Long time no blog. Just been too busy. Back into London on July 7 for a day of shopping and an evening of theatre – saw Billie Elliot at the Victoria Palace. It was absolutely fabulous. So much talent – such a moving story. Cried my eyes out. God that kid can dance. Stayed at a boutique hotel in the Victoria Station area called the Georgian. Just about big enough to change your mind in... but perfectly adequate as we didn’t exactly spend a lot of time in the hotel. Up early the next morning to catch a bus (or should I say coach) out to Stonehenge.

This was a really awesome experience as we arrived at the site before it was open to the public and were allowed to go inside amongst the stones which is very, very prohibited these days – only a couple of opportunities a week – and we were among them. Very remarkable - the mystery persists: how did Stone Age people accomplish this? The plausible explanations developed just don’t answer all the possible questions. Not only how, but why? And where did they get the science and the ability to compute? And to what purpose? A beautiful marriage of science and faith. Mystery.

After leaving Stonehenge the coach carried on to Bath and we had the opportunity to visit the ancient Roman Baths. Also quite an experience as we stood inside the spa of 1,800 years ago. The water still runs very warm through the baths at a rate of several million gallons a day. What a spot. Though much of the Roman structure has been destroyed, what remains gives you a pretty good idea about how they took care of themselves in this “outpost” of the empire. Clearly they were well established a felt right at home in Britannia. Cool.

Back to London in late afternoon, and as we had a free evening on our hands, we decided to see another show and got last minute tickets to Wicked. It was light and fun and just gorgeous to look at, but not nearly the experience Billie Elliot was. Wish we had seen them in the opposite order – if we’d seen Wicked first we’d have been blown away by the costumes and music and sets and design... but we were left thinking: but where’s the story part of the story?

Friday, our last day in London, we had to make some choices since we were now down to hours and could not see it all. I went for the National Gallery and Dave for the Military Museum, and both were well satisfied. After four hours with the Masters, I was exhausted. Headed over to Covent Gardens for a wander around, a bite to eat and a sip of Pimms. I have no idea what this drink is, but it’s tasty and it makes me happy on a hot day. What the heck else could a person look for in a beverage?

Caught the train out in the late afternoon for Bookham (Leatherhead) for a visit with Dave’s cousins John and Anne, and early next morning headed north. We’ll be visiting a couple of days with Dave’s Aunt and cousins in Newark-on-Trent, take in the sites of Robin Hood’s legendary stomping grounds, and then we are on our way to Scotland. First stop, Hadrian’s Wall. Second stop, Jedburgh!