London, 500ks, London

2nd September. Den's Birthday
London, 500kms, London
Den's Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday Den. We had already booked a tour to 'See England in a Day' for this day, and decided to still go.
A wake up call at 6am, brekky at 7am and a walk around into the Strand to be collected by 7.30am. The first cup of coffee was greatly needed. As we stood waiting for the bus Den started singing an old Beatles tune...something about 64!!! The tour guide later told us we would cross more than five counties and cover 300 miles as we visited Stonehenge, Bath, travel through the Cotswalds and on to Stratford-on-Avon, and back to London. We were a mixed group - mainly Americans, a couple from Thailand, another couple from Korea, Netherlands, Switzerland and five Australians, (the other three Aussies were from Melb.).
We travelled through the Salisbury Plains an area of 100,000 acres. Nice rolling hills nothing very special. We reached Stonehenge about 10.30am. It had been raining and continued to drizzle the whole time we were there. My nightmare - umbrellas everywhere!!!! The haze of rain seemed to add to the mystical charm of the area. We had a really good audio guide head set which explained and guessed some of the thoughts behind Stonehenge. Some of the stones have been there for 5,000 years. The circle was added to about 4,000 years ago with another 80 or so blocks. The same type of blue stone rock that has been DNA matched to rock from Wales 128 miles away. Then about 3,500 years ago 25 more stones were added. Why or what for?? well that is the mystery. Over the years rocks from Stonehenge have been taken away by local farmers for use in their yards and by souvenir hunters. Some repair work has been done to steady a couple of the larger stones to make it safe for people to view the area, but mostly it is as it was years ago. We wandered around the whole circle and found it interesting from all directions. Back onto the bus, and off again...
Next stop Bath. We had been tootling along just more hills and paddocks, green but nothing like the vivid lush green of Ireland. Then we rounded a bend and there was Bath. Wow was my reaction. Rows and rows of stone houses set onto the hills. The photos will show you more than I can describe. It really is quite special. Settled by the Romans thousands of years ago - they certainly were a very busy race, and left their mark all around the world. We were disappointed to only have a bit over an hour in Bath as it is a very interesting and lovely place.
From there a drive through the villages and towns of the Cotswalds. I thought this was a town but as our guide rather rudely told a lady from California (who had said what I, and probably a lot of others had thought, about stopping at the Cotswalds) It is an area which covers a large number of villages and towns, so we drove through it and unfortunately didn't stop to take any pictures. Just some hurried snaps from the coach. Many of the passengers fell asleep during this time and wouldn't have seen anything!!! Oh well....There was a lovely town called Tetbury that was particularly lovely.
Then just before 4pm we were arriving into Stratford-on-Avon. By now the sun was shining and so it looked even lovlier. The 'Birthplace' of Sheakespeare is in the main street, a pedestrian mall, and is very well maintained with beautiful gardens. There are some lovely quaint little shops here. Many original homes, many like the ones we had passed going through the Cotswalds, still stand and are lived in as is the school that Shakespeare attended, which is also still a school. We also only had a bit over an hour here and were back on the bus and headed for London by 5pm.
Two and a half hours later we were dropped off in London and made our way back towards Aldwych, in the West End where Waldorf Hilton is situated. After a half hour walk we were seated outside the Wellington, a lovely old English Pub for our last evening meal in London to celebrate Den's birthday. We had travelled over 300 miles and gone through Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloustershire, Warwickshire, saw Wales in the distance, Oxfordshire and Chiltern before reaching London. What a day!!! It had been a huge trip but really enjoyable and memorable. Den was still singing that old Beatles song...when I'm 64...Yeah - Darlin I do!!!! .
Tomorrow we are picked up from our hotel at 2.15pm to go to Heathrow to fly to Singapore and then later onto Melbourne arriving there at 6.20am Wednesday morning.
It has been a wonderful trip and we look forward to looking back over the past weeks and remembering the wonderful people we have met and the places we have been. It has been a great adventure.