London

10 June 1986

Dear ones,

This is London so it must be Tuesday or is it the other way around? We drove in here yesterday afternoon about 5, without too much difficulty. We exited off the motorway orbital near Heathrow; and only asked once where we might find the hotel. An Englishman told us to follow him and he would point the way. We have found the English people to be very friendly and very helpful. So we have a hotel close to the airport, and not too far from the Volvo garage. So we figure the rest should be easy. We took the tube downtown today, and then found a tour bus. And took a ride around. Guess we got a good feel for the hugeness of the city, the many people, and the heavy traffic. Looked like a lot of the traffic was either busses or taxis, but guess people venture down there in cars, too. Even bicyclers! We were studying our maps once – not lost, we knew where we were but were trying to figure out how to get where we wanted to go. A fellow walked up to us and asked if he could help. And he did! Several have remarked to us that we weren’t scared off!

A week ago today we were still in Germany. We were heading northward, of course, and drove for a ways along the Rhine. We thought about driving into Cologne – the cathedral is outstanding – but we put it on the list for next time. And continued driving on towards the Netherlands. By following signs, we found a neat hotel, out in the country, but right on the Rhine.

Wednesday was a long day, but we planned on getting to England. So we drove through a corner of the Netherlands, on thru Belgium and some in France to Calais. There we put the car on a ferry and took a 75 minute ride to Dover, England. Drove on to the next little town, stopped at a house with a bed and breakfast sign. He could only put up 2, but he called a lady just down the block and she had room for 3. She served us a good English breakfast – (in contrast to continental [roll and coffee] breakfasts). We had bacon and eggs. It was reasonable but we felt a little strange in someone’s home. So we have looked for inns or hotels since. She warned us that when the English heard our American accents, they would up their prices – especially when we would buy antiques which aren’t marked. We haven’t bought any antiques so guess we’ve gotten along okay.

Thursday we headed back thru Dover and south and west along the coast. Vince wanted to get the feel of driving on the left hand side of the road before we tried the motorways or the bigger towns. But the little roads are slow – go smack thru the center of every town and village. It seemed like a long day before we stopped at a little town. We had stopped in a small town earlier in the day, and walked around a little, so it hadn’t been only driving.

On Friday, we drove to Stonehenge. It didn’t look like more than a bunch of stones in a field, but when you think that they are 4,000 years old, it becomes mind boggling. We then drove to the motorway so we could make some time. Wanted to get as far north as the Bradford, Halifax, area. Found a nice hotel just a short ways off the Motorway. They even had a swimming pool so Vince took a dip. And on Saturday we drove down to Brighouse. That is where Henry and Jemima Blakey lived when they were married. We nosed around the town awhile – I took the address of a Blakey still living in Rastrick, the village next door, and the place where Henry and Jemima lived when James was born. It was a neat day. We had decided to stay another night at the same hotel so headed back there. That was nice – not to have to find another place and lug the suitcases in!

But we checked out the next morning and headed north through some of the lake country. That was pretty – though lotza traffic. It’s like Minnesota lakes in the summer – real touristy. We walked around some in one of the little towns on the lake, had a cup of coffee and piece of cake. And then on the road again. Got as far north as Hadrian’s Wall. That is from 120 A.D. – stopped at a Museum, and then drove along where the road runs close to the Wall. Got quite close to Newcastle, and found a ‘hotel’. It was already 8 o’clock so we were tired.

That brings us to yesterday, and we started our drive to London. Took the Motorway – it goes faster and all the traffic goes the same way – and still it took most of the day. We did drive off a couple of times – once to find a bank so we would have enough pounds when we got to London. The owner of the hotel told us when we were checking out that 2 cars in the lot had been broken into during the night – we were lucky! Wouldn’t that have been an aggravation?!

So tomorrow is another day in London. Think Jene wants to go back into town. It should be easy – we know how now. Thursday morning we take the car to the Volvo place and leave it. Then we go to the airport!

Think we are all ready for the trip to be over. Vacationing can be tiring; we are ready to sleep in our own beds and take our clothes out of our own drawers and closets. We will probably have stories to tell for years to come. And just wait until you see our 14 rolls of film!

Hope to see all of you soon. Don’t know when we will feel like traveling again – can you come to see us?

Love, Verla and Vince