Subject: England, lovely England

Hi Mele,

June 16th. Arrived Heathrow at 7:30 am. Customs was crowded, but  fast-moving and painless. I got to the underground quickly and went to Leicester square, transferred to northern line and got to Euston station. When I got there, I bought a ticket for Stoke-on Trent, and the train was leaving in about 5 minutes, so it was real quick. You might say I had the London Underground tour! Oh well, I'll see it tomorrow...

The taxi picked me up at Stoke station and gave me a cook's tour of Stoke and Alton on the way to the 'Tenement Farm' B&B. This is a flat rate ride, and cost £16 each way. (So this would have been a good place to rent a car, I guess) But quite reasonable all in all.

Alton Towers was less than I expected, but the towers themselves were quite interesting. It's ruins of a castle and has quite a history.

Tenement Farm, I think would qualify as a nice 'Back door'. It's very nice and quiet, well away from traffic, and the hosts, Stan and Joyce are very pleasant and accomodating. They'll take you over to Alton Towers and pick you up, if you wish. There's also lots of other attractions in this area. They call them the 'Potteries' - Spode, Wedgwood and other companies that produce china and have factory tours available.

I was so tired that I went to bed at 8pm and slept until morning. The first leg was far too long. Next time, I'll split it up.

June 17th

This morning I had an english breakfast of cereal, fruit, coffee, toast, jams and kippers (I picked it from a menu) and it was delicious and far too much to eat! This is included in the £30 I paid for the accomodation.

Well, I'll contact you again soon. I'm staying in the Earl's Court Hostel tonight and tomorrow.                Bye,   Jim