Singapore, Hampton Court, Oxford, Stratford-on-Avon
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A very early start to our holiday - leaving home at 3.15am! Our Singapore Airlines Flight SQ220 was ready to board at 7.45am and
so the adventure begins! We had a very comfortable flight - the plane was not too full and we enjoyed the lovely meals as well as a Bailey's
or two. After what seemed to be a quick flight we arrived at 2.10 local time and headed off to the Tourist desk to see if we
could book onto the free Singapore City Tour. As luck had it we were the last to book in and at 4pm we left the Airport and
had a two hour tour of the city. After seeing, the main areas of Little India, Chinatown and Merlion it was time to go back to the airport to wait for a 11.30pm flight.
Unfortunately we had a hiccup as we boarded on time but then had to disembark as the fuel loading was giving problems so a delay was in order. We
finally left about 2am but managed to arrive in London only an hour late at 8am where we were met by our Globus people and
transferred to our hotel at Hammersmith. A day checking out the local area was the plan and then an early night to prepare for our trip tomorrow.
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We met our Tour Guide, Trish and driver Adrian in the foyer at 7.45am and were soon settled in our Globus coach and
headed towards Hampton Court, our first stop. Trish outlined the tour and explained some of the general history of the UK before arriving
at Hampton Court. The Palace was home to Henry V111, and there are many tales to tell about him including his marriages which saw his wives divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded and survived!
We were very priviliged as the Palace was not yet open but we could enter by way of the gated entrance just to
the side of the main entrance. Our tour today was to visit the gardens which are spectacular! First off we saw the Great Vine which is
very old and attended by one person so that it is very well looked after. Once a year the grapes are sold to the public and they are in demand as the size
is amazing. Next off to the Privy Garden and the floral borders which add so much colour to the grounds. The buildings are incredible and they are built with red brick
due to no natural resources and the castle is joined in different areas so the additions or alterations are quite noticable. One interesting thing
is that there are not too many windows as a daylight tax was imposed so the need to close off the windows was important. If you would like to see more photo's of Hampton Court then check our P & O Arcadia 2009 web page also. We left here at 10.40 and on the way to Oxford were lucky to see the place where the Magna Carta was signed.
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Oxford is a very old world town with ornate buildings and lots of decoration and spires and is known as the city of "dreaming spires". . It is located in Oxfordshire in S/E England.
Trinity College and Oxford University are actually the town as many famous scholars have been educated here. Our walking tour with Trish was great and she explained the Bodlean Library and many other
places of interest. The atmosphere was wonderful - very comfortable and even the street areas were fascinating. We walked past Jamie Oliver's
Italian restaurant and were pleased to see he had a board out asking young people to apply for work..Next visit was to see Anne Hathaway's
Cottage and on the way passed the Cotswolds with lots of hills and many sheep.
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Anne Hathaway's Cottage is a 12 room farmhouse with 16th century fireplaces. The cottage can be found in Shottery,
which is about a mile from Stratford. Today the cottage is very well known by its image on tea towels, chocolate boxes and porcelain houses.
Anne lived here with her family before marrying William Shakespeare. After admiring the cottage and surrounds we moved on to Stratford-on-Avon
to explore Shakespeare's house. The house itself had Oak wood floors and low ceilings. The furnishings were recreated to the period that
William and Anne lived in the home and their children were born here. After walking through the gardens and watching some actors present some
of Shakespeare's work we walked back out onto the main street. Lots of quaint shops and of course tourist outlets here and so much fun was had
exploring the town.
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