Friday, January 2 – Sunday January 4, 2026 London and Embarkation in Southampton, England

Once again, we arrived in a freezing London following our flight from San Francisco. Based on our experience last year of struggling with our circus troupe size collection of luggage through Heathrow Airport to the Heathrow Express train, this year we arranged for a very large car and average sized driver to pick us up at the terminal and take us to the Paddington Hilton in London. It took a little bit longer, and cost a lot more, but I feel it was well worth it to avoid the muscle strain, sweat and anxiety.

After meeting up with Tracy and Billy we walked down the street from the hotel for what promised to be a good old-fashioned British pub dinner at the Pride of Paddington; I’d made a reservation based on internet reviews. What a disappointment this dinner was – no fish available for the classic fish n’ chips, no cheese for the mac n’ cheese (they actually served plain pasta) and the beer was not very good. Take all internet reviews with a large pinch of salt. We should have went to our usual Italian place across the street.

The next day, following a buffet breakfast in the hotel, we took an Uber to Piccadilly Circus and then strolled down to Trafalgar Square. It was one of those typical bright, clear and bitterly cold winter mornings – I think the high temperature was near freezing; still it could have been worse if it rained or snowed. The square was dominated by the remnants of the Christmas Market with some stalls still in business. We headed over to the beautiful Saint Martin In-The-Field church – I don’t recall visiting this church before and Sandra had found about a unique café in the basement crypt of the church. The church is prominently located in the northeast corner of the square; there has been a church on this site since medieval times, presumably there were fields around here at the time. It was good to peel off a couple of layers and warm my innards with a steaming hot chocolate, though a bit weird to be sitting among such ancient graves. It’s even possible to buy large sheets of paper and pencils to create brass rubbings of specifically selected artifacts.

It’s become quite the internet rage to stand for a photo beside one of the mounted guards at the entrance to horse guards’ parade and technically as tourists we had to give it a try. There is a clearly designated area around the guard and as long as you remain outside this it’s pretty safe; no horse biting or berating by the guard.

From horse guards parade we made our way towards Buckingham Palace and were surprised to find the main road leading to the palace, The Mall (nothing to do with shopping), was closed to traffic so were able to enjoy a nice walk down the wide ceremonial boulevard admiring the gigantic mansions on the right and St. James’ Park on the left with the palace in the distance.

Following the obligatory touristy pictures in front of Buckingham Palace we took an Uber to the Brompton area and sought out a Gails Bakery; it’s a large chain that I’d heard of but never visited. Gails was very busy with customers jockeying for position in front of the large case displaying the latest baked goods - the format is: lineup, point to what you want from the case, order a drink and then try to find a seat. A bit hectic but offset by the quality of the food and coffee.

Sandra and Tracy had timed tickets for a special exhibit of Marie Antoinnette dresses at the Victoria and Albert Museum, just a short walk from Gails. Having no interest in ancient French dresses, Billy and I walked around the corner to the science museum. I have very fond memories of visiting the science museum as a young teenager having taken the train down from Newcastle to London for the day. While the building has not changed, the arrangement of the contents has been modernized and updated over the last 50 years or so – entry is still free.

Later that evening we enjoyed an excellent dinner at a little-known pub located literally underneath the famous Tower Bridge, on the south bank of the Thames. The Vault 1894 is a tiny pub with only 5 small tables for dinner looking through a large window right out onto the river under the bridge. I’d made a reservation and somehow managed to snag the prime table right in the middle of the large window; food and drink were very good, quite a contrast to the previous evening.

I don’t recall walking over Tower Bridge before, if I had it must have been a long time ago. Even wrapped up in my various layers and with hat, gloves and scarf the cold tentacles of the bitter evening managed to find their way inside my defenses. The bridge was brilliantly illuminated and there was virtually no one else about as we made our way to the north side of the river. I think Tower Bridge does a good impression of being a very old structure, but in fact, it was constructed in 1894.

The next morning, January 4^th, we checked out of the Paddington Hilton and were picked up by a pre-arranged minivan with a driver who insisted on yelling our “ye-haw” every time he thought something went well; bags loaded - ye-haw, doors closed - ye haw… Other than the occasional ye-haw, we had an uneventful drive down to Southampton.

Boarding the Queen Anne was very smooth, none of the usual waiting around – we dropped off our bags, checked in and went straight through to security; from drop off to getting to the cabin was probably less than 30 minutes. Our cabin was 7045 with Tracy and Billy next door in 7049, nice balcony cabins though with limited storage space. Through carefully planned packing we only opened two of our four large bags for this 7 day cruise. After we get back to Southampton next Sunday we will change cabins, moving down the corridor to 7099 which is a club balcony cabin that allows us to eat all of our meals in the club dining room – a smaller dining room with more attentive service than the main dining room. My medical condition had continued to deteriorate while we were in London and so this afternoon all I could do was help with the unpacking and then sleep. I understand the sail away was cold and rainy.