On Sunday morning we had agreed to sleep in before heading to the airport. Only, I couldn't leave England without going to Notting Hill. I don't know why I didn't want to miss it, I just didn't want to leave it on my list. I was only a mile away. I had to go. I left the hotel 8:00am and headed down to the concierge. I had mapped out the Tube route I thought was the closest because we hadn't ridden that yet either, but the concierge said it would be easier to just walk. So walk I did. I walked the entire length of Hyde park. There was a light mist in the cool morning air. There were people out exercising and going to church, but I think I was the only tourist out for a walk. I stopped at some fountains in the park to take a few pictures and 2 ladies asked me if they could walk to Buckingham Palace and which way to go. That made me smile.
I finally made it to Notting Hill. It was just a quite neighborhood that looked like all the rest.
I had to take a picture of the shop below just for proof that I had been there. I walked up and down the quite streets wondering what in the world I was hoping to find. Whatever it was, I never found it or Julia Roberts.
When it was time to head home I found a Café Nero for a raved about hot chocolate, (it wasn't that great, but I tried it) then found the Tube.
I descended the stairs and wondered why I didn't just get a cab. Something in me saying, you can do this. Be adventuresome. For some this wouldn't qualify, but for me it totally did. I figured out how to buy a ticket, I figured out which direction I needed to go and got on the correct platform.
My head was on a swivel and my heart raced the entire time. I was so proud of myself when I got off the Tube at the Marble Arch Station and walked back to the hotel all alone. I wanted to shout and cheer for myself!
When I got back to the room I told Robyn all about my adventures. She was proud of me and I was ready to move on to Ireland, knowing my list was complete!
This is a little snap shot of our hotel bathroom. It was pretty small, tight quarters. The shower was very strange in that you had to literally climb into the shower. The side of the shower was 3 feet tall and I had to hang on to the wall or curtain to get in and out. It was taller than the toilet!
The car service met us in the hotel lobby at promptly 11am. The only problem was that he came with a small BMW for 1 passenger, not 3 and all their luggage. We all ended up with huge suitcases on our laps and at our feet. We were so happy to get to the airport. Once we were checked in and at our gate, we were told the flight was delayed a couple hours. So we ended up eating a nice sit down lunch at the airport while we waited.
When our plane finally departed, we had an uneventful flight to the Emerald Isle. Once there, we looked for our driver to take us to our hotel in Cork. Our driver was so kind and had a thick Irish accent, but again a BMW for 1 passenger. He was able to load our luggage a little more effectively than the first guy so we didn't have as much to carry on our laps as the first leg. We were just hungry and happy to be at our hotel.
We arrived at the Cork Clarion and found our way to our rooms. Dianne was the meeting planner so she had a huge, fancy corner suite. We had the room next door that was just average but had 2 beds. One queen and one double. What? We just laughed and unloaded our bags so Robyn could get ready for her week full of meetings.
For dinner we headed next door to order room service with Di in her room. The food wasn't very good, but we were starving and did end up with delicious desserts.
We headed to bed soon after with the intent of a good nights sleep before a day of exploring the city.
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