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.

I spent this morning at the zoo. It was a little drizzly, and a few of the animals refused to come out, but it wasn’t crowded at all, and the animals I did see were great. My favorites, as usual, were the primates and the birds. There is a big walk-in aviary that’s really fun, and the rainforest at night exhibit was great. I found out why the Eastern White Pelicans turn peachy-pink this time of year (change in diet) but not why there are some wild ones in the park. One of the peacocks put on a show for me, maybe because my coat was the same color as him. Did I look like the largest peacock he’d ever seen?
After the zoo I checked out Camden Town, and then went down to Piccadilly, where I went to a little outdoor antiques market in front of a church. Then I hunted for a couple of museums that are in my book but not on the map I had with me. No luck. Tomorrow I will take my big map. Cheers.

This morning I went to Trafalgar square and saw St. Martin in the Fields, the Freed Store and the Green Man and French Horn (my Mom’s favorite London Pub). I went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw many of the paintings that I studied in my costume history courses in college. They have a new (to them) painting of Lady Jane Grey, my favorite British monarch when I was younger. Honestly, you could spend weeks in that place, there is so much to see, and the detail on some of those paintings is amazing.
Next I headed to Covent Garden, where I bought some antique sugar tongs in the open air market. Then I went across the river and saw the National Theatre and toured Shakespeare’s Globe, a replica of the original. It was fascinating. Next time I’m in London during the summer I want to go to a show there. The weather is still holding. It’s chilly, but it hasn’t rained yet. I’m feeling pretty lucky. Cheers.

The rain is still holding off. They’re now calling for clouds only for the next few days. This morning I visited Kensington Palace. It has some amazing ceiling paintings and tapestries. There was also an exhibit about the last season of the debutants in the 50s. Lots of cute dresses.
Then I tried to go to the Royal Mews to see the collection of carriages, but it’s closed until April. I did get to see the Queen’s Gallery. Right now it is displaying a collection of Flemish paintings, one of my favorite styles. I love that all the museums over here give you the audio tours with your tickets instead of making you pay extra. It really adds to the experience.
Then I went by Buckingham Palace, and on to St. James’s Park. It had an amazing variety of birds. Several beautiful kinds of ducks and geese, and huge peachy Pelicans which dwarfed the swans. The best bit was the squirrels. They are very tame, and not only will they eat peanuts out of your hand, they’ll run right up your pant leg to do it! A nice man shared some peanuts with me, and I couldn’t believe how gentle they were. Then I caught the right bus back to my hotel (a triumph) and am busily planning my day for tomorrow. Cheers.

I went to Portobello Market this morning. It was unbelievably crowded. It must have been the beautiful weather. Cars could barely get down the streets there were so many people. I don’t remember it being that busy before. I got myself an early birthday present, a silver teapot. Slightly wonky, but a great deal.
This afternoon was so warm and sunny I left my coat in my room. I collected my London Pass from Regent Street and went down to Parliament Square which was almost as crowded as Portobello. I took a river cruise past the tower bridge down to Greenwhich and saw the spot where time begins.
Then on the way home the bus broke down and stranded us in what I’m pretty sure was the dodgy end of Wandsworth. But I knew my hotel was in the west end, so I kept heading toward the sunset, and I made it back. I only have one giant blister, which isn’t bad. Tomorrow I start on the museums, and hope the rain holds off. Cheers.

Today I took a walk down to Notting Hill. I found a great little bakery which makes a delicious pear vanilla tart. It was hard to decide between that and the minty apple pie. Maybe I’ll have that next time. I found a bookshop and got Wendy Holden’s latest novel (it isn’t out yet in the US) so I’ll have something to read on the plane home.
The sun came out this afternoon, so after lunch I went back to Hyde Park. There were lots of well-behaved dogs scampering around, and people feeding the birds at the Round Pond. I’ve never been fond of geese (after being chased by them at an early age) but the swans were pretty frightening. Standing straight they came almost to my shoulder, and they weren’t a bit afraid of people. They really gave me the willies, I know that mixing ballets but it’s true.
I walked over to the big memorial in front of Albert Hall (beautiful in the sunlight) and on the way back I saw parrots! Bright green parrots with forked tails. First a group of three then later five at once. I tried to look them up online, but I just kept getting stuff about parrots in Chicago. Anyway, they certainly were exotic.
I’m almost over my jet-jag. One more early night and I should be set. Tomorrow I pick up my London Pass and start to see the sights. Cheers.

I didn’t do very much today. I’m still pretty jet-lagged. But I did get my adapter working so I can recharge my computer and update my blog every day (or so).
This was a day of flowers. I went for a long walk because my travel pass doesn’t kick in until Saturday, and I wanted to get my bearings. Hyde Park is beautiful right now. I found a huge patch of (I think) daffodils which should open before I leave, and even better, lots of snowdrops. The fair maids of February aren’t standing in the snow, but they are standing tall. They must be a different variety to the ones at home because these are six to eight inches tall. Gorgeous.
I walked down Oxford Street to Piccadilly and back. All the fancy buildings off Regent Street have beautiful wrought iron window boxes with miniature boxwood bushes, red or purple cyclamen, and trailing ivy. So elegant.
I came back to my room and took a nap, then I went out and bought myself a bouquet of orange tulips to perk up my room. I cut the top off a water bottle and swathed it in a new pashmina, and they look great. I love having fresh flowers around, they always make me happy. Cheers.

Well, I made it. It wasn't easy, but then air travel never is. I have a peculiar knack for booking myself on flights that get delayed, cancelled, or have to make emergency landings. Today it looked like I would never make it out of Eugene, but I switched to an earlier flight (which actually left later then I was originally scheduled) and I made my connection in San Fransisco. The next flight went smoothly, just under ten hours, and I had an aisle seat with no one next to me. Bliss.

When I was waiting foor my shuttle in Heathrow I saw someone carrying a Made in Oregon bag and got absurdly happy. I miss everybody already.

My hotel is great. I'm on the fifth floor, in a nice room with a king bed and the windows overlook Hyde Park. The bus stop is just opposite.

I went to Tesco's and got some cheese and crackers and fruit and juice so I can have breakfasts in my room if I want (there's a mini-bar fridge and tea-making facilities). I just found an old Poirot on TV, so I'll probably fall asleep in front of that. Exhausting day. Cheers.