Jurys Inn Swindon

... pretty streets, especially when all the Christmas lights are up, is a lot of fun.

On the Saturday afternoon we went on a bus tour to Stonehenge and the town of Lacock. Stonehenge was impressive, but the presence of hundreds of tourists, a highway nearby and the fact you can't get very close to the stones does marr the experience somewhat. It doesn't feel all that magical or spiritual.

I didn't know anything about Lacock, but am really glad I ...

... friend’s birthday party, Di and Ash took us on a lovely tour of Bradford-on-Avon, a delightfully quaint and whimsical little town. Our first stop there was The Bridge tea shop – where, finally, I had my huge scones with clotted cream and jam, and a delicious pot of tea! (Murray and Ash had outrageous cups of hot chocolate with mountains of marshmallows and chocolate flake!) The tea shop itself was really neat – housed in a former blacksmith’s ...

Willie and Kath came up for a few day's at half term in October, to catch up with Sid and Debbie and to get a wee rest if that is possible with two small children!! They went on a pumkin hunt at Blenheim but did not tdo the hunt , instead they had a fish and chip picnic in the park, and ran around with the kids all afternoon. Here are a few pic's mailnly of Maisie and Ruan.

... is quite big in the UK, the shops are full of Halloween stuff and dress up clothing! Elle and I decorated the front of the house with stickers etc. Elle had done a pumpkin at school and Jane found this battery operated light that switched on and off and changed colour. You'll see some lovely photos of us dressed up.

Elle's friend had a party for the kids and then they went trick a treating.. everyone in the neighbourhood was quite good except for ...

... was trying to avoid him by taking a picture really quick with the statue but he was quicker than I was! After my picture was taken with him, he started talking to us about heavy metal, and he was actually kind of funny...but I never ended up being able to take my picture with the lovely Ms. Austen.

We then caught our bus back to London and went to bed right away as we had to be up by 3:15am to get ready to catch a flight to Berlin.

... an Andean spectacled bear - there are not many of them left, I cut down blackberry bushes that are killing all the native vegetation on the Galapagos, I saw Lonesome George - the giant tortoise who is the last of his species, I walked on a glacier that will soon disappear, I drove along a road where the rainforest used to be, and drove and drove for hours to reach the forest. We are responsible for all that. Enough now. Just use less of ...

... Royal Manor at Woodstock (nearby village) and wrote him a check for £240,000 to build the palace. Since photography was banned inside the palace and I'm too cheap to buy postcards, I've "borrowed" the inside photos from various sources (credit them).

... the world (American business man behind us talking loudly about the value of his house in Austin and his new truck). The flight was uneventful and to be quite honest a little sad. We were going to miss Italy but the full impact of these thoughts would be delayed as we would be visiting friends in England for the next few days. Our arrival in London was successful and we were surprised to find that Alitalia actually delivered our bags this time. We were greated by our friend Cheri whom ...

I end up on a bus with 25 women from Vietnam. The trip is somewhat taxing and suddenly it turns out that my motion sickness is back. I get some pill from one of the passengers, and by the time we reach Stonehenge I begin to feel alive again.

Stonehenge is this pile of megalitic rocks brought from Wales by the Celts, although it's just one of the countless theories about this place. It is located on a vast plain in the middle of ...

August 13, 2000 – Sunday


London to Stratford to OxfordAfter the usual European continental breakfast, we headed off to Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon. We arrived in Oxford, and I was overwhelmed by the old, and I mean very old, buildings.

We toured a small part of Oxford University. There are over 30 colleges at Oxford and there really isn't a 'campus’ to speak of. Oxford is known ...