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As our United Airlines plane descends to land at Heathrow, I take many photos of the hedgerow-bordered fields of England, and London and the Thames River. It is about 5:55 a.m., England time - just getting light.
By 8:00 a.m., we have retrieved our check-through luggage (all pieces present and accounted for!), gone through customs, changed travelers' checks into British pounds, and picked up our rental car - a Skoda Octavia.
One image I have as we're leaving the Heathrow area in our rental car: a large sculpture (model?) of the Concorde, on a grassy slope near the road.
This is Scott's first time in England, so he is pretty excited about everything.
First destination: Windsor, and possibly Runnymede later in day. Dan is the driver - and an excellent job he does! Jan, Scotty, and I are map and sign readers - a job that requires more familiarity with British signs that we possessed on June 19, but we got better as the days passed.
Windsor is a charming town - dominated by beautiful Windsor Castle. While waiting for the castle to open (10:00 a.m.), we strolled around the town. Jan treated Scotty, Dan, and me to chocolate chip cookies, hot chocolate, and coffee at the Windsor Starbucks.
Not surprisingly, the weather in Windsor, and during our stay in England, was as we remembered it from before - chillier than June in the midwest and eastern USA.
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Queen Elizabeth II's flag is flying from the main tower of the Castle, meaning she is in residence today.
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