England

After an interesting ride on the Super Shuttle (and I mean that in an "Oh my God are we going to make it ! ? ! ? kind of way), we made it to the airport to begin our trip to England. We flew on a Boeing 777 with the cool TV screens on the seat backs in front of you. I was able to watch a lot of the Cartoon Network and it made the nine hour flight only seem like nine days instead of nine months. Being able to sleep on planes payed its dividends too.

Upon arrival at London Gatwick, we found ourselves at the end of a three-jumbo-jets-full line of people at Border Patrol. Shortly thereafter, a stern looking woman with the airport staff spotted us, bee-lined over, grasped Dad's arm firmly, and said, "Come with me, Sir". Needless to say, we were all a bit confused and worried. Without letting go of Dad, she pulled us out of line, steered us through the area and around to the side. She then shouted " Nigel, we have a little baby here!" to a security guard standing by a gate. The man said "Hello" to me, opened the gate and then motioned us inside. To our relief, it was a line to a lone Border Patrol stand with no line and a pleasant agent. He checked us out quickly while chatting with us and sent us right through. We were one of the first groups to make it to baggage claim. We had just bypassed the entire line! Dad said to me, "Son, you just earned your entire trip!" I didn't have the heart to tell them I wasn't a baby, but apparantly the Brits consider you an infant until you are five - whether you like it or not. I guess it was worth it, since it also allowed me free admission everywhere else we went!

By the time we made it to the hotel and checked in we were pretty worn out so we decided to take a break and make a plan. You can see a weary Dad and me in the room HERE. After a bit of rest we were hungry and decided some lunch was in order, so we asked at the front desk about any nearby food. The lady told us about the Frogs Hole Farm pub and said it was about a ten minute walk down the road from the hotel. I don't know if English time is different, or if they walk at our jogging pace, but her "ten or fifteen" minutes was our nearly forty. We had a good appetite up by the time we made it there, so we ordered up our first "pub food" and had a nice lunch. We spent the rest of the day lounging around the hotel and ate supper at the hotel bar.

Sunday we woke up and decided to do the town. We used the hotel shuttle (for the first of many times) and rode back to the airport, which is also a train station. England offers many kinds of Travel Cards for tourists that can save you substantial sums of money. They became our best friends while we were there, especialy since we did not rent a car. On our whole trip there was not a single place we could not get to using public transportation. Englands rail, bus and Tube (subway) systems are outstanding. Anyways, we rode the train into London's Victoria Station and set out from there. Our first stop was to be the Royal Mews, but due to a navigational error we ended up at Westminster Cathedral. It was amazing to walk around in a building that has been in continuous use for so many hundreds of years. The stone on the floors and steps were worn down inches in the heavily traveled areas by so many feet over so much time. It is hard for us in the States to get a grip on because everything here is so new by comparison. HERE is a picture of Grama standing by the Holy Water fountain and HERE is one of me and Dad by one of the many saints chapels inside. Church was in session while we were there and we heard Solemn Vespers being sung while we walked around goggling over the place. When we had our fill of the cathedral, we walked up the street to Westminster Abby. Along the way we saw our first English telephone booth and stopped to take the mandatory tourist photos. You can see me and Dad HERE , Mom, Dad and me HERE , and Mom and Grama HERE. That is Westminster Abby and the London Eye in the background. The Abby is a cool place, unfortunately it was closed to the public on Sundays so we would have to come back later. Across the street from the Abbey is Parliament Square with the Parliament buildings and Big Ben's Clock Tower (Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the tower). HERE is a picture of the big guy. Using our Travel Cards we hopped on a double decker bus, (thinking it took a circular route), to see the city. HERE'S me on my first London bus ride. Over an hour later we were starting to think that we may have been wrong. When we pulled into the bus barn and the bus parked, it confirmed it. The driver was suitably surprised to see us and had us flag down another bus that was just leaving. That driver took pity on us and ensured we made it back to where we needed to be with the minimum amount of fuss. "Accidental Tourism" at its finest and we did get to see parts (and people) of England that we otherwise wouldn't have!

Having previously failed at locating the Royal Mews, we struck out for round two on Monday. The Mews is basically the Queen's royal garage. It is where all the royal stables and coaches are kept and is located on the back of the Buckingham Palace grounds. We saw several of the Royal coaches used in various official and ceremonial capacities. HERE is Mom with the Irish State Coach built in 1803-04 and restored in 1988-89. Next is one of the Queen's Rolls Royce's, seen HERE with Dad. Grama can be seen HERE with the Australian State Coach, donated by the Australian people in 1988 for thier bicentenary. HERE is li'l ol' me with the Gold State Coach. Commissioned in 1762 by George III, it weighs nearly four tons and requires eight horses to pull. It is huge at 24 feet long, over 8 feet wide and 13 feet tall. Completely gilded with murals painted on the exterior panels it is a sight to behold and has been used at every coronation since George IV's in 1821. As you would expect, the stables were fabulous. The horses live better than some people!

Waking up at the crack of noon Tuesday we decided to take it easy. HERE and HERE are pics of me getting my day started. I'm too young for coffee, but hot chocolate seems to do the trick just fine! Mom, Dad and I decided to take a leisurely trip into town and just mosey about. We kept seeing this interesting "Doc in a Box" at Victoria Station during our comings and goings and took the time to investigate. HERE and HERE are the results. It is a small alcove with a chair and an elevator. I hope the doctor is upstairs and this is just the entrance! Later in the day we took our first crack at the British Library. We didn't get enough on the first visit and made plans to go back later with Grama.

Feeling energetic after some rest we decided to go to Brighton Beach on Wednesday. We checked out the Royal Pavillion and gardens first. Built and expanded by one of the Georges between 1787 and 1822 it was used as a residence untill 1850 when it was sold by Queen Victoria. Over the years Queen Elizabeth has returned much of the original furnishings and decorations to the Pavillion and it is now back to its former glory. The architecture has a distinctly Indian influence, and the interior design draws from Asia, India and northern Africa. It's incredibly ostentatious, and no expense was spared (George was quite the party boy) but it was beautiful, just the same. See it HERE. We then walked down towords the beech looking for some lunch. It is amazing to me the things people will call "food" and put in their mouths. HERE is Grama with proof. Having found a suitable pub we took a break and ate. A nearby group of rather colorful guys engaged us in conversation and kept us entertained through our meal. One of them, a 74 year old hippie with an "it's cool" attitude, took quite a shine to Grama. He was full of "peace man" words and gestures, and spent a lot of time trying to lay the charm (or a smooch) onto her. He was probably a very nice guy, but I think he had overestimated Grama's personal space (not to mention alcohol) tolerance. When we made it to the beach we saw a huge carousel that we had to ride. HERE we are getting ready to ride and HERE is an action photo. It was built in 1898, has a mechanical band in the center that runs on sheet music, and has been taken down every winter and re-assembled every spring since then. Cool. Carousel riding is hard work so we cooled off with some ice cream. See me dig in HERE. Then Dad and I decided we needed to get our toes wet. Check us out HERE, and HERE.

On Thursday we headed into town to check out the London office of The Society of Petroleum Engineers. Grama works at the Dallas office and was eager to put faces with the names of people she has done business with for years. What a great group of folks. Later in the day we went to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone (HERE) and other treasures of Europe. Mom and I were particularly interested in the money exhibit. It is amazing to me the "precious" things that have been used as money over time. They also have a neat gift shop where you can buy replicas of some of the things they have on display in the museum itself. HERE is Dad and me with some ancient Egyptian statues.

Since we had worn everything we brought at least once, Friday became laundry day. The lady at the front desk told us where to find a laundromat in town and then called a cab for us. We intended to do our laundry ourselves, but the lady running the place made us an offer we couldn't refuse and ended up doing it for us and delivering it to the hotel. She even left us a nice note when she dropped it off. With free time now on our hands we decided to explore the town of Crowley a bit. We did a little shopping downtown and then decided to get some lunch. A shop owner reccomended a place called the Plough. It was located off a side street that ended at an old church. After lunch, Mom and Grama set out to investigate it while I had a nap. HERE is its picture. They said they had fun looking at all the old tombstones and the architecture of the place. I felt much better after my nap.

Saturday was our day to "do" Harrods. Mom and Grama had a great time checking out all the fine china and the porcelain figurines. I was getting bored so Dad and I went and checked out the toy department. What a cool place! They have everything you can imagine - and you can play with almost all of it! Harrods employees were stationed all about giving demonstrations of many of the toys and games for sale. I think Dad may have had even more fun than I did! ;) Much too soon for me, it was time to leave and go for round two of the British Library. I took a nap while Mom, Dad and Grama oohed and aaahed over an exhibit of some of the oldest and rarest books and literature gathered in one place. Beowolf, The Canterbury Tales, The Magna Carta, The King James Bible and many others were all there to awe you. Some of the historically significant books have been digitally scanned and you can choose one and read it by "turning" the pages using the touch screen on computers in the exhibit. Dad said that history is a lot more fun when you can look at it instead of reading about it. The exhibit was so absorbing that we never made it to see the rest of the library and the other exhibits. I did get some really cool maps for my room in the gift shop though!

Our cab driver on Friday had pointed out a church to us that was over a thousand years old and located just up the street from the hotel. With some time to kill before the next shuttle on Sunday morning we decided to walk over and check it out. Named after St. Nicholas, it immediatly became my favorite church of the trip. HERE Is the bell tower as we walked up and HERE is Dad in the cemetary that surrounds the church. We saw graves from about the 1100's through 2003! Further proof of the longevity of the church came when we took a picture of the sign on the door (HERE) and discovered a full congregation inside for their Sunday service. It's hard to grasp the normalcy of thousand year old things in England when 100 to 150 year old things in the States are "ancient". When we had had our fill, we headed into London to visit the V&A museum. Started as a personal collection by Queen Victoria and her husband Albert it has become quite the place to see. HERE is a glass sculpture that hangs in the entrance foyer. Pictures do not do it justice since it positively glows in the light and is about twenty feet tall. The museum has all kinds of neat stuff from their travels around the world, including art, jewelry, religious icons, armor, musical instruments and clothing. They had plaster casts made of famous works of art and buildings around the globe. HERE is Dad with a cast of David. I did not know he was so big! HERE'S a shot of Dad and me in the room themed around India. We could have spent two days there and still not seen it all.

Having seen the outside the week before, we anxiously returned to Westminster Abbey on Monday to finally see the inside. HERE and HERE are a couple of pictures of the facades of the Abbey, and HERE is a picture of one of the many individualy carved downspouts all along the eaves of the building. Photography is not allowed inside, so we were unable to take any pictures of the treasures held within. I think half the people you read about in England's history are buried here, including most of the Kings and Queens. Many of the crypts were beautiful and caused Dad to comment that he wished he could read Latin to see what they said. It was also fascinating to see all the religious and historical artifacts that are under the Abbey's watchful eye. I wonder what the people a thousand years from now will think of the things we leave behind?

On Tuesday morning we packed up to head out to the Cotswolds. One of England's Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, they are a popular tourist area and bring in visitors from far and wide. HERE and HERE we are on the train enjoying the first class accommodations. For those of you who are fans of the British "mockumentary" The Office THIS should be familiar. We also went through Swindon a few times but forgot to take a picture. We saw many old castles and manor houses on our trip through the English countryside, HERE is an example. We chose Stow-on-the-Wold (Stow) as our destination because it is known to be a quiet little town with many antique shops and bed and breakfasts. It is also the highest point in the Cotswolds and the home of Englands oldest, (in continuous operation from 947 AD), inn. HERE is Number Nine where we stayed. Mom and Grama couldn't wait to start exploring, so we headed out for a "look-see" and some supper. We kept seeing THESE "not" at any time signs around town and finally figured out, much later, that they were no parking signs. After a great supper at The Old Stocks Hotel, we called it a night.

Waking up fresh and rested Wednesday morning, we headed downstairs for breakfast. The owners cooked us eggs, bacon, sausage and toast to order, and provded fresh sqeezed orange juice and milk to drink. It was the best breakfast I have ever had away from home. We would highly recommend Number Nine to anyone visiting the area. The place is well kept, quiet, the owners are wonderful, (they make you feel right at home), and is reasonably priced. Being "manly men", (Hah), Dad and I decided to take a jaunt up to Solihul to see the National Motorcycle Museum while the ladies went shopping in town. Unfortunately for us, the trains were running late that day and it took us about four times longer to get there than we had planned. The museum was excellent though, having at least one example of bike from every British manufacturer since the beginning of the industry. Filling four buildings with hundreds, (if not nearly a thousand), motorcycles, including prototypes and one room devoted solely to historic competition machines, it is a sight to see. Mom and Grama had a great time shopping wthout us and also found THIS neat church. Those are real trees planted near the door hundreds of years ago that have grown into/onto the building to make a unique entrance. Since Dad and I had thought we'd be back earlier than we were (thanks to the late trains), Mom and Grama spent quite some time waiting for us at the (closed) Moreton-on-Marsh station. HERE are some cold, tired, worried and miserable ladies waiting for us so we could go back to Crowley and the hotel. I would say, that everyone had a good time in the Cotswolds, but if we had it to do over, we should have taken three days instead of two.

Mom, Dad and I thought we would take it easy Thursday and keep our travels to a minimum, so we headed for what we thought would be an easy day at the Tower of London. HERE is a picture, taken from London Bridge, of the River Thames with the HMS Belfast and the Tower Bridge in the background, and HERE is a tourist shot of Dad and the river. When we made it to the Tower, we decided it would be fun to take a Yoeman Warder tour and learn some of the Towers history. The Warders (also known as Beefeaters) are the keepers of the Tower and live on the grounds with their families. Like all Warders, ours was an interesting guy and entertained us with tales of politics and intrigue while showing us around. HERE is our picture, and HERE is one of the 21 Royal Guards standing guard at the Tower. The Queen keeps her jewels at the Tower and we were able to see many of the royal crowns, staffs, swords and scepters on display. The Tower also houses a military museum and a museum of royal artifacts, neither of which we were able to see due to time constraints. While we were there we took a picture of the Tower Bridge opening (HERE) and found out later that it had stuck, blocking traffic for ten hours! I'm glad we didn't have to cross it to get back to the hotel. I recommend, if you get the chance, that you set aside at least one entire day to explore the Tower. We were there for a little over three hours and barely saw a tenth of what was available to the public.

Having become old pro's at rail travel by now, Friday we decided to head out to Avebury and see the standing stones. Begun about five thousand years ago, the site is older than the more famous Stonehenge. The first ring was laid out in a small clearing in what was then dense forest. As it became an important meeting and exchange point for many different peoples, it was expanded and the forest slowly cleared for farming over the next two thousand years. Discovered about two hundred years ago in what is now a small town, many of the giant stones have been re-erected and a museum has been founded to house what has been discovered so far. Some of, if not the, oldest skeletons in England have been found here in what apppear to be ceremonial burials and evidence of a wide spread of cultures as well. Still, like Stonehenge, noone knows exactly why it is here and what is was used for. HERE is Grama and Me starting to walk one of the giant stone rings and HERE is most of what is left of it. There are two rings this size with a smaller ring inside one of them and then a giant ring surrounds them all. The hills around the perimeter of these rings are burial mounds. I thought THIS stone was neat and had Mom take my picture with it. HERE is the barn and stable complex that house the museum, gift shop and other facilities of the site. The barn is also home to several different colonies of bats living in its thatched roof, and all the stones are in gated pastures where sheep graze. Cool.

My photos are up now!

HERE is the link.