Oyster card from my visit two years ago was not only still active, it still had money on it!  The 45 minute tube ride from Heathrow left me outside Pimlico station, where the cool air and crisp breeze perked me right back up.  I made my way to my nearby hotel and took advantage of the Executive Lounge to grab a Diet Coke and some enormous marshmallows.  Completely random, but coupled with the warm Doubletree cookie and hot shower, I was good to go.

Continue reading →