Today we are in Liverpool and saw all things Beatles, including Penny Lane and the Mersey River.  A man from Istanbul took this picture of us.

Paul, George, John, Ringo, and us.

Brief history lesson:  Henry VIII was married, had no son, wanted to marry Anne Boleyn instead, couldn’t get permission from the Pope for a divorce.  Result:  Hank decided to start his own church, make himself the head of the church, give himself a divorce, and destroy all things Catholic in Britain.  Because of this, there are many ruined abbeys in Britain, so of course we had to visit one in Glastonberry this morning.

More interesting in Glastonberry is the fact that it is the home of all things King Arthur (including Merlin’s possible home) as well as the setting of Harry Potter’s life story.  It’s a laid-back hippie town with lots of interesting-looking people walking around and incense odors wafting out of shop doorways.

Lunch was served at a farm that was built in 1240.  The first thing Ted said when we arrived was “It smells like a farm.”  It’s a national historic site and the family lives on site and operates it as a bed and breakfast, as well as a farm.  The bread pudding and “berry mess” (translation:  berry kuchen) with ice cream made from the farm’s own milk were delicious!

We went out for a group dinner and an evening of Welsh music tonight.  New foods I ate/drank tonight include Welsh rarebit, honey mead, and ham hocks.  Our tour director told us that the Welsh are all about music (cf Tom Jones and Shirley Basye).  As she sang, one of the singers walked around to several men in the audience, including Ted.  Singing Shirley B’s “Hey, Big Spender, spend a little time with me,” she ran her fingers through Ted’s hair.  Watching his face turn as red as his shirt was fun.  She probably picked the best-looking men in the room for her act.

Instead of trimming trees and hedgerows back from the road, a rectangle was cut in them. It’s like driving through a tree tunnel.

Phone booths are everywhere in Britain and actually have pay phones inside, as well as ATMs and wi-fi access.

This is a statue of John Batchelor, “The Friend of Freedom.”  Note the freed pigeon perched on John’s head.

Just when I was wondering if the English summer ever gets better than windy, mostly cloudy with intermittent showers, and highs in the upper 50s and low 60s, we had a beautiful day.  Today it was mostly sunny, no wind, and in the upper 60s.  I only had to wear one jacket layer instead of two.  Yippee!  It’s summertime in Britain!

We visited an abbey this morning.  It was very pretty and had beautiful gardens.  Luckily, that wasn’t the end of the day, because I was still mostly asleep that early in the morning and had a hard time getting excited about it.

The next stop was Polperro, a fishing village in southwest England on the coast of the English Channel.  It was a charming town and very picturesque.  The tide was out and it was interesting to see so many small boats sitting on the muddy shore, waiting for the tide to come in to set them afloat again.  With the sun shining and our single jackets unzipped, we enjoyed walking around the village.

After that, we went to Plymouth.  The Mayflower left from Plymouth and we had a chance to climb the “Mayflower steps”–the stairs the Pilgrims used to board the Mayflower.  I tried to see Massachusetts, but it was too far away.  We also had an hour harbor cruise.  Plymouth has one of the three best natural harbors in the world and is a major base of the British navy.

To finish the day, we had a group dinner at a pub that opened in 1250 (the year, not the time of day).  I had steak pie and STP (sticky toffee pudding) with clotted cream.  Everything was delicious except the clotted cream.  It tasted like butter to me and eating a lump of butter as a garnish didn’t rate “delicious” on my scale.  It was an interesting day experiencing the local culture and the local food in small towns.

The sanctuary of Buckfast Abbey.

Polperro with boats waiting for high tide.

The Mayflower Steps.

Today we saw Stonehenge.  It is believed to have been built around 3000 B.C., making it over 5,000 years old.  (Busch Stadium only lasted for about 40 years.  Go figure.)  Although the stones are definitely huge, the circle itself is much smaller than I thought it would be.  Traffic on the road approaching Stonehenge was strung out for a lo-o-o-o-ng way in a single lane, reminding me of Field of Dreams.  Did the builders of Stonehenge hear a voice telling them “If you build it, they will come”?  Stonehenge is in the Salisbury Plain, famous for being very windy.  Ted estimated 30-35 mph sustained winds, and I believe it!  A pretty sight was poppies in bloom in the fields all around Stonehenge.

After Stonehenge, our tour took us to Bath.  Bath is a very upscale city and probably puts Beverly Hills to shame in price per square foot.  Many homes are over $5 million.  They aren’t luxurious enough, though, because there is no green space around them, so the new development (which looks as old as the old houses) starts around $10 million, including some grass.  Mind you, this is for what we’d call a condo–three windows wide in a long building with probably close to 100 individual units.  Zoning laws in Bath require that all new structures be built in the same color stone and in the same style as the original structures from the days of the Romans.  Oh, goody!  My new $10M house looks just like the 2,000-year-old one down the street!

Speaking of Romans, we had a tour of the original Roman Baths.  The water is sulphurous, so it’s stinky.  I don’t know what would make anyone think bathing in stinky water would be good for you, but it supposedly promotes long life.  We were advised not to touch the water because it’s untreated and filled with bad germs and bacteria.  There goes my long life!

The day ended in Exeter at our hotel.  Dinner was a welcome reception for the group and we sat with a very nice couple from Australia.  (More than a third of the 47 people on the tour are from Australia.)  The four of us spent about three hours talking, so I’m thinking we might have some new international friends.

Who is that good-looking couple at Stonehenge?

Poppies in the field.

Street art in Bath. We know it’s a human because one of our group members saw him blink.

Today was our last day in London, so we finished up our list of things to see–the Tower Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral.  We hoped to make it to Buckingham Palace as well, but our invitation to dine with the queen was apparently lost in the mail and the palace was several additional miles of walking from where we were, so we skipped it.  We walked over 12 miles today and are not being passed by many native Londoners any more.

Today was also International Day for us.  A couple from Poland asked us to take their picture at the Tower Bridge; a lady at lunch asked if we are from Canada (if Trump wins the election, we’re going to tell people we are Canadians to avoid embarrassment); and at dinner we met a young lady from Germany.  We also learned that people “pop in” at destinations and that the response to “thank you” can be “no worries.”

Our 15-day land trip through England, Wales, and Scotland begins bright and early tomorrow morning.  Fortunately (?), it’s a weekend day, so breakfast will be later than usual–at 7:00 am.  If we’re going to get up at such uncivilized hours for 15 consecutive days, I have doubts about how much I’m going to enjoy the next two weeks.  It better be a really good tour!

To avoid having to pay to use a public toilet, we “popped in” at a hospital along our way and discovered that “exit” becomes “way out” in England.

Some playful person added eyes to the water fountain in St. Paul’s Park

A pretty English garden. 

Tonight, one of the dreams of English majors came true:  I saw a Shakespearean play at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.  The show was sold out, but the Globe has a neat little system.  At 6:00 pm, you may begin to “queue” beside the door for the 7:30 performance.  You can then wait to see if any tickets are returned and, if they are, you may purchase them.  As ticketholders arrive for the performance, they offer tickets they won’t be using to the people in the queue, beginning at the front of the line.

Tonight’s play was A Midsummer Night’s Dream–a comedy, for any non-Shakespeare fans who might be reading this.  We got seats in the topmost (third) tier.  As we were going in, the usher asked us if we didn’t want to rent cushions.  We asked if we’d need them and she said the seats are boards.  We rented cushions and it was a good decision.

The play was hilarious!  It was like a modern National Lampoon version of Shakespeare’s play.  About 95 percent was Shakespeare’s original dialogue, but there were some updated lines like “Let’s play some Bon Jovi” following a line about having some music.  Even Ted, who was only attending to support my desire to do so, laughed aloud frequently and smiled for almost the entire three hours–it was that funny!

Queued for tickets to the performance.  (I’m in the light blue jacket near the front of the line.)

The Pit (no seats–you have to stand) and the stage.

We were in the second section in the top area.

Yes, the play was a wee bit naughty.

Bad news of the day:  In spite of the fact that we clearly had the (really cool) red-light electronic “Do not disturb” sign lit outside our door, we were awakened at 10:00 am by a phone call to ask us if everything was satisfactory.  It was, until the phone call woke us!  Then, around 1:00 pm, the maid knocked on the door to ask if we wanted her to clean.  No, we wanted to be undisturbed.  And besides, there’s a green electronic light outside the door that says “Make up room” if that’s what you want, and ours was not lit.  What’s the point of the “Do not disturb” sign if you’re going to be disturbed anyway?  In spite of the interruptions, Ted slept 16 hours and I woke up a little sooner.  We both feel more like humans than zombies today, which is a nice change from yesterday.

Since it was 5:00 pm by the time we were showered and dressed, we had dinner and then walked around for a little over two hours (6.5 miles).  Tonight we saw the theater district and Piccadilly Circus.  We didn’t know what to expect, but you always hear about Piccadilly Circus, so we wanted to see it.  Apparently, “circus” means “intersection of many streets” because we also saw Oxford Circus and it was a similar intersection.  Piccadilly Circus had a paved plaza in the center with street performers and a fountain with steps for people to sit on.  Other than that, it was just a busy intersection of six streets.

We are staying right downtown, so the streets are busy and the traffic is loud.  Along the Thames, you can go down stairs from the street level and walk on the Thames Path, which is designated for pedestrians and goes under the intersections, thus avoiding crossing the busy streets.  It’s much quieter there, but there’s definitely a “pedestrian pace” to be maintained–and it’s not a leisurely stroll!  The downtown Londoners are all apparently on a mission and need to get there fast!  We walk pretty fast (3.25-3.75 mph, depending on our mood), but we are constantly being passed by the natives.  We assume the (relatively) slower walkers are tourists like us.

Tomorrow should be a more normal-feeling day, since we’ve slept off our jet lag.

The red, double-decker buses really are everywhere. “The Book of Mormon” just opened in the theater here.

All the British flags hung on this street made it a pretty sight–in spite of the construction vehicles.

On our way to Piccadilly Circus, we saw the M&Ms World store. Cute!

We knew our hotel room was not going to be available until after 3:00 pm today and that we’d have a long, tired day.  We checked in at the front desk, had them stash our luggage in their storeroom, and then spoke with the representative of the land tour group to get the details for that trip.  We’ll be getting a city tour of London with the tour group Friday morning and then we take off for other destinations on Saturday morning.  The lady told us we’ll have a 6:15 am wake-up call on Saturday and, because it’s a weekend, breakfast will be later:  at 7:00 am.  She is obviously unaware that I am not conscious before 11:00 am.

Our hotel is right in downtown London, so while we waited for our room, we went out hunting for lunch and then walked around (7+ miles on the pedometer) scouting things out for tomorrow.  We’ll enjoy everything more tomorrow after we sleep tonight!  We had spaghetti at a bona fide Italian restaurant (family operated and speaking Italian) just three blocks from our hotel.

Tomorrow we’ll get serious about sightseeing.  For now, we’ve been awake for 32 hours and we’re going to sleep for a long, long time.

Big Ben. We heard it chime 12:00 pm–the maximum number of bell strikes.

Parliament on the Thames.  It’s a huge building. We might see if we can get inside tomorrow.

The London Eye. As big as it is, the St. Louis World’s Fair had a significantly bigger Observation Wheel with cars as big as city buses.

Kari picked us up at 10:30 (with Paul’s Donuts) for our flight and we had enough time to eat our lunch at the airport without feeling rushed before we boarded the plane for Atlanta.  Of course, it’s summer, so thunderstorms fired up in Tennessee and in northern Alabama and Mississippi.  Instead of taking the diagonal route from St. Louis to Atlanta, we had to fly along the Mississippi River until we were south of the storms (we saw the big anvil clouds from the plane) and then turn left to Atlanta.  This added about a half hour to our flight time.

Our layover allowed plenty of time for the storm delay and for a snack before boarding the plane to London.  (The flight included dinner, but we knew that with a 7:30 pm take-off, we’d be lucky to be eating by 9:00.)  Flying along with us were at least 100 band members from a Columbus, WI high school (just north of Madison).  Their jackets proclaimed them to be the “Wisconsin Ambassadors of Music” and they were going on a European tour.  One of them told me that when they arrived in London, they’d be going to the London Eye, to Parliament, and to a production of Jersey Boys.  I didn’t get the actual concert performance information from him, but the kids looked like they were ready for a good time.

We arrived in London around 8:30 am local time (2:30 am CDT) without more than a few minutes of sleep on the plane.  After a rainy week, it was a beautiful day and we saw England from the air.  It took us two minutes (we timed it) to get through customs, and then 25 minutes to get our luggage.

Let the European vacation begin!

England from the air. It doesn’t look like the U.S.A.

The doorman at our hotel. He was wearing an honest-to-goodness bowler hat and looked like he was performing in “Mary Poppins.”  So very, very British!

After nearly a year of planning and anticipation, it’s finally time to take our European vacation.  We packed our 25-inch suitcases and our 15-inch carry-on duffel bags today and were pleasantly surprised to see that we have room to spare, even with 15 days’ worth of clothes plus a half dozen dinner outfits.  (The dinner dress code is “casually elegant”–a contradiction in terms if you ask me.)  The suitcases weigh in at 45 pounds, so we’re comfortably under the 50-pound limit.  A woman on our cruise last summer who was traveling for six weeks told me she was getting very tired of wearing the same outfits repeatedly.  I think we’re at risk for the same feeling. 

Kari and her kids are taking us to the airport tomorrow morning, including a Paul’s Donuts stop.  What a great send-off!

Today, the Viking Sea was launched.  The Sea is the ship we will be aboard for our 15-day Baltic Sea Cruise in July.

Viking ship

Viking has been known for its worldwide river cruises and just started providing ocean cruises in 2015 with the Sky.  The second Viking ocean ship, the Sea, was just launched, and will be followed by the Sun, which will set sail in 2017.  We’ll be on a brand new ship that’s been sailing just long enough to discover and plug any leaks it might have before we come aboard.

Here’s the real ship we’ll be traveling on at its christening in London.  Accommodating only 900 passengers, it’s small for a cruise ship, compared to others that carry 2,000-6,000 passengers.  We’re looking forward to the smaller crowd.

The Viking Sea

Fireworks and everything for the christening in London

Today we made our dinner reservation to eat in the Eiffel Tower on July 15.  The dinner package includes a three-course meal, including wine, in the Eiffel Tower restaurant; tickets to explore the Eiffel Tower; and a one-hour cruise on the Seine.  Dinner will be at 6:15, so it will still be light and we’ll have a beautiful view of Paris.  After dinner, we’ll go on the cruise, and then we’ll go back into the Eiffel Tower to see the lights of Paris in the evening.

Paris, Eiffel Tower dinner, river cruise on the Seine, and Eiffel Tower views of the late sunset (9:49 pm) and of the night lights of Paris.  What could be more romantic?