They filled the moat at Hampton Court just for my visit!

Sometimes people have something they do out of habit. For me it's visiting friends overseas.

So this trip I visited London again. So I visited my friend Daz, again. That's how it goes when I travel. If I visit Europe. I visit Daz. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Daz knows me. Knows what I like. So it's not hard for him to insert a plan in place for my visit. Usually a day trip of some sort. Nothing fancy. A bit of history, and a bit of food.

So this time around in London I arrived by the Eurostar. Might I just say what a pleasant trip that was. I left the comforts of waffles in Brugge just after lunch, and was in London for dinner. Even with a train strike crippling London.

 I cannot sing the praises of this method to London enough. By Eurostar you avoid the struggle to get to an airport. Airports are never in a city centre. Eurostar was in the Main Station. And you can check in 1/2 hour before boarding time. I probably saved 2 hours by train, and it cost less too. Might I just add that Eurostar includes your journey from any station on the day in Belguim if traveling from Brussels. So it even saves you a few dollars.

Once in London it was a great stay with Daz and Anna. Just one full day to myself in the centre of London in which I visited Shakespeare's Globe. And then a day of Hampton Court and visiting a long lost friend for dinner.

Of note we really did underestimate the time it takes to complete Hampton Court. Alas the headphones in Hampton court didn't help. You have to hear the whole spiel of every section. It's not so easy to skip a room or description.

We lasted as long as we could before we realised we had to make the maze before it rained. Luckily by the time I completed the maze it only started to rain. Alas it didn't save us though. The gale destroyed the umbrellas we held leaving us with a sprint to the pub.