Aug 17 – London Tours Day 2

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Hello again from London.



Before we begin today’s descriptions, let us explain that there were no good photos from Kensington Palace because we could not use the flash inside. We got a couple outside pictures, but the ones inside weren’t very good – too dark.



We got a better night’s sleep last night, but David still woke up for a couple of hours during the night. So we are still feeling a little remaining jet lag. We left a wake-up call and got started at 6:30 again this morning. Rather than have the hotel’s breakfast, we got ourselves packed and headed for the Underground. We caught “the tube” to Victoria Station (only 4 stops away on the District Line) – so it worked just fine. We needed to walk to the same Coach Station as the day before but we knew where to go this time. We got there in plenty of time (around 8:00) for our 9:00 tour.



We had planned to get breakfast at the bus station and were able to get Bacon Panini sandwiches and tea/juice. It was actually fairly good although the tea was scalding hot. We had plenty of time to eat before they called our tour bus. Both days we have gotten the front row seat on the bus so we didn’t have to squeeze down the aisle to somewhere in the back. It gave good views and was close enough to the guide to ask questions. One drawback of the front row is that there is no place in front to stretch out your feet. But both buses were nice.



We drove to Oxford first. The guide pointed out places along the way, but basically it was a 90 minute ride through the outskirts of London and through the countryside. When we booked the tour somehow we selected the version which did not include entrance fees. However the guide offered to upgrade to anyone who now wanted to pay and he would get our tickets as well as those who had pre-paid. That was an oversight on our part, so we were happy to have that handled for us. We got the senior discount of 30 pence apiece which saved us about a dollar total.



Oxford University has 38 separate colleges with about 20,000 students. We only saw part of the university, but it was enough to get a feel for everything. This is where they filmed some of the Harry Potter movie scenes, so it looked a lot like Hogwarts. We walked through some of the quads and past a number of Hogwarts’ buildings. They did tour everyone through the main dining hall with long rows of tables end-to-end and the head table at the front. It looked very much like the movie, except there were no magic wands and no flying owls. The movie was actually filmed in a reproduction built in an airplane hanger – so they could make the room wide enough for 4 rows of tables (only 3 in the actual dining room). While walking around we passed the Sheldonian Theater, where every graduate of Oxford receives their diploma. Outside is a stone patio with lots of paving stones – one with a “Z” inscribed by the builder, which was the inspiration for Harry’s scar.



We had 30 minutes of free time to look around the shops and grab something to bring back to the bus for lunch. We got some sandwiches, chips, fruit cup and drinks, and boarded the bus again about noon. From there we drove through the Cotswolds and heard about that region (did not stop) while we ate. There are rolling hills and it is mostly an agricultural region (Cows, Sheep, Horses, Wheat, and Barley). We drove past several examples of thatched roof cottages (some with hay and the higher quality ones with marsh reeds). We also drove past a number of stone walls – dry fitted together without mortar. Anyway, it was interesting to see.



We arrived in Stratford upon Avon and visited the birthplace of Shakespeare. He was the son of a glove maker – tanning hides and cutting/sewing the gloves. Apparently he was very successful at it, although the process that was described explained why William did not follow in his father’s footsteps. We toured the rooms of the house and the pub which Will eventually opened after inheriting the place. He had gone off to London to become an actor but he wasn’t so good at that but he did fairly well as a writer. He pursued his business life in London and kept his personal life in Stratford. We did not go to any of the other 4 sites (including Ann Hathaway’s home).



After a little free time we boarded the bus again and had a short drive to Warwick Castle. This is a well preserved castle, but has been highly commercialized. We visited a large display called the “King Maker”. It was populated with many wax figures from the Troussard Art Works. This was especially interesting to Janet who had just finished reading The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Phillipa Gregory. This is the story of Anne Neville who was married to Richard III. Her father was the Duke of Warwick and fought in the British Civil War. A lot of the book took place at Warwick Castle so it was interesting to see the real place. David took the 530 step climb up to the ramparts and into the guard towers, which provided very impressive views from above. Initially it was closed while they exercised an eagle which lives at the castle. Seeing a flying eagle is not so unusual to us (they are quite common across the Mississippi from us) but the local crowds were highly entertained to see the eagle fly around – not sure how they trained it not to fly away though. And of course there was a gift shop here too.



Then we got back on the bus about 4:45 and had a 2 hour drive where most people snoozed off for a nap. This was the only time today that we had any rain, although we had alternating sun and clouds all day. By the end of the day it was almost chilly (only 17C.), but we had no reason to complain about the weather.



The rain stopped and the bus dropped us off about 10 blocks from our hotel instead of Victoria Station – that was a convenience that we appreciated Janet’s feet were tired but she made it back to Earl’s Court where we had dinner in a third pub – we both had fish & chips today which was even better than the first day. Janet had a glass of wine and David had a glass of ESB ale (served at cellar temperature off course). We walked back to our hotel and crashed for the evening. We left a wake-up call for tomorrow, but we have lots of time in the morning to dress, pack, eat and catch a taxi (too much luggage for the tube) back to Victoria.



This is our last night in the hotel – tomorrow we are off to the Crown Princess and a much more pampered life style. But we have enjoyed our visit here in London, with each tour providing interesting glimpses of English Life.

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Photos

Christ Church Cathedral
Front of Oxford University - like Hogwarts

Main Dining Hall
Oxford University

Thatched Roof
Cotswold England

Shakespeare's Birthplace
Stratford upon Avon

Janet learning to make gloves
Stratford upon Avon

Warwick Castle
Seen from the top of the Guard Tower

Eagle Landing
Warwick Castle