Our alarms went off at 6:15 a.m. We had to dress, eat breakfast, pack our backpacks, and leave the flat by 7:00 a.m. We took Bus#52 from Notting Hill to Victoria Station, and then we walked a couple of blocks to the Victoria Coach Station to check in for our Evan Evans Bus Tour. We just had time for a cup of hot chocolate before boarding our coach. Our tour guide was Leslie and our driver was Greg. She handed out a small radio receiver and headphone to each person. The first thing she said was how glad she was to see people touring again, and how lucky we were to have the good weather we had, and that there were very few crowds. Our group had 22 people in it, which was not even half of a usual tour group. She said that during a normal busy period (before Covid) they would have up to 6 full coaches going at the same time. We left the coach station at 8:00 a.m. and drove to Windsor Castle. Leslie provided a lot of background information about the castle and the royal family as we drove. We walked as a group from the parking area and up the hill to the castle. We passed through security, and then we were on own. We went straight to the State Rooms and spent most of our time there. We toured the King's and Queen's rooms which I didn't know were separate and distinct from each other. Each side had rooms for receptions, dances, banquets, offices, bedrooms, and closets. We got a look at where Queen Elizabeth lives. We were told that she was "in residence" because her colors were flying on the central tower. We then drove to Stonehenge. We took the shuttle bus from the Visitor's Center to the Stones, and then we walked the path around them. I loved that! I just think there is something meaningful in the presence of something so ancient. I didn't realize just how many burial mounds, or barrows, are in the area surrounding Stonehenge. It would have taken over a hundred men pushing and pulling one stone on logs to move it from over a hundred miles away. Incredible! We ate lunch at the Visitor's Center cafe. We had beef and pork pastries. Then we drove to Oxford, and our guide took us in a big circle of the colleges, reading rooms, chapels, and shops. By the time we finished that walking tour we were exhausted. We returned to London, and as we came into the city Leslie started talking to us about Notting Hill. We recognized our area and told her that was where we were staying. She said they could let us off there, and so we got off the coach and said good-bye at Notting Hill. That saved us about an hour of travel, but even then we didn't get back to our flat until 7:00 p.m. We spent the rest of the evening washing clothes, cleaning and packing to go home.
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