Last day before wandering to London.
Last day of the daily blog of this trip. Tomorrow we are in London proper for a week.
Today: A visit to Hampton Court palace and it's grounds. Then a boat ride to Kew for a last evening in"rural" Thames.
Traditional British pie for lunch along with mushy peas some amazing folded napkins. The great vibe visited thanks to Yasmin. The kitchen, as Bobby pointed out, was the highlight.
Thames river boat to see the final rural section of the river.
Royal horticultural show at Hampton court. We were not the only people there. Very crowded as expected.Very well organized event.
Of special interest to us:
Solar drip rain barrel irrigation with flow control, irrigatia.com
Air pot.com improved root control and growing improvement
Drought resistant garden, QB has the planting list.
Some roses of note as well as Japanese maples.
Wonderful lavender garden
And the concept gardens of course.
Friday 8 July
Busy weekend here as this is both the Royal horticultural society flower show as well as Wimbledon week and finals.
A rest day after the 15+ mile walk yesterday. See the show tomorrow. Enjoyed the warren house and its interesting property, building and grounds.
While not for today, a new virtual tour of Westminster has just been released. Worth a gander.
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/virtual-tour
Thursday 7 July no rain forecasted
We made it!
Another easy path day. Thames, as expected, is becoming more urban and complete with more pubs and towns on the path.
Walton bridge: earlier one painted by both Canaletto and Turner. Bridge collapsed replaced by a 2013 variety.
Doombar outside of Sudbury. Then a celebratory ice cream near some very large houseboats.
Finished the planned walk and book at Hampton Court palace. Very crowded as expected due to the Royal Flower show, apparently the largest in the world.
Public bus to our hotel as no way to get a taxi with the crowds. Surrey buses do not transfer to city buses, they are feuding so no transfers, one takes cash only, the other contactless only. Could not pay for QB, only one payment per card permitted, Sir. They don't need the EU for regulations.
6 July no rain forecasted, nice day
First stop Runnymede. Kipling poem suitable for an anthem. Kennedy memorial and other signage.
Lovely bronze piece, the jurors, as well as the Kennedy and American bar association memorial. No bronze of king John or the barons. National trust caps did not mention the magna carta. No tea shirts. One shopping bag. So much for marketing.
Staines: the George. Doombar, free house, large place with discount beers
Just past the staines bridge, the London Stone, marking the upstream extent of the city of London as granted by Richard I to raise money.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Stone_(riparian)
5 July Tuesday no rain forecasted
Windsor Castle does not allow a circumnavigation of the castle.
Visit to st. John the Baptist, parish church of Windsor with its 1600 painting of the last super.
So we wandered around seeing if we could go around it and a wide way and ran across the Queen's Gardens Farm Shop
The wander turned into an 8-9 mile wander. Pleasant on dry weeded paths and sections of B roads.
Monday 4 July no rain forecasted
This is an appropriate day and holiday to invite our good British friends to return under much better circumstances then when they left in the 18th century. Unlike the EU we will welcome you. Brexit can mean Amen,American entry.
Oh, it is OK for you to bring tea. We have lots of milk.
Windsor and Eton walk, historical tour as per our book. No mud. Old buildings Eton has extensive grounds for such s small school; about the cost of Stanford.
Many birds on the river.
We extended the walk by heading up to the statue of George III. Ran into BBC one filming a series on family pets: women on horses. They were riding back and forth.
Asked the BBC film crew why the stature looked more like cesear with a wreath. Well, he liked to dress up.
3 July no rain forecasted
Recovery day for QB. Some aimless wandering and some napping.
Evensong, this time at
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Chapel,_Windsor_Castle
The most formal of the four visited. Unfortunately QB remained resting in the hotel, the cold being the cause.
Beautiful chapel, the size of a cathedral, inside Windsor castle.
Call and responses of psalms in gregorian style , readings, hymns and affirmations by the congregation, an anthem written for the Queens 90th, a special prayer for her, the order of the garter, the British parliament in theses times of uncertainty, and the children.
Excellent organ music and acoustics.
2 July no rain forecasted
Longer walk today than some others, 15 + miles. Another MacDonald hotel where we will stay several nights – explore, visit, relax sore feet.
Exceptionally good and easy walk to Maidenhead. Good paths, great views, houses to peek into, lots of river traffic at big locks, the biggest and most famous being Bolton. Sunny, mostly.
The second stretch to Windsor was equally fine. Good paths and find views ending with our first sighting of the very large Windsor Castle.
QB continued on, hacking away with a newly developed cold. Nose running full bore.
July 1 rain a maybe, did not materialize
Walking is an interesting example of the principle of least action. Action, a mathematical formula with two energy terms and a path integral, is basically equivalent when walking to: the least effort path.
Minimize the action, least action, by finding a path that minimizes stepping over rocks, around or through mud, not tripping on roots, and avoiding overhead branches.
Most walks, including today, are an instinctive example of finding the least action.
Easy walk to Marlow. Bridge here one of only two suspension bridges remaining by …., the other in Budapest.
Some different countryside along today's path.
Nice Scottish run hotel with some staff that are understandable.
Dinner at the Michelin starred chef's Indian restaurant.
Excellent but not as good as Muru,Bobby, or Yasmin
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