Life LackaDaisiCal

We arrived early at King's Cross Station - no train in sight! You might think that this trip was all  about vintage steam trains and the like - but I was on a mission...  to find what I could about Hogwarts -  - so I went looking for Platform 9-3/4! Turns out this Platform is under construction....hmmmm Where is the Hogwarts Express running from these days? Here it is - our first engine -  "Dominion of New Zealand" an A4 Pacific We were in Coach D - Christina Wood panelled, high backed comfortable seats, and our own table for two. We stopped in York to pick up the last of the passengers. And arrived late that afternoon in Edinburgh. Unfortunately it was only an overnight stop..... check in at the hotel and a brisk walk.

"THE KISS" and a second one - obviously they practiced! Like Millions of others, I got up VERY early to watch the Wedding! Congratulations! If you missed it and you want to watch it - check out the  Royal Channel on YouTube!

This is actually Monday, April 25 - our trip is over - and we are back in London - this is Regent Street all decorated for the Wedding! I'm going to be up early today to watch!

I wanted to include this photo yesterday - but somehow it got missed - so here's another photo of the Easter Bunny!  It's Friday on our trip and we have a full day in London before we embark on "The Great Britain IV" - so off to do some sightseeing! This is a closeup of the Easter Bunny and Tea Pots outside of the Dorchester - how adorable ! This was officially Alan's first time over the Millennium Bridge - on our last visit together we "thought" we were on the Millennium Bridge but we weren't LOL!!!   We were on our way here - our first visit to "The City of London" .  This was one of those "one thing leads to another" moments - while watching Hereafter - the final scene was the Matt Damon character sitting in a London market - I searched and searched to find THE market  and this is it.....the Leadenhall Marke t . Quite the contrast here -- right next door is the Lloyd's of London ultra-modern building with the elevators tha...

By the flags, you might think this was the Swiss Embassy - but no, it's HARRODS !!! This was my first visit to Harrods.   April was "Everything about Switzerland" month - that explained the Swiss Flags.  Everything about Harrods is OTT (Over The Top) - we visited the Diana and Dodi Memorial at the bottom of the Egyptian Escalator . On the way back from Harrods we walked up Park Lane past the Dorchester Hotel - and caught this - Bunnies and Tea Pot Topiary - it must have been a trial run for Easter because it was gone later that night when we went out for dinner!

We've wanted to do this trip since the original was run 4 years ago - so this time, when it was announced by the Railway Touring Company that it was on for 2011 - we booked!  This is a 8 night tour around the UK travelling in vintage railway cars, being hauled by preserved Steam Locomotives, eating our meals on the train, stopping along the way and staying over-night in Hotels.    This was a dream vacation for us - and it was a great way to commemorate Alan's 60th Birthday! Of course, everything it seems starts in London........I love London......and here I am in Hyde Park  at the Joy of Life fountain - our hotel was just up Park Lane behind me in this photo.  Our room wasn't ready so we decided to talk a walk to....

OK, it's looking good so far......... and the pattern lines up from the body to the sleeve - almost perfectly!

We watched this last night - downloaded via Apple TV Matt Damon is the recognizable star - but he is only one of 3 major storylines in this movie - Directed by Clint Eastwood! FABULOUS movie - 4.5 Knitting Needles out of 5! Click on the photo to go to a preview of this movie.

I'm ready to start my top down fair isle sleeves. I've picked up one stitch per row......and done some figuring...... I found this book to be invaluable - it has just been republished by Schoolhouse Press.

It all started with Wendy's blog - yes I had to have one.... Then I saw this..... and this I may have to knit one of these for myself........I think I may be joking, or not LOL!

Just walking by the table right at the entrance - and there it was! (I have the hard back version.) Edited to add:  Visit Sally's Web Site