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Tuesday, May 20, Rome. I was up at 7 a.m. to get to the train station by 8-ish. I had an 8:55 train to Rome, and my motto is "better early". So, early I was. Getting onto the train was a breeze and I noted that we'd arrive in Rome around 12:15 p.m. I use the arrival time as a way of knowing when we're getting close to the destination. I get my bag, stand by the door and ask the question to anyone who'll nod or speak my language a bit -- "Roma Termini?" Two nods let me know I was in the right place at the right time.

Once at the station I found the information booth and asked directions to the hostel. "Take-a the Metro train A", I was told, then the 32 bus 7 stops. Off I went, found the "A" train and made it to the metro stop at Ottaviano just fine and figured I was in the clear. It wasn't to be, actually. First, it started raining pretty hard, and me with no umbrella. Second, where the heck would the 32 bus be found?? Only the bus gods and the rest of the Roman population knows. I did not, and I was having more than enough trouble asking the question while getting wet.

"Oh taxi!!" ---- Ten Euros later, I was at the hostel, checking in, getting the lay of the land and finding out a number of oddities about the place. For example, until now, I've been able to rent towels wherever I've gone. Here the towels are paper, so I decided I'd take the bus back to Ottaviano and buy a towel. After a quick tutorial by the desk clerk -- who spoke some English, but not quite enough for the both of us -- I was off to the bus stop, just around the corner.

So, here's a bit of advice. First when taking a bus in a strange town, decide on the direction you need to take, and second; remember the name of the stop so you can find your way back! I did neither, and wound up at a place called Lepanto instead of Ottaviano. I wanted the latter because I had seen a large number of shops and a market selling all kinds of interesting stuff. Who knows, maybe towels! Right?

So, I wanted to make my way back to the hostel and start again. I figured I'd need the practice, since I'll be here for 5 days and want to get myself around. Oh yes, another lesson to learn -- TAKE the name and address of the hotel in case you didn't remember the bus stop name. In my case, I didn't take the name either. Fortunately I had the receipt for the room charge with the name at the top of the receipt. A bus driver took pity on me, told me to "sit sit", and got me back to the hostel in around 15 minutes.

This time I was determined to do it right. I got a map, got the address, wrote down the name of the bus stop, got on the right bus for Ottaniano and tried again. With good results, I might add, I was on my way and it was still raining. I wandered into the first shop I saw and said "Inglesas??". No such luck, but I said "buy an umbrella" and the lady in the shop told me to wait and disappeared behind a door. A minute later, she gave me an umbrella and when I asked how much, she said "go go, free, free"! I hugged, took her picture and went on my way (her picture is at the top of this page).

I found the towel, had a great falahfal, got a free umbrella, found my way back to the hostel and noticed how Romans park their cars. So, here' some pictures for you to figure out.

Tomorrow I'll take a 1/2-day bus tour, start taking in the sights -- possibly the Colosseo, find the statue of David, plan some day trips and continue getting familiar with the metro, busses and people. So far Roma has been quite an adventure.

Ciao for now.

Monday in Pisa Italy. Yesterday Roger and I awoke and had a quick continental breakfast with Jean-Marie and Michelle. We said farewell to his guests and started out for Dijon. I had found that a 10:30 a.m. train was leaving for Pisa by way of Lyon and Turino. An interesting turn was that the leg of the journey between Lyon and Turino was by bus. At first I thought it would be a mess, but the bus was modern and comfortable. We arrived in Turino after a 4 hour journey.

I boarded the train for Pisa at 7:05 p.m. and settled into a nice cozy compartment. During our trip south, I busied myself playing game after game of Sudoku and lost a track of time. At one point, I looked up to see that we were headed to Pisa along the coast of Italy. I looked up to see the Mediterrean Sea on my right! More than that, the full moon had risen and seemed to be lighting our way. We passed through many little towns along the way, through many tunnels and over small bridges. At one point, don't forget it was Sunday night, there was a huge fireworks display in the early evening. It thought it was nice of the Italians to welcome me that way! Don't you?

We arrived in Pisa Centrale at 11:30 at night. A quick cab ride, I was at the Hostel and asleep by 12:30 or so. This morning I was up and out at 8 a.m. The hostel I've found to stay in is 800 meters from the Leaning Tower, so I walked into the old city. Coming around a curve and looking in the distance, I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa for the first time. It was a thrilling and overwelming sight!

Now it's around 11 a.m. and I am on the way to the train station to find out when the trains leave for Rome in the morning. I stumbled into this little cyber-cafe, and decided to catch up on my blogs. Once I return to the hostel this evening, I'll finish up the days events --- so, as always, stay TUNED!!

Click HERE to see where I am now.....

Pisa, 3 p.m. and back at the hostel. I've had a very interesting, enjoyable and educational aftenoon so far. After I posted the early part of this blog, I continued to the train station and found that there is an 8:55 a.m. train directly to Rome. I bought a 1st class voucher, needed in addition to my Eurail pass for 5 Euros, and headed back to the walled old city of Pisa. On the way, I figured out how to use my Europe cell phone as an alarm clock and got the phone number of a taxi company. I called just to be sure they spoke enough English or I spoke enough Italian to get a cab in the morning. Thankfully, they spoke a good deal of English. Hopefully the dispatcher in the morning will be just as good.

Once back in the old city, I thought it was time for a sit-down and a beer, so I walked into a "restorante" and found I needed to pay at the register for a beer. At the time, I was asked if I wanted to buy it at the bar, and I said I did. The beer cost 4 Euros and I gave the casher a 20 Euro bill. He gave me 6 Euros in change and we discussed the concept of "addition and subtraction". I pointed out that 20 Euros minus 4 Euros is 16 Euros. A couple of "no comprendi's" later, he gave me a 10. Lesson learned -- follow the money!!!

Once I had my beer in hand, I turned to walk outside and sitdown at table to enjoy the brew. Another employee of the bar, a woman this time, chased after me, telling me I had to stand at the bar. Afterall, I paid for a beer at the bar and if I wanted to sit, it would cost me extra!! OK, I got that and stood at the bar enjoying the drink and doing some people watching.

A fellow next to me was enjoying what appeared to be a small glass of wine and he had been given some peanuts to enjoy with his drink. When he left, I pointed to the peanuts and asked another woman behind the bar -- "OK??" She said "si si". Two peanuts later, the bartender, a guy, took the peanuts and when I asked for them he said "not with beer, only wine!" "But the lady said OK," I said, and he pointed out that "no, she's a-crazy!" So much for the peanuts. I shrugged my shoulders and laughed, and finished my beer. The bar tender starting talking to another co-worker in pretty rapid Italian. I heard the word Americano, but figured they were enjoying my ignorance and good nature. Or maybe they figured I was "a-crazy" too!!

'Til tomorrow in Roma --- Ciao!!

May 17. Saturday. I awoke around 9:30 a.m. and had a nice breakfast with Roger. It included coffee, a roll and yogurt, and was just enough to make me feel we had enough in our stomachs to start our day. Jean-Marie was there to greet us in his rough voice, big smile and good nature.

Around 10 o:clock or so, Roger and I set out into the French countryside. Roger suggested we visit a 14th Century chateau called Chateauneuf. It was around 30 miles to the east. As we set out on our journey, we took a turn off the main road and into the back roads of the countryside. As we passed through small villages and hamlets, I couldn't get over the beauty of the surrounding meadows and rolling hills. As before, they were every color of green, with dark brown soil. The meadows were cover with cows, cattle and sheep. It is everything one could imagine about the remote countryside of France.

As we got closer to our destination, we were able to make out the chateaus in the distance. It was atop some hills and made for an imposing site. Chateauneuf was built in around 1341 and around 300 years later, the “Lord of the Manner” built dwellings around the chateaus for his workers. The dwellings became a part of what was to be a “walled city”, and the gates to the city still stand today. The views from the property are breathtaking. Chateauneuf is considered an historical site, but people still live and work there. Not as serfs, of course, but shop owners and residents.

Roger and I stopped for a snack (and yes, a beer) at one of the two restaurants we saw on the windy roads of the chateau. The waiter, who turned out to be the owner, was a young Englishman around 30 years old. I asked him what had brought him to this beautiful, but somewhat remote, place. He explained he had come to Chateauneuf 16 years ago to be a waiter at one of the 2 hotels there. From that beginning, he met his wife and together they bought the restaurant we were sitting in.

After around an hour or so of looking around, Roger and I started down the hill with no particular plan except for the possibility of stopping in one of the small towns for some sightseeing. The idea of getting an early start on my way to Italy was brought up, and we decided to go into Dijon to check out the train schedules for the following day – Sunday. I was able to make my way to the train station and found out that a train for Pisa would leave in the morning at 10:30 a.m. It'll be a long journey with train changes in Lyon and Tourin (my first stop in Italy). I'll arrived in Pisa at 11:30 p.m. I made a reservation for 2 nights at a hostel 800 meters from the “Leaning Tower”, and will leave for Rome on Tuesday.

After getting back to Jean-Marie's and Michelle's at 7:30 or so, we enjoyed dinner with our friends from the night before. Let me take a moment to describe a typical French meal in the evening. Our dinner for the last two nights, started at around 8 p.m. with drinks of Pastis outside the kitchen overlooking the countryside. After 45 minutes or an hour, the 10 of us sat at the dinner table for an appetizer. Then the main dish followed by cheese and bread. The main course is followed by dessert. Of course, wine is served throughout the entire meal, and then finally an after-dinner liquor is served.

During the entire meal, much discussion is carried on by the hosts and his/her guests. Jokes, stories, lectures and more jokes finish the evening. As we made our way back to the RV, I realized that dinner had taken us until 11:30 – around 4 hours in all

Today is Friday May 16th. Roger and I spent a good part of the day driving into central France on the way to the Chambre d'Hote owned by his friend Jean Marie. Jean Marie is a 59 year old Frenchman who has lived in the area most of his life. About 6 years ago, he and his “lady friend”, Michelle, bought a large older farm house on 4 acres of land in a little hamlet called Jonchery. Over a period of 3 or 4 years, they turned it into a beautiful “inn” with two or three rooms for guests. Chambre d'Hote is a descriptive term which has the same meaning as an “Inn”, or bed and breakfast. They can accommodate up to 8 people at any one time.

Along the way, Roger and I stopped in a larger city called Saulieu. It is a beautiful town about 3 hours south of Paris and about 35 miles west of Dijon. We enjoyed a beer at one of the local pubs, and I enjoyed some chocolate éclairs I found in a local bakery shop even more. As we were getting ready to walk back to the RV, there was a cloud burst, and it rained for about 10 minutes or so. Once the rain eased, we continued our journey to Jean Marie's. We arrived around 5 p.m. or so.

We met Jean Marie, Michelle and their dog “unique”, and sat down on patio in the rear of the house. The patio looks over the countryside of light and dark green grasses and other foliage. There is a farmhouse next door and a horse was just a few feet away. No other people were to be seen, and the area is lightly traveled. Jean Marie's 4 acres are absolutely stunning, and every now and then we could see a streamlined polished silver color train streak noiselessly by. It was an exceptional site, and one I will not soon forget.

Later in the evening, around 8 o:clock, 2 other couples arrived and we sat down for dinner at the 10-foot table. Michelle arranged a beautiful table, and with Jean Marie's help, dinner was served. It consisted of drinks, a main course followed by cheese and after-dinner liquors. We spoke of politics, countries, peoples, language, science, industry and, often laughed and agreed or disagreed on just about everything. Dinner lasted until midnight, and we then all decided it was a good time to call it quits and get some sleep.

You can see there Jonchery, and the Chambre d'Hote is, by clicking here.

Well, today is Thursday May 15, and I've a very eventful day. I was lucky and slept a bit later than usual, but by 10 a.m. I was on the bus for the center of Paris. I took advantage of the two-day tour-bus pass and boarded the bus determined to finish the city tour. The weather was cloudy and a bit wet. Last night it rained throughout the evening, so I hoped that by the morning it was, at least, stop raining. My hopes were granted by the “Paris genie”. Although it was cloudy, it was warm and by 2 or 2:30 the sun tried to make an appearance.

I walked around the Louvre a bit, but did not go inside. The building is huge and the crowds were even bigger. After a bit of picture taking, I boarded the tour-bus again and stayed on the bus until the Cathedral at Notre Dame and realized I was within walking distance of the Memorial de Shoah. So, with map in hand, I set off looking for the museum. One thing about the streets in Paris – they are named many MANY different names. Not only that, but it seems to me that the streets change names every block or so. As I've said, Paris is a huge city, with lots of little streets and turns. The maps are very crowded and complicated. But, indeed, I found the Shoah Memorial and spent an hour or so there.

I was then determined to figure out the Metro system. Paris has an extensive subway system, and while it isn't as well labeled as London, I was lucky and got to the Rodin Museum. Rodin's sculptures are amazing. I especially liked “The Thinker” and had my picture taken by the sculpture. It is fairly large and sits atop a marble pedestal. His other pieces, especially the nudes, are absolutely beautiful.

I again tackled the Metro system and found the “Musee de Discouverie” (science museum). I was especially interested in seeing the planetarium and hoped I could meet someone there who was familiar with the Paris amateur astronomy scene. I got there just as a planetarium show was finishing and managed to meet the lecturer. He tried to introduce me to one of his colleagues who is into telescopes, but was unable to do so. I did get a picture taken with the Zeiss planetarium projector.

I've finally found my way back to the cafe on the Champs Ellesse where they have free wifi where I'm having a nice snack and drink of a local French beer. Roger and I are off to the south of France tomorrow, around Dijon, where he knows an Inn owner who may have some room for us. Otherwise, we'll use his van for a couple of days while we explore the local spots of interest. Roger heads back home on Monday and I'll be catching a train for Pisa and then on to Rome.

Sounds great doesn't it??

Bonsoir, plus tard!!

Today is Wednesday May 15th, my first full day in Paris. Roger and I went out last night, after we arrived at the camp site, and walked along the Champs Elysees until we found a cute cafe on a side street called Rue de Franklin Roosevelt (turns out the French love our early presidents).

A note about the French and how friendly they are. They ARE friendly -- very friendly. I've found Paris to be a busy, beautiful and tolerable city full of busy people. I've learned enough French, very little mind you, to get started with shop owners and in the cafe's. From there, they speak English to me and help me with my French. It's very enjoyable.

This morning I spent a bit of time in a cafe enjoying a "Cafe' noir" and then found a tour bus that took me around Some of Paris. I got off the bus at the Eiffel Tower. I decided I'd go to the top, no matter how long the wait. After getting in line at 10:45 a.m., I finally arrived at the upper-most part of the tower at noon!! Quite a wait, but it was worth it. The views from the tower are amazing. I was back on the tour bus by around 1 p.m.

There is so much to see here. The city is huge and busy. I bought an underground ticket for 2 days, but I find the map very confusing. Stations are sometimes not labeled and it isn't clear which train goes where (very much unlike London which was well marked, easy to use and efficient).

I've been very lucky with the weather. Ever since I arrived in Europe, but especially in London and on the continent, the weather has been beautiful -- warm and sunny. While there was a threat of rain, so far none has come to pass.

Tonight I'll study the maps a bit, and try to figure out what to see tomorrow. I know I need to see a couple of the museums and walk along "La Seine" for a bit, maybe down as far as Notre Dame.

One final note. After looking at the pictures, I thought you'd might want to know. Y-E-S, I've taken all of these pictures so far. The environment is so beautiful, it's hard to mess-up a photo!!

Bye for now, mon ami.

Roger and I drove into Bayeux last night and found a beautiful municipal camp ground. In the evening we had the good fortune to have our neighbors come over to visit with us. Their names were Jess and Victor. Both of these guys were 88 years old and, as the evening progressed, the discussion got around to the subject of World War II. As it turns out, Jess and Victure, not surprising, were war veterans with Jakes having served in Burma and Victor having served in Montecassino in Italy. They had some great stories to tell, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves into the evening.

This morning, we awoke at 7 a.m. to join a WW2 beach and city tour. Overlord Guided Tours is run by a very interesting and informative young man by the name of Aleinn and his helper, Olivier. Early in the tour, we went to Omaha Beach along the beaches in north of France and bordering the English Channel. As the day progressed, drove along the beaches and worked our way south to Utah Beach. We stopped at a number of little villages as well and one of the most interesting was Sainte-Mere Eglise. You're probably familiar with this city from the movie The Longest Day. In the movie, Red Buttons plays a paratrooper who gets caught by a church spire after bailing out of a aircraft. This was Sainte-Mere Igles. His name was John Steele (no relation!!!).

Roger and I arrived in Paris and I am on my way to find a 1/2 day tour bus. I am lucky, in that Roger has decided to spend a couple extra days with me, and we'll be traveling into to south of France together. He'll be going home next Tuesday (today is Tuesday I think ), and I'll make my way to Pisa and then Rome.

More later.....

Roger and I came over on the ferry overnight and landed in Calais at 8 a.m. After a search for the train station, we made our way to La Harve for breakfast. We are currently in Bayeux near the site of the WW2 beaches Utah and Omaha where the allied forces landed. We will be on an all day tour tomorrow and I will take lots of pictures for you to see.

I am on a French keyboard right now and will not be able to type too much. The keys are considerably different, but as always -- more will follow.

The pictures: my new Citroen automobile, the ferry which brought us here and Roger and I for coffee and croisant in the morning.

I returned from London yesterday after a most enjoyable 2.5 days there. As I mentioned earlier, London is a wonderful city. It is no wonder that Londoners are proud of their city and no wonder why Britishers are proud of their country.

Last night, Helen went off to hear her father sing in a choir. I was invited, but begged off to get some rest. Around 10 p.m. Helen returned and announced that dad and her step-"mum" we coming over for a visit after the concert. They arrived a bit later and were absolutely delightful as we met and discussed a wide variety of interestings topics. I was able to get a well deserved nights sleep and awoke at 10 a.m. to find Roger loading the RV for our trip to France. Everyone was invited to Helen's "mum" and step-dad for a spot of coffee and biscuits during the morning. Roger and I arrived around 11:30 and met her folks. They live in an absolutely delightful little village, up a narrow windy dead-end road in the most beautiful spot I've ever seen. It was warm in the sun, coffee and biscuits were served and we had a wonderful time. Helen, her mom and son Nickolas performed a couple of tunes (did I mentioned all these folks are singers? And her step-dad is a pianist?).

Roger and I left at around 2 p.m. and headed for Stonehenge, about an hour away from his house. As Stonehenge came into view, it was breathtaking. We parked the car and walked the short distance to the visitor's center and then to Stonehenge itself. While we were'nt allowed to get too close, we were able to get with 20 feet or so. I was reminded by a brochure that the stones were laid there over 5000 years ago! We took some photos, Roger and I sat a chatted a bit and people-watched. I was gratified to see hundreds of people, young and old alike, coming to visit this unique site.

We then drove the rest of the way to Southampton along the southern coast of the UK and had some dinner. At around 9 p.m. we went to the ferry landing and after around an hour wait, during which Roger and I continued to enjoy our on-going discussion of this and that, we were allowed onto the boat.

So -- there you are. It is 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night, we are on the ferry and will leave around 11 for the French coast and I've found a cyper-cafe onboard to check emails and continue my travel blog. Ain't technology great!? Well, tomorrow we'll embark onto the coast of France and head down through the WW2 battle grounds and cities along the way.

Do you like my new Jaguar that I'm standing by?? Cool car, oui??

As always ---- stay tuned...

Today I was off to Bath Spa, around 1 1/2 hours from Stroud by train. Bath is the home of 18th Century astronomer and telescope maker William Herschel. When I first arrived I found that I had around 3 1/2 hours until his home/museum opened, so I took a tour on a double-decker bus. For £10 I was able to get a 1 hour city tour and a 45 minute country tour. Bath is a very beautiful city that is, among other things, home to Bath University. The univesity is above the city in some beautiful mountains with breathtaking views below. The American Museum is at the university as well.

The city includes a Jane Austin Center. Austin is the citie's most famous resident. I would like to think that William Herschel was a famous resident also. Among other things, he built the worlds largest telescope of the time, a 48" reflector with a 40-foot focal length. He discovered the planet Uranus and catalogued many double-star systems and was the first to realize that double-stars were, many times, a binary system. That is, two stars rotating around eachother.

The pictures here are of: 1) Me and the 7" reflecting telescope built by Herschel. This replica is on display in the Herschel Museum in Bath, 2) The City of Bath seen from the hills nearby, 3) The Putney Bridge. One side of the bridge has a row of shops along a narrow sidewalk. The shops are 10-feet wide and just a few feet deep, and 4) The Putney Bridge along with one of the churches near downtown Bath. Bath is a very beautiful city.

Tomorrow, Roger and I will leave for the North of France. We will visit Stonehenge along the way. That should be very interesting. We will board a ferry at 10:30 p.m. and arrive in France at about 7 a.m. in the morning. We'll spend a couple of days driving south along the battlefields of World War II and visit some of the cities as we go. I'll describe these in more detail later.

Lah-de dah, all....

Today is my last day in London. I was up and out this morning at 10 a.m. again. I finally good a good night's sleep. Youth hostels are a good economical way for an overnight stay. By last night, there were 3 other guys in my room -- A guy from Holland (an Egyptian), an Aussie and a 3rd fellow how came in very late. By the time I awoke, he was already gone, so I don't know where he was from.

I went to the Tate Modern Museum this morning. I got there by 11:30 and noticed that a free tour was available at noon. There were about 8 other folks on the tour. They were France, Italy and Canada. I was the only American. We met our tour guide and went through the "Materials Gestures" collection. It included art works by Picasso, Mark Rothko, Claude Monet and Jackson Pollock. A number of other artists were represented, but these were the most impressive. The Tate Modern (there are 4 Tate Museums throughout London with different themes in each) occupies an old power station which provided electricity to much of London. It sat abondoned for many years. After an architectural competition, it was opened as a museum. So, from the outside, it doesn't look anything like one would expect a museum of modern art to look like.

After leaving the Tate, I went to the London Museum. It was within walking distance, so I didn't need to navigate the Underground. The London Museum is different than the British Museum. The theme here was the Great Fire of London and the Plague. It included the history of London from pre-historic times thru the fire. Some of the exhibits included present-day information as well.

At about 3 o:clock or so, I thought I'd walk back to the Hostel, but I gave up after about 20 minutes and used the subway to get off my feet. I've noticed an interesting fact about Londoners and the subway. They'll get onto the train, and if the most of the seats are occupied, they will congregate around the doors. So, when one is entering the train, it's sometimes necessary to push past these folks to get onto the train. Meanwhile, the space "between" the doors is not filled with people! I've seen this again and again over the past couple of days, so for some reason its their practice. Another interesting behavior is that, if there is an empty seat and their is someone sitting next to it, they don't move their arms or newspaper. One just needs to "sit down", say excuse me -- or "sorry" (raise your voice a little bit!!), and that's that! But, everyone I've interacted with has been really nice. London is a great town and I'll need to come back again and again to getdown to the real city.

Well it's around 4 p.m., so time to make my way to Paddington Station for a 5:30 train. Better to get there early and have a "cuppa" than be late.

Cheers..

I was out at 10 a.m. this morning. After scouting around on the tour bus yesterday, I figured out a good plan -- off to the British Museum, then to the Imperial War Museum and then t Buckingham Palace. I thought maybe the queen would want to talk to me about the problems of the day. As it turns out, she didn't. Go figure!! I did meet a nice "Bobby" at the gate to the palace and we did see Princess Anne leave in a car.

The British Museum is a huge place, covering most, if not all, aspects of human civilization. I took my time to see the exhibits on Europe and a bit of Egypt. They have extensive collections from just about every part of the world. I figured out the London Underground and took the subway everywhere today. I bought a 2-day pass and found it to be easy to navigate, cost-effective and safe.

My second stop was the Imperial War Museum. It was in a poorer part of town, but still safe and clean. The weather was absolutely perfect today, as it was yesterday as well. The highlight, in my opinion, was the Holocaust exhibit on the 3rd floor. It was very powerful and touching. Very complete. There was also an exhibit on the 4th floor with a "Inhumanity to man" theme, and touched on dictators and despots throughout history. A teacher and his class were there watching the video, and I enjoyed the teachers commentary. It was gratifying seeing young people study such an important subject.

But the highlight of the day was meeting a couple of wonder people in a "pub" called The Kings Head located a couple of blocks away Buckingham Palace. As one of the guys was buying a beer, I commented that, since they were locals, I'd buy the same beer as them. Colin Snook (he is sitting to my immediate left in the picture)suggested to his friend Martin Thirsk buy me a beer. From that point on, we enjoyed an hour or more talking, having a good laugh about this and that, talked a bit about travel and politics (I've found the Britishers enjoy talking about politics). Neither Colin nor Martin would allow me buy a round of drinks. A great a wonderful couple of guys enjoying one of the many pubs at the end of a workday. It was lucky to run into them.

Tomorrow I'll be going back to Roger and Helen's on the 5:30 p.m. train from Paddington Station. I plan to take in the Tate Museum in the morning. After talking with Jennifer today, I was planning to go to Speakers Corner on Hyde Park. Speakers Corner is a bastion of "free speech", and people will stand on boxes or stools and talk about everything under the sun -- including, and most often, British politics and how good or not-so-good the Prime Minister and his/her government is doing. But, unfortunately, they only do this on Sundays. It'll be a good adventure for another trip to London.

So, dear reader, as always --- more later....

Hello from London!!! Well, today Roger Sims took me to the Stroud train station at 7:45 or so. I boarded an 8 o:clock train for London. I was able to confirm yesterday that my Eurail pass works for the train, so that was great. It had been prepaid. I saw there was first-class and second-class seating. I chose to go into first-class and waited for the conducter to kick me out of there. But, nope, I was ignored -- and as a matter of fact, I didn't see the conductor at for the entire one and one-half hour journey.

Helen Sims had printed me a map showing the route between the Paddington (London) train station and the youth hostel. So, upon arriving in London I set about walking the mile or so there. It was easy to find and it turns out the youth hostel is quite nice -- there is a shower and w.c. (yep, that my new term for the you-know-what). There are two bunk-beds there and I noticed another person had been there before me. I haven't had a chance to meet him yet. That'll come later, I'm sure.

After checking my bags at the hostel, I made my way to the Baker Street undersground station and found a tour-bus. I bought a ticket and started a 2-hour journey around much of London. I spotted a number of sites I want to see tomorrow and Thursday, including the London and Tate Museums. Upon arriving at the Tower of London (it's a prison as you know), I changed from the bus to a boat and went down the Thames River to the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Great fun. I stood on the Zero Meridian, with one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and one foot in the Western Hemisphere. I met the planetarium lecturer and took some nice photos of the 28" refracting telescope and the Transit Telescope at the Zero Meridian.

I went to see Iron Man tonight. Grrrreat movie. It is tongue-in-cheek and Robert Downey is very good. So, for those of you who like that kind of thing, I recommend it highly..

The photos I've uploaded include one of me on the zero meridian. There's a picture of Big Ben and Parliament as well as the Tower of London. Lots of folks "lost there heads there!!"

More later as usual......

Is it -- To be or not to be? Oh I don't know. It's the question, right? . OK, maybe you can tell that Roger, Helen, their kids and I went to Stratford upon Avon today. Yep, you're right, it's the birthplace of William "the Bard" Shakespeare. We visited his birthplace, a sturdy and beautiful house built in the the 16th Century or so. A nice attraction was attending the "Shakesperience", for a flavor of 3 or 4 of William's plays.

It was very nicely done, although not with live actors. It was a video presentation that took about an hour. We drove around this part of the country for a few hours, visiting little towns here and there. I invested 1-pound in a "duck race". The prize was 10-pounds. But, alas, a 7-year-old kid won the 10-pounds. Oh well, I'm not much of a gambler anyway, just ask Jennifer about that. My grandkids, Zoe and Oliver, would have loved it, though. But let me just explain that the ducks were yellow "rubber", carried down the river by the current. Most enjoyable.This evening, we all went to a traditional English pub near Roger and Helen's home. We had a great dinner, even greater beer and lots of laughs and talk.

Tomorrow, I'm off to London for 2 days of sightseeing and adventure. I'll be stay at a youth hostel in Westminister, not far from the city center. My plan is to take a "day tour" on a double-decker bus to get acquainted with the city, then I'll go off on my own. One important venue I intend visiting is the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. It is the site of some historical astronomical instruments and there the "zero meridian" is located. I'll have a picture taken of me with one foot in the western hemisphere and one foot in the eastern hemisphere!! Sounds cool, yes??

First full day in the UK. Roger and Helen took me around Gloucester and Stroud for a quick bit of sightseeing. Helen works at the Gloucester Cathedral as its music administrator, and helps keep the choir going. The cathedral was founded in 1541.

Roger is a retired Royal Navy officer who was in communications for many years. He now works in local government. During a visit to the docks in Gloucester, we watched a boat transit from the canals to sea-level through one of the docks. If you want to see where I am currently located, click this link. More later, as always...

Pictures: Cathedral at Gloucester, downtown Gloucester, Roger and Helen, me at the canal.

May 2nd. Well I'm just about on my way. The flight is delayed a little bit, but our plane just got to the gate. We'll board in about an hou. Next stop Heathrow!!

OK, so now I'm getting a bit nervous!! Oh, maybe just a little. I'll be leaving NEXT Friday for my trip to Europe. Meanwhile, I've been in Southern California for the past 10 days catching up on a variety of things. Spending some quality time with Jennifer has been great. We spent a very nice day Catalina yesterday. The weather her for the last day or two has been very hot -- in he 80's or so.

I'll be spending some time with my son and his family on Tuesday and Wednesday. My son, Ken, and I will be going to Yucca Valley to look at a house I'm thinking of buying. It is time to move along. I've been in Northern California for 47 years, so getting a new residence and a new perspective will be enjoyable.

More later

Farvel (Danish for good bye).

Dennis

Well, it's April 4th and less than 30 days before I leave LAX for Heathrow and my European adventure. I think I've finished getting the stuff I need. Yesterday I went to Any Mountain and purchased a Patagonia down jacket and matching down vest. These are both light and compress into a very small package. I was a bit surprised at the cost but feel it's better to have something to keep me warm and not wear it than to be cold and have nothing to wear! (did that sentence make sense?? ).

I was roaming around the Eurail website the other day and found a recommendation for a telephone. The company, Call in Europe, is located on the East Coast. Their phones are pretty affordable and the cost-per-minute is the lowest I've seen. So now I've got a phone and a mini-PC. I feel like I'm pretty well connected, and plan to call Jennifer, my kids and some other friends from Europe as I wander around the continent.

A friend of mine is going to France later this year and bought a Lingo language translator. I happened to see it work and decided to get one myself. So, it was off to Amazon.com for a quick look. I've gotten that in the mail also and have practiced with it a bit. I think it'll help me get around. It covers 5 language (English, Spanish, French, Italian and German) and will "talk" for me!! How's that for cool?

Well, that about it for now. More later....

Paalam, Dennis