Great Britain July 2019 (part 1)
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We had so much fun a few years ago, that we decided to head back to Great Britain. Our timing (thank you Sarah) was pefect: we skipped away from the east coast before the big heat wave and came back after it. It was still unseasonably warm there — but that's much better than unseasonably warm for Washington DC summer. As you might guess from the photo of Robert on Monday morning, we again flew overnight: leaving Sunday evening and arriving in London Monday morning. We dropped our bags at Georgian House and ventured out for a spot of tea. |
| With that bit of fortification, we strolled by Buckingham Palace and saw a small changing of the guard — the queen was not home so they are less formal. |
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| But not what we consider informal; certainly not when the band is marching around. And the horse unit is practicing. |
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We found the royal guard's museum this time and Robert managed to try on a bearskin hat — Candanian black bear. And not has heavy as it looks. Then we connected with Elle (on a later flight from her new home in Florida) and wandered over to the Thames and took a river bus trip to sight see a bit. |
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There is a lot of history around that part of London: Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Big Ben (under renovation), the Tower Bridge (not falling down). The next day, Elle caught up with an old friend and we headed to The Imperial War Museum, That was a favorite the last time we visited and it did not disappoint this time. Those big naval guns are impressive; it's easy to imagine how loud they must have been when fired. Robert and I were so engrossed, Sarah left us to take a stroll across the Millennium Bridge. |
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| Robert and I had our excitement for the day a little while after Sarah started her walk: the alarm went off and the museum was evacuated. That can be a little extra disconcerting after spending a lot of time in some of the displays about air raids in London during WW II. It turns out some workers doing rennovation on the exterior blew too much dust in around a fire dectector. About the time we were going to give up, they let us back in and we picked up a couple things from the gift shop. |
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The next day, we tubed back to Westminister station to catch the river bus to Greenwich. I got my Big Ben photo then — scaffolding and all. Greenwich is home to the Royal Observatory, the prime meridian and all things time related. We have our regulation photos on the prime meridian, one foot on the east side and one on the west. And the clock and clockwork displays are entertaining. |
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| One tradition is the daily ball drop at 1pm. That is to allow ships on the Thames to set their clocks. Interestingly, we learned in Edinburgh, 1pm was choosen because when you shoot a canon for ships to set their time (when they can't see the ball drop), one shell is much cheaper than 12 — and no question about is it the first or last boom that marks the hour. |
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| When you're queen, you have many residences. Greenwich boasts "The Queen's House," seen here from the Royal Observatory. And the Royal Observatory has this cool camera obscura pointed at the Queen's House. And it wouldn't be an observatory without a telescope. Sadly, too much light pollution for this one to be used any more. |
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| We returned to the Georgian House so the ladies could dress for the Royal Opera. Robert and I opted for a self-guided, double-decker bus tour (after enjoying the crazy great weather by eating outside at a nearby pub). |
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| The next day, Thursday, we all took the train to Cambridge. This was the real reason for the trip: to revisit where Sarah and family lived while her dad was on sabitical. We took a lovely stroll — note the great weather again — from the train station, by the River Cam, to their old house. |
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| From there, another short walk took us to Cambrige University and the Mathmatical Bridge. This is the spot Sarah, David Z. and Elle decided Harry would be most at home. Sarah had his ashes with her and she descreetly sprinkled them in a lovely spot next to the bridge and in the River Cam. |
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| His ashes permeated through the river while we enjoyed the beauty and history of the spot. Cambridge and the Mathmatical Bridge seemed very right. |
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| We couldn't move on without trying our hands at punting. It's much harder than it looks; Robert has it pretty well figured out though. |
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Sometimes, a punt requires a little extra steering from up front. I'm more comfortable with paddle than a punting pole. We found a lovely place for dinner with the most interesting view out one window: out across the various rooftops is an emergency exit sign with the arrow telling you to go up. That roof looks pretty steep to climb. After dinner we strolled by the Corpus Clock before catching our train back to London (and thought of creative things to do with our used train tickets). |
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| See part 2 for Scotland. | |
Vacation notes:
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