Tour day

 We were asleep last night at 7 PM and woke up at 0630 having been awake a couple hours in the middle of the night.

The hotel had a continental breakfast at no extra charge so after a quick bite we were out the door at 0720 and walked to the tour pick up location near Victoria station.

The bus left right on time at 0800 and an hour later we arrived at Windsor Castle to a scene of organized chaos. By the time our tour group got its tickets and we passed through security we had only an hour to tour. Caro and I skipped the lineup for the free audio guide and just hoofed to the highlight areas. These were the state apartments and St.Georges chapel.

The state apartments were wonderful and St. Georges was gorgeous. Caro had watched the Queen's funeral which took place in the chapel so she told me as much as she could regarding where the casket was etc.

The stop was wonderful but two hours too short (and the miserable weather didn't help).

On our way to Stonehenge we passed the Royal Ascot race track. Neat!

An hour and 20 minutes later we arrived at Stonehenge. Gee, it looks exactly the same as when Charlie and I came here 42 years ago! The stones are the same but the visitor centre is three kilometers away ( however there are free shuttle buses to and from). We were able to walk around the henge in 20 minutes or so.

The tour carried on towards the city of Bath going through a beautiful area called the Cotswolds (I believe). In Bath we did not go with the majority of the group as they went to the Roman Baths museum while we preferred to walk the down town. What a pleasant surprise this place was. I hadn't really expected much and we were only there because the tours to Windsor Castle and Stonehenge also went to Bath. We walked along the river bank,ate a Cornish meat pie pastry and used our time well.

The bus ride home took 2.5 hours making the day a long one at 12 hours. We were let off at a different location than our pick up spot however we are very familiar with the Tube and were soon back at Victoria station. On our way back to the hotel we picked up some snacks and relaxed for a bit before going to bed.