April 27, 1999
Denver
Depart Denver International Airport at 3:15 PM on British Airways.
April 28, 1999
London
Arrive at Gatwick Airport at 7:30 AM. Ride the Gatwick Express train to Victoria Station. Eat lunch at a Subway sandwich shop at Victoria Station.
Catch a taxi to Paul’s flat near Kensington Palace. Paul is Lynn’s old college friend. Paul’s sister lets us in. She is visiting Paul during her college break.
We take a 3 hour nap then walk across the street to Kensington Palace and the Kensington Gardens.
Eat a fish and chips dinner at a nearby pub with Paul and Cherie.
Stay the night at Paul’s flat.
April 29, 1999
London – Stratford-upon-Avon
Awake at 9:30 AM. Eat breakfast at a corner diner.
Ride the underground tube from High Street Kensington station to Liverpool Street station. Francesco (our Italian cousin) is meeting us at 2:00 PM. We are about to leave at 2:50 PM thinking we are waiting at the wrong place when he finally shows up. His plane out of Italy was late because of the war in Kosovo.
The three of us take the underground tube to Paddington Station. Then we ride a train to Stratford-upon-Avon.
Arrive in Stratford-upon-Avon around 700 PM with no place to stay for the night. Leave Marilyn at the train station with the luggage and walk with Francesco into town. We find two rooms at the first Bed & Breakfast we stop at.
After unpacking, walk a few blocks from the Bed & Breakfast and eat dinner at Garricks pub.
April 30, 1999
Stratford-upon-Avon
We eat a full English breakfast at the Bed & Breakfast. It consists of juice, toast, eggs, bacon and a fresh tomato.
Decide during breakfast to stay another night in Stratford-upon-Avon. Our current room is not available that night, so we move our luggage to an upstairs room with no bathroom. Share a shower and toilet with the other upstairs guests.
Walk across town to a tourist information center. Book a Bed & Breakfast in Cirencester.
Tour Shakespear’s country in an open air double decker bus. The tour bus is called Guide Friday.
Visit all the Shakespearian houses, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was buried, and the 15th century grammar school where he was educated.
Eat lunch at McDonalds because it was the only restaurant open at 11:00 AM.
Ride another Guide Friday bus to the town of Warwick. Tour Warwick Castle – a mediaeval fortress with towers, ramparts, a dark dungeon and a torture chamber. Ride bus back to Stratford-upon-Avon and eat dinner.
Decide to catch a show at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre – ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Show ends around 11:00 PM.
May 1, 1999
Stratford-upon-Avon – Cirencester
Eat a full English breakfast at the Bed & Breakfast then check out.
Walk several blocks to catch a bus – the Cotswold Link. The Cotswold are small scenic towns and villages in England. The bus takes us through Chipping Campden, Hidcote Manor, Broadway, Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold. The bus runs from Stratford-upon Avon, through the Cotswold, and ends in Bath.
Get off the bus at Bourton-on-the-Water. Buy salt and pepper shakers at the Cotswold Pottery. Catch the Cotswold Link bus 4 hours later and arrive in Cirencester at 4:45 PM.
Stay at a Bed & Breakfast – The Bungalow.
May 2, 1999
Cirencester – London
Eat full English breakfast then we check out.
Francesco needs to get back to London to catch a 4:00 PM plane from Stansted Airport to Italy.
Walk to a bus stop to catch a National Express bus to take us back to London at 8:55 AM. The bus is full. We walk to Market Square and flag down a taxi. The taxi drives us to Kemble train station. Ride a train to Swindon. Switch trains. Ride to Paddington Station in London.
Check into a hotel near Paddington Station – Lancaster Hall Hotel, 35 Craven Terrace.
Walk back to Paddington Station and buy an all-day underground tube ticket. Ride the tube to Liverpool Street station. Francesco catches a train to Stansted Airport.
We ride a tube to Tower Hill station. Walk across the Tower Bridge and around the Tower of London. Ride the underground tube back to Paddington Station then walk to Lancaster Hall Hotel. Eat dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant.
May 3, 1999
London
Eat a continental breakfast at the hotel. Check out of the hotel but leave our luggage in hotel storage.
Purchase Big Bus of London tickets. Ride the bus around London all day. Sights seen:
Hyde Park, Speakers Corner, Hard Rock Cafe, Madame Tussauds, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, London Dungeon, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Whitehall, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
At the Whitehall stop, we jump off the bus and catch the changing of the horse guard at Whitehall.
Ride a boat down the Thames River (from Tower Pier to Westminster Pier). Sights seen:
Shakespeare Globe Theater, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament.
Get off bus at Marble Arch and walk back to Lancaster Hall Hotel to retrieve our luggage. Walk to Lancaster Gate station. Ride tube to High Street Kensington station.
Eat dinner at an Indian cuisine restaurant – Kensington Tandoon – with Paul. Paul’s sister has returned to college.
Stay the night at Paul’s flat.
May 4, 1999
London
Eat breakfast at corner restaurant.
Buy all day underground tube ticket. Ride tube to Buckingham Palace and watch the changing of the guard. Ride the tube to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Ride tube to Oxford Circus station. Shop along Oxford Street. Buy souvenirs and sweatshirts. Ride tube back to High Street Kensington station.
Dinner at Italian restaurant around the corner from Paul’s flat.
May 5, 1999
London
Walk to Harrods. Buy souvenirs – soccer ball, table placemats, candy. Spend 5 hours in Harrods. Eat lunch in Harrod’s cafeteria.
Walk back to Paul’s flat with heavy backpacks full of souvenirs. Pass the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert statue. Start packing.
May 6, 1999
London – Denver
Catch a taxi to Victoria Station with Paul. He continues on to work riding the underground tube. We catch the Gatwick Express to Gatwick Airport.
Depart Gatwick Airport at 10:20 AM.
Arrive at Denver International Airport at 1:20 PM.