My wife Mary Ann is writing a parallel diary to mine about her trip with our daughter Mary Leigh this week to Great Britain. As she prefers, Mary Ann is improvising everything, and really racking up the miles on the rental car. I am taking a day off from the diary for a doctor's appointment. [divider type=""] Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Our Delta flight touched down at Heathrow at 7:05 a.m. to the minute. We went immediately to the Hertz office, a long bus ride from the airport. I was nervous about driving in England, and that concern was exacerbated by the rental agent who kept talking about "incidents" and renters being responsible for "the full value of the car." I was also informed that Ireland requires a $5,000 deposit! We were assigned a new Audi. Getting into driving on the right side of the road was unsettling. Good thing we headed straight out of town. Our first stop was Highclere, the manor house where Downton Abbey is filmed. ML is a lukewarm fan of the show, but an ardent admirer of the house. She checked the website to discover no tickets online. Such a thing never deters me, because things happen . Besides, driving the grounds is permitted. The weather was cold and rainy, which we expected to reduce the crowds. It did, and we walked right up and got tickets, because they are plentiful. Walk-ins are welcome, and 1,500 a day appear on average. ML was a little disappointed with the weather, but it was a perfect British day. A mist hung in the air, settling on the surrounding hills. Flocks of sheep grazed everywhere, and the gardens are magnificent. The house is smaller than we expected, both outside and in. It is owned by Lord and Lady Carnarvon, who live in a house down the glen with their young son. Pictures of the family are everywhere, humanizing the house. At Highclere filming is extensive. After ML was absolutely sure she was satiated gawking there, we drove on to Oxford, a charming university town so full of roaming crowds that words cannot adequately express. We tripped over people for awhile till we came upon a very cool place called Thaikuin, serving street food. Picture a very Asian TGIFriday's. ML got a great Pad Thai as good as she's ever had. Lots of parent/child combos in here. Understandable, but who were all these other people? Could they really be tourists? Yes. On to Basildon Park, which "Pride and Prejudice" fans (of the 1995 version) would recognize as Netherfield. Another beautiful house with less beautiful grounds, so we didn't stay long. Besides, it was a long day and my navigator was asleep. Around 6 p.m. we arrived at Hotel Xenia, a boutique hotel in Kensington, where we immediately fell asleep for thirteen hours.
