Sometime in 2018 I was having a whisky and cigar with my good mate Clive. He was telling me he’d traced his family history on his mother’s side to Scotland. Clive is very well travelled, but he explained further that he’s never been to Scotland. He went on to say he’d love to visit Scotland and go on a whisky trail. Maybe it was the whisky talking, but I immediately jumped on board and said “I’m in!”. We talked about it over the next few months and decided to aim for August 2021. We all know that was soon to be a fruitless proposition. We postponed until 2023, when we booked our flights for August 2024. My Dad, Ian and Brother in law, John joined us on the booking. A few months later my Son, Anthony joined in, making the touring party five boys. When I say boys, Ian (82), Clive (75), me (61), John (55) and Anthony (34) perhaps I should say a touring party of five old farts.

We booked flight with Singapore Airlines, from Perth to London, via Singapore. A couple of days in London sightseeing then catching the train to Edinburgh. Another couple of days sightseeing in Edinburgh, then embarking on a four day whisky tour to Islay. Back to Edinburgh for one night, flying to London and the next day home.

Dad and John decided they wanted to extend their time in Scotland so they changed their booking to return a couple of weeks later. As it turns out, neither of them are spending that extra time in Scotland. My sister, Ann is meeting up with John and they’re going to Ireland. Dad is going to visit his brother in Nice.

Six years of planning came to a climax and we’re off!

My Dad hasn’t travelled for around 15 years and he’s not as mobile as used to be at 82 years of age. This is probably his last opportunity to visit the motherland, so everyone is making a strong effort to make this trip special.

London

We arrived in London to beautiful weather. 25 deg and blue skies. I bought several jackets and jumpers, but no sunscreen and no hat. Surely the good weather will not last. Touching down at 3.30pm gave us plenty of time to get to our accommodation and hit the pubs for a few bevvies and bite to eat. Immigration was simple, our bags came promptly and we were out of the terminal pretty quickly. We then proceeded to wait in line for the elevator for what seemed an eternity to go down one floor to the taxi stand. We actually wanted to catch an Uber thinking that they would pick up at the same place as taxis. Nope, we’d have to line up again at those elevators to go to the fourth floor. We decided to catch a taxi. Luckily one taxi could fit us all in, including our suitcases. We got to accommodation, the Victory Services Club around 6pm in the swanky district of Marble Arch. The VSC is a military based club, of which Clive is a member. Anthony had booked cheaper accommodation close by. Clive and I shared a twin room and Dad and John shared another.

We had a beer in the hotel’s lounge and bumped into the CEO of the VSC who welcomed us and told us some of the history of the place. We kicked on for another beer at the Carpenters Arms, then onto the Portman for a few more and some food. Our body clocks still adjusting to the time difference, we were all pretty tired from the flight so we hit the sack pretty early.

I was up early the next day and went for a walk around the area hoping to get a coffee in before the boys woke for breakfast. Starbucks was the first to open at 6.30, so I settled for a warm cup of milk (aka latte with an extra shot). Breakfast at the VSC was pretty good.

A tour of the Tower of London was the go today. We got the tube to St Paul’s station and walked to the Tower. We spent a couple of hours exploring the grounds, towers and listening to the stories. We also saw the world famous Crown Jewels. Again the weather was perfect, mid 20s with some scattered fluffy clouds. We took some photos of the Tower Bridge, which was nearby.

Lunch was Clive’s pick. He’d researched the Churchill Arms in Kensington. A traditional English pub with strangely a Thai menu. The food was pretty good. Dad was getting tired from all the walking and stairs, so we sent him back to the hotel in an Uber. Anthony, John, Clive and I pressed onto Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Once Jane found out I was in Notting Hill I have to find and take a photo of the famous places in the movie Notting Hill. I agreed but it wasn’t my highlight of the trip. She seemed chuffed with the photos anyway.

Back to the Carpenter’s Arms, where Dad rejoined us.

The next day we did the tourist thing and joined a hop-on hop-off tour bus. There was a stop at Marble Arch so we signed up for a day pass and off we went around the monopoly board.

First stop Trafalgar Square. Disappointingly it was roped off for cleaning. We passed the National Gallery and saw there was some Van Gogh’s on exhibition, and more importantly free entry. We spent about an hour there looking at the old paintings. What an unexpected and wonderful find!

Back on the bus to Covent Gardens. We spent a while walking through the arcades and piazza before stopping for a beer at the Nag’s Head pub.

Back on the bus over the Tower Bridge to the pier for a ferry ride to Westminster Bridge. A central spot to see the House’s of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye. The day was taking a toll on Dad and Clive so they called it quits and Ubered back to the hotel. Anthony and I went for spin on the London Eye. At £42 ($84 AUD) it was too rich for John. John was right it wasn’t worth the money, but it was a good experience.

Back on the bus to visit then King at Buckingham Palace. Charlie wasn’t home and it was getting late so we headed back to the hotel.

Dinner again at the Portman and early bed.

We’re going to Edinburgh tomorrow!