Today we went to York, our furthest day trip so far. It took two hours by express train (120 mph I think). The other trips we’ve made have been on much slower trains with more stops.

We began by going to a museum on the history of York. The area around York is full of fossils from various small snail-like sea creatures. There were a few rooms dedicated to the dinosaur age with lots of evolution junk that didn’t really have to do with York

We started the day by going to the Royal Air Force Museum. It took a while to get there because we had to get off the underground and walk a little ways and then get on a different line and go for another while. Then we had to walk for about 15–20 minutes to get to the actual museum. The museum consisted of four large buildings with lots of planes. Lots of planes.

Today we went to Warwick (pronounced war-ick). Warwick is the site of a very old medieval castle. Today, the castle grounds are what I’d call a Renaissance Festival mixed with a real castle. There were all sorts of activities that you could do on the grounds, most of the activities were a bit young or costed additional money. The castle became a palace at some point and changed hands many times. We were able to walk through the palace and learn about the various owners. I found it interesting how many of the royalty in Europe were intermarried at the outbreak of WWI, yet it didn’t prevent the war. Talk about a family feud…

Today was another full day in London. We started out by going to Greenwich, the location of the Prime Meridian and the location where Greenwich Mean Time is calculated.

Before going to the observatory, we went to the Cutty Sark museum. The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest clippers in its day. It primarily transported tea from Shanghai to London but also made trips to Australia. The boat is elevated so that you can view the underside of the vessel. It is also elevated to relieve the unnatural pressure on the bottom of the boat which was damaging the ship.

Today we went to Stonehenge. The journey took over two hours. We went by underground to the train station, and took the train to Salisbury. From there we boarded a bus to the Stonehenge Visitor Centre. The displays explained some of the archaeological features of the area. Stonehenge is part of a vast complex of mounds, ditches and other (less impressive) structures. The stones of Stonehenge were erected around 2600 BC, about the same time that the Great Pyramid was built. The structure is an engineering wonder for a people who didn’t have the wheel. As the people who built Stonehenge didn’t have a written language, it is unknown exactly what the structure was used for. There are some clues however, for example, the sun is aligned through the stones on the Spring Equinox. It is likely that Stonehenge was a religious-scientific centre where the ancient people of the area worshipped, gave sacrifices to their gods, and observed the heavens.

Today we got up fairly early to go to the Tower of London, the castle around which London was built. We began by going to see the Crown Jewels, the Royal collection of precious metals, gems and other Royal items. Many crowns worn by various royalty and some other things like sceptres are on display. The movies sure don’t exaggerate the brilliance of the crowns worn by royalty, One interesting thing about the things on display in the Crown Jewels exhibit is that they are still used today.

Today we had a late start, about 9:00. We began by riding the underground to Tower Bridge, the drawbridge that everyone thinks is London Bridge. We did the Tower Bridge Experience which took up to the bridge walkways, the ones above the drawbridge opening. The displays talked some about the history and making of the bridge. They had a glass floor where you could look down on all of the people and cars down below. It wasn’t very scary because the glass had little black dots on it at regular intervals.

Today we went on an excursion to Bath, the town built around the only hot spring in Great Britain. To get there, we had to ride the underground to Paddington Station where we got a train to Bath Spa. The ride took two hours. I slept most of the way so I don’t remember much of it.

We started by going to the main attraction in Bath: the Roman Baths. Built by the Romans staring in AD 43, the site was forgotten and silt from the nearby river gradually covered the area after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Baths were not discovered again until the late 1800’s. The hot springs didn’t cease to function and the area had a lot of activity in between those periods. Initially it was mainly poor people who used the waters for healing purposes, but then the Queen came and was healed of her rheumatism and suddenly, Bath was the place to be if you were anybody. An entire structure was built around the hot spring, but the Roman Baths were not discovered for another few hundred years. After it was discovered excavations commenced. The best preserved Roman ruins north of the Alps (or so claimed our the guide) were unearthed.

Today was our second day in London. We spent our morning at St. Paul’s Cathedral and went to the British Museum in the afternoon.

After a breakfast of bread, cheese, and prosciutto we went to Shepherd’s Bush station and caught the Central Line to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was pretty obvious where to go from there since the dome of St. Paul’s loomed overhead. We started by using Rick Steve’s audio guide through the cathedral. We began at the entrance and proceeded down the knave (the place where you sit during services). Then we went around the Quire (the area where the choir sits) to the main altar. Behind the main altar is a memorial to the American soldiers who fought to defend Britain during WWII. We then came back around and went up the stairs into the dome itself. The first level is called the whispering gallery because you can whisper to the wall and someone all the way across the dome can hear you. It’s really cool. Then dad and I climbed up to the next level where there’s a good view of London. I climbed all the way to the top and there was an even more spectacular view. I could see all of the main sights of London. We then went back down and got the audio guides provided by the church. We listened to some of that commentary and then proceeded to the crypt. Many famous people were buried down there. The remains of Sir Christopher Wren, the builder of the cathedral, are down there along with memorials to many fallen soldiers and heroes of war.

Today was our first full day in London, England. We decided to start with a panoramic hop on-hop off bus tour. To get to the bus tour we had to go to Trafalgar Square to get tickets. We went to the Shepherd’s Bush metro/tube/underground station and bought passes. The man that assisted us was very helpful. To get into the subway, you have to touch your card on a sensor (I’m guessing it uses NFC) and a gate opens for you. We took the Central Line to Oxford Circus (which apparently doesn’t have anything to do with a circus) and then transferred to the Bakerloo line to Charing Cross. It was a neat experience, especially for a suburbs boy like me.