Here’s the second half of my November 2023 trip to London, covering Thursday, November 16 through Sunday, November 19, the day I climbed onto that big metal bird adorned with the red and blue of the British flag on the outside and took an 11-hour journey back to San Diego.
Click on the images below to see them larger on your screen!
Click here for Part 01 and here for Part 02 of my UK Photo Diary!
Thursday, November 16th was a cloudy and cool day. My day started with a Tube ride to Baker Street (important reminder: MIND THE GAP), and as I exited the station, who was waiting for me but none other than Sherlock Holmes himself. This lovely statue sits right outside of the Baker Street Station (Baker Street being the famous home of the great detective). That cute little park, one of many which dot London, was near Marylebone, right around the corner from my mission of the day: visiting Daunt Books, one of my favorite—and most ridiculously photogenic—bookstores in London. I’m not sure when that “Happy Bookstore Day” logo was applied, but it was right down the street from Daunt Books, where all I bought was a lovely green and white tote bag. I had left the store empty-handed and walked a block or two and saw someone carrying one and immediately thought “I NEED THAT,” because one can never have too many bookstore tote bags (or bookmarks, and by the way … if you’re a bookstore and you don’t give out free bookmarks with your store name and logo proudly emblazoned on it, shame on you). So I went back and got one and it now sits proudly in the giant tote bag that holds all my tote bags in my bedroom.
My other goal was to go to Selfridges Department Store and have lunch in Harry Gordon’s Bar in the lower level, where last year I had the best scallops I’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t want to comply with my wish (scallops were not on the menu), so I left in a huff, snapping only one photo of the cinema entrance (seriously … a department store with their own movie theater? I think I’m in love!), which was all now we don our gay apparel, decoration-wise.
Thursday was a bit of short day for me, as I went back to Bankside and stopped in a bar/restaurant right behind Tate Modern (its name escapes me) to have fish and chips. I had been in the UK for a week and still had not had a proper dose of this British staple. I had eaten here before, too, and the F&C were very good, even if the service was absolutely awful (both times, so at least they’re consistent). The swans were out swanning again, so I took some more photos, including the one with the voyeuristic seagull patiently watching and waiting for the guy who fed the swans to show up … free lunch!
Friday, November 17th was one of those crisp, sunny, beautiful days, and I decided to walk as much as possible. I’m not quite sure how British Black Friday works, but from all the adverts I’d seen, it seemed like this was it, but then it seemed like our Black Friday (the 24th, the day after Thanksgiving) was also one for the Brits, so … I dunno. All I do know was that the Tube was crazy crowded on both Friday and Saturday, so I walked as much as I could.
That walking took me up the Thames to Westminster Bridge and Big Ben. While I was taking my lazy-ass time in the brisk morning air, just before I got to the London Eye I heard, “GARY!” and turned to see my friend Jeannine—literally the ONLY person I know in London—walking with a friend. Even London is a small world, I guess. I stopped and paid my respects to my favorite UK statue, Winston Churchill, even though I know his imperialist world view is not very popular these days (my personal view: he helped save the freakin’ world in World War II). I walked through the lovely (and very crowded, people- and bird-wise) St. James Park on my way to Trafalgar Square (those giant eyeballs represent a remodel of the National Gallery) and then onward to pick up some final books at Waterstones Piccadilly and Christmas gifts at Fortnum & Mason. I made a short stop in Burlington Aracade, coming out on the other side where all the posh stores, like Cartier, Ralph Lauren, and Stella McCartney are, but the streets were really filling up, so I made a beeline back to the safety of Bankside, where it was less crowded. I ended the afternoon with a nice long walk up along the Thames, past the City and Tower of London, and Tower Bridge and back via Southwark Street (hence the views of The Shard). Those statues of animals doing human things were part of a program throughout London called “A Wild Life for Wildlife.” I also saw similar statues at Battersea Power Station. The swans were back near the Millennium Bridge once again, this time observed by giant geese, hovering like some kind of superhero protectors of the realm.
Saturday, November 18th was my last full day in London, and it started as a cold, dreary, rainy day. It had rained for most of the night. Bypassing my usual Tube station, Southwark, I walked through The Cut to Waterloo, home of the noodles and Cuban restaurant signs. My mission today was to visit Battersea Power Station. Like the Tate Modern, Battersea is an old, abandoned power station, in disuse for decades, which has been refurbished and repurposed into an entertainment, shopping, and living center. It has echoes of the Tate, with its large turbine halls and control rooms (the latter cleverly turned into a restaurant). It’s really a beautiful place, and it was all decked out for Christmas, so more photos next week in our final UK Photo Diary installment, focusing on the holiday decorations I saw on my trip. Battersea also had a very nice bookstore, aptly called Battersea Bookshop.
I had always heard of John Sandoe Books, so I journeyed in the other direction on the Tube to get to it. The Tube was more crowded on Saturday then any weekday rush hour I had ever encountered, so after visiting that bookstore, I took the Tube back to Westminster and got out into the fresh, chilly air; I had had more than enough of the Underground for one day. I had it in my head I wanted a Christmas ornament for my tree from Fortnum & Mason, which I had seen the day before but didn’t get, so I braved the Piccadilly crowds and went back again, only to find that the little felt and rhinestoned cat (kind of their signature character) cost 27 pounds. OUCH! Now I know why I passed on it the day before.
I ended my day with another walk across the Westminster Bridge and it was wall-to-wall people. Saturdays in London are no fun anymore, especially on a big shopping weekend like Black Friday. I bypassed the Green Park Tube station and walked back through Green Park and into St. James Park (where I got enthralled with the fallen leaves lying on the ground), then over the bridge to Bankside. My trip was pretty much over. It was time to pack and get ready for the 11-hour flight home on the next day.
Travel day! There was no time to do anything but get some breakfast, check out of my hotel, and make the trek via Tube and Heathrow Express to the airport. My flight left at 1:00 PM UK time and arrived back in San Diego around 4:00 PM, Pacific time. Heathrow Terminal 5 was bustling, as usual, but the plane left right on time and got in about a half-hour or so early, I breezed through customs and was home around 5:30, thanks to a faithful friend who picked me up in San Diego. And once again my innate packing skills allowed me to fit everything into the one suitcase and small collapsible bag I brought along, exclusively for books. What can I say, it’s probably one of my superpowers.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this trip. Not being able to adjust to the time difference and sleep well (I probably had three nights of decent—not great—sleep over the ten nights I was there), plus some troublesome news from home (nothing major, eventually resolved) all conspired to make this my worst trip ever to the UK. Still, I was in Harrogate and London, two towns I love, I got lots of great books, I walked over 75 miles while I was there, and just the thought of being someplace else for almost two weeks was wonderful. The hotel was great, the Christmas decorations were wonderful, and the cold, crisp, end-of-Autumn weather was refreshing and invigorating. Will I go back? My friend reminds me that I always say “This is my last trip,” so I don’t know. I kind of feel—for a number of reasons, including finances and how depressing long-haul travel is these days (“SIR, please put your socks back on” … I guess I should be grateful he didn’t clip his toenails, which did happen to me on one flight home from the UK), I don’t know if my wanderlust is still lusting. Besides, look at that photo below … every day is like a vacation where I live.
I guess time will tell.
Home.
Next time: A look at Christmas decorations in London in my fourth and final UK Photo Diary!
@innocent-bystander.com 
Leave a comment