Well, so much for the “daily” update. We left early Monday morning for a two day jaunt through southeast England. We are spending four days with Ray, our London tour guide. He’s a marvelous fellow…about our age, very energetic, and entertaining. We started off Monday with a whirlwind drive about London. Ray knows that these four days are basically a “Churchill Pilgrimage” for Charlie, so right off the bat, we visit three of Churchill’s London residences. Charlie was immediately over the moon. Leaving London, we headed for Hampton Court, home of Henry VIII and, later, William and Mary. By the way, if you’ve had trouble keeping track of Henry’s wives, we learned a new rhyme for you: Divorced, Beheaded, Died. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. (Charlie goes for the esoteric…..so there you have it:-)
Next, we drove to the small village of Runnymede and the site of the signing of the Magna Carta. The memorial is next to the Thames, so we took a break and enjoyed a picnic by the river. Following lunch, we took in a tour of Windsor Castle. The grounds and gardens were impressive, and we enjoyed the tour of the State Apartments. The Queen’s private residence is across the courtyard in a separate wing. Sadly, we were not invited in for tea…. which would have been lovely since it started to pour rain while we were touring inside.
To wrap up the day, Ray drove us to Avebury to see the ancient stone circle. It’s an amazing sight, somewhat similar to Stonehenge; however, here, we were able to walk among the massive stones which form an enormous circle that extends several acres. Did I mention that the stones were discovered on a farm? While we’re exploring stones, we were dodging “lamb patties.” Who cares. The lambs were adorable, and that’s more than I can say for the three of us…..we were soaked. We were delighted when we finally arrived at Rudloe Hall, our inn in Corsham. Rudloe is a former manor house that has been converted into a country inn. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner by the window looking over the gardens. We did not, however, have the luxury of a wireless internet connection; therefore, no daily update.
Fast forward to….Tuesday. (Charlie couldn’t help himself, so he’s already fired off a photos from the day’s activities, so I’ll be brief.) We started off the day in Bath and a tour of the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey. Later, we toured the Cotswalds before heading on to Blenheim Palace, home of the Duke of Marlborough. This was another significant visit for Charlie since Blenheim was also the home of Winston Churchill’s grandfather, the 8th Duke of Malborough. From there, we drove a short distance to the Parish Church of St. Martin in Bladon, the site of Winston Churchill’s final resting place. From Bladon, we moved on for a quick drive through of Oxford, followed by a lovely drive through the Thames Valley before heading back for London and our apartment. I’ve posted a few photos on our Gallery at http://gallery.me.com/tjmckay508 For now I’ll leave you with my favorite photo of the day. This is the Temple of Diana at Blenheim where Winston Churchill proposed to his wife, Clementine.
Night all.
The Temple of Diana on the grounds of Blenheim Palace.