We did sleep in a little this morning...and really needed it! We woke to a gorgeous, clear, cool, blue skied morning. How blessed we have been on the weather here. A little rain the first half day of our tour in Windsor and a rainy afternoon last Saturday here in London...perfect all the rest of the time. If my new English friend Mike Fossey provided that great weather, I wish him a great big Thank You! We were on a mission today to clock off the rest of our “want to do” list. We had a good breakfast here at the hotel and were then off to the races. Today was the day for our great adventure of navigating the perils of the Underground so off we went to the Victoria Underground Station. We bought a ... read more

This was a VERY busy day involving LOTS of walking (14,656 steps so far!) so I will show the day more with pictures than with words. Suffice it to say that we saw new buildings, old buildings, ancient buildings, The Tower of London again, the Thames via boat, statues, palaces, bridges, monuments, The Eye (and no, Kim, we did not ride it today), the outside of Winchester Abbey (not open for tours on Sunday...may go tomorrow), Pubs which we discovered make good potty breaks here like McDonald’s at home, fancy gates, Buckingham Palace, Cleopatra’s obelisk, a HUGE protest in front of the Brazilian Embass (several hundreds at least), views across bodies of water, and two police who (at two separate times) helped us find our way back to our hotel! WHEW! It exhausts me just writing ... read more

Heading out on coach at 8:01 towards the M1, which we will be on most of the day. The M1 is the longest motorway in England.This will be a long driving day. Had a great visit to Stratford-on-Avon. Saw Shakespeare’s birth house, many black and white half timbered houses, a darling town, and Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried with his family. Below is info from internet on Stratford-upon-Avon: “Stratford-upon-Avon, a medieval market town in England’s West Midlands, is the 16th-century birthplace of William Shakespeare. Possibly the most famous writer in the English language, Shakespeare is known for his sonnets and plays such as 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Hamlet'. The Royal Shakespeare Company performs his plays in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and adjacent Swan Theatre on the banks of the River Avon.” Drove through The Cotswalds ... read more

We pulled out at 8:00 on the dot, heading south towards the Scottish /English Border and missing the 12 folks who ended their part of the tour yesterday. Our first stop was at Sir Walter Scott’s home, Abbotsford. The architecture was a big surprise...it looked like a palace and the tour we took was excellent. Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Melrose, on the south bank of the River Tweed. It was formerly the residence of historical novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott. It is a Category A List... read more

Note on a question about marrying in a blacksmith shop from yesterday: It was the law in Scotland that anyone could marry you if you stated you wanted to marry. Actually, you could even be “handfasted” by just reciting vows stating your intention. That was not the case in England. Thus the dash to the border by those who, for whatever reason such as parental disagreement, “ran for the border” to get married. The Blacksmith Shop was the first building on the border. Those to get married shared their vows from opposite sides of that anvil if the blacksmith shop was where you exchanged your vows. Another little tidbit we got was the fact that depending on where you said your vows, either outside or in a room in the house...THAT was the place you had ... read more