Becky

Off to Lavenham

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Becky

I was very sad to be leaving Hever Castle. It is definitely one place I would highly recommend to everyone. Hopefully some day I will stay here again. It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining down on the castle. We had one last walk through the grounds and time for some great photos. We even saw two swans getting ready for the day. I now know why they have such long necks. I am going to try to attach the video. It’s a little over a minute but if it works it is quite cute.

Evening shots at Hever Castle

Last morning at Hever

Layer Marney Tower

Swan Hotel Lavenham

Lavenham Church

Crooked house in Lavenham

From Hever we headed out Layer Marney Tower. It was a great castle that is still lived in today actually our hosts and tour guides. It was a lot of fun to have someone walk you through and tell you about their home. It was more castle than home from the outside but inside you really could tell a normal family lived there. It was on our tour because Lord Marney had been part of Henry’s court from the time he was young. Once Henry became the heir when his brother died Marney’s lot in life vastly improved. They explained him to be like a trusted uncle to Henry. Lord Marney built the house right as Henry became King and it was the height of the renaissance in London. Sadly soon after it was completed Henry had his falling out with Rome over his pesky divorce with Katherine and all things Italian fell out of favor. Poor lord Marney’s half finished castle was all in the wrong style. Even more sadly he died soon after followed just a few years later by his son. No one stepped in and finished the castle so it only has the front wing instead of the planned four with an inner courtyard. It also stood vacant for years so no one removed its renaissance style decorations to update the look to please the king and his new Italian hating queen.

The tour took us through the house to the lords bedchamber which is now a guest bedroom that would be used later this evening to hosts friends of her oldest daughters. The room had one of the first crown molded ceiling. Before all the ceiling separations were down in frame molding that was cut in small peices to make designs. We also saw the room that Henry VIII stayed in when he stopped by to see how the construction was going. That room is now a billiards room again with the super huge pool table. I had no idea there were different sizes of pill tables. I assumed it was universal just like a tennis or basketball court.

We also learned a lot about the running and everyday life of these large estates. Basically they struggle with the upkeep, couldn’t sale it if they tried, spend outrageous amounts to maintain to historic standards but love it all the same. The wife had great stories about getting their dining room chairs from a club in London that was redecorating and buying all the really large art pieces from new artist who haven’t yet realized they shouldn’t paint anything larger than a painting that can be hung over fireplace if they want to sell it. She was a lot of fun and we met her husband who was even more lively than she was.

We also toured the on ground chapels. Along with the other renaissance work in the house the chapel had some terra cotta tombs. It was the start of the use of molding in England. The tomb was so different from you generally see in England. I didn’t know terra-cotta could be other colors but it all depends on the color of clay. In England it is definitely a whiter clay. One of the terra-cotta tombs was for the dad and his sons was just the carved effigy. The chapel also had a fresco that is almost completely faded. It is of st. Christopher carrying Jesus. Christopher looks like a giant compared to the tiny midget Jesus on his shoulder. This sadly has fallen way to the conservation instead of restoration. She did if it was up to her and her husband they would have added back in the color but since it belongs to the church they have to wait and see if they come up with a way to save it.

To finish off our day at Layer Marney we had a ploughman’s lunch. Which basically means cheese and bread. luckily we also got cake. The Victorian sponge cake is much better than the bake well tart if you want my opinion.

From Layer Marney we headed out to Lavenham. This time we are staying I. The Swan Hotel which is right in the center of town. The town once very wealthy during the early 15 century pretty much went on decline from them. Like Marney the decline saves all the period architecture. No one had any money to update or build new so everything still has that quintessential Tudor or Shakespeare look. The hotel is a rambling concoction of buildings with winding hallways and stairways. It was built in early 1500s and still very much as that look. The rooms are much more modern and quite nice. It is no Hever Castle but lovely in its own way.

After unpacking we went on a short tour around town. The church is quite large for the size of the village. This has more to do with the wealth of the wool merchants that lived in this area. We also went through the town most of the houses built in the timber style. Often the timber bowed under the weight and the house becomes a crooked mess. They don’t look like they can continue to stand but they have been standing for 700 years so I doubt they are going to fall anytime soon.

We were on our own for dinner and Val and I decided not to make reservation. Probably not the best idea. The resteraumts are very small and a few were already all booked. We ended up at the larger pub. The food was good but it didn’t have much atmosphere. We did eat with another Texas couple who are a very nice. Turns out they live in Granbury which is about 30 miles from mom.

We made an early night of it and went up to bed. It was great start to second leg of the tour.

Day Three Leeds Castle

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Becky

Leeds Castle once referred to as the most beautiful castle in the world and something they still use on all their promotional items is quite breath taking. It sets on what appears to be a small island in a very small lake or has a very large moat surrounding it. Regardless it makes for great pictures.

Leeds was also purchased by an American in the mid 20th century. (After WWII Britain had an outrageous inheritance tax and not many could continue to afford the upkeep of these grand estates.) So most of the inside of the estate was decorated in high end mid century. More Newport Rhode Island than my house in fact the tour guide pointed out that a crocodile skinned desk in her bedroom was the most valuable piece in the castle.

The pricey desk

There were enough Tudor reference in the castle to make it worth while to the tour fanatics. Henry and Katherine stayed at Leeds on their way to the “Field of Cloth of Gold” which was Henry’s negotiations for a treaty with France. There was a period painting depicting the travel to s
France and the crossing at Dover. To me it was just a lovely castle in a lovely setting.

The highlight of the visit was punting on the moat. I was a little nervous getting in but once everyone got settled and it quit rocking so much I enjoyed the ride. We glided around the base of the castle and into what was once and old bathhouse which was used by the visiting kings.

The castle also boasted of a black swan family and we got pretty close to two of them while punting around the castle. Both our tour and the punt ride took longer than scheduled so we didn’t have much time to spend looking at the grounds. So sadly we did not get to walk through the gardens.

On the bus they often explain where we are going or if that is not necessary some random topic. Today’s was on the wills of women in the Tudor time period. There were very few unless the women was a widow and generally only for personal items of jewelry. Anne of Vleves left her best price of jewelry to Mary and her second best to Elizabeth. They are not quite sure what those were or why she described them like that because she went on to be much more specific in detailing what went to other women. Anyway I found it to be one of the more interesting talks so far. However most of my back of the bus friends slept through it.

From Leeds we headed out to Knole another castle home in Suffolk. It was in a state or restoration which the now call conservation in England. They no longer try to restore things but find ways to prohibit additional deterioration. This castle had some great pieces. They had period copies of Raphael’s cartoons that were painted to make patterns for the tapestries that hang in the Sistine chapel. They had 5 and they took up all the room of the huge great hall. There was also several prices of pure silver in the Lady’s bedchamber. Their was a desk, two bedside tables and several large size mirrors made fully of silver. They pointed out that moat similar pieces were melted down at some point to pay taxes or debts so very few silver furniture peices survive. Very gaudy but beautiful. I think they would have looked better spread throughout the rooms rather all in one room.

We also got to see some conservation in process they had a gallery set up in the old barn, modernized to provide perfect conditions for storage and work on all the pieces from the house. We saw and talked to 2 college students working on two Venician style plant or lamp stands. They were painted wood and had suffered from some type of worm rot. They discussed the different techniques whether you should use the same materials used in the original or use modern advanced materials that would have longer lasting effect. Each was from a different school with different views so each stand was being treated differently. Maybe in the next 50 years they will know what worked best.

Tonight’s dinner was in a barn at an pub in a small village close to Hever. Again proseco as we walked in but this time beer was also an option for dinner. The food was delicious. I had sausage and mashed potatoes and my first bake well tart. Not a big fan of cherries but the cake potion was great. Much better than the sponge cake I fixed for book club.

It was not a late evening but we were super tired and went straight to bed after returning to the hotel. We have to pack up to leaveHeverin the morning and I don’t want to go. I think I could stay here forever.

Ightham Mote, Hever Castle and Penshurst Place

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Becky

Second day of the tour and I think I have finally acclimated to England time. It was much easier to get up this morning. I am not sure if it was more excitement for the tour or just getting back to my normal sleeping pattern. Either way the day got off to a great start.

The morning was spent visiting Ightham Mote. Although I heard it pronounced a hundred times I still cannot say it. Anyway it was a rambling medievalhouse that was updated during the Tudor time and then several times through their years up to the 20th century. Various rooms along the tour were set up in the different time periods. So we saw a great hall from medevial period, a solar from Tudor and then a couple of small bedrooms crammed in sometime in the late 20th century. An American bought it and kept it from being destroyed and he came for his allowed 14 weeks a year occasionally bringing some grandchildren along. He also had the largest pool table I have every seen. It was at least 50% bigger than what we see today. It basically took up a whole room that was the length of one of wings of the house. There was also a gabled dog house in the courtyard. They claim it is the only surviving early dog house in England (they said when but can’t remember if medevial, Tudor or Elizabethan. It was for a Saint Bernard so it was quite large. They encouraged climbing on for a photo op but I decided I would pass on the opportunity to play a dog.

The chapel in the Mote had great ceiling paintings from the Tudor period when Henry was married to Katherine. They were quite faded but still had some color.

Val and I took the tower tour which was the perfect tower tour for me, it only went up about three floors. Not vast views but we got some nice photos.

Garden at Ightham

Painting by Winston Churchill that was at the Mote

Garden at Ightham

After a quick lunch at the cafe we headed back to Hever for an afternoon of enjoying the grounds and gardens. The gardens at Hever are extensive. During the Victorian age someone added a Italian collanade with a maze right in the middle. There was also a rose garden,a wonderful hedge garden cut into chess pieces, grape vine arbors, a small orchard a hand dug pond ( much bigger than you would expect) and a secret path that led up to a chrysanthemum walkway. They were all beautiful. Not sure what was my favorite but I think it was probably the chrysanthemum path. The flowers were as big as my hand and bright bold colors that really stood out from the green leaves. Val and I wandered around enjoying the views and taking pictures.

Pepper plant

Chess garden

We also walked through the small village church where Anne Bolyn’s father is buried and also saw a local house with a thatched roof.

Before dinner we had another guest who spoke of Tudor clothes. She had recently discovered an alter cloth at a small church and determined that it was Tudor period cloth of silver. I didn’t understand all the references to cloth of silver or cloth of gold but basically they work gold or silver into thin strips like thread that are then woven with wool or silk to make cloth. I myself think it would be scratchy but would not have mattered because only royals got to wear or own it. The fact that it can only be royal has led her to believe it might be one of Elizabeth’s gowns. For someone who had thousands of items surprisingly they have very few items of clothing from Elizabeth. Seems there was a fire at the palace that held all her household goods.
They also said things even cloths were passed down to new queens. So Harry’s wives probably had some hand me downs.

For dinner we went to Penshurst Place which is a large manor/castle home. It was dark so not great outside pictures but made for the perfect setting for a medevial keep. When we entered the long room with the fire pit in the middle lit by candles it felt like we stepped back in time. However they quickly handed me a glass of proseco and I was glad I lived in the 21 century. Dinner was wonderful. A little less spectacular than the first night in Hever but still very nice. It was in a more modern part of the castle set up for receptions. No historians at our table tonight. We have met a wonderful group of women who have become friends on previous trips.

All in all another great day.

Long Awaited Tour Officially Starts

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Becky

The official tour begins today at noon when we meet everyone for lunch in our hotel. However that leaves us with a bit of time in the morning for some rushed sightseeing so I will start with that. (This way I have some pictures for the day.)

Someone from the group yesterday recommended the National Potrait Gallery as an option for the morning. The gallery was within walking distance, free and opened at 10. Not sure how long it would take to walk there we headed out at 9. Of course this morning we went the right way and arrived at about 9:15, which included a stop to grab breakfast on the go. We found a wonderful spot appropriately named Bread. We grabbed cheese and tomato and pesto filled rolls which were delicious.

Once we arrived we realized we were around the corner from Trafalgar Square with great lions guarding the Nelson monument. While taking photos we noticed Big Ben in the background and decided to go on a photo stop tour instead of waiting on gallery to open. It was a great decision as the walk took us past several iconic locations or should I say photo ops.

We walked down White Chapel past Downing Street and the Prime Minister’s Home which was not only blocked off by security but also behind scaffolding. We saw the Horse Guards, War memorials (the one for women of WWII is supringly moving), Westminster, the Parliment Building and Big Ben. So we saw quite a few sights. On a side note the line for the Abby was long but not horrible when we first walked by around 9:30 when we walked back by closer to 10 it was at least 5 times as long. So if that is ever on your travel plans go early.

We also walked out to see the gate that leads into or out of Trafagar Square. Sadly neither of us looked down to see that it actually lead to buckingham Palace. It was pointed out on the bus we brought back memories of walking from the palace to the gate with my mom back in 2002.

It was a nice and busy morning running around London but it was time to go meet Alison and start the tour. We got back right at 11 and picked up our tour information. Alison was handing out the information and took a few minutes with everyone. I was as excited to meet her as I have been anyone. She seemed as excited about the tour as I did she was much more vivacious and outgoing than I expected. I assumed wrongly she would be more bookish and serious.

We had a bit of time before lunch and I would remiss not to mention the worst glass of lemonade I have ever had. There is not enough sugar in the world to have made that glass enjoyable. I had sit to wait on what I soon discovered was the very edge of the bar. Instead of moving I decided to order a drink but of course not being a coffee drinker and it to hot for tea lemonade was I thought my best option. When she brought it out I was happy to see it was full of ice and until that first sip I was happy with the decision. But alas it was horrible. I felt like I was drinking lemons. So far the worst $4 ihqve spent.

Back to the tour, lunch was casual and we met a few more people and had one of the historians, Julian Humphreys at our table. His main focus our military or battle sites and by far the biggest character on the trip. He kept the conversation going and kept us laughing through the meal.

After lunch Alison gave a brief overview of the Tudor time period and characters and pointed out some of what we would see on the tour. She also introduced all the historians including Sarah Gristwood who wrote or last book club selecrion Game of Queens. Also on the tour is Nicola Tallywho is currently studying Tudor and royal jewelry. I can’t wait to talk to her about that.

From lunch we headed out on the bus for Hever. It is not to far from London so thankfully we were not on the bus long. Hever was the childhood home of Anne Bolyn. It was later much much later purchased by one of the Astors. He spent a great deal fixing it up in the Tudor style he even hired craftsmen that did all the work by hand with Tudor styled tools to maintain an authentic feel. He created what is now the hotel portion. It has the appearance of a rambling manor bit hides behind the house so not seen in the grand view.

We were treated by Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn upon arrival. Since we were from “Spain” and currently his enemy we were very graciously allowed to enter the castle. He was the perfect person for part which they continued when we came down for drinks.

From drinks we toured the main house. It was decorated with period pieces but none were actually from the Bolyn house hold. When she was beheades they fell out of favor and the house was given to another wife. It did have two of Anne’s Book of Hours. In one that they think she was carrying with her on the way to the scaffold and her death she wrote “Remember me when you do pray”.

There are alsome some great portraits in the house and other artwork but those two pieces are the highlight.

After the tour our “Queen Anne” demonstrated the Tudor dress. She had a replica of a Katherine Howard dress which she had made and showed how everything went together.

Our first “gala” was in the dining room of the main house. It was very elaborately decorated with a huge medieval fireplace and held two long tables. We picked our spots and I got surprisingly lucky. Val and I were down on the far end with only a few spots left. I guess instead of moving people two of the historians who had not placed their place cards down ended up down by us. One was Julian Humphrey that I mentioned before the other was Tracy Borman. If you ever watch any PBS specials on royal palaces you have probably seen Tracy. She is head of the historic palace national trust and works out of Hamptons Court she was a lot of fun. Probably in her late 30searly 40s she again was not what I expected as a historian. Her most recent book is about the private lives of the monarchs and we spent some time discussing whether Americans were more prudish and whether she should keep on the parts about personal hygiene and all that entails. She said her publisher wants her to take it out for the American release but she does not agree. We discussed the romantasism of the time because all those unpleasant issues are never addresses. June brides doesn’t come from the fact that June is a great month as far as weather to haves wedding but because people had just switched from their one winter outfit to their one summer outfit and had there annual bath. I can only imagine how bad everyone smelled.between her and Julien conversation flowed freely and I was very happy to get to talk to her and somewhat miffed at an older gentleman sitting on her other side that somewhat dominated the conversation.

The historians switched places during the main course and now I had Nicola Taly and Tracy. They had similar interest in clothes and jewelry and they talked a bit on it but there was more eating than conversation in this course. Dessert is when Alison took the seat beside me and Sarah Gristwood sat across. Finally the gentleman who must have been a bit intimidated by Alison did t dominate the conversation. Sarah talked primarily with the two people on her side so I have not been able to discuss our book club book with her yet but before the trip is over I should have plenty of time to do that. Alison will not be with the tour every day so I was very excited to getting talk with her through dessert. As I said earlier she was very easy to talk to and treated all my questions as serious questions howeverstupid I might have sounded. (Most of the people on the trip or much more knowledgable on the Tudor reign than I am so at times I feel a little inadequate.)

After dinner Tracy Borman gave her talk on private lives of the tudors and it was crazy how elaborately they lived. Even the kings know as frugal spen obscene amounts on their clothes.

After dinner we met for cocktails and got to meet some of the other guests. Surprisingly the other couple from Texas is from grannies about 30 miles from my mom.

I forgot to mention that several of the guests did dress in period clothes. I was very sad I didn’t do it. But there is always next time and right now I am pretty sure I am going to save up so here can be a next time.

Overall a great first day for the tour.

Not the most flattering but I had to include it

London Day Two

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Becky

After a long night of sleep (I think I slept roughly 12 hours) we started our first day of the tour we’ll sort of tour light. Prior to the tour starting tomorrow they planned a few tours in London. So today we are seeing the Temple Church, touring the Middle Temple which is basically England’s version of the bar and kennsington palace.

Our hotel was within walking distance of the first stop Middle Temple. That is if you walk down the right street. Instead of turning left out of the hotel we should have gone up a street and turned right. Of course we walked for quite a while before we realized we were wrong. Instead of trying to work our way back up (no street runs straight in England nor do they maintain the same name as they amble through the city) we jumped on the tube. We arrived just a few minutes late. Sadly we had planned to grab breakfast prior to the tour but the best place we saw was as we exited the tube station and met up with the group. So no breakfast for us today which was poor planning since the stop for lunch was hours away.

Our first meeting of the group went well. Everyone was very nice and Siobhan who organized this outing was the perfect guide. We headed off to Middle Temple, which was the original location of English barristers. It was originally set up as a kind of dorm type hall with big dinning room, meeting rooms and bedrooms. They actually saw their clients in their bedrooms which led to the use of the term chambers for the judge’s offices. The buildings dated to queen Elizabeth’s time and had that wood Tudor/Shakespeare feel to them. There was some great medieval stained glass that they had smartly removed and stored during the war. (The building took a direct hit and lost several of the outer buildings and the back wall thankfully the church was not damaged) It is said that (sadly can’t remember who and my service is not good enough to look it up) got the character names of Jekyl and Hyde. The hall has plaques of all the old members and in 1603 Jekyll and Hyde served as readers and had adjacent plaques. I learned a lot about the life of English attorneys but I won’t bore you with all that.

From there we headed to the Temple Church and got a brief history of the downfall of the Knights Templar. I did not remember in all the Templar movies that they were actually the first bankers. The king of France owed them too much money and decided it would be better to have them disbanded than be required to pay.

This church was quite stark it is a round knave with a small bell tower. Everyone has seen it if you watched Da Vinci Code. It is one of the first stops he goes looking for the effigy of Lord Marshal, some say english’s greatest knight (including our guide).

Outside the church in the Templar garden legend and Shakespeare believe was the location of the ate start of the war of the roses. Supposedly a fight between a york and a Lancaster broke out that somehow involved the selection or throwing of flowers.

Another side note the grounds around the church which were originally Templar land now belong just to the Middle Temple inn organization. So it had no city or state regulation. Which I guess is why a lot of period films are shot using the grounds and streets (which are cobble).

After the church we take the tube over to Kensington Palace. First we walked through the Diana memorial garden made up of all white flowers except one small group of yellow daisy like flowers. Not sure if they expected them to bloom white or just liked the one bit of contrast. Nonetheless the gardens were quite beautiful. After that it was finally time for lunch. I am never going to skip breakfast again. I was starving. The bacon and tomato sandwich although I would say the bacon was almost raw and the bread quite mushy tasted like heaven.

The Palace itself is all about Victoria. If you are watching the PBS show then it looks basically the same. It does have several of her dresses on display and she was tiny. We toured all the grounds including the room in which she was born and also her nursery for her children. We saw her bedroom and the staircase she walked down to learn that she was queen and the stairs where she first met Albert. It was great to go through it with someone who could point out the highlights. It was a great tour.

We walked through Diana’s dresses which are more beautiful upclose than I expected. Also she appeared more normal size than I expected. The dresses were small but not tiny. They had the black dress she wore to the White House along with that great light blue short tight dress she wore after the divorce. It was a great collection.

By the time we were through it was late afternoon and we were again worn out. We shopped a bit on our way home. Val bought a pair of great shoes. My quest continues but I feel certain I will find a pair I love and need. Our last stop was Foyles bookstore four stories of books. A great end to a great day.

But not quite over we went out for fish and chips. The restaurant I wanted to eat at last night that was closed on Sunday. Wasn’t much of a restaurant really more of a take away place with a few tiny booths. But the fish and chips were well
All the hype and much better than the version I had the day before.

Back to the hotel for bed. Had time to watch a little TV and for those of you who watch the Great British Baking Show sadly Mary Berry and the two host are not on the next season and it wasn’t near as good. They have some crazy 70s looking guy has the host who just seemed out of place. Anyway I can’t say I recommend it.

My Dinner Discussion with Alison Weir

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Becky

It is late and I don’t have time to finish my whole day’s post but I had to say I sat beside Alison weir tonight at dinner. I got to ask her the whole baby in the fire story (a few of you will know exactly what I am talking about) and if she prefers fiction to nonfiction. Of course the answer wasn’t simple and I am not sure I really know but she does enjoy using all her research in the fiction setting. She actually said you really had to know the character as well for fiction as you do for nonfiction. I would have thought I would be nervous and wouldn’t be able to have a real conversation but she was very gracious and easy to talk to. Not as outgoing as some of the other authors who I also talked to but more on that in the morning.

Hever castle is beautiful and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

London Day One

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Becky

Arrived in London right on time. My Delta plus seat was well worth the extra $100, however I wish I had not chosen the exit row. I had extra leg room even for the plus seats but the tray came from the seat so it wasn’t as wide which made less room to change positions. I didn’t sleep much but watched some good movies so the time went quick enough.

We had planned to take the $30 subway into our hotel. It would have been fairly easy our stop was on the same line and we would not even had to change subways. However, remember I bragged about my big suitcase and carry on bag, well they didn’t roll so well and neither did Val’s. After we had struggled with them at the airport we decided just to take a cab, $100 later we arrived at our hotel.

The hotel, The Kingsway Hall, is pretty much in the center of London not to far from Convent Garderns and all the theaters. We arrived by 8:30 dropped off our luggage and went out to explore. It was a cloudy almost raining morning so I grabbed a sweater, rain jacket and scarf not sure what I would need. I lost the scarf within the first few minutes, which I had just bought for the trip, and never really needed the sweater or jacket. Of course people were bundled up head to toe but to me it was so nice to be a little cool so my t-shirt was enough.

We were a little early for anything to be opened. We walked to Covent Gardens. All the vendors were setting up but nothing was opened. I discovered my missing scarf so we retraced our steps trying to find it. We were almost back to the hotel and I was ready to give up when surprisingly I found it. Someone had obviously found it first because it was on a little fence that separated a cafe’s tables from the sidewalk. The day was getting better.

Our room was going to be ready at 10:30 so we wanted to hang around to drop off some of what we didn’t want to leave in the hotel storage. We decided to get a snack for breakfast and ended up back at Covent Garden before we found something open on Sunday morning. After our French breakfast of crossiants the market was starting to open. We shopped a little, at first glance some of it looked like a bad craft fair but there was actually some that had nice things. We didn’t buy anything but noted a few items we would come back if we found ourselves lacking in purchases at the end of our trip. We stay at the same hotel a few days when we return to London next week.

After returning to the hotel again our room was ready and we got all situated for our first day of site seeing. I left the scarf and sweater behind this time. Off to Buckingham Palace.

Never never use the convent Garden tube stop. It was 193 steps down a spiral staircase to the tracks. I was happy we learned this on our way out instead of the return trip. The Holbon station has escalators so a much better option. Anyway onto the palace.

First stop was the Queen’s Gallery. The gallery displays a changing exhibit from the queen’s 9000 art options. This years was an exhibit of Canoletti and other Venice artists. King George of losing America fame purchased the collection of an English art dealer who worked primarily in Venice. It was a nice collection but we buzzed through pretty quickly.

From there we headed to the Mews to see the carriages. As an added unexpected bonus we got to see a few of the horses. The Mews are actually the working stable and they keep all of the horses there when the queen is in town. Surprisingly they exercise them every morning in Hyde Park. Not sure where I thought they would run them but just out through the park seemed odd. Another odd fact they use grey horses (actually they look more white) to pull the queen everyone else gets the brown horses.

There were several carriages including the one Katherine rode to here wedding in and the gold only very special events like coronation coach. It was over the top gilded in real gold. It was housed in one of the old stables and it takes 2 days and a crane to get it out. The crane is to remove a window the carriage is pushed by hand.

We had a bit of time to kill before are Palace tickets were good so we finally grabbed a bite. We just picked up a baguette with cheese and tomatoes and sat on a bench. It was delicious if only our baguettes were that good. Then again I do not need to eat that much bread.

The Palace was not as busy as I expected being the last day which was good. It was not as elaborately decorated as I expected. Of course when you have to rope off most of the room for a walkway i guess it is hard to decorate. You do get to go through rooms you see all the time. The throne room is where all the wedding photos are taken and it opens up to the balcony that fronts the crowd. You also go through the room where the queen has receptions which you would recognize from photos. The state dining room without the huge table does not look large enough to hold the 150 people but they say it does it easily. We also saw the Palace gallery which is currently showing the Queen’s Vermeer, The Music Lesson, which was an added bonus.

Also on display this year were the gifts the Queen has received over the years. We saw the yellow rose bowl that Bush Jr gave her along with a lot of other crazy objects. Also on display were a few of Diana’s things. They had here writing desk set up as she had it with a leather photo collage frame of her kids. It looked like anybody’s desk nothing was over the top fancy except for a Tiffany silver calendar the Reagan’s gave her. She also had a breifcase like box of cassettes she had when she married. We forget she was part of the mix tape generation. It doesn’t seem that she was young in the 80s.

By the time we finished the Palace our feet were killing us and we were really dragging. We were not far from the War Room museum and I really wanted to do it but my feet just wouldn’t make it. We headed back to the hotel and remembered not to use the Covent Garden station had I had to climb those stairs I think I would have cried.

We ate not too far from the hotel and called it a night. Lights were out and I was asleep by 7:30. Overall a great first day in London.

New Year New Trip

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Becky

My big trip is finally here. It seems like forever ago when I decided to splurge big for a trip for my 50th birthday. Angie and I have been watching the Alison Weir tours for years and turning 50 was the perfect excuse to go. We have been reading Alison Weir books forever and I can’t wait to meet her.

The tour starts on Tuesday so we will have a couple of days in London before it begins. Our first stop will be Buckingham Palace. We sneak in on the last day it is opened for the season. Hopefully there will be sales in the gift shop (of course I will always love a good sale). The tour will take us to the Tudor highlights so we are never far from London. Henry VIII didn’t travel far. A few of the highlights will be Anne Boleyn’s childhood home and a private lunch in Leeds Castle. I of course will keep you posted on all the fun.

Val is going with me and we are off to a great start. At the airport with plenty of time to spare. Val’s suitcase that felt like it weighed a ton came in at 51 pounds and they let it go without a fee. Of course she has to be careful what she buys. I only have 7 pounds to play with so probably none to share. I have never travel with so much luggage. I am going to be like Delia in Italy with different color jackets and multiple shoes. I might regret this when I am lugging it all home but now I am happy.

It is getting close to time to board. This first flight I have just the regular delta seats I have upgraded all the others so I will be able to confirm if the extra expense is worth it. Part me hopes not but feel certain it will be.

Brief stop in Atlanta (surprisingly the busiest airport in the world) then on to London. Can’t wait and will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Home to Austin

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Becky

I am always sad to have a trip come to an end but it is good to be home. Margaret and I saw some incredible sights and had a great time.

Saint Petersburg has been the must see destination on my travel list for a long time and I have been watching this cruise as a way to get there. This trip came around so fast it is still hard to believe that I finally made it to Russia. I can’t wit for everyone to see my treasures this Christmas. Yes there is room for more Christmas decorations at my house.

Our Return to Copenhagen

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Becky

Back in Copenhagen for the final day of our vacation. It has been a great trip and I am sad to see it come to an end.

We were supposed to stop again in Sweden but the seas were too high to tender into the port. We had an excursion to go to the castle that Shakespeare used for the setting of Hamlet. We really had not visited any “castles” everything was more palaces in the other cities so I was a little disappointed but not too bad. It did save us a little money. We got back not only our excursion costs but also some port fees.

The schedule was to arrive in Copenhagen at 8:00 and head into town to see the Tivoli Gardens at night. Instead we got to Copenhagen by noon and toured the gardens in daylight.

We had spent an evening and morning in Copenhagen when the vacation just started but there were several sights we hadn’t seen including the gardens.

The cruise ship provided a free shuttle right to the gates of Tivoli Gardens so that is the first thing we did. It was a perfect day to tour the gardens and they were beautiful. It is said that Disney got his idea for Disney world at Tivoli Gardens and I could definitely see the similarities. The pictures don’t do it justices. The flowers again were everywhere and well displayed. It was a nice mix of beautiful quiet paths, restaurants and rides. The rides were well designed and fit into the atmosphere really well. They must really enjoy hanging upside down because most of the rides left the riders dangling way more than they should. I could have tried them out since I bought the wrong ticket and paid for unlimited rides instead of the cheap just walk through. Of course I didn’t discover this until I was back on the boat so no rides for me. There was a great carousel with a giraffe I would have loved to try out.

After the gardens we made our way back to the waterfront area through the shopping district. I was in hopes there would be some street vendors selling paintings or other handmade crafts. Sadly we didn’t ever come across any and the area was crazy busy. It was nothing like the quiet morning we had earlier. Then we basically had it all to ourselves. Today you could hardly walk down the sidewalk.

We came across a sailor’schurch on our walk. It seems to be a very popular type of church in the port cities we have visited. It has some great wood carvings and the doors were beautiful.

We checked out the amber museum store again but we didn’t find anything we couldn’t live without. I am really glad I bought in Germany it was much cheaper than any other I saw.

We continued our shopping quest but everything was more just normal shopping than what we were looking for. We did stumble on a poster store with stacks of vintage posters. Sadly no room on my walls for any additional posters. So after a regretful glance of all the great posters I had to leave behind we continued on our way.

We soon stumbled on the palace gardens which were more grassy fields than flower gardens. There was some crazy statutes with one nymph looking like she was peaking out of the bushes. It was one showing of a little humor that was otherwise missing in the very clean and streamlined city. The palace wasn’t what I was expecting it was more fortress manor house than palace. It was not at all opulent like what we saw in Saint Petersburg.

On our walk back to Tivoli to catch the shuttle we passed the “bike rack”. It was near the metro station but not sure if it was the subway or just that it was pretty much the center of the city that made this a great place to park a bike. Regardless there were more bikes than I have ever seen. I don’t even think I have seen this many bikes at a triathlon. I also don’t know how a person finds there bike. Occasionally you saw one in a bright color but for the most part they were all black with brown utilitarian baskets.

We made it back to the gardens and back to the ship. We had a great last day. I hated to see the trip come to an end but our flight was really early the next morning so it was time to wrap up our Baltic adventure.