Home again

Tia Jenny says "Hello" to David in San Francisco!

Jennifer, Mom and I called for the cab Sunday morning and left the house at 6:45 because we were afraid of the lines and security that might be out in force at Heathrow. We dropped Jennifer off at terminal #2 and George the Cabbie drove Mom and I to terminal #3. I had checked us in on the internet the night before so we had a short line to drop off our luggage, then a longer line to get through security, but still had plenty of time. Haven't heard from Jennifer yet, and her flight was leaving before ours so I hope she made it through okay.

Our flight was shorter than projected, we must have had a tail wind! We had plenty of time to get through the passport line, luggage pickup and customs. We then had to wind our way from terminal #5 to terminal #1 at O'Hare and catch the CTA tram to Jackson Street. We then dragged our luggage about 6 blocks to the Amtrak station and made it with about an hour to spare.

We got off the train at Bloomington-Normal and spent the night at a Super 8 that Karen Graham had researched for me and texted me the number for. A taxi ride this morning got us back to the Amtrak station and on the 303 for St. Louis. We were about an hour late but got in at 4:00 to meet Karen and Jeff who were our rides home. Thanks so much both of you! Bye Mom, let's do it again sometime!

30 June 2007

Jennifer still sick, debating whether we should make a run at a Medicentre, but she wants to wait and see. I am staying home with her while Mom and Brian take the train out to Ipswich. She is sleeping now and I just made a trip to the grocery store for some broth and crackers. Hope she wakes up feeling better. She has to catch the plane tomorrow to meet Nick and the boys for the cruise!

4:45--Jennifer feeling much better, we went for a long walk because she was getting antsy, bought some fresh fruits and made a fruit salad and started cleaning this place up so we can leave early tomorrow.

8:30--Mom and Brian just got back from a pretty full day of travel and sights. They hopped on the train from Catford to London Bridge, then the Tube (Underground/subway) to Liverpool Street train station, then by train to Ipswich about 80 minutes NE of London on the coast - home to Doggett family ancestors. They did research in the local county archive and found the handwritten accounts of Bejamin Doggett's 1636 birth and 1664 marriage to Sarah Gerrard. Those folks emigrated to Virginia in the early 1670s and a descendant fought in the American Revolution against the Brits a century later! Then our intrepid travellers went to the 12th c. church in town and took a picture where Benjamin was baptized. After that it was off on another train to Cambridge, where they stopped by St Johns College (where Benjamin studied and graduated), a bridge on the River Cam, and a lovely walk through the medieval part of town. At 6:15 it was back on yet another train back to London, followed by Tube and train home to Catford where they have just walked in! Super day!

29 June- Lazy day

Jennifer woke up with a sore throat and achy all over so we stayed home and sent Brian off to do more research. Mom and I did a couple of loads of laundry and I walked out to the stores a couple of times for eats. I made tuna casserole for dinner and we have been reading off and on all day. Brian had a productive day working on personal letters pertaining to his George Berkeley fellow. It was sunny most of the day with one small rainshower. We are off to Ipswich and Cambridge tomorrow by train.

28th June- Wandering London

Brian went off to do some research this morning so the women were on their own. We managed to make it into town and home again, switching tubes and trains like we knew what we were doing! First we took the Train in to Charing Cross, then the Tube to South Kensington. We then walked up to Harrod's and looked around but didn't buy anything. What a department store that is! We walked from there to Hyde Park and sat along the Serpentine, watching people, ducks, geese and horses go by. We walked through the rose garden and while trying to decide how to get to Buckingham Palace we heard a commotion and soon there was a procession of Horse Guards and carriages going by. We went back the way they came and soon found the Palace, but something was obviously going on.

They were preparing for a parade celebrating 100 years of women in their Armed Forces, so we stayed and watched that too. We walked down to St. James Park to catch the Tube to Embankment, walked to Charing Cross and then got on a Train back home. We did good!

27 June 2007- Boat Cruise, London Eye

Yesterday we took the train in to Charing Cross and then walked to Trafalgar Square and took a bus tour of the City of London. We then walked to Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, China Town and past the Horse Guards and the Admiralty. Made it to the show at 3:00- SPAMALOT was very funny and enjoyed by all. We have been humming tunes ever since.


Woke up to a little bit of sun peeking out from the clouds so we headed into the city to take advantage of the free boat ride included on our bus tour ticket. We took the train to Westminster station and boarded the boat right beside the London Eye. We got off at Greenwich and walked past the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Naval College and up the hill to the Royal Observatory where Brian got a picture of the three women, one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and one in the West. Great views from up there.

Then we got back on the boat and ended up back at the London Eye. We bought our tickets and the line moved pretty fast so soon we were on our way up into the air! Great views again, but as we got off the ride it started to rain, again.

We had an early supper next to Westminster Abbey, then toured this huge old church and saw the tombs of many of the late kings and prime ministers. We listened to Big Ben chime at 6 and 7 pm, then headed home.

June23rd- Borders Abbey Tour

We did the Borders Abbey tour (Kelso, Jedburgh, Dryburgh and Melrose.)and it was again an off and on rainy day. While at Jedburgh we saw the rain coming at us and headed for the car, but we didn't make it. I put together a slide show so we will see how it turns out. While Brian was at the pub last night the guys said he had to take the ladies to a parade in Peebles so we went. The parade consisted of two bands in a kind of march off.

25 June- Tower of London, Tower Bridge

We got up a little late, Jennifer and Brian didn't get in from the airport 12:30 in the morning! Her flight was slightly delayed so they missed the last train and ended up taking a bus into town and then a taxi to Catford.

We caught the train at Catford Bridge and then took the tube to the Tower of London.

We then walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral and it was beautiful, but no pictures allowed inside.

We then took the tube to Covent Garden where we had drinks at the Nags Head Pub. Great names on these pubs! We met Jennifer's friend Neil Salton at the Crusting Pipe Pub in Covent Gardens and then went for dinner with him at an Italian place, excellent food and great conversation.

Then we tubed and trained back home.

June 22 Edinburgh, Scotland

I took this picture so you could see the kilted young men, there were quite a few of them wandering around. In the background you can see Arthur's Seat, behind the crag in front, the sky had started to clear a little by then, but it still wasn't what you would call SUNNY.

Just a veiw of a the beginning of the Royal Mile, from the Castle end.

The above picture is where we got off the bus and back on again at the end of the day. Below is one of the two statues at the first entrance to the castle, with a statue of Robert The Bruce, and on the other side was one of William Wallace. There is a huge parade ground and bus tour entrance in front of the castle, so what you see in the third picture is what we saw.



We took a bus tour after walking half of the mile, and had a very entertaining tour guide. The Holyrood palace was closed because something important was going on there, but we don't know what. The above is a monument to Sir Walter Scott, and we also visited a museum to him, Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson. Altogether a full day, and Mom's feet were not doing well, so she was glad to get on the bus. She has been very happy with her knees and hips, and this was the first bad time she had. She blames it all on her shoes. Brian went to the local pub last night and enjoyed the local atmosphere.

June 21 Heading North to Scotland

Mom, Sara, Kate and Rory. We had a lovely time in Rodden Manor and could not have asked for better hosts. Thanks much, you two!

Thursday-June 21
Did you know that the keyboards on the computers over here are different? Takes a little getting used to.

Yesterday we drove up from Frome to Rosewell, just south of Edinburgh. We stopped regularly but our only tourist stop was at an ancient Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall where we were able to walk the layout and commune with some sheep. I am writing this at an internet cafe so will load the pictures later.


Friday June 22
Our cottage for the next few days is in a wooded mature garden setting and I am thoroughly enjoying the books in the library. I found one on funny last wills and testaments and it gave us all the giggles this morning. We caught the bus into Edinburgh, about 55 minute drive, and it is misty and foggy and you cannot see the castle from where we are on the Royal Mile, but hopefully it will burn off soon. More later.

June 20th- Cornwall-Tintagel

Well, not as good weather today--very cloudy and the perfect atmosphere for a visit to the Devon and Cornwall coast and a trip out to Tintagel, the supposed place of King Arthurs conception. Below you see a shop full of King Arthur stuff. Good stuff I'm sure, but we didn't go in. We had lunch at Wyldes Cafe, real coffee for Mom and Brian- Coke for Kate. Did you know that they don't have Mt. Dew here? How am I supposed to survive?

Here you can see how much Mom is loving the sunny Cornwall coast, notice the palm trees,-- and Brian is getting by with his one pair of shorts, no pants- Still haven't got his luggage from the airlines, they have no idea where it could be.
Here we are out at the ruins of Tintagel castle-quite the forbidding location and I can't imagine they had to fight anyone off--who would want to invade? In the legend, Merlin disguises Uther as Ygrain's husband, Gorlois, the duke of Cornwall. He sneaks him up the cliffs and into the castle where she welcomes him and Arthur is conceived. I didn't like climbing up there with stairs, let alone sneaking up the cliff face.


It was quite a climb up there and we left Mom at the Cafe at the bottom. In order to get there we hiked down and back up again--Mom rode down in a Landcruiser and decided to walk back up with us because she felt she hadn't had enough exercise yet that day. Hah! She has had enough now!We drove home up the M5 and then came across near Glastonbury, but the music festival is on and the traffic was all backed up so we detoured. We seem to be doing a lot of that. Had dinner tonight in the George Hotel in Frome.
The weather has been cool so we have both been wearing our jeans, which we only packed just in case. Just goes to show you! We are getting up early tomorrow and heading north to Scotland. It will probably be colder there, but hopefully by the time we get down to London we will see some warmer weather.

Till the next time I can get online-ta ta from all of us to all of you!

19th June- Bath

We listened to the news Tuesday morning and heard that the sun was to be out most of the morning so we headed for Bath! The Bath Abbey was beautiful and Mom and I were both very impressed by the intricate work on the ceiling. The windows were also incredible. Brian had me take pictures of several of the wall plaques to different Pennisular War veterans--figure that. I won't make you look at them though.

From there we walked out side to the Roman Baths, right next door. They were just found in the last 150 years and excavated out. They are 15 feet below the street level. The water is green because they are now exposed to the sun, and the algae grow. They would have been clear and very hot in 200 a.d. The Pump Room was right next door and we didn't have tea there, just looked and checked it out. Very nice, Beau Nash did a good job!
We then hopped on a sightseeing bus tour for the rest of the city, and went around once just to figure out where we wanted to see more. Mom on the top of the bus,....Next stop Jane Austen's for tea. We then walked up to the circus which was a full circle of townhouses from the Georgian era, late 1700's--and on to the Royal Crescent where we toured the inside of a Georgian home at the #1 townhouse museum there.
We were home early enough for us to build a fire again and read our books. A very nice day with rain at the end but plenty of clear day to enjoy.

18th June---Lazy day

We spent most of the day lazing about in our great cottage- reading books in front of the fire. Mom and Brian went grocery shopping and we had steaks, asparagus, corn on the cob and baked potatoes with a big salad for dinner.

June 17th Sunday

Brian made breakfast again, but we came downstairs to eat it!
Mom wanted to see some gardens, so we headed south to Stourhead Gardens and walked a two mile course through them. Beautiful vistas planned to take advantage of many very MATURE trees and the lake.

Then we went to Winchester to visit the Cathedral- Jane Austen is Buried here!

We then headed south to the Coast and looked for Woodend- a home of George Berkeley for a few years. We ended up on crazy back roads of only one lane, hemmed in completely by trees and hedges, but eventually found it. We got the name of the current owner and Brian will contact her later. She is 93 and was taking her nap.
Then we went to Southampton and the old walled town is somewhat visible-

On our way home we went through the NEW forest and Kate navigated an extra long tour home ( I missed an exit, what can I say!) We had dinner at a great Italian restaurant in Ilchester.

June 16, 2007 in Frome

Frome, pronounced Frume is a lovely town and we are staying right outside in a wonderful spot. I will be uploading photos in the next few days, but till then I will give you a running report. Friday we arrived at the airport on time, then spent 45 minutes in the passport checking line, but found Brian as soon as we picked up our luggage. We rented a car through Enterprise and ended up with a Mercedes that Brian is loving to Drive.


We drove to St Peters in West Molesy to find the tomb of Admiral Berkeley. We found he was actually buried in a tomb beneath the church, but got pictures of Brian in front of the memorial plaque.

1. We then drove down to Salisbury and saw the wonderful Cathedral and once again took many pictures.
Mom and Brian on the bridge.








2. From there we drove out over the plains to STONEHENGE. What a great stop.





3. We then proceded to find our cottage and went to bed at 9.
   

Saturday-

Mom and I woke up to breakfast in bed, served by my wonderful little brother, Brian.

1. We left early and drove to Wales, to the capital of Cardiff. We spent some time in Cardiff castle.







2. We then drove east to Caerleon roman ruins and saw the Ampitheater and museum and had lunch at the Priory where Brian loved the Creme Brulee.
   
   
   
   
   We then drove on to Berkeley Castle where Brian helped the docent on the tour.
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. Home again, driving through the Cotswolds.I know this is very brief, but I am using the computer in my hosts home and they are expecting guests soon.

On the road again--

We can't check into our hotel room until 3pm- but Jeff will be bringing Mom up as soon as he can, so he can avoid the nasty traffic on the way out of town. They have a 3 hour drive, and Karen and I only have a 2 hour drive, so I will be waiting for Mom's call. We will leave a little earlier and do some thrift shopping on the way.

I lately discovered BookMooch and have been throwing lots of my books up on the swap site. There should be a link at the bottom of the side bar on the left. I also just barely started putting my Library up on LIBRARYTHING but they have been down for repairs for the last few days so I am just looking at all the books thinking how the heck am I going to get them all listed! I started with the Science Fiction first, since the computer is set up in front of that bookcase--but YIKES, I have a lot of books! It is pretty easy with the newer books with ISBN numbers on them, but earlier than 1970 I am going to have to enter a lot more information. This might be a good time to decide what I really NEED to keep, but culling is hard.

ALL RIGHT!!--my ride is here. I will be in contact when I can--Love to all.

Brian in London-his luggage in India

I finished my day at work, now I am doing last minute checks and playing with Sassy Pants, she is sure going to be huffy with me when I get back.

from Brian's email---

OK - so I'm here. I was delayed 3 hours at takeoff in NYC (on the plane and on the runway - it was hot) because of thunderstorms. I arrived this morning and they had sent my bag on to India. I hope to get it tomorrow or the next day.

Be sure to have your medicines and essentials in your carryon!

Thanks for the warning Brian, I will pack for that contingency!

Brian is on his way!

Well, Brian is in the air and on his way. He will be doing some research before we get there, and as soon as we get out of the airport Friday morning we are headed for Berkeley's gravestone, and I will definitely be taking pictures of Brian grinning there!

I am all packed and finishing last minute things around the house, still have to work tomorrow, but then I am officially on VACATION. Just turned on the airconditioner for the first time, so I at least am hoping it will be a bit cooler there.

My personality report.

Mom sent me this link.

I am a respectful analyst!

My Personal Dna Report

St. Louis stop on the 13th of June

Mom and I will start our journey with a road trip from our respective homes to St Louis on the 13th of June. I used Priceline.com to get our reservations in town, so that we can have a good nights sleep. We were upgraded to a four star hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Union Station!

We need to be on the Amtrak at 6:00 AM on the 14th, and have a 6 hour trip to Chicago. We then need to get from the train station to O'Hare Airport by 4:00 PM for our 6 o'clock flight to London. We will have an 8 hour flight and arrive in London at Heathrow at 8 in the morning. Hopefully Brian will be waiting for us with a big smile on his face. Then we drive out to Frome, south of Bath. It will be a long day, but I hope we get some sleep on the plane so that we can enjoy the drive and see some sights that first day.

London Accomodations June 24-30

This is where we will be staying for the week in London with Jennifer. She says Brian has to have the top bunk! We will be staying in apartment C in this advertisement








Glenthurston & The Croft are situated to the South East of the Centre of London. Zone 3 in a residential area, a 5 minute walk from the train stations.