I'm finishing my holiday in London because ... it's London. My favourite city. I'm not sure what I'm going to do here. I'm feeling quite exhausted from my adventures, so I might just take advantage of the luxury of my final hotel and just relax.

Speaking of which, when I was looking for London accommodation I had two considerations. Firstly, most of the other accommodation I had secured for the holiday had come in under budget which meant I could spend extra in London. Secondly, all of my previous stays in London have been in relatively modest apartments or hotels with little or no view and very little space. I thought it was time to stay somewhere nicer. When the Shangi-La at The Shard first popped up on Booking.com I giggled to myself and whispered "as if". But then the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't resist the temptation. The appeal was less about the luxury of the hotel and all about the views. I selected a mid price room which would give me a view to the east, missing the major landmarks but still spectacular. To my delight, when I checked in last night they had upgraded me to a north facing room with the perfect view from the Houses of Parliament on the left to St Paul's on the right and the Thames slap bang in the middle. Could not ask for a better view.

I got to the hotel about 9:30pm after catching a taxi from London Kings Cross station. The check-in process was easy and I was personally escorted to my room on the 40th floor. The room is even larger than I had expected. The bathroom alone is nearly bigger than the entire room in the final hotel of my last holiday here! And there are lots of nice touches, like a set of binoculars to check out the sights, a Nespresso machine for the early morning coffee, electronic blinds that do a magnificent job of blocking out the early morning sun (it was light at 4:30am this morning), and even a TV built into the mirror in the bathroom.  

But the main attraction is the view. I could just sit an gaze out the window all day and night. The photos just don't give you the full floor to ceiling panoramic effect of the view.

It's not my intention to spend too much time in Oxford. I'm more interested in venturing back into the Cotswolds. So after my arrival it was this afternoon's task to see what I could.

First task was to check in. The hotel used to be the Oxford prison.

My room is in the annexe which is nice and bright. 

My room is top right. 

Opposite is the main part of the hotel. I'm glad I'm not over there - they don't appear to have much in the way of natural light.  I'm sure they'd be nice in side though.

Then I headed out with my camera. Early in my walk I came across a canal/stream with a long line of barges docked. 

They appear to be permanent residences - with postal services! 

From there I wandered into a part of the city that appeared to be residential. This building caught my eye with it's bright red window frames.

Of course there were the obligatory tudor buildings too. 

Soon I was in amongst the university part of the city. 

I popped into the Divinity School to admire the architecture.

While wandering I happened to look up and noticed people looking from a vantage point at the top of one of the buildings - a tower! I had planned to wrap up my walk but instead I sought out the tower with renewed vigour. It belonged to St Mary's Church. The steps are probably the narrowest I've encountered so far.  I'm surprised they didn't ask me to sign some kind of waiver.

But the views were worth it. 

On one side I could hear a violin. This guy was patiently performing down below. 

After the tower it was definitely time to get back to the hotel. However, my journey was abruptly interupted when I stumbled across a crew filming. By the clothes it looked like it was set in the late 50s or 60s. After witnessing a short scene I continued on.

All around Oxford there are bikes "parked" against buildings. I hoped the owner of the owner of this one was a doctor. 

As I approached the hotel I noticed one last building. The angles of the building below the spire appealed to me for some reason. 

Time to start planning my days of walking and exploring further into the Cotswolds. 

This morning when I woke up it was wet, grey, blustery and cold ... perfect! The kind of day that I could finally sit inside and potter around without any guilt of not being out doing something. Having said that, I still found it really difficult to just sit and be in the moment. But by the end of the day I definitely began to feel a sense of calmness that I know I needed. Even when the weather improved and my itchy feet forced me outside, I managed to stroll instead of the usual gallop.

This morning I took the opportunity to take some pictures of this lovely hotel. Once I started, small details began popping up in front of me everywhere I looked. I only stopped because it began to get busy with people and I didn't want to become conspicuous or a nuisance. 

Tomorrow I take the final train trip back down to London for a few days before starting the trek home. 

The hotel I'm staying in was first opened in 1838. It's quite grand and it will be a great base for my exploration of the Cotswolds.  

The room overlooks a park. 

The hotel has an impressive central staircase. 

By the time I had regroued and was ready to explore the wet weather had arrived. I waited in the lobby for the first shower to pass before heading out. Cheltenham is a lovely looking city with lots of Georgian buildings. It was too dark and wet to get pictures today but I will at some stage. After wandering a little and stopping for a coffee the rain looked set in so I decided to return to the warmth of the hotel for the evening. 

We arrived in Oslo on time. I didn't see much of the city on the way in as we had been in a tunnel for a while. The weather was grey with spots of rain. 

In Oslo I'm staying in an apartment again, but this one doesn't have a reception. I rang the company to arrange for them to meet me. The apartment was only 10min walk from the station in a brand new development on the waterfront. Once here, I was pleased to see it was more like the accomodation in Copenhagen. A bit nicer actually.  

The view in the foreground is all construction. But then there is the massive Oslo Opera House. And in the distance the waters and bays of the Oslo fjord.  

I popped down to the supermarket to get supplies. Another set of words to decipher! You could make a game out of it. It was almost 6:00pm when I got back. I'm going to eat in while I'm here. After Oslo I'll be in hotels for 10 nights in a row. 

As I've been writing this the grey skies have cleared and everything us blue. A fine day is forecast for tomorrow which is just as well, because there's a lot I want to do. 

Today I leave London for my little Scandinavian adventure. The sky in London is beautiful and blue this morning. Would have been great for photos. Oh well.  I'll be back. I got myself organised fairly quickly. My plan was to get a taxi to St Pancras station then the train to Luton Airport for my flight.

Once again, the taxi driver was very amiable and talkative. Such a nice experience. My primary reason for catching he train was for the scenery. If I took a taxi all the way I figured I'd probably only see motorway. Once at the station it took a bit of figuring out but I got to the platform and boarded my train. At first the view was just the usual inner city landscape, but then it opened up to wide fields and small towns. 

At Luton Airport Parkway we needed to change to a shuttle bus to get to the airport. Trying to get my back onto the luggage rack in the bus was a challenge but I got there with a little help. At the bag drop counter I discovered my bag was just on 20kg which is my limit for these short flights. The books I've bought already have really added to the weight.  

I was at the airport early so had just about an hour to wait. I'd rather be at the airport early than have to worry about missing a flight. But it did remind me that flying in the middle of the day wastes so much of the day. If I had flown later I would have been able to do something in London in the morning.  While waiting for my flight I reflected on how I was about to immerse myself in non-English speaking lands again. I haven't done that for an extended period since my trip in 2013.

The flight up was a bit bumpy. The plane was an A319 and its noises were unfamiliar to me. I have to confess it was a bit unnerving. But eventually it settled down and I got a good view of some rain in the distance then some English countryside.

Somewhere around the North Sea or Denmark we crossed these islands. 

Before crossing the island where Copenhagen is. 

The airport is huge and I took ages just to walk to the exit and through passport check. As with leaving Australia and entering the UK I seemed to draw some extra attention that warranted a little "interrogation". Just specific questions about what I was planning to do and why I was there. Not everyone appeared to get these questions. I guess a middle aged man travelling all that way on his own on holiday might not be common?

Eventually I was reunited with my bag and any lingering concerns about flying with easyJet were dispelled. Despite some bad ratings I've had a great experience with them both times.

As with London, I decided to catch the train into central Copenhagen and then a taxi to the apartment hotel. Of course this time was trickier due to language but I made it without hitch. The trains seem much roomier than the English trains and very new. It only took about 15 minutes and before long I was in a taxi. I managed to communicate the address to the driver successfully only to discover his English was as good as mine.  Another very amiable and talkative driver too. I had been told that most people here speak English well and that certainly seems to be the case so far.

I'm staying in an apartment hotel which means I've got a bit more space and facilities to make my own breakfast and meals if I want. But there's also a restaurant and bar too. 

The weather in Copenhagen was grey, about 6 degrees and damp. By this time it was around 4:30 so after checking in I rushed to get some warmer clothes on and head out to explore.

Right next to the hotel is Kastallet which appears to have been an old fortification but is now mainly a public space with barracks in the centre. 

As in London, I came across trees in blossom. 

After exploring the grounds I walked towards some docks and came across this incredibly intricate sculpture.  

Nearby I noticed dragons at the top of the light poles. Later, at dinner, I would notice dragons in a different design on other light poles. Must have some significance. I will investigate.

By now it was nearly 6:30pm and I was starting to get hungry. So I headed back. On the way, I came across this family. 

There's a supermarket on the corner of the hotel's block so I popped in for breakfast supplies. With a little guesswork I (hopefully) managed to work out the fat and sugar content labels in order to make some healthy choices (and I successfully resisted the muesli with chocolate pieces)

Dinner in the hotel restaurant was in order before a relatively early night. 

My plan this morning was to get up early, pack, check-out and make my way to one of the art galleries along The Mall before my train to New York at 2pm. I'd run out of time to visit these on Tuesday and I was a little intrigued by a sign for one of the exhibits. Everything went according to plan until I discovered that, unlike most of the other museums, the art galleries don't open until 11:30; I think it's because they stay open until later. Bum! 

So, after grabbing a coffee and something to eat, I made my way to another museum instead. I decided on the American History Museum. I think I have a fair handle on American history in general but thought it might be interesting all the same. And it was. As with all of the Smithsonian museums, it's extremely well laid out and presented. I spent a few hours wandering before it was time to make my way back to the hotel, pick up my bags and get to the train station. 

As you may have guessed, train travel is my preferred mode of transport and the Acela Express is a relatively high speed train that takes a couple of hours to get from Washington to NYC. My ticket gave me access to the lounge so I could sit somewhere comfortable and await my train.

The train journey was good. The train was comfortable, great service and some nice scenery. I didn't take any pictures though: a) I was feeling a bit camera-ed out and b) the other passengers mainly appeared to be businessmen wheeling and dealing on their cell phones and I didn't really want to blow my cover as a "tourist".

Anyway, we got to NYC on time. I eventually found my way out of the station and to the taxi queue - that kept getting longer and longer and longer as I made my way around the corner. It was 5:00pm, after all. And it was freezing, much colder than the sunny DC I had left. Oh well, what can you do? I waited patiently in line with everyone else and about 1/2 hour later my taxi arrived. He got me to the hotel quickly while I thawed out in the back seat. 

Fortunately, the hotel is pretty much as I had expected. This is my view out of one window. 

This is my view out of the other.

And I can see both from the comfort of my bed!

This will be home for the next 12 nights and I'm pretty happy with that!

New York was the reason for this trip. It's the only place in North America I've always wanted to visit. Sure, I've discovered some fantastic places along the way. But this is what I came for. Can't wait to get out there tomorrow. 

But tonight I'm going to chill out here. The beauty of being here for more than a week is that I don't have to rush myself. New York nightlife can wait. 

After yesterday's challenges I made it to the apartment only a couple of hours later than planned. When I first saw the area I must admit it looked a bit run down and I was a little concerned. It was nothing like the areas I'd stayed in London or Amsterdam.

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But on closer inspection I noticed the streets were teeming with young people and families, some cool shops and great little restaurants. The area is Prenzlauer Berg and it was on the east side of the wall. I think I'm going to like it here.

Last night the streets were busy with people. Europeans love keeping their curtains open though.

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The apartment itself is pretty much as advertised. I love how much light there is and it's not noisy like London was. And there's a lift! I'm on the fourth floor.

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Here are some pictures from my balcony. You can just make out the misty weather which is starting to clear now.

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I'm just taking time to have my breakfast and roughly plan for the week. I've booked my visit time to the Reichtag and I've been checking weather reports to gauge which days will be best for outdoor walking. I will post today's adventures in part 2.