Sunday, July 9

LEXINGTON: We are home...very tired (it is after 4pm by our "British" clock. For now, I'll just let everyone know we are safely at home and all appears to be well here. More when we awaken.
dds
posted by doris settles 4:41:34 AM

Saturday, July 8

LONDON: We are now at Gatwick Airport ouside of London, having taken the tube then the Gatwick Express via Britail to the airport this morning. The chaos at the hotel this morning to check out was amazing. The same woman (Shiela) was on duty and was 1) rude as usual and 2) completely unaccomodating to everyone. Fortunately, once Bill finally got to the counter, our checkout was seamless. However, we did not ask for messages (they don't give them to you...you have to ask we found out when another couple trying to check out who had been pickpocketed was trying to get credit card information from their son in Ireland and he'd been trying to call for two days with no luck). I hope the lack of messages is a result of evrything being fine rather than not being able to get through.

Because Burr has not logged on since Wednesday, I am uneasy, of course. We are sure he's just having a blast and travelling, but still, it's my duty as a Mother to worry, right??

At any rate, we finally got Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese last evening around 8pm. Two concierges (the Forum and Comfort Inn, such as the latter was) said they did not take reservations. WRONG. They were full up. However, one of the waitresses took pity on us and squeezed us in. It was wonderful! Bill finally had steak and kidney pudding (like a pot pie with biscuit crust) and I had roast beef with yorkshire pudding. We also ordered Bubble & Squeak...a mashed vegetable mixture much like mashed potatoes mixed with peas and a few other things. Very interesting and very good and quite reasonable. This pub was rebuilt in 1667 after it burned during the great fire of 1666. It is an amazing place...nooks and crannies everywhere. Apparently Mark Twain frequented here, among many other literary and political figures (including royalty). If you ever come to London, do call and make a reservation to eat here. We both highly recommend it. Bill wanted to order Spotted Dick & custard, but we were far too full to eat it anyway.

Our flight will not be posted for another half an hour, so we're killing some time wandering the shops and making a final blog entry from Londontown. Our visit has been terrific...but as usual not long enuf. I think Bill is ready to go home on one hand and sorry to leave on the other hand. I could stay on, if funds allowed!! :)

Hope all is well, and as far as we know we will be home around 11pm this evening...Lexington time. We've been told the flight is quite full (of people who've bumped off earlier flights) but they do not think volunteers will be needed to surrender seats as yet. This is the last flight of the day, so we would have to stay until tomorrow (awwwwww).

cheerio
dds
posted by doris settles 1:49:52 PM

Friday, July 7

LONDON: The weather has done it to us again. The weatherman said yesterday it would be sunny and warm and so we both put on shorts and short sleeved shirts, left our macs and went down to breakfast and out the door. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! We decided NOT to turn around and redress but hope the sun would come out. It is now nearly 7pm and it has been out a little over an hour. Fortunately, we have not spent much time outside (we made sure of that!).

Today is our last full day here, and we've certainly taken full advantage of it so far. We went first to walk over London Bridge...Bill insisted. It is hardly something to do...it was built in 1967, replacing a replacement of a replacement. Oh well. I got an excellent shot of Bill with Tower Bridge in the background. I offered to let him walk over Tower Bridge (the tippytop part is where people walk) but was NOT going to walk it with him. 1) I don't care for bridges a lot and 2) I don't care for heights AT ALL. He declined and we proceeded to explore the Southwark area.

At the Globe theater (rebuilt) we took a theater tour and went through the exhibition. It was absolutely terrific. The inside of the globe is as realistic as possible, being that they do not have much to go on to begin with. However, the remains were excavated and the dimensions of the stalls and stage floor are accurate. In Shakespeare's day over 3,000 would have crowded into the stalls, balconies and ground (hence the term "groundlings") in front of the stage. Today they allow space for 1500. Our expectations (and, I'd bet, our bottoms) are a bit larger than were theirs. The historical aspects of the exhibition were excellent. We spent nearly three hours all told going through just that.

Then we went next door to the Tate Modern. We saw wonderful works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Rodin and Cezanne scattered throughout some really ludicrous ones including the solid electric blue work by Klein and the white urinal by Watts (I think that is his name). We did not tarry but looked at what we wanted (which became less and less as we meandered) and left in just over an hour. Bill says the modern interpretations of the nudes is what made him all too ready to leave. So we did.

Like in our previous European adventure four years ago, I've managed to find ice creams here that are absolutely terrific! Not comparable to Italy's limini gelato, but great in their own right. Creamy soft serve here with Cadbury flake sticks in them. MMMMMM. I am trying to limit myself but as the days are drawing to a close I might just not be able to contain myself tonite and have another. I've had one today already.

Anyway, after the Tate Modern, we headed toward Madame Toussaud's on the underground. We passed Sherlock Holmes' supposed house on Baker Street and when we turned the corner to where the planetarium and Mdme Toussaud's is we nearly died. The line snaked around the building and halfway up the second street! Fortunately, that was people waiting for entry just into the wax museum. We bought combined tickets (an extra £2.45) and dozed through a terrific planetarium show and then were given first entry into the wax museum.

Bill wanted his picture made with Cybil Shephard, and he insisted I cuddle up to Nicholas Cage for a shot. We are both really really glad we made that effort (even tho our feet and legs were killing us by 3pm) because it was great. Most of the figures really looked as if they would blink any second. After watching mime "statues" all over Soho and Covent Garden, these could easily have been human and alive. Amazing. My parents must not have visited Madame's, or we would have heard about the arrangement of the US Presidents on display. FDR was sitting down in front, flanked on his right by Nixon, in back by Reagan and to his left was Ike. Oh well. Of course, Slick Willie was at a podium as if denying everything. Bill was surprised that Monica was not beside him. :)

We managed to make it to Harrods next and walk around a bit, but were so tired of walking the idea of going thru the entire store was less than pleasant. So we headed back to the subway and when we got to Covent Garden (where we are writing this) only one lift was working and the queue was HUGE. Brilliant Bill decided we could walk up the steps. 2000 steps later (we climbed a small spiral staircase...and climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed. Now we are REALLY tired and sore. Ah well.

We were hoping to log on and find that Burr and Mike had indeed gotten tickets to the Oberammagau Passion Play, but he has not updated his blog since Wednesday. We're hoping that means they got them and are as we write enjoying the preludes to the play.

Well, off to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Blackfriars for our final dinner in London. We head back to the States tomorrow...provided we are not lucky enough to get bumped!

cya soon
dds
posted by doris settles 7:05:21 PM

Thursday, July 6

LONDON: We have visited Bath and Stonehenge today...what an experience. I really wasn't expecting much of either, but the sheer magnitude of the stones and surrounding burial mounds is truly awesome. And Bath...far from being a quaint, sleepy town, is quite large. The first effective King of England (Edgar) was crowned in the cathedral there (now an abbey built over the original) in the 690s (and no, I did not leave out a number). There are beautiful gardens everywhere, and the most interesting bridge over the Avon River which is bordered by shops.

We ate lunch at Bath, and since we really aren't eating much for lunch but eating large breakfasts and dinners, we split a vegtable pastie (Bill says they're pot pies on the go). It was absolutely terrific!

The Roman baths which are still operational but have been largely built over and added onto, are by far the most extensive we've seen. Very interesting self-guided audio tour throughout, and we were offered the chance to "take the waters" but declined. Over 40 minerals are in the water there, and it gets superheated (to a temp of around 125 degrees farenheit).

We have truly run the gamut of British weather today...it began cold and clear, the sun came out beautifully enroute to Bath, and while we were in the bath it began big, splashing raindrops. By the time we arrived at Stonehenge, however, the sun was back out and it was HOT and humid. I do not believe it is opssible to dress appropriately here! At least we haven't managed it yet. We seem to leave the raincoats in the bus when it ends up raining, and bring them when it gets hot and sticky.

We were dropped off at our hotel (curb service, no less!) and we left our raincoats and coats and took the tube out to Harrods as we had been told by EVERYONE they are open late this evening. LIES! We arrived at 7pm as they were pushing people out the door. Ah well. We walked down to Hyde Park Corner to go to Hard Rock and get Shirley's pin for her. Imagine my dismay when I was presented with no less then 7 pins from which to choose!!! Shirley, if you're reading this, I took the salesgirl's advice and got you the traditional one.

We stopped at a pub along the way (The Tattersall...apropos a Kentuckian, we thot) and had steak and stilton (cheese) pie. It was really excellent. We are just racking up the traditional dishes while here...and enjoying every bite.

We are now back at the Trocadero logging on at the Internet Exchange here. These are nifty little shops spread throughout. I've been online in one in Glasgow, Edinburgh and two in London. At a pound a half-hour it is a bargain, imho.

Not much else going on. We plan to spend the day tomorrow on the Southeast side...going through the Globe exhibit and the Tate Modern, eating at the Cheshire Cheese and having a pint at Blackfriar's before going on a Jack the Ripper Pub walk in the Blackfrairs area off Fleet Street. Bill also wants to to walk the London Bridge and perhaps Tower Bridge. Maybe we will also shoot into Central London for a quick walk-through at Harrods if we have time.

Hope all is well...
ta ta
posted by doris settles 10:04:21 PM

Wednesday, July 5

LONDON: Bill is relieved. We just left the Waterford/Wedgewood shop at which they are having a 50% off sale. I only bought stuff for my neighbor which she asked me to do. The only reason I did NOT buy new dishes is the cost of shipping and/or the weight of trying to carry them with all the other stuff we've got to carry. Oh well, perhaps next time???

We did go see Notre Dame de Paris and it was terrific. The dancers and acrobats (or gymnasts) were absolutely outstanding. I had been told the ensemble made the show, and very true that was. Choreography was really amazing...and the dancer's execution was flawless. The singing was good also, but a few of the leads were difficult to understand at spots. Fortunately, we knew the story line so it wasn't too hard to pick up the story (it's a retelling of the Hunchback story).

Yesterday we went to Stratford-on-Avon, the Cotswolds, and Oxford University. We took a Golden Tour and were either sitting on the bus or at a dead run. We saw Shakespeare's birthplace and Anne Hathaway's birthplace (family home). His wife's family home was a traditional thatached roof and was built in the 1400s. Very interesting. At the Hathaway home they had a courting settle which is believed to have been the one Will courted Ann upon. We asked a fellow tour member to take our picture on the settle...and it was evident she thought we were a bit off but did it anyway. The Cotswolds were beautiful, but looked very simmilar to Scotland after all the sheep we saw there. All three of these towns are very much tourist towns...not real working towns where people mostly live and work. That was disappointing.

Oxford was very interesting, but as I said before we had almost no time there. We were escorted around some of the buildings, and then had almost a half hour to see it on our own. HA! Oh well.

Last night we were hungry for american food so we ate at MacDonalds. This does NOT mean we are homesick...we'd just had all the fish 'n chips we could handle for the moment. We then saw the Reduced Shakespeare Company do The History of America in 90 minutes. They began with the vikings and moved forward...taking pot shots at everybody. It was absolutely hysterical...to us. However, others around us (NOT Americans) seemed to get less out of it than we did. Hmmmmm. Anyway, it was really good.

Today we took the underground to Waterloo station then britrail to Hampton Court where the Hampton Court Flower show happened to be beginning. It was a tough call, but we finally went to the Palace instead of the Flower Show. WONDERFUL. We took both period costumed guiided tours and meandered aaround on our own. Whenwe went through the maze, we took different directions and though we could hear each other as we passed by, we never crossed paths again until we reached the outlet. BTW, I got there first!

Tonight we go to see The Reduced Shakespeare...all 37 plays in 97 minutes. Should be as good or better than last night (same company does both at the Criterion Theater). It amazes me how full each night is...and that they sell food IN the theater to be eaten in your seats! Not the black tie we think of. Actually, we had no way to change last night so we had on shorts and tennis shoes. Lots of backpackers there also in shorts/tshirts. Also many people dressed up...but not formally at all.

Tomorrow to Stonehenge and Bath on another Golden Tour. Hope we have some time there...altho I know there is not much to see/do at the celtic site.

I hope to be able to get tickets to The Graduate...and sounds like there is a chance Burr and Mike might get to see the Passion Play at Oberammagau. Keep your fingers crossed for us both!

cheerio
dds
posted by doris settles 7:21:18 PM

Monday, July 3

LONDON: We made it to Londontown late Saturday evening to learn that the hotel had given away our room (paid for since March, btw). We hung around an hour before they transported us to the Forum, with them telling us every five minutes how much nicer the Forum would be than where we were. This bothered us for two reasons: 1) we assumed we would come back here and if the staff was so insistent the Forum was soooooooooooo much better, what were we to find upon checking in the next day?? and 2) all we wanted was a bed...so how much good were we going to get out of this exquisite hotel asleep?? At any rate, we slept fine at the Forum, called the weekend manager back at our other hotel, and were transported back there where we met Dave and Mary Solow...new friends from the Scotland trip who live in greater LA. We were assured our bags would be taken care of and we would have them in our room by midday, so off we went with the Solows.

We bought our week-long underground passes (and was the cashier ever nasty! even saying "stupid Americans" when I wasn't sure what areas I needed). That done, we took the tube to the Globe Theater, where Dave and Mary had tickets for Hamlet that afternoon. We tried to get tickets also, but could not. Soooo, we ate lunch there, then parted ways until 4:20pm when we were to meet them back there.

Bill and I took the tube back to the hotel bcs we had decided bringing along the small bag was too big a hassle...it had gotten extremely heavy. When we arrived back at the hotel around 1:30pm, they treated us as if we had just arrived...asking us to fill out forms with passport info, etc. We explained we'd been there before and were supposed to already have a room with twins and nonsmoking. We were shown finally to a room with our luggage and found it had a double bed (this after the key did not work). Uh Oh. No twin bedrooms left.

Well, those of you who know me know that I was boiling by now. We had spent an hour and a half there at this point (after the hour earlier in the day). I asked to see the manager again and told him this: "We will be back late this evening...when we return, I expect our bags in the largest twin bedded, nonsmoking room you have, and a key that works" at which point I walked out. ARRRRGH. When we arrived back that evening, we had a key to a room and were told our luggage was there. We were told to walk down a hall then go up some steps to the room. WRONG. The room was down a hall through two doors and down a short flight then turn right and go through another door then up a long flight of steps through another door and across an outside metal fire escape through another door (back in the building), turn left again and it is at the end of that hall. GEEZ! I figured we were there forevre, as we'd nevr find our way out!

This morning we had a late breakfast and asked for the manager (real one...weekend manager was asst food/beverage manager only and said he could not make any decisions or modifications). I told him I was really irritated at the circumstances, and as he would have charged us for the room had we not come in that first night, I expected to be reimbursed for the inconvenience he had caused us. We were told that they had no legal or moral obligation to do so, that we really had not been inconveienced very much, and loosen up. He did offer to upgrade our breakfasts to full rather than continental. Just what we need...hot food! Beleive me, this is not over. :) Delta Vacations will hear about this! A word of advice...do NOT stay in Choice Hotels outside the US (at least in the UK).

But that aside...we are now moving on and meandering about. I write to you from Covent Garden, where we've just finished a late lunch. Bill did laundry this morning while I went out for theater tickets and information. We are going to see Notre Dame...the musical...at the Dominion this evening. We bought half-price tickets at Leicester Square, then stopped at the theater to see if we could obtain discounts...we couldn't hve done better there, so we're happy.

Tomorrow we go to Stratford-on-Avon, Cotswold and Oxford and hope to get tickets just before the show to the American History Revue at the Criterion (appropriate July 4 show, imho). Wednesday we plan to head out early to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court, then come back in to see The Reduced Shakespeare Company also at the Criterion. Anybody who's seen a speech team piece called the "15 minute Hamlet" will have an idea of what this show will be like. It is the compleat plays of Shakespeare reduced to 90 minutes. Very funny...very good (we hope).

Friday we'll probably go back to the Globe for Hamlet, to the Tate Modern Museum, and eat at the Cheshire Cheese in the same area. We tried to find it yesterday but had been given poor directions and nobody we asked had ever heard of it. Now we have a firmer grasp on where it is...we hope.

At any rate...off to explore Greenwich, I think.
dds
posted by doris settles 4:48:00 PM

Saturday, July 1

We agree with our son that it is important to stay flexible in one's itinerary to make the most of what one might encounter. These last two days give testament to that.

This post comes to you from the lovely medieval/elizabethan/Roman city of York. Talk about cultural diversity! However, we are merely stopping over quickly for a bus tour and fish & chips enroute to Londontown later today. The real story precedes this stop....

We left Glasgow early Friday morning by train to go to our hotel in Hexam (we thought). We knew nothing of this hotel or town except that we were staying at the Swallow George. Hmmmmmm.

At any rate, we arrive with bags in tow (and getting heavier by the moment) to learn that the George Hotel (owned by the Swallow chain) is actually in Chollerford, which is about 5 miles outside of Hexam at the Chester's Roman Fort site of Hadrian's Wall (the reason I wanted to stop by there). Bill stayed with the luggage while I ran all over Hexam (a "biggish" town according to the information lady at the Carlisle train station) and tried to figure out how to get there (and what there was to do...since we were also informed there was NO town anywhere near the hotel...which was not strictly accurate as it turns out).

When I started up the path from the Safeway (where I had left Bill and Bags with a cold diet pepsi), I realized this was somewhere I wanted to spend some time. What a lovely, quaint market town!. The information ladies were wonderful, and even pointed out that we should eat dinner near the hotel in the small town nearby at the Crown Pub. We caught the Hadrian's Wall Bus out to Chollerford and were deposited at a lovely inn right at the river Tyne crossing (or one of them) near a large museum and bathhouse excavation of the fort guarding Hadrian's Wall. The George was first mentioned in recorded history in early 1700s, and the earliest part (which we stayed in) was built with stones from the wall. It had a wonderful terraced garden down to the riverbank, fountains, and a QUEEN BED!

We were told upon checkin that our reservation was dinner, bed and breakfast...all for the terrific price of £107. Not a bad lick, IMHO. We reserved our dinner time and went out to explore. We had decided we did not want to leave early Saturday morning, but to explore more in this area. Thus the flexibility.

We showered (boy did THAT feel great) and walked up to the roman fort remains, which was absolutely fascinating!!! I highly recommend it to anyone. This is a 2nd century roman garrison and fort (and quite a bit of the wall is attached to either side still) and bathhouse on the river. The museum has artifacts from many sites in the area, and behind the fort are the remains (abuttment) of an ancient roman bridge which was rebuilt in the 6th century I believe. For a former Latin student, very interesting.

We returned to the hotel, changed and walked up to the Crown for a pint. What a quaint local restaurant/bar. Bill had a conversation with two men at the pub who had fought in WWII and the Korean War. Both knew Americans but had never been there. Many locals and visitors were eating there. They came out at 7pm and put up a chalk board with the dinner selections. Reasonable, and those served near us had huge portions of what looked terrific. By the time we left we were starved!

Dinner in the Swallow George was very different from what dinner in the Crown would've been! Fortunately, I had brought a dress, because everyone else (for the most part) was dressed to the nines!! We were served by at least 6 people, the first of which put our napkins in our laps for us. :) And we were not being remiss! At any rate, we had a wonderful 6 course meal with tea and petits fours being served in the lounge. As we'd had our pints already, wine was out of the question. We slept wonderfully after a walk around the hotel and through the gardens down by the riverbank.

This morning we had what will likely be our last full English Breakfast (tea and crumpets for us from now on) and caught the bus back to Hexham to explore the 7th century Abbey and Moot Hall. We meandered about for over two hours and caught a millenium tapestry show opening today at the abbey. There is still a market in the same space which has operated for centuries. Fruit sellers call out their wares and prices. Lovely.

We caught the bus back to the hotel at noon, called a taxi, checked out and caught the train from Hexham to York. Now we are here. We've taken a bus tour of the city and meandered down these teeny tiny elizabethan shop streets...buying as we go (not really...no place to put it!). We need to go now and find somewhere to eat before heading back to the train station to catch a train to Kings Crossing in London...about a two hour trip from here. York is lovely too...you'd love to see it.

Our stomachs are growling now...later.
posted by doris settles 5:53:59 PM