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My visit with Mom started with her meeting me in Hull. I showed her the campus and had lunch before she and Anne Short, her
friend and travelling companion, had to leave for York. Unfortunately, I was unable to go with her to see more of York.
The next weekend was when I really got to visit with Mom. I met her in London on a Friday evening. Following a quick dinner
at a pub, we made our way to the New Globe Theater. It was there that I saw The Tempest, starring Vanessa Redgrave.
This is also where I got Mary [girlfriend at the time] a replica of a ring found in the excavation of the Rose Theater. The
play was wonderful. It was really and enjoyable experience mulitiplied by the fact that it took placein Shakespeare's Globe
Theater. On the way back to the hotel from the theater, we passed Tate Museum of Modern ARt. This is an art museum housed
in an old power plant. It had gained some noteriety by the time I hit London.
On Saturday we got up and caught a tour headed for Windsor and Windsor Castle. Both the town and the castle are simply breathtaking.
In Windsor there were so many interesting sites and shops that a week would barely suffice to see them all. We saw a house
that was crooked because the wooden foundation couldn't fully support the stone upper levels. This house was (and still is,
as far as I know) located on a street that is around three hundred fifty years old. This gave me almost the same feeling
I had at seeing the 1900th anniversary coin in York. There aren't really words that can accurately describe the feeling you
get when you see simple things like a coin or a street that are at least half again as old as your entire country.
Windsor Castle was one of the best places I have visited so far on the trip. It is also up there on my list of "The Coolest
Things I Have Ever Seen." I love castles, and this did not disappoint me by any stretch of the imagination. I was awestruck
from the first moment I saw it and all its battlements nad towers. I was privilaged enough to see the changing of the guards
at the castle. This was impressive, but the castle itself is the true bright spot of the trip as far as I am concerned.
Truthfully, I prefer the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but that is just one man's opinion. It's
like choosing between a Lamborghini and Ferrari. Both are cool given the right circumstances and it all depends on the mood
of the person. Anyway, I digress. I would have to say, in typical guy fashion, that my favorite room in the castle was the
weapons room (armory?). There was just ssomething about it that got my attention more than anything else. The entire castle
was majestically amazing. I hope I get to see many more like it.
After we finished gawking at Windsor Castle, we returned to london. We took on of the numerous bus tours of London. This
way I got to see as much of London as possible. I was Big Ben and Parliament, Trafalgar Square, The Tower of London, Buckingham
Palace, The Millenium Wheel, and the HMS Belfast. When the tour was over, we had dinner at the original Hark Rock Cafe.
It was established in 1971 and started the chain that has made its mark all over the world. It was also the first American
food I had had in quite a while. Not that that was a problem. I, for one, have enjoyed British food. After dinner, we took
a stroll throught Hyde Park to reach our hotel. The next morning I headed back to Hull to finish up an Athenian Tragedy essay.
Now I could look forward to meeting up with Dad.
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