London

Just a quick note -- internet has been sporatic -- 5 pounds for 1 hour at the hotel, and last night I couldn't even get on. London was a blast, we only had a day and a half to explore so we had to be selective although we saw a lot -- Buckingham Palace (and we did the tour, but missed the changing of the guard), Big Ben and Wellington bridge, Tower of London and Tower bridge, Millennium Bridge, St Paul and, Trafalgar Square. We had a drive in a London Black cab but also did a Lot of Walking!!! The only thing we missed that we really wanted to see was the British Museum... oh well we will have to come back!! Gotta go now to get our Chunnel train to our next stop --Paris -- we should be seeing the Mona Lisa this afternoon!! Hopefully internet in Paris...

off to Stratford

Well we were sorry to leave Thornbury Castle but we are off to Stratford-upon-Avon....
-- we had no trouble at all finding Warwick just outside of Stratford and are staying in a Holiday Inn Express which is a big let down from the castle...we are not sure if the HI express is just too budget or that after the Castle nothing would compare.
We decided to head to Warwick Castle today and do Stratford tomorrow. Warwick Castle is a real castle that they have made up to be very accessible. there are actors walking around in costume and mini plays put on and even a falconry show. The castle rooms are unfortunately not accessible to wheelchairs, scooters or even child strollers or push carts as they are known so Nancy missed the inside, but I took a lot of pictures for her.
Next day we went to Stratford and really enjoyed the little town atmosphere and Nancy really enjoyed all the little shops. I did the Shakespeare home (the one he was born into) which is done up as a museum and Nancy was able to do a lot of it but only the main floor and gardens and of course the gift shop.
(I am writing this while in London where the internet access is 5 pounds an hour so I am cutting this short and no time to upload pictures)
So a good time in Warwick and Stratford and now off to London!!!

Wed -- Thornbury castle

entry road to the castle

our room

the bathroom with the "throne" to the right!

Himself having a brandy by the fire before dinner

Well it is Wednesday and we found Thornbury castle with only a little bit of trouble and it was well worth it -- this castle has it hands over Amberley. Surprisingly enough both are owned by the same company and this one is a lot less expensive. That is our room on the main floor just to the left of the entrance way. It is the old guard house and the room is twice as big as the one in Amberley and the bathroom is the same size again as the room. The big fireplace takes the chill off, but so did the complimentary brandy and the real paintings add a nice touch too. Dinner was a real upscale affair too and was very good (should be for the price), we were first brought into the Lounge where we could have had a before dinner drink (we didn't because I had had a couple of the brandy's in the room) --they did bring us a nut tray with the menus -- after a bit they came in and took our order and then after a bit they came and took us to the dining room. We were soon joined by a couple who we found out were from San Francisco -- they didn't bring anyone else in so we thought maybe they were segregating the North Americans? Dinner was terrific and afterward we took coffee and sweets back to our room and settled in for the night -- I managed to sneak in another brandy. We plan to explore the castle grounds and the local village (Thornbury) tomorrow so need some sleep tonight.

Wed - Bath

After Stonehenge we had a nice drive to Bailbrook house in Bath and spent the evening relaxing

Bath scene

Bath Abbey

Wed morning we drove into Bath and parked the car and spoke to the man filling up the map kiosk who gave us a suggested route and a free map! We had a nice walk about town going in the shops and there were some interesting side streets full of little jewelery shops so Nancy was in her glory. Bath is very hilly and the architecture is amazing and the scenes are fabulous. We stopped and had a nice hot chocolate and croissant on one of the narrow side streets.We went into Bath Abbey which was beautiful and unfortunately a busload of tourists got there  just before we did so we decided to give it a pass.

Nancy with the "statues"

The famous Pulteney bridge

Interesting street performers from the usual guitar buskers to a young lady who sang opera (quite well) and 2 who were made up to be golden statues. Off to the bridge and then time to head back to the car and head off to Thornbury castle

Stonehenge

Leaving from Salisbury we were on our way to Stonehenge and we got lost almost immediately, we asked a man who was in a Peugot delivery van and he was quite helpful and then decided that he was going that way anyway and agreed to lead us out of town. To thank him we gave him a Canada pen -- we brought a lot of these from Canada ($ store ones) for just such situations, I am just worried now that we won't have enough!!! At any rate this good Samaritan got us on the right track to Stonehenge, and we found it without any further problem.
Stonehenge itself was all I imagined it to be, it was completely scooter accessible and Nancy had no trouble seeing the monument. I took a photo of a young couple for them for us and they of us -- turns out they were from Las Vegas...small world. We also enjoyed the gift shop and also the coffee and cakes we had. Nancy had a nice chat with the local eccentric, he goes by the name Arthur Pendragon!! He is a Druid who wants the the bones they have taken for testing to be return and interned after they have finished testing, although he sounds like a kook Nancy found him to sensible if not eccentric. A lady who was doing surveys told us he "bought" the name change, who knows but he made sense to Nancy.

Stonehenge-- another item off my bucket list

Day 3

we left Brighton and on our way to Amberley castle. Just when we thought we were getting on to the driving here in UK, then we tried to leave Brighton.... we seemed to  be going around in circles. finally we stopped at a Petrol station and asked but she did not know, then the man behind me spoke up and after a minute or two, he said "tell you what, follow us we are going almost that far". He led the way and then pulled off and came and told us what road out to take, we would be still driving around if it not for Martin.

Once we finally got to the castle and booked in we did the basic "explore" of the castle building and grounds. the room was first class and the bed was very comfortable and the meal was exceptional. Nancy had made and bought us costumes to wear especially at dinner, and I don't think the staff had as much fun as we did, but they played along. Nancy took a spill on her scooter again -- the castle is not designed for a disabled person but the staff did everything to accommodate us. The entire thing was very interesting and I am glad we did it  but it didn't live up to the hype and therefore not really worth the cost. It was very nice to be treated first class.
Now we are off to Salisbury

Brighton our first real day

We slept wonderfully, the bed was very comfy, although I think we could have slept on a rake.

Our first day, we decided to go have coffee or breakfast and then check out of the hotel and then head to the pier. We stopped in a little cafe (the Cafe Italiano) and had a fresh made coffee, the owner was quite "chatty" and played the guitar and sang us Italian songs, very enjoyable chat with him as well. Then off to Brighton Pier -- of course it is Sunday and the pier doesn't open until 10am so we walked about and I went down to the English channel and dipped my hand in and brought Nancy a rock from the channel. We then went to a little restaurant under the Pier (the only one open) and I had a coffee and a cake and Nancy had a hot chocolate (it was cold by the channel) total cost 5 pounds ( about $9.00!!). By chance we were at the Pier on a motorcycle rally day (a charity for British Heart Foundation) there had to be 500 or more motorcycles of all type - from Harley to Japanese to antique to motorscooters. This is a big rally and everyone was commenting on Nancy's scooter and we got some pictures of her on her scooter beside some motor trikes. She was made an honourary "triker". We then went for a walk on the Brighton Pier which was not much but at least we can say we did it -- the pier is just rides, casinos, bars and junk sellers. Then it was off to try and drive to Amberly Castle