Robbyn

Wednesday, March 6th<BR><BR>We were all pretty excited as we drove down highway 94 towards the Detroit Airport. Craig and I had asked my sister Amy to go with us to England and we had been planning this trip for months. Everything seemed to be going as scheduled when I noticed something wet at the corner of my purse. I thought it was just water but when I touched it; realized a pen had leaked in the side pocket of my bag. Franticly I tried to clean it before it got all over my clothes. Twenty tissues, 9 handy wipes, and 6 blue fingers later I felt confident all the wet ink was gone.<BR><BR>We got to the airport on time and started going through the security process. I don’t know why but an alarm when off when it was my turn to walk through the gates. I was taken off to the side by a lady guard and scanned with her wand. While I was sitting on a stool in my stocking feet, so my shoes could be taken off someplace to be inspected Craig and Amy stood waiting on the other side laughing at me. <BR><BR>Next we got in line to board the plane. All of a sudden I was singled out to be searched again, why me? Are blue fingers a sign of a terrorist? I was happy to entertain Craig and Amy once again while I stood with my arms and legs apart and a wand checked for any weapons that might be hidden under my clothes. I wanted to feel safe on my flight and understood the added security, but I hoped that some really bad guy wasn’t walking on the plane while security was checking me, a librarian who’s too scared to even jay walk. <BR>

Robbyn

Thursday, March 7th..........<BR><BR>Six hours later we landed at the Gatwick Airport in London, took a train to Victoria station and then a cab to our hotel. It was springtime in London and flowers were blooming everywhere. We had reservations at the Marriott County Hall and Craig pointed it out to us as we drove across the Westminster Bridge. It was huge! We drove through an archway; then into a large courtyard where we gratefully allowed the doorman to take the heavy luggage we had been dragging around with us for the last 8 hours.<BR><BR>Everything was done in shades of green and pink with lots of wood trim and fresh flowers. The Marriott used to be the London County government building and had been turned into a hotel 5 years earlier. After checking in we were told our rooms weren’t ready yet so we decided to relax in the concierge’s lounge where we had a light snack and planned what to do next.<BR><BR>Westminster Abbey was only a walk across the bridge so we decided to start there first. Big Ben chimed just as we walked past and reminded us that it was 5:00 a.m. back home and we had just missed a night’s sleep. Next we walked to Trafalgar Square, St. Martians on the Field and then looked for the Sherlock Homes Restaurant we had seen on our last trip. It was very crowded so we ended up having our first dinner at Garfunkel’s. It’s not the best restaurant in London but we were starving, so we settled. <BR><BR>Then we took the tube to Tower Station to start our “Jack the Ripper Tour” where met a man named Tony, holding a sign. He told us he was a beefeater at the tower and did the tour part-time in the evenings. At 7:00 he asked us to gather around and about 30 of us circled him as he started his speech. A lady with wild coal black hair and sounded like she might have had too much to drink began loudly commenting on everything Tony had to say. I wondered how he would handle this situation when after about 3 minutes she just wandered off…into the night. The tour lasted about 2 hours and I think we must have walked down every street on the East End. Tony was a wonderful storyteller and we listened intently as he told us about all the murders that had happened 110 years ago. <BR><BR>Tired from the walking, but not quite ready to go to sleep we decided to have a glass of wine before going to our room. Once in our room, Amy decided to take a shower and called me into the bathroom. She had found a hose in the shower and while pointing it at me, asked what it was for. I was just about to say something when for some reason she pressed the handle and a strong stream of water shot across the room all over me. A surprised look spread across her face and she began to apologize immediately. I was dripping wet and cold, of course I had to laugh but wondered what else was going to happen to me on this trip?<BR>

Robbyn

Friday, March 8th............<BR><BR>After a nice breakfast in the concierge’s lounge we decided to go to the bank to exchange our traveler’s checks. We ended up at the post office/drug store because we didn’t have accounts at the local bank. Aren’t banks supposed to cash traveler’s checks? Anyway, while Craig and Amy were in line I decided to look for some Tums because my stomach felt a little upset. While I was looking around for the package the man at the counter must have thought I looked a little confused because he asked if he could help me. I don’t know if “Tums” isn’t the name of the local antacid, but I repeated it over and over again while the cashier only looked at me with a his eyebrows turned down and his face all quenched together. I tried the word Rolaids, then antacid. Finally, he handed me a piece of paper and asked me to write it down. By this time I was feeling pretty embarrassed as people were starting to stare. As soon as I handed him the paper he said, “Oh yes, an antacid”. Didn’t I already say that? He handed me a package of Remegel’s. I thanked him and felt a headache coming on, but was afraid to ask for some Tylenol. <BR><BR>After our dollars were changed into pounds we were ready to look around London some more. Craig wanted to go to the Imperial War Museum while Amy and I wanted to go shopping at Covent Gardens so we spilt up and decided to meet again at 1:30 for lunch. The piazza at Covent Gardens was a wonderful place. There were two open floors of small shops, smells coming from all the different restaurants, music from the street performers, and even a craft sale going on. It was fun to look around but soon people started streaming in from all over. We had told Craig to meet us at the piazza, but hadn’t realized it was such a large place. We began to wonder if he would ever be able to find us, when at 1:30 exactly we saw him walking down the street. Craig thought the museum was great and said he could have stayed there for another couple of hours. The sun was shinning so we had lunch outside, talked about what to do next and just enjoyed the day. <BR><BR>Next we took the bus to Harrods. We rode the Egyptian escalator, bought lots of souvenirs, and visited the food halls. Later I was surprised you had to have a restroom pass or sales receipt to visit the bathrooms. What a great way to increase sales!<BR>Just as we were leaving hundreds of small lights on the outside of Harrods lit up, it was quite beautiful. We thought we should get back to our hotel to freshen up a bit before we went to the Ceremony of the Key’s at the Tower of London so we flagged a cab and started back. <BR><BR>From the window of our room we could see the pods of the London Eye. We were so close I even waved at someone and they waved back. I noticed that it wasn’t very crowded and suggested we try to get a ticket before we left for the Tower. We ran downstairs, got in line, Craig paid the clerk and then there was some confusion. We had just 2 minutes before the eye closed and the attendant told us that we had to be on the eye before 8:00 or we wouldn’t be able to ride. Craig knew there was no way we would be able to do this and so he instantly snapped his money out of her hand, which left the cashier with quiet a shocked look on her face. Amy and I were surprised too. I think what she meant to say was that we had to “buy the tickets” before 8:00. While we were trying to straighten this out, the clock clicked and the clerk said very smugly, “Too late!” To make matters even worse as we walked out of the ticket building an attendant was trying to rush us onto the ride and we had to say we didn’t have any tickets. I guess I should have looked out our hotel window a few minutes earlier, or maybe not at all. <BR><BR>

Robbyn

Friday Continuted...........<BR><BR>We had an hour before we had to be at the Tower so we took the river walk down the Thames and crossed at the millennium footbridge. It was a lovely spring night, but the walk to the Tower of London was a lot longer than we had expected. Amy and I thought we couldn’t take another step when Craig pointed out the tower just ahead. <BR>Craig and I had been to the Ceremony of the Keys twice before but this was Amy’s first time and I was a little disappointed. It’s suppose to be a very serious ceremony but some of the VIP guests that had accompanied our group obviously had not been given the same set of rules as we had. <BR><BR>One man’s cell phone started ringing right in the middle of the ceremony and continued to ring until one of the guards had to ask him to turn it off. Then while the Royal Army guards were locking up, a lady that must have gotten lost came walking down from the Tower Square carrying a shopping bag. All her friends started laughing. I can see how this would have looked pretty silly and I’m so glad I wasn’t the lost lady wandering around, but really it shouldn’t have happened. Hopefully, in the future all guests will be requested to be respectful of this 700-year-old tradition. <BR><BR>We left the tower around 10:00 and since we hadn’t had dinner yet we wandered around for a while looking for someplace to eat. Amy and I were walking a little behind Craig, because our legs could bearly move after walking the 5 miles to the tower but anyway, I looked up and Craig was having a conversation with a girl and her boyfriend. When we got up to the three of them we realized the girl was pretty smashed. I made this deduction because she had a hard time talking and couldn’t focus her eyes. <BR><BR>We stood there listening to her talk about nothing really when her boyfriend started talking to Amy and I. He told us that the reason we weren’t finding many restaurants was because we were in the financial district. He said they would show us a place a couple of blocks away that would be a great place to have dinner. As we all walked down the street I wondered if we were foolishly being lead down a dark street to be robbed by a gang of madmen, (okay so I have a wild imagination) but they ended up being very nice. They took us to a little bar, wished us a nice holiday and continued on their merry way.<BR> <BR>When we walked into the bar we decided it really wasn’t what we were looking for, so we took a cab to a pub that we had seen earlier that day. We didn’t realize it was nearly 11 so when we got there of course it was just closing. I was pretty much starving at this point so we went back to our hotel bar in hopes of getting some sandwiches. The bartender told us the only food available was through room service. A man setting at the bar told us we should go to Piccadilly Square as everything there stayed open late. We took the tube and finally at midnight found a booth, sat down and shared a large delicious pizza. <BR>

Robbyn

Saturday, March 9th.........<BR><BR>We were meeting my friend Jenny and her family from Wales today. I was pretty excited, as I hadn’t seen any of them for over three years. Jenny and I have been pen pals for 5 years and this would be our third visit. I just had to curl my hair, eat breakfast and then we would all meet in our hotel lobby at 10:00. I had been having problems with my adapter and the curling iron earlier and as soon as I had my hair was wrapped around the iron I knew I had made a terrible mistake. Burning hair doesn’t smell very good especially when it’s your own. I unrolled it immediately but it was too late. Big hunks of hair stayed wrapped around the iron and the middle of my bangs were gone. Even worst I had to trim what was left as the ends were all singed. I tried my best to cover up the part of my hair that was now sticking up straight and used perfume to hide the hideous smell. I couldn’t stay in the bathroom for 3 months till my hair grew back, so I went to breakfast looking a little bit strange. <BR><BR>It was nice to see our friends again and after all the hugs we decided to take a boat trip down the Thames to Greenwich. It was terribly windy and at times it felt like we might all be blown away. We went to the National Observatory and stood in a row on the 0 degree longitude line and had our picture taken. We had lunch in the museum restaurant and walked through town. Jenny and Andrew almost had us talked into taking the Euro Star to Paris. It sounded exciting but we decided there would be too many reservations to change and 6 hours on a train in one day seemed like a little much. I guess we will always wonder if we made the right decision. <BR><BR>We walked through the tunnel under the Thames and then rode the train back to London. Next we stopped at St. Paul’s Cathedral and had tea in their downstairs snack bar and decided to go back to our hotels to change for dinner. <BR><BR>At 7:00 we met back again in Covent Gardens and looked for a restaurant. After checking a few menus we found an Italian place called the “La Ballerina”. It was fairly inexpensive and everyone loved their meal. Jenny and I exchanged gifts with each other and since it was so close to Craig’s birthday they had some gifts for him too. After dinner, 3 bottles of wine, lots of talking and laughing we took a walk through the theater district where said our good byes. <BR><BR>

Robbyn

Sunday, March 10th..........<BR><BR>We took a cab to Heathrow to pick up our rental car. I really don’t know how Craig does it but he seems to pick up driving on the left pretty well. Getting in the car was not so easy. Almost every time I would open the driver’s door and Craig would open the passenger’s side. One time Craig even sat down on the left side and pulled out his keys before he realized there was no steering wheel. <BR><BR>We started our trip down to Bournemouth to the next Marriott, our last free night of hotels, thanks to Craig’s hotel points. Our first stop was in Marlborough where we had lunch in a small, cozy tearoom. It was Mother’s Day in England and at the table next to us two cute little girls were giving a sack of handmade gifts to their mum. After lunch we noticed that it had started to rain so we ran back to our car and headed to Avebury. <BR><BR>We walked around the rocks thankful we had brought our umbrellas, did some shopping and then drove to Stonehenge. It was almost five o’clock and the car park for Stonehenge was just closing. Do we have bad timing or what? As the traffic was so bad Craig couldn’t pull off the road and we didn’t even get to take a picture. I guess we can say we saw the circle of stones even if it was from our car window as we raced by. Why would such a busy road be built so close to this ancient monument? Craig said he would turn around but we decided to just keep going onto Shaftsbury to see Gold Hill. <BR><BR>It took awhile but we found the beautiful cobble stoned street. It was on a steep hill with charming little homes on one side and a tall wall on the other. We took some pictures of each other on the street with our umbrellas, wandered around a bit and then decided we should find our hotel in Bournemouth. <BR><BR>Around 7:00 we pulled up in front of our hotel that was on top of a cliff overlooking the English Channel. It was still windy and raining and also turned quite cold. It felt good to warm up in the large, old hotel. We had sandwiches in the bar on the porch and then decided to get our faithful umbrellas and take a late night stroll on the boardwalk. <BR><BR>

Robbyn

Monday, March 11th<BR>(Craig’s birthday).........<BR><BR>The sun was shinning and we could tell by the flag outside the front window that the wind had clamed down too. After a breakfast over looking the water we thought we’d look for an Internet caf&eacute; to send some e-mails. We stopped 3 different people asking for directions and finally found a nice little place to send some quick notes. Bournemouth reminded us of Atlantic City and figured it must be a pretty busy place in the summer. <BR><BR>Our first stop this morning was Corfe Castle. We parked in a car park at the edge of town and started our short walk. In the distance on a hill you could see the ruins of Corfe Castle. Everything was green and fresh. We passed an old graveyard, some sheep grazing in a pasture and then came to a small town center. We passed a pub we thought would be a great place for lunch on the way back, a few gift shops, a grocery, a post office and of course the entrance to the castle. It was an enchanting walk up the hill path. We wandered around for a long time taking pictures and enjoyed the beautiful view. What a darling little town! If I had to live anywhere in England I think I would pick this town. <BR><BR><BR>Next we drove to Lulworth Cove. It would have been a short drive, but we had a detour because the Army artillery range was practicing that day. The white cliffs at the cove were beautiful. I really wanted to take the coastal path, but it was started raining again and we were also running out of time so instead we drove to Durdle Door (which means rock with a hole in). It sprinkled on our umbrellas as we took the stone path that led to the beach. Actually, we never made it all the way down because it was pretty muddy and slippery and so we just stayed on the cliffs. What a gorgeous place this was. We took some pictures of the amazing rock door and I imagined how nice it would be to lay on the beach on a warm day “when it wasn’t raining”.<BR><BR>Craig got back up the hill a little faster than us and was already in the car. He was trying to back up but couldn’t. Because of all the rain, the grass had turned to mud and the car was stuck. A couple in the car next to us was stuck as well. Since it didn’t seem like it would take much, Amy and I and the man that was stuck next to us all gave Craig a push. The wheels began to spin and of course mud splattered all over our clothes. Craig helped to push the other car out and a little wetter and dirtier than we came, we left Durdle Door and headed towards Lyme Regis. <BR><BR>

Robbyn

Monday Continuted..........<BR><BR>Along the way we saw an old building on top of a hill and wanted to stop to see what it was. The town was called Abbotsbury. It was a quaint little town with a swannery, a few little shops, a couple of B & B’s and a tearoom. We saw some children kicking around a ball near the car park. It was such a peaceful looking town and I was thinking how lucky these children were to have such a neat place to grow up. Craig asked them what the building was on top of the hill was. They said it was called St. Catherine’s Chapel and was built all of stone. The chapel looked so beautiful on top of the green-ridged hill that I really wanted to go up there. We couldn’t find anyone else to ask or a road that led up to it so we continued on our way without getting any closer. <BR><BR>It was dark by the time we got to Lyme Regis. While looking for someplace to stay we got lost and ended up on a long, narrow road that turned out to be a dead end alley. It was quite a trick but Craig managed to back down the street without hitting anything. We all wanted to get out of the car and stopped at the first hotel we saw. It was called The Alexandera. We waited while an older, well-dressed couple with 2 greyhounds checked in. After we got the price of the room we asked to see it before agreeing to take it for the night. It was only on the second floor, but we took many twists and turns to find it. A large rock held the door open to room number 11. I was pleasantly surprised as we stepped down the stairs into the room. A tiny, soft yellow print covered the walls and curtains. I thought it was darling and told Craig we should stay here. He whispered, “Yea, but don’t you hate the wallpaper?” <BR><BR>We changed out of our muddy clothes, freshened up and went downstairs for dinner. The restaurant was elegant, the food was wonderful and we celebrated Craig’s birthday in a corner of the large dinning room all by our selves. Afterwards we did some window-shopping in the little seaside town deciding which stores we wanted to visit in the morning. We passed a bookstore displaying a poster of the movie “Persuasion” and I remembered that it was filmed there and that Jane Austin had spent a lot of time in Lyme Regis. Although I haven’t seen it I knew that “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” was filmed there as well. We walked down to the beach along the cobb and then back to our room for a wonderful night’s sleep in one of the most comfortable beds think I’ve ever slept in. <BR><BR>

Sheila

Terrific report; really enjoyed it

Robbyn

Tuesday, March 12th..........<BR><BR>There wasn’t a shower in our room but we did have a nice large old bathtub. While I was shopping in Covent Garden’s on Friday I had bought a bath bomb for Craig for his birthday. Although he doesn’t usually take bubble baths I thought it would be a nice surprise for him. So, while he was filling up his bath I dropped it in and it bubbled up like a giant fizzy. He wasn’t terribly impressed, but it was something different I guess. Later at breakfast Amy noticed little sparkles all over Craig’s face and arms. The bath bomb contained more than just bubbles and I had a hard time convincing him that I didn’t know about the glitter. Little bits of Craig sparkled for at least two days. <BR><BR>We walked around Lyme Regis for about an hour and then drove to Seatown. At the end of the car park was a sign that read, “private beach”. A man with a long white beard and wearing pants that were tucked into his high rubber boots was walking past. I asked him if the sign meant we couldn’t walk on the beach. He asked where we were from and then told us that all the beaches along the coast of England were public. I don’t know what the sign meant but decided it was okay for us to take a walk. <BR><BR>The man with the white beard showed us how to hunt for fossils that were all along the clay cliffs. We found a few broken ones and while Amy and Craig were still-hunting I decided to look for some nice smooth stones to take back home. I was concentrating on the stones when a big wave rushed onto the beach, I screamed as it covered my shoes and ankles with cold water. The way my luck had been going I guess I should have been happy a big cliff didn’t fall over on me. Anyway, I decided to changed back to my corduroys in the car and put on some dry shoes. Nobody was around and so Craig just stood in front of the car window while I changed. Naturally, just as I was taking off my jeans a postal truck pulled up and stopped right in front of the car.<BR><BR>We were leaving to go back home tomorrow and we wanted to stay someplace close to the airport. Craig suggested Arundel as he had heard about it from someone. Along the way we stopped to see the giant of Cerne Abbas. The giant was carved in the side of a chalk hill thousand of years ago and was supposed to represent fertility. It wasn’t quite as interesting as we thought it would be. For some reason I thought we could walk up the hill and get close to him but when we got there we found we had to look from behind a fence. After taking a picture we ventured into town.<BR>

Robbyn

Tuesday Continuted..........(last post)<BR><BR>We took a path over a little stream that ran through the town and visited an abbey. When we got into the small town we saw some shops and houses but not a single sole anywhere. It looked like a ghost town and began to feel a little eerie. The whole time we were there we only saw a little gray cat that followed us until we got to the stream where he stayed for a drink of water. As we were leaving, an older couple passed us on the street. I am guessing they were visitors too. <BR><BR>In Arundel we checked into the Norfolk Arms. We unpacked the car and took our bags up to our room. In the distance we saw a castle and decided to drive up to it only to find out it didn’t open until April. It was beautiful and surprisingly large. I would have loved to tour it. <BR><BR>That night we ate in a small Italian restaurant above a store just across the street from our hotel. It was a nice ending to our trip. It was raining again when we finished dinner but we decided to take a walk around town before going to bed. It was quiet except for the few people leaving a bar or pub along the main street. We walked down a residential street and saw fireplaces burning or heard soft music playing from inside some of the homes we passed. Cars edged the long street and were parked so close from end to end I wondered how they would ever get out again in the morning.<BR><BR>Our room at the Norfolk Arms was on the forth floor and it took exactly 53 stair steps to get there. We decided to count them the 4th time we had to walk up to our room. It was a nice large room with red rose wallpaper. When we got in bed that night we realized the floor sagged in the middle. We figured this out when I immediately slid over to Craig’s side. We laughed about it as we fell asleep that night. <BR><BR>We didn’t get to see and do everything we had intended, and so what if part of my bangs are now only a half inch long, we had some wonderful adventures and saw many interesting places. We visited one of the largest cities in the world and lots of small towns along the coast, rode the underground, took a ride down the Thames with the Browns, and tried baked beans for breakfast. We saw lots of thatched roofs, hedgerows, castles, and sheep and came home with lots of stories to tell, plus a few forgotten English coins in our pockets. <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

xxx

Thank you for the charming account of your holiday. Very enjoyable and funny at times.

Shadow

Great report-I enjoyed it very much!<BR>Shadow

Jeff

Thanks for sharing your trip. Sounds like you had a great time. Loved the bubble story, sounds like something my wife would do to me. <BR><BR>

Laura

Robbyn, I thoroughly enjoyed your report so much I wish it were longer. If you remember anything else, please add it on to your report!

KatWoman

What a great report! I love your sense of humor! We leave for London and Paris in 65 days! Hope I can "roll with the punches" as well as you did! Thank you for your report!

Dina

What a nice report, and above average in typing, spelling and punctuation, too! A pleasure to read!<BR>The curling iron story made me laugh, as it was exactly like the scene in "Little Women" (set in the 1860's!)where teenage sisters Jo and Meg are preparing for a party, and Jo singes off Meg's bangs on a hot curling iron. "I'm ruined!" she wails, looking in the mirror. Younger sister Amy advises her to wear her hair ribbon down on her forehead a bit, it's all the fashion nowadays!<BR>

Robbyn

Laura, I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or sincere when you said you wished my story was longer. I know it is really, really long and may not be THAT interesting and I'm sorry if it bored you. If you really did enjoy it than forget the last line and I would just like to say, "Thanks."<BR><BR>KatWoman, I hope you have a great time on your trip to London and Paris! I think planning for a trip is 1/2 the fun. If it's your first time to London try to stop by Covent Gardens for lunch and do some shopping. We loved it there.<BR><BR>Dina, you are the second person to remind me of the "Little Woman Story". I had forgotten about Meg burning her hair. I don't think I will take Amy's advice about the bow though. I do hope it grows back before our class reunion this summer.

Dina

Robbyn, (And I know this isn't travel-related!) Hair normally grows a half inch a month. So if you have two and a half or three months before the reunion, you'll have grown short bangs. That's what some trendy young types cut on purpose; it will look cute, so don't worry. Worst case, buy some fake bangs.

tommy

T.T.T.