Yes, Liz and Philip finally have gotten their way. I'm off to London, but not to visit the queen and her consort.

Tomorrow, September 27, I'm flying United from Chicago to London for about two weeks. But it's personal visits, mainly. A bit of tourism will be thrown in there if time permits (and my friends can get away), but the two weeks are chock full of train trips and personal visits. So much so that if one elderly Anglican priest couple (he's the priest, naturally) isn't in Bath, I will substitute it for a day in York, in the north on my way up to Edinburgh (also to visit friends). That's my only SCHEDULED touristic activity in 15 days!

Here's my itinerary:

Sept. 28 - arrive in London, see friends in Surrey (W of the city)

Sept. 30 - visit Geoffrey Mowat, an Anglican priest and his wife Louise in Bath (if they're there - no word from them in weeks)
OR get train to York if the Mowat's are unavailable for some reason

Oct. 1 - train to Edinburgh to visit former Anglican chaplain from Cairo and his wife in Peebles, Scotland (a bit SW of Edinburgh)

Oct. 4 - train south to Manchester to visit Sam Fox, old friend from All Saints' Cathedral in Cairo - she also taught EFL

Oct. 6 - train to Lincoln to visit the former bishop's secretary from All Saints', Margaret Ford, an old friend and "hostess with the mostest" at the Anglican guest house for the Cathedral

Oct. 8 - train to Cambridge to visit Andrew and Claire Lea; he was a fellow teacher in the EFL program at American University Cairo

Oct. 10 - train to the NW London suburb of Ruislip to attend the 50th anniversary of Vivienne Stacey's missionary career (she was a good friend of Mom's and missionary for many years to Pakistan).

Oct. 11 - stay with the Eedle's, also Cairo friends - he worked as a Reuters correspondent in the Middle East (and most recently in Baghdad during the war)

Oct. 13 - fly London to Chicago arriving two hours later (a trick of the time zones!)

The last time I visited these dear folk was in 1996 on a frequent-flier-mile-funded ticket to the UK. This fall may be the last time I get any vacation time before I find a real job, so I'm taking full advantage! Once I get back to Urbana in mid October, however, I'll have to hit the ground running to finish my dissertation revisions in time to deposit it with the Graduate College the beginning of December. Then the doctorate is mine!

Stay tuned ...