Tea at the Ritz, the British Museum and packing up 8 bags.

Saturday morning we slept in as it was the last day for awhile we could. I had bought a blazer the previous afternoon and went to pick it up. While I was there I picked out a shirt that was a little dressier for our 11:30 tea reservation at the Ritz. I got back to the hotel just in time to add a tie and get Mama. We got a table right at the front and spent the next hour and a half. The assortment of sandwiches was great, but I'm not a butter guy and there was butter on everything except the dessert and scones! The waiters were taking photos of different tables, so he took my camera and took the photo I posted here. Although I was a bit upset to not have a coat and tie with me to wear, I was happy to see there was tradition here. I think we've all seen enough of casual in our lifetime- and it's nice that civilization still lives.

The British Museum was great. I was amazed at all the ancient artifacts from Egypt and the Rosetta Stone. Mama was looking specifically for Mesopotamia, but that particular exhibit rooms were being renovated. We spent about 2 hours, then headed down Oxford Street to Selfridge's. There's quite a similarity in sensibilities to Barney's in the U.S., but on a much bigger scale.

Sunday we leave for Amsterdam with some crazy quick connections, so we'll see if we make them!

Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge

On Friday, we started out early around 8 am and caught the Evan Evans connection to our tour bus. The bus left London and took us to Windsor Castle. At that point we realized that we were doing the Reader's Digest Condensed version of these places since they were pretty spread out. We had about a 2 hours at Windsor Castle and Bath, and about 45 minutes at Stonehenge. At Windsor Castle the main tour group went to the royal apartments, but Mama wanted to see Henry VIII, so we toured St. George's Chapel. The chapel was absolutely amazing inside- no pictures allowed though. We walked around the grounds as well.

Since time was tight, we grabbed a sandwich and ate on the bus- no beer during that lunch. It started pouring right when we got back to our seat, so timing was perfect.

Bath was about 2 hours away, so we both nodded off on the way. The baths weren't mobility-friendly, so we toured around the top floor looking down, then headed about town. We returned after a little shopping to have high tea at the Pump Room, next door to the Baths. Except we had beer and a glass of the water out of the spring. Mama thought it would heal everything- it tasted like hot water out of some bad pipes.

Stonehenge was a couple of hours away, and we arrived to full force winds. I had to pull the walker along as the winds were pushing back hard as we walked through the tunnel and up the hill to Stonehenge. We just walked out and took some pictures and left. It was too windy even to listen to the audio tour. The bus arrived back in London around 7:30. I had to hold Mama back from snapping at a couple of rude American thirteen year olds and their father. I had snapped at the once. They were always talking or snickering while our tour guide was talking. It was the first time we encountered rude Americans- most everyone else had been rude Europeans (I'm excluding the Brits and the Scots here!).

Tomorrow we're having tea at the Ritz (I ended up buying a coat, a shirt and a tie!) and off to the British museum in the afternoon.

Changing of the Guard, The Tower of London & The Gap

Thursday morning we left the hotel and walked over to Buckingham Palace. The hotel is right next to the park and the path led us directly there in about 10 minutes! The Changing of the Guard started at 11:30 and we arrived around 10:45 and had to wait. In that period there was a rude family from Belgium. The children were jumping up and stepping in front of us with no acknowledgement we were there. There was a bit of pushing and shoving, and has been our experience with most European tourists since our arrival. The Beefeater band played ABBA and Broadway show tunes- which seemed a little to pandering to the tourists. I believe that this music should reflect traditional British culture- and I'm not talking about the Beatles!

We left early and headed over to the Tower of London. It wasn't the easiest place for Mama to get around, but we did go in to see the Crown Jewels and the place where Anne Boleyn was beheaded. There were many stairs and different levels, and they had a map that listed how accessible the buildings are. We ate right there at a tourist café because we were able to eat quickly and get beers.

Mama realized she didn't have enough pants, so we ended up at The Gap because she knew the pants would fit. They didn't have any chinos, but she ended up with a black pair and a khaki glen plaid pair. Seeing a Banana Republic she had to go in- I wasn't necessarily in the mode to go into American stores, so we headed out and walked down Bond Street back to the hotel.

Before dinner, we met a friend I used to work with, Kate Walmsley at Duke's for the best martini I have ever had. I'm not a martini drinker, but I could drink this one! Dinner was at Le Boudin Blanc with her husband Craig- it was one of the best French meals I've ever had.

Friday is going to be a big day. We leave at 8:15 am to go to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. And we aren't supposed to get back until 8!

The War Rooms, Churchill Museum & Westminster Abbey

Today we caught a cab and started at the War Rooms and the Churchill museum. The Cabinet War Rooms are where Churchill and his staff met and lived during WWII. Everything has been restored to how things looked during the war. From behind glass walls, you can see things that range from the map room, the dining room, Churchill's room, etc. This link will tell more: http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.1425

The Churchill Museum was pretty incredible. Churchill is one of my mom's heroes, so she was in heaven. It is extremely well done and had to be one of the most innovative museums I've ever been in from an interactive standpoint. There were a ton of interactive displays with touchscreens. The exhibits ranged from when he was born to his funeral. One very interesting piece was a 50 foot long interactive table that basically had his entire life in an interactive projection- month-by-month!

After having a delicious pie and a pint at Sanctuary House, we walked over to Westminster Abbey. My mom says it's one "big-ass tomb". For those who don't know her, she's a retired world history teacher- so she knows her stuff. The individual chapels are gorgeous. I came here when I was in college during summer school at Oxford, but I don't remember- a lot has happened since 1986! Everything is put in perspective with the amount of history that lives here. The paintings from the 1100's that were discovered by accident behind some walls were a standout for me. Sorry- no photos were allowed inside.

We walked by Parliament and then out onto the bridge where we had our photo taken. After having some pints at a pub by The Ritz, we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we're off to the Changing of the Guard, the Tower of London, and a little shopping.

Off to London: Meltdown pays off.

We left Edinburgh this morning. The doorman at the Balmoral was extremely nice- he walked to the train station with the walker as we took the cab. He made sure we were okay and then took off. The train left on time and we had about a three hour ride. Lunch was really good, and we had great service as we were in the first class cabin. The scenery was gorgeous: coastal cliffs, rolling hills, and randomly 4 nuclear reactors! At King's Cross station, there were a ton of trollies, so managing the luggage wasn't bad. It was much better than flying.

We got to the Ritz and the major meltdown happened. The doorman was not the most congenial, as he was not as compassionate about Mama's walker as others have been. Also, after checking in, we got a tour through the center of the hotel where we found out that during most of the day in the restaurants and bars you need a coat and tie (which I didn't bring!). The room was way smaller than Edinburgh too. I spoke with Kay at Camden Travel to find another room somewhere else as things were not going well. After speaking with the front desk to ask if we could check out tomorrow rather than Sunday. The manager soon called back to see what they could do. They offered a much larger room with 2(!) bathrooms: one of the bathrooms having the most incredible shower stall/handicap access ever. And they gave her permission to smoke. Off to bed as we head of to Churchill's War Room tomorrow.

Edinburgh Castle twice in one day!

On Monday, we actually got up late- jet lag kicked in and both of us slept in. We got going around noon and walked across the bridge again, and headed up the hill to Edinburgh Castle. Stopping along the way, we shopped a bit and bought some great stuff. We finally got up to the castle after walking through some of the Fringe festival on the streets. After buying tickets, they said they would have the castle driver pick us up in the castle car. We really got the royal service as they drove us up to the top, and then led us to the back elevator to look at the Scottish Royal Jewels of James the Sixth. We had lunch, walked around and saw the 360 view of Edinburgh, and caught the same driver back down. We took a taxi back to the hotel where we had to wait until 6 to go back out as we needed to go to the Royal Military Tattoo box office to get seats lower down so Mama didn't have to go up many stairs. She bought a Celtic ring with a cross on it. With so many of the old pubs having bathrooms downstairs, we ate outside at a hotel. The cab couldn't get close to the actual Tattoo event, so we had to walk up the incline on the side of the hill which was not cool. The driver raised hell but they wouldn't let him through.The Tattoo was incredible. There are grandstands set up around the entrance to the castle, the the lighting on the castle changes depending who is performing. They played my grandfather's favorite songs: Amazing Grace, Going Home, and Abide with Me. It was refreshing to see a country celebrate its heritage with this event that happens only during the month of August. There were many different military units performing: Scotland, RAF, Swiss, Chinese, and Tonga. At the end they all came out together which was amazing. At the end, everything winded down to a single bagpipe player at the top of the castle. At this time was a dedication of the last surviving WW1 veteran who recently passed away. The whole event was extremely moving.

The first 2 days- adjustments and adventure!

Well, we made it and things are going great. Almost. The trip to Charlotte was smooth, and security was easier than expected. We went to the USAirways Lounge which was great except Mama wanted to be in the smoking area. It's the same as the other side of the lounge but it's a smoke pit. After 2 Jackie D's, my mom was ready to go. We had great seats in the center together. She saw 3 movies- Monsters Inc., Star Trek, and something else. I had my 4 foot stack of magazines I needed to read. I slept for about 5 hours, but she didn't. I told her to but she didn't. I don't know how she made it through yesterday, but she did great.

The Balmoral Hotel is beautiful- but Mama had a meltdown that the room we first went to was non-smoking! Meltdown #2, 3, & 4 happened when we realized the bathtub, the streets and access to most of the bar restrooms being down circular staircases were not very friendly to mobility-challenged people. We ate the Royal Cafe near the hotel- very beautiful detail inside. Walking back my mom bought some Anderson clan memorabilia and a festive Scottish cap.

Today we walked from the hotel across the bridge to the Royal Mile. It was raining off and on, but we made it to one end to Holyrood Castle & Abbey and the Queen's Gallery. There was a great audio tour of every room. Mama climbed up the tower to Mary Queen of Scots bedroom. The gardens were stunning as well as the ruins of the attached Abbey. We made our way back and had lunch and a pint at an extremely old tavern. The Scotch pie and fries we had were delicious. I bought a beautiful pair of black shoes at Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers. They are traditional Scottish loafers, but everyone in the U.S. will say- "I like your pilgrim shoes."

My mom has been fascinated with asking questions and buying things around the Anderson clan- she did find out that the Andersons were originally Vikings- sons of Anders. Tomorrow, Edinburgh Castle and the Military Tattoo.

Night before the trip.

I'm in Camden, S.C. tonight getting ready to hit the road to Europe tomorrow with my mom. I'm doing the usual things you need to do before traveling abroad, but down to the wire the night before! Making a copy of the passport, calling the credit card companies, etc. My mom is excited and a little nervous. I think when we get there she is not going to know what hit her!