Day two was a bit slower paced but no less exciting. We woke early to catch our tour bus to Winsor Castle. Although the state rooms were not open, the chapel and a doll house collection was. It is a very neat and OLD castle that is still a residence. After Winsor we traveled out to see Stonehenge. It is in essence a big pile of rocks in a field. Almost as neat were the fields of sheep. LOTS of sheep. After lunch at another pub and another batch of fish and chips -sigh, we went on to Bath. This is a really nice resort town with an old Roman bath. As a Jane Austen fan it was fun to see places she visited and was inspired by. We toured the bath, Mike tried the water, Mike hated the water and we headed back to London.
We have risen at 3:30am to catch the euro star to Paris. Tired and happy! We will blog on the other side of the channel :)
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
A full day in London
It has been a huge day!! We started out with a "traditional English breakfast". This included back bacon, scramble eggs, pastries, and baked beans. These looked just like pork and beans from a can - for breakfast?!? Mike thought it was good. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow. We headed for a walk through St. James park to buy tickets for Buckingham Palace. The weather is still amazing and a huge crowd had the same idea about the palace. After getting our tickets and knowing we had some time before entry we headed out to find Portobello road. Think "bed knobs and broom sticks" - yes it's a real place. After a fairly obnoxious attempt at using the tube we opted for a taxi to the road. Then we thought we'd be adventurous and rent bikes to ride back to the palace. Thankfully the kiosk at the bike rental was broken and we came to our senses and took a cab back to the palace. Our driver took us by the Royal Albert Hall - think "a day in the life" by the Beatles - for a photo op and then to Harrods for a pic. Then onto Buckingham Palace.
It was amazing!!! It is so ornate and historic. The wedding dress recently worn was on display with the accompanying audio tour describing the dress and the video display of how and who made it. People were swarming the display and to see the bouquet and cake. These people take their royals very seriously. But the palace was still really neat.
Afterward we had the world's worst fish and chips. Ah well. And walked to Westminster abbey. Total surprise. I thought it was a big church but I guess anyone who's anyone that is dead is there. Crazy huge monuments, floor plaques, and a lot of dead people. It was impressive. There were cute school kids on a field trip sitting in the choir loft. I asked them if they were going to sing. They weren't. Listening to their denials in British accents was fun!
After the abbey we headed to the Thames for a river tour. This was a fun way to see the city. We saw the Harry potter movie bridge, the globe theatre and the HMS Belfast - a big ship. The tour ended at the tower bridge and then we heded to the tower of London. This was an exepected fun spot. We climbed through this medieval castle wall, up and down stone staircases and small halls. Built in 1066!!! We visited with a very nice beefeater and saw the crown jewels. All very interesting.
We took at cab over to St. Paul's. Although we were too late to go inside the outside is so fantastic it was worth the trip. Kids-it's the church from Mary Poppins that has the bird lady outside. Neat!!
We finally took the tube to Picadelly circus for dinner. We opted for an Indian restaurant that was really good. We walked around the west end for a bit, bought the kids some trash and thought a night bus tour sounded fun. We bought tickets and walked to the bus stand. The time for the bus to come came and went. We started to think we had just bought beach property in Kansas when the ticket seller came walking up. He said that another customer had complained that the bus never showed and he wanted to check on us and give us a refund if we hadn't seen a bus. What a good chap!! He is just a kiosk guy with postcards and knick knacks and had no real affiliation with the tour company which was new. Faith in humanity restored.
We bought some sweets, a tin of biscuits (saving one for you Tanner), came back to our room and are watching James Bond on BBC4.
And that is just day one!!!!
It was amazing!!! It is so ornate and historic. The wedding dress recently worn was on display with the accompanying audio tour describing the dress and the video display of how and who made it. People were swarming the display and to see the bouquet and cake. These people take their royals very seriously. But the palace was still really neat.
Afterward we had the world's worst fish and chips. Ah well. And walked to Westminster abbey. Total surprise. I thought it was a big church but I guess anyone who's anyone that is dead is there. Crazy huge monuments, floor plaques, and a lot of dead people. It was impressive. There were cute school kids on a field trip sitting in the choir loft. I asked them if they were going to sing. They weren't. Listening to their denials in British accents was fun!
After the abbey we headed to the Thames for a river tour. This was a fun way to see the city. We saw the Harry potter movie bridge, the globe theatre and the HMS Belfast - a big ship. The tour ended at the tower bridge and then we heded to the tower of London. This was an exepected fun spot. We climbed through this medieval castle wall, up and down stone staircases and small halls. Built in 1066!!! We visited with a very nice beefeater and saw the crown jewels. All very interesting.
We took at cab over to St. Paul's. Although we were too late to go inside the outside is so fantastic it was worth the trip. Kids-it's the church from Mary Poppins that has the bird lady outside. Neat!!
We finally took the tube to Picadelly circus for dinner. We opted for an Indian restaurant that was really good. We walked around the west end for a bit, bought the kids some trash and thought a night bus tour sounded fun. We bought tickets and walked to the bus stand. The time for the bus to come came and went. We started to think we had just bought beach property in Kansas when the ticket seller came walking up. He said that another customer had complained that the bus never showed and he wanted to check on us and give us a refund if we hadn't seen a bus. What a good chap!! He is just a kiosk guy with postcards and knick knacks and had no real affiliation with the tour company which was new. Faith in humanity restored.
We bought some sweets, a tin of biscuits (saving one for you Tanner), came back to our room and are watching James Bond on BBC4.
And that is just day one!!!!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Conference on an iPad
We were able to view most of the Sunday afternoon session on my iPad in our hotel room. What a blessing technology is! It was astounding that we could hear the prophet's voice 1000's of miles and time zones away on a sliver of screen. NEAT!
Mike forgot to mention we also walked through Trafalgar square. The weather is unseasonably warm and people are out in droves! London has a lot of street performers which are both funny and disturbing. There are people here from every where on the planet. English is heard only on occasion. I think Italy must have emptied out into London this weekend! As to freaky street performers, Mike and I decided it was a tie between a ratty, dog-eared Mickey Mouse lookalike trying to hug kids and a boogie woogie person with a queen Elizabeth mask on trying to hand out a tiara so you will pay to have your picture taken. We are holding out for the real thing tomorrow. Look out Buckingham Palace here we come!
Mike forgot to mention we also walked through Trafalgar square. The weather is unseasonably warm and people are out in droves! London has a lot of street performers which are both funny and disturbing. There are people here from every where on the planet. English is heard only on occasion. I think Italy must have emptied out into London this weekend! As to freaky street performers, Mike and I decided it was a tie between a ratty, dog-eared Mickey Mouse lookalike trying to hug kids and a boogie woogie person with a queen Elizabeth mask on trying to hand out a tiara so you will pay to have your picture taken. We are holding out for the real thing tomorrow. Look out Buckingham Palace here we come!
A Sunday afternoon in London
We got into the city from Paddington without much effort. We found the hotel and the first room was small. I know that European hotels are smaller, but this was really small. We got a much better room now though after a couple of phone calls.
Today we went to Piccadilly Circus and had fish and chips, saw the national gallery, and then we went to the London eye for a ride. It was right at dusk so we could still see the buildings when we got on without lights and then they turned on the lights so that was cool to.
Today we went to Piccadilly Circus and had fish and chips, saw the national gallery, and then we went to the London eye for a ride. It was right at dusk so we could still see the buildings when we got on without lights and then they turned on the lights so that was cool to.
Mind the gap
We are enjoying the free wifi on the heathrow express to Paddington station. From the air London looks awesome!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Leaving on a jet plane
Somehow without bawling my head off we made it out the door, to the airport, through security and are sitting at 96th st. Burger enjoying some nosh. We finalized our will this morning only traumatizing Shawn a wee bit. Good times!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Can't wait to leave....
BYU is losing and I want to go where they don't know about them...that would be LONDON and PARIS!!!
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