England

London

We opted for a pre-extension tour and arrived 2 days early in London. First stop was checking into the Conrad London St. James Hotel right smack in the center of everything. We headed out to view Westminster Abbey which always has a line waiting to get in. We discovered they have Evensong every night at 5:30 so we decided to give it a go.  Evensong is a 45 minute prayer service, almost like a mass without a gospel or Communion and lots of singing by a substitute choir since the Abbey choir was on holiday.

Walked along the Thames, viewed the Eye, which is what Londoners call an observation wheel. It has 32 pods (1 for each city borough). Each pod holds 25 guests and takes 30 minutes for one revolution. It is the most popular paid attraction in London. We then proceeded past London Bridge, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus Parliament, the new MI5 building, Buckingham Palace, where we watched the Guards keeping the Queen safe, through St James Park where there are monuments for anyone who was someone (ie. Princess Diana, etc). We must have passed 30 pubs and everyone of them had a crowd of no less than 30-40 people outside drinking. This was a Thursday night, which Londoners say is the new Friday.  The pubs are small and hot and unlike the USA, they are allowed alcohol on the sidewalks so they stand on, in and around the sidewalks and drink.

We toured St Paul’s Cathedral which is called the people’s church. This was the location of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding. Many, many famous people buried inside, the last being Stephen Hawking who was cremated. They are running out of space.

On to the Tower of London where we saw the Beefeaters who are the Yeoman Warders and actually live in the Tower. Their job is to protect it and it’s contents (Crown Jewels housed there) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Only 3 people ever allowed to touch those Jewels, the Queen, the Priest who performs the Coronation and the Jeweler. No pictures allowed. The jewels have been at this location since 14^th century, and the collection is 23,578 pieces in total.

We also toured the private home and museum of world-renowned architect Sir John Soane. There were only 5 of us and it was pretty amazing. He actually bought a 3,000 year-old Egyptian sarcophagus. You’d think we would have seen it when we were in Egypt but alas, here it sits in London! He was a voracious collector with 53,000 items in his collection.

Yes, we did eat fish & chips. Funny thing they served us a whole, half a fish, not the pieces you normally get. It hung off both sides of the plate. Didn’t eat the front or back end but the middle was delicious.

Dover

Woke up looking at the White Cliffs of Dover.  Most famously known for the dramatic white-chalk cliffs towering over the English Channel. Dover is the nearest city to France and you can actually see it across the English Channel.

Next we headed to Canterbury for a tour of Canterbury Cathedral.  Canterbury itself is a medieval city in rural England. Pilgrims would flock to the city to visit the shrine of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. And, just when you think you can’t possibly see a better Cathedral than the last one; here it is!  We were there about 4 hours and can’t describe it; book a trip!

Next up, Leeds Castle situated on a raised island in the middle of a lake and set on 500 acres of beautiful grounds and parkland. Leeds Castle is the oldest and most romantic castle in England.

Liverpool

We hopped a bus for a tour of the Roman City of Chester; then continued on foot. Chester is one of the best-preserved walled cities in the British Isles.  The walls are made of red sandstone.  Here we visited another extraordinary Cathedral. The Chester Cathedral is the most complete medieval monastic complex still standing in the UK. It’s been a place of worship for over 1,000 years.  Monks continually added on to this magnificent Cathedral as long as they inhabited it.  It is currently under a 5-year renovation; 2 years completed, 3 to go and it’s all being done with medieval tools.  The ceilings, woodwork, stained glass are all indescribable but glorious.  The single thing that I can describe are the floors. They are cobblestone and brick and slate and uneven.