England

Miles traveled....877.

It was after much gimping and nearly a thousand rest stops and aching hands that we finally arrived back in London. We hopped on the bus to ride back into town from Stansted( about 1 hour north of London).

We arrived in the late afternoon after translating ourselves to the “Wheatsheaf” our favorite local pub. Sara plopped down by the fire, we ordered some pints, and we got on the internet to finish working on blogs and Mike's book. Rob was hard at work with his newly arrived wards in his lab so he wouldn't be home til a little later that evenening.

Back at the pub in London town!

It was only after visiting a half a dozen shops that we finally found a plug for less than $90. Then we found several around the $60 mark before finally finding one for around $35. I wasn't sure if I was going to survive the trip back to Ealing Broadway Station in my advanced state of fatigue.

Luckily my wife and Neal managed to help me along ...I made it to the station, but my energy gave out in front of the “Wheatsheaff” where I nursed my injured pride and we waited for Rob to get home. We all spent a nice evening visiting before hitting the hay to prepare for our 5:00 am trip to Heathrow to return to the good old US of A.

Neal sporting his Cleveland Browns attire

Sara and OON

OOS, OON, OOM at your service

Mike

We decided to make the drive out to the booming metropolis of Freeport to visit with my sister, her husband, and my nephew, CJ at the Hay household. We met Val at the clinic to get a house key and scouted the city to prepare for our first after school pick-up at Aquin elementary, home of the mighty Bulldogs. We waited with baited breath to see if CJ would still recognize us....

Here are the pictures we promised that go with the last blog entry!

English sunrise

Spire rises from the city

gate to old city

Spire sunrise

River mist with rising Spire

Sara views the Avon river!

Inside Cloister 2

Cloister at Salis B cathedral

Sarahenge

MIKEhenge

Stonehenge!!

Barrow mound near Stonehenge

Old Sarum

Old Sarum moat bridge

Ruined old sarum castle walls

sara mimicks royal business to be done

DOUBLE O N and Mike

Old Sarum LOVERS!!

outline of Old sarum Cathedral columns

Ruined wall of Old Sarum Cathedral ca 1200

Back to Salisbury

salisbury decoration...

Insecto takes out Haunch diners

Oh we love thee haunch of Venison

Streets of Salis B

Insecto takes down SPIRE!

cathedral entrance decorations

Cathedral angels

Cathedral organ

Inside Cathedral 2

Cathedral with tree

Cathedral

Arch into old city of Salisbury

approximate travle distance-round trip 240 miles

• *No pics this entry -- internet issues with uploading! Pics to come in a separate blog.

After our Paris we enjoyed a day of rest from adventure at the beautiful premier Inn. The next day, we tagged along with Neal to Salisbury where we saw a beautiful medieval town and cathedral, Stonehenge, and Old Sarum. Surprisingly our mascot decided to get back in the swing of things, I think Insecto is more comfortable in Europe. It was at old Sarum that William the Conqueror forced his subjects to swear the Oath of Salisbury following the Battle of Hastings. At Old Sarum, one of the sights we saw was the spot where kings did their royal business. It was also at Old Sarum that Eleanor of Aquitaine was imprisoned (several times…go figure).
In Salisbury, we enjoyed the tallest spire of the Medieval Ages. We also had a beautiful walk along the Avon river to reach the Cathedral and got some great pics of the spire rising out of the early morning mist. The weight of the stone making the steeple is so great that it actually bends the stones that form the base of the steeple. Also at the cathedral, we saw one of the original versions of the Magna Carta which is preserved in the chapter house there. We toured the old Cloister and the Cathedral close by which were a smaller, beautiful portion within the older section of Salisbury.
The mysteries of Stonehenge are captivating and scenic, but most noteworthy is that we still know hardly anything about it. Note to all…though it may have been used by Druids for a time, it was not contstructed by or originally used by Druids! It is the end of a nearly millennium long building project that was begun with a wooden henge in the same spot. There are also many burial mounds of various shapes concentrated around the Stonehenge site. We capped off the great morning with lunch at the Haunch of Venison. I dutifully devoured a haunch of venison before we headed back to High Wycomb.
After this we relocated to “Posh Pad London”, Rob Wyckes was kind enough to host us for a couple of days at his new place in London. His apartment is spacious and cute. He is in a nice residential area with several pubs (especially the Wheatsheaf) and shopping nearby as well as the Ealing Common Tube Station. This made for a great location for Sara and I.
Rob welcomed us with a glass of delightful wine. We drank in honor to Posh Pad Chicago (Cheers to Jeness and Tim), before catching up on Rob’s new work and telling him about our travels. Rob’s new rats hadn’t made it to town yet by our visit; other than that, it seems he enjoys his new academic-style gig. We hit a few pubs, and generally enjoyed ourselves. The next day, we saw a London snowfall, and we headed out to find Sara a coat to prepare for the frigid climate of continental Europe. Finally to the best part of our day, we met Rob down by his work for drinks and a tour of Covent Garden. We had a few drinks and ate some genuinely delicious pub food before heading home for some needed rest.
Early the next morning we hit the pavement via two trains, a bus, and finally caught our airplane from Stansted to reach the promised land of Italy where we would be spending Christmas.

The next chapter: Did you say “RIMINI” or were you trying to order a drink?

London….miles travelled…3460
We touched down at London Heathrow bright and early the next morning. The only problem with sweet onboard entertainment is that you don’t sleep as much as you otherwise might. This was to cause some problems throughout our trip in London. British Airways flies into the new terminal and it was impressive. Sara’s chum, Neal, from Ohio University met us at the doors of the terminal. He kindly had taken the day off to pick us up and take us on a quick and dirty tour of Old London town.

Our first stop was for food at Hampton Palace. Hampton Palace is one of Her Majesty’s residences west of London.
It is most renowned for its hedge maze, which incidentally has the goal of getting to the middle, not exiting), and its many colors of brick from different phases of construction. At the palace, we had our breakfast and walked about on the grounds. The grounds were thoroughly beautiful and the coffee and cake truly hit the spot as we caught up on the goings on of the family Thathapudi .
Before leaving we made a quick itinerary of spots to hit, we made reservations at a local Inn, and got a pass to enter the congestion zone of downtown London. All cars that enter downtown during peak hours pay the special fee which can be done at some gas stations and news stands. Neal buzzed us around London for the next couple of hours. We saw Buckingham Palace, Notting Hill, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Big Ben in a whirlwind of key points. On the way to the Inn, jet lag finally got the better of me and I slept for the final twenty minutes. We crashed around one thirty that afternoon, and slept until breakfast the next day.
We used the first part of the next day to tour the small town of Watford. We had coffee and later a pint. We saw shops for bangers which we found out were various kinds of sausage and hot dog. We ate fish and chips, and tried to log on to the local wi-fi. We visited the sculpture of the Watford hornet, the mascot of their local football club. The wi-fi proceeded to rip us off and we got even further behind on our blog though the coffee was quite good. We watched some movies in our room. We bought tickets to see “Wicked” in London’s theater district, and hit the hay early hoping to maintain our readjusted time-clocks.
We managed to wake up early enough for breakfast and prepare ourselves to spend the afternoon with Neal and his family who graciously invited us to dinner. When he picked us up, he asked if we were interested in seeing the lads play Belarus in the church of football, Wembley Stadium. Not knowing anything about it but always being up for an adventure we said yes. We got the tickets for Wednesday and were on our way to lunch. His wife, Kirsty and his two girls, Madelyne, and Isabella, along with their puppy, Poppy were amazing hosts. We went for a walk in the wood and each of us got quite muddy. We ate lunch and played Karaoke on the Playstation where I learned Abba tunes and the words to popular hits from the 90’s. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Neal helped relocate us to our central London digs in Thornton Heath and left us to our own devices for the next couple of days.

The next two days we spent sleeping in late and then going to see plays. Wicked was Sara’s first choice and was very fun. At the theater, we picked up our newest hobby. We purchase the cheapest seats. We have a drink before the play, and order drinks ahead for half-time. Genius, no waiting in line…America take note. Then after intermission we sneak lower down to unoccupied close up seating! Awesome. The next day, I chose Othello. On the way there, we visited Trafalgar square and ate at a pub nearby. The performance was excellent and in the second half we sat in a private box facing the stage. Not too shabby.
On Wednesday after breakfast we packed our belongings and moved to another inn right by the airport. After depositing our bags, Sara and I went on a little shopping spree. I got a little jacket, darn it, it’s chilly in London. We enjoyed a light lunch at the boring, but reliable Subway. After this we began the journey back into town to meet Neal at Dollis Hill station on the way to Wembley.
After we met Neal, we had time to have a snack and meet his mom and sister. They were extremely friendly, and we enjoyed our traditional Indian snack from their home region. His mom gave us candy bars to sneak into the stadium—thanks!! Wembly was amazing and the game quite fun, though not as rowdy as we expected. We even got outfitted in England attire beforehand….Sara with her practice jersey, Mike in his cap, and Neal in his official jersey.
England triumphed over Belarus. We had fun cheering them on to victory. As we left Wembley, we herded like cattle to the tube (London subway station), all the while hearing shouts of “Green Army” from the crowd. Later, we found out what green army is about (google- "green army advert" if interested).
We have decided that London gets the”Nicest People Award” in our tourdeflor. We were surprised, too! Yes, everywhere we went people were very helpful and friendly and we look forward to getting back there in December. Before departing, we made reservations for our accommodations and planned to meet up with Neal and family again. We had such a genuinely good time. Cheers!
Tomorrow – head to Southeast Asia.