Day 4 of Uk Vacay - Chawton, Bath

 

Day 4 of our UK Vacation started out early. After breakfast, my cousin and I met with our driver for the day, Geoff (pronounced Jeff) who picked us up in a Jaguar to take us from London to Chawton and on to Bath. 

Unfortunately my picture of this was "live" which means it's actually a short video - UGH - I've said before, I am NOT a photographer, and I'll apologize again LOL!

Anyway it was a thrill riding in such luxury.

We left shortly after nine and headed out. 

Geoff was a wonderful guide, regaling us with stories and history every mile. 

We arrived in Chawton at Jane Austen's house/museum (upper left pic) and enjoyed a brief tour then on to "the great house" as she described her brother's Chawton House Estate. On stumps throughout the gardens/grounds you could find these little tributes to Jane's work with quotes from her books or poems or prayers. 

The tour guides inside the house were very knowledgeable and also told lots of stories regarding the history of the house and the people who lived and visited there. We also got a tour of the library which houses books that are thought to be rare, one of a kind, and only avialable here.

One thing I loved about this house was the bathroom (toilet) still contained some of the original plumbing and the toilet itself had a pull-chain to flush! I tell you this quaint restroom had me singing a happy tune.

We also stepped back in time when we visited Chawton House's lovely church. 

As much as I enjoyed these two stops on our way to Bath, my greatest thrill of the trip was passing Stonehenge! Y'all had I known we'd be passing this Historical landmark, I would have made sure we had time to stop.

I cropped the picture included in my collage to cut out the people and this photo was taken from the car. 

Can you imagine how majestic these stones must be!?!

I can.

Geoff assured us the magic never dims and he'd been there over 400 times.

Hope you enjoyed today's post outlining my UK vacation and that you'll drop by next and travel along with me into Bath for the Jane Ausetn Festivities.

Until next time, happy trails...

PamT

London Day 3

 

Sorry this post is later than promised but last week, I got a chance to fly to Phoenix, AZ to visit my 2 brothers, nephew. cousins, and Goddaughters!

I'll share that trip with you at some point but for now....Continuing our exploration of London...

On Day 3 we visited Buckingham Palace. Again, pictures or collages don't do this magnificent structure justice. 

Filming and photographs are prohibited inside the palace but we visited many staterooms and ballrooms and other interesting places within the palace where the royal family meets dignitaries or simply entertain friends, collegues and allies.

Of course there is a huge gift shop and cafe at the end of the tour where you walk out along the grounds which are absolutely beautiful.

Next up on Day 3 in London was Westminster Abbey, the royal church where Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses are wed. Within it's stately walls, this beautiful, holy place houses the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. This is where many royal brides place their wedding bouquet after the ceremony.

After visiting these two sites, we caught another ride on Tootbus, (the hop on/off tourbus) where we enjoyed a ride through the city and saw so much more of Hyde Park and other fascinating places filled with History such as Big Ben - the huge tower clock built in 1834/35.

As with every other tourist fascility we'd visited, bathrooms were few and far between. Usually in the basement, down a long corridor, around a large corner or at the end of the "tour." 

There is so much to see and experience in London, 2 or 3 days is really not enough but all the time we had. Which is why a 2 or 3 day pass on a tourbus is an absolute necessity to enjoy as much as you can.

Next up will be our trip to Chawton and Bath for Jane Austen festivities so stay tuned!

Until later....happy traveling.

PamT

London Day 2

Day 2 in London was every bit as exciting as our first. We set out after enjoying breakfast at our hotel for the 3 or 4 block walk to the tube (subway) where we headed to the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels are housed and where every royal family lived up until Queen Elizabeth I whose mother (Anne Boleyn) was murdered in the tower by Henry VIII.

There is so much History about this place, most of it gruesome (as mentioned above). One fascinating bit of informaton was the many exotic animals... Lions, Tigers, Polar Bears, Elephants, etc. that were housed at the Tower throughout many King's reigns. 

This gigantic property encompases 12 acres of land and believe me if you plan a visit there, get your training in beforehand because you're going to do a lot of walking! In fact all of London is an exercise in fitness. Anyway, with so much ground to cover, the bathrooms are few and far between, but were clean and well maintained.

Next up, we took a hop on/off bus tour where we saw lots of amazing things. The architecture and statues throughout the city are breathtaking. Especially Big Ben the clock that stands over 300' tall with hands 9 & 14 feet long!

Our third excursion of the day was a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral. The grandeur and opulence of this cathedral can not be described. Despite the many tourists present, there was a tangible air of awe and reverance as there are in most holy places.

We finished our day with a lovely Italian dinner and settled in for the night excited about our next day's adventures which I'll share with you next week.

Hope you enjoyed today's memories.

Until next time, happy trails!

PamT

 

Day 1 in London...

After leaving the states at 8pm ET on the 19th, we arrived in London around 8am on the 20th. Luckily our driver had been watching the flight so we weren't waiting too long before heading to our destination, London House Hotel, which would be home for the next few days.

Since it was too early to check into our rooms, the wonderful folks in reception stored our luggage for us and allowed us to use the restrooms to freshen up so we could head out for the first sight-seeing adventure of our trip: Hyde Park and Kensington Palace.

Hyde Park itself is amazing and takes up 350 acres of Westminster, Greater London. There are numerous entrances into the park from any number of locations throughout this area.

But since we'd been flying all night, we stuck to the roughly 2 mile walk to Kengsinton Palace (the birthplace of Queen Victoria) where we toured the palace itself as well as the grounds and had lunch at The Orangery located within the palace next to the gift shop.

Kensington Palace is the official home of the Prince and Princess of Wales along with other members of the Royal family. One thing that really touched my heart was the memorial to Lady Diana her son's had installed near a pond on the grounds of what is formally known as the Sunken Garden (now called The White Garden).

The beauty of Kensington Palace can not truly be described with mere words. The furniture, draperies and artwork are stunning so, please forgive my pitiful depiction - I am not a photographer LOL!

This excursion certainly made for a wonderful day.

Met by a misty rain that afternoon, we ventured out to dinner where we both had fish and chips (what else for your maiden visit, right?!) then on to Selfridges where my cousin shopped till she/we dropped. Well, almost. But that is certainly possible in this 540,000 sq. feet smorgasboard of designer apparel and accessories, beauty and wellness shops, fine dining and all sorts of venues to explore and be inspired. 

As you know from my last post, I am not a shopper to any degree but experiencing my cousin's joy of being there made trouping through the rain worthwhile.

We got an Uber ride back to our hotel and tiny room and even tinier bathroom (which had me humming the blues due to its size) and settled in for the evening. When I say "tinier bathroom" I mean.... S-M-A-L-L. Seriously, you had to back up and turn around to change your mind LOL! 

Alas, it served its purpose.

Not bad for our first day in London, right?

Stay tuned weekly as I continue to share my UK Vacay with you!

Until next time, happy traveling.

PamT