My trip to England went really well. The weather, instead of what my English friends said, was boiling for most of the visit, and I hadn't packed a single short sleeve shirt. I ended up buying one in a charity shop in Canterbury and changing there!
I traveled with my friend Dr. Douglas Files (Lt.Col. USAF) who had never been to England although he's been most everywhere else in the world. Our first stop was the rental car agency at Heathrow. Douglas had insisted on a manual transmission car, as that is what he has always driven. What he failed to realize is that the gear shift is on his left in an English car, so there were the occasional grindings of gears. My job was to occasionally warn "mind the curb".
The day we arrived, we drove to West Sussex for a three day stay with HRH Princess Katarina, Granddaughter of King Alexander of Jugoslavia, and 5x great grandaughter of Queen Victoria - and about everyone else on a throne of Europe.
Her turn of the century craftsman country house was quite grand and her garden spectacular. She is recently divorced from Sir Desmond de Silva, QC, who is a war crimes prosecutor for the Hague trials.
The three of us had a great day outing to Brighton where we visited the Royal Pavillion.
We then left for the coast, ending up at Dover at the beginning of the 70th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation. In addition to the Castle, we visited the secret tunnels carved into the cliffs where the command center for the British troops was housed for WWII.
The next day, we went to Calais, France for lunch (how cool is that) and visited the German bunker which was the forward command post at the channel. We also visited the City Hall (Maison de ville) to see the monumental sculpture by Rodin of the "Burghers of Calais" ...and yes, it is signed.
Then off to Canterbury where we spent a great deal of time at the Cathedral and town centre and also saw an ancient Norman castle ruin. While in Canterbury we took a day trip to visit Leeds Castle. A spectacular setting in lush parks. This is the place where important international meetings are held, specifically the G8 meetings in the past. The grounds include an aviary, so took a few photos for Roger K. I was pleased to note that our collection at the farm was larger. We are, however, short a few hundred acres and one castle.
Then off to London, were we stayed in a B&B in Victoria, the section of London just south of Buckingham Palace. While there we and an appointment with the Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms at the Royal College of Arms and got to see the heraldic records of England from the 13th century, and visited with an heraldic artist doing a grant of arms certificate. One evening I was able to meet up with my cousin from Massachusetts, Kayla Haveles, who was there for a week after graduating.
While in London we did a day trip to Windsor, visiting the Castle and St. George's Chapel. I've been a life member of the St. George's Friends for more than 30 years.
I also showed Doug the usual suspects, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Cathedral, St. Paul's, Buckingham Palace etc. Walked for miles.
The trip home was long and boring, but uneventful. Will attach a few photos which might help.
Cheers,
Roger
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