Day 2 - Princess Diana Fountain, Billy Elliot

The remainder of the afternoon was spent walking through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain was on Deb's list of things she wanted to see, so we thought it appropriate to go see it right after our tour of Kensington Palace. It was quite a walk, but the sun was out so off we went.

The fountain has several different features all flowing around in a large circle.























We continued walking, passing the Wellington Arch (third photo), and many other things, eventually making it back to Victoria with enough time to grab some dinner before the show. We ate at Garfunkel's, which was another chain (who knew?!), and had fish and chips. Karen even tried the mushy peas, when in Rome and all of that. They were not her favorite thing. Then we walked next door to see the stage production of Billy Elliot. It was fantastic! Couldn't have asked for a better show to see in London! Now for the tube ride back to the Hilton Olympia and preparations for our big Trafalgar Tour Adventure.

Day 3 - Stratford, Coventry

Our first day on the Trafalgar Tour portion of our trip, and we jump right in! After a short tour of London (aka picking up passengers at other hotels), we hit the open road. (Well, as open as any road out of London can be.) We make a short stop to see Anne Hathaway's cottage (the wife of Shakespeare, not the actress from The Devil Wears Prada) and get a group photo taken. We did not purchase the photo, but we assure you that we looked great in it!

After that slightly awkward gathering, we had a lunch stop in Stratford Upon Avon. The tour of Shakespeare's birthplace (top photo) was amazingly crowded, so we made our experience the expedited version and set off to find some lunch. Thankfully a coworker who had recently taken a trip to England suggested pasties as a quick lunch alternative, so we found a bakery and then set off to wander the town.




Our next stop of the day was Coventry. We toured the bombed out cathedral which dates from the late 14th century to the early 15th century. It was bombed during the Second World War, and the ruins now stand as a war memorial. A new cathedral was built next to it.
















The second and third pictures are of the older section and the bottom picture is of a large window in the new cathedral. It is amazing to walk through the older section and have almost all of the walls still in tact, just no roof.

Day 4 - York

We were supposed to have done York yesterday, but we were running late and Harry thought it would be really crowded in the afternoon so suggested we make it our first Sunday morning stop.
Turned out to be a great idea. We practically had the town to ourselves. It was amazing. No crowds, we just got to wander at our leisure. The downside was that the shops were not open yet. (As you'll see, we more than made up for it later on the trip.)

First up was a brief talk by our guide Harry. You can see him in the bottom picture, poised and ready to astound us with his knowledge. He really is the best guide ever. If you take a Trafalgar tour in the UK, see if you can get on one of his. The jokes alone are worth it. Although Deb insists that it is the motion of the bus combined with Harry's soothing voice that makes her so tired on the bus that she barely buckles up before she is out like a light.

We could not go in the York Minster (top photo) because it was Sunday and services were about to start, but the outside was incredible. The design in the large window is known as the Heart of York. We could have stood looking at this building for days.
Who knew York would have a Starbucks! We didn't know yet that they would be almost as numerous as the Bella Italias! Yes, we went in! (You'll notice the sign above the door. Ah, the wind. We are sure there is a poem about wind and its virtues but by the end of this trip Chicago would need a new nickname.)

We tried to find the Quilt Museum for Karen, but even with the address and a map we couldn't find it. Oh well, add that to the itinerary for next time!
The third picture is of The Shambles. Built in the 1400s (I think) the top floors are almost close enough that you could shake your neighbors hand. They couldn't build on the sides, so they had to expand by overhanging the street. Slightly hysterical to see a group of 30 tourists there on a Sunday morning with the various digital camera sounds interrupting the quiet of a Sunday morning. Wish we had a picture of any of the numerous times we tromped off the bus and all stood side by side with our cameras pointed in the same direction!

Day 4 - Durham Cathedral

Durham - Harry had us dropped off next to a huge wall and told us to "go up those stairs and through that opening". It was only day two of the tour, but we figured we could trust him. Sure enough, through the opening in the wall was a courtyard and narrow and winding roads heading into town and up to the cathedral.

Before heading up the hill to the cathedral, we grabbed a pasty for the walk up. Not as good as the ones we had in London but they did the trick. (Thanks for the tip, Christina!)

We were able to see part of the service at Durham Cathedral. Another amazing piece of architecture. No pictures were allowed inside, but we bought the souvenier book. We were told pictures weren't allowed because of "Health and Safety"....we are beginning to think that means "you can't take pictures because we want you to buy hour nice booklet."







It was really windy here too. Thank goodness John from Canada was there with us so we could send him up the hill to see if there was anything interesting to look at. Apparently compared to the cathedral the views were not that spectacular, so we headed back to the bus.

Day 4 - Hadrian's Wall

As would become a trend on this trip, Karen had to wake Deb up from her bus riding nap for this stop. She didn't even get off the bus! It was a little strange to stop for what you imagine to be the Great Wall of Britain, and it is some crumbling rocks next to what looked to the Seattle-ites like a stretch of Aurora Avenue (see the bottom). Still amazing to think it has been around for hundreds of years.
Citizens would steal rock from the wall when it was no longer in use. There is a house across the street that was built with stone from the wall. Now, we are off to Scotland and our first night in Edinburgh. Just a little more driving and we'll be there!

Day 5 - Edinburgh Castle

We are back in Edinburgh!! We will not relive our last experience here, since that involved ale and BBQ pizza, but how fun to be back!! We had the best local tour guide for the morning. He wore his kilt even though it was freezing out (and a little breezy we must say!) His lips were getting a little blue at times, but his voice never faltered. You could probably have heard him in Glasgow!
After a short bus ride, our guide took us to Edinburgh Castle. What a difference it makes to have a guide and not get there when they are about to close! We spent time walking through the buildings and enjoying the scenery.

Apparently the gate in the bottom picture was hit by a delivery truck. Our guide was joking that the accident broke one of the supports and that we should run under. We found out later that it was true and was only supported on one side! Well, we made it. It was like extreme sightseeing.

Day 5 - Rosslyn Chapel

Rosslyn Chapel was on the itinerary for the afternoon. Just a short drive from Edinburgh, it seems like you are stepping back to another time. (A very cold time.) The stonework was absolutely amazing. You couldn't take pictures inside, so we encourage you to look up some info on this chapel. Any interior shots will be worth the effort.
In the 1950s some repair work had actually sealed moisture inside the stone and the interior of the chapel became covered in green algae. They decided it would be best to let the stone dry naturally so they constructed a huge canopy over the entire building to keep the rain off. (When we were there, the wind was blowing the rain sideways, but they assured us that it kept most of the rain off.)
The upside of the scaffolding was that we could climb it and see the roof and buttresses on the upper levels. For architecture nerds like Karen, this was fantastic!