September 15, York

oh the grand old duke of York
he had ten thousand men
he marched them up to the top of the hill
and he marched them down again
and when they were up they were up
and when they were down they were down
and when they were only half way up they
were neither up nor down.



street in York

Up bright and early for our breakfast in the Hall.
We are so glad that we decided to stay at a college.  It has been a neat experience.  Had breakfast with a man who has just come to Oxford to get his PhD in Risk Management.

As we decided to leave early rather than at noon we thought it best to call Alamo and make sure they had a car for us.  Nope, no Alamo in the phone book.  The porter at the lodge opened a brand new yellow pages for me but it wasn't there.  He did find it on line.  Europcar (Alamo is run by Europcar in Britain).  They had a car, the porter called a cab for us and off we went.  The cabbie, Asian descent, was upset with people from Eastern European countries for taking all the jobs.  Bit of irony there.

The moment of truth, would the car rental take Roy's temporary license. " No, sorry, can't be done, it is against policy. Do you have a license maam. "  Well yes, but I said it would be much better and safer if Roy drove.  They were sorry but their hands were tied.  Damn!  Then, though I knew I could do it, I really didn't want to drive.  One of the fellows went off with his cell phone and I thought, "well he's had enough of us"  We had explained what happened and that the license was a temporary one.  The plastic one would be with us in 3 days.  " We need a plastic license".  They were very nice but the rules were rules.  The man with the cell phone came back and said he had talked to their boss and it was okay.  I was ready to kiss them.  Maybe Roy was too but he stayed cooler than me.  Maybe it was good that I was a little over the top - we did get the desired result.  If I had just said, "okay, I'll drive"  that's what I'd have been doing.

The car

We got an orientation on the car. It is a tiny, silver hybrid Toyota Auris.  The boot is so little it won't hold our luggage.  I bought a black blanket at a service stop on the M1 to cover the bag that has to live on the back seat.  It is about 1 inch too long.  After the orientation we pulled a few feet away from Europar's door and went over everything, got out the GPS (Andromeda) and the map. Off we went, I missed the exit on the first Rotary (roundabout) so we went around again and got going toward the North.  It was a long drive but Roy was great and so was Andromeda.  It's a long way from Oxford to York.  193 miles and about 4 hours.  We stopped half way at a route service stop and had a pee, a bite to eat and bought a fleece security blanket for the duffle bag on the back seat.

Andromeda took us the long way to our B&B - Linden Lodge, 6 Nunthorpe Ave.  We both had decided that we were miles from York and had been taken in by the internet.  Nope, we're a 5 - 10 minute walk to the city.  It is a walled city and it is only about a 2 mile walk around the perimeter of the wall.  We headed straight to York Minster for the evensong service.  It was disappointing last night when Keble College Chapel was closed and there was no service.  We were a bit early so one of the ministers or priests entertained us with facts about the place. 

Evensong was beautiful, very moving.  The choir voices made you tingle.  The acoustics were so good you could understand every word and the sound was amazingly wonderful.  They sang the 69 and 70th Psalms as well as other things.  How they keep those little boys interested and quiet is beyond me.  Some of them looked Vanessa's age.  How do they read the words, let alone the music.  It is very high church so there is a lot of ritual.  They know what to do and when to do it.  The front rows are all young boys and the back rows are grown men (probably been doing it all their lives).  They have a service every day.  Hope they have more than one choir.

I have been rattling on and haven't left much for Roy so I will shut up now.

The evensong was a very moving experience.  Glad we able to get here for the service.  After the service we went to the oldest Pub in York for supper.  It was very nice but I liked the ones in Oxford better.  We went for a stroll through the older part of the city and that was really cool.  All the old buildings and short streets, like a maze.  The best thing was that the streets were empty.  Tomorrow we will have to go back and see them in the daylight.  Its quite a bit cooler now and some showers are in the area, but not on us yet.

September 12, Oxford

The day began with breakfast in the college's Hall.  You go up a flight of stairs (34 steps) to the Hall.
3 tables are set the length of the long hall, with benches on either side.  There are vases of flowers about every six place settings.  Pitchers of juice, condiments,etc every four place settings.  On either side of the room there are cold breakfast stations with cereal, cold meats, cheese, crossaints or buns and fruit.  At the table there is a hot menu for you to choose from.  There are lots of servers about to be of assistance.  We barely got our bums on the bench before a server came to take our order.  As we have had continental breakfasts thus far we ordered the hot breakfast.  I didn't think to say that I didn't want the sausage, beans or potatoes - just the poached egg, ham and toast and coffee.  Roy managed to manfully eat the lot.  2 bananas found their way into our pockets on the way out.  It was quite the experience.  As the students are not in session until October there are no staff eating there either.  Tomorrow we may eat at the head table.  Just like Dumbledore in Harry Potter.  Presumptuous of us!

The walls are covered with portraits of the founder and various Wardens or leaders.  It is like being in a movie.

It has suddenly begun to belt down rain.  The first we've experienced since we arrived.  It is 7:30 in the evening (19:30 if you're European).

I am attempting to make a pot of tea.  So far haven't got the kettle switch in the right position and if it is right the switch for the outlet is wrong.  I'll have earned my cuppa!

We had breakfast at 8:00 and then set out to explore.  We visited Oxford Castle which served as a prison for many years complete with debtors prison area where people had cooking facilities because they might be there for a very long time (suppose their families had to steal food to bring them to cook) and a dungeon for the very bad people.

It's really pouring down rain outside.  Kettle still isn't boiling.

The wall that protected Oxford has been exposed in part.  It was built in 1090 (approx). 
We poked around and explored some more  and even found a department store that sells Fireman Sam toys!  I know two little boys who would like that.  Their selection was very limited though and we didn't buy anything. 

I haven't mentioned it yet and Roy has heard it waay to many times.  European women dress so well - in dresses and skirts.  Every store window that displays dresses has me drooling.  Kim would look so good in them - I want to buy a batch of them.  I saw a sweater that I liked and would have bought but the colours were not to my taste.  Years, and I mean many years ago, I had Dalkeith sweaters.  I loved them and eventually so did the moths.  If I see one, it's mine.

Finally we wound our way to the Tourist Information where our tour began.  It was a 2 hour walking tour of Oxford.  We visited Jesus College, Bodelian Divinity college and Merton College.We had hoped for the Bodelian library but you have to have a reader's card to get in.  The guide shared lots of information and tidbits that I will let Roy tell you (cop out)  We saw Oriele college but didn't go in. Cecil Rhodes attended here and endowed it with bags of money.  Lester B. Pearson, Turner, Bill Clinton and Chris Kristofferson all are Rhodes scholars.   Also saw Braesnose College where the author (whose name escapes me at the moment) got inspiration for The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.  Roy took pictures of the inspirational sites

Divity Church

.
Tummies full we headed off for Christ Church.  Many Harry Potter scenes came from here.  Charles Dodgson (alias enjoyed C.S. Lewis) attended and taught here.  He was an Oxford don and telling children stories.  The stories he told Alice Liddell, daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, and her sisters were written down at the Alice insisted he should do so.  Alice In Wonderland.  There are places in the Hall at Christ Church that inspired bits of the stories.  Again, we have pictures.  Hope Alex and Vanessa will enjoy the story with a female heroine.

Tea is made.  Roy found the switch on the kettle which was hidden under the handle so that a mere mortal such as I couldn't find it. 

I will pass this to him as I have rambled enough.

I will fill in some usless information hope to fire your imagination about some of the things we saw

The Divinity Church part of the Bodlrelian library is used for students who graduate to process through to the Sheldonian Theatre where they receive thir degrees.  Not used for much else.  Used in Harry Potter films as the hospital and dance hall.  The doors were designed by Christopher Wren so students had a easy walk through to the hall.  All parts of the program are done in latin so almost no one understands it.  Once a student is accepted to one of the 38 colleges here they are not yet officially part of Oxford until they go through a procession similar to graduation, again all in latin

Christ Church was very interesting.  At one time they had 101 students who all had to be inside by 21:00. The bell called Great Tom would ring 101 times at 21:05, and still does today.  Traditions die hard here.  The cathedrals are a bit of a "T" shape.  The Jesus College plan to build a Catherdak in the shape of the cross but ran out of money.  Only the top and cross of the T was completed so they stopped and sold the land for the bottom of the cross (long part).  Other colleges had the same problems and it became an accepted style.

 

This cathedral looked quite large to me, but our guide told us it was one of the 5 smallest in Britain

 



This is All Souls college.  You have to have your Fellowship to enter.  You cannot apply, they select and contact you.  There is an interview and you may or may not be selected.  People like Steven Hawkins get to go there.





There is more but that is enough for tonight.




The end

September 11, 2012
Well a faxed copy of my interim drivers license arrived just before midnight last night, thanks to Harry and Carol.  The fax came in 10 minutes before the desk clerk was to go home and the desk is unmanned until 6 am.  It was a relief to get it, and I only hope the rental company will accept it. 

We are off to Oxford today, and cannot check in until 2 PM so had to kill some time in London before we  caught the train.  We decided to take a walk in Hyde Park which is only 5 minutes away.  As a side note, the underground runs near the border of Kennsington and Hyde park and when it is quiet at night we can hear the trains going when we are in bed.  Back to Hyde Park.  I still have not mastered the maps and road system in London.  I keep thinking I know what I am doing, but I still manage to end up somewhere other than what I intended.  I don't know if its all the maps fault, it could be the person reading it, but there are streets, lanes etc not on the map.  Also a lot of corners still have no signage, I guess you just have to know where you are going.  And lastly some streets keep changing names and all the names are not always on the map.  In Oxford today we started up a street, it shortly changed its name for one block and then had a third name.  Not the easiest to find your way around.  Where was I?  Oh yes we went for a walk in Hyde Park to speakers corner and ended up somewhere else.  It was either go back and almost start again or go somewhere else.  So we took option "B".  We walked over to the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall.  When the Queen decided to make a memorial to her husband she didn't fool around.  It is spectacular.  After walking around and taking pictures we decided to get a coffee and just sit and enjoy the monument and the hall.

Albert Memorial




 

There are 4 statues, one at each corner which are marked with the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America.  There is a golden statue of Albert and a lot of guilding and very ornate.








Albert Memorial

After coffee it was time to continue on to Kensington palace.  There wasn't time to go in and spend the time needed to enjoy it so instead we just wandered around the outside and enjoyed the gardens.  The only garden we saw that was something to write home about was the sunken gardens out back between the palace and the "round pond" 

Kensington Palace sunken garden



From there back across Kensington Park and Hyde Park to our hotel where we picked up our bags and headed for Paddington station.  One of the good things about our hotel was its location,  It is only about a 10 minute walk to Paddington Train station.  I didn't think we could catch the 12:20 train but lo and behold we got to the station before 12, got our tickets and were waiting for boarding instructions.  We wanted the 12:20 train because it was about an hour to Oxford.  Some of the trains are almost 2 hours and a bunch with stops in between.  It was a quick trip to Oxford and once there we had a lunch snack, bought a map and headed out.  It is just over 2 km from the train station to Keble College so it wasn't a long walk, but the roads and sidewalks are sure rough and hard on the little wheels of our suitcase.
Over to Linda
My turn.  I am just back from the laundrette.  Not the most efficient laundry machines but sure better than doing it all by hand. 

Roy mentioned the gardens out back at Kennsington Palace.  Wow, can he understate.  They were fabulous.  The flowers were gorgeous, with the water feature in the centre.  The hedge around it opened every few feet so you could enjoy it.  I'd go for that out back at home.

I enjoyed London and would go back in a heart beat.  There is so much to see and do.  the underground gets you everywhere - great.  I saw a pregnant gal in the underground with a pin on her shirt that said "Baby on board" "underground" and thought that would be a cute think for Rose.  I asked the young man at our corner store about it and he very gently explained that it was for pregnant ladies (he didn't say I didn't need it but I got the message).  I explained that my daughter-in-law was expecting.  I could almost see him sigh with relief.  Anyway we checked at Paddington this morning and they are given to pregnant women so that people know to give them a seat on the train.  Very nice.  I felt old and Roy must have too as people were constantly offering us their seats.  Old, wrinklies are well treated.

Sitting at this desk, in this chair, in Keble College, I feel that I should write something scholarly.  Wish Pete was here, I think he would enjoy it.  Anyway, I will have to be content with trying to spell the words correctly.

Oxford is made up of 18 different colleges.  the town is one big university.  Book stores and libraries everywhere.  The college founders wanted to create a High Church Seminary but today students study a wide range of subjects.  They have 435 under grads and 226 graduate students.

We went for a walk after we checked in and visited the outside of a good many churches and colleges as well as the Bodeliean Library.  World's oldest library with over 3 million books.  It receives a copy of each new book printed.  We are going on a two hour walking tour tomorrow that includes the library.  I hope they have a criteria.  Wouldn't it be awful if they included Harlequin Romances.  They must pump half a million a year of those things.

The best pub dinner yet.  Best dinner yet for me.  The White Horse serves a delicious salad with crab, smoked salmon and prawns.  Yum.  They had pictures of Morse and Lewis and Lewis and Hathaway on the wall.  They must have been drinking there at some time.  We could have taken the "Morse" tour if we'd been here Saturday, Monday or Friday.  alas we are not.
                                                A portion of Keble College

Our room is pretty much what you'd expect.  A bed that doesn't look too comfy, a big desk with a comfortable chair, an arm chair, lots of cupboard and a closet that has a rail for hangers about 7 feet off the floor.  You must need to be very tall to study here.

All for now
God Bless

Minday September 10, 2012
Well it cooled off nicely today.  Definitely not hot but not too cool either.  We started out with our fleeces on but after walking a short distance we both were too hot so we took them off.  We got an earlier start to the day than we have been getting lately because where we first wanted to go had no opening times.  We went to 21 Saint James Gardens to visit Jean and Lionel.  For those who don't know this is the townhouse they use for outside shots for "As Time Goes By" when filming.  Our favourite British show which we watch faithfully each Thursday night.  Linda happen to mention it would be neat to see where the townhouse is,  so I looked it up on the internet and low and behold it was there.  Not earth shattering but we're glad we went.  They weren't home.  Oh well, we got to stroll the neighbourhood of Holland Park.

 

We left Holland Park on the subway deciding to see the British Museum and avoid the crowds of the Olympic Games parade of pride.  London was closing a large area to allow a parade of all their athelets and they expected a 100K plus of spectators.  Just outside the Museum gates we stopped at a small coffee shop which was nice, clean, and not too expensive.  Enjoyed our coffee and muffin.  We were at the museum in 1973 and it is still impressive.  We uses Rick Steves guide book to hit the hightlights of the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek exhibits.  We spent about 3 hours there and and just touched on the 3 areas.  It would take weeks or months to see everything.  The rosetta stone at the beginning of the Egyptian exhibit is a do not miss and we were fortunate because just after we viewed it people were viewing 3 and 4 deep.  It is had to believe that there are ceramic cups with there handles still on that are over 3000 years old.  We have trouble keeping cups for a life time let alone a few thousand years.

Roy has turned the computer over to me.  It was a nice relaxing day. We had our breakfast in the breakfast room.  No flip flop waffles here, it is pretty spartan.  I learned to ask the breaky girl for toast which she goes off to the kitchen (ha ha they don't cook anything) and comes back with toast ( except for the day they ran out of bread).  The girls are very pleasant and make a great piece of toast

 

The visit to the As Time Goes By address was nice.  I really enjoyed seeing it and strolling through a quiet neighbourhood.  Moms and Dads were taking their children to school.  They all so happy to see each other and were making plans to meet for coffee.   The little kids all ride push scooters.  Old people like us ride them too.  Little 3 year olds on their way to nursery school are riding them on the busy sidewalks.  Some times they bang into people and fall off but jump up and are on their way again with mom or dad trying to keep up on foot.

 

We are getting quite good at riding the underground.  We'd like to ride the buses more but haven't figured them out as well.  Our Oyster pass has held out for the whole visit and we've done a lot of riding.  They each had 30 pounds on them and still have money left. Our visits to the Ace Cafe and Grennwich cost a bit more as they were in zone three and that costs more than zones 1 and 2.  Whatever is left over on the pass is refunded when you turn it in.

 

The British Museum is as amazing as it was years ago.  What a treasure trove.  I got a little over saturated with the Assyrians panels though they are very interesting.  A snack and a drink fixed me up and I was ready for the Greeks.  Thoroughly enjoyed it all.  It is hard to believe you are looking at something thousands of years old.  Tea cups!  With their handles intact. 

 

We left the museum and walked to Shaftsbury Ave.  where we saw an umbrella store.  It looked old and traditional so went in. There was a young woman buying an umbrella.  The salesman was pointing out its qualities - ribbing was strong and how the ribbing was constructed, how the canopy was connected and the mechaninisms were made it such and such a way.  I'm thinking this is like buying a car!  She doesn't like the dull colours of the one he is showing her.  It is rather a timeless design (I thought).  The salesman thinks so too.  He tries to tell her it will endure but she is not having it.  When I hear how much it costs, well, she might just as well buy a car!  I didn't get one.  It showered later and we got 2 at Marks and Spencers, cheap, and when we went back out the rain had stopped and it didn't rain again.

 

Next we visited our favourite haunt in London, Covent Gardens.  It feels comfy because we know our way around from our visits going to and returning from Kenya.  Strolled around and had lunch.  The waiter offered to carry me downstairs to the street if I had too much to drink at lunch.  He was not there when we finished.  Clever man!  I didn't have too much to drink.  Clever me!

 

Roy called home about his driving license but of course it hadn't come.  It is 10:00 London time so guess it didn't arrive today.  We are praying it arrives before we pick the car up.  Everybody better pray if I have to drive!

 

Today is my day to want to go home.  It took longer than usual to set in but we have been in 3 major cities and I am city weary.  We spent the evening in our room hoping we'd hear from Carol and packing our bags.  I got them all packed and realized there was a better way.  Next time, I wasn't starting over.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                              

 



 

 



 

 

September 9 London

Well it's hard to beat chauffuer driven Rolls Royce and the Ace Cafe.  The Ace Cafe was quite the experience.  all those old mods and rockers and teddy boys.  The women were pretty interesting too and bikes - oh my god!  there were bikes of every description.  I would never have dreamed there were so many different bikes.  It was a lot of fun.

Today we went to Greenwich (Grenich)  where the world is divided in two to form the Prime Meridian.  Wish we had stayed in Greenwich and commuted to the city.  So calm and quiet.  We might have done better for hotel and prices.  Anyway Greenwich was a fascinating place.  We visited the Royal Naval Museum - really well done.  You could spend days there and still not see it all.
Then we went to the Royal Observatory and wished we had gone there first.  Again you could spend a long time - we were on the late side so didn't see it all.  Roy and I lined up to have our picture taken on the prime meridian with many, many others.  Must have taken 20 minutes to half an hour to get our turn.  We were entertained in line by Mr Airy, alias Scary Airy.  He is known for making the first spectacles, pea shooter, the meridian and he made the trains run on time. 

We had lunch in a place suggested in Rick Steeves book, the Brewery.  A great lunch in very pleasant surroundings.  Good for people watching(and a little eavesdropping).

Back to our room around 8:00.  We are sitting in the very hot lobby to do our blogging.  I am turning into a sweat blob - probably lost 2 pounds just sitting here.

Good night and God bless and over to Roy

Not much to add.  They had John Harrisons clocks which were the first clocks to work accurately in ships.  Built in the 1700's they were amazing.  He built 4 prototypes, each one better than the one before and each one took years to build.  He was a joiner by trade and taught himself clock making when a 20K pound was offered to build a working ship clock.  Up till then most were pendulum clocks.  They made navigation of Longitude possible and save many a ship from running aground at night and in foul weather.  The maritime museum had dozens of brass instruments and globes which are over 300 years old.  Very intricate and its amazing they had the technology a nd ability to make such precise instruments for the day.  We also got to see the largest working telescope in Britain.  Its a 28 inch and still used today.  Very interesting.  Weather is finally starting to cool off, it will be welcome. 

Saturday September 8, 2012

Very hot in London today, it played us out.  The Underground was especially hot.  We started our day going to the market at Portobello.  Rick Steves talks about it in his guide book and made it sound interesting.  We started to walk, but thought we should save ourselves so hopped onto one of the double decker buses.  A little old lady was going there as well and told us where she thought the best stop was.  We talked about it before going into the crowds and decided not to buy anything and that lasted about 5 minutes.  On Saturday they block off the street , and there are the regular shops selling antiques, junk and souvenirs.  On Saturday a whole bunch of small vendors set up and the place is a zoo.  We got there early so the crowds were bearable, but by the time we left it was getting hard to move and more people streaming in all the time.  Anyway within the 5 minutes, Linda bought a silver taxi charm, and I picked out a new wallet.  I resisted for about another 10 minutes and went back and bought it.  Price was good so even it it isn't what I will use all the time it is great for now.

 

As we strolled along we came upon a clothing store with hundreds of sewing machines in the window and along shelves inside.  Linda resisted buying anything but it sure made our eyes pop.

After leaving this store we stopped at a crepe vendor and had a ham and cheese crepe.  I haven't had one of those since Paris in 1973 and it was delicious.  We couldn't wait to get out and take our finds back to the hotel.  After a few minutes rest we headed down to the underground to trafalgar square.  I wanted to see the Churchill War Rooms and Linda thought it looked interesting.  These are where Churchill and the military ran the war.  In August 1945 the last person out shut the light and locked the door and it was left that way until 1970.  Desks, tables and equipment were left just as if the person was returning after a weekend off.  In one of the large rooms they have converted it to a Churchill museum.  Both are very well done, both of us thought it was worthwhile to visit there.

 

Where Churchill met with Chiefs of Staff





It was also hot down there.  We decided we needed liquid so stopped at the Red Lion for a swift half.  We were going to eat but there wasn't any place to sit down.  By the time I got the drinks Linda had found a downstairs area where we could sit.  We decided not to eat then, but after a short walk we thought we had better so stopped at another pub.  Ordered drinks ( another half) and were then told it would be 45 minutes before we could get our meal.  Had our drink and left.  Back into the Underground and this time the destination was the ACE Cafe.  For those who don't know it, this cafe has become a mecca for motorcyclists.  It was the home of the Rockers in the 60's and has remained famous in the motorcycle world ever since.  And guess what.  Today is the annual motorcycle reunion, the busiest weekend of the year.  There were hundreds of bikes and people most in black leathers or black shirts and a 60's rock band was performing loudly.  We wandered around a bit taking pictures and decided to try and have supper there.  Hard finding a spot at a table but we finally did.  We each had cheese burgers and a drink and it was very reasonable.  Cheaper than the pubs.  It was really cool to be there on this day an see all that was going on.  As we use to say it was a happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



September 7

Paris to London

We were up early - taxi ordered for 7:00 to get us through rush hour traffic to Gare du Nord for the Eurostar for London.  Signed out at the hotel and the breaky we believed was included wasn't so we paid a whole lot for a not great meal for 2 days.  The good thing about the hotel was one of the front desk gals named Opportunie.  She gave us lots of good advice about getting around in the city.

Surprise, Parisiennes don't go to work until later.  We were accross the city in 11 minutes!  Lots of time to wait for the train.  It was so nice not to ride that metro with its long and multiple flights of stairs.  Not bad if you don't have a suitcase but a challenge when you have one trailing behind you.

What to do to kill time - eat.  Did that.  Go outside and breathe fresher air - did that.  8:14 we could check in.  First they take your ticket, then you go through customs, then they scan your bags and you are free to go to the waiting area.  We met two sisters from California, Eva and Arleen.  They were nice to talk to so the time went quickly. 

On to the Eurostar.  Wow, what a train.  So nice.  We were in the tunnel before we knew it.  The French country side was very picturesque.  Love to spend time in the countryside after I learn some more French because frankly I don't think you'd cope without it.

We were first off the train in London.  After we took a picture of our train we went underground and continued to try to figure out which was the best tube pass to buy.  A lovely girl   who works for the Underground came and gave us advice and walked us through buying an Oyster pass.  Her boyfriend is from Victoria so she was happy to tell us all about Canada.

Found our hotel.  Definitely not the nicest we've ever stayed in but adequate.  Very, very steep stairs and no lift.  We are in the basement - there is a little courtyard out our window.  We have a top sheet.  Yahoo !  not too sure about the comfort of the mattress - we will see in 1/2 hour or so.

We walked in Kensington Gardens for a bit and saw Princess Dianna's Memorial Fountain.  Very cool. You are invitied to paddle your feet and children were playing in it.  Had a pub dinner (early) and went to Leichester Square for tickets to a play.  We got tickets to Mousetrap.  I will let Roy continue from here.  It gets better!!!!  We thought it would be best to find the theatre after we bought the tickets instead of looking for it at the last minute.  The streets are a bit confusing so after a 15 minute walk around we finally found it.  It was about quarter after 6 and the show starts at 7:30 so we decided we should walk somewhere.  Linda was looking at the map and said St. James church wasn't too far.  So we stood there planning out how to get there for a few minutes.  A chauffeur was standing outside his car having a smoke.  He asked if he could help us.  We told him where we thinking of walking to and he asked for the name of the street.  We gave it to him and he said yes he knew where it was and then he thought for must have been a minute.  Give me 2 minutes he says.  I'm going that way, I will take you and give you directions how to get back here as we go.  We couldn't believe it, but in we got and he kept giving us the directions and having us repeat the directions from the beginning over and over.  The car was a Rolls Royce Phantom absolutely stunning.  H works for the Ritz.

 







When we got to the church they were just shutting the door so Winston talked the cartaker into letting us have a quick look and he agreed.  Well we got lost on the way back to the theatre despite having great directions.  Linda flagged down a taxi.  Riding a London taxi was on our todo list for this trip.  He was great, and wants to go skiing in Whistler.  When he got us to the theatre, the bill was 5.20, so I got out a 5 and was digging for some change and he says good enough, its only 20p.  Linda says buy a lotto ticket.  The Mouse trap was excellent, we finally saw it after 36 years and it was every thing they say it was.  The actors were fantastic.  Well worth the money even if we did sit in the nose bleed section.