During this segment of our trip, we made a slight adjustment to our itinerary by skipping our final tour stop. As we commuted, we couldn’t help but feel envious of England’s expansive, efficient, and timely public transportation system—trains, the Tube, buses, all working seamlessly together.

Of course, as we’ve learned on our travels, every country has its pros and cons. For Jenny, one of the downsides of England was the pigeon poo—something she struggled to avoid throughout our time in the cities. Despite these little challenges, it was an unforgettable trip, especially for the opportunity it gave us to reunite with Jessica and Rob.

2025.08.21 – [GB] Liverpool ==> Birmingham

Upon getting out of bed, Jenny discovered that check-out from our apartment was at 11 a.m. The morning passed quickly as we had breakfast and packed up before heading to the train station. Since we arrived early for our train, we found a spot for coffee at a Wetherspoon located within the station.
Our two-hour train ride to Birmingham was quite pleasant, as our coach was mostly empty. Upon arriving at Birmingham’s train station, we were struck by its airport-like scale and the volume of pedestrian traffic. We checked into our apartment shortly before 3 p.m. It was noticeably more central than our previous accommodation in Liverpool.
For dinner, we explored the nearby Chinatown, which seemed larger than the one in Manchester. After browsing several menus, we settled on a popular noodle restaurant and enjoyed one of their large specialty soups. We ended the evening with a walk and picked up some staples along the way for the next two breakfasts.

2025.08.22 – [GB] Birmingham ==> Birmingham

After Jenny’s late morning homemade breakfast, we set out from our apartment for a day of sightseeing. While many of the landmarks along our route weren’t particularly striking, we were pleasantly surprised to come across a commemorative exhibit on Ozzy Osbourne at the Birmingham Museum. Ozzy, a music legend in his own right and a Birmingham native, had recently passed away, adding a sense of poignancy to the visit.
We took a well-earned break at one of our favorite coffee chains, Caffè Nero, where we enjoyed coffee and cake. The latter part of our walk turned out to be far more scenic as we followed a canal lined with lively restaurants and pubs.
For dinner, we stopped at a small Chinese restaurant nearby. Later in the evening, we headed to a nearby shopping mall, only to discover that the shops were closing at 8 p.m., so our visit was brief.

2025.08.23 – [GB] Birmingham ==> London

We woke up a bit earlier than usual to have a light breakfast before catching our 10:36 train back to London. Originally, we had planned to stop for two nights in the famous Cotswold countryside before returning to the city. However, after looking into public transport options and realizing how scarce both transportation and accommodations were during the weekend, we decided to skip the stop. It became clear that we would need several more days (and possibly a bigger budget!) to truly explore and enjoy the Cotswolds. So, we booked our train tickets straight back to London.
The two-hour ride was quite pleasant, though we noticed the train gradually filling up with passengers, many of them standing as we got closer to London.
Once back, we took on some cat-sitting duties at Jessica and Rob’s flat, as they had headed off for a long weekend in Scotland. When we opened the door, Freddie the cat looked at us with a mix of curiosity and mild disappointment—apparently, we weren’t quite the same as her usual humans.
After a brief rest, we walked to the nearby shopping mall so Jenny could return a top she had bought before our England tour. We also picked up groceries for dinner before heading back to the flat. Once we were settled, Jenny was eager to play (and, of course, win) a few rounds of Bananagrams to wrap up the day.

2025.08.24 – [GB] London ==> London

We had light breakfast before leaving the flat at 11:30am. We took the tube to the Greenwich peninsula. As we were quite early for our Sunday roast restaurant reservation, we opted to take a return trip on the London Cable car across the Thames river. After buying our tickets, we promptly boarded our own private cable car. Unfortunately, once across the river, we opted to leave our car and explore the area a bit but once we noticed a very long queue for the cable car return trip. Rather that explore the area, we queued for over 20 minutes for our return trip. Back on the Greenwich peninsula, we took a bus to reach our Pub. We arrived to our 2pm Sunday roast booking only a few minutes ahead. We enjoyed the Pub’s environment, food and service.

2025.08.25 – [GB] London ==> London

Yesterday, we discovered a website offering 15 self-guided walks, complete with Google Maps to guide you along the way. After breakfast, we took the tube to the starting point of one of these walks, the “Regent’s Canal Walk.” Since it was a bank holiday Monday in England, the tube and pedestrian traffic were lighter than usual, making for a peaceful start to our day.
The walk itself was a very pleasant 7+ kilometers along a series of interconnected canals, offering plenty of scenic photo opportunities. We began our walk at 11:30 a.m. and finished about 3.5 hours later. Along the way, we took a break for coffee and later stopped for some light snacks.
Once we returned to the flat, we relaxed while waiting for Jessica and Rob to return from their long weekend in Scotland. Rob prepared another lovely dinner for us, and in the evening, we enjoyed a few rounds of different social games, much to Jenny’s delight—Bananagrams, Rummikub, and Dobble were the highlights.

2025.08.26 – [GB] London ==> London

After Jessica returned from the gym and Rob finished some office work at home, we had breakfast together. Before heading out in the early afternoon for our last bit of London sightseeing, we took care of our online check-in for the next day’s flight.
The four of us took the tube to London Bridge for a view and photos of the iconic Tower Bridge. From there, we strolled along the south bank of the Thames. Along the way, we stopped for a brief visit to the Tate Modern gallery. We continued our walk up to Chinatown, where we enjoyed a late afternoon dim sum meal.
Back at the flat, we took a short rest before playing our final rounds of social games with Jessica and Rob. It was the perfect way to wrap up our three-week England adventure—a truly splendid day.

2025.08.27 – [CA] London ==> Ottawa

We woke up at 7 a.m. and finished packing our luggage. We ordered an Uber, and Jessica and Rob kindly escorted us to our nearby pick-up location. After bidding them farewell, with plans to see them again when they visit Canada next spring, we headed to Stratford Station.
Luckily, we managed to catch the Elizabeth Line train just as it arrived. Although we had to stand for a few stops, the train gradually cleared out, making the journey more comfortable. We arrived at Heathrow Airport a full three hours ahead of our flight. After checking in our luggage and clearing security, we stopped at a coffee shop for drinks. Time seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, we were boarding our Air Canada flight to Ottawa at 12:40 p.m.
The flight was uneventful, though the plane appeared fairly full—our usual strategy of leaving the middle seat empty between Jenny and I didn’t quite work this time. Upon arrival at Ottawa Airport, we felt like we waited forever for our luggage. Thankfully, our kind neighbor, Sharon, was there to pick us up. She patiently waited for us outside and then drove us home through the mid-afternoon peak traffic.
As we sat in traffic, we couldn’t help but miss the efficiency of London’s public transport. Ottawa’s capital-city traffic felt a world away from the smooth rides we had grown so used to in London.