Alright, on our way to our first destination today, gonna be a bit different from what I’m used to but I hope for the best. I always still like to include a photo of where we are going or rather, what’s the situation on the London underground, I find it interesting but yea, let’s so how today goes.
Third day using the London underground and I have formed my general opinion that their system is very good. They have like 11-13 lines and a useful system in which you pay only so much depending on how far you go, good shit.
After transferring to two different lines we arrive at our destination, the Victoria Coach station, near Victoria underground station. The launching spot for many bus excursions outside the city and into other parts of the UK, oh boy.
We delayed it long enough, we are going to need try some GREEGGS, the UK’s most popular fast food chain serving up sausage rolls and other pastries. Luckily the coach station has one already inside nearby.
We ended up getting in total two sausage rolls and two other pie like things, one beef and the other some cheese and chicken thing. Pretty affordable price. I also ended up getting a coffee.
As yea, as you can probably guess by now, today is the first time I am going on a group day trip bus tour, something that I have avoided in my travels because I don’t really like seeing places and doing things on strict schedules, but given the large distances of the places I want to see in the UK, I really don’t have any other better choice, this is the easy way to see them. With that said, let’s try to introduce some of the characters for today’s journey.
Perhaps it was luck or bad luck but when we entered the coach/bus, there was no longer any other seats that had two empty side by side other than the very back of the bus, which is where the picture is taken from and were we ultimately sat for the rest of the day during travel. Oh, it may be important to introduce the man on the left eating a pie; his name is Stuart, and his wife. Stuart is British it seems and grew up here but somewhere along the line he moved elsewhere as his wife is American or Canadian I think. The two people sitting in front of them are I think a mother and daughter pair, with either the mother probably named Robin Cohen, I am not sure where they are from. Why is this important? Oh, nothing of importance right now at this time, at least not yet.
We open up a pair of the GREGGS sausage roils and give them a try while they are still hot. Honestly, pretty good shit, while no comparison to the huge and tasty sausage roll that we had at borough market the other day, this one is pretty fast food like but still maintains a solid taste and texture for a cheap price. Not bad, would eat again.
After a pretty uneventful bus ride to our first location, we get out of the entry gate and enter into the town of Windsor. We are pretty early so that’s good.
Our first destination today then is of course Windsor Castle, the place that the royal family and King Charles technically call home. Apparently they have thing new system where if the normal British flag is up, King Charles is not there, but if it’s anything different, he is currently in that location, which also applies to all locations in the UK, not just here. Apparently he was there early in the morning but left already. Hmm. This is just our group walking to begin the queue to enter the castle grounds.
After waiting for roughly half an hour we are in. Our tour guide did not enter with us and so it was up to us to see in the castle as they had a number of notable things.
They have about some archery hide hole things where I guess back in the day archers or snipers could fire out from, makes sense I guess. My sister illustrates the ideal archery form I guess.
Because we are who we are and we are limited on time, the first thing we do I go into the first gift shop we see and buy some shit. Damn, we didn’t even see anything yet but we brought some shit for it already lol. I mean, it’s a good strat instead of having to wait later on when lines get busy.
After some purchases from the gift shop we see some of these guards marching about, there is apparently going to be a changing of the guard ritual at around 11pm today which is nice but our tour guide said we have to be back at our coach bus by 11:30am, so that doesn’t allow for much time to watch this in it’s entirety and recommend to try and skip this if possible.
Gang signs at the royals crib. Should be the name of a album, maybe even cover, maybe combine with yesterday’s graffiti art place hmm. We are not allowed to take photos of the inside of Windsor castle but it’s pretty alright, filled with artifacts, paintings, and other stuff open to the public like weapons, armor and statues. My sister said they are trying to make it like Versailles but not quite. We also visited St George’s Chapel which is also on the castle grounds, which is an active chapel but also the tomb/resting place of many kings and royals, this includes Henry VIII, the one that caused the creation of the Anglican church, King George VI, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria and probably most recently relevant Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. So ya, we saw their tombs, interesting.
While we tried to avoid it, they blocked the exit of Windsor castle, the changing of guards ceremony locked us in, we were not allowed to leave until it was over, damn. While it was a nice spectacle, it wasted our time by like 10-15 minutes, time in which we could have used to explore the town a bit more.
By the time it was over and exited the castle, we only had like 20 or so minutes left before our tour bus was going to leave at 11:30am. And among this crowd, it may prove to be difficult for some when it’s so busy and crowded now in midday.
The town itself has some interesting stuff to see in the area but by far the most largest thing is the castle. They had some nice statues of royals here and there too like this one of Queen Victoria. Nice.
Today’s weather was very hot, much hotter than yesterday a swell and I thought about getting a cold coffee drink from the shop on the left, black sheep coffee, but when I entered I realized they were busy and left, it would take too long. We couldn’t risk being left behind as our tour guide said that they have a strict schedule to follow, it’s not up to her if they decide to leave people or wait, it’s the company she works for and she has to call head office to make the decision. Remember those two women I mentioned who sat in front of Stuart in the beginning? one named Robin Cohen?
They didn’t make it. We left them behind.
We were supposed to leave at 11:30am, we got back at like 11:20am, with only 10 minutes to spare, we were one of the later groups to get back. Our tour guide waited ten minutes until 11:40am, all the while making a call to head office, and they gave her and our driver the go ahead to leave them and so that’s exactly what we did. Damn.
Upon leaving we did a head count and check again of who was still on board. It was discovered it was Robin Cohen and the other women who was with her who we left behind. Damn. RIP.
I can’t imagine getting left behind like this, it must so so bad for them but rules are rules on a bus tour like this. Some people just can’t handle Windsor castle I guess.
While we continue on our journey with two less people to our next destination, we pull out the other two GREGGS pastries we brought and have them for lunch. There is simply no time to eat or get food in town and I think most people realized that as well, we did. The pastries we got, this beef one and chicken cheese one imo were not as good as the regular sausage rolls but maybe because they were not fresh but yea, food is still food I guess in our struggle for time.
On our way our tour guide mentions the next best attraction on their trip while bus travelling, which is the English countryside. Not bad I guess, taken from the window seat by me.
Bus tours are pretty ambitious you know, you try to pack in and go to so many different places all in one day, in the effort to optimize time, but did people ever think about the people? Did they ever think that such arduous conditions and insanity can effect the health and well being of it’s passengers? Well then, what you are seeing right now, in the picture above, is probably Stuarts final minutes before his journey with us had to end unexpectedly.
While the next location was a long drive, some 1.5 hours, sometime about 30 minutes before we reach our next destination everyone was kinda chilling and semi sleeping. Windsor castle was quite an ordeal and everyone just wanted to forget about those we had left behind, a memory, but then Stuart all of sudden started coughing very loudly and then suddenly sneezed and kind of passed out falling back into his chair.
Stuwart looked motionless and his eyes were closed. He wasn’t breathing.
Oh my god, is this guy just going to die all of a sudden in front of us. His wife realizes that her husband’s reaction was super weird and started to yell to him, shaking him to wake up.
He would not wake up. Her distress awoke the rest of the passengers and the attention of our tour guide, all tried shaking him to wake up. Someone suggested to start punching his chest/heart area and when the blows struck, he suddenly then gained consciousnesses and started breathing again and was awake.
What the hell was this about. Did this guy just have a mini stroke? Mini heart attack? Some weird neurological brain shit that caused him to pass out and stop breathing? No one will know for sure.
My sister helped to cool him off with her portable fan as he was apparently burning up and very hot. His wife thanked her.
When we got to our destination, the tour guide and his wife agreed to stay on the bus and seek medical attention from the staff at the visitors center, to maybe examine him and such. No one was sure if he could continue or if his journey was over with us but we all left the bus regardless.
We had more important things to see after all here.
And of course that more important thing is our second destination for our trip, Stonehenge, perhaps one of the most bait and popular things to see on a bus tour outside of London.
As recommend by our guide, don’t be a baiter and go to the rightmost road, keep going straight to the center main stone, it’s the real shit. Proof of existence main rock edition.
Hm, I don’t know if I can live up to this challenge of posing with Stonehenge.
All I got is NPC wave, guess that will do I suppose.
I marvel at the wonder of this magnificent rocks and stones. They are magical, said probably someone. Our photo taking ability and camera are top tier however, good shit.
Proof of rock existence, team attack thumbs up edition.
Godly magical rocks, in all their hd glory. Sky so blue, it’s like Stewart and Robin Cohen was sacrificed for this good day.
On the side they had ice cream being sold. Nice but probably don’t’ have time.
Waiting for the shuttle bus to pick us up back to the visitors center. Some of the people in our group were still wondering if Stuart was going to be OK or if he will continue. The greater mystery at the moment at this point in time, was not Stonehenge, but if Stuart and his wife would still be there when we got back to the bus.
When we got back to the visitors centre, we wasted a bit of time trying to find the water bottle refill station which is just a tap but whatever. We brought some shit from the gift shop and made no time making our way back to the bus pickup spot. Everyone was traumatized after all.
When we got back to the bus, everyone was asking about Stuwart and his wife. They were not there, they were gone. They tapped out. They folded. The tour guide said that they would stay back at the center and are waiting for an ambulance to take them back to London for him to get checked out. Damnnnn.
Stuart was gone. RIP.
With now four empty seats and a ever hotter bus, even with AC on, the tour guide suggested to move some others to the now free empty seats, so now Spanish family man and his son were in there seats. Spanish speaking man for some reason brought tickets for this English only tour, and was always asking about if there was Spanish language available for his family, there wasn’t. I am not sure if he fucked up badly and brought the wrong tour but every stop he was talking with our guide trying to accommodate them. He himself kinda spoke English but his family did not, which was the problem I guess. Will Spanish speaking family be the next casualty of this bus tour of insanity? Who knows.
He also walked into some horse shit on the road because he wasn’t paying attention, so the day wasn’t going great for him either.
At least he wasn’t Stuart or Robin Cohen and crew.
On our way to our third and final destination, our guide also mentions more nice english countryside shit. Nice.
This travel time was also about an hour or so, and tour guide noted some nice bridge or some shit. Apparently there is going to be a festival or something in the town we are going to, one of which will make it busier than normal for us tourists, not ideal. Oh boy.
And so we arrive at our final destination today, Bath, home of the famous Roman Baths of ultimate bait and popular place for UK bus tours. Everyone exits with caution. Will I be next? I don’t want to be left behind. Please, don’t leave me, I want to live. I want to go home now. Those were the thoughts of our bus tour passengers, at least in their minds I can imagine.
Our tour guide holding the red flag, Angela leads the way for our group inside a super busy and crowded Bath. Oh god, I wonder what she must be thinking after so many incidents of today.
Bath is a pretty nice town, nice buildings and shit, stuff to see and do I guess. Not that I would know much about that when it’s so busy.
Proof of bus tour survival, last destination Bath, earpiece edition.
After waiting longer than normal outside in the burning sun, we got inside the Roman Baths. Our tour guide said we had to get back to the bus by 5:15pm. Ok gotcha, I am sure we got this down down, you know, time. Shits green in the water cause algae I think, not that great compared to old days.
Nice bait views, I am sure millions of people have taken the exact same photos as everyone else but that’s besides the point, they are my photos, one gifted with superior photo taking abilities and they are nice.
I guess I’m a picture taking god now?
Just no words sometimes. Super meta real, too real.
Inside the museum space that is around the actual baths, there is a whole exhibit of stuff like old Roman shit and rocks, nice shit I’d say.
Head bust of Minerva, apparently one of the new Roman gods the Romans made up at the time combined with other other Greek and Celtic gods, which is super op in order to make the Celts not triggered that they are getting owned back in the day. I guess that’s the reason why so many game armor and equips are named Minerva, she’s a super op women god, noice.
NPC pose waiting for actionable proof of existence, green water bath edition.
Not sure if this guy was thinking about it or just posing, maybe a bit of both.
Nice rocks, the photos taken are actually much better than what you see with your real eyes. The magic of tech and cameras I guess.
So ace with the spiderwebs flames.
We did some gift shopping at the gift shop and brought some trinkets and decided to get some drinks before we start our long journey back to London. Costa has locations in Canada and elsewhere but apparently they are originally British, had no idea. Nice Spanish spiced Latte cold brew for me and some Berry smoothie thing for my sister, not bad. Nice chill break.
We made no risks after our rest and drink and just went back earlier to wait for bus to come back, the time right now I think was like 4:50pm. Damn, looks like Spanish speaking family man also just waiting around for the end too. I look around the area and a good 70% of our tour is just waiting now. We suffered too many losses on the way here, we do not want any more I guess.
On our way back from Bath to London however, we learn that there were some losses to our expedition. I think three other people did not go back with us, they had decided to stay in Bath, to be left behind by choice. Wow, mad lads. I guess they already planned for this to happen and have hotel arrangements or something already but man, I can’t imagine doing this during a day trip. They already told our guide their intent but damn, RIP still.
After a long ass 3 hour bus ride with very hot weak ass AC, we made it back to central London in one piece. In the end, seven people did not make it back with us together. RIP to the fallen travelers.
We did not plan for any restaurant for today as it was going to be late going back but we decided to go to Flat Iron, a steak place that was highly rated and a popular chain that was nearby the area of the Victoria station.
Even without reservations we got in pretty easy, no wait. One Asian guy, pictured here in the middle also got in and was just a party of one, himself, what a baller god. He don’t give a shit, just want steak man.
The decor of Flat Iron is very relaxed and chill casual, no loud music here but you can tell that they are not a stuffy high dining place, in many ways an even chiller and lower cost Fallow but with just steak on their menu.
Ordered a lager beer, only $4 pounds not bad. The only main menu permanent item they have is the Flat iron steak, just the steak for an amazing low cost of $15 pounds. Wow, that’s so cheap. All other steak options are seasonal and vary such as wagyu and other cuts on another chalkboard of the day. You order sides by themselves, none are included in the main dish which I kind of like. The knife they use is kinda jokes, like a cleaver, cool. They also give you a cup of popcorn even before you order for some reason, for free, it’s their thing I guess, noice.
The Flat iron steak, which I believe is a skirt steak. They call it flat iron in the UK I think hence also the name of this restaurant. Looks good.
Here is a flat iron waygu sirloin cut, which is a bit more expensive I think at $27 pounds. Looks good. You can also get some special sauces like peppercorn here or like some chili mayo stuff that my sister got.
We shared the two steaks and ordered a few sides like beef tallow chips/fries, mac and cheese and creamed spinach. All pretty good shit man. I am very impressed. The steaks are very good, cooked perfectly to medium rare and are very flavorful. The wagyu is just a little bit better than the Flat iron regular but honestly, for the price of $15 pounds, you can’t beat that price; it’s not A5 Japanese wagyu, but my guess is Australian or American wagyu anyways. The creamed spinach was a bit weak but it’s ok, too strong cream for me imo.
The total bill including my beer was just $70 pounds, including tip and tax. Wow. that’s very cheap compared to yesterday with Fallow. They also give you a little chopping token that you can redeem in the front of the restaurant where they give you a FREE popcorn flavored ice cream cone. Damnn, what the hell lol this is so good, what value.
The free popcorn flavored ice cream cone, pretty good shit man. I would pay money for this. All in all Flat Iron is an excellent steak restaurant chain, from the presentation to the quality of the meats and even the very simple basic menu, all are on point. They don’t offer much options but they do things right with even just one kind of steak that is always there on the menu, the Flat Iron steak. The bonus popcorn and ice cream are just the cherry on top. Would definitely go here again if ever in London again.
And that ends our day of inanity bus ride to hell experience. Man, bus tours are hard shit, yes it’s easier to go from one place to another but the time you get to spend and said place is so little, it makes me wonder if they are even that good. For some people yes I guess, for a sampling of a location or culture but for longer stays and exploration, I think they are horrible. Windsor castle I feel needed more time, Stonehenge was actually just right and Bath, not enough time but I suppose that’s just how things go. So many deaths/losses. Tomorrow will be doing our own thing again so we’ll see if such insanity is common in bus tours just like today or if this was just a one off. We have one more bus tour on our trip before we leave London, so we’ll see how that goes.