Day 5 – Sept 16 – HAMPTON COURT AND STONEHENGE

I think my eternal alarm is finally starting to work although it is a bit off - woke up at 7:45 and had to be downstairs to leave by 8:30.  So much for organization - I told Will to start throwing everything into the suitcases, ran downstairs and grabbed something to eat and we were on our way by 8:30 AM.

Or first stop was at Buckingham Palace - we missed the changing of the guards but had nice weather to take photos.

Next we stopped at Hampton Court Palace.  The palace was originally built for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, but later taken over and  enlarged by King Henry VIII when Wolsey fell from favor.  I think it was a way of keeping his head attached to his body.
 
 










We then  traveled  about 2 hours into the countryside and visit the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge.   Due to a push on time we only had 45 mins here but the wind and rain came in so we had no problem getting back on the coach.

The rest of the day was spent traveling  north to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We arrived in time to check into  the Holiday Inn  in time  to clean up for dinner at the Royal Shakespeare Theater where we followed up with the production of Hamlet.

 Needless to say we were all ready for bed when we got back to the hotel