We didn't plan anything for today, and it turned out to be a nice slow day. After a late breakfast at the hotel we walked to Buda Castle. The changing of the guard happened to take place just as we went by. A bugle fanfare announced that something was about to happen, so we walked in that direction with lots of other tourists,and saw the short ceremony. Five soldiers performed the entire ceremony right in front of the building holding the office of the President ...

Since it took such a long time to get to the hotel from the airport, we planned plenty of time to get back there this morning. We had a friendly driver who talked about some of the sights along the way, but mostly he talked about his family and what it is like to live in London—all very interesting to us. He is a "proper Cockney" and, although he was happy to pick us up in the West End this trip, he was really glad to hear that we had stayed in Hoxton on ou...

Hampton Court and a night at the theatre were the main attractions for our last full day in London. We took the tube, then a Southwest train to Hampton. The train station is just across the Thames from Hampton Court, so we first stopped for lunch in a little garden café, and then crossed the bridge to see HamptonCourt. The maze at Hampton was what I was most interested in seeing. We did follow the audio guide through the kitchens and through Henry VIII’...

This was the longest day with the most sightseeing we have planned for the entire trip. We started with a full day tour to the southeast of London with stops at Leeds Castle, the white cliffs of Dover, the towns of Canterbury and Greenwich, and a river cruise back to London. We took a bus with about 25 other people, which turned out to be a nice size group. Leeds Castle was the first stop today. It has been called the loveliest castle in the world. The setting ...

On Tuesday we planned to sleep late to shake off the rest of the jet lag. We have found that as long as we stay up and keep moving on first arriving in Europe, then turn in early and sleep late the second day, we are able to get on the new time zone's schedule pretty quickly. The only thing planned for today was an inside visit to Buckingham Palace. During the late summer when the royal family is away, the palace is opened for tours of the staterooms and garden...