Kelaine & Richard

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting and staying with Kelaine and Richard. They were charmingly hospitable, welcoming me into their sweet home in West London, from which they are moving even as we speak! They're heading to Wimbledon!
I received extremely valuable tutoring on how to use the Tube, enjoyed several dinners including a final goodbye-to-the-neighborhood one at Annie's, Portobello Road Market, discussions about how to drive in England, and what exactly IS Afternoon Cream Tea. And together we fell in love with the music to "Love Never Dies!" :)

Gargoyles at Windsor Castle

Windsor & Eton

A ride on the Tube and National Rail with all my luggage (which has grown since I got here!) deposited me in Windsor, right on the Thames. After getting settled into my B&B, I set off to explore the river with swans (the Queen's birds) and the two towns.


I wandered across a footbridge, down an appealing High Street, and through Eton College (think high school), imagining Prince William and Prince Harry around any corner. I am hereby adopting Eton's motto as my own: Keep Calm and Carry On. :)


Looking up from lunch at a riverside cafe to see Windsor Castle dominating the skyline felt like I had landed in a real live fairy tale! I'm saving that treat for tomorrow morning, hoping to catch the changing of the guard.

Tower of London

My biggest revelation in visitng the Tower of London on Tuesday was the discovery that this site is actually a collective group of structures that have served as both palaces and fortresses and places of punishment through the centuries.


In fact, visiting the Tower of London was an eye-opening history lesson that helped consolidate information about the royal lineage, beginning with William the Conqueror who constructed the still awe-inspiring enormous White Tower in 1100!

Oxford

Arriving in Oxford mid-afternoon (after a morning tour of Blenheim Palace), I found I had missed all the tours including a possible literary tour, so I bought the walking tour map and set off on my own to explore this ancient and venerable university, alma mater to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, Lewis Carroll and such!

I walked into the courtyard of the first college I found, not even sure what it was - and it moved me to tears! That must be what it feels like to be overwhelmed by tradition and overcome with beauty. I love this place!

Sierra & Friends

We laughed and talked and walked in the rain, and tried on hugs and jewelry back stage. Sierra was a thoughtful and sweet hostess who made me feel like a million bucks!

Of course, it's SIERRA who's starring in Love Never Dies on the West End in London, but it's her Aunt Nancy who got the biggest kick out of the jewelry the Phantom gives Christine!

London

A few tweets of my four days in London: It's Friday. On Tube heading to central London for an exciting day and night. Love Never Dies tonight. At last!

Exploratory sight-seeing with Colleen and PJ this afternoon: Courts of Justice (barristers in wigs), St. Paul's Cathedral, Temple Church, King's College, Somerset House - not a bad haul for a walk up and down ONE street near the hotel!

The melodies and esquisite singing and haunting story are dancing through my head after experiencing Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in London tonight. Sierra was stunning! I am so grateful for a chance to see this show.

Portobello Road Market on a lazy Saturday with Kelaine. So very London!

Trafalgar Square on a misty yet sunny Sunday. National Gallery and St. Martin in the Field, then a stroll down Whitehall with Sierra, past #10 Downing and on to Big Ben. Houses of Parliament looked sublime as it started pouring!

The baths in Bath

The eyes of Minerva, goddess of the hot springs, followed along as I explored in awe the well-preserved and well-explained remains of this ancient spa.

Stonehenge

Yes, it's really there - right out in the middle of a large expanse of fields - right there to see and marvel upon. Right there.

Charmed by the Cotswolds

What a delightful peek at the English countryside! I loved my visit to the Cotswolds yesterday, traveling not too far from Bath over rolling hills filled with canola plants in brilliant yellow bloom and into gentle valleys with drippingly picturesque, tranquil little villages. These towns have grown prettier through the centuries by using their own local honey-colored limestone to build humble cottages as well as large churches and manor homes. They’re also characterized by their limestone slate roofs – not thatched as I had thought.

True to their name, this area was replete with “cots” (sheep) and “wolds” (rolling hills), yet the sheep are no longer used as the basis for a robust wool industry – another misconception on my part. In fact, I learned that not much wool is made in the Cotswolds these days. And frankly I don’t even want to mention what the baby sheep are now primarily used for.



Castle Combe, once voted “the prettiest little village in England,” (and where Dr. Dolittle was filmed with Rex Harrison), was just one of our many stops and drive-throughs. Enjoyed Badminton (yes, it was invented there at the manor house), Malmesbury (Dyson vacuum cleaners invented here!), Cirencester, and Bibury (with its frequently photographed – I didn’t disappoint! - Arlington Row houses), nestled along the River Coln.

We “carried on” (words of our English driver) through Winson, Northleach, Upper and Lower Slaughter, Bourton, and Tetbury where I peeked into a little shop called High Grove, owned by Prince Charles. The High Grove estate itself was just down the road, with over 300 acres of organic farming.