2014- April 21 - Day three - Easter Monday- Churchhill, the Bard, and Harrogate.

I did not sleep well at all, I fell asleep around 2 and woke up at 3. Managed to fall back asleep and Margie woke me up at 645.  Dressed quickly headed downstairs for breakfast leaving our luggage outside the door as we went.Had a quick breakfast of eggs, hash browns and toast. 

It was a beautiful sunny day as I headed off to the river Thames to drop off a little bit of mom and dad.  There was a lovely mist on the still river with swans and scullers both silently following the river. I dropped M&D in and they floated along with the current for a bit before dropping from sight and joining the english country side. The Thames goes all the way to London and to the sea so I am sure they would be happy with that. They will have lots to see.  Then I hoofed it back to the hotel and made it back with time to spare. We received our CIE backpacks which most folks had sent to them by mail but as our tour was rearranged they didn’t have time to mail ours so they sent them to the hotel for us.  Nice.

We left Windsor at 8 am sharp. Willie the Driver and Peter the tour guide. 14 of us  in total, 12 Americans and 2 Canadians. Peter explained how the tour would work . Every day we were to check the seating chart before entering the bus as the seating would be changing to allow for a rotation of seats giving everyone the chance to sit at the front. Margie and I looked at the seating chart and, ignoring it, moved to the back of the bus giving ourselves lots of room to look through our backpacks and get comfortable for the trip. in our packs were a poncho, a luggage tag, a strap with CIE on it for putting on our suitcases and a daypack. Saw partridges just walking around  in fields , usually in pairs. How English, I suppose. lovely fields. kind of misty weather intermittent sun.

We were on the road for about an hour and we came to Bladen and stopped at the White house pub and restaurant. Sam a young man who was part owner with his father was just opening up . we had a tea and then walked up a hill past lovely flowers and green trees. to St Martins church. walked through the graveyard and came to Churchill’s grave. went inside the nice little church and lit a candle for Bill saying a few hail mary's. I don’t think she would mind saying prayers to her in an anglican church. Bought some postcards and a cd for Ron and Mary songs from the second world war. lots of them Mary and I sing when I am over at their house. Back down the hill past the lovely flowers, back onto the bus and off to Stratford upon Avon and the home of William Shakespear. 

Peter told us that we might have a long time getting to Stratford upon avon due to a car rally that was being planned in the area to protest against a housing project that would bring three thousand more people into the town. that would mean a lot more cars and so the rally to show how the  town could not absorb that kind of traffic infix. we hoped that it wouldn’t cut into our time too much. Stratford is a lovely little town. We were dropped off  about one block from the main street with instructions on when to be back by  and we had a few hours to look around. The main street is pedestrian only and wide. We started at the Shakespear museum which was very interesting and included his house and gardens where they were doing non stop outdoor performances. Picked up some coasters, tea-towels and postcards from the museum gift shop and moved on.  

Walked down one side of the main street towards the river and there was a parade of men dressed up with bells on and one fellow in a dress. We found out they are called the morrismen and come out in the print to do fertility dances and such , very fun. 
the marina enjoying the sunshine and the lack of crowds that we were thinking might have been there due to the protest.  It was busy as it was Easter Monday holiday but not crowded and we only saw a few cars with placards protesting the new project. In a way we were glad that the protest didn’t go that well as it worked out for us. Then back up the other side and all those little shops. Had a tasty and interestingly presented lunch of veggie tikka and ham and cheddar sandwiches ( you can guess who ate what) then browsed the shops all the way back to the bus. picked up some Beatrix potter things for Mary. a washroom break before we got on the bus as there is a rule in Great Britain that if a person needs to use the washroom on the bus, then the bus must stop. We did not want to cause the entire tour to be slowed down. At another shop where found some T-shirts for the guys and tea towels for the girls. back on the bus at 115.

A long drive with  a short stop at a convenience stop. Here they have shops and restaurants and gas, all in a little mall. Very nice with clean washrooms. Picked up a juice and back on the bus to Harrogate. Passed lots of sheep, a coal powered electrical power pant with its own coal mine. The weather had turned misty foggy and we passed through lots of little towns and the Nottingham woods which were lovely with bluebells. It is the season they say.

Harrogate ,  another lovely town.  It seems that all towns in England are lovely. We checked into our hotel, the Harrogate, right across the street from a nice park. our room was smaller but with a nice view of the park. we dropped our luggage off and went for a walk before dinner. We heard that there was a roman bath down the street so tried to find it but when it did it was closed as it was a holiday monday. Further down the street we found a nice park with a rose garden and a statue under glass. The queen mothers garden. Across the road was the rest of the roman bath that had been turned into a Chinese food restaurant. On the way back up the hill we found a shop that was open and purchased a nice scarf with kind of funky birds on it but fun. 

There was a golden bicycle on the wall across the street and so I asked the clerk what was up with that and she told us that the tour do France’s equivalent in England was going to be going down that street and the golden bicycle  was like a road marker. cool. 

We continued up the street and came to Betty’s tea shop which is world famous I understand, so we stopped in for a cream tea. We didn’t think we would ruin our dinner if we split one scone and had a cup of tea. Well that being our first cream tea we were very impressed. So yummy and the tea was seriously one of the best cups of tea I think that I have ever had.  When I asked what kind of tea it was they said it the house blend made especially for the water in Harrogate. We need to have someone come and do that in Edmonton. It was so good I bought a box even though we don’t have the same water in Edmonton. Maybe it will still be better than what we have at home. I also bought a fat rascal , 2 small scones and something else but can’t remember what is was called. I like Betty’s.

we walked back to the hotel through the park which at dusk was nice enough with some flowers and statues and  a funky frame around a bench in the garden so that you could take your picture and you would be framed already. Cute.

Dinner was very good. butternut squash and cumin, cabbage rolls with peas and cream sauce, carrots and parsnips in butters with steamed rocket ( so good) with three kinds of ice-cream for dessert . We chatted with Susan and Bob, retired teachers from Lancaster, Maryland. I have to get their address and send them a copy of the CD I bought Mary and Ron. Susan and Bob bought a jamacian cd in Strattford at the market. The beer I tried tonight was called Copper Dragon and it was rather bitter and not really to my taste. Several of the tour went out to the park to see if we could get photos of the frame. Then back to repack and go to bed.,another odd bathroom shower set up, Margie is not having a lot of luck leith the showers over here. I was asleep by 11 and slept well but Margie did not. what an historical day. Shakespear, Churchhill and Chinese restaurants roman baths. and the first and most scrumptious cream tea ever!