Tips for Riding the Tube and Other Tidbits

I'm not here to give you advice on how to navigate the tube. That was firmly in Gloria and Lindsay's department. Although I must say I did figure out how to follow signs once I knew which station we were headed to. I just never downloaded the needed app for figuring out routes and things. So this little piece is going to give you some advice for how to present yourself on the tube.

One of the most important things to understand is that you should absolutely not make eye contact with any other human as that could be catastrophically awkward. If possible, be on your phone or have your nose in a book. 

Part of the standard equipment for tube transport is earbuds or headphones. Or maybe some of them were simple silencing headphones, I have no idea. One could certainly use such with the way some of those trains screeched along the track.

Do not act bothered. Whatever happens, carry on. If the train is suddenly terminated or delayed continue reading your book or listening to your music with absolutely no change in facial expression.

Only talk to other people if you know them or if you are graciously offering them your seat because they look like they could use it.

Do not wear your backpack in the tube if it is crowded. This causes serious manueverability problems. Also, accept that you will at some point be squished up next to someone that has a distinctive odor emanating off them that may not be pleasant to the nostrils. I'm not certain why nose plugs are not part of the standard tube equipment as well.

You will need to realize that there are parts of riding the tube that never will make sense. No one knows why one station is suddenly closed or why the train is suddenly terminated and the engineer leaves for the day.

Have your tap and go payment method ready. Do not hold up progress. Be quick exiting and entering. Stand to the right on escalators and climb to the right on stairways. If someone offers to carry your suitcase up the stairs, it's OK to let them. 

If you are American, do put a little extra effort into being quiet. Also, if you are me, break all apparent social rules and study your fellow passengers like you're learning them for an exam. 

You might notice bits of poetry or funny advertisements in the tube. I caught a bit of a poem by Glyn Maxwell posted in one train, and saw a lady carrying a bag with some of my favorite lines from Sarah Williams on it:

"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

You may see a few homeless people in the stations, but not nearly so many as I expected. 

It is advisable to stay with the group if possible, for sure if not everyone in the group has figured out how the tube system works. If you do happen to get on a train without the rest of the party, get off at the next station and wait on them. They will find you. We never permanently lost anyone, so there's that.

Do not expect to find trash bins on every corner like we are used to in the States. 

Do expect to walk and walk and walk. For sure if the tube workers are on strike. If you're lucky, you might find out what it feels like for a salmon to go upstream. I'm convinced we met half the business sector going the opposite way as us on one street. I don't think it's exagerating to say we were headed one way and literally thousands of people were going the other.

English food is rather bland. As you likely know, "England is the country that conquered the world for spices, but then refused to use any of them." Brits also eat an astonishing amount of carbs, yet they are not an obese people. I'm suspecting this has to do with two things: They have a lot more regulations in regards to what kind of preservatives go into their foods, and then there is also the walking. Have I mentioned the walking?

Supposedly I logged a total of about 104,000 steps during our seven days in London. This is approximately 45 miles according to Google.

There are so many historical things to do and see in Britain I could have spent several weeks there, not just one. My current dream is to go back and do a literature tour, exploring A.A. Milne, Jane Austen, Charles Dickinson, the Bronte sisters, C.S. Lewis, and many more. But that dream is just one in a thousand. I've also dreamed of doing a literature tour in the States. The problem with that is just that the authors are much more spread out.

Nearly every one of the guides and shop owners we interacted with were brilliantly funny. But then again, I have always enjoyed the dry British humor.

The scenery is so picturesque, so laden with the feeling of a million stories on every hill and in every stone cottage, I just wanted to sit under a tree somewhere or in a garden and write a novel. 

Our group were a funny bunch as well. There were some we could always depend on for laughter or just conversation. There was the person who asked lots of interesting questions. There were those who had facts on hand. And me? 

Well, I just got the absolute pleasure of getting to be with everyone and soak up beauty and knowledge and new ideas.

I don't know where my next adventure will take me, or who I'll travel with, but I'm already looking forward to it. Once I save up some money, of course. 

And so I've come to the end. Our flight is fixing to touch down in Atlanta in another 15 minutes or so. Crazy how time flies.

It's lovely to travel, but lovely to come home.

Until next time!

London: Day 7

 Wednesday, June 3

The first order of the day was to walk over to Café D’ Horizon for a proper full English Breakfast. This consists of eggs, toast, beans, sausage, mushrooms, and tomato. 

The next stop of the day was the biggest bookstore in Europe. It is a chain, but we visited the grandest of them all, the Picadilly Waterstones. Gloria had an advantage, having been there several times previously. There are four floors of books with a cafe on the fifth floor. For any true lover of literature, this is a disaster when you have limited time. I think I had made it to the second floor when I saw Leann, Nedra, and Katie on their way out already. And I was hurrying. 

I suppose hurrying might be a relative term, but I was definitely not browsing every book I could have. The problem with the situation is that as normal, when faced with many things that I love, such as a fascinating museum, an antique store, or, in this case, a book store, I get overwhelmed quite easily and can't make any decisions at all.

Thankfully the others didn't complain too much about standing on the sidewalk in the rain while Lindsay and I shopped. 

When we finally managed to pull ourselves away from Waterstones, we headed to one of the hilights of our entire trip, in my opinion: an afternoon tea. Gloria booked us into the most adorable little tea shop, called Tea Darling. It is a one-woman show, and there was only seating there for ten to twelve people, so it was a very one-on-one custom dining experience. 

The owner was a cheerful woman who greeted us at the door and seated us at a lovely table arrayed with lacy cloths, teacups, and flowers, the latter which she promptly removed, saying we would need the space for food.

First, of course, came the tea. I elected to drink Earl Grey, though I often prefer English Breakfast. Our hostess asked if I would like milk with it. When responded that I would, she informed me that I really ought to try it without because this Earl Grey was exceptionally smooth and nice, though she wouldn't judge me if I chose to add milk. 

I took her advice, and tried it plain first. It was the best Earl Grey I've ever tasted. I did try the last little dab in my cup with milk, and found that indeed, I preferred it without. 

The first course to arrive was sandwiches. There were four different kinds: English ham and mustard, cheese and chutney, cucumber, and egg salad. The cheese and chutney was my favorite by far, but there was mildly heated debate on that topic around the table.

After the sandwiches were cleared away, the scones appeared. Lovely, high rise mounds of goodness to top with clotted cream and four different types of jam. The owner told us it depended where one was from whether the jam or the cream was applied first.

We finished the scones off in an astonishingly short time. She offered to give us a breather before bringing out the next course. She also refilled our tea orders at this point. I switched to peppermint, but honestly should have probably stuck with the Earl Grey. She had a great time making jokes about how much sugar was being used at our table. I'm sure there are a couple of the girls who would like it to be known they did not partake in sugar, but I shan't give them the satisfaction of a mention.

The desserts arrived, a lovely array of macarons, tiramisou, chocolate cake, lemon cake, and some other things I likely don't remember or have names for. Everything was incredible.

The entire experience felt like something out of a story book. Tea lasted about two and a half hours, after which we also perused her shop downstairs. If you go to London, do visit Tea Darling. It's pricey, but I think worth every pound.

We moved on next to Hyde Park. It is a lovely, spacious expanse of green. Anyone who has read any novels from the regency era will know this was once the place to see and be seen, where ladies put on their finest walking gowns and paraded the pathway of Rotten Row, which still exists, by the way.

I was delighted with the Kensington gardens, right behind Kensington Palace, that contain a statue of Princess Diana. You can't enter the garden itself, but there is a vine-covered walkway all around it with viewing windows cut through  so you can see what is inside. 

While we were there, we were quite sure we saw the royal helicoptor take off. It returned perhaps fifteen minutes later. The palace is currently mostly used as offices and meeting rooms at the moment.

We continued traversing the many paths of Hyde Park and stopped for a bit by the creatively named Round Pond. There were so many different kinds of water fowl there, including ducks, geese, Egyptian geese, and swans. I was delighted to watch a swan come in for a water landing. It was the neatest thing, watching his feet come down as he skiied in for a landing, his large wings outstretched. It was pure science and poetry in motion, and I was completely enamoured.

On our way out, we spotted the Peter Pan statue which Nedra had really wanted (not) to see.

We then decided that wisdom would dictate heading back to the flat to start packing and such unsavory things, so that's what we did. A couple people grabbed Thai and Chinese take-away near the flat, while others snacked around. It did seem that peach rings and biscoff items were very popular in the group.

Slowly, everyone faded off to their bedrooms to be responsible and pack and go to bed. I think everyone was gone by 1:00 a.m. or so. Lindsay, Gloria, and I sat in the bedroom and talked for another hour about important topics, many of them school-related, but at last we, too, capitulated to the knowledge that morning was coming.

Step count for this last day was only a hair over 14,000, so not too bad.

I plan to write up one more little post with some odds and ends, and maybe a total step count, too. We'll see how that goes. I'm currently on my flight to Atlanta and I see the cart coming down the aisle to serve supper. 

So long for now!

London: Day 6

 Tuesday, June 2

On Tuesday we headed to Brighton. Someone reminded me of the Jane Austen quote from Pride and Prejudice that goes this way: "They  must all go to Brighton. That is the place to get husbands." While that was certainly not the point of our visit, it must be said that Brighton is still considered a party town. After meeting our guide, Kevin, at the train station, we joined three other women in a sixteen passenger van and headed out into the countryside.

Kevin was an absolute wealth of knowledge. I very much enjoyed his narration as we drove about. We headed first to South Downs National Park. The view stretched for miles and he told us we could see into five different counties from there. From there you could get a glimpse of the forest where A.A. Milne based the Winnie the Pooh stories. It is also a popular area for paragliding.

As we drove, Kevin rattled off name after name of stars from the music and acting industry who had visited or lived in Sussex county where we spent the day. He also threw out random information related to agriculture. Sheep have been a big thing until recent years when the wool price has dropped. He explained that the cost of shearing is half of the price you can get when you sell the wool, so farmers are beginning to experiment with sheep who shed the wool naturally. A lot of cattle are also raised on the rolling hills. He mentioned in particular the Aberdeen Angus, which I believe originated in Scotland, and the local breed of cattle, known as the Sussex Red. 

He also pointed out the fields of canola, which the Brits actually call rapeseed. He told us that currently prices are at 800 pounds per ton of canola, about double what wheat or barley is bringing in. That's a little over $1,000 USD.

We arrived next at Middle Farm. This is a a farm that is open to visitors, with a little cafe, a gift shop, opportunities to interact with animals, and shops to buy things for gardens or feed for your livestock. We were told we must try the scones there. 

I am a little confused where we Americans came up with the idea of scones being shaped like a triangle. Every scone I encountered in England was more like a large biscuit. At any rate, I can vouch for the scones at Middle Farm. Add clotted cream and jam to them, and they were incredible with a spot of tea.

We were there perhaps an hour, and it was just about the right amount of time to eat and spend just a few minutes in the shops. Then we piled back into the van and headed off to see the Long Man.

It is believed the Long Man is around 485 years old. He measures 226 feet tall and is actually located on top of an ancient burial ground. No one seems to really know what the significance is. Kevin told us the grade of the hill is about forty degrees.

Now I'd like to mention just a little bit about how he was created. The hills in this area are mostly chalk, starting about a foot or two below the grass. Whoever first designed the long man (and other chalk figures across England) did so by carefully digging trenches through the grass and into the limestone. The bright white you see in the picture above is actually white blocks that the caretakers of the figure have laid out beside the orginal lines because the upkeep costs too much to keep the actual chalk lines in that good of shape. 

The other stone plentiful in the area is flint. Many homes and fences are built of it. The chalk can also be used for many other purposes, one of which is to make mortar. 

After admiring the Long Man for as long as seemed reasonable, we hopped back aboard the van and headed over to Devil's Dyke.

The word dyke to the Brits is the equivalent of ditch. This is a dry riverbed, we were told. Because chalk is so porous, it can rain and rain and water will never collect in the ditch.

As you can see in the picture, there are hiking trails all over in this country, some of them still there from medeival times.

I suppose you would like to know the legend behind how the Dyke got its name. I can't tell it in the same dramatic fashion as Kevin, but I'll try to tell you a bit.

Supposedly, some king or another came into the area and started building churches and spreading religion. The Devil heard of these doings and came over to Sussex to have a look around. When he found the stories were true, he made a plan. He would dig a ditch to the sea and water would rush in to flood the countryside. So he set to work, digging away with his two bare hands.

No one in the village knew he was the Devil. He didn't look like the Devil, just like a man. And although they were very curious about what he was doing, no one came to ask him. Except one. A woman who lived at the top of the hill overlooking the project. She made him tea one day and brought it down. She said she had noticed him working so hard and wondered what he was doing.

The Devil told her. He explained his plan to flood the country. The woman was apparently a thinker who was quick on her toes, because she immediately told him that she thought that was a brilliant idea he had. She asked him how long it would take. He told her he could finish whenever he liked.

The woman asked him if he could be done by morning. Of course, he replied. "Oh, I don't see how you can," she countered, "there's a lot to be done yet." Well, the Devil got angry and told her that he could finish by then. Eventually he promised her that if he wasn't finished by the time the sun rose and the cock crowed, that he would leave and never come back.

And so he continued working steadily. An hour or two after midnight, the woman lit a huge bonfire on the hill and kicked her rooster awake. When the rooster saw the fire, he began to crow. When the Devil heard the cock crowing, he looked up and saw the fire, believed it to be the rising of the sun, and disappeared from the valley, never to be seen in Sussex again.

We continued our tour at Beachy Head Cliffs. These are stunning white chalk cliffs that remind one of the White Cliffs of Dover. There was a little lighthouse visible way down below. The scenery again seemed completely surreal. 

There is a little stone set in the hill with scripture on it reading, "Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. (Psalm 91:4) God is always greater than all our troubles."

There were no guardrails or any such thing. You could walk as close to the cliff edge as you desired. Kevin told us, however, that the cliffs are eroding at a rate of one meter per year. He pointed out an old lighthouse visible in the distance that is now used for a boutique, and said that it had been moved inland or it would surely have tumbled off the cliff face by now. 

We then proceeded on to view the Seven Sisters, so called because they reminded someone of the headgear worn by a particular order of nuns. We stood first at the edge of the Seven Sisters' cliffs, then drove around to get a view of them from a different angle. At the first stop there was a set of steps you could take to go down to the rocky beach and stand right at the water's edge. There were people out there surfing, and we also glimpsed a large seal in the water. 

The view was completely breathtaking. At our first stop atop the Sisters, Kevin again impressed upon us the rate of erosioin. He explained there had been a number of cottages there, but many of them had already succumbed to the erosion. 

On the far side view (above) we walked through a few cattle and past some sheep. Again, Kevin rattled off names of movies and music videos that had been shot here, but frankly the only one I actually had any real knowledge of was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  There was also a plaque to Canadian soldiers who had lost their lives there during WWII.

On the way back to the train station we saw a ship just headed out to cross to Normandy, about a 4 hour journey.

I failed to mention at the beginning, but some of the tube employees had gone on strike, something to do with not wanting to switch to a four day work week. This made traveling about slightly more difficult, but we did manage. We ended up grabbing Chinese take-away from next door for supper.

My step count for the day was only a little shy of 20,000, but I'm guessing it did hit that with all the going up and down of stairs at the flat.

London: Day 5

Monday, June 1, 2026

Windsor Castle was our first destination of the day. After catching a train there, an audio tour provided us with all the relevant facts and information that we needed to become at least somewhat educated about the importance of this historic site. 

In the entrance there was a very  fascinating time line that showed the history of the castle in conjunction with world events. I could have lingered there for a long time, but that wasn't realistic as we had a lot of ground to cover.

We stopped in at St. George's Cathedral, the final resting place of several notable figures from history, including Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Philip. That was neat just because it's modern history, but of course, because I apparently have an interest in the dark traumatic parts of history, I was just as thrilled to find the grave of King Henry the Eighth. Yes, that King Henry. The one with six wives that were systematically done away with in one way or another.

St. George's is also the home of the Most Noble Knights of the Garter, the most prestigious knighthood founded in the medeival period. Both Prince William and King Charles are members of this order. It was interesting to see the crests of all the different knights displayed there. A couple notable names would include Tony  Blair and Andrew Weber.

I also ran across a plaque above the grave of a particular Master John Schorn, who passed away in 1313. He had been a priest and was remembered for his supposed miracle powers which included healing, producing water, and trapping the devil in a boot. This last one produced more questions for me than answers.

After exhausting St. George's we got in line for Queen Mary's Dollhouse. I was very enthused about this as I have always had a great fascination for miniatures of any type. When the house was first constructed, it had not only electricity, but also running water. The decor is a collection meant to showcase British craftsmanship. Everything is made on a scale of 1:12. There are tiny bottles of wine that contain real wine.

One of the proudest features of the dollhouse is the the library. The library contains a collection of books that are rotated, and has recently been updated to include modern authors. The books were sent out to authors who hand-wrote and/or illustrated stories in them. There is, for exmple, a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes mystery in there that was written especially for the house and cannot be found anywhere else. 

After the dollhouse, we proceeded into the State Rooms. These are a series of rooms ranging from the bedroom of a king, to dressing rooms, dining halls, and receiving rooms. Somehow Lindsay and I were trailing behind the others yet again. 

A couple of things of note might by the Henry Van Dyke paintings absolutely everywhere and the china collections, one set which contains a total of 550 pieces. There was also a suit of armor which belonged to King Henry VIII. I was also intrigued with some quite ancient firearms. I don't know enough to appreciate them fully, and there were not proper cards to explain everything, but I did notice one had a date of approximately 1535 on it.

Lindsay and I were on our way out when we noticed something happening down by the exit. It was the Captain's Inspection. There wasn't a lot of explanation, but there was marching around and flashing of arms and such things. 

As entertaining as the ceremony was watching the castle officials dealing with the tourists. They told everyone numerous times to stay behind the barriers because some of the guards were going to be marching by. One elderly gentleman completely refused to listen. The lady was getting quite exasperated with him. She told him that if the guards hit him when they went by she would laugh. Someone tried to tell her that he didn't understand English, and she responded by saying that she had made it clear to him with motions and he refused to listen.

Another tourist offered an umbrella to whack the fellow with, and she responded she would gladly take the offer except her manager was right there watching. The man never did move, but neither did he get hit, either, perhaps to the disappointment of the onloookers.

When we finally exited the castle grounds, everyone else was nearly finished eating. We elected to grab some fast food at Great British Fish and Chips. I do believe I roused some controversy when I bemoaned the need to eat as a waste of time when there were so many other interesting things to be doing.

We poked our noses just around the corner here to view the crooked house. Go ahead and search The Shambles. It has a fascinating history. Apparently one person involved in the construction refused to add columns like he was told to do because he said the load bearing wall was strong enough. Correction: He added columns, just made them short enough they actually don't support anything.

The current building was made of wet timber which warped as it dried. It is one of the most photographed buildings in Britain. In 1828, the buildings on either side were demolished, casuing The Shambles to lean further. Public opinion was that it would soon fall over, but to the surprise of all it just settled into the posture in which it rests today.

We then ambled down the street to Eton. We stopped at the Mainly Books Antiquarian Bookshop, which was a mentally pleasant as well as aesthetically pleasing stop, although naturally we did not stay long enough.

The eclectic collection of vintage books was well organized. If you ever get the chance, do definitely stop in!

On down the street is the College where both William and Harry attended school. It was impressive to see the streets full of the schoolboys, ages 13-18, just out of studies for the day, striding about in their dignified suits.

After lollygagging about a bit, we headed back to catch the train to London. We stopped for a bite at Tortilla, which promised us authentic California tacos. It seemed like a British version of Chipotle. 

After supper we walked down to the River Thames and watched humanity stream by for a while. It started getting cool as we waited there. Finally it was time to head to our appointment at 9:30 to observe the Ceremony of the Keys over at the Tower of London. We had a bit of trouble finding the gate, but after some huffing frantically about, fearing we would be late, and walking nearly all the way around the tower, we did find our meeting point. We waited there for a bit in a small drizzle. It was honestly not super pleasant. And because I'm optimistic and hate carrying extra things with me, I had neither jacket nor raincoat. I accept full responsibility. 

Nonetheless, we eventually entered to observe the ceremony. This is considered the oldest military ceremony of its type in the world, having been performed every night for somewhere in the vicinity of 700 years. They have never missed once, though the ceremony was delayed a single time during WWII when a bomb struck nearby.

At the appointed time, the Chief Yoeman Wardee came from his tower carrying a lantern in one hand and a tingling set if impressive keys in the other. He was met by an armed escort, who surrounded him and walked him to the outer gates which he locked. As they came back, a sentry appeared around the opposite corner and bellowed out, "Who goes there?"

The Yoeman answered, "The Keys."

The sentry responded, "Whose keys?"

The Yoeman said, "King Charles' keys!"

The sentry then proclaimed that they were free to pass and all was well. As our guide said, "Everything's been well for seven hundred years. We have no idea what we'd do if it wasn't!"

There were then a few more official things, including the playing of the last post on a trumpet. We exited the castle and headed back to the tube with the lights of the Tower Bridge reflecting on the Thames behind us.

The step count was 20,000.

London: Day 4

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Some of us awoke and were able to function fairly well in spite of a lack of sleep due to late night and early morning conversations. Our first stop of the day was Columbia Road Flower Market. 

The Market is only open on Sundays, and it's hard to explain how loaded the street is with flowers and people carrying bouquets around. 

The other side of the street is full of cute little shops selling books, pottery, candles, flowerpots, and antiques. I loved wandering around. There was also a guy playing music and singing down at the far end of the market. 

We all met up for lunch at the Royal Oak to experience a proper Sunday Roast. There were several options, including pork belly, roast, and lamb. I ended up with the roast chicken.

Afterwards, some people ordered coffee drinks and we all shared some desserts. I can say the Sticky Toffee Pudding (which is supposedly Princess Kate's favorite) was very nice. 

Next we headed off to the Churchill War Rooms. Unfortunately, the tube was experiencing shut-downs, so we ended up taking the bus. I was fine with that, as it meant another experience. 

We had 21 stops before we got off the bus. We were taking note that the bus didn't stop for long, and as we were on the upper level, you pretty much had to start down the stairs before the bus came to a stop.

The Churchill War Rooms are one of my favorite things we've seen yet. I probably don't need to even say this, but Lindsay and I were the last ones out. I'm not sure how long the others waited on us, but I even skipped some things because I wasn't sure I was going to finish before they closed.

If you are unfamiliar with the Churchill bunker, it's basically a basement that was used as a command center, a place to have important meetings, compile information, follow the war in real-time, and communicate fluidly about the problems that arose. There were many people who worked there that had bedrooms there as well. They often worked 18 hour days. Churchill himself often worked from 6 in the morning to 3:00 the following morning. He did take time for naps, though. 

One thing they impressed upon the visitors was that the basement was not bomb-proof, although many people who worked there believed it was. Although bombs fell all around the building, it was never hit. They credit this to amazing good luck, but I think we could safely assume God's protection.

The map rooms were probably my favorite. It was really neat, because when the building fell out of use, everyone essentially got up and left, so everything is exactly like it was. You can see pin holes all over the maps, where troop movements had been marked. There was even a ration of sugar that had been left behind.

I could have spent much longer there, of course. The tour was sprinkled liberally with Churchill quotes, such as the following:

• "Trying to maintain good relations with a communist is like wooing a crocodile. You do not know whether to tickle it under the chin or to beat it over the head."
• "It will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself."
• "If you cannot read all your books at any rate... fondle them, peer into them, let them fall open where they will, set them back on the shelf with your own hands."
• "We are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow worm."

Other random things I learned included the fact that Churchill hated any type of extra or distracting noise. Because of this, there were signs posted that proclaimed there was to be no whistling. Typists were also issued special typewriters outfitted with silencers.

Some of the female staff plotted how to procure American stockings and chocolate, nicknaming their scheme "Operation Desperate."

Churchill often wore one-piece zip-up suits, which his family called rompers. Britons soon began to copy his fashion.

I was also unaware that Churchill had been issued an honorary American citizenship and that he learned to fly only ten years after the Wright brothers' historic flight.

After the War Rooms we walked through St. James's park. Admittedly, those who didn't spend as much time with Churchill enjoyed the park more than those of us who just walked through. However, I still did appreciate the ducks and swans that were all over and didn't seem to be wary of people much at all.

We then strolled in front of Buckingham Palace and hung out there on the marble monument to Queen Victoria, which I was informed is one of the largest marble monuments to a political figure in the world.

We left through the Canada gate and walked down to Pret for our evening sustenance. Pret is basically just a sandwich and wrap shop, but very nice. 

Then it was time to catch the tube again and head back to the flat. The tube was a noisy place. Apparently the football team, Arsenal, had won the championship game, a feat they have not accomplished in twenty-two years. Although that game was a week ago, they had held a parade in honor of the occasion, and there was all sorts of chanting and other noise-making echoing off the chilly tube walls.

Somewhere in our trip back to the flat we switched from the Underground to the Aboveground line. I rather liked getting out of the deep dank tunnels. 

To the guy whose friend spent the entire ride trying to help you compose a text in order to "shoot your shot" with a girl you wanted to ask out: Good luck! The conversation made me smile.

We made it back to the flat at a decent time. Everyone seems exhausted this evening, and some have already headed off to bed.

Today's step count is a little over 15,500 again, so not terrible.

There is a washer in our flat, but no dryer. We smell fish every evening when we come home, we suppose from a nearby restaurant. Our windows are left open all the time in order to keep the temperature somewhat reasonable inside. This place has no bugs. Well, at least very few. Few enough that they don't have screens in the windows. I realized walking home tonight that Londoners never get to see a sunset and I was sad for them.

So long!

London: Day 3

 Saturday, May 30

Today was supposed to be a Free Day. Basically that meant we didn't plan precisely, but had lots of discussion about what we all wanted to do.

We left the flat a little after 9:00. It was very blissful to get a little more sleep. All of us headed to the British Museum, which was a must-see on my London list. 

Most of the group just popped in for a bit to get a quick overview then went shopping and exploring, but Lindsay and I settled in for the day. 

There is no way to explain the British Museum. Although we thought we had all day there, I still felt a little panicky because even if we just skimmed (that term is used loosely) through the displays, there was still hardly any way to get through everything.

We started out in the Egyptian wing, but didn't spend a lot of time there. I was delighted to get to see the Rosetta Stone.

We soon got into the displays on Assyria, Greeks in Italy, Ancient Cyprus, the Etruscan world, and the Roman Empire. 

I was intrigued by the fine Roman/Italian jewelry. One crown had a tiny, tiny flowers, probably half a centimeter, on it in perfect detail. We also saw some tiny, perfect little gold flies on some Egyptian jewelry that charmed me as well. 

One intriguing display was water pumps and water systems built by the Romans in Italy. There was, for example, a double action water pump on display. 

Eventually we made it into the money rooms. Now, as I've mentioned before, I'm not particularly mercenary, but money history does intrigue me. 

One fun fact I learned was about the criminal, Alvos dos Reis, of Portugal, who comissioned bills to be printed using a faked contract. This meant that the bills were printed with the original plates, making them impossible to differentiate from the originals.

I also found it interesting that although it was illegal to deface coins in the UK, Pears' Soap Company found a workaround for advertisement purposes. They imported a large number of French coins, had their advertisement imprinted over it, then distributed them. They were about the same size and weight as a penny, so were easy to get accepted into the general circulation.

We then entered the clock gallery. That was a super neat place to explore, but by then it was around lunch and I was getting quite hungry. We had just passed a clock made in 1589, known as the Monumental Carillon Clock, when it struck 12:00. We went back to look at it a bit. A figure representing Death strikes the hours. Angels pass before a figure of the Madonna on a lower level while music plays, apparently something written by Martin Luther.

Another interesting item was an automaton from 1584 in the shape of a ship. I have read aout them in different books, but never really seen one in real life. I thought this was a really neat piece. 

Apparently it was used to announce banquets. Music would play, a procession would "march" around a little platform, The ship would roll down the table on little hidden wheels, then the cannons would fire, announcing the beginning of the feast. I'm so impressed with the creativity it took for people to come up with and figure out the mechanics of how to make these things work.

After stopping by the Islamic displays to get a glimpse of some astrolabes, we grabbed lunch at a little Cafe in the museum. It was so fun to sit around there and see all the different people from different cultures enjoying the day. I'm always amazed at how nice people really try to be to each other. I saw one English-speaking couple try to help an Asian couple who knew very little English make room at the table so they could sit together for lunch.

The next unique moment was our stop at the toilets. The toilets themselves weren't so interesting, but the line stretching around the ccorner, out the door, down the hall, nearly to the foot of the stairs was impressive. Of course the men's toilet didn't have a line at all.

After lunch we went to the Reading Room. It is no longer in use, of course, but it would be my dream place to sit and study. 

We then popped into the North American and Mexican display, then went over to the Enlightenment Rooms where we lingered for quite a long while. There were all kinds of things in there, from snow goggles to boomerangs, to fossils. There was a father in there with two little children who was absolutely doing a stunning job with keeping them engaged with the displays. I admired how he was connecting with them and keeping enthusiasm in his voice for everything they commented on and saw. Quite unlike some children who you could tell were absolutely finished with the museum.

We finally left and headed to the Parthenon display. We were checking out some of the stunning statues when the Security workers suddenly started telling everyone to get out, They directed us to an emergency exit and ushered down a flight of stairs, through an underground garage type of situation, then back out into the sunlight. Absolutely everyone had been emptied out of the museum, including all the cafe workers.

This evening I looked it up on Google and it claimed that a suspicious device had been found in a visitor bathroom and the museum had been receiving threatening comunication at the same time.

Since we were on our own and the museum experience had shut down two hours earlier than we anticipated, we decided to head for 221B Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

I don't actually have a lot to say about the museum. If you love Sherlock Holmes, it's worth visiting once. I was tremendously impressed with the attention to detail, including the slipper where Holmes kept the tobacco for his pipe. Everything on display is an authentic, period appropriate antique. I wondered how they had come up with all the things, as it would have been a tremendous challenge to find the items.

We popped in at the gift shop and then stopped at another little souvenir shop, then headed over to a little park to meet the others. For supper we went to a pizza place.

A couple people headed over to a coffee shop, then went down to the tube to head home.

Apparently we are an unbalanced lot. Three of our number have had struggles with falling down. Without giving names, one tripped on the steps of a building, one sprawled in the road in front of a lot of oncoming bikers, who quickly and gallantly came to her aid, and another fell into the laps of two men on the tube who looked incredibly unimpressed, but caused the rest of the group quite a bit of laughter.

We made it back to the flat sooner than we have other evenings and had a great time hanging out and talking about all sorts of subjects. No elaboration on that; you would've just had to have been here.

Goodnight from across the pond!

P.S.

It was 82 degrees and 40% humidity inside the museum. We were finished with heat and stairs. I supposedly walked in the vicinity of 15,500 steps.

London: Day 2

Thursday, May 29

We were supposed to leave the flat at 6:00 a.m. My alarm was certainly going off in time for that to happen, but I felt rebellious and very tired. Furthermore, I consoled myself with the thought that I didn't hear anyone else getting up and around yet, either. So as the completely responsible adult that I am, I stayed in bed.

I finally roused myself around a quarter til. It seemed that suddenly  the whole flat came to life around me. It became apparent that among incorrectly set alarms, oversleeping, and rebellion (me), our whole group had failed to get up on time.

In spite of the rough beginning, we still managed to catch the tube on time and arrive at Paddington Station in time to catch the train to our tour of the Cotswolds.

As near as we could figure out the train was traveling around 123 mph. The countryside was absolutely stunning. Parts of it reminded me a little bit of a mix between Ohio and Louisiana. OK, I know that sounds odd, but just go with it. We passed a lot of Holsteins on the way. When we arrived at Kembel station, we had a while to wander around until our driver picked us up. 

Our driver, Nick, was a great guy that had longsuffering patience with our questions and liked to give us all a hard time. He informed us that the thing the Cotswolds are actually known for are their sheep. We saw a couple flocks, but honestly not that many.

We first visited the town of Cirencester. Nick dropped us off by the St. John Baptist Cathedral. It was built in the normal medeival style, at least as far as my small amount of architectural knowledge could tell. There was a graveyard behind it with some surprisingly modern graves. I think the latest date we found was 2017. Nick told us that Gordon Ramsey's daughter was married there.

After that we all sort of split up a bit. I was overcome with the beautiful loaves of bread available in the market, so I purchased a loaf along with a couple of pastries and Katie, Lindsay, and I tore chunks out of it with our bare hands like savages.

While the rest of the group was shopping, I guess, Lindsay and I found our way to the Corinium Museum. To our dismay, we had only thirty minutes to spend there. The displays were very well done, with a fair amount of Roman artifacts and even several ancient mosaic floors. 

One display talked about how workers were paid and showed a scale of teacher wages which illustrate which subjects the Romans considered most important. The highest paid teachers were those who earned 200-250 Denarii per pupil per month for instruction in the disciplines of Rhetoric and Geometry. The lowest paid teachers were those who were involved in teaching gymnastics.

I was also fascinated with the display that explained the system wealthy Romans used to heat their floors. The floor was supported with small pillars, which left an empty space between the flooring and the foundation. A fireplace was built into one side, and heat was funneled into the empty space. Of course, it was important to have someone to tend the fire at all times if such a heating tactic was used.

We just barely got into the medeival time period when we had to leave to meet back up with our group. I, of course, was heartbroken.

The entire area we were in was absolutely picturesque. I had a flashback to my time in Jamaica when I was shocked that the pictures I'd seen actually weren't photoshopped like I'd always supposed. There were classic stone fences and rustic stone cottages everywhere. Sometimes we caught a glimpse of manor houses among the rolling hills.

As we headed to the village of Tetbury, Nick told us that the Boys in the Boat movie had been filmed in the Cotswolds. He also mentioned that there is an American airbase located in the area, and military planes have been taking off for the Iranian conflict from there in recent days.

In Tetbury, we walked through an old market building built in 1655 and still in use. There were a lot of pelts and chamois available there. We then wandered the streets, poking our noses into little shops and admiring the buildings. I was delighted to venture into  a couple antique stores, but the prices were outrageous, so nothing came out with me.

Lindsay and I also found another museum that was free to go into, so of course we did. the Tetbury Police Museum and Courtroom. Probably my favorite thing there was the display of billy clubs and the true stories you could read of crimes actually comitted in the area.

We stopped in at Highgrove, a little shop owned by King Charles, on our way back to meet the group, then we went for lunch to the Cat and Custard Pot Inn, a traditional English pub. It was, again, one of the most adorable little buildings you can imagine. The atmosphere was friendly and laid back. The food was delicious. Most ordered Steak and Ale Pie, but Kari Jo and I wanted to taste more than one thing, so I ordered the Sausage and Mash with peas. 

Nick gave us anoter interesting tidbit after lunch as we drove to Castle Combe. We were talking about the hedges, and he informed us it is illegal to cut them except at a certain time of year because there is so much of the wildlife that depends on them, damaging the hedges would unbalance the ecosystem.

Castle Combe is full of rustic charm. There was an inn you could stay at, but the only building we went into was St. Andrews Church. There wasn't a lot that stood out about the church to me, but I was thrilled to see what is considered one of the earliest working clocks in England. It was made in the 1400's. If you refer to the image below, the white piece is where the numbers were located.

We also followed the little winding trails up into the beautiful gardens. They were truly my dream garden spots, with stone walls and little doorways and steps and meandering paths with untamed flowers creeping out over the edges of everything. We had fun giving Nedra a hard time about being the last one to the vehicle.

In Lacock, I was completely delighted with the aesthetics of the place. The newest building had been constructed in the 1600's. To live there, you have to have generational ties. A number of films have been partly produced there. 

On the grounds was an Abbey that we were only able to see through a fence that was used in the Harry Potter movies. There was also a house that represented the home of Harry's parents. Pride and Prejudice was also partly filmed there in the Red Lion Pub. 

We poked our noses into the little shops throughout the town, ending in The Chocolate Barn which Nick informed us supplies chocolate to some of the higher class hotels. 

Most of us ordered some sort of delicacy, although we paid prices we certainly wouldn't have paid back in the dear old States. Don't ask how Leann and I nearly got lost walking back to the ride when it was literally the easiest thing ever. As in, start at the van, take four left-hand turns, and you should end up back at the van, right? Yup, that's how it's supposed to work. I shall continue to cling like a leach to people with better directions than myself.

We took the van back to Chippenham where we wandered the streets a bit. Some got supper at a Thai takeaway, and we lingered in a little park by the river before going to catch our train back to London.

And so ends day two.

Some Random Observations:

• So far we've been super impressed with how gentlemanly a lot of these men have been, offering to carry suitcases up and down steps and whatnot. In spite of the sterotypes of quiet Londoners, they are very friendly and helpful if you ask them a question.
• The current exchange rate is about 1 pound to $1..40 USD.
• The ice is lacking.
• Loud Americans really are a thing.
• The bathrooms don't have door gaps and there has been a hook on the door for purses in every single one I've been in so far. A little thing, but sometimes those details are important!
• We're supposed to remove our shoes at the front door of our flat. Somehow we're having a hard time remembering. Also, our flat is spread out over three levels, so we have stairs and more stairs.
• We walked a little over 16000 steps today.
• So many women wearing pretty flowing dresses and skirts!
• People make little hobby crafts or goods and leave them out on their doorstep or a table and leave mobile payment information or a cash box and use the trust system. It delights me.