Oscar with his new baby sister Francesca

Robyn and Daniel

Beachy Head

St Marys Abbot

Hyde Park and High Street

A leisurely day in Hyde Park as a vacation from the vacation. We decided to have a slower paced day today so went just a few blocks away to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. After visiting the park - and checking out the Diana Memorial Fountain of course - we came back and rested up for the late afternoon.

We took the tube to High St Kensington and the picture is of a beautiful church that we saw. Of special interest and I have more pictures, is the sign on two of the doors. One says 'Boys and Infants' and the other says 'Girls'. I believe it's from the 1800's.

A word of caution for those of you whose train traveling experience is limited to Amtrak - when you are on an English train you are not struck deaf - it's that quiet; you are not suddenly blinded - it is moving too fast for your brain to process the visual data input, and your watch is finally useful - each station arrival is spot on.

St Mary's Abbot

The baths

Bath

We took the train to Bath today - about a 90 minute trip. I had agonized over how to get the tickets - going to numerous websites and never quite going through with ordering them due to indecision and confusion. As it turns out, by getting them at the station (instead of ahead of time as every single website advised), we saved 50%! Of course we saved that much because we're both over 55 but still, at least there's some advantage in getting older!
It was really a wonderful trip. We got to see some of the English countryside on the way and once we arrived, the Roman Baths and the Bath Abbey were only a 5 minute walk. The Roman baths are from about 295AD but weren't discovered until the 1800s. The first King of England (Bladud I think) was crowned here - I can't remember the year but a LONG time ago! The Abbey dates from 973..

Fish and Chips

So Sharrie says that she wants the best fish and chips in London. She looks it up on google of course and finds Geales in Notting Hill. This being London, no problem - 2 tube stops away. So this is what Fish and Chips is supposed to taste like! I could live on this stuff!

A word about the tube - as I said about the fish and chips, this is how a tube is supposed to be. The London tube system is sublime. I could live on this tube system. No car, no cab, no problem!

Today we went to Baker St, not for Sherlock but to the Wallace Museum of Armor and Weapons. First we viewed the Treasures of the Black Death - jewels and gold and other precious metals hidden during the Black Death in the hope that survivors would be able to return for it. They were not. Then we marveled at the craftsmanship and outright beauty of 13th - 14th century armor. Sorry, no pictures allowed.

We finished the day lounging in Regents Park amongst the swans, and flowers and (as Sharrie called them) brown headed English type ducks.

London Tower

The Whole Story

To amplify a little... we did the Buckingham Palace thing, the Parliament thing, the Trafalgar Sq thing, the Piccadilly Circus thing, the Big Ben thing and then we walked the length of Charing Cross Road stopping in a million book stores. Today we did the complete Tower of London thing. It took four hours and every minute was a revelation. There is something about sitting quietly in a chapel that has been in use for a thousand years, 20 feet from the crypt of Ann Boleyn and various other hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, burned at the stake figures from history that... well... makes you just fully appreciate the comings and goings of all of us. Those Brits really were inventive when it came to killing a person. I particularly liked reading the pre-execution wall scratchings of the prisoners in the many tower rooms. And then hustled right on down to Starbucks on the Thames to enjoy being alive.

London Tower today. It was very interesting and a lot of fun.. well, once you got past all those beheadings that took place there...Anne Boleyn, Thomas More.. and those two princes aged 10 or 12 or so whose bones were found many many years later. We did the guided tour thing for an hour and it was well worth it as the Yeomen Warder(Beefeater) who did the tour was both funny and knowledgeable and we had plenty of time to go around on our own too. Pictures later...

My Humps - Yes, this is what she was singing

The Eye - but we didn't go on it!

Safe Arrival

Safe in the UK... and the sun is shining this morning!

Oscar

Daniel and Robyn

London Bridge

Saturday before leaving - I think it's time to start thinking about what we're going to pack. I haven't thought too much about it yet because we are going to pack LIGHT!