In London

Hello -
We've been busy with travel and sleeping at odd times to catch up to UK time, so this is the first chance we have had to blog.  So far, we are having a great time in England.  We are staying in a small inn outside of London in one 17 rooms housed above a pub/brewery built in the late 1800s, The Brewer's Inn (in Wandsworth, England).  The horse-loving person I am is enjoying the beautiful draft horse pictures on the walls of the days when they pulled the big beer barrel wagons. Amazing Full English breakfast each morning and lovely ales on tap for later in the day.

 

Yesterday I fulfilled my personal holy trinity of sports venues and we visited Wimbledon (the other two venues were Notre Dame Stadium and St Andrew's Golf Course).  Some of you know that I am a big tennis fan and this was a highlight of my life!  Our hotel is only about 5 miles from the suburb of Wimbledon so we didn't have to go far.  The tour was great and we got to see a lot of behind the scenes parts of the All England Tennis Club, including the interview room where I got to sit in the player chairs where they go after the matches to meet the press.  Centre Court was beautiful and we got to sit in the stands (the good seats) across from the Royal Box on court.  A goose bump moment as I imagined all my heroes through the years that have played and won the tournament.  Our guide provided us with Wimbledon history, even things I didn't know.  We followed our tour with lunch in the Wimbledon Cafe and a tour of the museum.  I won't go into detail about our shopping in the Wimbledon Store.

Later in the day, Paul and I introduced ourselves to the train station and headed into Central London.  We walked around Parliament Square and caught glimpses of Westminster Abbey and such.  Sadly, Big Ben is under construction and covered in scaffolding and hidden from view.  We tried to find a pub showing the Chiefs game but no luck, the only game the UK sports station showed was the Cowboys. 

I am writing this as I have my Full English breakfast and now going to get ready for a full day in London Town...stay tuned.