Sunday 12 June

Along with half of England, we set out for a quiet Sunday drive to catch some of the sights of Somerset. What some motor bike riders do on some of these narrow English roads is mind-bending. They reach astonishing speeds and take massive risks for which many pay the price. We did get held up for some time this day by one who managed to get himself andhis bike underneat a small car.
Our first significant stop was Cleve Abbey which apparently has one of the most complete cloisters in England. (Photograph is of the Abbey's original gateway). There is an original medieval timber ceiling with figurines in the refectory and many of the original baked floor tiles showing symbols of the abbey's benefactors have been recovered. The attendant was very surprised to find a foreign tourist at the site - "not many make it out to here".

Our Somerset Accommodation

We have been staying at Crooks Cottage at Dunnett Farm, Compton Bishop, Somerset. It is a wonderful remote locality which has meant poor mobile reception especially for our mobile broadband so much of our posting has been delayed. We have really enjoyed it here and have roamed over much of Somerset with some occasional visits to Wiltshire, Devon and Dorset. One major setback has been that parking is either very limited and/or very expensive but the scenery has been mostly breathtaking. The one exception has been the nearby beach holiday areas near Weston-super-Mare and Burnam-on-Sea. They are completely depressing. Here is a picture of the cottage and a group of Vija's favourite cows just across the road (they expected Vija to feed them).

Sat 11 June - on the Road

We set out early and picked up our car, a Nissan Note (surprisingly roomy and nippy), from Heathrow Airport and took to the open road to Somerset. Stonehenge was on the way so we ducked in there. It has definitely been one of the highlights of our tour. It really has to be seen to get the full impact of what those ancient Britons achieved here andit really does make you wonder what motivated them to achieve such a colossal undertaking. With the driving, the first thing I have had to get used to is that the indicator levder is on the left side on the steering wheel so if I am not thinking hard, I automatically put on the wipers each time I turn a corner. This doesn't seem to matter much because drivers here rarely seem to use indicators but other than that, they are usually quite courteous. And I love the challenge of the narrow country roads although I had to back up for about 200 metres just the other day.

Last Day in London - British Museum

From the river, we took a taxi to the British Museum. What a marvellous place! Unfortunately, we could not spend as much time there as we wanted to so we focused on the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Greeks and, mostly, the British related exhibits. We took a few photos but the one thing that was totally unexpected was the two 2000 year old shears pictured here. It amazed me to thing that Jacky Howe, the famous gun shearer, was using exactly the same technology in the late 1800s to set world records and the identical equipment is still occasionally used to-day. These were found in Hartfordshire.

Last Day in London (Friday 10 June) River Cruise

This day, we boarded one of the river cruise boats starting at the Millenium dock at the London Bridge and travelling down the river to Greenwich and then returning. We stayed on the boat the entire time and it was wonderful to get the river perspective of London for such places as the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben clock tower, the Dome of St Paul's Cathedral, the Great Fire Memorial, Tower of London and the various bridges especially the Tower Bridge.
(photos 13 and 14)

London Day 3 (Thurs 10 June)

Given our transport problems of the Wednesday, we set out on foot on day 3, walking through Kensington Park (about 100 metres from our Hotel). It was a great day for a walk and we saw lots including several hundred squaddies on some sort of forced march through the park. We passed Kensington Palace, birthplace of Queen Victoria and the home of the late Princess Diana (photo is of a Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Kensington Palace). One of the highlights of the walk was the far end of the Serpentine, the artificial lake in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park (the two are adjacent), where there were lots of birds but mostly white swans, geese and ducks. Then it was on to the massive Prince Albert Memorial which is just inside the Kensington Gardens opposite the Prince Albert Memorial Theatre in Kensington (the latter pictured). We visited the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and had coffee at the Lido on the banks of the Serpentine.
From there we did the Prince Albert Theatre tour - what a magnificant building - going through the Royal passages, rooms and royal box (they were setting up for a performance of 'The King and I, at the time with some rehearsal activity. There is a memorial to the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition behind the theatre and we were amused to find that the Commonwealth contributors included the Falkland Islands, New South Wales, Van Dieman's Land, and Australia South (South Australia). At that time, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia did not exist as sovereign entities and Australia the nation would not come into being until 1901.
Then it was on to nearby Harrods - a very impressive establishment where we had coffee. We then walked through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens back to our Hotel seeing lots of squirrels and tourists and the occasional local on the way.

London Day 2 - Days End

After Buckingham Palace, we continued on the bus but, with the strike, traffic in the city was virtually at a standstill other than for lots of reckless bicycle riders and pedestrians. We thus abandoned the bus at the start of Regent Street and ambled across to Piccadilly Circus which seems to be permanently filled with tourists. With Nelson's Column and the statues and fountains, it is very impressive.
We then went into the nearby restaurant area in Soho for a meal. Lots of choices there. We then had to catch the local no. 94 double decker bus back to our hotel but someone had stuffed up and we waited 40 minutes for one to come and it was obvious others had been waiting far longer than that. Meanwhile, buses for all the other routes were going by about every 5 to 10 minutes. We were very lucky that we were at the first pick-up point because the passengers there completely filled the double decker bus. We then passed several stops where the poor passengers who had been waiting for so long could not board. Some very unhappy people. It was a great adventure.