Stow-on-the-Wold

We took a train from London to Moreton-in-Marsh and then took a bus to Stow-on-the-Wold. We stayed about an 8 minute walk outside of the small village in the most picturesque cottage. The gardens were awesome (I thought of Grandma Roe and Grandpa Laube. You both would have loved it!). They have these decorative "toadstool" stones in gardens and out front that were originally medieval staddle stones. Buildings were set on them so they could keep the rodents out.

In town, we (meaning me mostly!) had fun with the town stocks. Stow was a pre-Roman town where trade routes crossed because it's the high point in the region ot 800 feet. The Cotswolds were wool towns, so we also saw lots of sheep in surrounding fields. They also had town cross in the market area that had stood for 500 years. It was a reminder for all Christian merchants to "trade fairly under the sight of God."

The church in town had two especially interesting points. Notice the variety of kneelers that they had in church. They have a "Kneeler Group" that meet on Tuesday mornings to needlepoint, sip coffee, and chat. Our favorite part of the church was on the back side where there was an old wooden door with two drooping yew trees on each side. Some think that J.R.R. Tolkein might have been inspired by this for the entrance to the mines of Moria. He used to hike the Cotswolds and sketch trees that would catch his eye.

London: Day 2

For our second day in London, Jen and I did quite a bit more walking in order to do and see some new things.

We started by going to the Tate Modern museum. My favorite was a gorgeous water lily painting by Monet and a fascinating Picasso painting that was one of the first he gave away. Jen liked the color and texture of the paintings by Gerhard Richter dedicated to the American composer John Cage. We both reaffirmed that modern art is not our cup of tea!

To get there we walked across the Millenium Bridge and enjoyed a lovely view of St. Paul's Cathedral. We also got to revisit Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

I actually had to use some of my rusty rock climbing skills to get up and down this beast, but it was worth it for a picture with Aslan!

From there we traveled to Leicester Square where we bought some half price tickets for a Shakespeare performance in the outdoor theater at Regent's Park that night. To wet our appetites for the Arts, we stopped in at St. Martin-in-the-Fields lunchtime concert series. They had junior performers that were awesome. A flutist played In Ireland by Hamilton Harty and Sonative by Dutilleux. Then we had Mozart's Piano Quartet K 478, which was beautiful. Jen and I both got tired, but it was still utterly enjoyable with incredible accoustics.

After that, I headed to the Royal Mews (know for the falcons that used to molt or "mew" there originally) to see a few horses and some of the royal carriages. This is the gold coronation coach. It weighs 4 tons and takes 30 ft. to stop. They also have to take the wall and window out of the room to take it out.

That night we got our fish and chips from The Plaice of Rock and Sole and enjoyed "A Comedy of Errors" by Shakespeare. What a great end to our London days!

London: Day One

We're in London and it is HOT! We arrived shortly after noon, dropped off our bags at our hotel, and spent the afternoon...

• eating pasties and nectarines in the park across from Victoria Station
• listening to the passionate speeches and arguments at Speakers' Corner
• wandering through Hyde Park
• watching the roller skaters of mad skill strut their stuff along The Serpentine
• visiting Peter Pan
• cooling off our feet at Princess Diana's Fountain
• sweating in an internet cafe across from Victoria Station

It's almost 9pm and we're still awake, which I consider a success! Stacy is attempting to upload some pictures. Let's hope she's successful.

We're at it again

Three years ago today, I was meeting Stacy in London. She'd gone a few days earlier and was already well over jet-lag by the time I arrived exhausted and cranky on the afternoon of June 26th.

But not this time! This time we'll be in it together. London, baby!

I love flying into London. We've both been there often enough that our lists of "must-sees" are almost empty, which means a few days there will feel like visiting a city we once lived in -- we already know how to get around and what restaurants and shops we want to visit. It should be a good couple of days before we head off to Bath.

We'll keep you posted.