June 18, 2022 - London, England

Following my tour to the Highlands, we were brought back to Edinburgh and I immediately got on the train for York, where I had a one night stay.  The hotel allowed me to leave my luggage for the day while I toured York.  What a wonderful little town.  The streets remind me of my hometown of West Chester.  (Yes, I grew up in Downingtown, but my home church was in West Chester, my grandmother lived in West Chester, we shopped in West Chester, and I went to college in West Chester.  We did pretty much of everything in West Chester.  We just didn’t live there.  So, I consider both of them my hometowns.) 

My hotel (Bed and Breakfast) was in an old house.  In fact, nearly every house on the street had been turned into a Bed and Breakfast.  

I had a wonderful cheese board for lunch. 

The Roman Fortress and four sections of the original wall built in 300AD surrounding the city still remain.  You can walk along the top of it. 

I’m envious of these gardens:

Yorkminster is a beautiful church.

After a full day in York, I got back on the train for a ride to London.  As I’ve already experienced, the trains in Europe are delightful.  They are clean, smooth, quick, and dependable.  AMTRAK - are you listening?  Maybe some of your engineers, marketing, and executives need to get out of your offices and take some train travel in other countries.  Having said that, we need a whole culture shift as well for any real change to take place when it comes to public transportation in the US.

My first full day in London was just a touring day.  I walked 22,000 steps (8 miles) yesterday.  Today, I barely hit 10,000.  Saw most of the major attractions from the outside.  Unfortunately, I didn’t go inside anything because it was either closed, the lines were ridiculously long, or the prices were too high for me. That’s ok.  I got some great shots of everything.

Here’s a list of the things I saw, see if you can figure which pictures are which; London Tower, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, The Eye, The Shard, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Treasury, and the Churchhill War Rooms.

Last night I went to Chinatown and saw a play at the Criterion Theater called, 2.22.  Great play - it’s a 

Ghost Story - in a wonderful theater.  I was so surprised to see the audience made up of so many younger people in their 20’s, 30’s, and maybe 40’s.  I was probably the oldest person in attendance.  Back home when I go to the theater (live theater, I’m talking about) I’m usually the youngest.  It is so great to see that younger generations in other countries are exposed to culture - ours certainly aren’t any more.

Tomorrow I might be headed for Oxford, Stratford upon Avon and the Cotswolds.  I booked a ticket on a tour, but there seemed to be a probably with my reservation, yet not with my bank.  So, we’ll see.  I’m showing up at the pick-up spot bright and early at 7:00am.