Message 7: A few more days on my own

I had a very enjoyable day on Sunday taking a little trip to the beach town of Brighton. Fun little shops and sidewalks were alive with people on a bright sunny day. The Pavilion is a big residence built by George IV who used it primarily for partying, gambling, and hosting lots of women in the 1700s. The rooms show Asian motifs and are quite a contrast to the dignified royal grandeur of Windsor. There was also a fringe festival going in Brighton on the day I was there---made for great people watching!

My favorite part of the day was wandering the beach and the Brighton Pier. This is one of the few places on my trip that felt like it wasn't overcome with foreign tourists. I saw mostly families out, enjoying the carnival rides, food stands, and beach on the warm day. It felt like a real slice of English life. I stopped on the pier and had some fish and chips and Pimms for lunch and just enjoyed myself.

My last day in London I took a London Walks tour to Greenwich. We had an enjoyable boat ride up the Thames past the East End, the docks, converted warehouses, and modern buildings. Greenwich has a rich nautical history and is the home of the Royal Observatory with the Greenwich Meridian. The cute little town had lots of charm as well.

Hi there from Colorado!

I am back home from England and while I was sad to leave the Brits behind, I am glad to be back in the land of top sheets, wash cloths, and coins that I can recognize.

On Saturday I started out the day with a couple other tour members at the British Library. One room has manuscripts from Da Vinci, Mozart, John Lennon, illustrated Bibles, and so many more interesting documents. As is fit for an instrument that is the basis for our form of governments, the Magna Carta has it's own little room. Very inspiring to see such a variety of original documents all together. I split off on my own after that and wandered around town, checking out this and that and some shopping. I wanted to see the famous Liberty store and was not disappointed in all the beautiful fabrics. I did a lot of window shopping on Piccadilly as well as actually purchasing some souvenirs and presents. I hopped on the Tube to Kensington Palace and checked out the Princess Diana memorial garden. All the white flowers were a lovely tribute to a lady lost too soon. It was a day to do the odd things left on my to do list.

I spent my last night in England at a hotel in the airport. So much easier to catch an early morning flight! I am now settled back into normal life again, with daydreams and thoughts of Scotland, London, and a great vacation.

Martha

St Pancras station was the Tube stop for the Library	Library, here we come!	Ahhh... Liberty Department Store
There was a huge number of bolts of fabric	Piccadilly Circus	The white Diana Garden outside Kensington Palace
Brighton sidewalk sale	A beautiful day for families in the park outside the Pavillion	There is George's seaside pleasure palace
Even on a cool day the sunshine brought out the sun worshipers	Brighton Pier was lined with food and trinket vendors	The end of the pier had rides
Fish and chips and mushy peas with Pimms for lunch	London from the Thames boat	The London Walks guide in Greenwich
This was once the Royal Naval College. Now there was music drifting out the windows	The Royal Observatory on the hill