Thanksgiving Week in London

Our family gathered in London between November 20 and 28, all eighteen of us!  Papa and I enjoyed time with each family, as well as time with the whole group.  We walked in Regents Park with Brian Amy, Emily and Sarah.  We went to the Natural History Museum and Science Museum with Whitney, Toby and Greta, and Claire, Emerson and Colby.  Most of us rode a double decker bus through the center of London together, then walked in Trafalgar Square, through Covent Garden, and more.  I had afternoon tea at Selfridge's with our girls and grandchildren.

We walked through St. James Park, past Buckingham Palace, watching a parade of royal musicians and chasing birds, and then across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye.  Papa and I went with Brian's family to Westminster Abbey, with Audrey's family to the Tower of London, and with Whitney to the Imperial War Museum.  We went with Claire and Whitney's families to the Princess Diana playground in Hyde Park, then met everyone at the circus in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland.  Most of us had breakfasts together, with Corey making pancakes one day, and Brian, Amy, and Sarah cooking eggs and bacon on most other days.  We ate dinners together every evening.  We celebrated Corey and Dan's birthdays.  We all gathered at St. Paul's Cathedral on Thanksgiving morning.
We had a big Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was an amazing week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have spent this week in London with all four of our children and their families, 

including our eight grandchildren.  It has been a very happy thanksgiving!

Oxford

We were not blessed with good weather as we visited Oxford.  We traipsed about in light rain, visiting University Church, seeing Ratcliffe Camera, the Bridge of Sighs, the Bodleian Library and various colleges.  As the rain became harder, we went to Ashmolean Museum for a couple of hours and enjoyed walking through various exhibits of ancient and European art.  We had lunch, then went to the Natural History Museum.  Wow!  We loved the architecture and the exhibits.  We walked right through to the Pitt Rivers Museum, which was dimly lit and filled to overflowing with cases of all kinds of findings.  We loved both the Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers!

Blenheim Palace

Papa and I spent most of today visiting Blenheim Palace.  You can read more about Blenheim Palace at http://www.blenheimpalace.com.  We were impressed with Blenheim Palace and continue to be amazed at the centuries old homes, palaces, and other buildings that are maintained so well by the UK National Trust.  We continue to learn about British nobility, their inherited titles and property, and the ways they go about paying for maintenance on their enormous inheritances (by selling tickets to people like us or by donating them to the National Trust).  Blenheim Palace was more impressive from the exterior than Buckingham Palace in London.  As we haven't visited the interior of Buckingham Palace, we can't comment on that comparison, but the interiors of Blenheim were magnificent, as were the extensive grounds and gardens.  Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, as his grandfather was the Duke of Marlborough.  He also proposed to his wife there, and is buried nearby.  We enjoyed the well done museum of Winston Churchill's life.  We saw the currrent Duke of Marlborough come home and get out of his Mercedes in the courtyard of the Palace. 
We had lunch there, took a tour, and took our time enjoying the day.

Thatched Cottages and Country Estates

We are staying four days/nights in the Cotswolds.  Our B and B host drew a map of her suggested itinerary for the day, which we followed as best we could.  We visited the village of Wroxton, with streets lined with thatched cottages, and an old abbey turned manor house turned American university satellite campus, in Wroxton, just a few miles from where we are staying.

Our next stop was Anne Hathaway's house in Stratford upon Avon, another thatched cottage, 

and filled with Shakespeare history.

We drove on to Warwick, with its famous castle and leaning cottages.

We had a leisurely lunch at the small Castle at Edgehill, overlooking a wide valley that is known in the UK for its place in the UK Civil War, in the mid 1600's.  The views were beautiful, all the more so as the clouds lifted during our lunch and the sun was shining by dessert.  A nice day!

Castles in Wales

Wales is known for its castles and they didn't disappoint!  Papa and I visited Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey and Caernarfon, on Friday morning.  On Saturday morning, we visited Conwy castle with Claire's family.  All three castles are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  Emerson and Colby had a terrific time at Conwy, as we walked atop the castle walls, up and down the turrets.  They were imagining all that went on in the late 1200's and 1300's when the castle was in it's heyday. 

Great Orme in Llandudno, Wales

We were up early yesterday morning in Bath, so we could catch the train to Newport.  We changed trains three times before arriving in Llandudno, Wales.  We rented a car and off we drove to find our rented cottage on Great Orme, the 679' peninsula just beyond Llandudno, at the tip of northwest Wales.  The cottage is owned by the National Trust and is beautifully maintained with three bedrooms and spectacular views.  It is located very near the Coastal Path, with no other homes in sight.  Papa and I were up early this morning for a hike.  After a town visit, we were rewarded with the longest show of rainbow we've ever seen.  It lasted two hours.  We're loving this cottage on Great Orme!

Bath

We explored Bath today.  It is a beautiful city, regal and formal.  We walked all about, seeing The Crescent townhouses, the Circus houses around a landscaped circle, across the Pulteney Bridge, and we toured the Roman Baths.  It was a cloudy day, but rather warm and nice to be out.  We had fish and chips in a local restaurant for lunch.  Can't get more British than that!

Henges to Harry Potter

We drove from Bath to Avebury yesterday morning, to visit the ancient henge and more recent village.  Avebury is larger than Stonehenge, but not as spectacular, as it can't be captured in a single photo.   We drove a bit further to see Silbury Hill.  Sheep were grazing amidst the stones.  The henges are the subject of a NYTimes article today, stonehenge-begins-to-yield-its-secrets.  Quite interesting!

From Avebury and Silbury Hill, we drove to the village of Lacock, with its Abbey dating from the 900's and becoming a home in the 1500's to the 20th century.  As we were visiting the ancient cloisters, we came upon a room that was used in filming Harry Potter.  All fun!

Churches, Abbeys and Cathedrals

Over the past couple of days, Papa and I have visited several churches.  The UK celebrated Remembrance Day today, so even small churches were polishing their brass eagles for today's services.  From a small church in Clovelly, to another in Hartland yesterday, we stumbled upon the incredible cathedral in Wells and late today, the Bath Abbey.  All were beautiful and unique.