We landed at Heathrow Airport in London yesterday and were greeted by this guy. Imposter! No. Actually, this is Toby, our cab driver, who met us at Arrivals after we cleared UK Customs. Toby shuttled south us to Eastbourne, on the English Channel, a two hour drive. Our home exchange is a second floor condominium, … Continue reading →

Today we drove into Eastbourne for a lunch of fish and chips. Afterward, we walked out to the promenade along the beach to the Eastbourne Pier. Right at the entrance to the Pier, we came upon two British icons: the double-decker bus and the red telephone booth. The Pier was built in 1870 and, though … Continue reading →

After walking out on the Eastbourne Pier, we drove a little further down the coast to Beachy Head (I just love the place names here in England) where there are numerous hiking trails along the coast through farm and pasture land. It’s simply beautiful! From the top, we took a photo back toward Eastbourne. We … Continue reading →

On Thursday, which happened to be Maundy Thursday, the Christian holy day commemorating the Last Supper, we drove to Canterbury, the seat of the Church of England. The Church of England was established by Henry VIII in 1534 when the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry someone … Continue reading →

On Good Friday, we visited Pevensey, a village just five miles from where we’re staying. The English countryside is wonderful for hiking and there is a “country walk” (as the trails around here are called), starting at the Pevensey train station. After leaving the station, the walk follows the Eastbourne Road to the High Street … Continue reading →

Happy Easter, everyone! This afternoon, we decided to drive to Brighton, England’s version of Key West; it’s about 45 minutes west along the coast from Eastbourne. The weather here in England this Spring has been variable: cool and sunny one day; drizzly and cold the next. Today is drizzly and cold. After arriving in Brighton, … Continue reading →

Everyone has heard of the white cliffs of Dover: the chalky, sheer cliffs that are an English icon. We’ll get there on this trip; possibly, tomorrow. But, it turns out that the most beautiful white cliffs along the southern coast of England are those right near where we’re staying. The formation is called the Seven … Continue reading →

A couple days ago, we visited Pevensey Castle where William the Conqueror established a military base upon invading England from Normandy in October 1066. After William had set up his defenses at Pevensey, he and his Norman troops engaged King Harold and his Anglo-Saxon soldiers at the Battle of Hastings, just a few miles away. … Continue reading →

Yesterday, we drove to Dover to see the Dover Castle, the White Cliffs and the Ferry Port. It was a two-hour drive each way and well worth it. In this picture, you can see all three sites: Dover Castle on top of the bluff at the far left; a ferry leaving port, just to the … Continue reading →

The English heritage Trust has done a remarkable job of restoring the inside of the Great Tower and recreating a medieval atmosphere. The main entrance to the Great Tower is through a forebuilding, over an internal drawbridge, then up a flight of steps. Here’s the entrance through the forebuilding, taken from within the inner bailey, … Continue reading →

When the Normans, in the person of William the Conqueror, first arrived in Dover in 1066, they found that they were not the first ones there. Not by a long shot. In fact, the Romans had built a lighthouse on the bluff above the White Cliffs nearly 1,000 years earlier. And, there was a church … Continue reading →

We left Eastbourne yesterday morning for an excursion to Wales, although we’re taking a couple days getting there. I have enjoyed driving here in the south of England where the roads, though narrow, are always picturesque and the people pay attention to their driving, rather than trying to talk on the phone, text, eat, drink … Continue reading →

After breakfast yesterday, we took the extended tour of the interior of Salisbury Cathedral which included a 334 step hike up the spire, the tallest in Great Britain – at 404 feet! I know this because the Guiness Book of World Records has certified it, as evidenced by a plaque inside the spire where the … Continue reading →

As I previously mentioned, Salisbury has long been a busy crossroads and market town. In fact, it is claimed that the town was first settled as long ago as 500 BC during the Iron Age, although its location then was slightly north of town and the settlement was known as Old Sarum. The settlement was … Continue reading →

Late yesterday, before looking for somewhere to spend the night, we visited another ruined castle, Old Wardour Castle, built in the late 1300s as a noble family’s residence. The castle was not planned to be constructed for defensive purposes, but was supposed to be a luxurious and showy estate. And it no doubt was magnificent … Continue reading →

We stayed in Wiltshire County near Westbury last night, but just before checking in, we went looking for the Westbury White Horse, cut into the chalky hillside in 1742. Although it was raining, we drove to the top and hiked out to the overlook in our rain jackets. It was really cold. But the close-up … Continue reading →

Today, we traveled back in time even further than our other posts, back to 3,000 BC, to visit Stonehenge and the henge at Avebury. Uncharacteristically, I will not provide an historical background for these photos; mainly because the history of the henges is unknown, other than the fact that they were man-made about 5,000 years … Continue reading →

We’ve been staying in an old manor house for the last two nights that’s more than 500 years old. Our room is on the top floor in what used to be the attic. There’s not much of a story about the place that I know, but I thought I’d post pictures of it just because … Continue reading →

Today, we visited Bath, a city known for mainly four things: its Georgian architecture; its Roman Baths; its Abbey church; and, shopping. We partook of all four. “Georgian” architecture refers to the time-period of the Kings George, that is, the Hanoverian Kings, King George I through King George IV, who ruled Great Britain for most … Continue reading →

We are baseball fans. But while baseball has been with us since the mid-1800s, it’s just not as old as cricket, the British national past-time. It turns out that cricket – that other bat and ball sport – was first played in southern England (where we’ve spent our time, so far) way back in the … Continue reading →