London (July 18 - 20)

We flew from Orlando to Gatwick on British Airways, arriving mid-morning. We took the local train service to St Pancras and then took a taxi to our hotel, The Holmes, located close to Baker Street Underground Station. As our room wasn't ready, we explored the neighborhood and stopped for a coffee and a sandwich. It was a lovely sunny day and we sat outside and enjoyed people watching. When we got back our room was ready and we had an afternoon nap..

In the evening, we met Paul's niece Jenny for dinner at our hotel.  We enjoyed hearing about her trip to Australia , her new apartment and her new job as a hospital pharmacist in London.

The next day, Thursday, we walked to an art gallery, The Wallace Collection, which was just down the road.

It was a large, eclectic collection, with paintings, miniatures and exceptional items of jewelry.

In the afternoon, we finally made it to Buckingham Palace and took the tour we had missed two years ago when The Queen died. We took The Tube to Green Park station and then walked through the park. It was a beautiful day, although very warm.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Palace,  but we did get some photos of the back of the Palace, where the garden parties are held.

In the evening, we went to The Globe, a reproduction of the theatre where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed.

The play was a modern version of "The Taming of the Shrew". The seats were VERY uncomfortable and because it's essentially outdoors, it was very hot. The actors weren't amplified and sometimes it was hard to follow the plot, but it was an interesting experience. 

On Friday, we took the tube out Ruislip, where we met with our friends Jackie and Terry. We arrived early, so we went for a coffee to kill time. Our main reason for the trip was to visit the Battle of Britain Command Centre, which is located on what used to be RAF Uxbridge. The base closed in 2010 and there is now an above ground museum and Visitors Centre, but the highlight is the Command Centre which is 60 feet below the ground.

Then down 76 steps to the bunker, sixty feet underground

After spending almost four hours at the Centre (two hours in the museum and two hours in the bunker) we went for lunch with Jackie and Terry. By the time we got back to central London, it was early evening and we decided to have a quiet night at the hotel.

Yorkshire Dales (July 20 - 24)

We took the train from Euston to Piccadilly, Manchester and picked up a rental car from Hertz. We drove to Middleham, stopping in Skipton to buy groceries. That evening, we drove into Middleham. We had a drink at The Richard III pub in the village square. It was a lovely evening so we sat outside and enjoyed freshly  fried cod and chips from the shop right next door to the pub. 

On Sunday, we drove to Ilkley, to meet our new grand-niece Adeline and her parents, Tom and Jodie.

As it was Sunday, we went to a nearby pub for Sunday lunch - Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

The new family seemed to enjoy the experience, although the baby didn't try the roast beef.

On Monday, we visited Freddie's grave and in the evening, had dinner with Felicity and her partner, Peter.

We also drove to West Scrafton and had a long chat with June, who seemed to be in good health,

On Wednesday, we drove to Hawes to meet up with John and Sharon at Simonstone Hall. We stopped at the Wensleydale Dairy (Creamery ?) on the way.

Belfast (July 25 - 27)

On Thursday, we left Yorkshire and Kristine met her sister and brother-in-law at a service station on the M6. Paul drove into Manchester and returned the (slightly damaged) car to Hertz. After a very busy check-in, he flew to Belfast to meet Sarah. Kristine followed the next day.

On Friday we went for breakfast with Emma and her partner. We had the full "Irish Fry".

That evening, after Kris had arrived, we went to see Emma's new house and Yoga studio,

The next day (Saturday) we went shopping in the morning. Paul bought Sarah a new TV. In the afternoon, Paul set up the TV and Sarah and Kristine went shopping to Marks and Spencer's.

In the evening we all went for dinner at the Frae Restaurant in Hollywood. Very trendy with lots of "sharing" going on.

On Sunday, Emma and Sarah drove us to Dublin Airport. We ran into crowds of football supporters going to a match in Dublin, but we still made it to the airport in good time and flew back to Orlando, arriving late in the afternoon.

*********************************************************************************************************************************