Third day of tour, first day of doing anything of note….

Last 3 day's worth of posts are below.

The morning started with another yummy British breakfast at the Hilton hotel, and we left there around 8am. Our tour guide, Gillian, is nice, if a bit long winded. We got a 5 minute lecture on the crops and economy of Britain this morning, and her discussion of British history (while interesting for people who don’t know much about the topic) was nothing new or overly interesting and, in some cases, just plain rumors that have been debunked by historians in the last few years. But still, I guess it is interesting in a way.

Our first stop was at Hampton Court – I was really disappointed that it was just going to be a tour of the gardens. Had I known that, I would have struck out there on my own to have a look around. I have one day in London after the tour, and I might end up going out then to see it, since I really want to see the palace. The walk around the outside was interesting, but it was pouring rain, so the walk wasn’t all that comfortable. We got there around 9am, and the grounds were only opened to us so it was nice to have the entire grounds to ourselves.

From there, we went to Oxford. We wandered around with the guide for a bit, but it was freezing and still pouring! The walk wasn’t the comfortable, but it was nice to wander around the place. We had a little bit of free time to wander around and have lunch. I stopped at a Wagamama in honour of Alanna. It was expensive, but alright – I had chicken raman that came with goyza and I ordered some rice. The soup was nice on such a cold day. I thought to buying an Oxford college sweater while I was there, but couldn’t find one that fix and with a colour I liked, so I chose to suffer the cold.

From Oxford we went to Blowden (where Churchill is buried). We got to see the grave, and since the rain had ended, it wasn’t horribly unpleasant. From there we went to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We only had a chance to see the outside of Anne Hathaway’s cottage, but got to go in and wander around Shakespeare’s birthplace and home. We got some more free time to wander around the shops on the pedestrian mall. I found a place selling antique prints/advertisements, and found two for tea companies; together they cost me almost $50pounds, but both were from 1894, in colour, and matted. I also found a shop selling Oxford gear, so I picked myself up a tee shirt for sleeping in.

On a whole, the pace of the tour seems rushed and we aren’t getting a lot of time to see the places we stop and we aren’t stopping at places I figured we would. I’m kind of regretting spending the money now (I think that’s partly the fact that I’m tired of travelling now, but I’m glad I’m doing this trip now and not before my time in London).

Some observations on my fellow travelers:
-The Americans are a freaking joke. They insist on reading every sign we pass, call everything ‘charming’ or ‘quaint,’ and keep making a big deal about how everything looks like a movie set. Enough already.
-I was sitting around 2 older men on the bus. At different times, they both fell asleep, and proceeded to snore. Nice. You’re paying a shit load of money to go on this trip and you’re sleeping through it? Come on!
-One of those guys was in his 40s/50s and is with his daughter (I hope that’s his daughter and it’s not a Lolita type situation). I didn’t see him smile all day. The girl started off talking to him first thing on the bus until he told her she was annoying and then she barely said anything else all day. When we got off at Blowden, she didn’t want to go, so he went and brought a poncho. When he got back on the bus, he took off the poncho he just tossed it on her and then sat down and left her to fold it an put it away. If dad ever pulled that kind of shit with me….
-I’m glad I paid the extra money to have a single room. There are two other single women on this tour and two single men. Odds are, I would have ended up sharing a room with some one. And, as a single, I have a king-sized bed rather than a set of twins. Nice….
-One of the single men on the trip is at least 60. He sticks like glue to the tour guide and gets her to repeat all her instructions to him and then repeats them back to her, sometimes interrupting her when she talks to the group on a whole. Very annoying, I don’t care how old he is.