This morning's breakfast was interesting because a large group arrived overnight and the dining hall was a very busy place. Much different than the day before, when it was mostly our group in the dining area.
LJ's Uncle E met up with us briefly before he went to work. He's meeting with her on again on Tuesday, when we return to London and taking her out to dinner with her other uncle, A. I've met E before, when he came to visit LJ and her family in the U.S. LJ's dad and he are twins. It's kind of cool seeing another version of her dad, but with a British accent. Her dad's family is originally from Cairo.
We took a Tube Ride to Tower of London.
We got to see the Ravens be fed;
The Queen's Guard
The Yeoman Warders, aka Beefeaters.
We also saw the Crown Jewels, but were not allowed to photograph them. This is a picture of the Jewel House, where they are on display. The jewels were so beautiful and even if we could take pictures, they would not do them justice!
I loved the courtyard near the jewel house - the turquoise doors were fun!
There were many other things we saw there, but these were the highlights.
We ate lunch at the tower restaurant/cafe. DD had a hot, ,roasted chicken sandwich with crisps. LJ had fish and chips. I had chicken caesar salad, crisps and a chocolate cookie. Some of the others had an onion soup that was claimed to be delicious. The girls had lemonade to drink. I think I had water.
When we were through, GB, JAW and AW went to pick up the mini buses and we met them back at the hostel. The Tube without GB was an experience, but we made it . Thankfully we didn't listen to the woman telling us we were on the wrong car, because we were on the right car. Everyone together now, in your best British accents: Mind the Gap between the train and the platform!
I loved this poster at the Stamford Brook tube stop near the hostel. It kind of summed up everything for me. I was really apprehensive about going on this trip and before leaving did NOT want to go.
After loading up the vans we drove 2 hours west to Salisbury and spent the night there at another hostel. AW was our van driver, as he was on the last trip, when he went with his older child. We had for passengers: TR and JR; MB; TG and JG; DL and LL2; LJ; driver AW and EW, DD and myself. LL1 rode in the other van, without her kids. We had a very fun and boisterous group! Those rides in the van provided many hours of laughter. MB, TG and I were making some really bad jokes. We laughed until we cried, or TG went into vapor lock from laughing so hard. It was a great group!
This is our Salisbury hostel.
This was a lovely place, it felt more like a B&B, and the other guests were all older adults. They were nice to visit with. Some were local to the UK, others from Australia and Spain.
Out in front was a giant Lebanon Cedar tree.
We had dinner there- baked chicken, baked potatoes, garden salad, and pizza for those that didn't want chicken. They had cheesecake and chocolate cake for desserts and fresh fruit was available. We roomed with SPA and RPA, and LJ for 2 nights. Daley, the host was cheerful and helpful.
Our weather was again clear and cool. We were so lucky with the weather so far!
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