At the end of our day in Oxford, we returned to the Randolph Hotel for Afternoon Tea (including scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream). Yum!! The photo above is of an area of the Randolph Hotel dining where which was used in the filming of "Shadowlands" about C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman Lewis.

Big smiles...awaiting Afternoon Tea. :-)

More big smiles, thinking about TEA! :-) (Phil's thinking about the clotted cream. ha)

Just couldn't pass up this photo of the sea of bicycles parked at the train station in Oxford where we met our train that would take us back into London for our last night there before heading to Scotland!

Phil, Dennis and Liz in (one of) the (many) train station(s) waiting to board our train to Edinburgh, Scotland. That trip would last approximately four hours.

God bless this beautiful animal, and others like it, who serve their masters and mistresses with loyalty and safety as they enable their owners to maintain independence.

Our BritRail passes, which we purchased ahead of time

When I was five and six years of age, I would often ask Mother to show me, on the map, where we were at that moment! Well, as you can see, I'm not the *only* one who likes to know where we are on the map.

I will now post several photos (including the one above) taken as our train flew along the tracks. So glad that my camera's eye could focus its "action" feature and grab these pix! :-)

LOVE sky tracks!

White horse in a hilly pasture

Just one of the nuclear energy sites we saw from the train as we traveled from London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Four photos from the train: above, a bridge over waterway with the ocean beyond

Hillside with sheep, and ocean beyond

Above and below: Housing close to the water's edge

Three photos from the train: Above - freshly disced fields

Freshly disced field of red dirt alongside the ocean

Four more pictures taken as our train moved between London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland: above - church and churchyard

Young seedlings providing a field with green; housing and ocean on the other side.

Red disced dirt; lighthouse overlooking ocean.

LOVE this photo taken by Phil of a covey of birds hovering behind a tractor that's discing the field in preparation for planting. I suppose the birds are anticipating freshly revealed "lunch" possibilities. :-)

Three photos from the train: Above - graffiti such as that seen everywhere on buildings as one travels via train in Europe and the UK.

Gaggle of geese at a lake (loch) side

Chimneys & church spire through blurred tree branches (at about 90 or 100 miles an hour!).

Arrival in Edinburgh, Scotland, via East Coast, UK, train. Phil and Dennis pushing carts with our luggage, headed to where we would catch a taxi to our hotel.

Saturday evening, March 6, 2010, our lovely friends, Dennis & Liz Fledderjohann, joined Phil and me on a memorable 11-day trip to the United Kingdom. The enjoyable flight ended early the next morning when we landed at London's Heathrow Airport. (Above: photo from airplane of morning sun shining on clouds.)

Ah, London...double-decker red buses and red telephone booths

Huge floral arrangements can always be found in the lobby of the County Hall Marriott Hotel where we would spend the first three nights of our trip. County Hall Marriott was formerly a city government building, and is located right on the Thames River and across Westminster Bridge from the Parliament Building and Big Ben.

And The EYE lit with blue lights at night. The EYE, adjacent to County Hall Marriott and along the Thames, is a huge structure with large "bubbles," each one holding a good-sized numbers of people, and giving those encapsulated in the "bubbles" a unique view of London. It takes approximately an hour for one revolution of this ferris wheel-type ride.

Phil and Myrna on plane to London March 6, 2010......

.....and Dennis & Liz Fledderjohann seated across the aisle from us on the plane. :-)

What a view we had! How easy to stand at the window and just stare and stare...Westminster Bridge, Parliament, and Big Ben.

Same view, but at night. :-)

Since we arrived very early Sunday morning, 3/7, the hotel rooms weren't quite ready for us. That gave us plenty of time to go to the Executive Lounge at County Hall Marriott and have TEA (!) and anything else we wanted for breakfast. (The blessing for us: since Phil stays at Marriotts so often, we have access to all Marriott executive lounges where we have access to the food and whatever we want to drink at no cost.)

Ah, to bed! What good sleep we all enjoyed once we got into our spacious rooms, above and below.

Late afternoon sun shining through The EYE.

Can't go to England without getting fish 'n chips! And we went to the restaurant which, according to the hotel concierge, is "where all the taxi drivers eat." We were there when the restaurant opened, and it was filled when we finally left. We did have our fish 'n chips, and mushy peas, a new treat. :-)

Dennis & Liz standing on Westminster Bridge with County Hall Marriott and The EYE in the background. Let me mention....it was VERY cold!!

Phil and Myrna, same view

Just have to post another photo of the Parliament and Big Ben, this time bathed in early morning light. (6:50 AM, I think Big Ben shows.)