So, the 52nd English prime minister is now in office. A big goodbye to Tony Blair after 10 years.

You've probably seen some of the footage of the flooding in the UK?? Pretty terrible stuff really - some areas got a month's worth of rain in 24 hours and it is apparently the wettest June on record!!! Johnno and I saw some rain on the weekend in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire but nothing like the chaos some have experienced in Sth Yorkshire and the Sheffield areas... Anyway, Johnno and I took a weekend out of London just gone. And what better plan than a roadtrip in the Mondeo. Yes, Lei was sadly missing but I don't really care to mourn that much coz she's off having a brill time exploring the UK, Russia, Latvia, Spain etc. with her sister... lucky woman!

Anyway, after Johnno managed to find his way from East London (East-17 actually - yes where the band got their name from... 'Everybody... everybody in the house of love'...) to south London it took another hour to get out of Central London. Too many traffic lights! Then headed north-west towards Birmingham. Not before stopping off at Stratford-upon-Avon - a touristy town, sure, but lovely!! Obsessed with Shakespeare. JT and I enjoyed our chuckles in response to the 'informative' signs about the possibility that John Shakespeare's father's dog might have done such and such at some time.
People people everywhere....

Yes, a swan and it's cignets... Don't get to close or it'll go ya!

As we drove out of Stratford-upon-Avon, we saw signs for Mary Arden's house - William Shakespeare's mother's childhood home. It's basically a few buildings that have been restored to some degree, farm animals, people dressed up in Elizabethan-style clothes, and (THE HIGHLIGHT) a falconry display. Apparently falconry was something supported by royalty as entertainment as well as a hunting technique. Even with Johnno constantly nattering about him buying a falcon or training up some Aussie peregrines, I really enjoyed seeing the show. The falconer sent the bird off who rapidly caught a thermal up, up and up. Then after some coaxing, the bird (a Saker falcon, IUCN Endangered - for those who want to know) slowly circled above us before embarking on his amazing descent. Basically he tucks his wings in and drops at high speed (I'm talking like 300km/hr... Is that right Johnno?) towards the ground and smashes his prey - birds, not ground-dwellers, as he'd be in trouble if he went shooting towards the ground for a rabbit or something.... Anyway, it was very impressive and the bird is gorgeous!!
The very informative falconer worried about the grey skies...

Saker flying past after trying to get the 'prey' on the end of the falconer's rope.

What a gorgeous animal! particularly as it tears apart the corpse of a day-old chick...
Johnno and I then continued north to the city of Birmingham, the UK's second-largest city. Apparently it's somewhere that doesn't have many tourist activities but it's a great party place. And, we found an awesome Indian restaurant!! I can never remember what my dishes are called but I had some lamb and spinach sauce thing. Johnno almost choked on his first mouthful due to the heat but a couple of beers helped with all that... Afterwards, our stuffed bellies and the rest of our bodies finally found a backpackers which was actually rooms in a pub that is open during the week... Not the cleanest room I've been in and I had to have a shower with the largest spider I've seen in the UK bouncing around in the cubicle (ok, he wasn't that big, but still, I don't like spiders that much!). The only 'party' place we went to was a very scary pub - full of very strange people... What else can I say? Anyway, the music was good!

So the next day, we were off south to Tewkesbury - stopped off in town for me to buy some souveneirs and to go to the small local museum. My grandma's family lived for a bit in Tewkesbury (and my Dad was born just west of Birmingham too - in Wolverhampton). Tewkesbury Abbey was great!! Founded in 1100ish to house (Benedictine) monks and then after the dissolution in 1540 most of it was quarried for materials but the Abbey Church was sold to the parishioners for £450. My Dad used to sing here when he was a chorister as a young boy. Lovely!
In the choir pews

The inside of the Abbey

Out in the (very) green garden.

The Abbey and the lovely herb garden.

After Tewkesbury, we headed to Evesham (where my Dad went to school), Broadway (where he lived before he came to Australia), and Bourton-on-the-water (just some pretty town along the way)... Broadway is a lovely little town - VERY TRENDY though. Felt a bit like a really English Maleny... or maybe not... Anyway, great to see (& hear the posh accents).

Outside the Prince Henry's school where my Dad went to school

Broadway High Street

Johnno on one of the Roman bridges in Bourton-on-the-Water.

Anyway, after all that site-seeing we headed back to London. I was pretty tired so didn't mind Johnno reciting Adam Sandler's 'Medium Pace' song...

Off to Wales for a horse riding weekend next. Looking forward to it! Except for this crazy weather....