Taking a coach tour in England

30.8.11
Another day of British history, where it did seem that I should have taken a little more notice of those history lessons so long ago. We did something Bill and I would not normally do - took a bus tour. Our guide had us very confused as he gave us the background knowledge he felt we required prior to our visit to Warwick Castle. Owned now by Tussauds, their trademark figures were present in two fo the displays. In some ways these figures distracted from the furnishings and other items, but I believe they have been present for a long time. A great experience, despite its somewhat touristy focus. While Bill walked the wall, I opted to check out the dungeon and just take in the atmosphere in the quadrangle.

A couple of hours later we were back on the bus heading for Stratford on Avon, where Shakespeare dominates this pretty town. I could quite easlity have taken in a performance of Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream or Julius Caesar, or maybe something I had not studied at school! But not to be. Too soon we were back on the bus, heading for The Cotswolds - the reason we had selected this tour.

After lunch in a village pub, it was quite frustrating to be told about what could be found in the villages we passed as we whipped down the main road at speed. Certainly, while some of the houses and countryside did look typical Cotswolds, we were reminded why we prefer to hire a car and look for ourselves.

Arrived in Oxford, where we visited Christchurch College before a walk past the Bodlean and a number of other colleges to the High (apparently in Oxford it is not appropriate to add the 'street'). Unfortunately, although mentioned we bypassed Wadham College - started by one of Bill's ancestors. We have been there before, so not do distressing!

Back into the coach for the trip back to London, ending with quite an interesting trip around London as people were dropped in the vicinity of their hotels. We were dropped at the Westminster Bridge, where a 10 minute walk got us back to our hotel.

Like most big cities, London 'pumps' into the wee small hours, so we had a coffee break in our room before heading down to Lambeth in search of something light to eat for dinner. We also went in search of the elusive Lambeth North Railway station, which we had missed the day before. One street parallel and a right turn, instead of a left would have had us there instead of at Waterloo, which was actually a more convenient station for us on the day.

I have been managing only about 4 hours sleep per night, so thought the total exhaustion I was feeling would mean that after my bath (from where I can watch the TV - a BBC documentary on the 'Walking with the wounded' expedition to the Arctic Pole that Prince Harry spent a couple of days with just prior the THE wedding), I would find a good night's sleep easy to attain. Not to be.