so we went to the Tube and waited. We waited for almost two hours and he never showed. We didn't know what happened, but he had our number if he needed us so we went home to bed.
June 9, 2003
Richard called this morning. He just got in. He had to fly all over to get here because he was on standby. He found the apartment fine and was here by 10:00, but his luggage was not. He wasn't going to get it until tomorrow. Laurie made him some breakfast. Richard was pretty tired so he laid down. We had hoped to do some sightseeing, but wanted to do it with Richard so we put that off for another day. So we just hung out for another day.
In the afternoon I had to take the Tube to a clinic. I made an appointment for my third shot of Hepatitus A/B. I had most of my shots before I left the states, but I had to wait six months after the second Hepatitus A/B. They are a series of three shots total and is suppose to last ten years.
If Laurie and I go to South American we might have to get a yellow fever shot, depending when we go. We can worry about that when we get closer to that time.
I went back to the apartment and Richard was up. He and Laurie were looking at our Britrail pass and it looked like we might have gotten the wrong thing. We wanted an eight day flexipass, but it looks like we had an eight day consecutive pass. This was not going to work for us. The problem was now trying to get this changed. The other problem is that we are only suppose to buy these in the states. So we are trying to contact someone to see what can be done. Our other option is to get a car to get us up to Scotland. We had reserved a car up in Scotland, but we need to get up there. The problem it presents is that we were going to use the pass when we got back from Scotland to visit other parts of England. Well, I guess we can work this out later.
Laurie, Richard, and I took the Tube to ASDA to get groceries for our trip to Scotland. When we got back home Kevin was there cooking dinner for us on the grill. It was a great dinner.
June 10, 2003
We waited for Richard's luggage to be delivered. It arrived about 12:00. We then took the Tube to St. Paul's so we could do a tour of the 300 year old church. They are in the process of cleaning it for its 300 year anniversary. This is quite an undertaking because it is so large. We had an elderly gentleman giving us the tour. He was very knowledgeable. There was one section that was dedicated to Americans for their participation in WW II. On our own we could walk up 500 plus stairs to the dome area. From here we could walk all around the outside of it and get terrific views of London. We walked to Buckingham Palace which wasn't very impressive. Across the street we went to St. James Park which had beautiful flowers in bloom and lots of ducks of different kinds. From here we walked to the London Eye. This is like a big ferris wheel. Instead of chairs it had large enclosed gandola like appendages. It goes very, very, slow. We did not go on it because it was expensive and we really didn't want to take the time.
We walked by Big Ben and the House of Parliment and then found the Tube to go home.
When we got back we had to see if we heard about our Britrail pass. We hadn't so we revised our plan. We were going to stay in London and do our day trips now and then head up to Scotland. The railpass that we have has to be used in eight consecutive days so we need to plan how we were going to use them to get it used.
June 11, 2003
We got up early to take our first train ride. I checked online for times and the station. There are a bunch of stations in London to leave from. We took the Tube to Charing Cross Station. This is connected to the train station. These stations are so large and it just amazed me to see all the people coming off the trains.
We got our Britrail pass validated and a time schedule for where we were going. Reading these schedules is like reading Greek. I think they should offer courses. It is great having a computer to give us the information. They don't list every stop in the book.
We were ready to get on the train. Luckily someone told me that to get to Canterbury that we had to get in the first four trains because the train was going to split at some point. We got on the train and with our Britrail pass, we get to sit in First Class. First Class is not much more than standard except you get a little more privacy.
We arrived at Caterbury. From there we didn't have a clue what to see or where to go. We just started walking. They have directional signs with sites listed on a street post which was very helpful. Canterbury is a quaint little town with shops lined down a pedestrian walkway. There are structures that were built in the 1300's. It is amazing to think of these structures being built back then and to have them still standing.
Religion has played an important part in peoples lives or deaths in England. Thomas Becket, who was Arch Bishop of Canterbury was murdered here due to conflicts of church and King.
We took a boat ride in a canal and a young tour guide gave us a historical tour of some structures and people. We thought about doing a walking tour but we also wanted to head to the train so we could get to Dover. The people are so good about helping with direction and information. The other day when I was looking for the medical clinic, this woman didn't know where the street was, but took the time to pull out her London A-Z book and help. The London A-Z book is a book of maps just of London. I see people with these all over the place; even the Londoners.
We got to Dover and started walking. We didn't know what we were going to do there except see the White Cliffs of Dover. We could see high on a hill a castle, which was Dover Castle. We got directions to walk up there and walked up. Dover is a busy seaport. Dover Castle is on the cliff, which was used to defend the town from 1198. It was used up to World War II and it was a command post for the Dunkirk evacuation. There are a bunch of underground tunnels which were made by prisoners in the Napoleonic Wars. We took a tour of the underground tunnels. There was a hospital along with barracks, radio offices and other offices. It was very interesting.
