England 2014 Week 4

June 30:
After having breakfast in the flat we caught a Thames Clipper boat to Greenwich.  We hiked up to the observatory where we got to stand on the prime meridian (which separates the Eastern and Western hemispheres) and explore the place where so many scientists and astronomers discovered the cosmos!  After that we walked down through a small market and ate Italian flatbread sandwiches and drank fresh juices.  We made our way to The Cutty Sark, which is a Victorian era tea clipper, and explored it's many decks..  It was very interesting to hear about its different voyages.  We took a DLR train back to the flat and rested for a bit before we walked in the rain (one of the few days it rained) up to the canal and ate at The Narrow Boat pub, which was tasty but a bit overpriced.

July 1:  
Off on an another adventure!  We got up a bit early and caught a train up to Oxford.  We walked through the Bodlean library and saw some of the sites that Harry Potter was filmed and then decided to have lunch at Pizza Express - I highly recommend the dough balls with the various dipping sauces! So good!  We walked though the market and then went to the History of Science Museum.  Had a good time exploring many of the tools and instruments that scientist have used over the years.  Sadie got a scavenger hunt paper and got to find various items and mark them off.  While in the museum we met up with my cousin Brook who works in Oxford during the summer!  We walked through Blackwell's bookstore, got ice cream at the market and walked around the meadow.  It was a very nice day to take Oxford in but too soon we had to say goodbye to Brook and get back to our train.  It was a nice visit.  We picked up some chicken and fries on our way home and had dinner in our flat.

July 2: 
We ate breakfast in the flat and took our time getting up and going and then hopped on a train to Dover.  We got there at lunch time so we stopped at a local diner (the Dovorian) and then walked down to the marina.  We were going to do the 2:00 boat tour but missed it because we were trying to find a bathroom so we took the bus tour to the top of the cliffs and walked around a bit.  The day was so clear we could see across the water to Calais, France!  We went back to the marina and got to do the 4:00 boat tour.  We had a great view of the majestic white cliffs of Dover and Sadie got to drive the boat for a bit!  After the boat tour we walked along the water collecting sea shells and then ate at a local pub, Blake's of Dover, Sadie and I had cottage pie - she told me that my cottage pie was better!  After dinner it was time to catch a train back to London.

July 3:  
After another lazy morning in the flat we headed out to Hyde park.  We wondered around the Diana memorial playground (would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting London with little kids!) and then walked down to Kensington Palace.  We picked up some sandwiches, fruit, and crisps at a small cafe and had a picnic lunch under the shade of a big tree.  It was downright hot outside!  After our lunch we walked around the pond and through the park then took the tube over to Spitalfields for some last minute shopping.  We came home and rested and got ready for the symphony.  We caught a bus down by St. Paul's Cathedral and ate at Nandos and shopped in some nearby stores like H&M while waiting for the cathedral to open.  Once it did we went in and found our seats.  It was absolutely amazing just to be inside St. Paul's Cathedral - it is a stunning place. Once the London Symphony Orchestra started playing I got goosebumps!  It was a wonderful experience!  After the concert we took a bus back home. Our trip was quickly coming to an end.

July 4:  
Our last day in London!  After breakfast in the flat we went down to Buckingham Palace.  We lucked out and got there just in time to see the changing of the guard!  After that we walked through Trafalgar Square and watched some break dancers perform and then wondered over to Covent Garden one more time to do some shopping.  We stopped and ate lunch at Masala Zone and caught the tube back to our flat.  We had to pack and check into our flight home - the month had flown by!  After a bit of a rest we walked through a local park and ate at The Breakfast Club, which had an 1980's American theme.  It was a fun, quirky place. We walked around Islington (our neighborhood) some more and back along the canal  to our flat one more time.  We said goodbye to Daniel at the front desk who had been very helpful throughout this trip and called it a night.

July 5:
We left our flat early and caught the Piccadilly train from King's Cross to Heathrow Airport.  We got through security with no problems and walked around the shops with time to kill.  One more meal at Pret A Manger and we boarded our flight.  It was a long 10 hours but it was comfortable and pleasant.  Soon we were back in Austin, Texas and wow was it hot and humid!  It was a wonderful, fun, and educational trip of a lifetime that we will not soon forget!

Click here for pictures from week 4.

England 2014 Week 3

June 23:  
After an enjoyable weekend together Jim and I took an early train out of Liverpool Station to Cambridge to meet up with the Heitmeyers, Jim's parents and his grandma who had just come into town.  Jim and Paul bought some provisions at a market and we all went punting on the river while snacking on crisps and drinking wine and soda.  Very nice!  We walked down to Kings College Chapel to look around while Paul took the kids to the arcade. We had dinner at The Eagle pub - famous not only for military reasons but scientific ones as well.  After our pleasant day in Cambridge we all headed back to Bury St. Edmunds.  Sadie stayed at the house with her cousins and Jim and I stayed at The Three Kings pub and B&B just down the road.  A nice little place to stay.

June 24:  
Jim and I had breakfast at the B&B - a hearty English breakfast with tea and met up with the family.  It was off for antique shopping after that.  We ended up buying a beautifully carved, Victorian era coffer (trunk) for the house.  We were going to eat at a Filipino restaurant but it was closed so we went to a nice little Indian place instead.  We all went back to the Heitmeyers house after that to hang out and play some cards.  Jen made a delicious dinner of French dip sandwiches and we all had a nice visit before turning in at our B&B.

June 25:  
After another filling breakfast at The Three Kings we headed to the Bury Market to do some shopping.  I got my favorite Suffolk honey!  Yum!  After that Jim, Sadie, and I along with Jim's parents hopped a train back to London.  Once in London, Jim's parents decided that they needed their Mexican fix so we tracked down a Mexican restaurant called Chico Bandito.  The Food was good even though it wasn't very authentic - the place was run by a Turkish guy who was very friendly but had no idea what queso was.  They did have good margaritas and put sombreros on us though!

June 26:  
We walked down the road with Jim's parents to have breakfast at Mcdonalds and then hopped a train to Hampton Court Palace.  We were delayed on the train for about 20 minutes due to a signal malfunction.  After we finally got to the Palace we had lunch at the cafe in the gardens.  We walked through King Henry VIII's rooms and learned more of his colorful history and then went outside to get lost in the maze.  We came back into the palace to watch a reenactment where they ended up separating the lords and ladies so Jim and his father went off to confer with Henry VIII while the ladies went to talk with Jane Seymour.  During this talk I kept being referred to as mistress Shelton.  We were summoned by the King to his privy room where he and his councilors (the boys) were.  The King summoned us to give testimony on the words and actions of the Queen Anne Boleyn.  Suddenly the King asked for mistress Shelton to give a testimony!  I realized that was supposed to be me and I had to stand in front of everyone and wing it! Nobody had prepared (warned) me that I would have to give a testimony so I muttered something about her not being serious about what she said (she had been overheard talking about who she would marry if the King died).  I must have done okay because the King called me a brave woman and praised my loyalty to the queen.  After that we went through the gift shop and then caught a train back to London.  The boys wanted BBQ so we looked up a place in Camden Town but when we got there we found out it was a bar and kids were not allowed after 7:00 so we ended up back in our neighborhood and ate at Giraffe.  We then went down to The Tower of London to see the Ceremony of the Keys - the locking up of the tower which was very cool to see.  By then Sadie was tired so we caught a bus back to our flat at 10:30 at night.

June 27:  
After breakfast we went down to do a little shopping on Oxford Street.  I got a bunch of stuff at Primark and then we walked down to Selfridges where we had lunch.  We finished with a trip to Hamley's - a fun toy store where we got to play with some of the toys and take pictures with the (Lego) Queen.  We went back to the rooms to rest up a bit and then met Jen down in Piccadilly.  We had a nice dinner at Spaghetti House which is right next door to the Queen's Theatre where we saw Phantom of the Opera!  An amazing production!  It was every bit as good as I remember.  After the show we walked through Piccadilly Circus and went back to our flat.

June 28:  
Well our luck finally wore out - The weather turned cool and rainy.  Of course it was on the day that we had Jim's grandma (everyone calls her Boppa) with us.  Paul took the kids to the Natural History Museum while the rest of us did the hop-on/hop-off bus tour.  Even though it was rainy we still sat up on top of the bus - mostly under the front cover.  We drove all over the city!  We stopped to change busses and took a break at Pret a manger where we got some tea and croissants.  We hopped on a bus again for a ride around Hyde park.  After that Jim and I went looking for a bathroom with no luck!  We ended up taking the tube to Chinatown (where we had dinner reservations) and found one in a KFC!  We were the first ones in Chinatown so we walked around a bit and then stopped in a pub for a pint.  Paul texted to say he was across the way at M&M world with the kids so I went over to relieve him so he could have a pint with Jim.  Finally everyone showed up and we had dinner together at a nice Chinese restaurant and then called it a night.

June 29:  
We all got up a bit early to make our breakfast reservation at The English Restaurant in Spitalfields.  They gave us a private dining room that was designed by Christopher Wren and is the oldest room in East London!  The food was wonderful and the waiter Tom was handsome and witty.  It was all quite lovely.  Afterwords we went to Spitalfields market and Petticoat Lane for some shopping.  Jim, Sadie and I took Boppa down to the London Eye and we had a nice ride with a wonderful view of the city.  We hopped on a bus after that and met the rest of the family at Harrod's for afternoon tea.  We shopped around Harrod's for a bit - you seriously need a map for this store!  It's huge!  We headed back to the flat and said goodbye to Jim's family who were going back up to Bury St. Edmunds.  The rest of the night was spent resting and getting some laundry done.

Click here for pictures from week3.

England 2014 Week 2

June 17:  
We had a relaxing morning at the flat and then hopped on a bus headed east to check out the Shorditch area. We shopped at Spitalfields market, checked out a local church, and ate lunch at Giraffe on the patio - we couldn't believe it was another beautiful day in London!  We stopped in a square with all the business people on their lunch break to hear a 6 person orchestra play some Vilvaldi and then made our way over to the British Museum where we spent the rest of our day. It's quite an amazing museum - we saw Egyptian mummies, Greek statues, African masks, and The Rosetta Stone. After a brief rest at our flat we went to eat pizza and watch part of the World Cup at a local bar/restaurant called The Arc.  

June 18:  
We woke up early and caught the train from Paddington Station to Cardiff, Wales.  The weather was cool and rainy in London but nice in Cardiff! Once in Cardiff we caught the #6 bus down to the Doctor Who Experience where we went on an adventure with Doctor #11 (Matt Smith) - we rode in the TARDIS (Sadie got to help drive), got captured by Daleks, ran through a forest with weeping angels and saved the day!  Then we walked through a huge room with props and costumes from the show.  We spent way too much money in the gift shop after.  We walked over to the bay to check it out, got ice cream, and then headed up to Cardiff Castle.  After a tour of the castle, it's keep, and the moat we ate dinner at The Cottage - Jacket Potatoes and apple crumble (yummy).  The food was good and the staff was very nice.  We caught the train back to London and called it a day.

June 19:  
we had another lazy morning in the flat and then we met Jen for lunch at Scarlet Dot in Spitalfields.  We browsed the antique/vintage market and then took Jen and Sadie to King's Cross station.  Sadie went off to spend the weekend with her cousins and Jim and I got some adult time in London.  After sending Sadie off with her aunt Jen, Jim and I went down to Leicester Square and got cheap tickets to The Woman in Black.  We went back to the flat for a "romantic" dinner of leftovers and then went to the show.  It was good and creepy with some good jump out of your seat frights!  After the show we went to Covent Garden and had cocktails at a roof-top bar.  On the way back to the flat we were hungry so we got some chicken wings and fries from a late night restaurant and took it back to our flat for a midnight snack.

June 20: 
Jim and I went down to St. Dunstan in the East in the morning and checked out the church that had been mostly destroyed by the great fire and WWII bombings.  The walls remain covered by vines and there is a nice little courtyard.  We also checked out the monument about the great fire designed by Christopher Wren.  We then went down to Borough Market and got some salami and mozerella sandwiches.  We also sampled cheeses, chocolate, and other delicacies.  I had always wanted to try Turkish Delight so we bought some and it was delicious! We made our way over to Shakespeare's Globe but got there too late for a tour so we went to the Tate Modern and looked around.  I wanted to see the Henri Matisse exhibit but it was expensive so we just saw the regular exhibits with Picasso and Dali. We visited a riverside pub for drinks and then went through the market again to get some cheese, salami, bread, and peaches.  We took our bounty home and had a quiet night in.

June 21:  
Jim and I went up to Camden Market in the morning and did some shopping.  Stopped by The Oxford Arms pub for lunch - I had fish and chips.  We headed down to Euston station and walked around the corner to see the BBC Sherlock 221B Baker Street.  We had to take some pictures since we are fans of the show. We went into the British Library and saw their treasures which included manuscripts by Jane Austin, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, and other authors.  Also saw compositions from Mozart, Handel, and the Beatles.  We got to see another Gutenberg Bible - that makes 3 that I've seen.  We were pretty tired so we took the tube back to the flat and rested.  Later we went down to Piccadilly and saw a comedy show.  I found the tickets on Lastminute.com for cheap so I wasn't sure what to expect.  The tickets came with dinner - a burger and chips which ended up being tasty but small.  There were five comedians on stage that night and they were all pretty funny.  Some of the jokes where lost on us as foreigners (like the political jokes). But we still had a great time.  After, we walked around Piccadilly Circus for a bit to watch all the people and then called it a night.

June 22:  
We went to Bunhill Burial Grounds and saw the graves of Daniel Defoe and William Blake.  The plaque said that this cemetery was for the non-conformists - people who were not traditional in their religious beliefs.   We headed to Brick Lane and walked around - it was like one giant yard sale! The reason to go, however, is for the food market with all sorts of Indian and Asian food.  We stuffed ourselves silly and then went through Petticoat Lane.  We had to stop in Spitalfields again so I could buy the grey coat I had my eye on.  We went back to the flat and started some laundry and then went down to The Angel pub to have Sunday roast and Pimms!  Jim had curry and a pint!

Click here for pictures from week 2.

England 2014 - Week 1

June 10:
Our flight took off in the afternoon of the 9th and landed on the morning of the 10th.  We had a direct flight on British Airways to London so we didn't have to change planes which was nice!  We were on one of the new Dreamliner 747 jets that has dimming windows and a huge selection of entertainment - no chance of getting bored on this plane.  Even with all the nice, new things I found it hard to sleep. Sadie and Jim managed to get a few hours of sleep but for some reason I was not able to.  Everything went well until we landed and I started to feel sick to my stomach, dizzy, and weak.  It was difficult to get through customs and once we were done there a British Airlines worker brought me a wheelchair.  I felt a bit embarrassed but grateful - it helped a lot!  Jim bought our Travelcards and we hopped on the tube (the Piccadilly line) to Kings Cross. I put my head down on the luggage in front of me and slept the entire 50 minute trip.  We got off at Kings Cross and got some lunch but I was not able to eat anything - there was no seating available so we sat in a corner on the floor.  I laid my head down on Sadie's leg and Jim joked about us looking like some displaced Gypsy family.  We managed to finally get to our apartment and I crashed on the bed and slept for a few hours.  Jim and Sadie ran to the store to get a few items while I rested and then we all ate cereal for dinner.  After a nap and some food I felt much better.  A note about our apartment at Citadine's St. Marks - it was great!  It had a King sized bed and private bath in one room and a twin bed and shared bath in the other.  There was a kitchen with dishwasher and washer/dryer and a living room/dining room area.  It was perfect!  We were all tired and made it to 8:00 p.m. before we started getting ready for bed.  We all slept very soundly.

June 11:
After a good night's sleep we all felt much better.  We took our time getting ready and had a leisurely breakfast in the flat.  We walked over to Kings Cross station and hopped on the tube to Covent Garden.  We walked around our old stomping grounds for a while checking out Neal's Yard and even walked past the flat that we stayed at last time.  We walked down to St. Martin in-the-field for lunch in the crypt and to do some brass rubbings.  Sadie chose a griffin and I got a picture of St.George slaying the dragon!  Jim helped us with the rubbing which is harder than it looks!  After we walked over to The National Gallery and strolled through it for a while and then watched people and street performers in Trafalgar Square.  We walked down the road and bought some souvenirs and had ice cream and French fries from McDonalds.  We walked back through Covent Garden and caught the tube back to our flat.  We ate at a kabob place called Tas Firin which was very tasty! After that we hung out in our flat.

June 12:
We had another leisurely morning in the flat and then hopped a bus to King's Cross to catch the tube down to Westminster Abby.  We grabbed an audio tour gadget and got started.  We saw so much beautiful artwork, the tomb of Elizabeth I, and Poets Corner.  After the tour we had afternoon tea/lunch at the Abby Cellarium - a nice cafe on a rooftop next to the Abby.  We wondered around the garden for a bit - it was beautiful day!  We walked from there to the Churchill War Rooms to see history come alive, it was quite interesting.  After that we grabbed the tube back home and checked out the local pub - The Charles Lamb Pub.  We had drinks and crisps and played with some board games before going back to the flat and ate leftovers for dinner.

June 13:
This morning was an early one - we had to catch a 9:30 train so we took the bus down to Kings Cross Station, picked up some breakfast at Pret A Manger and ate outside the station.  We had some time to kill so we revisited Platform 9 3/4 and got some pictures.  Soon we got on our train (table seats)  and were on our way to the Lake District!  The train ride was 2 1/2 hours long but went by quickly as we were playing cards and enjoying the scenery.  We got off at Darlington and met up with the Heitmeyers.  We had lunch at The William Stead and jumped in their car.  An hour and a half later we pulled into Penirth to pick up some groceries and about 20 minutes later were at our cottage.  The cottage was great - rooms for everyone, a big kitchen, and a sunken trampoline out back.  After taking a break and eating some bread and cheese and watching the kids jump on the trampoline we went into Pooly and ate dinner at a pub by the river.  We came back to the cottage and lit a fire in the living room and relaxed.

June 14:
After breakfast in the cottage we headed out to Grasmere.  It was a beautiful 40 minute drive past green, rolling hills dotted with sheep, moss covered rock fences, ivy laced cottages, and glassy lakes.  Once in Grasmere we stopped by a shop to buy their famous gingerbread and then wondered through the graveyard to check out the graves of William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy.  The Heitmeyers went off to row a boat on the lake while the Youngs went off to Dove cottage for a tour.  After touring the cottage and gardens we met up with the Heitmeyers again and had a nice lunch by the river.  We hiked the coffin trail from Grasmere to Rydal, then decided to ride the bus to Ambleside but had to wait 45 minutes for the bus!  It finally came and we went into town and stopped for hot chocolate and sweets and a little shop that had the best apple pie in the world!  Truly!  After walking around town for a bit we got some take-out Chinese food and hopped the bus back to our car. We drove back to the flat and ate our Chinese food and had a good time hanging out with family.

June 15:
After breakfast in the cottage we headed straight out our door for an adventure!  We got a hand drawn map from the proprietor of the cottage and set off.  The map claimed the route was 8 miles and would take only four hours to complete.  The hike was absolutely beautiful but was steep at some places and long.  It took us quite a while to reach the midpoint for the waterfall (about 4 miles in).  We ate a lunch of cheese sandwiches and walked up to Aira Force (the waterfall).  After the falls we trekked on for a few miles (almost 3 miles) to a small village pub.  We got drinks and hung out on the lawn and picnic tables and played cards for an hour.  The weather was perfect!  We ate dinner at the pub and started the last leg of our journey (about 3 more miles) to our cottage.  We were all pretty exhausted by the time we were through.  It took us quite a bit longer than 4 hours!   We watched Drew's stop-motion movie that he had made with some clay we had gotten at Dove Cottage.

June 16:
Had one more nice morning in the cottage - ate breakfast and watched the kids jump on the trampoline.  We loaded up the car and drove back to Darlington, stopped at Sainsbury's for lunch at their cafe, and then got on the train to London.  We got back to the flat and settled in and then walked up to Waitrose grocery store by Angel station and got some groceries.  After our first week we needed to do some laundry so we stayed in for the night and made a dinner of ham and cheese tortellini with tiger bloom rolls.  The rest of the night was spent resting up for the next part of our trip!

For pictures of week 1 click here.

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