Another Day Trip to London

The opportunity came up to catch a ride to London on the Intel Swindon Social Club coach Saturday so we paid the nominal fee and hopped on - such a deal!

Rick and Amy prompted us with their generous gift of tickets to All My Sons in London as a thank you gift for the Colorado River trip. Alas, the best-laid plans often have bumps in the road but it all worked out in the end. The website that the tickets were purchased from turned out to be a scam. Fortunately, Rick was able to get his credit card refunded and we were able to pick up what appeared to be the last two tickets at the theater on Saturday morning. This is a fabulous show and we would recommend it to anyone. It takes you in from beginning to end and makes a strong statement.

The rest of the day we basically wandered from shop to shop along Regent Street and the surrounding area. I was on a mission to find just the right top to try out a new look, without breaking the bank in case it didn't fly. Mission accomplished. Stay tuned on how that works out! After the show, we hopped the tube for a visit to Harrod's. We spent some time in the food court but it was absolutely overwhelming so we opted for a nearby restaurant before heading back to the bus.

To back peddle a bit, we had a fabulous time visiting the home Karen and Andy on Friday night. Karen works at Intel and has been incredible about giving us information on the area and including me in things. Jim Sandrolini was in town from the states and joined us for dinner at their home. It was a really nice night! They have a side business, or hobby, of purchasing homes in the Cotswold's and then renovating them for resale. Their last project, a stone farmhouse I believe, is just about finished and then they were to start on the house that we visited. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about their plans for it. The property in the country is fabulous!

I also learned the proper way to prepare and serve English tea. Here it is:

• Boil the water
• Pour through the tea into the china teapot to steep
• Put cream into the cup before pouring in the tea

This morning I was excited to sleep in. A bike ride to Marlborough is on the docket but right now it is raining. The bike ride will have to wait until later in the day. Until then, I am off to book travel plans for our Scotland trip in a few weeks.

Cheers!