A visit with my sister Diane

My sister Diane came over the pond for a visit. She arrived on Thursday and we were on the move from the moment she got here. She wanted to make sure she saw as much as she could while she was here.

We rode the bus down to Trafalgar square and then walked to The Gordon wine bar for lunch. After lunch we walked a bit until we got to the Twining Tea store. This store has been there for over 300 years. I don't care for tea but Diane does. 

https://www.twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/216-strand

It was time to head back to the house, but there was a hat store on the way so we stopped in. Diane belongs to the Red Hat society and was hoping to find something.  We were just a few block away from Kensington palace and the store clerk said that the Princes shops there. Diane looked for a while but couldn't find anything regal enough for her.  It was a good start for the first day.

Next day was a visit to the Sky Garden, Leanne's office building is next door so she was able to join us. Diane wanted to see a few gardens while she is here, so she got a view and a garden. 

We walked with Leanne to her building and then Diane and I left to see the tower bridge and the Tower of London with the crown Jewels.

So what do you do after seeing the crown jewels----Go on a Gin tour of course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin

As you can see Diane is at the head of the line. We were told a brief history of gin and also how its made. One drink before the tour and another after.

From there we walked thru St. James and Green park before catching a bus ride home.

Friday night Diane and I went to the Royal Albert hall to hear the London philharmonic orchestra play. The music was from John Williams and included a lot from Star Wars. We found out that the music in the movie was played by the London philharmonic orchestra. The music was great as was the venue. 

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall

Saturday we did a guided tour of Parliament, i would highly suggest doing this if you ever come to London. Later that night took in a play at the small theater we go to. It only seats about 50 people and so far all the plays have been good.

Sunday we went to a mass at Westminster Cathedral, we had heard that the choir was worth listing to. This is a Catholic church and is a few blocks away from Westminster Abby.

After mass we rode the tube to Kew Gardens, the worlds largest collection of living plants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kew_Gardens

As you can see along with the  trees there are lots of flowers. 

There was a treetop walk that was available, it was interesting but shaky.

So it was a quick walk around it.

We picked a good day to go, warm and sunny. 

There were places all over the park to sit on a bench or on the grass.

Another open area with wild flowers.

Leanne have decided that we will have to come back again.

did i mention the flowers?

and with the flowers you have bees. This guy was busy doing his work.

This is Kew Palace, they seemed to have a lot of palaces in this country---good to be the King.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kew_Palace

Today we were off to Cotswold, as you can see i'm happy to be here.

 Well maybe it's because it's time to eat.  For this stop we had scones with jam and clotted cream. 

We visited a few towns while in the Cotswold, our first stop was Burford. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burford

This area was once rich in wool, the round tops on the monuments were to represent bales of wool.

The buildings are built using Cotswold stone. So every building you see uses this yellow hew of stone.

The doors show how people were much shorter back in the days.

The next town was Bourton on the water 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourton-on-the-Water

This town was a major tourist stop so they have a lot of Quirky stores with junk to buy.

This small river ran thru the town, it was just ankle deep. 

We were able to get away from the mobs of people and see some of the beauty of the town.

As you can see all the building are the same color.

This was the last town, and i did not get the name of it.

This was a wool warehouse that have been converted into houses. 

and as you can see it has the short doors

There was also a beautiful back yard behind the row of house.

Out front was another river with lots of trout and a Black Swan. 

On the ride back to London we stopped to look at a house with a thatched roof. What look like birds on the roof are actually statues made out of the thatch. The roofer would leave this like a business card. If someone liked the work they would look for the roofer that put the two birds on top.

http://www.thatchco.com/thatchpg/faq.htm

Diane's last day was  a busy one, first stop was MadameTussauds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Tussauds

Diane like standing next to all the stars.

Some were very life like, i though a person was taking a picture of one of the wax figures, it was just another wax figure with a camera.

Diane the Morgan, I was waiting for him to tour around.

Next stop was station 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter movie.

https://www.londontoolkit.com/blog/visiting/minor/harry-potter-platform-9-34-experience-at-kings-cross-railway-station/

Then a stop at the Supreme Court of the UK. Diane doing a little acting as a judge. 

And the last stop was Westminster Abby. I had taken a couple of pictures before i saw the sign that said "no photos".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey

Since 1066 every British monarch has had there coronation there. There have also been some famous weddings and funerals held here.

This place is a who's-who of people buried in it. It is crowded with monuments of past kings, queens and other famous people.  

It was a great busy week with my sister.