We are heading back to London today after a great stay in Corfe Castle. The weather is still excellent with an expected temperature of 75 in London.

We had another proper English breakfast and said our goodbyes to fellow travelers. Our driver arrived on time and we are now on the way to our London hotel, a trip that should take about two hours.  My brother, Gerry, and wife, Sue, are hopefully arriving in London from Chicago this morning to join us for the next phase of our United Kingdom tour. 

Small world experience:  We are scheduled to meet Jim and Diane Grasha, a fellow  A.O. Smith executive, for dinner tonight. It turns out that Jim and Diane are arriving in England today on a transatlantic cruise, on their way to a wedding in Croatia next week. It is ironic we are in the same place at the same time and a pleasant surprise as we last saw them 5 years ago when we all cruised the Croatian coast.

Our trip back to London took almost 3 hours because of weekend traffic. The time went quickly as we both snoozed a little during the trip.  

As we were checking into the hotel I asked if Gerry and Sue had checked in yet (I had anticipated they would arrived in the late morning) and was told they had not yet arrived. Suddenly behind me in walks Gerry and Sue. It turns out their original flight had been cancelled and the alternative flight left 4 hours late because of weather so they had just arrived!  We all had a good laugh about the coincidence of meeting each other at the hotel registration desk. 

We had communication from Jim and Diane Grasha waiting for us when we got into the local internet. Ironically they were staying at a hotel right around the corner from us and we met for drinks and dinner at a local restaurant and spent a good three hours catching up with each others’ lives over a leisurely dinner.

That was it for the day. Tomorrow we plan to explore London as it has been 15-20 years since any of us have been here.