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Walking England - The End is in Sight
I was awake early, so I had a cup of coffee with Anna Bryan while she has breakfast in the hotel restaurant. She then left for the airport. I had breakfast a little later on with Leona. We decided to spend the remainder of our London time on another two-hour walking tour. The " Somewhere Else" London tour began at the Embankment Tube Station. The guide's name was Steve, and the highlights included the site of Warren's Blacking Factory, where Charles Dickens worked as a twelve year old boy, the Cabmen's Shelter, Whitehall Court, where the author George Bernard Shaw lived in the 1880's; the red buildings that housed the new Scotland Yard; the green roofed buildings that housed the Ministry of Defense, a stretch of the Thames River with its 116 species of fish; the clock Big Ben, which has been tolling since 1859; the Cleopatras Needle statue, which Egypt gave to Great Britain for driving Napoleon out of Egypt; the Royal Festival Hall ( also called " The Peoples Palace"), where the Festival of Britain is held; 31 open sculptures; the National Theater( three theaters in one building, built in 1976), which is subsidized by the taxpayers; Gabriel's Wharf, a street where what Steve described as " ghastly old industries" had created the dangerous fog for which London was famous; and the Old Vick Theater.
On the way to their manor house near Basingstoke, we stopped in Upton Gray for a fete, a fundraiser for St. Mary's Church, which was built in the 12th century. We had afternoon tea there with the usual splendid cakes. I watched Harley play a game called " schlots". The idea us to slide some circular pieces of wood into numbered slots so as to maximize your points. The cost was 20p ( about 40 cents). After watching Harley I tried my hand on it. I asked him to coach me, but he was too busy playing the adjoining game. I was rather pleased with my score of 68. Harley played again after I did, and got an 84. He was the champion for the whole event. I also tried the next game-seeing how many clothespins you could hold in one hand without dropping them- but I only got to seven. We made one further stop to see the small country church they attend. They have a lovely home on 22 acres at Western Cobett. There is a tennis court and an enclosed swimming pool. The barn has basketball goals, and I tried my hand at shooting hoops. Before dinner I watched a portion of " Trooping the Coulors". the celebration in London earlier in the day for the Queen's 81st birthday. ( We had considered attending but decided against it because our train schedule). The Brits are big on pageantry, and this was no exception. After a pleasant dinner we walked through the gardens and viewed all the outbuildings. I had some time to read and to organize my luggage while Victoria put the children to bed. There was then time for the three adults to converse a bit before collapsing after a busy day. Sleep's arrival was a bit slow for me, but it was good once it came. Sunday, June 17,2007 It was our last chance for a "full English Breakfast", so we took advantage of it. Harley did some of the cooking. We would say it was ham and eggs, but " ham" to the English is " bacon". After breakfast we took some pictures of Harley, Rose and Victoria. The time then came to part. They were heading for London: Harley for a cricket match, and Victoria and Rosie to see the ballet SWan Lake at Royal Albert Hall. Our cab to Gatwick Airport arrived promptly at 8:45. The trip took slightly over an hour. After checking in we had time to shop and a final tea.
A smooth flight across "the pond" brought us to Raleigh- Durham Airport around 4 p.m. EDT. Ida and Thessaly picked us up, and we retrieved our car at their house. At 5: 50 p.m., we arrived at ours. We are happy to be home, but another wonderful adventure in England was over- except for our memories. Thank you allowing me to share some of them you.
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