London - January 2018

Nice face...thank you Julia.  Big Ben in scaffolding...ah well.
Sun is shining and off we go.

View back towards our hotel and the London Eye of course.

St Jame's Park in it's winter glory.

Thankfully we missed the snow from a few weeks previous.

Oh my gosh, my gosh a squirrel.

Well an american squirrel.  We hadn't seen squirrels since we left Washington in 2009.

Still cute!

Getting closer to Buckingham Palace.

Nice to have your own lake...right!

Black bird from Mum.....

(crow)

White bird for Julia.....

Beautiful sunshine.

Ooh aren't they grand!

Victoria Memorial

Right in front of Buckingham Palace with The Mall running from it.

Beautiful Gates and a wonderful London Cab.

Back to London we go.

View from our room, as we pull back the curtains, Voila!

How wonderful is this.

Morning, and we are so well positioned to head out sightseeing.

Amazing. 

Across the courtyard in front of the hotel...what the heck!  

Aussie Man and a Van.  Excellent!

Farewell Windsor - January 2018

1. Castle Hotel Windsor

Last meal in Windsor before we head back to London.

Fish n Chips of course for me....but look at the size of that, and mushy peas.

The Women You Meet....in Windsor

The entrance to Windsor Castle from the main street in Windsor.
Isn't she lovely...

I believe the corgi on her lap was called, Susan.  Though I believe ER II has had 30 corgis over the years.

Not only does Italy have leaning buildings, this darling building across the road from our motel was fascinating. Castle Hotel Windsor   

Yes it is on this terrible lean...it was build centuries ago using green wood
and as the wood dried it warped and this is the results.
I'm told it is safe, but could you imagine setting that front door in the frame
for instance. 

Windsor - January 2018- Just Wonderful.

Warmed by the yummy coffee...off we go through the streets of Windsor.

The start of THE LONG WALK
http://www.windsorgreatpark.co.uk/en/experiences/the-long-walk-and-deer-park

Turn around and this is what you see, the first 2 1/2 miles and a very happy daughter - not.

I just love the silhouettes of trees against the winter sky.
Swans were in the field behind these trees.

It felt we had walked for ages, but not really.
We made it to the half way mark of the first section, so 1/4 of the way really,
before wind and rain took over.

Allotments - I see them on the tv, but lovely to actually lean over the fence.
A pheasant was scratching around in one of the patches.

And then we came across this woman and her corgis.
Tucked away in a darling park, so happy the allotments diverted us or we may have missed her.

Exploring in WINDSOR - Jan 2018

Off exploring Windsor...it's a little chilly, our coldest day this year, and a little bit of rain, but oh so much wind.  Never mind, we have exploring to do.   Love the castle peering down on us all.

Whats in that moat?  A beautiful garden of course.

Looking over the castle walls.

By the Moat Path gate.

Quite large once you are through the castle walls.

The Royal apartments were being refurbished for the wedding.

We loved this fellows foot placement, a little different we thought.

We had a lovely tour of the Castle and St George's Chapel, where Prince Harry and Meghan will marry.  I even stood on Henry XIII's tomb chatting to the staff.  I just loved all the history and years n years of history books coming to life.

HELLO LONDON

 Travelling from Venice to Paris we went through lovely country side.  During the daylight hours the quirky country houses, almost like small saltbox houses from the US mid-west still stick in my memory.  We had booked a sleeper to Paris, but found we were sharing with 4 others.  Thankfully one couple spoke good english and we got on well.  The other couple were with a group and lots of wine and fun was had in the corridor and other compartments.  It was a poor nights sleep.  Arriving in Paris was a rush to the channel crossing train, which we missed, but cool headed Julia managed to have us re-booked for the next train.  Coffee and food can cure a lot of ills.  Off we go again and before long we are out of the tunnel travelling through the English country side.  So green, with rolling hills, farms, apple trees, sheep, and country lanes.  Ahh.....

Staying at the Mad Hatters Hotel 1st night.  A lovely quirky hotel, but it had a pub, so our first beer in a British Pub.

http://www.madhatterhotel.co.uk

   

St Paul's Cathedral.  Just having a walk around getting our bearings.  

  CANNOT  believe we are here - London!