Whirlwind! Absolute blurr! How fast these three days have gone by, and what an experience! The bad news is our time together with Greg and Mary in London is done; the good news is we confirmed once again that we are good travel partners and plan to make many more trips together. We got along famously, we laughed until we cried. We found wonderful places to eat that offered things we all like which proved to be a little challenge since Mary, Stan and I will eat almost anything and Greg eats nothing slick and slimy like mushrooms or tomatoes and he cannot eat any form of fish or seafood. Even with these limitations, we ate well!! When the rest of us had blackbird pies the first night, Greg had a hamburger. But poor Greg, he seems to get knocked about a bit too. When Mary, Stan and I had chicken and bacon club sandwiches, Greg ordered a Rubin. His did not come. They did not get his order. Stan gave him half of his sandwich until the Ruben arrived - which looked worth the wait -- and then they split that one too.

We each are a little strong-willed so determining the best way to get to a particular point was always a joint effort. We'd plot it out at home and agree on the route but when we hit the streets and the underground stations, all our planning seemed to evaporate. The guys were of a like mind and tended to depend on looking for landmarks like a fountain pictured on a map, for example, or whether the hill is going up or down, toward or away from the river in order to determine the best path. The girls weren't satisfied until we confirmed street names and addresses and underground train line names. We also liked to confirm the direction of the train . . . one cannot just jump on a District line and expect it to be going in the direction of your stop. It does go both ways, just on different platforms. Both guys are far better at instinctively navigating the way but we girls got us out of a few jams with our maps and street names.

None of us rushed each morning as we rose. What a relief! We dressed, chatted, ate a little breakfast and got out of the apartment around 11 am each day. On Friday, we went to Kensington Gardens. We saw the magnificent Royal Albert Hall. Oh how I would love to see a concert there! When I think of the Royal Albert Hall I can still see Princess Diana on TV in my mind dressed in a stunning black gown gently rocking out to music by Paul McCartney.

We took photos of the Albert Memorial and talked about the love Queen Victoria had for the man. We walked through Kensington Gardens and found the famous Peter Pan statue. We toughed his hand for good luck, we photographed ducks and flowers, and we managed to dodge the occasional sprinkles of rain. We crossed the park to see Kensington Palace. They've moved the gates! On our first visit to London the gates and a fence lined the front of the royal home. Now the fence is gone, a new façade is on the front of the building around the front door and the beautiful gilded gates and section of fence is on display on the side of the palace.

We found the nearest underground station and headed to Harrods. I was not particularly excited about visiting this immense department store because while I find it the most remarkable display of exquisite merchandising and marketing display in the world, it is almost overwhelming, a complete overload for the senses. They give you a map of the store when you enter. One must never, never visit London without a short visit to the grand store though. Plus Mary's friend told her she simply must have a cupcake and coffee from their unbelievable gourmet food floor. Oh wow!!! The floor contains many rooms, one for chocolates, one for confections, another for coffees and teas, and one for exclusive gourmet items like champagne and caviar. Then, there is the meat and poultry room. I know it sounds like a butcher's shop, but oh my! The walls and the ceilings are decorated with beautiful painted frescoes and mosaic murals and the lighting is arranged so that it perfectly enhances the decor as well as all the food items. They offered aged beef, quail, sucklng pig, sausages of every variety, duck, goose, and pigeon; everything was expertly dressed, dry and simply a sight to see.

We bought our cupcakes and decided to escape the Harrods crowd and have our coffee at Starbucks. We sat at a bar along Starbuck's second-floor window. We enjoyed our cupcakes, coffee, a little rest and a grand view for people-watching on the sidewalk below. We could also try to identify and evaluate the many luxury cars driving past down below too. Londoners love their expensive cars!

As we strolled to our next underground station, we stopped at a Bang & Olufsen store. With nothing pressing remaining on nous agenda. Greg ly delisiand Stan struck up a techno conversation with one of the representatives and he taught them about the latest high-end audio and television systems. He took them downstairs and gave them demo a set of $68,000 speakers - he said he sold a set of them about once every fortnight.

We had Lebanese food at a popular restaurant in the neighborhood near our apartment. It was packed but we had reservations. The owner liked us and gave us complimentary appetizers and dessert. The kabobs were delicious and the complimentary artichoke dip for our flatbread was scruptious!

On Saturday, we took our bus tour - it had duration of 12 hours!!! We were exhausted, dirty and grumpy by the time the tour was done, so grumpy that we nearly had to save Mary from a fistfight on our bus ride back into the city. That red haired girl had been a pain all day. Then she insisted on having the bus driver stop, unlock the door to the onboard toilet so she could use it. It was locked because it was not working very well. They warned us before we left Bath, the last stop, to use the toilet before boarding the bus as the ride back to London was over two hours. Well, read haired girl paid no heed. Mary, just happened to say something under her breath and red haired girl heard it, and chastised Mary at great length. It was bit of a scene. Ooops! Well, no blows were thrown. Everyone left the bus a little shaken but in one piece. but we gave that girl the verbal what-for all evening later after we left her at the station.

We are not normally fans of tours. We prefer being on our own time schedules and like to avoid crowds. In this case however, the tour was the best way to see so very much in such a short period of time. All entry fees are included so there is no standing in queues for tickets and groups often get special entry so they can get in and out in a short period of time. We visited sites I never thought I'd never see. We toured Windsor Castle and its grounds. It is royal: it is set in the small village of Windsor and the castle itself is massive. The queen was present in the castle during our time there. Her flag was flying, and if we had had all day, we would have seen her as she was being driven to the Royal Windsor Horse Show that was taking place that day on the grounds. She loves horses so they say.

Next we drove to Stonehenge. I recall seeing photos of Stonehenge and being baffled and intrigued by the circle of massive stones in my Geography text book when I was a child. It was stunning to senses to actually see it. The remaining stones of Stonehenge and nearby burial grounds were put in place 2500 years before Christ, nearly 5000 years ago. Mind-boggling!

Talk about history, we visited Salisbury Cathedral. Oh, what a beautiful structure! While most churches of this size and grandeur were constructed over a period of several hundred years, the main portion of this 13th century church was built in only 38 years. The spire was added a few hundred years later. Because the foundation for the original structure was never intended to support such a large, heavy spire, today it leans 24 inches. Two things are of particular note about this cathedral; the short period of time to build the church and the fact that it houses perhaps the best-preserved, one of only four original copies of the Magna Carta. No, I never fathomed seeing such an old and important document with my own eyes. I read where both parties, King John of England and the group of rebel barons with whom the agreement was made, never kept their ends of the bargain, but it was the first germ of the beginning of the terms of a democratic society.

Our tour ended with a drive to Bath. Nice place. I wish we had had more time to spend there. It's a resort town with the only natural hot water Roman baths in England. Bath would be a lovely town to visit for a couple of days of pure relaxation, good food and of course, a Roman bath.