Another little B&B on the lake!

Fall is lovely!

Lake Derwentwater, near Keswick, Cumbria, northern England

Keswick

We made it to Keswick, England this afternoon. Beautiful lake country of northern England. We are at the Hedgehog b&b. Driving here was very difficult. Driving on the left side of the road is no fun. Round abouts are also a real challenge. But we arrived safely so life is good!

Tomorrow

We have had a wonderful time in Edinburgh. In the morning we will be driving down to Keswick in the Lake Country of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. (Northern England). Keep your fingers crossed we can drive on wrong side of the road!

Rosslyn Chapel

Not a great photo, they are doing major restoration work on the chapel. They are very fond of Tom Hanks and Dan Brown because the increase in visitors has given them the money to do so.

Rosslyn Chapel

Visited Rosslyn Chapel today. Pictures tomorrow. Before the Da Vinci Code movie it had about 30,000 visitors a year, the next year after the movie came out they had over 175,000 visitors.

Our guest house

In a newer section of town, built in 1896!

A Pub for every taste

We didn't try this one!

Monument for Sir Walter Scott

Edinburgh Castle

Documenting the Pubs of UK

Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Steveson

Edinburgh Castle

Today in Edinburgh

Great day, the Castle this morning and the National Art Gallery this afternoon. Off to see the Twelfth Night at the local theater tonight.

Outside the Hostel in London

Westminster Abbey

Update On Blog

Now that we are better able to post pictures, we will try to post photos to go along with the commentary. You can tell this is our first attempt at being bloggers, but we are learning.

Big Ben and House of Parliment

Photo taken from the top of the London Eye at night by Ann.

The Tower Bridge

Changing the Guard

Scotland

Made it to Edinburg last night. Train ride was very smooth, about 5 hours from Kings Cross Station in London, nice scenery. They really know how to do green in England. Our guest house much cheaper than hostel in London and much more comfortable. Nice bed instead of bunk bed and great breakfast included. Took a bus tour of city this morning, couldn't understand about 30percent of tour guide's Scottish brogue, but city is beautiful. Saw Scottish Parliament, St Andrews Sq, and tons of really old buildings, but very hard to navigate streets, I don't think streets have been straitened out since Mary Queen os Scots was here last and, understanding the bus system is a challenge. Went wrong way for 45 minutes, after never getting lost in London, oh well, it is an adventure. Plan to see castle in morning, it towers over city. Haven't been able to download photos to blog. Still working, only major problem so far.

Saturday

Spent the morning in the incredible British Library. Ann in librarian's heaven! The Magna Carta, Canterbury Tales, oldest book in world from China in the 800's! King James Bible from 1650. Leonardo da Vinci's journals. More recent, John Lennon's Original Hard Days Night lyrics scribbled on back of his son's birthday card. I'll write more about this later if anyone interested. Then to British Museum to see THE Rosetta stone, couldn't cover a fourth of museum in one afternoon. Could spend a week there and not see it all. Managed to find a pub open since Victoria was queen, beautiful bar and great fish and chips!

Train to Scotland tomorrow afternoon, haven't covered half of our to-do list in London, but we tried!

Slow down day

After yesterday's frantic pace, we are moving more slowly today. Visited the Tate Modern, not our cup of tea. Some great art works, but overall too avant garde for these Belton kids. Ace Cafe for lunch. Historic biker hangout from the Mods & Rocker days for those of you who recall that era. Went to a great farmer's market near London Bridge & to the Globe Theater, a replica of Shakespeare's day. It is open air and no plays this late in season but tour was informative. Went by St Paul's Cathedral, but it is closed because of protesters nearby. There is a good bit of social unrest in UK regarding financial mess and growing inequality. Local Article noted London is a great place to be rich, but a very hard place to be poor as it is extremely expensive. Construction everywhere, much pre-Olympics preparation and many fancy high rise condos.

Hanging out in hostel this evening, too tired to boogie. Train Sunday to Scotland.

Hope all is well, would love to hear from y'all.

Old Triumph & even older Triumph rider.

Evensong

Went to a beautiful Evensong service at Westminster Cathedral tonight. It was a privilege to attend a worship service in such a magnificent setting, and the choir was awesome. Thank you Lord!

After church service we took the London Eye and saw the sun setting on Big Ben and the House of Parliament. Weather was clear and cool today.14 c degrees, whatever that means. I can only think in Fahrenheit. Great ending to a very good day. 8 pm as I write this, we started at 9 this morning so we are worn out!

Saw the pub where Boswell & Johnson got together earlier while searching for a 'freehouse' or pub for lunch. London is "hog heaven" for old English major (Ann) and history major (Wayne).

Double Deckers

We are taking a lunch break from the tour bus. Fish and chips, Guinness...life is good. We have seeN much of central London. Quite amazing. Saw the Changing of the Guard this morning at Buckingham Palace. very impressive. Royal Air Force Band also performed, but Queen was in Australia so we didn't pop in to say cheerio. Looking forward to the London Eye tonight. Wish y'all were here! Still a bit jet lagged, 6 hours later here than Texas, and haven't caught up on sleep.

Relaxing at the hostel

Sometimes sitting and reading after a long day exploring is just what a girl needs!

Cheerio from The Globe

Globe Pub that is! Couldn't post yesterday wifi problems. London is even better than we dreamed. All great except wifi and exchange rates. Big Ben and
National Gallery this a.m. Great weather, but cool. Flight was arduous, 90 minutes on runway at dfw due to storm, 9 hours in air, circled London for 30 minutes due to airport issues, but safe. Learning to use the Tube, great system. More later, fish and chips getting cold! Cheers!

Big old Jet airliner

Today is the day we fly to London. We have been up since 3:00 am getting ready, neither one of us could sleep! We leave Killeen airport at 6:05 and will be in jolly old England in the morning, Lord willing and the creek don't rise! Prayers and well wishes appreciated. Wish y'all could come with us. We will try to update daily.

Love and peace to all. Ann and Wayne