Hello my friends... Yes, we are now back in London for our last leg of our adventures abroad....and we are at our B&B hotel near Victoria Station (the same one we stayed in when we first arrived). We set out today from Bath...it's been lovely (sunny and hot, roughly in the 80's! actually too hot and humid!) Upon arriving in the London area, we dropped off our rental car at Heathrow Airport by lunch time, so after getting a bite to eat we braved the London Underground Tube system once again. Having done this route before it was quite easy this time (we even gave help to another American traveling over here who couldn't figure out which station to stop at for Westminster Abbey...we're old pros now!). There was a bit more police presence and security officers about the stations than I recall...and the line that goes to Kings Cross station is not in service at all...but other than that things seem to be normal here (considering it was not quite a week ago that the bombings occured). We did read in the papers that they have identified the bombers ("home grown" Al Qaeda members here in Britain, living in Leeds...one was a teenager...made me think of a story line from our tv show "24") and they did confirm them as suicide bombers (the one on the bus was supposed to be on a train originally but had been rerouted due to the other bombings closing down the trains). They haven't confirmed that they are all dead yet though....and the death toll of victims keeps rising (I think it's in the 50's now) as they continue to uncover bodies (it's taking a long time cuz the tube tunnel collapsed in on the trains and they're having to dig it all out). But like I said...it seemed like business as usual on the trains...and we felt relaxed about our journey. Oh, I forgot to tell you about yesterday...we traveled to see Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles. WOW! Let me just say...it has been a tremendous feeling to see these sights over here! We decided to actually pay the entry ticket price of £5.50 to see Stonehenge (most people I know who have seen it have just stood outside the fence to look at it, but we decided to go in). Well...and my parents being SENIORS (over 60) have gotten lots of reduded rates at various sites in the UK and Ireland...so we have tried to do as much as we can anyways. We got to listen to an audio commentary and learn all sorts of history as we walked around the stones (on a path). Amazing! The thing is over 5,000 years old (kind of like Newgrange and Knowth in Ireland) built by unknown peoples for unknown purposes. We found out that the Druids most likely DID NOT use Stonehenge for sacrificial practices (as we were originally led to believe)...I think modern day man has made up it's own pagan legends and myths. Anyways...they really don't know much about the stones other than what they are made of and that they were brought from faraway and placed there. At Avebury (another place with a stone circle) the stones are right in the town! So you can walk up to them and touch them! Incredible! I really have enjoyed getting to see and learn about these ancient places...it's hard to describe being where you've only read about or heard about. Last night we had dinner at an outdoor cafe in the center of a "piazza" near the Roman baths and Bath Abbey...the light was that golden hour lighting, and there were musicians playing in the courtyard (a flute, a guitar, a violin), and the pigeons were flocked about waiting to be fed...it was so picturesque...such a lovely evening. Tonight we plan to go to the pub nearby and have dinner and a pint (I think I'll have the chicken curry). Tomorrow (Thursday) I think we'll set out for Westminster...we want to tour the Abbey if possible...and have another look at Big Ben and walk by the Thames for our last day in London. And again...I thank you so much for praying for us as we've been traveling around these past 5 weeks...you are such a blessing to me and my parents. I send my love to you from London. Cheers, Lisa
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