Friends, Birthdays, Bath & Shoplifting

In a last minute change of plans, Sandra and I decided to catch up at the start of her trip rather than the end so the day after she arrived in London, we went for lunch at Harvey Nichols and then did some window shopping at Harrods. We found a pair of boots for £1050 and also an opera singer entertaining shoppers in the escalator well.
I received 2 great birthday cards from Ma and Lawrence the day before my birthday (good timing) and Taffy cooked me dinner.
In chatting to Vera about catching up, I found out that Harry and Jenny had arrived the week before and didn't tell me! They will be here for 3 years while Harry does a degree in furniture making. We all went out for a lovely dinner and I got 2 more birthday cards. :-)
Fiona had her baby 2 weeks early the day after my birthday. She only stayed in hospital for a couple of days. Apparently Sarah is being a doting big sister so far. Fiona is waiting for the novelty to wear off.
Taffy and I headed for Bath on Saturday. We went for a drive up through the Cotswolds first and were disappointed by the dullness of it all. We had both heard how beautiful the scenery was and how interesting the small towns were but both found the scenery pretty but boring after a while and the towns were mostly closed.
Stonehenge, on the other hand, was very good. I had expected it to be rather unexciting but they have done a good job with the audio guide and I learnt some fascinating facts (& myths). I also found the fact that it is next to some sheep paddocks and right up against the highway hysterical. They are planning to dig a tunnel so that the highway will be hidden in the future.
At Salisbury, we visited the Salisbury Cathedral, which has the tallest spire in Britain. Taffy also had his first British Pub Sunday roast. Yum! It is one of the only meals that is consistently good in the UK. We also visited Old Sarum, site of castle foundations (the good stone was taken from the site to be used elsewhere when it was no longer used).
On Monday morning, we had breakfast in Bath. We gave the waitress more money than she counted and she missed one of our orders. This resulted in an argument with the staff and the manager counting the till to find that there was even more money than the extra that we had given them. I wonder how many people they are ripping off.
The Roman Baths are a wonderful example of Roman engineering. The drains, pools, saunas and baths are still in fairly good condition. There are statues of Roman generals and gods on the upper terrace, which are not Roman at all but date back to the late 19th century, when the authorities decided that having Roman statues would make the tourist experience more realistic.
Photos from Bath and Cardiff are in the usual place.
Saw something interesting yesterday at the supermarket. I was daydreamingly wandering into the store when I noticed a man with a basket full of meat hanging around the entrance. As soon as the people had all entered, he sauntered out the door with his goods. It only registered in my mind after the fact what he was doing. Hopefully it is to feed a family.
Will be on my way to the US in a week for Lawrence's wedding.