Cheerio!

For our final morning the choice was easy: pancakes!

A painting of Beck Hall before the dining room was added. Our total bill for four nights at our Yorkshire Shangri-La averaged just $298 per night, including our room, parking, dinner, all drinks, desserts, breakfast, & tips—an extraordinary bargain, especially considering the exceptional food‼️

On the way to York we made a quick stop to see the Knaresborough Viaduct, which carries the Harrogate line over the River Nidd in the charming Yorkshire village of Knaresborough.

The ornate viaduct & tranquil river.

I dropped Amanda & our gear at Yorkshire Railway Station & then returned the car to the nearby Enterprise. Afterward I made a quick trip into York. Of course, I used the medieval York City Walls path where I could! Yorkminster Cathedral is in the background.

I ran by the fictional home of Patience Evans from the York-based detective series Patience.

The fictional home of Patience Evans.

On my way back to Amanda I stopped at Rise. Coffee on Museum St for a matcha & mocha.

In the first HP movie only, they used the footbridge inside York Railway Station as London's King's Cross Station.

This was the scene where Hagrid shows Harry into the station but then suddenly disappears after giving Harry his ticket.

Us on the York Railway Station footbridge.

The two stations share many similarities; however, there was definitely some computer graphics needed to give the station its on screen magical feel.

Waiting at the platform in York for our LNER train to London. I’m sorry to report that our train arrived at Platform 3.

Beginning in Inverness, our LNER Azuma train arriving in York. The name Azuma means East in Japanese & pays homage to the train's design roots, which are based on Japanese bullet train technology from Hitachi.

After arriving at King’s Cross Station in London at 4 pm, the 173-mile journey took only 2 hours! We checked bags into storage, did some shopping, & had dinner before taking the Heathrow Express to the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3.

Eternally grateful for the time & means to have enjoyed such an epic journey, our sad faces tell another story: we had finally been reduced to Starbucks before boarding our Wed morning flight home to LAX. 😭☕️✈️

On board British Airways Flight 283, departing LHR at 10:30 am & arriving at LAX at 2 pm. We definitely prefer flights that chase the sun. As we deplaned, a flight attendant actually said to Amanda, “Cheerio!”

“One can love many places and still miss home.” Emma M. Lion

“One should go away long enough to know the cotton-soft contentment of coming home.” Emma M. Lion