A tale of two cities… and a few other places… COMPLETED About This Page:

[chezp]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Plans look great for London with a very relaxed first day and quite a bit on day 2. Seems like you are covering all of the musts. You might want to consider one of those sightseeing cruises on the Thames, which Jan may enjoy and they last about an hour as I'm sure you know.

Ah well, that may just creep in to the remainder of our plans for that day..

I know those steps leading up to Sacre Coeur and they are quite a few of them!

I remember them quite well too!

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part five: fitting in as much as we can in 12 hours!

Tuesday 19 September

Continuing with our plans for this day, you re-join us as we make our way over to Buckingham Palace. I was surprised to discover that the palace is still open for its annual summer opening to the public, as somehow I’d assumed that this only lasted until early September. Just goes to show how little I know!

We visited the palace last year on a Saturday afternoon in July with Meg (mcc0313 from the boards) and her daughters, and frankly, we weren’t impressed. Having said that, a lot of that, I think, was down to the fact that we were visiting on a Saturday afternoon in July. The place was absolutely packed out! The display they had last year was about Royal fashions, and they hadn’t displayed it very well, as everything was on one level, meaning you had to be at the front of the crowds to really see anything. As a result, we didn’t.

The good thing is that this year, we are at least visiting on a weekday in September, so with any luck, it will hopefully be at least a little bit quieter. That’s something. The other good thing is that it’s a totally different exhibition this year. Frankly, if it was the same as last year, I wouldn’t be bothering, as it would be a case of “been there, done that”. This year’s exhibition is called Royal Gifts and tells the story of the Queen’s 65 year reign (and counting! ) through the official gifts she’s received over the years. There are some from people such as former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and former South African President Nelson Mandela, so it should be fascinating. After all, what do you buy the Queen, one of the people who definitely has everything!

I’m really looking forward to it, and fingers crossed it won’t be as chaotic as last year’s was. It was also quite a hot day, and it was hot inside the palace, so hopefully this time it will be a bit cooler.

We’ll certainly have plenty of time to explore and not rush, as we’ve also booked the gardens highlights tour, and what I couldn’t find out on the Buckingham Palace website when I booked the tickets was how the timings worked. You had to pick a time for the start of your visit to the state rooms, but then nothing about when the gardens tour would be. You only find out when you get your tickets, so thank goodness I asked for them to be sent to us, rather than wait to pick them up, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to plan the rest of the day.

The palace reckon it takes two and a quarter hours to get through the state rooms, and I checked the photos I took before we started last year’s tour (you can’t take photos inside) and when we got outside, and it was pretty much an hour and a half from start to finish, so it’s not a million miles off. Therefore, they plan the garden highlights tour two and a quarter hours after you enter the state rooms. Hopefully we might be through quickly enough to be able to grab a drink, and something to eat afterwards, and maybe even browse the shop?

The garden highlights tour is 45 minutes long, and they do offer portable seats that you can pick up at the start of the tour, so that’s something, as I have a feeling I’ll need a seat during this tour, after a fair bit of walking over the previous couple of hours…

Then we’ll head out of the palace, and hopefully catch another bus over to Westminster Abbey. I say hopefully, as by now it will be weekday rush hour, and I don’t know how long we’ll have to wait for one. To be honest, if there isn’t one on the way shortly (they have signs telling you when to expect them), then we may just hail a black cab, if there’s one around, as that will be another unique London experience.

Once we get to Westminster Abbey, that’s another photo opportunity, along with Parliament Square, which is of course home to the Houses of Parliament. Now it’s going to be interesting to see the building, as we haven’t been up this year, and Big Ben is now undergoing a three year renovation. That means it’s going to have scaffolding around it, although they have said that they’ll ensure that at least clock dial is visible at all times, so that’s something.

Now as to whether Big Ben will be tolling, I don’t know. All I can find out for definite is that:

The clock mechanism will need to be stopped for several months in order to carry out essential maintenance. During this period there will be no chiming or striking. Striking and tolling will be maintained for important events.

I suspect, unless we see anything on the news to the contrary, it probably will be chiming, as I can imagine that when they do finally have to stop it, it will probably be front page news around the world, considering it doesn’t happen that often. Apparently the last time was for six weeks in 2007, and before that for nine months in 1976. I hope Jan does get to hear it, as honestly for me, it’s one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

We’ll then get some photos of the London Eye, but we won’t be going on it. I was planning to, as we always recommend this to friends who visit London, but I was very disappointed to discover it closes at 6:00pm in September, and sunset isn’t until 7:04pm, so there’d be no chance of us getting a view of a sunset that night.

So it was now time to think about what to do next. I was going to stick with the London Eye, but then I realised that the price for it is now almost as much as to go up the Shard, which is open until 9:00pm that night. Do you know what? For the sake of a few pounds, I figured we’d do that instead. The London Eye’s loss is the Shard’s gain.

The Shard is 95 storeys high and is the UK’s tallest building, and the 11th tallest in the building. Not bad huh? It opened in 2012, and we’ve been fortunate enough to go up to the viewing platform a couple of times before, and the view from there is truly impressive… well, that is provided there isn’t low cloud. If there is, then it’s a bit white, shall we say? Oh well, we’ll just keep our fingers crossed on that count….

It’s further along the Thames, so depending on how we’re doing for time, we’ll either take the Tube or preferably the Thames Clipper riverboat service, which like a London bus, is a means of transport that you can use and gives you much the same views as a riverboat visitor service would for a fraction of the cost.

The reason time is a concern is that I had to pick a time that we’d enter the Shard and I went for 6:30pm. If you’re running late, they give you half an hour’s grace, so we have to be there for 7:00pm, just in time for sunset, you may recall…

The other good thing about the Shard is that you can spend as long up there as you like, rather than the London Eye, where you do one rotation that takes about 25 or 35 minutes (I don’t remember now! ). However, one thing may eventually drive us back down, as I suspect we’ll want some food, and they don’t serve much up there, as they don’t want to encourage people to overstay their welcome… There is a deli bar in the reception of the Shard, so that might be our dinner.

And that’s it for our plans for London. I think it’s more than enough. By the time we get back home, we’ll have been going for more than 12 hours but I think we’ll have given Jan a good oversight of London, and fitted in as much as we possibly can.

Next: some surprises for Jan…

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like you have a great day in London planned!

[disney_duke]

Oh wow, you are squeezing in a lot for London. Well done!! Excellent plans. Hopefully it's not too cloudy for the Shard!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Oh wow, you are squeezing in a lot for London. Well done!! Excellent plans. Hopefully it's not too cloudy for the Shard!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So far, it's hard to tell. The forecast is just saying dry and cloudy, but that could mean anything.

[Cam22]

Love all the London plans!

[pamcarey]

Excellent plans for London and Paris!


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[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part six: some surprises for Jan…

Wednesday 20 September

After a very lengthy day in London the day before, you’d think we might have a relaxing day today… you do know us, right? Of course not… we’ve got too much to fit in before Jan flies home!

We’re going to take her for breakfast at a lovely café in the town where we live, then we’ll do the quick guided tour passing by the medieval Archbishops’ Palace where we got married, and a couple of other places, before we head over to Lullingstone Roman Villa. We went there with friends a bit earlier in the year, having been there many, many years ago, and we figured, given her interest in history, she’d enjoy it. The Roman Villa dates back to 100 AD (yes, almost 2,000 years old… we have a lot of history here… ) and you can see the mosaics and prints and it’s a fascinating place to visit.

She has no idea, so sssshhhh… (it’s Ok, she doesn’t read these boards… at least I don’t think she does… ) but we’re planning to stop off to show her Windsor Castle, so she can at least stop off and get some photos. I don’t think we’ll have time to go inside, as we have other things to do today, but it will depend on how long we’re at the Roman Villa for, so we’ll see.

Our next stop will be the beautiful village of Lacock that we went to a couple of years ago. It really is what you’d imagine a traditional English village to look like, which is why we’re keen to take her there, plus it breaks up the journey somewhat. It really is a lovely place, and also has an Abbey, which is well worth seeing.

From there, we’re heading for Bath, and hopefully having had a big English breakfast in the morning, that will have more or less kept us going for the day, as our next stop is for afternoon tea at a place we went to a year or so ago, and it was very good, so hopefully it will be again.

We’ve deliberately booked that for 5:00pm, so it can be an early dinner, and heck after everything we’re doing in London the day before, and our itinerary for this day, we’ll probably be happy enough to have an early night. We’re booked in at a bed and breakfast place that we haven’t been to before, but it looks lovely, and has good reviews on TripAdvisor, so hopefully it will be good.

Thursday 21 September

Having had an early night last night, it’s an early start today, as we’re heading to the Thermae Bath Spa for opening at 9:00am. As it’s a weekday in September, hopefully it won’t be too crowded, and once again, Disney planning comes into play here – always turn up for opening. This was one of the things I said to Jan that was non-negotiable out of her week with us, as we were already planning a week away and we were going to head here to use vouchers we’d been given at the start of the year.

So why do we have vouchers? Well, when we visited last year, we kept saying that the steam rooms needed something doing to them. They just weren’t working properly and we were told they were about to undergo a major refit, which we were really pleased to hear. However, that meant that they’d be out of action for a good few months while the work was done early in 2017. We were due to go back to Bath in January 2017 for our 20th anniversary of our first date, so we sucked it up and still went to the spa. The way they did was that they didn’t give you any money off on that visit, but they gave you a free return pass that was good any time up until the end of November, hence our plan already in place in our minds to get back there in September.

When I mentioned this to Jan, she was like “sure”, except she then told me that she’d never been to a spa. What? Ok, well this will be a new experience, and hopefully one she’ll enjoy…

After we finish there, we’re heading on to somewhere Jan asked to see, which is Glastonbury Tor. I was surprised by that, as it’s not somewhere that friends coming over from the States usually ask to see, but cool. She only had two requests – that and Stonehenge, so that was fine with us. It’s essentially a hill that has a tower on top of it. It’s supposed to have amazing views from the top, and I think you can tell from that we’ve never visited it. I hope it’s not too steep, as I would like to go up it. The Tor is known as one of the most spiritual places in the country and has something of a pagan history and is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly stories linked to the famous King Arthur.

Next on the itinerary was the other thing that I told Jan was non-negotiable. I’m sure anyone who knows me who’s read my trip reports can guess what it is, as every time we go to Bath, we also head to this place. It is of course the Donkey Sanctuary! I discovered this place a couple of years ago when Mark couldn’t think what to get me for a Christmas present, and he decided to adopt two donkeys from here for me. What an amazing present it has been.

Sadly, one of my first adopted donkeys, Teddy, wasn’t well, and not long after I received him as a present, he was withdrawn from the adoption scheme. He died a few months later, but I did get to meet him, and he was beautiful. I still have my other original adopted donkey, Gareth, who’s a miniature donkey, and it’s fair to say I adore my little boy. He is just so cute, and so much fun. They said he runs his herd, and he really does. He’s got so much character, and if I don’t see him on the webcam for a day, it’s now a national disaster in our house!

My other adopted donkey is Ruby, who’s right at the other end of the scale… literally! She’s the biggest donkey in the main barn, which is home to about 50 donkeys, so you never have a problem spotting her.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times we’ve been down there. It’s twice already this year, as we both just love visiting. It is so peaceful down there, and it’s so fun to watch the donkey antics, and personally I find it very therapeutic to be able to stroke the donkeys. It’s a pain that it’s so far away from us (about three hours), although I know if it was closer, we’d be there every weekend. I’m sure Jan will fall in love with these guys just as much as we have.

After spending (probably quite a bit of… ) time there, we’ve then got the night booked at a nearby bed and breakfast place. Now we’ve never been able to find anywhere around there that we really like, so hopefully we will this time… fingers crossed. We’ll have dinner at their restaurant, as it’s well rated on TripAdvisor.

Friday 22 September

Believe it or not, this will be our final full day with Jan. It feels just writing this pre-trip report that it’s whizzed by, and I’m sure that’s going to be the way with it in reality as well.

It will be a tough day as well I’m sure, given this will be the actual second anniversary of Bill’s death. I don’t know how she’ll be, but I can imagine she’ll probably be in a fairly sober mood.

Our plan is to show Jan the Jurassic coastline around Sidmouth, as it is pretty striking, and I think she’ll enjoy it. Then we’ll head over to the neighbouring town of Seaton, which is also on the seafront. We’ll just happen to pass the Donkey Sanctuary, so maybe we’ll just pop in for one quick (ish!) visit…

Then things are a bit open. We’ve thrown a couple of ideas out to her, one of which is to visit Longleat, which is a stately home, but it’s also home to a safari park, which is a lot of fun. Mark pointed out that you guys don’t seem to have them over there, so he thought it would be quite unique for her to do that. I suggested Stourhead, which is a world famous garden, so we’ll just see what she wants to do.

However, the big thing for today is the first request she had when she got in touch with us about this trip originally… Stonehenge. I figured we’d leave the best until last for her, and also I thought it would be an appropriate place to go on the anniversary of Bill’s death, as it is a very special place. There is something quiet (ish… provided you can block out the noise of the cars passing by… ) and mystical about it, so hopefully that will work nicely for her.

Then we’ll take Jan to her hotel at Heathrow, and that’s where we’ll sadly say our goodbyes to her, but her adventures will continue through Ireland and Scotland. We’re going to spend the night at Foxhills Club and Resort, which we stayed at before we set out on our Bagman Days adventure in September 2016, and we said we’d go back. We loved the place, the spa was fantastic and it’s a beautiful, sprawling place set in lovely grounds, so I can’t wait to go back and just chill a bit.

Then we’ll make our way home the next day, but on the way, we’ll put our National Trust membership to good use and will stop off at a couple of places… Clandon Park, which suffered a devastating fire a couple of years ago, and is being rebuilt, and Polesden Lacey. They’re both fairly close to us, but we’ve never been to them, as they’re still a good distance, and like so many things you could visit near your home, we haven’t got to them yet. Well, hopefully today will be the day.

So those are our plans for our week away… it should be a lot of fun, and I cannot wait to show Jan around this side of the pond. I hope she enjoys it, and we’ll do our best to ensure she does.

[Colexis Mom]

It sounds like it's going to be an amazing time! Have fun! Safe travels!

[manticorjenn]

All of your plans sound wonderful. Have a great time and safe travels.

[cattailmarsh]

Now those are packed full days! I definitely hope that being busy with you and Mark will hope to ease some of Jan's pain as the anniversary apprroaches. I am sure she will live your little donkeys as we all do thru all of your pictures you share. A spa day after the long flight and busy city days sounds amazing - I'm sure she will live her first spa experience especially with you helping her navigate the spa options/services. Stonehenge sounds like a wonderful ending and a perfect place to be on the actual anniversary date. I am looking so forward to this TR as it falls over my birthday.

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[chezp]

Originally Posted by cattailmarsh

Now those are packed full days! I definitely hope that being busy with you and Mark will hope to ease some of Jan's pain as the anniversary apprroaches. I am sure she will live your little donkeys as we all do thru all of your pictures you share. A spa day after the long flight and busy city days sounds amazing - I'm sure she will live her first spa experience especially with you helping her navigate the spa options/services. Stonehenge sounds like a wonderful ending and a perfect place to be on the actual anniversary date. I am looking so forward to this TR as it falls over my birthday.

[disney_duke]

Your journey is already starting - I'm sure it's going to be wonderful. Have a great time!!

[cattailmarsh]

Originally Posted by chezp

Thank you. It is actually on the 20th smack into the middle of your adventure with Jan.

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[SuperDave]

Looks like some great plans to end your time with Jan!