UK Part IV- London

I've been dragging this out long enough. This is going to be a whirlwind tour of our two days in London. Beginning with first impressions. The things which always catch my eye are the things that I can't/haven't see anywhere else.





We either walked or rode the tube everywhere. Mind the gap. We even got ourselves crammed on a train car like sardines at rush hour and climbed up these ridiculous stairs at the Russel Square station. 177 steps. No escalators. I couldn't figure out why there was a line for the elevator.





Of course, we walked past Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Insert tour director voice here. Incidentally, did you know that Big Ben is actually the bell, not the clock? As we were standing on this bridge, Big Ben tolled three, while a bagpiper played across the bridge.





Everyone said, "You have to go to Harrods." So we went to Harrods. But it was so much more than I was expecting. Where else can you buy a yacht and LEGOS, and find Laduree next to a Krispy Kreme??





We saw As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. That may have been one of the most enjoyable things we did. It turns out, that if you put together fantastic actors in a wonderful theatre, we like Shakespeare!





We went to the British Library to see the Magna Carta and other amazing historical documents. Then we breezed through the British Museum to see the sarcophagi. I think you could go there everyday for a month and not see everything.



Another highlight of London was the Tower of London. AMAZING! And we just happened to be there on the anniversary of death of Anne Boleyn. There were flowers over her grave site and by her name on the memorial where she was beheaded.





Wonderful trip! I'm so glad we got to do it. It wasn't necessarily how we planned it, and that was great. We saw lots of amazing things, and left lots more to be seen next time.



Oh, and I almost forgot...we ate black pudding! Anyone know where to get that in the States??!

UK Part III- Blenheim & Clapton-on-the-Hill

Our second B&B was Clapton Manor. Our hostess, Karin, was a wonderful, cheery, down-to-earth woman who was full of suggestions for what to see, where to eat and anything else. This was great, because we hadn't fully planned what we would do there. This is the gateway into their lovely side yard. We had tea outside in the courtyard our first afternoon. Clapton Manor sits in a tiny little village of Clapton-on-the-Hill. Don't you just love all those descriptive names? As I'm sure you can guess- the village sits on the top of a hill. Everett came to the full realization of this when he went running- every route had him going uphill on the way back.









Our room looked out on one side to the couryard, and on the other side, to the village church here. Karin suggested a drive our first evening that would take us through some of the picturesque surrounding villages, and then a great little pub called the Fox Inn for dinner. By the way, just try searching by the name of a pub in your GPS. You will realize how many pubs are called The Fox, The Horse and Groom, The Horse and Hound, The Horse and Coach, The Coachman, and so forth!

We spent the next day at Blenheim Palace. It is the current home of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Winston Churchill. So, besides being a beautiful home and garden, it is full of fascinating history. I wish we could have taken pictures inside because it was really spectacular. Though I doubt my pictures would have done it justice.















We toured the palace, which included some very interesting displays about Winston Churchill, walked the gardens and had lunch in the garden. After our late lunch, we finished the gardens with a walk through the hedge maze. Everett is being a human sundial, as his shadow tells us the time.





We headed back to the B&B where Karin had a fire waiting for us in the sitting room and tea and cake! Just what we needed after a long day. We were so refreshed, we did some walking around the village before dinner and came across this red telephone booth. We had passed many like this, and I was so sure I wouldn't get a picture if we didn't stop. But we stumbled upon this one- they really do put them in the most extraordinary places! After our walk we went to dinner at another nearby pub- The King's Head! Too funny!

UK Part I- Windsor & Warminster

I finished working through my pictures a couple of days ago, but it was too soon to post them. The simple fact is that when I look through my pictures, I get all excited, and love each one. I can't possibly choose when I'm in that state of mind. So, this is my pared-down, abbreviated look at our first day in England.

Here's Ev getting ready to drive on the left side for the first time...he looks a little nervous, doesn't he? Actually he did really well, although I never quite got used to it. I kept thinking that he was turning into oncoming traffic! Of course, he wasn't, so it was a good thing that he did all the driving. We were, however, soooo glad that at the last minute we asked for a navigation system!



Windsor Castle was not at all what I expected. Mostly because it is now sitting in the middle of a little town. That alone creates a really unique- and sometimes stark- juxtaposition of the new and old. It was amazing to walk through and think about the fact that people still live here. In fact, the Queen's standard was flying the day that we visited. I suppose she is used to it, but it would seem so strange to me to have hundreds of strangers walking through my house. I loved checking out all the details- like little crowns decorating everything that would stand still, from light posts to mailboxes. It's one of those things that is normal to people in the UK, but such a novelty to us!

















We spent some time walking around the cities of Windsor and Eton and along the Thames. We watched the swans along the Thames, which are all owned by the Queen. We had our first English meal- Ev chose fish & chips with mashy peas and I tried some steak and kidney pie with mash and gravy. I thought everything was tasty- though Ev said the coffee was not up to par. Go figure.




We left Windsor and headed into Warminster for our first night. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous- rolling hills, grassy fields and pastures. One of our B&B hosts said these yellow flowering fields were growing a crop that is actually used for animal feed once it goes to seed. We waved at Stonehenge as we drove past, and flew down tiny country lanes at breakneck speeds- usually we were still below the speed limit! We ended our day at this gorgeous little B&B named Crockerton House. It used to be part of a large country estate named Longleat, and dates from 1669. The owners are gracious hosts and have done a beautiful job of restoring it into a very comfortable B&B, along with planting some wonderful gardens, which we could see from our bedroom window. For dinner, we walked to the local pub and had a great time with very friendly locals and good food!

DINO-mite Party

Every once in a while, we have a special birthday party complete with invitations, special decorations and games. This was Braden's turn. I had a great time making the invitations, planning all the dinosaur games (pin the tooth on the dino, dinosaur egg relay race, dinosaur bone drop and more) and thinking up fun decorations. The kids were all 4 or 5 years old- which is such a great age for a theme like this, which takes a little imagination. They were so enthusiastic about the Milk Bone "dinosaur bones" and the first thing they each said at the door was, "did you know we saw dinosaur footprints on the sidewalk??!"



One activity didn't quite work out the way I planned. The pint-sized palaeontologists were having a little trouble with their pint-sized tools, so we had to call in the big guns.





Happily, the cupcakes were a huge success, especially the fondant dinos on top. I know, I swore off fondant after Trevor's 5th birthday. But it was so much easier this time....maybe because I wasn't trying to cover a ridiculously gigantic medieval castle. But I digress. I found a tutorial for these little guys, and they were actually fun to make- although I'm still glad I only had to make six.






They were a surprise to Braden, and he loved them. His smile is all the thanks I need!