I've included this picture just so my daughter, Sandy can see if we had the same tour guide (on the left). He was quite a character.
Here I am at the Rules restaurant--oldest in London--since 1798. The food was delicious. We had the BEST mussels. They were stuffed with bread crumbs and cheese. I always say that the thing with mussels is you just can't look at them when you eat them. They don't look particularly appetizing.
We're at the White Cliffs of Dover. This was part of the tour that took us to Canterbury. Butch felt like we would have seen them better from the water. He expected them to be more like the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. They are definitely "whiter."
We took a tour of the "Royal Mews." For those wondering what that is, it's basically the garage and stables of Buckingham Palace. This was something new for us, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
One of my favorite things to look for while traveling is seeing different birds. This is a magpie--so pretty and all over! It's a pretty large bird. My pictures weren't very good so I pulled this from the internet.
This was another favorite--the Himalayan Parrot. They were all over in St. James Park. Even though I've been to this park many times. I had never seen them. Our tour guide brought some peanuts so they would take them right out of our hand. Janet didn't want to do it, so she was supposed to take a picture of me. She missed it! Birds are too darn fast.
This was our first time to Highgate Cemetery. It was the most beautiful cemetery I've ever been to. We had the added bonus of so many flowers in bloom. It was so pretty and a very interesting tour.
I forgot to mention that Janet and I went to London first. After 5 days, Butch arrived. He made reservations for us at The George--the only remaining galleried inn. We went specifically for the Sunday Roast. Our reservations were for 6:30 p.m. There were 3 types of Roasts--but they were all sold out. In addition most of the chicken dishes were gone too. Butch was "bummed" but since he loves fish 'n chips, he was fine. I don't remember what Janet got. I ordered the mushroom chili. It was unusual and good enough, but I probably wouldn't order it again. Still, I was happy to be at another one-of-kine place with so much history.
After touring Kensington Palace, Janet and I walked to The Gore Hotel. We had drinks in the bar where The Rolling Stones celebrated the launch of their Beggars Banquet album in 1967. I have to admit, I am not familiar with that. I didn't have money for records.
When Janet and I toured The Tower, they were putting in the poppies in preparation for VE Day. They weren't for sale yet, so I didn't get to buy one.
"The Mall" is the road leading to Buckingham Palace. It was a beautiful sight to see it lined with the Union Jack! They were all over. It was an exciting time to be in London.
