Way back when...

This last Saturday, June 13th, I toured Windsor Castle, City of Bath – Roman Bath, and Stonehenge. Each place was fantastic to visit and wished we had more time at Windsor Castle and Bath. The tour took us on an hour bus drive which viewed the country side of wheat, cattle, and sheep, our first stop was to Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle is where the Queen of England stays mostly, however she was in London celebrating her birthday, so once again, did not get to have tea with her. I did get to see the start of Changing of the Guards, Queen Mary's Doll House, and several other parts of the castle.

Windsor Castle, the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, is one of the official residences of Her Majesty The Queen.

"The Castle's dramatic site encapsulates 900 years of British history. It covers an area of 26 acres and contains, as well as a royal palace, a magnificent chapel and the homes and workplaces of a large number of people."

The second stop on the tour was the City of Bath, Bath is a quaint little city…several places to shop, eat ice cream, and a great place to relax and watch street entertainers playing music or juggling fire torches. There is a Roman Bath museum that was included in our tour. I walked in the foot steps of Romans and was amazed at the building structure and the statues guarding the large spa. For .60cents, I toss down a glass of warm mineral spring water that is known to make you look 10 yrs younger…I believe it’s working…anyway I felt it was working, it was a good excuse to enjoy an afternoon chocolate scoop cone. There was so much to see and do, however the tour did not allow the time needed to really enjoy Bath. This will be on my bucket list for another time in England.

http://visitbath.co.uk

The third and final stop was to Stonehenge. Its mind-boggling how those large stones arrived and a wonder what the formation means. It will remain a mystery…

London Bridges Fallin' Down

It’s amazing, when I tour countries I always learn more world history…during this BIG Bus London tour, I learned about the Great London Fire of September 1666, that destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, plus other buildings as well, which all started by a Baker shortly after midnight. The Baker was a little tired and went to bed after making biscuits (cookies to us) and forgot to turn off his oven fire…oops!

In April 1968 the London Bridge was sold to Mr. McCulloch for $2,460,000 USD, the bridge was taken apart, each piece was numbered to aid re-assembly and was reconstructed in Arizona, US and re-dedicated in October 1971, however Mr. McCulloch thought he was buying the more impressive bridge which is known as the ‘Tower Bridge’. That’s funny…

We also went by Marble Arch, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace (didn’t see the Queen, though), Harrods famous shopping center, London Eye, Marble Arch, Tower of London, and did I mention the Marble Arch? I bet we went by the Marble Arch 10 times during that tour…We also rode over the New London Bridge and the Tower Bridge…Walked around Buckingham Palace and took pictures of the guards and maybe next week we will see the changing of the guards.

On Sundays the pubs served roast (beef, lamb, or chicken), so that evening I had a delicious roast beef dinner and then snuggled in for a good night sleep…

The weather has been great, high 60s to low 70s with a few rain showers…

There’s a dazzling array of elephants in town decorated and raring to go! They are part of a huge fund-raising conservation campaign, over 250 brightly painted life-size elephants, each painted by a different artist are for sale on June 30, however don’t believe I have room in my suitcase for one of these elephants. Darn the luck!

Next weekend, we tour Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath…can’t wait!