6 April - Day 6

We wheel our bags into the station –find a porter to help load the bags on the train (thank goodness). Hundreds of bicycles parked a the station –fascinating! Train on time, bags loaded. Up the coast we go! Great views of the seacoast – I see Lindisfarne in the distance! Arrive Edinburgh Station. Royal Terrace Hotel lovely with views toward the Calton Hill one way and the Firth of Forth the other! Holyrood House – terrific! Mary Queen of Scots – Italian secretary Ritzio murderd by her husband, great stuff! Lovely furnishings

5 April - Day 5

Taxi to Kings Cross Rail Station – train to York at 9AM! Figured out which coach was first class…managed to get super heavy luggage stowed and we’re off! English countryside passes by…what a nice way to travel. Sheep! Sheep! More sheep! However…no help available for getting bags OFF the train. Somehow we manage. Where is the taxi? Our hotel is supposed o be close to the station but no way are we going to make it any further schleppng all of this luggage. We walk out of the station toward what would logically be where the taxis are but no taxis! Panic!! I look about in abject desperation. Oh no! What will we do?! Suddenly I focus and realize that the door I have been staring at literally 6 feet away says “Royal York Hotel”…our hotel!
Rooms not ready so we leave bags with bellman and off to see York Minster, largest Gothic church north of the Alps with more stained glass then any other church in Great Britain. Amazing – exploration of the lower level reveals Norman church foundation layered on an Anglo-Saxon church foundation layered on a Roman garrison foundation. Nice lunch just off The Shambles. A little more walking but a good idea to make it a fairly early day. I can see the Minster from my room!

4 April - Day 4

.Marcus arrived early today, at our request - off to Canterbury, Sandwich and Leeds Castle. After some polite, non-controversial pleasantries the Phase II of the English history challenge began again in earnest! A little drippy today - nothing too serious. Drive through Kent very nice. Marcus had in mind a new place to park near the cathedral right along the city's Roman wall rebuilt in the 14th century. Short walk to the cathedral through the town -wonderful! Layers of history - 1,400 years more or less. Stt. Augustine, Chaucer...Tom claimed that the stain on the floor was really from Thomas Becket's blood but Marcus and I were skeptical. On to Sandwich to see the Hunt Gallery owned by Winterthur licensees Rosemary and Michael Hunt and Michael's paintings of Winterthur - 112 paintings done to date moving toward a goal of 175...the gallery is on a narrow little street that contains the longest row of half-timber houses in England- the Hunt Gallery dates to 1297!!! We arrive - no English reserve - lots of hugs and, to my astonishment they have rehung the entire gallery with all Winterthur (one room reserved for Wynkoop House owned by Gary Tinterro, MMA curator)!!!! Absolutely stunning to see these in person - seriously stunning. Rosemary and her son Philip show me the rest of the paintings for which there was no room on the walls! I took photos but they could not possibly do the display justice or the individual paintings justice. What a treat! Leeds next...love at first sight! Lunch first on the terrace of their lovely restaurant. Beautiful day, gorgeous views but I am sensing a prescnce..HF had to have visited there. So many similarities - colors, arrangements, room proportions, accessories - delighful. A walk back through the garden. Spring in England! Back to London...many thanks to Marcus!

Day 3 Footnote

I love the new lighting system for hotel rooms! You place our room key in a dock right inside the door where a master switch turns on all the lights. You can still operate each individual light but all lights are extinguished when you remove your key as you leave the room. Sweet.

3 April - Day 3

Day 3 – One more gorgeous day - perfect for a new crisis du jour - mine! I had tried to make reservations on line for our trip to York. Not having used the British rail system I was nervous about just showing up. The concierge did his best to help but it seemed we would have to go to a station to make the reservation. Of course, I assumed the worst - the rail passes weren't valid, blah, blah blah...Tom and I walked the short distance to Victoria Station, waited in the wrong line (long, wrong line), were politely told to get in the other line and once there effortelssly reserved our seats for the trip. Euphoric we hopped in a cab up to the British Museum where I fulfilled a long time dream to see the Elgin Marbles. You could spend days in there. Then off to the Tate Britain to see the Turner’s…sigh. The current exhibit draws parallels between Turner’s so-called “unfinished” works and those of the 20th century abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko. I’m not sure I’m buying all that but it was very thought provoking t0 think that Turner purposely played with light and paint in a very abstract way. The two Tates (Britain and Modern) have a Thames shuttle between them! Named, of course, drum roll….Tate a Tate! How cool! Another perspective on London! We didn’t go in the T-Modern or do the Globe Theater tour (the lobby was bedlam) so we opted for lunch OUTDOORS at a little pub on the southern bank of the Thames. Our view was looking over at St. Paul’s. From there a walk across the Millennium bridge. The bridge, if you will remember, wobbled like mad and had to be rebuilt so when Sophie and I were there 04-05 you could only walk out a short distance as the center was removed! We are on a roll so why not one more museum? OK – the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace. Wow! On display was just a modest sampling of the art works acquired by the royal family. The current exhibit is “Bruegel to Rubens” – superb! A walk across the street to our hotel. Such a great day we decide to walk up to Sloane Square to a restaurant Tom remembers fondly - Oriel. Nice walk. Great restaurant - table by the window to people watch. Tomorrow - another installment of Tom vs. Marcus so tune in again!

2 April - Day 2

Day 2 – Marcus, the driver, picked us up at 9 just prior to which Tom had revealed that he couldn’t find his medicine…The front desk suggested that the pharmacy next to Victoria Station would fill the prescription without a doctor’s appointment. Marcus took all of this in stride and we all brainstormed as he drove around our area of London (no where to just sit and think). We found a Boot’s (UK Happy Harry’s) near Victoria. Tom and I jumped out after exchanging mobile numbers (so British!) with Marcus. Lovely people in Boot’s, but it was revealed that what the front desk really meant was for Tom to visit the NHS (National Health Service) next to Victoria. We hot footed it up 2+ blocks to the NHS where Tom got his name on the list and sat down to wait. I hot footed it back 2+ blocks to meet Marcus then he drove me back to the NHS now knowing where we were with the understanding that he would wait to hear from us. Shortly Tom was seen and came out in 20 minutes with all 3 prescriptions!!! For FREE!!!!!! We hot footed it back 2+ blocks to Boots to get the ‘scripts filled. Called Marcus. Now 10:30…day begins. First stop Windsor! The accoustiguides are a nice addition as was Marcus’ background material as we drove there. Tom played “Stump Marcus on His Knowledge of the Succession of the English Crown”. Amazingly enough Marcus proved a worthy opponent…I called it a draw! After our castle tour Marcus drove us out to see the Long Walk which I had not done before – lovely! Marcus then dropped us off at the bridge over the Thames to Eaton. We only had time to walk over and back but such a treat to see Eaton. Another amazing day of sunshine! Off to EAT in the Windsor train station to buy sandwiches for the road (super yummy!) and then off to Oxford! Marcus again gave us great background on the way there while Tom continued the game periodically shifting the emphasis to the Royal succession as it relates to Oxford. Marcus again held up well. Marcus gave me walking tour while Tom spent time in his favorite book store. We saw many of the beautiful aspects of the university including Brasenose College http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/ - I took some great pictures of the courtyards, the chapel, the flowers…then off to Blenheim! OHMYGOODNESS! What a sight as Blenheim comes in to view. It is hard to imagine its size even when you are standing in front of it –spectacular! The new exhibit on the 2nd floor gives visitors a glimpse into …the rest of the story…animatronics depicting Lady Sarah Churchill and others use technology including digital video to tell the “back” stories – fascinating stories and fascinating technology used to really engage the visitor…Mr. du Pont in Port Royal welcoming visitors?!!!!! Back to the hotel – we ate in The Library at the hotel this time – fabulous.

Stay tuned for more! We are off with a driver to see Stirling Castle and play “Stump the Driver on His Knowledge of the Succession of the Scottish and British Crowns”!

1 April - Day 1

Smooth, uneventful British Air flight to Heathrow – the new Philly Intl terminal is awesome BTW! Taxi to the hotel – Rubens at the Palace…it looks across the road at the Palace’s wall! Lovely hotel, room staff, amenities. I would heartily recommend. Rooms ready, bags unpacked off to Fortnum and Mason and a walk around Piccadilly. We visited Tom’s tailor on Saville Row – Denge and somebody – very interesting. We also shopped the Burlington Arcade – love those Beadles! Then it was off to Harrod’s followed by Kensington Palace. 60 degrees and sunny! Flowers everywhere and all of the fruit trees blooming. Who knew the British have leaned how to cook? Lovely dinner at the hotel.