Lunch at the top of the Tate -- the Tate Modern. The Tate Modern is the newest member of the Tate family of museums. It is a rebuilt power station on the bank of the Thames, and is seven stories tall. So, when you have lunch at the top of the Tate you are way up in the air overlooking the Thames and lots of London on the banks. We did it, and it was pretty cool. Afterwards we checked out several sections of the galleries. They had some very nice Giacomettis -- sculptures and paintings -- on display.

The next day we lunched at the Blue Print Cafe. It is the other side of the Conran Museum and is a Conran [the English designer] restaurant. It too is on the bank of the Thames. Two days in a row we lunched on the bank of the Thames. This day we saw a sea-going cruise ship being towed up the Thames and through the Tower Bridge. The food was weird, but tasty.

There are Boynton places in London for seeking out, though not very many. Robert de Boynton served as knight of the shire from Yorkshire in 1308. Robert de Boynton served as knight of the shire from Yorkshire in 1376. Robert was not one very long lived person. He was grandfather and grandson. They held land in Boynton and Hunmanby -- both of which we had already visited. Both parliaments met in London and met in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. Parliament met there through almost all of the 14th century until it was moved to the castle. The Chapter House is a lovely octagonal room built in the 1250s. There are high windows all around and statues below the windows. One of the most impressive features is the tiles covering the entire floor, which are quite elaborate. Here two Robert de Boyntons argued and petitioned their kings -- a long time ago.

It took us a while to get to Westminster Abbey and the Chapter House. We got there in the morning, but the building was closed for a service the Queen would be attending. We do not know what the service was, but there were ladies with gray hair and hats everywhere. We had to come back after 2:00; no difficulty getting in then. After a long struggle with the Chapter House Anna convalesced with an ice cream cone on the Abbey lawn.

All coronations since 1066 have started in Westminster Hall, moved to Westminster Abbey and then back to the Hall. That includes the coronation of Richard III, and Richard Ratcliffe -- husband of Agnes Scrope Boynton Ratcliffe -- attended the king at the coronation. We were hoping to see the Hall, but no such luck. Apparently, it is open only very infrequently -- not for ordinary folks looking for Boynton places.

Still around -- and open to the public -- where Richard and Agnes trod [and perhaps Henry Boynton who was Agnes' son] was the Tower of London. The Tower was the residence of Richard III, along with other monarchs. Ratcliffe was in the inner, inner circle, and he must have been at the Tower frequently. And surely Agnes accompanied him on some occasions. So we were off for the Tower of London. It was a quick ride on the underground. Then a long wait in line to get a ticket. It is an elaborate castle that just growed. Every time they needed something new -- such as a private entrance for Edward I or a way to get prisoners in via water -- they just added it, and that produced a very lived in look. We went through the medieval reconstruction. Having seen several castles by this time the most informative feature was the candles. They were huge by the standards of our day. You do not have to think very long to figure out why they would have had giant candles, but I had never done the thinking. There was a replica of the throne used in the coronation on one room, and there was lots of armor in the White Tower. Then there were the circular stair cases; they really had small feet -- to judge by the stairsteps they went up and down. Mind your head; mind your feet!

Two real high points in London -- one not-Boynton and one Boynton. One, the Globe theatre. We finished lunch Wednesday and headed for the Globe Theatre, which was very close by. We were told they were all sold out, but that seemed to be tickets for seats. We wanted ground/standing room tickets. We wanted to stand on the ground as close as you can get to the actors performing. It is a re-creation, of course. Everything in London has burned down at one time or another. But it was interesting to see such a famous place in action. It was Macbeth this afternoon, which is two hours and 50 minutes without a break. It seemed unlikely that we would stay through the whole thing. But we got the witches accompanied by strains of jazz from the musicians. How do they know what music to play? They don't. So they play music relevant. We got to the kill and Macbeth collapsing after having done the deed. We were played out, so we headed for the Globe tea room for tea and strawberries.

Two, dinner with the Bill Boyntons. When we got to London we had a telephone message waiting. Bill Boynton would like us to have dinner at their home on Tuesday evening; come by 4:30 for a walk along the Thames. That sounded great. The place was Maidenhead, by train; then a cab ride to the Boynton manor. It is a long way from London; it would not be much fun making the commute every day, but Kingsland James -- Bill's consulting group -- is one of the new-fangled enterprises that is a collection of talents more than a physical location. They have a lovely house on a cul-de-sac. It has a very small front yard and a larger back yard, which being on a cul-de-sac makes possible. The back yard was manicured and the home of a friendly cat. That was all it took to keep Anna happy. They said they had completely renovated the inside of the house, and it has a large kitchen and dining area with a comfortable sitting room across from it. First, we went for the promised walk along the Thames. The river flows slowly enough there for ducks and geese and other water fowl to inhabit. Bill's sister Jennie -- another Boynton -- arrived as we were finishing the walk. Back to the house, and we moved outside for the evening meal. Lots of good talk and good food later it was time to get Anna to bed. Jennie took us to the train station and we were off to London and our bed and breakfast after a delightful evening with English Boyntons.

The final moments of our trip at Heathrow airport were not particularly happy. American Airlines had us standing in line for more than 30 minutes. The airport had us walking through a shopping area that was foul with smoke and make believe needs. But we got on the plane and home; three delightful weeks, and wonderful to be home.