Sara, Dana and Mark having a pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Museum.

We woke up, cleaned up and had breakfast. After that we bought bus passes and took a bus out to the Kilmainham Gaol, or prison. This is a very popular museum of Irish history and, on line, they were completely sold out for at least two weeks. When we got to Kilmainham, I got in the ticket line and begged the guy behind the ticket counter for three tickets. I told the guy that I was an O’Hansen from County Cork and that I was a genuine rootin tootin son of the old sod. The guy behind the ticket counter said that he was sure I was not Irish but it looked like I had a gift for the blarney. Sara and Dana cried on cue when he again said that he couldn’t help me with my ticket request. Sara and Dana’s sorrowful sobbing brought him to tears and he somehow found three tickets for tomorrow’s 3:45 PM Kilmainham tour. It sure helps to have two beautiful daughters who can cry on cue when you are travelled in a foreign country.

After we left Kilmainham we went to the Irish National War Memorial Garden.

This garden is a memorial to those Irishmen who lost their lives in World War I and World War II.

This war memorial is dedicated “To The Memory of the 49,400 Irishmen Who Gave Their Lives In The Great War 1914 – 1919.”

As we were walking from the Irish National War Memorial Garden to the Guinness Museum we came across St. James Church.

I didn’t know this but apparently the Celtic Camino starts at this church. You get your first stamp at this church and then walk down to the ferry that takes you from Dublin to A Coruna, Spain and from there you walk to Santiago. The volunteer at the pilgrim office at this church put two stamps in my pilgrim passport and wished me Buen Camino. I made the mistake of calling the route from A Coruna to Santiago the English Camino. The volunteer got really pissed, told me it was the Celtic Camino, and tried to take my pilgrim passport away from me. I had to hot foot it out of the pilgrim office to avoid losing my pilgrim passport.

I went into the church and at the shrine to St. James, said a prayer for Jay, Mary and Wiley.

We then went to the Guinness Museum where we had lunch before starting the self guided tour. Interesting factoid.

Another interesting factoid. Elisabeth Guinness, the wife of the guy who stated the Guinness Brewery, gave birth to 21 children. I can’t even fathom that.

Sara and Dana at the Guinness Museum.

The Guinness Museum is Europe’s best tourist attraction? Not the Louvre or the Roman Coliseum? You have got to be kidding!

Dinner tonight at the Fade St. Social.

Parmesan skinny fries.

Roasted cauliflower with goat cheese.

Sirloin steak with green beans.

Serrano ham and goat cheese rolls with a balsamic vinegar reduction.

Soft shell crabs with a remoulade.

Grilled prawns.

Dublin had a massive Gay Pride 🏳️‍🌈 parade today.

The Dublin Uber drivers will make a fortune tonight.

I hope you had a great Saturday.

Good night from Dublin.

Dana got to the apartment at about 1:00 PM. We got her settled in and then walked downtown to do a three hour Dublin Free Walking Tour. It isn’t really a free tour as you tip your tour guide generously, but they like to call it a free tour to encourage you to loosen your purse strings at the end of the tour when the tour guide asks for a tip.

This is the courtyard of the old castle where in 1922 England ceded Ireland to the Irish. The tour was was very historical and very political and very interesting.

This is the Temple Bar Tavern decorated for the Gay Pride 🏳️‍🌈 Parade tomorrow.

This is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The parish will be sponsoring a big Fourth of July celebration.

This is Molly Malone. It is reputed to be good luck to rub her breasts. Kinda of like rubbing Abe Lincoln’s nose only more intimate. I noticed a lot of people in Dublin gathering in line at this statute for a little bit of extra luck.

After the tour we had a drink at the Fuzzy Lemon, an authentic Irish pub, and then ambled on to dinner.

Sara made a reservation for us at Bastible, a tasting menu restaurant, where we had a fabulous meal.

We started with oysters and then we had beets with pumpkin purée.

Then we had fried chicken with chili sauce.

Then we had tomato broth with cockles and beans.

Then we had Knockalara cheese dumplings with cauliflower shavings.

The main course was cod with bits of brown shrimp.

For dessert we had Woodruff cream cake 🍰 with black currants and as a final course we had chocolate honeycomb with a layer of seaweed on top.

We enjoyed a nice bottle of white wine with dinner.

What a great dinner and what a great treat it was to share it with Sara and Dana.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Friday.

Goodnight from Dublin.

Sara and Mark at the famous Temple Bar.

We were walking by this bar after dinner and decided that we had to stop in and have a glass, not a pint, of Guinness. The place was a madhouse and it was only 7:00 PM on a Thursday evening.

Sara got to the apartment at about 1:15 this afternoon. We wandered around Dublin and had a drink at the Palace Bar and then had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant, II Vicoletto, that Sara found on the internet. Sara and I shared a burrata appetizer. For my main course I had pasta with a lamb ragu. After the waiter brought my dish to the table, he shaved thin slices of black truffle over the pasta as a finishing touch.

The service was fantastic and the food was sublime. Sara does such a great job finding outstanding restaurants.

Sara wasn’t scheduled to arrive until early afternoon so I got up early and went for a walk to find a place for breakfast. I found this place a couple of blocks from the apartment.

I am an adventurous eater but I don’t think I am ready to eat pudding for breakfast. It looks like it is bacon pudding and I have never had bacon pudding. But I like the maple bacon donuts at Voodoo Donuts, so maybe I would like bacon pudding.

As I kept walking and searching for a good old American stick to your ribs breakfast, I stumbled upon the Peace Park in Dublin.

This park is dedicated to all those who gave their lives during the struggle for Irish independence. It was a beautiful, peaceful park and it made me realize how much I don’t know about Irish history.

From the Peace Park I continued to walk and found myself at the old Dublin City Hall. Inside there are four statutes of men who played a pivotal role in the struggle for Irish independence.

This is a statute of Daniel O’Connell who fought for Catholic rights in what was then an Ireland ruled by the Protestant landed gentry.

As I was walking back to the apartment to welcome Sara to Dublin, I walked by a shoe store. It appears that the Camino is very big in Ireland.

When you think about it that makes sense. Ireland is a very Catholic country. The Camino has been a Catholic pilgrimage route for over 1200 years. Why wouldn’t the Camino be big in Ireland?

Speaking of Ireland being a very Catholic country, I have noticed that the sidewalks in Dublin are thronged by mothers pushing prams with a baby laying in the bed of the pram and groceries stacked on top of the baby.

The babies don’t seem to mind being buried underneath a load of groceries and the moms check on the babies every once in a while to make sure the babies are still breathing. All in all it seems to work well for the babies and the mothers.

My back has been stiff and sore the past couple of weeks. As I was walking back to the apartment to greet Sara I spied this enticing advertisement that promised relief for my back pain and muscle aches.

I decided that there was an overwhelming and unreasonable amount of pink involved here and pink is not a color that I am comfortable with. I would love to get a legitimate massage but this place screamed trouble with a capital T. My better judgement told me to avert my gaze and walk by this tawdry establishment without stopping and inquiring about their prices or their offering of services.

That’s it from Dublin for today. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thursday. Tomorrow Dana flies in from Iceland.

Today we travelled from London to Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪 by train 🚞 and ferry ⛴.

I left the hotel extra early to make sure I did not get lost and miss my 9:10 AM train departure from Euston Station. It was only a six block walk, but I can get lost anywhere and I did not want to miss my train.

A block from the hotel I walked by Mabel’s Tavern.

As you can see from the sign, Mabel’s Tavern has been serving up brewskis since 1698.

I can’t believe the Red Sox and Yankees are going to play a baseball game in London.

As I continued my perambulation to the train station I encountered this sign.

That’s not good. My train leaves from Euston Station and it looks like the entrance to Euston Station is closed due to a water main break. When I arrived at Euston Station I was relieved to find that the driveway leading to the station was flooded and closed, but I was directed to walk to the side entrance and had no problem entering the main departure/arrival hall of the train station.

I spotted this memorial at the entrance to the train station. It is interesting to note that this memorial is to the men AND the women of the London Midland And Scottish Railway who served in the British Armed Forces during World War II. If you read last year’s Remembrance Day blog post, you know what the poppy wreaths are all about. If you didn’t read this blog post, shame on you.

I got to the train station an hour early and I immediately heard a voice over the loud speaker announce the imminent departure of my train for Holyhead.

This is the setup at the train station.

An obviously impatient group of people stand in the main departure/arrival hall staring up at the Jumbotron listing the upcoming arrivals and departures. This board lists the trains that are scheduled to depart in the next 30 minutes. When it is 10 minutes before the train’s departure time, the train’s departure track is posted on the board and a pleasant sounding woman with the thick English accent announces the imminent departure of the train and the identity of the train’s departure track. This causes a stampede of passengers from the main departure/arrival hall down the ramp to the departure track. It’s like the start of the Kentucky Derby. The bell rings “And They’re Off.”

When I heard the loud speaker, at 8:15 AM, announce the 8:25 departure of my 9:10 AM train on track 2, I got excited and, like a lumbering bison lugging a 50 pound suitcase, I joined the herd stampeding down the ramp to track 2. When I got to track 2 a friendly conductor checked my ticket and politely informed me that I was not allowed to board the 8:25 train to Holyhead because my ticket was for the 9:10 train to Holyhead. So I had to retrace my stampede route and lug my sad carcass and my 50 pound suitcase 🧳 back up the ramp to the main departure/arrival hall and join the herd waiting for the 9:10 Holyhead train’s departure announcement. At 9:00 AM the departure announcement blared over the loud speaker and a herd of passengers shot out of the starting gate. By this time my Fitbit was telling me that I had already walked 10,000 steps for the day and I was exhausted. No more running for me. I decided to take a position at the rear of the herd and amble, not run, down to the departure track. I boarded the train with just a few minutes to spare and enjoyed a pleasant 5 hour journey from London to Holyhead, Wales.

I boarded the 2:00 PM Irish Ferry bound for Dublin. There are various classes of service on this ferry. Because this is a car/truck and passenger ferry, they need a special lounge for the truck drivers. Kind of like a truck stop, except it is on a ferry.

The ticket agent talked me into upgrading my ticket to Club Class.

What a great deal. For 14 euros I got to sit in a BarcaLounger in front of a wall to ceiling window and eat all the free food I could cram down my gullet. When we got to Dublin I was so stuffed that I had to waddle down the gangplank.

This is a picture of the lighthouse guarding the entrance to Dublin harbor.

I just checked into the Diamond Apartments. This is the living room with a pullout sleeper coach.

And this is the bedroom.

The apartment is comfy and clean and right in the middle of town so it is close to all the tourist sights.

For dinner I had a rice bowl 🍚 from Bowls By Kwanchi Chan.

My bowl had steamed jasmine rice, flamed Irish free range chicken thighs rubbed with black garlic, steamed broccoli, roasted mushrooms and raw spinach, with a drizzle of ginger and onion sauce. It is a beautiful evening and I sat outside at a sidewalk table and watched the neighborhood denizens stroll by as I enjoyed my scrumptious rice bowl.

This is the restaurant’s grill master, Seamus O’Grady. I have never seen a Big Green Egg in a restaurant.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Wednesday.

Good night from Dublin.

After a nine hour flight we finally landed at London Heathrow. When they say it is The Queen’s Terminal do they mean the rock band Queen or do they mean the Queen of England? Is there a King’s terminal? In England you don’t claim your luggage, you reclaim your luggage. That puts your luggage in the same category as a reclaimed environmentally compromised former factory site. If my luggage is that suspect I don’t want to claim or reclaim it.

The Flight ✈️

My good buddy Tom Bissell convinced me to spend a few extra bucks and upgrade to economy plus for my flight from Denver to London. My back has been stiff and painful for the last couple of weeks due to my violent and orthopedically unsound golf swing. So I thought the extra legroom in the economy plus section of the plane would be a good idea.

I got on the plane and situated myself in my economy plus aisle seat 💺. So far so good. A skinny guy sat next to me in the middle seat, which is always good news. Then a rather large gentleman sat in the seat in front of me. Better to have him sit in front of me than next to me, I thought. About an hour after takeoff I had a nice dinner, chicken and pasta in a light cream sauce, and a beer 🍺. After the flight attendants cleared the dinner plates I started to watch a movie on the seat back screen. The big guy in front of me turned in his seat and asked if I would mind if he reclined his seat and took a nap. I smiled and with just a hint of sarcasm said that of course I didn’t mind if he fully reclined his seat and spent the rest of the remaining eight hours of the flight sleeping in my lap. He thanked me for acquiescing to his request and proceeded to recline his seat as far from the full upright position as it would go. This brought the seat back screen so close to my face that I could adjust the volume and change channels with my nose, like a seal in a circus act. Then the skinny guy in the seat next to me fell asleep and toppled over sideways so that his head was on my shoulder. And then he started to snore and drool. I woke him up and asked him to rearrange himself. This worked until he fell asleep again. His head started to slowly roll towards me and then it flopped onto my shoulder and the snoring and drooling resumed. What a nightmare. I didn’t get even one wink of sleep during the whole flight. I would have been more comfortable in a dog kennel in the cargo hold of the airplane.

My Hotel

I am spending the night at the Avonmore Hotel. I picked this place because it is a couple of blocks from the St. Pancras tube station 🚉. This allowed me to take the Tube 🚇 from Heathrow into the City. I have always wanted to ride on the London subway and now I can check that off my bucket list. I am sure there is an elevator at the St. Pancras Station, but I couldn’t find it. I had to lug my 50 pound suitcase up four flights of stairs while everyone else in London was scrambling down the stairs in a mad dash to catch a train and avoid being late for work.

I wandered around for an hour trying to find the Avonmore, when Google Maps kept saying it was only 5 minutes away. I finally asked a Bobby – that’s what they call police officers over here – for directions. He politely pointed across the park and there was the Avonmore Hotel. In hindsight I think I walked by this Hotel more than once on my one hour Where’s Waldo ramble.

I checked into my spartan room and got carry out chorizo paella and had a picnic lunch in Cartwright Gardens, a park across the street from the Hotel.

While I was in the park, a group of college students set up a cricket pitch and proceeded to play a spirited game of cricket 🏏.

After lunch I returned to my no frills room and took a nap. This is my room. It is clean but far from palatial.

After I woke up from my nap I decided to walk to Euston Station and print out my tickets for tomorrow’s train 🚂 and ferry ⛴ to Dublin. On the way to Euston Station I got lost – no surprise – and wound up at the British Library.

This is the famous Newton statue at the entrance to the British Library.

I toured the rare books collection at the British Library. The crown jewel of this collection was one of the original signed and sealed versions of the Magna Carta. Sad to say that the Beatle memorabilia in this collection drew a larger crowd than the Magna Carta.

After I found Euston Station and printed out my tickets it was time for dinner. I found a Turkish cafe with sidewalk seating and enjoyed a tasty Donner kebab wrap.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day today. Good night from London

Bon Voyage Dinner

A couple of days ago Jan and I decided to splurge and go to Fleming’s, a high end steakhouse, for a bon voyage dinner.

This is my scrumptious meal. I had fillet medallions with a peppercorn sauce, asparagus spears, oyster mushrooms, and cippoline onions. Jan and I shared an order of roasted heirloom carrots and au gratin potatoes. We exercised a great deal of self control and refused the waiter’s offer to bake us a special lava chocolate cake.

I will miss many things in Denver, but I will miss Jan the most. I am not even on the plane yet and I miss her already.

Itinerary

I leave for London today. I arrive in London tomorrow, June 25. I spend the day in London and on June 26, I take a train and ferry to Dublin. On June 27 my oldest daughter Sara arrives.

This is Sara.

On June 27 my youngest daughter Dana arrives.

This is Dana.

We are going to spend the next week or so exploring Dublin and the area around Killarney. On Saturday, July 6, Sara returns to Houston and on Monday, July 8, Dana returns to Denver. On July 8, I fly to Glasgow and on July 13, I take a train to Edinburgh.

On July 18, I fly to Bilbao, Spain 🇪🇸 and on the 19th I take a bus to Irún. I am going to spend the weekend in Bilbao and on Monday, July 22nd , I start my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela along the Camino Del Norte. I hope to arrive in Santiago about the middle of September. My return flight from London to Denver is on October 15th, so I will have about thirty days of unscheduled time to explore Europe.

Blessings For The Journey

Over Memorial Day Weekend I was in Albuquerque with Jan, celebrating her grandson Wesley’s birthday. On Sunday I went to Old Town Albuquerque to attend Mass at San Felipe de Neri Church, purported to be the oldest church in the United States. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we had a visiting priest, Father Liam from Ireland. After Mass I told Father Liam about my upcoming Camino and he then asked me to bow my head, and laying both hands on the top of my head, and in a thick Irish brogue, he gave me a heartfelt blessing for a safe and spiritually rewarding Camino. By the time he finished with the blessing I had tears in my eyes.

This morning I attended Mass at my neighborhood parish, The Church of the Risen Christ.

This is The Church of the Risen Christ. It is in Denver and everyone in the parish calls it the Ski Slope Church.

After Mass Father Eric gave me another blessing for my upcoming journey and Camino.

Father Eric is a great guy and I really appreciated his blessing.

Another Blessing

After I got home from Mass I went next door with Abe and St. Christopher to talk to my neighbor Drew. He just got back from doing a combination of the Camino Del Norte and the Camino Primitivo. Drew spent almost an hour walking me through, no pun intended, the stages he walked on the Camino Del Norte, the best paths to take, the best alburgues and the best places to eat. He also counseled me to go slow and assured me I could do it. I needed that assurance as I have been scared to death of the prospect of tackling this Camino.

As I was leaving to go home and finish packing, Drew’s wife came in from their back patio and said I could not leave without their blessing. We formed a prayer circle and first Jen and then Drew said a heartfelt prayer, asking God to bless me and my Camino. I didn’t start crying, but I did tear up at this wholly spontaneous and heartfelt act of generosity. Abe did cry and St. Christopher, who is somewhat of an expert when it comes to blessings, said that Jen and Drew’s blessing was one of the best blessings he has ever heard. I am so lucky to have Drew and Jen as neighbors.

Jen and Drew

Three New Amigos Join The Posse

Abe and St. Christopher are in the backpack and raring to go.

For this Camino they made room for three good friends of mine who passed away this Spring. Mary Broad, Jay Schnell and Wiley Daniel were friends that I have cherished since I moved to Denver in 1982. I have been in a bit of a depression this Spring trying to process their deaths. I am having a hard time saying goodbye to them so I decided that I would not say goodbye. Instead I decided to take them with me on my, now our, Camino. Abe and St. Christopher thought this was a great idea, so instead of the Three Amigos, it will be the Six Amigos. As this journey progresses I will tell you more about Mary, Jay and Wiley.

This is me at the gate. It is a good thing they only weighed my bag. If they had weighed me I would have been on the hook for an overweight charge.

This is the plane ✈️ to London.

As you can see it is a reputable airline and a brand new plane. No more flying Wamos Airlines for this Pilgrim. I am hoping to board, and after a smooth and on time departure, enjoy a meal, watch a movie, fall asleep and wake up rested and refreshed in London.

I hope everyone is having a great day.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the blog or the journey, please do not hesitate to send me a text at (303) 885-2255 or send me an email at markhansen715@gmail.com. You can call me but check the time zone where I am to make sure you aren’t calling at 3:00 in the morning, my time.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you and hope you vicariously enjoy the trip.

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float. To gain all while you give. To roam the roads of lands remote. To travel is to live.”

Hans Christian Anderson

We booked our return flight on Norwegian Air but they cancelled the flight and booked us on Wamos. What in the world is Wamos? I have no idea. They advertise that they are just like a Greyhound bus, but with wings. That can’t be good. I just hope we make it to Denver without any mishaps and without too much discomfort. I got a little worried when they passed the hat for gas money while we were in line waiting to board.

The plane is an Airbus A330 – 200. There must be 300 people on board this plane. They just announced that there is ONE person, just ONE person, on board who has a peanut 🥜 allergy. That means the nuts that they were planning to give us for snacks on this LONG flight are going to be off loaded from the plane and this will be an entirely nut free flight. That is incredibly unfortunate as I went shopping last night and bought a bunch of NUTS to snack on during the flight. Maybe I will have to sneak into the bathroom to enjoy my nuts. What do you think will happen if they catch me eating nuts in the bathroom after they have warned me that this is a nut free flight? Do you think they will arrest me and put me on a permanent no fly list? I know they have smoke detectors in the bathrooms of most airplanes. But do they have some sort of nut detector in the bathroom that will blow the whistle on me if I decide to have a little nut snack while I am using the can?

This is the only plane I have ever been on that has absolutely no in flight entertainment. WTF! It is a nine and a half hour flight and there is no in flight movie! You have got to be kidding. It was a very cheap ticket and I guess you get what you pay for. Nobody ever said that traveling around like this was going to be easy.

What an adventure this has been. I absolutely loved every part of this trip. Well, maybe not the short stay in Paris.

Certain parts of the trip stand out as indelible highlights. Getting to spend the first two weeks of the trip with my daughter Sara was without a doubt the best part of the trip.

Sara was born during the fourth quarter of a Denver Broncos/Oakland Raiders game. John Elway was leading a drive to put the Broncos ahead of the hated Raiders. The doctors and nurses were watching the game while they were supervising the delivery. I silently promised God that if the Broncos beat the hated Raiders I would name my first born daughter John Elway Hansen. The minute Sara was born, John Elway threw a touchdown pass with no time remaining on the clock to beat the hated Raiders. Everyone in the delivery room went crazy and started chanting “Broncos, Broncos, Broncos.” I jumped to my feet, thrust my clenched fists toward heaven above and declared that from this moment and forever more our beautiful baby girl would proudly bear the name, John Elway Hansen. Sara’s mother, in a fit of postpartum aggression, slapped the crap out of me and threatened to go full bore Lorena Bobbit unless I dropped the idea of naming our beautiful baby daughter, John Elway Hansen. With that clear and present danger on the table, I relented and agreed that Sara Jean Hansen was indeed a perfect name for our firstborn. A perfect name for a perfect daughter. I was the first person to hold her after she was born. I was the first person she heard say her name, Sara Jean, not John Elway. I was the first person to tell her, “I love you.” Sara and Dana have been beautiful priceless gifts in my life and I always have been and always will be so proud of them. I am so grateful that Sara decided to take two weeks out of her busy life and spend it with her dear old Dad. I will continue to keep my fingers and toes crossed and pray that one day Dana has the time and the inclination to walk the Camino with her dear old Dad. In order to avoid embarrassing her too much, I might agree to give her a 30 minute head start out of the alburgue each morning.

One of the obvious highlights of this trip was walking the Way. And one of the highlights of walking the Way was my stay at the alburgue and church at Zabaldika.

I truly believe that I experienced the magical presence of God in that Church. And I talked to other Pilgrims who experienced that same magic at this church.

In a previous blog post I shared the description of El Camino that the nun at the church in Zabaldika gave me. She also gave me a card entitled “The Beatitudes Of The Pilgrim.” I would like to share these Beatitudes with you.

It’s our last day in London and we decided to spend it at Westminster Abby.

After breakfast we left the hotel and walked through Chinatown on our way to Westminster Abby.

Delivery trucks filled the streets of Chinatown making their morning deliveries.

This is a delivery truck for Fuller’s London Pride Ale. They seem to be very proud of the fact that it is brewed beside the Thames.

Beer is mostly water with some hops and other grains thrown into the mix. I hope to God they are not using water from the Thames to brew Fuller’s London Pride Ale. The Thames is a dirty brown river filled with tree branches and other more odious detritus. The Thames, like the Platte River, is too thick to drink and too thin to plow. Who in their right mind, other than Pabst that proudly uses Illinois River water to brew Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, would even think about using an open cesspool as the water source for their beer? Coors uses crystal clear Rocky Mountain spring water to brew their beer. That seems like a no brainer to me. But what do I know.

I smelled this truck unloading in Chinatown when I was a block away.

You don’t see many fish monger delivery trucks in the States. If you own this company you don’t have to worry that the guy driving this truck is going to take it home and use it to run errands and take the kids to soccer practice.

Westminster Abby is right next to Parliament Square. As we were walking around Parliament Square Abe started screaming for me to stop. I did, and as he cackled with delight, he pointed one of his long boney fingers at this statue, located across the street from Parliament Square.

Abe was beyond thrilled to see that the Brits had honored him with a statue. I was and am a little miffed that they put Abe across the street from Parliament Square and not in a place of honor in Parliament Square, where he belongs. It’s the thought that counts though, and it was very thoughtful of the Brits to honor Abe with this statue.

We finally made it to Westminster Abby and signed up for the 10:30 tour.

There is a strictly enforced no pictures rule in the Abby so I will need my words, not photos, to describe the highlights of the Abby to you. There are over 3,300 people who are either buried in the Abby or have a memorial honoring them. As you walk in the main entrance to the Abby you run smack dab into the memorial stone for Winston Churchill.

It is a great honor to be buried in Westminster Abby. Everyone was surprised when Churchill declined this great honor and said that he wanted to buried in the family plot in the churchyard at St. Martin’s Church in Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire. After he died and was buried the Queen insisted on honoring Churchill with the most magnificent memorial headstone in the Abby. I am glad the Queen insisted on honoring Winston. He was one of the greatest Englishmen this island nation has ever produced.

As we walked past Churchill’s memorial stone we encountered the memorial headstone honoring all those British soldiers killed in World War I. You can and do walk on every other memorial headstone set in the floor of the Abby. Not this one. This headstone is usually surrounded by poppies and is roped off as a sign of the deep respect the British have for those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War I.

Then we walked over to the scientists’ section of the Abby. The most recent of the Abby’s headstones was placed there earlier this year when they buried Stephen Hawking in the Abby.

I am a big Stephen Hawking fan.

At the Abby he is flanked by Sir Issac Newton, who invented gravity, and Charles Darwin, who invented evolution. The inscription on Hawking’s headstone mirrors the inscription on Newton’s headstone and reads: “Here lies what was mortal of Stephen Hawking.”

After that we toured through the main altar area where they do the coronations and the State funerals. We even got to see the coronation chair.

After that we walked through the back of the Abby where all the kings and queens of England are buried. What an amazing history lesson that was!

Finally, we ended the tour in Poets’ Corner. Chaucer started it by asking if he could be buried in the Abby. Once he was buried in the Abby every other author in England followed his lead and now there is an entire section of the Abby set aside for authors. This is a partial list of the great authors either buried or memorialized in Poets’ Corner. Shakespeare, Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Kipling, Dylan Thomas, Henry James and the Bronte Sisters.

Our last stop on the tour was a badly faded medieval fresco of St. Christopher carrying the Christ child on his shoulders. This greatly pleased St. Christopher and made for a wonderful end to our tour.

Before we left the Abby St. Christopher lit 🔥 a candle 🕯 for Anna and we said a prayer for her recovery.

We then went outside and walked around the Cloisters of the Abby and inspected the memorial headstones in the walkway surrounding the Cloisters. You all know how hard it is to find a good plumber. Apparently, this guy was a very good plumber.

This is another memorial in the Cloisters walkway.

As we were walking back to the hotel after a long, full and rewarding day touring Westminster Abby I was struck by the fact that London is such an amazing and historical city. I have had so much fun touring around London.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I fly home. It has been a real hoot but I miss everyone and I will be glad to be back home.

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday.

Good evening from London.

Today is Tower of London day and this is Reginald, our tour guide.

I decided to sack in today. After a late breakfast, I took a look at my trusty map and penciled in a route to the Tower of London that would take me through some new neighborhoods.

This is the free breakfast buffet at the hotel.

The breakfast buffet includes orange, apple and pineapple juice, coffee and tea, regular and chocolate croissants, different kinds of muffins, a wide selection of fruit, cereal and cheese and lunch meat. And I’m not talking Oscar Meyer bologna or corned beef. I’m talking thinly sliced prosciutto, Genoa salami and chorizo. No American “cheese” on the cheese platter. I’m talking Brie and Gorgonzola and a very strong Stilton cheese. I am starting to enjoy lunch meat and cheese for breakfast. Baked beans are a regular staple on an English breakfast buffet. Thank God the hotel decided to eliminate the baked beans from the buffet offerings. Eating baked beans in the morning is just asking for trouble.

As I was ambling through one of the fashionable London neighborhoods on my way to the Tower of London, I realized that I really do need another set of traveling clothes. Do I make a detour to Saville Row and buy some fancy duds or do I stick with a store where I have always found fashionable clothes at a reasonable price? You guessed it. I am sticking with the Army, the Salvation Army.

This is the International Salvation Army Thrift Store so I thought I could pick up a nice James Bond, shaken not stirred, Saville Row suit. No such luck. After a half hour of perusing their selection of fine menswear, I realized that they didn’t have anything in my size. Bummer! Well, I tried.

As we got closer to the Tower, we entered The City of London.

The City of London is actually a very small part of the London metropolis. The City of London might be small, but with a fire 🔥 breathing dragon as their mascot, they do seem to mean business.

This is the memorial to all the firefighters who lost their lives during the German bombing campaign of World War II, called the Blitz.

I would like to thank my brother in law Mark Fernandes and my good friend Bob Bartnick, and any other firefighter and/or first responder who is following this blog, for your service.

We finally arrived at the Tower of London at about 10:15, just in time for Reginald’s 10:30 tour.

This is the White Tower where the royal family lived until they moved into Windsor Castle 🏰.

During medieval times they had quite a zoo at the Tower.

After four and a half hours at the Tower of London I decided it was time to head back to the hotel.

On the way I spotted a sign indicating that the Peanuts gang is making an appearance at the Somerset House Art Gallery. It is a long story but suffice it to say that St. Rita and I go way back with the Peanuts Gang.

This is me and Abe and St. Christopher with Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

When Abe and St. Christopher told Charlie Brown and Snoopy about our trip, they said they wanted to come along the next time the Three Amigos do the Camino. Abe and St. Christopher said that would be fine with them. I said I would have to check with St. Rita.

As I was walking along the Victoria Embankment on my way back to the hotel I spotted a World War I memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps.

I didn’t even know there was an Imperial Camel 🐪 Corps.

As we were walking by Trafalgar Square, St. Christopher wanted to stop at St. Martin in the Fields and say a prayer for Anna. I know that this is an Anglican church and we should be limiting our praying to Catholic Churches. But, on this trip, St. Christopher is the final word on all matters ecclesiastical and he said that we can pray in Catholic and Anglican churches. He said it’s the same God in both churches.

When we went inside a string ensemble was practicing for a performance tonight.

Well, St. Christopher saw the program and realized that “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” was on the program. This is one of his favorite songs. St. Christopher wanted to go to the concert and the guy at the ticket counter comped Abe because he is the greatest President there ever was or ever will be and he comped St. Christopher because he’s a saint. So I figured, why not. The Belmont Ensemble of London is a very accomplished 10 person string ensemble and the English Chamber Choir is a forty person choir. The Three Amigos loved the string ensemble, the choir and the venue!

That’s it or today.

I hope everyone had a great Tuesday.

Good evening from London.

I couldn’t put it off any longer. It was way past time to do laundry. I put all my clothes in my backpack 🎒, put on my rain pants 👖 and my rain jacket 🧥, it was raining so this didn’t look too strange, and walked four blocks to the neighborhood launderette.

The neighborhood ladies who had gathered at the launderette helped me with the washer and dryer. We had tea and crumpets while we waited for our respective washes to dry. They say that clothes make the man, and in my case clean clothes make this battered old Pilgrim feel like a new man.

When I got back to the hotel with my clean clothes it had stopped raining so I decided a long walk to the British War Museum was in order. Along the way I walked past the Cenotaph that I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post.

As I continued my amble I went by the Household Cavalry Parade Ground in time to see the full changing of the guard.

The guys in the black uniforms are going off duty and the guys in the red uniforms are going on duty.

After the changing of the guard was completed I continued my walk to the Imperial War Museum and ran smack dab into Winston Churchill himself.

This statue is in Parliament Square, across the street from the Houses of Parliament.

In the middle of Parliament Square there is a half acre flower bed. They are preparing it for fall/winter planting.

Apparently nothing runs like a Deere in Spain, and now in London.

I finally got to the Imperial War Museum.

Those are 16 inch battleship guns at the entrance to the museum. Pretty impressive.

I started out my day at the museum with a 90 minute guided tour of the World War I wing of the museum. The young man who was our tour guide spoke very knowledgeably for the whole ninety minute tour, without notes. This young man’s knowledge of the museum’s World War I wing was encyclopedic. I thought the museum’s exhibit on the battle of the Somme was especially poignant. On the first day of this battle the British sustained 60,000 casualties, 20,000 dead and 40,000 wounded. By the time this multi day battle was over 130,000 British soldiers were dead. That is a horrific loss of life.

This is a Spitfire fighter plane from World War II.

This is the Rolls Royce Merlin engine that powered the Spitfire and made it one of the best fighter planes of the Second World War.

They had the original staff car that General Montgomery, Monty, used in North Africa. Do you know where “Full Monty” came from?

Now you know.

I have no idea what this means or what John Higgins had in mind when he asked his mother to sew this for him.

That is it for today.

I hope everyone had a great Monday.

Good evening from London.