Touring the Greater London area

I *love* three day weekends and how quick and easy it is to travel around Europe.

On our latest three day weekend, we flew on Ryan Air to London. Our flights (including the extra cost to priority board) were a low-low-low price of 25Euro or about $33 per person round trip.

We were in London in March, where we saw most of the local sites, so this time we decided to check out some of the surrounding towns and cities. The weather cooperated and we had three beautiful days to be tourists.

On Saturday, we were up early and on the move to catch the train to Oxford. I typically ask Chuck what he wants to do on our getaways and he usually has no input, but this time...Oxford was on the top of his list. As we walked around Oxford and toured some of the colleges, I couldn't help but recall my days at the U. If only I was 10 years younger, I would jump at the chance to study at Oxford. I'm sure Chuck would too...but MIT is probably at the top of his list for a PhD. We had lunch at the King's Arm Pub, which was fan.tas.tic!

On Sunday, I booked a tour with Evan Evans to Bath, Stonehenge, and Salisbury. We were supposed to leave the bus terminal at 9 and return around 7:30pm. Had we followed the planned times, the trip would have been perfect, but we didn't so it was a good trip, but not perfect. We didn't leave until 9:30 because 2 girls in their 20s were late. Rude, rude, rude. Needless to say, our tour group of 11 didn't speak to the two girls all day. They were mad! We returned to London at 6pm. I would have loved an extra hour in Bath rather than getting back soooo early. I'm not sure what happened. On to the tour details...

Bath is about 2 hours from London. I would love to go back and spend a long weekend there. The city is located on the River Avon, with a beautiful riverside park, amazing pedestrian walkways, and the Roman Baths. Maybe we would even run into Nicholas Cage, as he has a home there!

Our next stop was Stonehenge. With all the hype around Stonehenge, I was slightly disappointed because it was considerably smaller than I had anticipated.

The final stop was Salisbury, with the primary (and only) focus the cathedral. The cathedral was impressive, as was seeing the best preserved Magna Carta and the oldest working clock!!! We were only there an hour, so there was no time to explore the town, nor go up into the spire. Again, I wish we had more time.

Monday was spent walking through Hyde Park...and then shopping on Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Bond Street. Heaven! Liberty is a great store and of course, we had to go to Hamley's toy store and find something for Lincoln.

A few of my favorite pictures, until I get around to finishing the slideshow.

Cathedral in Salisbury, England

Stonehenge

Bath


Chuck and Holly at Stonehenge

Christ Church in Oxford