Our followers have often heard us explain how important it is to remain flexible in our daily plans. Today, we started out with a destination in mind, but were quickly sidetracked by one of the most incredibly unexpected finds of this trip. While walking the Royal Mile between Edinbugh Castle and Holyrood Palace, we happened upon the former church-turned-market, "Tron Kirk". During the "Bishops' War" of the mid-1600's, construction of this church (in Scottish known as a Kirk) began. It was completed in 1649. The original wooden steeple was replaced in 1829 following a fire. After 50 years of disuse, the structure was officially closed as a church in 1952 and reopened as a small marketplace. As remarkable as the story of this church is, the more incredible part was what we found under the church.

In 1550, stonemason John Marlouin was commissioned to pave the Royal Mile. His design included the first sophisticated drainage system of vertical chutes off of the "Wynd" ( a public thoroughfare perpendicular to the Royal Mile large enough to accommodate wagons -as opposed to a "Close" which was a private alleyway) leading to sewage areas. The remains of the original "Marlin's Wynd" -named after the stonemason - can be found under the church, accessed only by a small doorway near the back of the present structure. Tax records of 1635 indicate that a lawyer, merchants, a surgeon, a shoemaker, and a writer, all rented space along this Wynd, for the sum of 56 Pounds per year, when the average rent for the rest of the town was only 41 Pounds per year.

These ruins are not generally open to the public. By happenstance, we made the acquaintance of a local merchant who had her clothing stall within the Tron Kirk and she introduced us to a local historian who took us on a private tour of the ruins. The area was small, cramped, and dirty, but extremely interesting. A portion of the original Wynd, part of the intricate drainage system, and ruins of the rented "apartments" were clearly visible. We were able to climb down into the ruins and wander around to our hearts' content. It was a fabulous time!

  Continuing our exploration of out-of-the-way places, as well as of distinctive churches, we discovered the St. Cuthbert church north west of the castle. Reportedly there has been some sort of religious structure on this site since 850 A.D. In fact, legend has it that St. Cuthbert himself founded a church here by the stream below Castle Rock (later-on this stream became the Nor'loch of the castle). Over the centuries, various church structures were built on this site. The current building dates from 1894 while the steeple was designed by Alexander Stevens in 1789. While most of the stained glass windows in the current building were constructed by local Scottish firms, the one depicting David going to meet Goliath was constructed by the Tiffany Glass Company of New York around 1900 (one of only two or three known Tiffany windows in all of the U.K.). Walking through the surrounding grave yard, we found some notable Scots buried here, including Thomas Bonar, co-founder of the Encyclopedia Britannica; Charles Darwin, uncle to the famed naturalist; Sir Henry Raeburn, artist; and Alexander Nasmyth, artist of the Robert Burns portrait (which we put in the posting of the Writers' Museum) and father of the inventor of the steam hammer. This is an exquisite church and finding these off the beaten track locations is one of the great pleasures of this adventure.

  The center of Edinburgh's Old Town is dominated by a 200 foot tall extinct volcano, on top of which is the impressive Edinburgh Castle. Steep cliffs protect the North, South, and West sides of the castle. It can only be entered from the East. No one seems to know when the first castle was built on top of the volcano, but there is some evidence that peoples of the Bronze Age (between 3000 and 1200 B.C.) lived on Castle Rock. By the time of Malcom III (1034-1093), considered the founding father of Scotland, it had become an important royal site. Ownership of the castle bounced between the English and the Scots several times between the 13th and 14th centuries. During the 15th century, the castle was used as an arsenal and then in the 18th to the 19th centuries, as a prison. Approximately 1.5 million visitors a year come to the Castle. And we are living in its shadow! How cool is that?

  Surprise! Surprise! We thought that London would have been the most expensive country on our trip. However, London came in second place to Florence (our first stop), as the most expensive. Florence topped out at $6837 for the month, while London topped out at $6351, all inclusive.

  This quarter was the most expensive since we left, with Vienna's expenses being $5080, while Brussel's was only $3054, and London's as mentioned was over six thousand dollars. We truly felt that London would have hit the top of our pensions. It did not and we have managed to save money each and every month.

  Our financial system is monitored down to the penny in this way: two ledgers are kept; one is for food costs, while the other one monitors all other daily expenses (e.g. entrance fees, rent, and travel). At the end of each month, we add up all the tallies and convert them to American dollars. To keep food costs down, we usually eat a piece of fruit for breakfast while generally eating lunch out at a cafe or restaurant. Diner is usually eaten at home in the apartment. Several times per week, we go shopping either in a local market or grocery store. This saves us about 25% on our food bill. Being 70 years of age, we do get a concession of 2-3 Pounds or Euros below the normal adult entrance prices. The underground train service (AKA "the Tube") in London, besides being quite efficient (we never had to wait longer than 5 minutes for a train) was a huge money saver. As well as being inexpensive over all, it allowed us to live outside the expensive Central London area. Advice from many fellow travelers taught us to seek apartments within a half-hour train ride from Central London. Thus Fulham was perfect for us. We also saved a lot of money at the six National Museums in London (National Gallery; British Museum; Museum of Science and Technology; Natural History Museum; Victoria and Albert Museum; and the Imperial War Museum) as admissions were free for all. What was quite expensive to visit were the Queen's five palaces and castle, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey. One expense that did cause us some difficulty was the tour of Parliament. This tour had to be booked almost a month in advance, but when the time came to take it, we found that it had been cancelled because of a huge (70,000 persons) demonstration that took place just outside of the Parliament building. We are currently trying to recoup that money through our credit card company.

  There were some obstacles which we encountered during this quarter while visiting Vienna, Brussels, and London. While in the Grand Place in Brussels, we learned that someone had hacked some of our credit card information by means of a pocket electronic scanner. Fortunately, our bank caught the attempted fraud and froze the account before anything bad could happen. Imagine being in a foreign country without access to our funds in America. Under normal circumstances, we would not have been able to receive mail, so the bank could not send us a new card. However, our landlady was kind enough to let us use her personal address, so we did receive the new card within 48 hours. The lesson learned by this is to protect the credit card information by surrounding it with a metal style wallet or aluminum foil.

  As Americans, we are sensitive to unattended bags, packages, and backpacks being left in public places. In Europe, they harbor no such concerns. On at least three occasions, we notified authorities of unattended items in public places and no one seemed overly concerned.

As many of our readers are aware, we try to book apartments two months in advance. As we get closer to the summer months, this has been harder to do because it is the high tourist season and many apartments are already unavailable. This has required us to try to book further ahead. It is a challenge and it is imperative to be flexible. For instance, we have booked two weeks in Dublin through the beginning of August but could not find any available apartments in the counties of Galway, Cork, nor Kerry, which are Lorraine's ancestral areas. So we have had to switch our focus to Quebec and Montreal. Ireland will have to wait for another trip. Flexibility is a must!

  Yet, nevertheless, this continues to be a wonderful trip and a great experience. We would not have missed it "...for the world." It is hard to believe that we are entering the "home stretch" of this one year adventure. When we began last October, this point seemed so far away. Anyone can do this provided you stay healthy and have a decent pension or savings. One couple we met is using the interest from their 401k to finance their travels. So there are many options.

  Early in our journey, a rather wise gentleman advised us to visit every church we found open because it just might surprise us. The St. John the Evangelist Church is one of those gems. We happened upon this church on the west-end of Princess street, below the castle, on a site that was a previously council-owned market garden. Originally built in 1818, it has undergone significant renovations and enlargements over the years. One of the most striking features of the interior is the vaulted ceiling inspired by the King Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey. St. John's also has one of the finest collections of stained glass windows in Scotland. We were delighted by this find.

During a somewhat wet walk-about Edinburgh, we happened upon a quaint and interesting museum, dedicated to the lives of three Scottish writers; Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Located just off of the Royal Mile, and tucked away in a small square known as Lady Stair Close, the museum is within the 1622 house of Sir Walter Gray of Pettendrum, First Earl of Stair, the house later became known as "The Lady Stair House" after his wife. In 1907, the house was deeded over to the Royal burgh of Edinburgh for use as a museum. Many times as we walk around exploring the cities we visit, we find unexpected gems such as this museum. We were thoroughly delighted by this treasure.

Lorraine and I started this journey nine months ago, back in October 2014. Since then, we have resided in 11 apartments (including the present one in Edinburgh). "How have you decided which apartment to rent?" is a question we have been asked a number of times. While the process of choosing an apartment has not been particularly complicated, it has involved several steps:

Choosing the destination (i.e. What city to visit) and when one wants to be there is usually the first step.

Tied in with that decision is the rental price range one is willing to accept.

At this point, the actual apartment search can begin. While we have had the best luck with VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner), we have also explored HOME AWAY and AIRBNB. Simply Googling "VRBO(and the name of the city) for instance, will result in a listing of rentals (one caveat; we found that in Bankok, most apartments are actually located within hotels. You can get hotel services at apartment prices). As you explore the listings, deciding on the size of the apartment needed (i.e. One bedroom, two bedrooms, etc) is of prime importance. We have restricted our searches to either studio or one bedroom apartments. In addition, we wanted apartments that were close to main attractions and which had grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, public transportation etc. nearby.

Once our perameters were set, then we began exploring the listings. At this point, the first thing we looked at was the apartment's calander to see if it was available. There is no sense in wasting time looking into the details of a particular apartment if it was not available when we needed it.

Next, we looked at the rates charged for the rental to see if it fit our established price range (again, no sense in exploring a particular rental if the price range is way outside your budget). This can be a little tricky if the listing shows a nightly rent rate and you need it for a month. We tried to extrapolate nightly rates out to 30 days to see if it met our criteria (a little more on this later).

Because of the way we are traveling, having WiFi and a clothes washer are a must. If the apartments have those two items, then we will look at other amenities available in order to compare apartments.

At this point, we then look at reviews of the apartments from previous travelers for what were their overall impressions (a four or five star rating was preferable to us); what problems, if any, were encountered in the apartment (e.g. Street noise, appliances not functioning properly, etc) and how they were resolved. An apartment that had "No reviews" was usually dismissed by us. We needed to know that the apartment actually existed and what to expect from it ( in one instance, after we had decided on an apartment, the landlord suddenly told us it had already been booked by another traveler but he could offer us another property he owned that was NOT listed on VRBO. This "bait and switch" tactic was not acceptable as we had no way to explore this new option to see if it met our needs. This particular issue had put us in a bind because the process of this negotiation brought us too close to our travel time for us to find an alternative. As a result, we ended up in a hotel for two weeks). Apartment photos from the computer site were then checked to see if it appeared neat and clean.

If all of the above criteria met our needs, then we would email the landlord to say that we were interested. In that email, we asked for his/her "...best monthly rate..." and if it was all inclusive (e.g. We don't want to be surprised at the end of our stay by the owner saying there are previously unknown fees, such as utility or WiFi usage, to be paid. We want to know all of that up front).

Once the owner has answered these questions to our satisfaction, then we will confirm our desire to rent the property. A deposit to secure the rental is usually requested at this point. We prefer to pay the deposit (and the final balance) through PayPal as this is secure and we are not providing personal information, such as credit card numbers, to anyone. While we have had landlords who have requested the full rental balance prior to our arrival, we have resisted this request because we wanted to see the apartment first, to make sure it actually existed, and is as advertised, before handing over our money.

For this trip, we have tried to finalize all of these steps at least two months before our planned arrival. That way, we can then explore travel plans and/or deal with any unexpected details. This process has worked well for us as it has resulted in our obtaining fantastic apartments. Consistently, we have found ourselves living within walking distance of major attractions of a particular city. How often do you get to live within the walls of a medieval town (our Dubrovnik apartment was in a 700 year old building)?

Travel Tips.

A couple of final cautions about traveling. Keep your valuables safe. Pickpockets are everywhere. We learned from fellow travelers to pin the pockets holding your valuables with safety pins. This makes it harder for pickpockets to get at them. Be unobtrusive. Don't make yourself a target by wearing lots of jewelry or high-priced clothing. Make those who target tourists look elsewhere for easier pickings. Finally, protect your credit cards and passports from electronic hackers by surrounding them with metal (luggage companies sell RFI protected wallets for your credit cards and passports - or wrapping them in aluminum foil will work). We learned this the hard way. Our credit card had to be replaced twice within the past nine months because someone tried to make unauthorized use of it by means of electronic scanners.

We hope all of this advice has been helpful. Traveling has been a great adventure for us and, while it has involved some planning and work, we have found it to be enjoyable. Our plans include continued travel as long as our health allows us.

  We are now in Edinburgh, the capitol of Scotland since the fifteenth century. It is the home of the Scottish Parliament and the seat of the monarchy when in Scotland. Because of its cultural and historical attractions, Edinburgh is the second most popular tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London. Our apartment is ideally situated within the "Old Town", just below Edinburgh Castle. The annual Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place later this summer at the castle. This event evolved from an ancient act of signaling local taverns by means of pipes and drums to stop serving drinks to soldiers so they could return to the base at a reasonable hour. In Scottish, this was called the "Doe den tap toe" or "close the tap" and was the last duty call for the day. This eventually turned into a ceremonial form of evening entertainment.

  Perhaps like most of you, our first exposure to the Victorian era English writer and social critic, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was in Freshman year of high school. Within his 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories (as well as having edited a weekly journal for 20 years), Dickens had created some of the world's "...best known fictional characters." As his wealth began to grow, he signed a two year lease (1837-1839) on a four floor Georgian Terrace home on Doughty St. London. Dickens lived here with his wife Catherine and the three eldest of his ten children. For a time, Dickens' brother Frederick and Catherine's sister Mary also lived here (although Mary died towards the end of 1837 at the age of 17). While residing in this home, Dickens completed "Pickwick Papers", "Oliver Twist", and "Nickolas Nickleby" as well as beginning work on "Barnaby Rudge". In 1839, Dickens decided to move into a larger and grander home. The Doughty Street home is the only one of Dickens residences that has survived. It was almost demolished in 1923 but was eventually saved by the Dickens Fellowship trust. This home was opened as a museum in 1925.

During much of this adventure, plans to visit specific sites often go astray because of encountering surprisingly interesting unexpected attractions. The late 12th century Temple Church, built by the Knights Templars, was one such surprise. The Templars had been meeting in a much smaller facility a few blocks away from the current address, when, by the mid-1160's, they decided a larger structure was needed. The Templars purchased the current property to serve as their English headquarters. The plans included residences, a military training facility, and recreational grounds. The original church was built in the round, as was common for Templar Churches. Five hundred years later, a rectangular section was added, which became the Chancel. During the reign of King John (1199-1216), the Temple served as the Royal treasury. Between the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 14th century, the compound was regularly used as residences of kings and legates (personal representatives) of the Pope. Around this same time, English Barons used the Temple as a private safety-deposit bank in order to avoid some of the king's taxes. The animosity between the Barons and the King, partly over this tax-avoiding practice, grew to the point that by 1215 William Marshall ended up negotiating the terms of the Magna Carta in the Temple (by the end of the year, it was signed in Runnymeade). Following the abolishment of the Templars in 1307, Edward II took possession of the church, which he later have to the Knights Hospitallers. Eventually, the Temple compound was leased to two colleges of lawyers who formed the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple Inns of Court, bases of the English Legal profession.

Continuing our quest to have a Royal invite us to stay at one of their palace apartments, we traveled nearly 12 miles to the southwest of London to visit Hampton Court ( but once again, we did not receive any invitation to stay. However, next week we head to Scotland,, so we can always hope for an invitation to either Balmoral or Holyroodhouse). In 1515, Cardinal Wolsey purchased a private courtier's house and renovated it into a magnificent bishop's palace. Wolsey's friend, King Henry VIII visited often and became so enarmoured by Hampton Court, that in 1529 he seized it. Henry did his own renovations, creating one of the most glorious palaces in England. Henry owned at least 60 houses and palaces throughout England. Hampton Court is one of only two of Henry's properties to have survived through the centuries. When William III and Mary II captured the throne in 1689, they hired Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild it. Enthralled by the Palace of Versailles, Wren completely overhauled Hampton Court to rival its French counterpart. Since the 18th century, it was not inhabited by the Royal Family and fell into neglect by 1760. Then, in 1838, Queen Victoria began an ambitious restoration project in order to open Hampton Court to the public. A major fire in 1986 destroyed the King's apartments section, but was quickly rebuilt. Currently, Hampton Court is cared for the independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces.

One of the enjoyable parts of traveling to countries with monarchies, is visiting the castles/palaces belonging to the sovereigns. With one of the oldest monarchies in Europe, the United Kingdom is replete with such tourist attractions. On this day, we had the pleasure of touring the 1000 year old Windsor castle. However, on our way to Windsor, folks resplendent in gowns, tails, and top hats, crossed our path as they were on their way to the races at Ascot (apparently it was the beginning of Ascot week). What a pleasant sight! Anyway, back to Windsor. Because of its strategic location on the Thames, the original castle was built in the 11th century following the Norman invasion of William the Conqueror. Since Henry I, succeeding monarchs have resided here, making it the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Reconstruction and expansion over the centuries have brought Windsor to its current size. During the bombings of World War II, the castle was the refuge for the royal family as its location is 25 miles outside of London. More than 500 people work and reside on the grounds. The state apartments are regularly used by Queen Elizabeth II as it is her preferred weekend home. While visiting Windsor, we actually saw Queen Elizabeth (this the third time in three weeks)as she left to go to the Ascot Races (strangely, she never invited us to stay in the Windsor apartments. It's not like she doesn't have the room. What a disappointment!). Interestingly, we learned that while the Queen and Royal Family traveled to Ascort in a caravan of Bentlys, just before their arrival, they leave their Bentlys and change to Royal horse-drawn carriages for a parade around the race track.

  For most of my adult life, I had worked in hospitals and had become acutely aware of the skills and professionalism of the nurses I encountered. Having a superficial knowledge of who Florence Nightengale had been and her contributions to nursing, I was quite interested in visiting the Florence Nightengale Museum, located as part of St. Thomas' hospital, and learning more. Born in 1820, she was named after the city in which she was born, Florence, Italy. Her family was well-to-do upper middle class, having obtained their wealth from lead mining. She traveled frequently, especially with her older sister, Parthenope. By age 24, she had decided to dedicate her life to nursing, against the wishes of her family and the established social norms of the times. While she had had suitors, she rejected marriage as she felt it would interfere with her calling to be a nurse. Feeling that God had chosen her to help others, she often spoke of God directing her towards the nursing profession. In 1854, along with 38 volunteer nurses she had trained herself, she traveled to the British camp in the Crimea to care for the wounded of that war. She found conditions for the patients as being horrible and went about reforming things. Because of her efforts, the British death rate during the Crimean War dropped from 42% to 2%. It was here that she gained her nickname "The Lady With The Lamp" as she made her nightly rounds checking on her patients. Returning home, Florence helped to establish a training school for nurses at St. Thomas' hospital in London. She spent the rest of her life "...promoting and organizing the nursing profession." Florence died peacefully in her sleep in 1910 at the age of 90.

The tradition of the Trooping of the Colors ceremony, which is performed by the regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies, has occurred at least since the reign of Charles II in the 17th century. However, the actual roots may go back even further. Since 1748, this ceremony has also marked the official birthday of the British monarch. The Queen, escorted by the Household Cavalry, travels from Buckingham Palace, down The Mall (next to St. James park), to the Horse Guards Parade grounds. For 36 years, Queen Elizabeth II rode side-saddle on her horse dressed in the uniform of the regiment being trooped. However, since 1987, she has been arriving by carriage. After receiving the Royal Salute, the Queen inspects her Household Cavalry Division, The King's Troops, and The Royal Horse Artillery. This inspection involves 1100 officers and soldiers with 200 horses and 200 musicians from six bands. Each year, one of the regiments is selected to officially Troop the Colors, following which the entire Household Division march past the Queen. This is one of the most amazing spectacles to watch. We were awed by the beauty and immensity of this event. Just when we thought everyone had assembled, along came the Royal Horse Artillery pulling ten caissons and canons and lined up for inspection. In all of our travels so far, we have not seen such pomp and circumstance surrounding a monarch. The British do a first class job. One of the more interesting, and surprising, portions of this event occurred right in front of us. As the Horse Cavalry was performing its trot around the parade grounds, one of the horses apparently became startled and fell down, throwing off its rider. The riderless horse immediately jumped back up and rejoined the parade. Meanwhile, the rider is helped up by ground crew and escorted to the medics for evaluation. Following this part of the ceremony, the Queen returned to Buckingham Palace for further reviewing of the parading troops. At this point, the Queens receives a 41-gun salute and a fly over by the Royal Air Force.

Followers of our blog may recall that we try very hard to be flexible with our daily plans. This was quite evident today as we were heading towards the Imperial War Museum for a visit. Distracted by the siren call of bagpipes and drums , earlier plans went quickly out the window so we could explore what was happening. At the War Cenotaph( an "empty tomb" erected in honor of an individual or group whose remains are elsewhere) in Whitehall, the "Annual Remembrance Service for all the Irish Regiments of the Crown" was taking place. Approximately, 100 members of the Combined Irish Regiments Association representing the 27 disbanded Irish Regiments (including the those of the Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment) plus three existing ones , formed around the Cenotaph in order to lay rememberance wreaths and say prayers. The pipes and drums of the London Irish Rifles provided the music. The Lord Mayor of London and the Bishop of Westminster Cathedral led the services, following which Major General Denaro (retired), former commanding officer of the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars, "inspected the troops". The following Old Gaelic Blessing was the final piece of the service:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

May the rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again, may God hold     you in the palm of his hands.

All-in-all, this was a quite pleasant change of plans because the sounds of bagpipes always call to us.

What a fantastic day this was! Deciding to walk along the Thames River, we were able to explore some amazing sites while enjoying the beautiful sunshine. Between the Milennium Bridge and the Tower Bridge, perhaps not much more than mile as the crow flies, there were so many places of interest, we could have easily spent a week in just this area. What is presented here are just the highlights of our day's journey:

"The Globe Theater" - in 1970, the American actor Sam Wanamaker founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust dedicated to reconstructing this famous Elizabethan theater. No documents remain as to the exact nature of the original structure. However, several proposed structural drawings do provide some insight that indicate other theaters of the time were polygonal in shape. Excavations at the original site of the Globe theater seemed to indicate that it was actually a 20 sided building measuring 100 feet in diameter. Wanamaker's Globe Trust began construction of the new Globe Theater according to 16th century building practices. The design for this reconstruction was based on existing buildings of the same age. Many experts feel that, without the actual design specifications, this is as close a representation of The Globe Theater of Shakespeare's time as we can get. Performances of Shakespeare's plays are held twice-per-day (afternoon and evening) here and prices range from 5 pounds for standing positions to 43 pounds for box seats.

"Southwark Cathedral" - just a short walk along the Thames, from the Globe theater, is the Southwark Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St. Savior and St. Mary Overie. This is the Mother Church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. Religious structures of some sort or other have been on this site for over 1400 years. In 1106, a church dedicated to St. Mary was built here but was destroyed by fire in 1212. Reconstruction was quickly started and was completed in the first half of the 14th century. There is even a tie to Boston, as John Harvard, founder of Harvard University, was baptized and worshiped here.

  "The Borough Market"- situated next to the Southwark Cathedral is the oldest and most renowned marketing London. It features exceptional British, as well as international, produce and food products. Last year, the Borough Market celebrated its 1000th birthday.

"The Tower Bridge" - originally described to us as the London Bridge (which actually is the bridge next to this one and is rather plain looking compared to this one), the Tower Bridge was constructed between 1886 and 1894. It is a bascule ( or leaves which could be raised to allow marine traffic to pass) and suspension bridge. At one end of the bridge is the Tower of London, which provided the name for this structure. The two central towers are connected near the top by horizontal walkways. The current Red, White, and Blue color scheme was created in 1997 for Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee. In 1877 a committee was formed to develop a design for this bridge but one was not approved until 1884. Since much of London was destroyed by World War II bombings, we asked how the Tower Bridge made out. Apparently, the Germans felt that this landmark made an excellent orientation point for locating other structures to bomb, thus they left it alone.

  Like many large cities with storied histories, London has countless museums. Visiting all of them, even having a month in which to accomplish this, can be daunting. Never-the-less, we have done our best to take in as many as we could. Presented below are some of the museums we have already visited:

"Victoria and Albert Museum" - this is the world's largest museum of "...decorative arts and design" with over 4.5 million items. Its origins follow the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was initially to be called "The Museum of Manufactures." However, in 1899 its name was officially changed to "The Victoria and Albert Museum." Situated on 12.5 acres of land in South Kennsington, its 145 galleries exhibit 5000 years of art. During World War II, most of the collections were secreted away to quarries and tunnels for protection and the galleries were used as evacuation sites.

  "Natural History Museum" - containing 80 million items within five main collections (i.e. Botony, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology, and zoology), it is a world-renowned center of research, identification, and conservation. Among its collections are items gathered by Charles Darwin. The original structure was opened in 1881 and has continued to expand ever since.

  "Science and Technology Museum" -        This museum was founded in 1857 from the collections of the Royal Society of Arts. The present quarters were opened in stages between 1919 and 1928. Over 300,000 items make up the collection, which include the "Puffing Belly" ( the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, as well as hundreds of interactive exhibits.

  "The Guards Museum" - This military museum is situated next to the Wellington Barracks near Buckingham Palace. It is home to the seven regiments of "The Foot Guards (Grenadiers, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, Welsh, The Life Guards, and the Royals and the Blues). Opened in 1988, it depicts the history of these regiments from the 17th century until today. It also depicts the evolving dress of the regiments over time as they performed their necessary ceremonial and combat duties. The Guards have fought in almost all the major campaigns in which the British Army has been involved.

  "Household Cavalry Museum" - Queen Elizabeth II's Life Guards are taken from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. The first Horse Guards building was constructed here in 1664. It was demolished in 1749 and replaced with the current building. Originally serving as the offices of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, in 1904 it was transformed into the headquarters for two major army commands - Ghe London District and The Household Cavalry. The official museum of the Household Cavalry is located on this site. Here, the training and history of the regiment, including ceremonial and combat functions, are depicted.

  Dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle, this Anglican Church is the seat of the Bishop, as well as the Mother Church of the Diocese of London. It is located on the highest point in the city - Ludgate Hill. The original church on this site was founded in 604 AD. This and two succeeding structures were destroyed by fires over the centuries. The present church dates from the late 17th century, following the Great Fire of 1666 that destroyed most of London. Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to design the new St. Paul's (along with fifty other churches throughout the city). Reaching a height of 365 feet, it was the tallest building in the city between 1710 and 1962 and its impressive dome is the highest in the world. Many of the United Kingdom's important events occurred in St. Paul's, including the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher, along with the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. During "the Blitz" of World War II, the cathedral was struck by bombs in 1940 and 1941, causing damage that included a crack along the circumference of the dome when it reportedly "jumped" a couple of centimeters after an explosion. The cathedral's organ, built in 1694, is the fourth largest in Great Britain with 7,266 pipes, 5 manuals, 189 ranks of pipes, and 108 stops. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of St. Paul's is the Dean's spiral staircase, designed by Wren in 1705. The treads are imbedded only a short distance into the supporting walls, with each succeeding tread resting on the one below. Wren was very proud of this design, although it did create some controversy amongst the architects of the time.

  Periodically, we get the chance to experience classical culture during this trip (such as the opera in Vienna). Last night was such an occasion. The Danish Sinfonietta (chamber orchestra) performed at the St. John's Concert Hall. This former church was sold to a charitable trust as a ruin after damage from fire bombing during World War II and restored as a concert hall. Originally constructed in 1728 in the English Baroque style with four corner towers, the church was jokingly referred to as "Queen Anne's Footstool". Legend has it that Anne was not a fan of archetecture in general. The archetect reportedly asked her (when she was suffering from an illness) what she wanted the structure to look like, the Queen angrily kicked over her footstool, stating "Like that!".

  The Danish Sinfonietta is Denmarks "...only permanent professional Chamber Orchestra". This group was originally formed in 1945. By 1986, it was designated a "basis" ensemble making it eligible for state funding. Comprising of 14 musicians (who serve double duty as musical instructors in The Danish school system) and a conductor, they perform various musical genres ranging from standard classical music, contemporary pieces, to modern genres such as jazz and popular music. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening including a delightful dinner in a restaurant setting within the old crypt of this former church.

Europe's largest department store is also one of London's iconic symbols; Harrod's. Sitting on a five acre site, with over one million square feet of selling space in 338 departments, Harrod's motto is "All things for all people, everywhere." Founder Charles Henry Harrod opened his first store, known as Harrod and Wicking, south of the Thames River when he was 25 years old. By years end, this partnership dissolved and Harrod continued on his own. Believing he could capitalize on the upcoming Great Exhibition of 1851, Harrod, in1849, bought a small shop on the same site of the current store. This was a single room with two assistants and one messenger boy (his son). He proved to be a shrewd entrepreneur, building the company into a thriving operation. By 1880, Harrod had purchased adjoining buildings and his employees now numbered 100. In 1883, a great fire reduced the building to rubble. Still, Harrod kept his commitments to his customers by delivering their Christmas orders, all the while obtaining record profits. A new building was quickly erected. By November of 1883, the store unveiled England's "...first moving staircase" (escalator). Nervous customers were given brandy at the top to revive them after their "ordeal". The Fayed brothers bought Harrod's in1985, and by 2010 it was resold to the Qatar Holding company. We were in total awe by the extravagance of the complex. You actually need a twenty-four page map (provided by the store) to find your way around. There is nothing like this in America.

  Prior to the start of World War II, Britain began to anticipate the impending conflict.. So, in 1938, construction began on the Cabinet War Rooms beneath the Treasury building in Whitehall. By August of 1939, the War Rooms became operational and stayed that way until August of 1945. The initial plans included reinforcements, ventilation, sound-proofing, communications and broadcasting equipment. Two key rooms were of utmost importance; the Map Room (operational 24/7 for daily intelligence for the King, the Prime Minister, and military Chiefs of Staff), and the Cabinet Room (in which Churchill held 115 meetings throughout the war). When the Blitz bombing of London began, the government decided that additional reinforcement in the form of a five foot thick slab of concrete was needed. More concrete was added and additional expansions occurred until by 1946 the Cabinet War Rooms had tripled in size. There were dorms for staff, private bedrooms for military officers and senior ministers, as well as rooms for typists and switchboard operators. A transatlantic telephone room for Churchill's private war conversations with President Roosevelt and an office/bedroom (including BBC broadcasting equipment)for the Prime Minister were also added. Once the war ended, the rooms fell into disuse but remained mostly intact. In 1984, the whole complex was opened to the public as a museum as part of the five branch Imperial War Museum.

  Followers of our blog know that we thoroughly enjoy meeting new people and engaging them in conversation. Be it fellow travelers or local residents, this has consistently proved to be a very pleasant and rewarding experience. The countries to which we have traveled, the tourist attractions and unexpected surprises encountered, have all been amazing. However, the making of new acquaintances has provided us with some of the most joy. Presented below are the folks we have met, thus far, in London;

  Eight hundred years ago, King John was forced into signing the Magna Carta with rebellious barons. This one document contributed strongly to the development of democracy not only throughout the United Kingdom but in other countries as well. Some of the Magna Carta's core principles are mirrored in the United States' Bill of Rights. Today, that democracy is being protected by the Supreme Court of the UK. Situated across from both Parliament and Westminster Abbey, the building is actually the third court that has occupied this space since 1807. This is the court of last resort except for criminal cases in Scotland, which are handled by the High Court of Judiciary. Until the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005, there had been an overlap of judicial responsibility between the court system and Parliament. Since the Reform, the Supreme Court assumed the judicial functions of the House of Lords. The present building was constructed in 1913 and currently houses three courts; the Privy Council which overseas international issues related to Commonwealth nations; a five judge appellate division; and a nine judge Supreme Court.

  In the United Kingdom, the Royal Family has multiple palaces. Kensington Palace has been a residence for Britain's royals since the 17th century.

  Begun in 1605 as a simple two-story mansion belonging to Sir George Coppin, by 1619 this structure became known as Nottingham House after the First Earl of Nottingham bought it. Seventy years later, William and Mary became monarchs of the UK , bought the house and had the architect Christopher Wren expand it. This became the preferred residence of the British monarchy until the mid-1700's. When Queen Anne (1665-1714) resided here, her most notable contribution to the palace was adding the gardens. In 1837, the then Princess Alexandrina Victoria, who grew up in Kensington, became Queen Victoria at the age of 18. She held her first Privy Council meeting in the Red Saloon here, before taking up residence at Buckingham Palace. The last reigning monarch who called Kensington his chief residence was King George II. During "The Blitz" of 1940, Kensington Palace was severely damaged by bombs. Several years of work were required to repair this damage. Today, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, and other members of Queen Elizabeth's extended family reside in the private apartments of the palace. These private rooms and offices remain the responsibility of the Royal Household, while the official State Rooms (which are open to the public) are managed by the independent charity known as "The Historical Royal Palaces".

  To most Americans, the Royal Albert Hall is probably best known from performances of the musical "Les Miserables". In the UK, it is best known for "The Proms" (eight weeks in the summer - since 1941 - of classical concerts sponsored by the BBC ). Prince Albert (husband to Queen Victoria) sponsored the Great Exhibition of 1851. His biggest achievement during this exhibition was the Crystal Palace. It was a huge success financially. Prince Albert suggested that these funds be used to create a permanent series of facilities to promote the arts. Unfortunately, Albert died before seeing any of this completed. The foundation stone for the Royal Albert hall (originally to be called "The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences" the name was changed as a tribute following Albert's death) was laid in 1867 and Queen Victoria officially opened it in 1871. Since then, the world's leading artists from numerous genres perform in approximately 350 events held each year. Depending upon the configuration for each performance, the hall can seat 5,272 people.