Now to the juicy details of our trip!

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Tuesday June 1 - Our trip begins!

Our friends, Howard and Lillian, picked us up around 1pm and take us to the Orlando airport (a hour drive). Spending the money for "Premium Economy" paid off right away, as our check in at Virgin Airlines was a breeze!
Our flight left on time at 5pm, with an estimated arrival time into Manchester, England at 6am the next morning! Each seat had its own flip up TV/Movie monitor, with a selection of 6 different movies to watch! The food was delicious, as was the Bailey's Irish Creme!

Wednesday June 2 - Manchester/York

After arriving in Manchester we take a lengthy walk to the train station, located right there at the airport. We purchased a BritRail FlexiPass which was good for us, as we didn't have to worry about buying rail tickets at each city. Lord knows we had enough luggage to deal with! We had a delightful time on the 90 minute train ride to York, talking with several young professional people on their way to work that morning. They were very gracious and patient with us! Our first major blessing was that our rooms were ready and available for us at 10am when we arrived at the hotel. We immediately took an hour nap, then got up to eat and tour the city. Our body's were aching by dinner time. After dinner Kevin took a walk on the city walls, and found time (and energy) to attend a sacred music (chorale and organ) concert at the York Minster cathedral. Heavenly!

Thursday June 3 - York

We walked into town and found Betty's Tea Room, which was recommended by everyone we met. After that we took the Guide Friday bus tour of York (about an hour in length) and toured the York City museum. After lunch Susan went to the City Art Gallery (naturally!). Dinner that night was at Caesar's Italian restaurant (rack of lamb, grilled veal with mushrooms!). After diner we walked around the York Minster, and had enough energy to walk all the way back to the hotel -- even Jenny! Needless to say, we slept very well that night!

Friday June 4 - York/Edinburgh

All too soon it was time to take a taxi to the train station, and leave York for a wonderfully relaxing train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland (about 2 1-2 hours). The train went up along the eastern coastline of England. Marvelous scenery. We arrived around 1:30pm and took a taxi to our hotel. Unfortunately, our reservations had been cancelled! I had to use a pay phone down the street to contact our travel agent back in Tampa, FL. An hour later she had a new booking for us. After dropping Susan off at the National Art Gallery, Jenny and I proceeded to our new destination. What a surprise! The Preston Field House is a 17th century manor house, that has entertained Benjamin Franklin, and now us! It is about 10 minutes south of town (or a good hour's walk, as I discover the next day!). Trying to make reservations for dinner proved challening. We finally made reservations at the La Lanterna Restaurant for 8:30pm. What a wonderful, fun evening we had. Our waiters were both young people, one from Spain, the other from Milan, that were both in Edinburgh to learn to speak English!

Saturday June 5 - Edinburgh

We celebrate Kevin's 48th birthday! Breakfast consisted of chees omelet, porridge and sausage. We spent the morning at the York Castle. We ate lunch at Deacon Brodies Pub, and proceed to continue our walk down the Royal Mile, went into the Writer's Museum and then St. Giles Cathedral. By then Susan's and Jenny's feet could take no more! At that point, they took a taxi back to the hotel while I continued to explore Edinburgh and then walked back to the hotel. By then Susan was up doing a watercolor of the hotel. We talk to the maitre-de and asked about dinner for that night. What an experience! Their dining room was literally an art gallery. Susan had a hard time choosing between eating and staring at their painting! What a way to celebrate a birthday. Pate and scallops for appetizer, duck and lamb chops for dinner, and chocolate gateaux with French vanilla custard for dessert!

Sunday June 6 - Edinburgh/Cotswold

Here's where things start getting interesting. First, our train was delayed an hour leaving Edinburgh. Then, a calm 5 hour train ride from Edinburgh to Birmingham is followed by a short, snappy taxi cab ride from the train station to the Hertz car rental office at the Birmingham airport, which is followed by our death-defying act: letting Kevin drive in England! It's not as bad as they make it out ... once you get used to having the wheel on the wrong side of the car ... and understanding their highway signs .... and trying to figure out if the posted speed limit is in "miles per hour" or "kilometers per hour" (btw, its MPH!) ... and dealing with your first roundabout! And then after all that, we encounter a road block on a country road. The police officer did not let us even ask a question, he just pointed us down this small road which was barely wide enough for one car -- with no signs, no directions, and no maps! So off we went on our first unplanned adventure in England. It all worked out fine and somehow we managed to arrive in Chipping Camden. What a warm reception we received at the Cotswold House Hotel. The proprietor, Christopher Forbes, welcomed us and made us feel right at home!

Monday June 7 - Cotswold

Prior to breakfast each morning, we had hot tea and hot chocolate delivered to our rooms! Today we set out to Shakespeare country, Stratford-upon-Avon, which is about 30-45 minutes north of of Chipping Camden. One guidebook (Rick Steves) says of Stratford: "sure its touristy, but how would you explain going all the way to England and NOT go to Shakespeare's town"? You can easily spend a day there. We took the Guide Friday tour which laster nearly two hours, and was very informative, even if it was very cold that day!

Tuesday June 8 - Cotswold

Today we decide to explore the area south of Chipping Camden. After a short stop at Stow-on-the-Wold, we made it to Burton-on-the-Water. Don't miss it. It's charming and picturesque, with four walking bridges over a wonderful stream that flows right through the town. And how many towns can say it has a miniature model village of itself?
From there we went on to Blenheim Palace. As you drive up the entrance, green pastures are filled with sheep grazing. In fact, they are apt to walk right out on the road! Blenheim Palace is the home of the Duke of Marlborough, and is where Winston Churchill was born. After a guided tour of the palace, we went to another part of the palace grounds where they had a huge walk-through live butterfly area, a putt-putt course, and a gigantic hedge maze. The hedges are about 5 feet tall, and are laid out in the design of the Marlborough familiy coat of arms. Naturally, we got lost in the maze, and the guard had to help us out, because it was time to close!

Wednesday June 9 - Oxford/London

Today we have to leave the Cotswold area behind. We planned on dropping off our rental car at Oxford, and then taking the city bus into town for a quick visit. We discover Blackwell's bookstores! Not just one, but many, and each store has a specialty. Their main store had 3 or 4 floors to it, and as we were leaving the store manager asked if we had seen the downstairs Norrington room? Well, the downstairs had over 160,000 volumes of books. It was the most impressive display of books I had ever seen. Words could not possibly describe it! We then proceeded to see Christ Church colege, which is just as magnificent and impressive as you could imagine! We then had to make our way to the Oxford train station and catch the hour train ride into London! By the time we checking into our apartment in the Kensington area of town, it was already 7pm. After dinner at a local restaurant, yours truly stayed up until midnight washing clothes!

Thursday June 10 - London

Our first day in London, and we had a lot to do! We took the tube to Victoria Station where we picked up our 7 day London Travel Cards, which gave us use of all the tubes (in areas 1 and 2) and the city buses. As we were to find out, it even covered the train ride back from Greenwich! Susan ordered tickets to see the Rembrandt exhibit, and then went off to the Victoria & Albert Museum, while I got on the phone to order play tickets for Friday and Sunday. I then took the tube to St. Paul's Cathedral and attended their Wednesday evensong. People were invited to come and sit up in the stalls where the choir sat. You don't have to ask me twice! Dinner that night was at the Texas Lone Star (very American, very good, and very much needed!). After dinner, I took a walk to the Royal Albert Hall, and found out that James Taylor was performing that night! How could he come to London and not tell us he was playing?

Friday June 11 - London

Susan headed off first thing for the National Gallery and the Rembrandt exhibit. Meanwhile Jenny and I took the tube to Baker Street and went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. After a failed attempt to try to go to Charles Dicken's house, we took the tube to the Embarkment area, and had lunch at the Sherlock Holmes pub! We finished lunch just in time to walk up the street to catch the daily (1:05pm) concert at the St. Martin-of-the-Fields church. That night we went to see Starlight Express, an Andrew Llyoyd Weber musical that is performed completely on rollar blades! The music was loud, but great, as was the singing. It was an evening that went by way too fast. Don't miss the show if you are in London. It has been running for 15 years, and in 1993 they revamped the show, adding five new songs.

Saturday June 12 - London

We took the tube back to Baker Street and went through the Madame Tussaud Wax Museum. It was really spectacular, even though it was very, very crowded. That took all morning. I caught tube that afternoon back to St. Martin-of-the-Field to buy tickets for that evening's candlelight concert, and then walked all the way back to our apartment (about one hour). Susan and I ate dinner that night in the cafeteria below the church, prior to the concert, which was fabulous. Musicians played "period" instruments, including 4 violins, 2 cellos, oboe, trumpet and harpsichord. Second half included a 20 person choir plus two leads, a soprano and a contralto, singing Vivaldi's Gloria!

Sunday June 13 - London

The day we've been planning for --- Jenny's 21st birthday! After opening presents and cards, and having breakfast, we started by going to the Natural History Museum. Give yourself a day for this place, it's that big. They have a wonderful gem and mineral display, in a room larger than anything you can imagine! After ashort rest and change of clothes, we were off to a 4pm matinee performance of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Three American actors perform pieces of all 37 of Shakespeare's plays. It's all in good humor, with lot's of audience interaction. I'm not sure we stopped laughing for the whole two hours! This is another "do not miss" events if you are ever in London. After the play, we had dinner at Planet Hollywood, where Jenny attempted to have her first beer (never even made it to her lips!).

Monday June 14 - London

Our last full day in London! Susan and I went to a local restaurant for a final traditional English breakfast: eggs, mushrooms, broiled tomatoes, toast, tea. We then picked up Jenny, and took the tube to Westminster and caught a boat ride down the River Thames to Greenwich. The weather was magnificent - blue skies, very flew clouds - almost too warm! We ate lunch at a pub in Greenwich and caught a train back to London. Susan headed off to the Tate Gallery, while I visted the Westminster Cathedral, after a quick check of Victoria Train Station to be sure what the procedure for getting to Gatwick Airport. An early dinner, was followed by lots of packing!

Tuesday June 15 - London

From Victoria Train station, they run the Gatwick Express service, which is about a 30-40 minute train ride directly to the airport. Check in was easy, and we had time to look insome shops and have lunch before our 2pm take off. Heading west is so much different as we landed in Orlando at 6pm (which was really 11pm at night, England time!). A small problem with finding our luggage took over an hour, and heavy rains forced us to stop and eat another dinner before starting our hour ride back home!

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Trip to England June, 1999 / Last modified July 4, 1999 @ 10:02 pm
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