Final England Observations

I was impressed that for the most part, people seemed to be pretty fashionably dressed---good shoes with hose. I think the hose are a necessity because of all the walking---even with shorts, surely to prevent blisters.

There was every possible hair color, tattoo, piercings and all different types of couples---a very tolerant society.

I absolutely love all the pomp and circumstance affiliated with the Royals!

Scarves and pashminas were everywhere. I loved them---they were worn so creatively---even with tank tops and looked adorable. The girls and I would fit right in. We love them.

It was a pretty clean city, the buildings were old and beautiful---everywhere.

Our last hotel was the Millennium Mayfair-catty corner to the American Embassy. Obviously we were staying in a very upscale area. Absolutely gorgeous. Butch couldn't get over all the fancy cars. He kept saying, "Barb, that's a $350,000 car, that's a $250,000 car, etc." We saw Rolls Royces, Lambergini, Maseratis, and tons others I can't remember. The Jags and Mercedes appeared to be the "average" car in that area.

The flowers on every building and street post were so colorful and to die for. There's just something about flowers that make me so happy.

I love all the little tiny streets in Europe. You just wander around and there's cute little shops, pubs, restaurants tucked in cute places. I especially love sitting outside on the sidewalk for a drink or meal---to be enjoying the outdoors and people watch at the same time.

I learned the water lingo really quick---"still please, with ice and lemon." If you don't specify, you get sparkling water.

People were very nice and helpful. Butch is really good about figuring out how to get around. I am too, but it's nice to just let him handle it. I like wandering around on my own. I am never afraid of getting lost.

 Here are the souvenirs I brought home. The shield is a Christmas ornament. I like to collect something to use as an ornament to remind me of every trip. I have something from every trip we've every taken. It's fun to pull those out of the box every year when we're decorating.

I bought tons of tea. I probably have enough to last me two years. Besides the tea, I bought a tin of hot chocolate that I plan to serve at our traditional Christmas Eve breakfast.

Of course I had to have a book from each place we toured. Windsor Castle was my most favorite. Plus, I loved everything about the Royal Wedding, so Westminster Abbey was a close second. I think I watched about 30 hours of coverage at the time.

Before even setting foot on British soil, I knew that my main souvenir was going to be a fine china teapot. But when it came right down to it, I didn't find one that I fell in love with. On the other hand, I fell in love with William and Kate's commemorative china. There wasn't a teapot in the collection, so I settled for a platter and a "tankard." The initials were just one more thing to remind me of Chris and Walter and how we missed them on the trip with us.

I bought this Christmas jester in Bath at a really nice Christmas store. I love his blue clothing---a nice departure from the traditional red and green.

I stuck this deck of cards in the glass to try to get the etching to show up better. This is Butch's souvenir---a new gin and tonic glass from the House of Commons in Parliament. This is a perfect trip reminder for him.

Butch brought home other souvenirs, but they were of the "free" variety. He does love his free stuff.
If you look at the tea photo further above, you will see the Twinings Tea truck. It was free with my purchase. Butch has laid claim to that too.

These were the beer glasses that Butch got at the German restaurant. He paid 5 pounds for one, but the other was given to him. He loved that---and so did I. People are just so nice.

These are the instant coffee packets from the hotel. No sense in leaving them behind.

This is how much money we had left. About 5 bucks in American money. Butch was so concerned that we might have too much money left and the exchange rate is terrible. We did pretty darn good. I broke our last 10 pound note at the airport for a Starbucks venti iced black tea shaken with three Equals please.
A great way to end a great trip!