London: Day Three

On Sunday, we took a day trip to the cities of Bath and Lacock before finishing up at Stonehenge. We had a great time; we got up, had breakfast, and got to the pickup place over an hour ahead of when we needed to be there. So we walked around some cool streets (it was in the Marble Arch area) and marveled at the amazing architecture. Then we went to the pickup spot and got on the bus, it was about 2 hours to Bath, maybe a little more. It was beautiful; I wish we could have spent more time there. The architecture was gorgeous, very Jane Austen-ish. We spent the majority of the time in the Roman Baths, which were fascinating. So cool to be in a spot that actual Romans walked on almost 2,000 years ago. They had these audio guides, which was a cool bonus, since it shared so much about the history, etc. At the end of the tour, we even were able to taste some of the spring water; it was actually quite good, even though it was hot! I could easily spend a day or two in Bath; too bad we only had a couple hours there! (We still had time to stop at a little chocolate shop, though, and get some homemade British chocolates--because who doesn't have time for chocolate?--some were quite good, but some (like the Rose Cream) tasted like I was eating soap!)

Then we went to Lacock; this beautiful, picturesque village where many movies (like some Harry Potter & the BBC series, Pride & Prejudice) were filmed. No doubt this spot was chosen because once you get the cars off the street, it looks like an old-fashioned English village; there are no power lines, cable lines, etc. anywhere. So beautiful! We had fun looking at all of the old cottages and imagining what it would be like so many years ago. Then we had an early dinner around 4:30 at the George Inn, a wonderful old English pub that had been in operation since the 1360s! How cool! The food was quite good; I had the fish and chips and Dan had the mushroom stroganoff. I just wish my fish was a little more fish, a little less breading. But it was still very good. Dan also tried a traditional English ale and I had a wonderful English cider; so good! Then we got in the bus and headed to Stonehenge. It was cool to see in that it was an amazing engineering feat (like, how did they get those heavy stones stacked up in a day when they had no machinery?) but I am glad we didn't see JUST Stonehenge; I don't think it would have been worth it without also going to Bath and Lacock. Still fun to see such an iconic landmark up close, though!

Then we went to a pizza place right by our hotel when we got back, because since we had eaten at 4:30 I was hungry at 9:30. So we shared a great quattro formaggio pizza, and then went to a cool tavern right by our hotel, and Dan had a traditional English ale (I had a Stella Artois, nothing too fancy!) and just discussed what we should do for the next couple of days.

As I'm sure you can tell, we already were loving our trip, and we were only a couple days in!

 In the Marble Arch area before getting picked up for our tour

 The Abbey in Bath

 Dan intently listening to the audio guide; he loved this whole tour!

 This beautiful abbey near Lacock

 You can see why Lacock would be used for movies based in the past; it's so picturesque! 

 Some scene from a Harry Potter film (I think the Prisoner of Azkaban, but I'm not sure) was filmed at this door; I don't know, I'm much more into the books than the movies, so I can't remember for sure. 

 Enjoying my English cider; so good! Way better than the room-temperature beer

London: Day Two

On Friday night, our first night in London, we were so tired from flying (and the time change) that we went to bed at 8, figuring we'd probably sleep a good 12 hours and be up and ready to go at 8, right? Not quite. We woke up around 2 am and weren't able to get back to sleep, so we kind of flipped through our books, planning out the next couple of days. After going back to bed around 4, we slept... and slept... and slept... until 1 pm! Oops. We certainly didn't intend to do that! So we hurriedly got up and got ready for our anniversary date; we had plans to see a matinee showing of The Mousetrap at St. Martin's Theatre. We got to the area around 3, had a quick lunch (er, breakfast, really) and then went to the show. It was SO good! I love Agatha Christie anyway, and it was just so amazing to see such a talented cast performing such a British show. Dan really liked it, too, and he's not nearly as into theater as I am. But we were both so impressed!

Unfortunately you could not take pictures inside the theater (even when the show wasn't going on), but it was a beautiful theater. Dark wood paneling, rich brocade burgundy curtains with gold trim; it was so pretty. And it was quite small and intimate, so I don't think anyone had a bad seat. Our seats were great; we were in Row H, so not far back from the stage at all, and we were sitting right in the center section, so it was perfect. The cast was so talented, the show was completely engaging, and we were in London; it was the perfect way to spend our fifth anniversary!

After the show, we walked around the Piccadilly Circus area for awhile just admiring the atmosphere and architecture of London. We saw bits of Chinatown, too. Then for dinner we were feeling like Italian (well, I was feeling like Italian, and Dan willingly obliged; he's so flexible like that!) and we went to this cute place called The Spaghetti House. It was pretty good, although surprisingly enough, I like the place I often go to with Tracy in Madison, called Cafe La Bellaitalia, better. But it was still fun (although the sneaky waiter tried to charge us for a bottle of wine, even though I only had a glass; of course he said it was a mistake, but Dan & I felt like he was trying to take advantage of us as tourists. Oh well. Luckily I always check the bill before I pay!)

Then we went back to our hotel neighborhood and just hung out at a local pub for a bit. Dan was not impressed with the room temperature beer at all, and he thought they'd have a much larger selection. So I guess London is not the place to go if you're a beer aficionado! But we still had a fun time just talking and enjoying each other's company; all in all, it was the perfect way to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary.

 The Piccadilly Circus area we strolled around afterward

 The British are so patriotic; flags everywhere! (Although maybe some of that is because the Queen's diamond jubilee was the following weekend--it started the day we left to go back to the States).

London: Day One

We flew out Thursday, May 24 at 6 pm. We left Madison around noon, drove to Chris's, and Matthew so kindly took us to the airport so we didn't have to deal with the hassle (and expense!) of parking. The flight was actually ok; it was about 7 hours, maybe a bit more, but the food was surprisingly good, and I slept for about 3.5 hours, so when we arrived at 8 am (even though it was 2 am our time), I wasn't too terribly tired. Poor Dan was, though, since he didn't sleep at all!

We took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station; it was only a 15-minute trip, and once we got off the train, our hotel was only a block away. Our room wasn't quite ready yet, but they took our luggage while we strolled around the neighborhood. We ate breakfast at this place called Mimo's Cafe. It was pretty good, but Dan didn't like that the breakfast had beans, not potatoes (and I must agree, beans don't exactly seem like a breakfast food!) and unless you specify your eggs scrambled, they come out fried and very, very runny. Oh well, live and learn, I guess. That's what travel is about, right?

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel, and our room was ready around 11, which was nice, since we could shower and change after that long plane ride. We then decided to go to Kensington Palace, which was very interesting. It wasn't a place I had originally planned to go, but we thought it sounded interesting, and we wanted to do something so that we weren't tempted to sleep! (But we didn't want to do one of our must-sees, since we were worried that we'd be too tired to fully enjoy it. So this was the perfect compromise).

Kensington Palace was great. We saw the apartments of the King William & Queen Mary, and we also saw Victoria and Albert's apartments, Victoria's wedding dress, etc. It was very interesting! We wished we had time to see the gardens as well, as the gardens there are supposed to be beautiful, but after three hours wandering around the palace, we were sooo tired, so the hotel it was!

That night, we ate at this very good pub called Sawyers Arms. Dan had the fish and chips (what else?) and I had this great chicken covered in bacon and an aged cheddar. The food was really good; not at all the blah, bland, British food England is known for!

A hotel employee coming to tell Dan our room was ready

 Our beautiful hotel room

 The bathroom

 The closet, with complimentary bottled water in the fridge; yay!

 The patio; we were one of the only rooms that had a patio. It was so beautiful to sit out there at night (although we only did about half the time) and talk and plan our following day.

Me outside the start of this courtiers' game at Kensington Palace. It was quite interesting; you had to gather three cards, and then once you made a match of three (three diamonds, spades, etc.) you looked for the hidden letters and it told you what your station at the court was. So I, for example, found the cards with BEW, which meant I was an esteemed physician. Nice! Dan, however, was just a ragamuffin. Hmmph.

 Some awesome dresses we saw displayed. Am I the only one who wishes we still dressed like this??

 This dress was worn by a duchess when they celebrated Queen Victoria's coronation. They were supposed to be people from different time periods, so that is why her dress looks like it's from the third-century era in Syria.

 Queen Victoria's wedding dress; beautiful! 

A picture of Queen Victoria. I think she looks JUST like Rori will look when she's older; in fact, it quite freaks me out (in a good way!)

Me on Friday night, after Kensington Palace, planning out our next few days via the Rick Steves guide while sitting on our beautiful hotel patio.

The zoo!

Kate & I went to the zoo today and had a fantastic time! Sadly, I did not bring the camera. But we had a blast. We got there before 10 am, which apparently is the time to get there if you want to see the animals in action (well, except for the lions; they were just lazing about again like always). But we loved seeing the orangutans; we spent several minutes watching them outside before heading in to see them from another angle. One orangutan rolled right up to the glass as he was playing with the ball and looked at us for several minutes. It was so neat to see him so up-close! Then we feel like we hit the jackpot because the bears were also out. The bears never seem to be out! The grizzly bear went in his little pool and would pop his head up from time to time, almost like he was intentionally playing peek-a-boo with the spectators. There was this little girl around 7 or so standing next to us, and she was laughing at the bear's antics, so that made Kate laugh hysterically, too. The polar bear was fun to see, too. Funny how bears don't scare me when there's a nice, deep ravine and a rock wall between us ;)


Of course we also went on the carousel (she chose a tiger) and played on the playground for a little bit, although this time she seemed more interested in seeing the animals than playing on the playground (even though, since it was only in the high 60s, it was a much better day, temperature-wise, to play on the playground than some other days we've been there. Oh well!) Then we went to the Laurel for lunch; apparently we're considered regulars there now because when the waitress saw us, she said, "Is it Friday already?" Ha!

When I typed up my post a couple days ago detailing some of the things Kate has been saying, I forgot quite a few! So here are some more Kate-isms:

• She doesn't quite have the concept of "don't"/"not"/etc. So if she wants to make some things negative, she'll just shake her head as she's saying her piece. For example, if she's talking about Gaston, who is bad, and she wants to convey the fact that she doesn't like him, she'll say, "Like him" as she's shaking her head. Or lately, if I can't understand what she's saying, I'll smile and say "Honey, I don't know what you're talking about." So if she's trying to say something, I'll try to guess what she means, but if after a few tries I get it wrong, she'll shake her head and say "Talk about!" It's so cute!
• Any mention of snakes is immediately followed by an "Ewww!!" and a big smile (which seems kind of contradictory). Anything that could be considered ambiguous (like butterflies, caterpillars, bees) but she actually does like is followed by a "Not ew."
• Sesame Street is really the only TV show we watch on a regular basis. Elmo (Kate's favorite character) has a goldfish, Dorothy. He'll always ask the kids, "Dorothy wants to know, how do you get dressed/brush your teeth/etc." Then the kids will say, "This is how I brush my teeth, Dorothy," or whatever. Lately out of the blue, Kate will say something and follow it up with Dorothy (except it sounds like Dort-ee.) The other day, she was saying, "I hungry too, Dort-ee!" or "I have shoes too, Dort-ee!" It is so funny to me what she picks up!
• I always say "Hi, sweetie!" so now she says that to me (except sweetie sounds like fwee-tee.) She'll run up to me and say, "Hi, fwee-tee!" Silly girl.
• Whenever she hears a phone ring, she'll put her hand up to her ear and say, "Hello? Oh, hi." Ready for the teen years already, I see (except I guess most teens today just text, unlike in my day...).
• Last night, after Rori's recital, we were cuddling in bed as we turned in for the night and she threw her arms around me and said, "I love you!" I said, "I love you, too!" and she squeezed me tighter and said, "very much." I can honestly say that was one of the highlights of my life, as simple a moment as it seems.