Good news, and glorious views!

We'll get the good news out of the way first! The tax refund credit for our new laptops that we bought in Norway finally came through. 

One of the reasons we bought our laptops in Norway was because we could claim back a credit of the big 25% tax rate there. It turned out that because of the forced involvement of a third party company (Global Blue) that supposedly makes things easier, you only get back a portion of what you should have got back. But it was still enough to make the final purchase price better than what we would have had buying the same items in Canada.

Great food and lots of laughs

Sunday was roast lunch day, so we spent the morning visiting with Helen and Tony and their son Stu and his girlfriend Harriet. Then their daughter Kelly showed up with her boyfriend Wayne.

The roast pork was smelling delicious and we were all hungry when lunch was served!

I had just about given up

On Saturday, we did the long bus ride from Leeds to Bristol. But first, we had to get from the village of Wyke back to the city of Leeds. So at 9:45am we said goodbye to Steve and Glen, and their daughter Claire and her husband Richard. We had a great week, thanks again for having us! We wonder when and where we will meet up again!

Our bus came on time and it was £2 ($2.95 CAD, $2.20 USD) each for the one hour ride back to the Leeds city bus station.

Sights around Halifax, England

The four of us were on the bus just after 9:30am heading east to the small city of Halifax, Yorkshire (pop 88,000).

On the outskirts of Halifax is an estate property called Shibden Hall. The original part of the house was built in 1420, and it was continuously occupied for over 500 years from 1420 to 1933.

Reuniting with Max

It was a rain day yesterday, and I had to work for a couple of hours so we never left the house. Even sat and watched a few trivia game shows on the television in the afternoon! 

But, I also got our trip back to Germany organized.

A good day sightseeing around the city of Bradford, England

We went with Glen and Steve yesterday morning and took the local bus into the city of Bradford. It's £2 per ride, but they have a full day pass for £4.50 ($6.85 CAD, $5.10 USD) each so we bought two day passes with the idea that we might do more than two rides.

We started off with a walk in Peel Park, then a wander around the central downtown area, then lunch out, then a walk up to Lister Park and Cartwright Hall.

You have to watch out for these things

So we're out for another walk yesterday afternoon and a young guy rides up on a bicycle and asks directions to somewhere. He's got no backpack or things with him, so he's obviously local. 

My immediate response was to say "We're not from here, sorry I can't help you". 

But there was no way I was taking my phone out. 

The curry capital of Britain

It was a bit of a drizzly morning here in Wyke, England and with the Queen's funeral taking place it seemed like a good time to do some computer work while glancing up at the television every now and then.

It was interesting watching the procession running through areas where we had been walking only a week or so ago.

Back together with Glen and Steve

Cousin Beryl cooked up a nice English breakfast for us... bacon and sausage and eggs and beans and toast. Nice to set off on a full stomach, and we wouldn't need much lunch. 

Our bus to Leeds left at 10:15am, but that gave us a few minutes where she could drive us around town for a bit of a sightseeing tour before dropping us off at the bus station.

A quick trip to Hull

We took the train from Leeds to Hull yesterday. About an hour ride, and the cost was about £7 ($10.60 CAD, $8 USD) each. Given the choice, we do enjoy the train more than the bus, but the bus is often cheaper. 

We were in Hull to meet up with my mother's cousin Beryl and some of her family. I don't have many relatives on my mother's side of the family since she was an only child, so it's good to keep in touch with the more distant relatives.

This was unexpected...

We had been told of a different kind of walking tour here in Leeds called the Leeds Owl Trail. Apparently there are at least 25 different owls located around the central area in statues and often well hidden in ornamental displays. You can download a map, which I did, but it was difficult to follow, so we stopped by the tourist info office where they sell you a paper one for £1.

So we set off looking for owls.

London to Leeds by bus

I had bought our bus tickets back in mid July. Very often there are some good discounts involved when you buy that far in advance, and that was definitely the case this time. We paid only £7.14 ($10.75 CAD, $8.15 USD) each for the four and a half hour ride with Megabus. And that included £2 each extra for reserved seating so that we were guaranteed to sit together.

Departure time was 11:00am from Victoria Coach Station in downtown London. We left Auntie Nice's house just after 9:30am and that gave us lots of time to get to the bus using train and underground.

The Regent's Park flower gardens and more London architecture

You would think that our legs would be tired from all the walking we've been doing here in London. And you would be correct! But yesterday we set off walking again anyhow, this time towards The Regent's Park to see all the flower gardens.

It had rained much of the morning, but it cleared up nicely after lunch. Which was good news for all the people with the ambition to see the King and his sons walk behind the Queen's casket as it made its way from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. We had no such ambition. 

The Regent's Canal, and off to the theater

We walked over to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park where the 2012 summer Olympic Games were held in London.

It's an interesting walk to get over there from where Ruth's aunt lives in Hackney because you follow the Regent Canal almost the whole way and there are people living on house boats.

An interesting day in London

Slept like a rock on Sunday night, as was expected after a long travel day and a five hour time change. 

We tried to get out of the house in time to get to Buckingham Palace for the 11:00am changing of the guard ceremony, but it was so busy that we would have probably had to get there at 7:00am in order to get a decent spot to view it. Yes, Buckingham Palace was crazy busy.