United Kingdom Pictures

We stayed in London at an apartment in the Earl's Court area near Kensington.  Unfortunately, the city was reeling after a deadly subway bombing two weeks prior and another bombing attempt the day we arrived (July 21).  Despite all of this we got out and kept busy for several days until grandparents Jim & Marilyn arrived from the US and joined us as planned.  We then went into sightseeing overdrive and spent three days touring London, mostly in the rain.  After that we rented a van and took a road trip through the English countryside.  Our destination was the northern city of Newcastle near the Scottish border.  We spent four days on the road and visited the Cotswold Hills, Warwick, Stoke-on-Trent, and York.  In Newcastle we caught our overnight boat for Norway.