Day One

Monday May 1st arrived, and I had a lovely reception by the tour manager and Alison Weir, the writer, later in the morning, after breakfast. I got all my belongings together and got on the bus ready to leave London and start this tour! There were 34 participants including myself; we had four Aussies, and all the rest were Americans. It proved to be a very good group. Everyone mostly got along, and I made some nice friends. I had a great bus mate, with a great sense of humor, so that made the bus much more fun than it might have been! We laughed together throughout the tour.

One of the historians, whose name is Michael Jones, a specialist in military history and also the co-author of the book on the discovery of Richard III (a whole other fascinating subject, if you are interested) spoke on the bus about “chivalry,” which was the tour’s theme. We then arrived at the grounds of Otford Palace in Kent, which are beautiful ruins located in a lovely village, and at one time were as important as Hampton Court to Henry VIII. It was nice to get off the bus and walk around.  

The remains of Otford Palace

This was followed by Alison Weir speaking about Hever Castle, where we would be staying for the next 10 days.  Oh, my heart be still; I love Hever!  We got to the castle in Kent and checked into the part of the castle which serves as a Bed & Breakfast, followed by a drinks reception in the castle courtyard with a musician. We then had a welcome dinner in the Long Gallery. The exciting part of this dinner was that we were joined by the curators of Hever Castle -- Owen Emerson and Kate McCaffrey. Owen was at my table and was a complete Anne Boleyn fanatic, so it was so interesting to listen to him.  Of course, by then everyone was tired, but this tour stuck to its schedule, and at about 10:00 pm there was a visiting historian named Richard, who came in and talked about "magnificence." This mainly had to do with different items throughout Europe that belonged to various kings and queens, which were of great historical value.  It was very interesting but, again, I was tired and happy to drop into bed later.

Fell in love with my room

My lovely view of the back gardens

Here We Go!!!

Our Alison Weir Tour Overview

Hopped on the plane over the pond and landed in London.  Luckily, all very noneventful. Took a taxi to the Royal Horse Guards hotel which is located on the River Thames. The location of the hotel was right near the Embankment Tube stop, so totally convenient for everything!

Lovely Royal Horseguards

Got myself checked in, put my walking shoes on and took the Tube to Kew Gardens. Luckily it was a very nice day, so the gardens were gorgeous. It was very busy, and I was happily surprised to be able to visit Kew Palace, which was the home of George III and Queen Charlotte, for any of you  Bridgerton fans out there! It was not supposed to be open, but it was, and I was so happy to even get to visit the Queen's gardens behind the house, which were lovely. 

Welcome to Kew

Loved the lily ponds

Kew Palace

I left the gardens in the late afternoon, not seeing everything, as it was such a large place, and took the Tube over to the Fortnum & Mason flagship department store. I love this store and used up a lot of my credit on the Visa card on coronation goodies, including a few tea towels, of course. The place was humming with activity and people were buying like there was no tomorrow.  I think everyone was excited for the coronation. It was very fun, and I had a good time just looking at everything.

Coronation goodies

I gathered up all my bags and I took myself back to the Tube (again!) and returned to my hotel a bit to relax. On the way, I met a French bulldog named Ellie and would have adopted her, if it weren’t for my dear Chip at home.

The hotel was really swanky, and I chose to stay there because my tour was congregating and departing from here in the morning. It was great to be in a nice place as I was pretty tired, and London has become a bit overwhelming. I think it has grown since I was last there. Such a multicultural, fast-paced place. Still, I love it! 

That evening I walked minutes from my hotel to the Sherlock Holmes Pub, where I enjoyed fish and chips, along with an English shandy.  I then dropped into bed in the hopes the five-hour time change was not going to be much of a bother. 

Loved this pub!