Today was my last day in London, and I used my umbrella for the first time. It was drizzly this morning, but by the afternoon it was just really windy. I went to the Natural History Museum and looked at their wonderful gemstone collection, and an exhibit of birds from all over the world. Fascinating to see them all together, they even have a replica of a Dodo. Then I wandered along Oxford Street and bought some last-minute souvenirs. This afternoon I took a final walk through Hyde Park. The daffodils have started to bloom. I followed the Serpentine to the statue of Peter Pan, and I saw some amazing ducks. My favorite was the Mandarin Duck. It was absolutely gorgeous. Then I came back and packed. It wasn’t easy to fit everything in. I’m afraid one of my suitcases might pop on the way home. It’s sad to be saying goodbye to London. I feel like I’ve really gotten to know it in the past two weeks. I will certainly never forget my 30th birthday. But I’m excited about going home too. I miss everyone, even Stella and Bram. I hope everybody has enjoyed reading this blog as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’ll see you all soon. Cheers!

I went on my last tour today. We started in Oxford, where we walked around Christ Church College, home of Alice and Wonderland, and several of the places where Harry Potter was filmed. Then we drove through the Cotswolds to Stratford where we had a lovely lunch and toured the house where Shakespeare was born. We finished the day at Warwick Castle, the only castle in England never to be defeated. It now has several waxworks displays of castle life in different eras. It’s kind of like a theme park, but fun. They’re forcasting snow for Tuesday night, I hope I can fly out on Wednesday. We’ll see. Cheers.

I toured the Cotswolds today. They are truly gorgeous! Beautiful, picturesque little villages full of antique stores and tea rooms. I could plan a whole vacation there. I walked through a little graveyard with tons of snowdrops. Breathtaking. The countryside was beautiful too. I saw deer, rabbits, lots of pheasants, and even a fox in the fields. We had lunch at a little pub and then tea at an inn on the river. One of the towns we stopped in always wins the “Prettiest Village in England” prize. I can see why. I had a great time. Cheers.

Today was another great tour. It started out at Windsor Castle. The queen was in residence, so her flag was flying overhead. The state apartments are gorgeous, and Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House was amazing. A full building at 1/12 scale with running water and electricity and art and miniature books donated by famous artists and authors from all over Europe. I also got to see the changing of the guard, not as massive as at Buckingham, but impressive none the less. The band was great.
Next we had lunch at a nice little pub and then went to Stonehenge. It’s incredible to think that some of those stones weigh forty-five tons and they were brought from Wales and erected on Salisbury Plain hundreds of years before the invention of the wheel. It is a pretty impressive sight, and I realize how lucky I am to have a stone circle at home. Thanks Dad!
Our last stop was Bath. We only got an hour and a half there, and I could have stayed for a week. I saw tearooms for the first time on this trip (so many that there is a guidebook to the tearooms of Bath). I toured the Roman Baths, and tasted the waters. They are said to be medicinal, with forty different minerals that treat all kinds of ailments. It smells bad, but it doesn’t taste nearly as disgusting as the water in Ashland.
I got to the Jane Austen Centre right as it was closing, so I only got to see the shop, and the Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum were also closed when I got there. I definitely have to go back. There is so much to see and do, Bath could be a trip in itself. Something new to dream about. Cheers.

I took the first of my tours today. It started at Leeds Castle in Kent. It is a beautiful, well-preserved castle which used to house the Queens of England, including several wives of Henry VIII, before being purchased and restored by an American in the 1920s. It was gorgeous, inside and out, and I especially liked the black swans in the moat.
Next we drove down to Dover and had a photo op at the white cliffs. It was a beautiful sunny day on our side of the channel, but there were clouds on the other side so we couldn’t quite see the French coast. I really wanted to be able to say “I saw London, I saw France …” Oh well.
After Dover we went to Canterbury. We had lunch and then visited the cathedral. It is an amazing building. When I went down in the crypt there was a choir rehearsing down there, and it echoed beautifully.
After returning to London, we had a cruise down the Thames from Greenwich, arriving at the Embankment at sunset. It was a lovely day. Cheers.

Well, what a birthday! The sun came out (for a while) and it warmed up a tiny bit. Mom says I missed snow at home, which seems unfair. It has ever only snowed there on my birthday once, and now it does it while I’m gone?!
I had tea and a cherry tart in my room then headed to the British Library. It’s pretty heady to stand in the same room as original manuscripts by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and Oscar Wilde, not to mention scores by Handel, Bach, The Beatles, and drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci. Oh, and the Magna Carta too. The Beowulf manuscript was there this time, I missed it on my last visit (it was being cleaned). What an incredible amount of history in just a few square feet. It gives you goosebumps.
My next birthday stop was the London Eye, and the weather behaved. What a view! It’s amazing to be that far up, you can see everything, it’s beautiful.
I went to the Hard Rock Café for lunch and sat next to the gold record of Yellow Submarine and across from a green sequined jacket of Mick Jagger’s. Yummy food, and a great hot fudge sundae.
Then I came back to my room and got spoiled by e-cards and bouquets of flowers. Thank you everyone!
I went to a candlelight concert at St. Martin in the Fields tonight. It was wonderful. They played Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Pachelbel’s Canon, two of my absolute favorites, along with Handel and JS Bach. It was a glorious end to a glorious day. It was a birthday to remember! Cheers.

It’s been really cold in London. The rain is still holding off, and today is the first day I wish I hadn’t left my gloves in my room. I went to the Tower of London this morning. Lots of beautiful towers and the crown jewels are amazing, but the whole place just has an eerie feel to it. The ravens are very cool, I even bought myself a stuffed one for my birthday. The best bit was catching one of the beefeaters yawning. He couldn't raise his hand to cover it, he just opened his mouth and grimaced.

Next I visited St. Paul’s, but it was closed to sightseeing today because it’s Ash Wednesday, so I didn’t get to climb to the roof to see the view.
This afternoon I found the Handel House Museum, one of those pesky hard to locate ones. It was very interesting to see where Handel lived and composed, and there was a musical rehearsal going on that I got to listen to for awhile. A harpsichord, a cello and a singer. It was very loud inside the room, but as soon as you shut the door behind you, you could barely hear it. That says something about the walls they built in the 1720s. I can’t believe I’ve only been here a week. I’ve seen so much, it’s been an amazing trip so far. Cheers.