After our amazing experience of the theatre from the night before, I was still feeling very energized when I awoke to my first morning in London. We were scheduled for a guided tour of Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath in just about an hour. We boarded our tour bus at 7:30am after a very filling English breakfast courtesy of the Royal National Hotel. We met our driver, Martin, and our tour guide, Priscilla. The best way I can describe Priscilla is very energetic, with many strong opinions. She was definitely a lively part of the day.
On the way to Windsor Castle we were given some more history of
the city. It’s amazing how much history one city can hold. We arrived at Windsor and although we had a short time table before getting back on the bus, we were able to see many areas of the castle. The tour covered the Queen’s doll house, several sitting and dining areas and what I’ll call the Heraldry room. The room was covered in hundreds of family crests, from many generations. We were also very fortunate to see a parade of the guards coming up the street to the castle for the changing of the guards. Although we didn’t get to see the changing, the parade was very lovely.After a few minutes to collect ourselves we were back on the bus for Stonehenge. Once again our
guide didn’t fail to give us quite a bit of history on our way, but she did get off on a few tangents. Finally we arrived at Stonehenge. Now, you’ve all seen pictures of it online, in a documentary or wherever, but nothing compares to seeing it in person. What this structure must have meant to those who built it. It is amazingly large and would have taken great effort to put together. It’s was definitely not done on a whim, it had a great purpose. Once again, a few moments to collect and we were off to lunch!Our schedule for lunch was to stop at a very old pub called The George, located in Lacock. The town and pub may have been small and tucked out of the way, b
ut that was why it was so popular. The look and feel of the town made it the perfect setting for filming and it had several famous movies to boast of. For example, The Other Boleyn Girl, Pride and Prejudice and the 1st, 2nd and 6th Harry Potter movies were filmed in the streets or at the beautiful Abbey. We didn’t have time to visit those areas of the city, but there was a picture frame hanging in The George that described all the excitement. The lunch itself was very good, very filling and was just what most of us needed to recharge for the remainder of the day.Off once again, this time to Bath. The city itself is breathtaking and very picturesque. It’s built on
the side of a mountain and features some very interesting structures. Not only does it contain the Roman Baths and the Bath Abbey, but there is a bridge built there that, while you are on it, looks nothing like a bridge. You would think you were just driving down a street, but if you looked through the windows on one side of the shops you would see the river that flows through the town. The 
shops on that side are not very deep so you can just see right through their windows. The Baths were amazing, beautiful artwork and structures and the fact that after so many hundreds of years the water flowing from the springs is still warm! Yes, I stuck my hand in it just to make sure.On the road again (isn’t that a song?) and this time back home to London, but only after our driver gave us one last beautiful view of Bath. It was about a 2 ½ hour ride back so most of us caught a little nap. When we arrived in London, five of
our group (including myself) caught a cab for a very hurried ride to the London Eye, before it closed. This ride, which looks like a really large Ferris wheel, took us up 135 meters above London. We were able to see some spectacular views and get some amazing pictures. It was well worth the time we took at the end of our busy day. We took a small stroll down some of London’s streets at night before we caught a cab back to our hotel.That last evening consisted of packing since we were leaving the hotel around 3:45am to check in for our flight home. It was exciting, but sad just the same. We’d all been looking forward to this trip and we’d all had an amazing time, but all good things must come to an end. As I was packing I noticed the Harlaxton crest on a fleece blanket I purchased. There were thirteen crosses on it and I thought it fitting that there just so happened to be thirteen of our inaugural group. What an amazing trip and wonderful memories I’ll treasure for a lifetime.
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