June 25 -- Back to the U. S. of A.

This was and early starting day. Everyone was up by 6 AM. The taxi to take us to the airport would arrive at 7 and we of course needed to be ready. We got things loaded up into the taxi and said our goodbyes to Melanie and we were off to the airport. The trip to Heathrow was uneventful. It's much more of a challenge to get you bags to the terminal if you have a lot of them and we did. Fortunately the trolleys were free so we loaded one up and off we went. I had checked in the night before so all we had to do was get our identities verified and we were then off to security.

All of us were either scanned after going through the metal detector or had our luggage searched. It was not big deal. The folks were very courteous and had a sense of humor about the whole thing and we didn't have to take our shoes off. Even with the delay it was much more pleasant that have TSA do the same thing in this country. I think the biggest difference is the attitude of the people doing the screening. Any way that got accomplished and we were off to get some breakfast.

We all expected breakfast at Heathrow to be very expensive but it turned out to be very reasonable and very tasty as well. The passenger waiting area was like as shopping mall with a large food court and plenty of bars. The gate assignment came up about 15 minutes before boarding time that had actually been delayed about 30 minutes due to late arrival of the aircraft. Got on board after going through another security procedure and we were ready to go. The pilot came on the intercom and said we would be delayed because the airport went into one runway operation. So we didn't push back and taxi for takeoff for about another 30 min.

The flight to Chicago was very pleasant. The flight attendants were very attentive. All-in-all it was a very pleasant flight even for being in the cheap seats.

Got the bus to Waukesha about an hour and a half after we cleared customs and retrieved our baggage. Seemed to take forever for the driver to get the bus loaded and we finally left the airport about 5 PM or so. Nice trip back to Waukesha but my butt was really sore from sitting all that time. With errands still to run and dinner to eat we finally got to bed between 9 and 9:30. We were all hoping for a good night's sleep.

June 24 -- Last Day in London

Another lazy morning to start the day. We did finally make it out of the house though at about 11:00 this morning. Melanie pointed us to the British Museum and she went to the London Eye to perform a task for me. She also had a couple of conference calls to take for work this afternoon. We walked around the Roman period of the Britain for about 45 minutes. We initially went there for a tour but the volunteer never showed up. So we decided to browse around the area until about 12:00 and then get back together. While I was browsing Mel called and said she had retrieved my property, woo hoo! I was quite elated with that. It took her about an hour to weave her spell on the unsuspecting security folk and others at the Eye.

Once we all met up again we decided to meet at 13:30 in the lobby near the main entrance. There is so much to look at in the museum that it would take days to get through it all. Everything I looked at was amazing. I can't believe the British stole all that stuff from around the world. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Bonnie went to look at the porcelain exhibit in the China section. She was impressed as well.

Melanie met up with us at 13:30 in the lobby. From here we went to get some lunch at Gail's Kitchen near the museum. Lunch was quite delicious and inexpensive, Melanie picked up the tab. Mel had another conference call to attend to so Ed, Kay, and I went to the corner coffee joint and had coffee and dessert. Bonnie joined us shortly after and said her and Mel were going to go shopping after the conference call was done. So we headed back to the house and left Melanie and Bonnie to go shopping. When we got back to the house we had a lazy time again. Soon we will be off to eat at the pub. Last dinner in London until next time.

It's now 19:30 and we are off to dinner at the Draft House. Our last burgers and beers or wine were very good and the company was marvelous. It seemed warmer this evening that it had been all day. An enjoyable dinner. Printed the boarding passes. Printed the bus tickets. Have the car coming at 0700 in the morning. Packing is nearly done. I think we are ready to go. The next entry will be from the United States of America.  Thanks for reading and there will be a couple of more entries with general observations and the results of our journey across the "pond".

June 23 -- The Day After

Another lazy day was had by all today. Bonnie, Kay, and I went to church this morning. Bonnie was welcomed warmly by a couple of the parishioners that she became acquainted with last winter. We stayed for a cup of coffee and a biscuit some chatting and then were off to the house.

When we got back we snacked for lunch on leftovers from the party. Surprisingly there were not that many to be had. There were just a couple of pieces of chicken, three or maybe four sausages, a little jello salad, and some potato salad. They all made a very nice lunch. We hardly left the house this day. It looks like everyone is pretty much ready to get on an airplane and go home.

Watched a few episodes of Dr. Who in the evening and then we were off to bed. This was indeed a very quiet day.

June 22 -- Solstice Party

The day started out rainy and windy. We had our usual breakfast, everyone had something different. Got the things cleaned up from breakfast and then began the to finish the preparation for the party this evening. Ed finished the potato salad and put in in a serving bowl. Bonnie made a quinoa salad. And we all pitched in with miscellaneous and sundry tasks. By 5 PM we were pretty much all ready to go. We started snacking on the hors d'oeuvres as soon as we started putting them out.

Our guests started arriving at 18:30 right on schedule. Melanie has a wonderful group of friends in the UK. We all had a great time. The Alaska smoked red salmon was a smash hit. The reindeer sausage was very well received. But the biggest surprise of all was that everyone thought the teriyaki chicken we marinated was the best ever. We passed out recipes for those who wanted them. And everyone said we should bring more salmon and sausage when we return.

The last guest left at about 23:30 and it took about an hour to clean everything up. Just left a few small finishing tasks for the morning. We all got into bed after a wonderful evening.

June 21 -- First Day of Summer

Today was a day of preparation for the big solstice party tomorrow. We had ordered the groceries on Thursday and they were to be delivered today. Melanie got a call from the grocery and they wanted to delivery early and that was not a problem. We got the counter tops in the kitchen cleared for the delivery. Once delivered we put the stuff away and began the preparation. The chicken was cut up and the marinade made. Bagged them together and into the fridge they went. Ed and Kay made potato salad. The first batch of potatoes was used for dinner since it was left to cook too long and would not slice well for the salad. But it all got put together and I'm sure it will be wonderful. Bonnie and Mel made dessert as well, an orange jello concoction that is Kitty Flint's creation. It's pretty tasty I might add especially if you like oranges.

Various errands had to be in the midst of all this kitchen commotion. Had to still go to the store for things we forgot to order. Went to the post office to send post cards. Went for walks in Wandsworth Common. Miscellaneous and sundry other things.

The weather was nice today. Sunny most of the time and temps in the 21-23 C range. It was a Goldilocks day, not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

Oh, and the saga of the personal property is at an end. The police department isn't willing to help me out. Sorry Bob I really tried to get it back. I hope whoever ends up with my beautiful, functional, spectacular knife will enjoy it as much as I have over these many years.

June 20 -- St. Pauls Cathedral & Westminster Abbey

We had eggs and left over sausage from breakfast this morning, yummy. Mel set-up and order form for a local grocery to have a delivery made on Friday. The list was quite extensive and included beer and wine for a solstice party on Saturday evening. Got that all figured out and submitted and tomorrow will stay close by so they can deliver the groceries between 11 and 12.

That done and off we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Took the tube right to St. Paul's station. The cathedral is really spectacular. We were given a player and headphones as part to the admission. The players were very nice and gave a lot of information about the cathedral you would not get just browsing around. While we were there there was a young people's choir from Singapore that performed. Their 40 minute or so concert was really good. All of the pieces they did were contemporary and I like more "traditional" sacred music but that's me. They were really good! We had lunch here as well. Lunch was reasonably priced and tasty.

We walked around in the crypt for a while. Watched a portion of the movie they show. The format of the movie is something I have not seen before. It takes a long time to go from subject to subject so the movie is probably much longer than it need be. Of course it may be designed that way so you move on after a short period. The different way the vaults and "tombs" are done in the crypt is quite interesting.
There a some vaults that have been there for a long time.

I was feeling poorly, so instead of accompanying the "gang" to Westminster Abbey I went back to Mel's by my self. Remembered the way without a problem. When I got back to Mel's I laid down and woke up at 10 PM. I guess my problem was that I was tired.

The reports that Westminster Abbey was very nice and enjoyable. I have been there before and was truly amazed at all of the things commemorated in the abbey. Since I didn't make the trip this time and the report was sketchy there won't be any more about the abbey in this entry.

The saga of property recovery continues.

June 19 -- The London Eye, Harrods

On the 18th I purchased tickets for Kay and I go on the London Eye. Our tickets were for 11 AM on the 19th. We had a leisurely breakfast this morning and took our time about getting going since our time was late. It was a warm day, 70s but high humidity. We went to the "4D" Experience when we arrived at the Eye. It was interesting. It was free you don't have to have a ticket for the Eye to see the 4D Experience. After this was over we went to the queue to go on the eye. Our tickets were scanned and then we get up to security and they ask if you have any knives. I tell them I have a pocket knife. Since my knife has a blade that locks in place they confiscate it. Telling me that carrying a locking blade knife in the UK is illegal. This starts the ongoing saga of trying to get my property back. As of Friday still no luck but I'm working on it. But I'm not confident I will be able to recover it. Anyway, the experience on the Eye was enjoyable for Kay. I was very angry so my time on the Eye was not very enjoyable.

After this trip, we went to the Kennington, London Police Station to inquire about my options for retrieving my knife, no luck but more information. Next we went to the American Embassy. Not much help there as well but again more information.

From there we went to Harrods Department Store. I personally thought is a waste of time but Bonnie and Kay enjoyed the experience, I think. They bought some souvenirs for people back home. We had lunch there as well but there a much better lunches to be had in the area of Harrods for probably half the money. Just an example of the prices, a dinner salad or side salad cost £ 7.50, a 300 ml bottle of Coke is £ 4, and a cheeseburger is £ 18. I personally think that is outrageous, but then what do I know? My brother marveled at the price of an "ugly" sculpture that was selling for £ 240,000. I guess some people have money to burn. They do have very beautiful things sitting beside the ugly things as well. But the ugliest thing about the store is their prices.

We stopped on the way home to buy some groceries and had caribou sausage, Alaska, and boar sausage, UK, for dinner with stir fried vegatables. A nice quiet evening at Mel's and then we were off to bed.