England Trip
Day 2 June 19, 2002
By Dan, Mary Jane and Scotty Hyde

Wednesday June 19 - Arrive at Heathrow Airport and drive to Windsor

When he wakes up from short sleep (not enough for him), Scotty turns to me and says, "I'm twelve!" And I hug him! Today's Scott's birthday.

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.

Image of Windsor Castle
    in Distance

Windsor Castle in Distance

Image of Main Tower of WindsorCastle

Main Tower of Windsor Castle
Note half-timbered house in foreground.

Image of Windsor Castle Flag

Queen Elizabeth II's Flag is Flying Which Means She is in Residence.

Queen Elizabeth II's flag is flying from the main tower of the Castle, meaning she is in residence today.

Image of Skoda Car

Our Skoda Rental Car on a Windsor Street.

Over the two weeks in England, Dan drove over 1300 miles in this car. A very nice car. Originally, Skodas were made in Czechoslovakia and had a bad reputation. They are now made by Volkswagen and to improve their image are made better than volkswagens.

Image of Thames Side in Windsor

Thames Side in Windsor. We have turned 180 Degrees from Windsor Castle and now face the Thames River.

Image of Restaurant on Thames River

Restaurant on Thames River

More pictures of Windsor Castle.

Page maintained by Dan Hyde, hyde at bucknell.edu Last update July 13, 2002

Copyright © 2002
Daniel C. Hyde