Today we headed back to London on our way to Wales. We had an early flight so we were packed and out the door at 5:40. Everything went fine through checkin and bag drop off this time. So all was good until I thought I had lost my heart locket bracelet. I noticed it missing right after security. I remember thinking I shouldn’t wear it through the airport but did it anyway so I was really mad at myself. I reached out to the uber driver and hotel to look for it and then stopped to go through my purse. It wasn’t in the bottom of my purse but I did find it later in a small pocket of the purse. How it got there I do not know. I would not have even written anything about this if I didn’t also almost lose a ring on the flight. It was a short flight and I slept most of it. As we were getting ready to exit I noticed my ring was gone. I knew I had during the bracelet fiasco but didn’t remember it since then. I looked round my seat and on the floor but gave up when it was our turn to exit but once we moved from the row it was stuck between mine and Val’s seat. I expect to lose my earrings that get tangled in my hair especially with the backpack on but rings and bracelets not so much. So I guess I am going jewelry free the rest of the trip.

We landed in London and trained into the city on the Heathrow express. Much better way into town than a cab. It is a bit of a walk from the terminals but there are a lot of signs so very easy to do.

Once on London we stored our bags so we could run by the Fortnum and Mason Winnie the Pooh window display. Baggage storage at paddington station is a little sketchy. We were a little worried about leaving them behind but we didn’t want to drag them through London so we took the chance. Spoiler all went fine bags safe and secure.

Took us a bit to get to the right metro line and off to Piccadilly but we eventually made it. It was a bank holiday and the Caribbean Carnival which is the largest street festival in Europe. We were caught up in huge crowds of people heading to the event done up to the nines in their festival outfits. Most of the crowds we saw were Jamaican (they were carrying or wearing the flag) and those women can carry some colorful outfits.

We finally made it to Fortnum’s and the window was super cute but questionable if it was worth the trouble. I am glad I saw it and would have been disappointed if I missed it so I am glad we went. Fortnum’s is always a good stop so we shopped some, mostly window shopping since we didn’t want to carry it but we did get some cookies and a slice of the Winnie the Pooh cake.

We also got bagel sandwiches downstairs. They have a small food court and I highly recommend the bagels. I don’t know if by the time we ate them I was so hungry or they were that good but they were better than any I have had in Austin.

The train went smoothly a bit of a delay when something had to be cleared from the track but we had seats and are our bagels so it was all good.

We arrived in Cardiff around 5. Our hotel was only about a block from the station so we didn’t need a cab. For the first two nights we are staying in the historic center and will move out to the bay on Wednesday to start the tour. Our current hotel is not great but it is fine. It is a nice big room and the air works really well so I think we will survive . It is close to all the sights, pubs and shopping so we will be able to make the most of our time.

We got out and walked around some before heading to get dinner. We decided on pizza which wasn’t the best but we weren’t that hungry so it worked out well.

After dinner we continued to stroll through town. We went by the castle which we will see as part of our tour but the light was nice so I took a few pictures.

It was still relatively early so we hit the pub across from the hotel for a few beers. Rogue Mary had a pretty nice lager and it was happy hour until 8 so the first one was only 3 pounds.

It had been a long day so we headed back to the room to have a bite of the Winnie the Pooh cake and called it a night.