Back to the UK

9-14 April 2006

Business called in April and I flew to London for a whirlwind trip of meetings. I kicked the week off Sunday night by sharing an excellent dinner with an old classmate, Leif, and friend living in London. They have a great garden flat, complete with Oliver, the "guard" Jack Russell dog and took me to one of their favorite local haunts. Yum!

The rest of the week consisted of meetings with a colleague from the States in London, Stratford upon Avon, Mold Wales (near Chester), and Wetherby (near York). (UK Map: http://www.only-maps.com/united-kingdom-map.html) We rented a car and couldn't help being enchanted by the British and Welsh country side.

While in Stratford, we strolled the village streets to visit Shakespeare's birthplace (see pic above) and the village church. Just before a sudden downburst of typical British rain! Next we followed scant directions to the office of our meeting in Mold, Wales. We found it in a farm complex, complete with grazing sheep!

After our meeting in Wales, we headed to a town called Boston Spa where we stayed in a B&B overnight (see above pic left). We had a hearty English breakfast before our meeting and headed to the medieval town of York for an afternoon meandering the cobbled streets and a peak inside the famous Minster cathedral. It is England's largest medieval cathedral and renowned for its stain glass. Some of it dates from the late 12th century! The old village itself has the Shambles district with cantilevered houses. This allowed waste to be thrown from the upper windows to the streets below. That's why the men walked nearest the street in order to protect the delicately dressed ladies!

- Tiffany