2 highlights but nothing else

Sooooo I was a little too ambitious apparently because last night I had so many pictures to get on my ipad then transfer to google to post, that IT DID NOT HAPPEN. There must be an easier way to post pictures.  Need to look into that for next year (of course, I think I said that last year too).  I gave up and headed to  bed so that  I would be ready nice and early for the Tower of London.

I Pinkie-Swear-Promise to post pictures of my FANTASTIC London adventures once I'm home (while putting up my aching feet).

As promised 2 highlights (and nothing else):

1. Saw an ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT play tonight- Beautiful.  About Carol King.  I had NO IDEA about all that she'd done.  Highly recommended.  Fantastic music (obviously), sets, clothes.  Everything.  Can't rave enough.  Will probably see it again when it comes to Chicago in Dec. (well the only bad things were the hip hugging seats-though that could have more to do with me and my hips than the seats)

2.  Best part of the day- got to go to a mid-day Eucharist at St. Paul's Cathedral.  WONDERFUL experience.  So very glad I got to do this (and Julie waited out my religious yearnings :)  The church is absolutely AMAZING- great mosaics- but you'll have to google it.  No pictures on the inside  :(


That's all for now folks.  1 more day in London and then heading home.  Check back in after the 4th to see my London pics!!

Cheers!

Music makes me sleepy.....

We've arrived in London!  No good blog tonight though.  Just a quick note.  This is the 2nd night in a row that we have gone to something musical and we're not back to the hotel until past my bedtime- so alas 2 nights without blogging time.  

Stay tuned tomorrow (no evening plans......actually no day plans either- just hop on hop off bus and EXPLORE!!!!!!!!!!)

I do love a good Bath

We had a two hour walking tour with a local today around Bath ( http://visitbath.co.uk ).  He pointed out some interesting buildings and areas around Bath. Some really interesting info on the history of the warm baths that people came to be healed by (and unwittingly poisoned by the lead). A lot of the prosperity of Bath came from the healing waters.  When NASA did some testing with astronauts and determined that the same 'healing' properties could be done with hot tap water, Bath's popularity declined. The hotels and properties that were 'let' (rented) were bought for a meager amount.  Those who took advantage of the cheap property are reaping the benefits now.  What was once 1,000 pounds now goes for about 7 million.  Nice return on that investment.  Didn't know that the Smithsonian was funded by a man from Bath.  He had no family and gave his fortune to the US.  His last name-Smithson.  That was an interesting nugget of info.  After the tour we saw the Bath abbey and the Roman Baths.  Very neat bits of history.

  

Holy moly.....I can't believe I was at Stonehenge

Don't have much to say today except.....holy moly I can't believe I was at Stonehenge.  THE Stonehenge.  It was so AMAZING to be there for real.  The things from history THAT YOU GET TO SEE, for real, not in pictures or on the computer.  So cool.  Very cool.

(We also did a house (mansion) and saw its gardens but there wasn't really a wow factor. The 2 hour garden walk helped me get my highest # of steps for a day at 19,590 (8.45 miles).  It reminded me a little of a wayward rambling with a donkey in Corsica that is mentioned more with disdain than pleasure).

So enjoy the views of Stonehenge  (I surely did).  Sorry there are so few.  The better ones are on my camera and because the card is so big, it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to download.  I'll try again in the am to get some more.

Another day...

Blenheim Palace was our first stop today (http://www.blenheimpalace.com).  The 2000 + acres were a gift from Queen Anne to Churchill (not Winston but a much earlier relation of his).  He built a HUGE house surrounded by gardens.  There was a lovely memorial rose garden for Winston.  After the male Churchill heirs ran out the Duke and Duchess were Spencers (as in Diana).  Later, the Duke gained permission to hyphen the name to honor the original Churchill.   So Winston was actually Winston Spencer-Churchill.  Bet you didn't know that.  Had a lovely guide who took us around one section of the first floor.  LOTS of portraits of ancestors and very ornate rooms.

After that we headed to Oxford.  Soooooooo busy there.  Wonder if it's always like that or if tourists (like me) were the cause for such congestion.  Saw Christ Church Cathedral Oxford.  Nice.  Not too big.  GREAT window with St. Michael on it.  Lovely wooden carved choir seats.  Didn't do too much other exploring in Oxford so that we could head off to Bath- which ended up taking longer than usual.

Not by best post but I'm pooped!  Need to rest cuz off to Stonehedge tomorrow!!

To be (a Shakespeare lover) or to not be (a Shakespeare lover) that is the question..

Yesterday, the day was so jam packed there was no time to blog.  Grab some tea and biscuits and get comfy- it'll be a wee bit long today.

We had a wonderful day as we toured Cotswold with a BRILLIANT local named Tom.  He has lived there his whole life and he gave wonderful commentary as we visited different sights and towns in Cotswold (http://www.the-cotswolds.org/top/english/intro.php).  We started by visiting Dover hill and learned of games that have been organized there for hundreds of years.  Hay was still laying on the green field from the games on the last Friday of May. For one of the games, the players pad their shins with hay for a game that involves kicking the shins of your opponents until they fall (yes, they still play this game today).  OUCH! After getting those images out of our head, we visited a few quaint towns were we wandered around.  We saw some fantastic thatched roof houses and the beautiful flowers were abundant.  Just as you would imagine the countryside- little cottages, surround by beautiful blooms. It was a lovely day!

 

 

 

After arriving back in Stratford we dropped off a couple of things at the hotel.  Then we got take away fish and chips and sat in the park eating and watching. No time for a sit down meal because we were seeing Shakespeare's The Merchants of Venice at the Shakespeare Royal Theater.  It was.....innteerresting........ First, I have to admit that reading Shakespeare in high school was no easy task for me.  Thank heavens for cliff notes. So, between the accents (which I am usually mesmerized by) and the Shakespearean language I got muddled up a few times.  I did get the gist of the play and I thought how they presented it was quite good.  All in all a night well spent.

 

Today we hung around Stratford Upon Avon and did all things Shakespeare.  We started by visiting his birth home.  His father was a successful leather worker who made gloves.  Some had pearls or stones.  He continued to add to the family home until it was big for the time.  It had lovely gardens surrounding it.  Wonder if similar ones were around in his time.  Didn't know Shakespeare married at 18 years old to a woman who was 26 years old (I'm pretty sure that fact that she gave birth 6 months later could have influenced that).  Also didn't know that he had twins.  Lots of info about him and his life while at the house and on the two hour walking tour we took after it.  Our guide was a cheerful local who was very excited to share all that she knew about the town she loved.  We saw where Shakespeare's grand house was (the one he bought after returning from London), the houses of his 2 daughters and the church where he is buried.  He paid a large sum to be buried in the church because he didn't want his bones dug up (at the time, graves were repurposed by digging up old bones, burning them and burying new people in those graves).  After the tour gave us more information than our brains could process, we decided to take in some more.  We got on the hop on hop off bus and took it out to Anne Hathaway's house (he wife's house).  It had LOVELY gardens.  The house itself was deceiving because it was built on after she left.  When she was there, it only had 2 rooms.  It was worth the ride to see, though.  ESPECIALLY the gardens.  Then we rode around the rest of the bus route, enjoying the sun and breeze on the open upper deck.  Quite nice.  We decided to skip Mary Arden's house (his mother's house).  Instead we decided to stroll the streets and do some window shopping (and some real shopping).  We also took a boat ride down the canal.  Time well spent.  Tomorrow off to Bath.

Shakespeare's house

                                       

Anne Hathaway's house