London!

We rode jet airways to London. It was different- nice roomy seats and very clean., the blankets were really thick too. Before we ever took off, they brought a lemon drink and hot wash cloths for you to wash your hands and face. I think they had a little lemon in them, so they were very refreshing. We had Indian food on the plane. It was ok, but not what we had become accustomed to eating. Dean and I watched Secretariat. We decided to not sleep so we would be able to sleep on time in London. That worked well until about the last two hours when we got really sleepy. We just napped a little. We were so glad we were not in a hurry to get anywhere in London as it took an hour to go through passport control. We only got bad directions once before we caught the express to Paddington Station. It is very close to out hotel. The walk would not have been bad had we taken the left out of the station instead of a right- it might have been that we came out a different door than I had mapped us. It wasn’t too long before we made it to our hotel.

The Cardiff Hotel is not a bad stay. It is very inexpensive. It is a bed and breakfast in a Victorian era house. The room is very tiny, yet it felt cozy and not cramped. The bathroom is so very tiny, but it is very clean. It is extremely quiet as well.

After settling in, we headed to Burger King for a real beef burger. Then, it was back to the hotel for showers! Man, it felt so good to be clean.

Tour day one- today was our first tour. After a traditional English breakfast of an egg, a piece of sausage, a piece of ham, a grilled tomato half, and some backed beans, we headed over to the Hilton to be picked up for our tour. We had to go to Victoria station where we met up with the rest of our group. On the way to Windsor Castle, we saw where several movie stars are reported to live. Windsor Castle is beautiful. We were sad we did not get to see the doll house, but we did get to see so many beautiful things. It was very interesting to see in real life some paintings we had only studied. The painted ceilings were wonderful. We saw the changing of the guards there. It was interesting to see a man with a huge gun guarding the guards. We enjoyed the tour but we really felt rushed.

Our next stop was lunch. It was in a hotel near the Avon river. It was the same hotel where the Beatles stayed while filming a movie. Lunch was tasty, warm, and filling. We needed all the warmth we could get as it was so very cold. We headed to Stonehenge. It was so very cold. It was next to impossible to listen to the audio tour, take photos, and stay warm. We did the best we could. It was so spectacular to see Stonehenge. Photos are great, but just seeing them there is amazing.

We had not known really what to expect with the Bath part of the tour. It turned out to be very fascinating. They uncovered the Roman Baths and have been restoring them. The baths were in use for several centuries, they showed the different ways they had been changed over the years. It was extremely interesting. After the tour we had a very long ride back to London. The tours were good even if we did feel rushed. The main drawback was being dropped somewhere different at the end of the tour and trying to find our way back to our hotel. We did manage despite the train we were supposed to take being closed only due to the help of a very nice lady. We were pretty hungry by that time. We ended up at a pizza place near our hotel. It was good, but not like American Pizza.