Is there anything more depressing than the post-travel comedown? Okay, there are plenty of things, but don’t sue me for using some dramatic license. 🙂 I’ve been home from this London trip for a few days though, so wanted to wrap it up with one more post about my last day and the journey home.

UPDATE – although I’d been home for a few days when I STARTED this post, several months have now passed and I’m about to return to London TOMORROW (surprise!), so I figure I better ACTUALLY put that bow on this last trip by finally getting this post out the door. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin. 🙂

After a fun weekend of Doctor Who, a convention, a cemetery tour, and some bingo (where I did NOT win, sadly), I had a couple of fun things planned for Monday, neither of which required me to wake up early. So after a bit of sleeping in and some blogging, I couldn’t take the sun streaming in through my window any longer and hence made my way outside to enjoy it. Though I really can’t complain about the weather on this trip (the temps were pretty perfect, even if the skies were grey, but I didn’t have to deal with any rain), it was extra nice to have such a sunny, lovely day to enjoy right at the end. In fact, the weather was SO nice that I decided to forgo even taking my umbrella with me as the forecast assured me no rain was coming (and as it turned out, that was correct!). Although I like to be prepared, there’s something a bit daring about walking around a UK city without the safety net of an umbrella, isn’t there? Plus, it’s one less thing to carry, so…hooray!

Even though I didn’t zip out of my room first thing, I still had some time to walk around in the sunny weather before my first activity, which is something I always love to do on the final day of my London trips. I feel like it’s my way of absorbing all that London energy before catching a plane home the next day! I was heading towards St. Paul’s generally, but didn’t have to rush, so I enjoyed a walk/tube combo to get there, taking in a few familiar sights along the way. You can see a few photos from this meander below!

That’s right – Buckingham Palace! I like to get different views of familiar places, so it was neat to see it head-on and through the trees.

Going down, followed by going up! I think I’ve said it before, but I always enjoy that To Street sign on the escalator in the right-hand photo.

Pizza consumed, it was time to head back across the street to St. Paul’s, where I met the the guide and group for my planned activity, a walking pub tour. Although I’ve been to pubs and I’ve done walking tours, I’d never done a walking pub tour, so I figured, why not give one a try? I booked through Liquid History Tours for £35, which felt a little bit expensive, but not TOO bad for the 2.5 or so hours we spent together. By the end of it, I discovered that I’d already visited not one, but TWO, of the pubs on the tour, but just to have drinks, not to learn any history, so I didn’t feel like the time was wasted. Our group of a dozen or so amblers (there were actually two groups as the tour was fully booked, but with two guides, we broke up into two smaller groups) had a nice vibe and I enjoyed striking up conversations with some of them, including a nice couple from Florida who were skipping around to a few UK locales before heading home. Our guide (whose name I’m of course forgetting now – whoops!) was also very solid – he had good energy and was full of useful info.

Since I’m a bit lighter on the details now than I was when I took this tour back in March (I know, I know – finish your posts sooner, Jeff!), here’s a list of the pubs we hit, along with the bits and bobs I remember about them:

• The Cockpit – would you believe this one got its name from the cockfights that used to be held on site? That was entertainment in the 1800s! There’s actually been a pub of some kind on the same site since the 1600s, when Shakespeare himself lived nearby! Writing this post, I actually realized I’ve been BY this pub previously, but never IN it, so I’m still saying it’s new to me.
• The Punch Tavern – this pub on Fleet Street started as a gin palace (so named because they pretty specifically existed solely for the sale of gin, usually drunk standing up – no cozy pub booths or tables!) and was named after Punch Magazine. While I’m not much of a gin drinker (I leave that to my friend Bill!), I specifically asked the bartender for a drink that was a bit lighter, fruitier, and had less pine tree flavor than normal gin and he did well!
• El Vino – this is also on Fleet Street and we actually didn’t even visit it, but we did stop by briefly on the way to our next stop. It’s famous for being an old haunt for all the journalists who used to work nearby when most newspapers were officed on Fleet Street.
• Old Bank of England – this is the first pub that I’ve been to before, just last year with Felicity. Based on the name, would you believe it used to be…a bank? It’s a really cool building and, this time, I’m glad I got to see the red bus that’s parked out back (I missed it last time). Definitely a cool place for a drink!
• The George – this is another one I’d been to before, once again with Felicity, but that was just for a quick drink before our Twinings Masterclass. This is another place with cool ambiance and a neat location, right on the Strand. I mean, who wouldn’t wanna visit a pub that dates back to the early 1700s??

Now that we’ve got some pesky details out of the way, check out some photos!

Outside The Cockpit. Look at that blue sky!

Learning about the history of this pub and gin palaces in general outside The Punch Tavern.

Outside the Old Bank, followed by a better shot of it from across the street.

Inside the pub (from the second floor), plus the red bus in the back courtyard.

That wrapped up my pub tour! Writing about it now, it kind of feels like we didn’t see that many pubs, but it felt like a pretty full afternoon at the time. I think I would have appreciated it more if I hadn’t previously visited a couple of them beforehand, but it was still a fun tour regardless. I’d be interested in doing another pub tour(s) in different parts of the city, so I’ll bookmark that for a future trip!

As it turns out, I actually had to skedaddle from The George so I could get back to my hotel for a quick freshening-up before transitioning to my evening plans – an evening showing of Oh, Mary! I’d actually seen the show with Scott in NYC, but that was a different cast, so I thought it would be fun to see again. I went for rush tickets through the TodayTix app earlier in the day, which was surprisingly easy to do! I just had to indicate my interest in the app, wait for the in-app notification (I think it came at 10 AM), and then quickly buy tickets if they were available. Needing only one ticket made it easier, so I had no issues snagging one!

I had a great time at the show! Oh, Mary! is a quick, 80-minute show with no interval, so the time flies by pretty quickly, especially because you spend a lot of time laughing! It’s definitely NOT a show for people who are put off by swearing or debauchery, so if that’s you, pick a different show. 😁 I thought it was just as funny the second time around and would highly recommend it!

You know what I don’t recommend? Ending vacations. 😭 But if one doesn’t end, the next one can’t begin, right? So, after some post-show packing and a decent night’s sleep, I woke up, showered up, finished packing, and was on my way to Heathrow. Thankfully, my flight didn’t leave until around 1p, so I didn’t need to wake up TOO early (I shudder and yawn thinking of London trips when I’ve had to get up as early as 430a to make a flight!) and had plenty of time to catch the tube, which took about an hour.

Given my proximity to a big station like Victoria on this trip, it was pretty easy-breezy to get to Heathrow, where I proceeded to get some airport steps in (I managed to hit 10,000!) while waiting for my standby seat to clear. And wouldn’t you know it? The standby gods came through for me again with another swanky Delta One seat! I don’t want to get used to this because a nice seat is never guaranteed (hell, ANY seat is never guaranteed when flying standby!), but I’ll enjoy it every time it happens. I even got more photos as proof!

As always, a couple of tube roundels as I travel to Heathrow.

Hello, 7A – nice to meet you!

Warm nuts, bread, soup, salad, and beef short rib. Oof! Glad I didn’t eat before getting on the plane.

A pleasant flight in a great seat with plenty of tasty food definitely made for an easy trip home! And now I’m finishing this post several months later, counting down to my next London trip, which just so happens to be tomorrow. So just in case you haven’t had your fill of travel- and London-centric content from this blog, gear up for more! I’ve got some new-to-me stuff planned, a side trip to a new-to-me city, and plenty of fun in a not-so-new-to-me city. Stay tuned, friends!