Reflections from just another traveler: London

I was worried about London. Getting there was complicated, the airbnb had all sorts of red flags, and I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do there. But Adam *really* wanted to go, and mom did too, so on Monday, we boarded the ferry and off we went.

The weather forecast for the ferry was so bad that they cancelled the stop in Kirkwall, and delayed our departure, hoping the winds would go down. Everyone was boarded by 6:30 pm with an expected departure time of 9 pm, which was strange. Not bad. We settled into our cabins, had dinner, explored the ship - all while in port. Finally we cast off, and Adam and I took dramamine. Passage from the southernmost part of Shetland - Sumburgh - and Fair Isle is always the roughest. It's kind of the Drake Passage of the north, with the wind and storms from the Atlantic spilling over into the north sea. But snug in our beds with our dramamine, Adam and I dozed while enjoying the 26' swells of the ocean. By midnight we were on calmer water and we slept - well - OK.

We arrived in Aberdeen at 9 am for our 9:50 am train - but we only had to walk 15 minutes to get it, so that worked out fine. Taking the train almost the length of the UK was neat. Coast and coves. Farmland. Trees! Towns. Cathedrals.

Our train ended in King's Cross. The famous train station from Harry Potter. It was really dramatic - and vibrant. And crowded. Making our way into the undergroud, squeezing onto the cars at rush hour, getting out of the underground - was challenging. Our airbnb key was not at the designated location and that location was not the airbnb itself. So it was a relief to get there and get settled.

The next two days, we did London - our way. Our first stop was the Imperial War Museum (Adam's pick). It's an amazing museum, and I particularly appreciated the Holocaust exhibit - how it described the world situation leading up to the Holocaust. Adam found it all interesting.

Afterward, we walked along the Thames and found this COVID monument, walked through St. James park, saw Buckingham Palace, then took a double decker bus back.