Indian Wedding Tour

We didn't really expect to be off traveling again so soon but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend a wedding in India (daughter of our good friends).

Day 1 is in Mumbai before we head south to Sangli for the multi day ceremony. 

Mumbai demands the attention of most of one's senses; with much that you see being rather confronting. 

We decided to expand our religious research, this time by visiting what they claimed was the biggest pagoda in India. (Global Vipassana Pagoda).

The architecture is more interesting than the tourist lessons on the reasons it is here. 

Actually, the next most valuable tourist item was the Uber drive from the city (and back) - 90 minutes of poor driving on poor roads through poor districts. 

I don't think I'll look for a job transfer to Mumbai.

We have more to see here once we return from the wedding activities.

It's new year's eve but we don't expect to be awake after 7pm!

The very pleasant hotel.... Out to...

Traffic chaos. Yes, that white car is using our side of the median barrier.

Singapore

On a beautiful London morning (5.45am) we left our 'home away from home' staying with good friends Katie and Nigel and began the journey home, via Singapore for a few days.

It wasn't easy to leave because K+N made us so welcome. It was fun living in their community with them. 

But we're on our way.

We have had a great trip, with many tourism high points but none were better than being able to spend time with friends during the travel.

Singapore is very warm, compounded by humidity, but we will get out to see new things since our last trip here many years ago.

See you soon. 😊✈️

Kew Gardens

Yesterday, the tourist target that reached the top off the list was Kew Gardens; the onetime botanical hideaway for King George III.

Queen Charlotte clearly kept him there as his mind deteriorated, isolating him from the paparazzi of the 18th century.

It's a simple #65 bus ride from Katie and Nigel's place; 'door to door' service 😊

The reason you and I can now visit is because his granddaughter 'Vicky' knocked a hole in the wall (Victoria Gate) and put out the welcome mat.

Kew 'palace' isn't all that grand. With Windsor and Balmoral available it's unsurprising that the royal family opened Kew to the public.

Presumably some of the species planted (from around the world) were brought back by Joseph Banks from Capt Cook journeys.

Summer house for day use!

A fox that was completely uninterested in our presence.

Kew Palace

The cloud cover was a nice change from the hot and very hot days we have been 'enjoying'.

As one does over here.... We then found a pub (not hard) for a Guinness/wine and steak + ale pie 🥧 😁

Silverstone

Mike headed off to watch Formula 1 practice day at Silverstone before heading back to London. Marie stayed in Oxford shopping.

Whilst going to Silverstone proved to be a useful research trip, in case we come again, it wasn't really the fun it should have been.

Actually, the racing event in Melbourne is too good to believe we'll be back at Silverstone.

The traffic makes it a maddening affair. Mike left at 7am but didn't get into the track 60km away until 10am!

Knowing we had to return the rental car in London by 6pm it made it very important to not be leaving the racing at the same time as everyone else trying to leave the carparks!

So, after a good look around the Fan Zones:

and watching the first practice session:

Mike caught a shuttle bus back to the car.

Another concern was that the shuttle buses were to stop once they had everyone 'in' so there may have been no shuttles between 1-4pm when people start leaving. Fortunately this nice lady (driver) agreed to take me back to the park and ride airfield.

One thing I learned and would recommend to anyone going to Silverstone for the racing is: Camp just outside the grounds. Hundreds do it so there would be a great community and easy walking to the track each day. Arrive a day early and leave a day late to avoid the nightmare traffic.

Our trip back was good (thanks to Google maps) albeit through huge traffic volumes as you reach wider London.

We enjoyed renting a choice of car through the Turo app.

Now we are back with Katie and Nigel in Kingston until we fly out to Singapore on 9 July.

Oxford

We have added two more Warrington's to the 'attendance register' at Oxford University, following in the footsteps of three from the Dunedin clan.

It's worth noting though that our attendance was limited to 2 hours with a guide 😁.

Magdalen College was the only one accepting tourists because we have arrived smack in the middle of Open Day for next year's students! People everywhere.

Trinity College. Cousin Bruce's 'team' as I recall.

Dead end canal at Oxford.

Grand Tour of Pubs Continues

From James May's pub we went to Wilton House near Salisbury (Earl of Pembroke). The family lives on site but to help meet the large expenses of the estate the public are welcome to visit most of the property.

From here we travelled on the Bourton on the water in the Cotswolds (a Katie and Nigel recommendation). This is a lovely wee town.

Our place.

From this base we headed out to visit Stow on the Wold (nice), then Chipping Norton (Jeremy's nemesis council), Diddly Squat Farm (shop) and the Farmers Dog (Jeremy's pub).

What you re-discover is that Jeremy is a master at marketing. The attendance at both is huge (hundreds!). Given that we don't do queues we really only departed with photos and memories.

Start of the queue 

The queue goes on....

No available tables

So we moved on to the pub.... Pondering the chance of lunch.

No chance 

The old Grand Tour tent is another sea of shoppers.

Like this one.

Just like Diddly Squat Farm, the pub needs a spare paddock across the road for the volume of visitors.

Just remarkable. (And a credit to Jeremy)