This is how we got to our London Hotel

One must go to England to be in England, and we had to get from Dublin to London. The faster way is to Fly, of course. But the Irish ferry between Dublin and Hollyhead is a pretty special experience. I used to do it between Liverpool and Dublin, but Hollyhead is closer, and once they put in a huge breakwater there against the intransigent Irish sea, that became the more economic route.

There is a brand new ship making the crossing now, named the Ulysses. It is large. 167 feet high, 600 feet long, displacing over 50,000 metric tons. 3 miles of parking space for over 1,300 cars or 240 tractor-trailers (more than any other passenger car ferry in the world). Plus 2,000 passengers. We were two of them.

It's only a 6 hour cruise, and there are restaurants and shops and cinemas and even a tiny casino aboard, so there is no end to the entertainment available. But we got a cabin. That way we could wander around the ship without being concerned with our luggage, and could catch a nap if that was how we felt. After the excitement of getting to the dock and boarding, then being on the top deck for a long time with the wind in our faces, bidding a fond farewell to Dublin as we passed through the harbor and onto the Irish sea, we did use the the cabin.
It turned out to be quite a nice idea. Irish Ferry Stateroom

Before we knew it,
we were docking at Hollyhead. The photo below was taken in the enclosed gangplank or tunnel or whatever it was that went about a quarter mile from the ship to the port facility. Looking out the window, one might think they were on a high-tech spy island in a thriller with a suave hero. Hollyhead England

After we disembarked, we went over to the train station. It was almost completely unmanned. We never saw a ticket agent, although we looked to see if there was one. There were many people waiting for trains on the different platforms, and by asking them, we made sure we got to the right place. But the train came, and we got on, and it left the station, without ever a sign of anyone to buy a ticket from. Colleen kept saying how happy she was that we had our tickets already, with seat reservations.

We got those reservations from Rail Europe (Click here for a link to Rail Europe) . We would have been up the creek without them, I think. But things turned out well, and the journey through the English countryside was quite a treat. So many things to see as the train went past the towns and farms of England. It was sort of like the heartland farming region of America, but with many little differences. Many buildings looked, well, 'european'. The small shopping centres also had an unfamiliar yet vaguely exciting quality.

Suddenly something that looked like a castle would flash by, up on a hill... and then there would be farm buildings that had more history than anything in the New World.
Trains in Europe are a great way to travel, a comforatable way to tour.

Near The London Underground We pulled into the Euston Square station in the early evening. We took the Underground from the same station to Tottenham Court Road, which is just one stop away from Leichester Square, two stops from Picadilly Circus. A short walk of about four blocks (okay, it seemed much longer with our luggage) and we were at the Raddison Edwardian Marlborough in Bloomsbury, just two blocks from the
British Museum.
We had chosen this place to stay in London because of its location. Situated at the border of Soho and the Strand, it was a nice place to be in this very large and incredibly diverse city. But the real reason we chose it because it was on Bloomsbury Street, as was Wendy and Michael and John's family home in the story of Peter Pan. Not very sensible. But quite fun.

London Hotel in Bloomsbury

Our London Hotel In Bloomsbury

Out our bedroom window was a corner of the British Museum. We could see people walking on Bloomsbury street, and could judge what clothes to wear for the day by opening the window, feeling the weather and looking at what they had on. The sounds of the city could be heard, but at a pleasant level. When we went to the Underground nearest us, the Dominion Theatre (where the musical Le Misrables was on the boards nightly) became our primary landmark, orienting us to the underground entrance we wanted, or to the correct way back to our hotel.

Colleen wrote this to our daughter:
It was a lovely hotel with quiet British dignity and expansive rooms. There were two winged armchairs reminescient of those Holmes and Watson would sit in discussing cases, across from each other at a table, where one might have tea and crumpets. Which we actually did. There was an electric tea service as in Ireland, plus a secretariat to write letters upon the stationary provided. There was a large, very nice electric towel warmer in the bathroom, plus luxurious white robes.

We had some excellent breakfast buffets in the hotel dining room, which were included with our room, as is usual in Europe. "Full English" breakfast is similar to the full Irish with the addition of poached eggs and addititional meat sausages (bangers) to the baked tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, toast, assorted juices and fruits and yogurts and cheeses. Hotel room service was almost surprisingly excellent in every aspect of promptness,quality, quantity and price.

Now were were set to go out and explore London. If you'd like to see some of the interesting things saw on a journey down the Thames river, click here to go on with a visit to England, or click on one of the buttons at the bottom of the page to select another country.

Or if you would like to check out a very interesting English "Party Pass",

Visit our Europe Travel webstore featuring Love To Travel gear for your European Vacation, and while you are on the net, check out these other fine Europe websites
Euro-Rail.org TravelEurope.biz VacationInEurope.com Europe-Train.org Eurostar-TGV.com AirfaresToEurope.com

London England on informationeurope.com is a virtual trip. But actually going to London via Irish Ferry and taking the London Underground to your own London Hotel is even more exciting. Click on the London and England travel links above and go see for yourself. I think you will enjoy it tremendously.

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