Day #1... The long day from Gridley to Heathrow

August 9th

A drive to Yuba City,  then Erick taking us to catch the plane in Sacramento, a four hour layover at Salt Lake City, and then a long, long, nine hour flight to Heathrow, London, still found us with another two hour van ride from the airport to our hotel into " the City of London"  one square mile center area that gets that name.  By the time we got here, since none of us slept longer than twenty minutes on the plane, we were ready for a nap.  Two hours later Michael and I were ready to go on a vicinity walk around the hotel.  It is right next to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. 

After WWI metal orange poppies were made by an artist. He made so many that they flowed out of the windows of the Tower of London and filled the moat. It was only to be a temporary show but people were so taken with it they kept it for a full year. They eventually sold each flower to the people of London. Laura was so sorry her family didn't buy one.

 
Now                                                                             Then

A great little walk took us around the towers and St. Catherine Pier. We learned how to use the boats on the Thames to get back to our hotel.  Laura had some great stories for us.

As we look down from our window we see the boat that took the dead body of Winston Churchill up and down the Thames. 

 All the cranes that we're rebuilding the city after the war "bowed down " as Churchill's body was passed by!  I will take a picture of the boat and send it tomorrow when the weather is sunny.  During the walk, the sky's opened and it rained like heck. Some gave up and ran back to the hotel but many of us took shelter under a tree and in no time it was dry again for us to continue our walk.

This is the boat that was to carry Queen Elizabeth on her Jubilee

After another short rest we were ready to meet everyone for a meeting with Laura and then wine, salad with smoked salmon and crostini with herbs cheese pate, pot roast with broccolini, carrots and mashed potatoes, and crème brule with berry compote.  Yum!  Pretty impressive for British fare!!! 

We met a couple from outside Baltimore, Maryland going on this trip.  They are also retired educators and Bill is a full-time civil war enactor...a major that sets up the entire battalion just outside of Gettysburg several times a year. Nancy says he started years ago as a private and every time he got a better rank it called for a whole new uniform. I think he must have had five or six!

There is an elaborate East Indian wedding going on here tonight and I have never seen so many beautiful women in incredible saris...even jeweled. ..like at Daljit's daughter's wedding. I visited with some beauties in the bathroom.  Laura told me that the guest list is 500!

Tomorrow we meet for breakfast at 6:45 so I'm ready for more sleep.

In case you are joining us on this adventure, enjoy and good night.

Love, Grove and group

Day #2... It Was A Wonderful Day In London Today!

August 10th

We saw sooooooo much and the weather was very co-operative!   If only my feet could have been as eager to do it all as I was!  I wore sandals and it was warm enough, and walks were long enough to cause rubbing that was dreadfully near to blisters and the last few miles I was so uncomfortable that I bought some 99 pence rubber thongs.  They flip flopped home but they were so much more comfortable.

In the morning with rested feet and no more swelling ankles, we started off after a breakfast buffet that went on forever. If you can think of it, they had it and again it was quite tasty!  

It was followed by a comprehensive bus tour of the city!  Our guide, Stuart, was not only really funny and entertaining... he was very informative and made us all love his city. How the driver maneuvered that huge bus all around those narrow roadways was quite spectacular. Michael got many great photos that I will have to try to send in days ahead when I'm not so tired.

Our first actual stop was a photo stop for thirty-five minutes outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. Michael got some great shots to include in the emails.  I knew I was coming back for the interior tour in the afternoon so didn't take many. Three weeks a year the queen vacations in Scotland and during that time 14 or more of the state rooms are put on tour. It worked out great for us.

 
Front of Buckingham Palace

Front Gate

These two views are the back of Buckingham Palace which most people rarely see. This is where the Queen has her beloved garden parties.

     
Victoria's Statue                            

At another stop we got out at the very center of the city,  Trafalgar Square.

They have a place now where they highlight  one big art  piece every few weeks or so. Last month was a skeleton art piece but today's was a statue from an Iraqi artist. He had fashioned a statue that had been destroyed by Isis. This one however had been totally fashioned with parts of their syrup cans.  It looked like something Gaudi might have sculpted, and surprisingly was well accepted by most of us travelers.  I took a good photo and promise to send it.  It is on my phone so perhaps I can do that in the morning when the batteries on my phone and the batteries on ME have been charged!  

We then visited a cute area where statues of  " England's Favorite folks"  are .  The most popular are featured there.  Among them were Ghandi, Mandella, Robert something who started the police and gave us those wonderful "Bobbies",  a woman leader who I didn't recognize but I'm sure she was the token lady.  There were others I didn't recognize but the all time winner of their survey was of course Winston Churchill. His statue was largest and most prominent. I have photos and will send some of them when I send the one in Trafalgar Square.

 
CHURCHILL... #1                                                                          BOBBY         .

 
WOMEN'S RIGHTS                                                                      GANDI  .

GANDI

Instead of continuing on the bus those of us who had tickets for the rooms of Kensington Palace took off on a long walk there.  Our appointment wasn't until 1:45 so we had time to explore a little.  We visited a chapel for the guards,  found a small pannini cafe for lunch, found a high-priced mall...just for looking...and spent some time in  Winchester Cathedral ( which had me singing that song for the next twenty minutes.)

We made sure we were at the beginning of the queue line so were through bag checking and on our tour right away.  We were given free audio sets that allowed us to move through the rooms at our own pace and everything as so well done.  We were not allowed to take ANY photos, but the book that had lovely photos of what we saw was only 4.25 £ so I bought it to show Leona.  I also bought an ornament for my Christmas tree there as a memory of my great visit.  We spent lots of time hoping not to miss anything!  I think I may have found a small room for our church's horribly ornate chandeliers that are being stored in our garage!  

From there we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus. I was looking for the huge sale building that has booths for antiques etc. but no matter how many miles we walked we never found it.  Instead I found a big Souvenir store and bought some stuff there, since we leave London tomorrow morning early.

For dinner we joined Fishers and a single man who is traveling with us.  He lives in Mexico, where I believe Bev Kelvie has her home.  We found a Côte restaurant nearby and the food was great!  Darn, I should have taken a picture of the menu as trying to explain our dishes ( except for Rod and Michael's breaded veal) would be very difficult.  Needless to say it was all delicious and killer stove hot!  The wine was also really yummy, and our little waitress from Crete was a real kick. We told lots of stories and laughed a lot.

We then  dragged our tired and stuffed bodies back to the room and attempted to pack  for tomorrow.  I was thinking I'd wait and write on our bus ride to the next adventure but I  have already put off a lot for tomorrow so... This is what you get!

Sleep tight! Grovey

Day #3... From London To Oxford and Beyond

 August 11th

 I am having to write about this second day a second time.  First because I wasn't able to get on the darn iPad as it was so dead!  I was afraid it would be the end of my diary as even by 4:00 in the morning there wasn't enough battery to turn it on. At 5:00 am it was on with 100% and I could sigh a breath of relief that it hadn't died entirely.  Now I keep it plugged in on the bus at all time. 

This morning I wrote all about yesterday only to lose it.  I have tried everything and will need to find a way to save it.  So...

We left our wonderful hotel by the London Bridge a little late as they were filming "SPIDERMAN" outside the building and they had made our bus driver park somewhere out of the way. As I pulled my carryon, I looked up on the walls around for a guy in a blue and red suit climbing the walls around St. Katherine's Docks.

Our first stop was marvelous, wonderful Oxford!  I had always thought that University was just one in itself like ours.   Oddly enough it is a collection of several universities; students can apply to more than one and it seems that no university really has a specialty, except maybe law.  It is very difficult to be accepted and the thing that makes it most unique is the tutor program.  Classes have lecturers as other colleges but each student is assigned to a tutor.  There are never more than two students to a tutor and the only excuse you have for missing a meeting with your tutor is death.  With the tutor the student must defend his/her writing.  

The buildings are very impressive and built with the wonderful Cottswell stones that with time have turned a rich gold.  We visited a huge building that is their Library of Congress.  They have every book ever published in the UK in here and in another store room some kilometers away.......miles of files!  There are much more than at our Library of Congress as they got quite a head start!  Nobody is allowed to check out a book and they are serious about that. Prince Charles once asked to check out a book and they said," NO, BUT YOU CAN COME HERE TO A READING ROOM AND READ IT," ........and he did!

Michael wanted to see Christ Church as it was deemed "not to miss" by Frommer's.  We arrived only to find that we could not go inside until 2:00 and we were leaving at 1:30.  So, we went shopping for sweatshirts and hats and met some friends at an ancient pub called the White Horse.  We were going to the pub under the "Bridge of Sighs" where Clinton "didn't inhale" but we were short on time. Looks more like Rialto Bridge than the Bridge of Sighs. Through the doorway is Clinton's pub.

The Bridge of Sighs really looks more like Rialto Bridge in Venice to me, but who needs to argue with the folks at Oxford!

I'm sorry we didn't get back there to eat and "not enhale" but we enjoyed our fish and chips with the folks from Oakland and Kansas at the White Horse anyway.

Michael had read in Frommer's that you really have to check out the  Catholic Church in Oxford so off we walked for many blocks to find it. We were sorry to find that they weren't opening to the public while we were there. We walked around the gardens and lamented we'd only missed mass by five minutes and they didn't allow lae comers. We did take a few pictures however, as it was quite beautiful.

Near the church I found the famous bakery where Megan and Harry had their wedding cake made. I refrained from buying any goodies, but the cakes in the windows were such masterpieces I had to get some photos! Pretty amazing, eh?

We arrived right on time so Laura treated us with a wonderful trip to St. Martin's Church in Bladen, where Winston Churchill and his family are buried.  The stones around the little old church were mostly old and not well taken care of except for those of Churchill's family. 

St. Martin's Church                                                        Burial Burial Sites                 .

.                       Churchill Family Plot                                               Winston Churchill's Grave

Inside the little church was a remarkable stained glass window dedicated to him.  It has pictures of him in the war room and such etched at the bottom and all around the sides there are images of things that can be related to Churchill's life. ( cat, swan, helmet, army tank, silhouette with a cigar, paint palate and brushes, etc). I took many photos to show you all).

From there we went to another typically Cottswall village... quaint and oh so cute with lots of little stores wandering down its single Main Street.  I didn't find anything I just had to have and would have fit in my suitcase or purse ....(I've learned since my trip to Round Top in Texas!). Michael got an ice cream cone and checked out all the cars they have here and not at home.  I took a photo of him with a vintage Mini Cooper.

By the time we got to ----- at the hotel we were all beat tired.  We were given a chocolate chip cookie to die for and were ushered to our rooms for a short rest.

An hour later it was time to have dinner!  We sat with Barbara from Brooklyn, Mary and Sam from New Jersey, and Dorothy from Henderson, Nevada.  We discussed great trips over glasses of wine.  Dinner was tomato and mozzarella salad, chicken rolled and wrapped in bacon with baked veggies, gravy and chocolate mousse for desert. This is Mary and Sam's twentieth trip with OAT and GCT!  

When I got back to the room I found that my iPad would still not open after being charged for hours.  I brought the old one as my newer one has been acting up and getting burning hot.  I will take it to Apple when I get home.  I was quite distraught as it still wouldn't open at 4:00 and I was certain it had died!!!  I wrote this whole thing and then while at the Baths I lost it ALL! Dang! I better not have to do this ever again.  Maybe tonight I'll write about our adventures today at the Bath and Stonehenge. 

Love, Grovey

Day #4... Bath, Stonehenge and Beyond

 August  12th

Well, it's another great day in sunny England and we had another busy day.  I'm going to have to come home to rest! After another English breakfast, ( this time I tried to limit a bit) we were off to Bath. 

On the way we went through a village of Tutburry where Charles, Dianna and the boys used to vacation.  It was a place where the rich would visit.  We were told that Dianna was not so keen about the place as it was where Charles met Camilla.  Evidently both families were there when Charles and Camilla were younger.  We went by their place now but weren't invited in.

Our next stop was at Bath.  It is quite an interesting town but most of the excitement is beneath the town.  These baths were set during Roman times where the men and ladies came to unwind, rest and soak in the hot springs.  It was quite an elaborate set up.  With time  the baths were forgotten and the city was built on top of it.  People were quite surprised when unearthing they came across these baths.  The water is very hot  and at the end of the tour we even got a taste.  There are those who believe it has healing powers, but to me it just tasted like warm water with a pinch of Sulfur and a smidge of salt.

We had headsets like at the Palace.  This time they had numbers to put in to get the kid's part which I found more interesting. We spent so long checking out the baths, that we had only time for a stroll through the church, grab a pizza to share and make it to the bus.  

An hour and a half later we were at Stonehenge... truly a goose-bump-maker.  The white ring or ditch of chalk was first dug in 3000 B.C and by the year 2500 B.C. the first stones were layers and completed.  The outer ring consists of the larger stones which are found 19 miles a away.  No doubt they used groups of logs to roll the stones to the site but it was no small job and must have taken hundreds of people!  The inner stones were the blue stones found in Wales 150 miles away.  I can't imagine what that entailed and with the large stones set upon top (actually fit over little knobs) you lost me!  

We walked all around the area , not within the stone circle, but not behind a tall fence anymore.  They are limiting folks going in the stone area.  The stones were defiled so much by graffiti and carving and they want to keep them pristine!  I am glad they are being so protective.

We stayed so long as usual that we had little time at the museum and no time for a bathroom break.

Luckily it was only about forty minutes to the pub where we had a great dinner.  I was last in the bathroom and Michael didn't get us a place to sit early so we couldn't sit together.  No problem as I got to meet seven more friends.  We had, however, planned on sharing.  Eat half and change so we could taste both fish pie and the pasta, but Michael got the pie and I got the pasta.  Mine was delicious... pumpkin tortellini with walnuts and Gorgonzola. Soooo good!  I was glad I didn't have to share!

In thirty minutes or so our  bus took us home.  Then of course I had to contend with the email saying it wasn't needing sent as no matter how many times I put in my password, it was wrong and wasn't sent.  But really it was sent three or four times!

Love, Grovey