14 posts tagged “vacation 07”

Day 3 started a little late since we had gotten in a bit later than we expected the night before. We missed breakfast at the hotel so we picked up a little snack at the Victoria train station. We tried some Cornish Pasties. I had tradition steak pasty and Steve tried a chicken and vegetable. I was instantly hooked, but since we don't have any pasty stands around here, I'll have to learn to make them.

From the train station, we walked over to Buckingham Palace with our Cornish Pasties in hand. I must confess, apart from the fancy gates, Buckingham Palace was rather plain.

We made our way over to Big Ben while walking through St. James Park. Of course, I was ridiculously excited to see an English squirrel. In true English fashion, this English squirrel was much friendlier than our rude American squirrels. The squirrels in my backyard won't even give me the time of day.

Steve and I started walking toward Big Ben and happened to pass Westminster Abbey. Right about that time, we also were caught in a torrential downpour. So we took the only cover we could, inside the Abbey. I wasn't planning on actually going inside the Abbey as this was the "Reader's Digest Condensed" Tour of London, but with no sign of the rain letting up, we paid the fee and went it. I'm so glad we did. The history in that one building is just amazing. Not only are Kings and Queens buried there, but poets and writers (Chaucer, Dickens, Browning, Tennyson), scientists (Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin), musicians, (Handel) and even David Livingston, the famous missionary. For someone who loves history like I do, it was quite a treat.

 After the Abbey, we walked to Trafalgar Square, buying an umbrella on the way. Sadly Trafalgar Square was full of big screens, a stage and bleachers for the Tour De France that coming weekend. I'm still confused as to why it was starting in England and how they planned to bike across the English Channel.

As Steve said in his blog, we went to the National Gallery but were disappointed. Not only could we not take pictures (We found that out after taking one and having a guard run over and ask us to delete the picture immediately, although she was very nice about it.), half the museum was closed due to some strike resulting in a shortage of staff. (Guess they didn't want to risk not having anyone to keep us horrid tourist from taking pictures.) I did get to see Monet's "The Water Lily Pond", one of my all time favorite paintings. I really wanted to see Canaletto's paintings, but that was one of the areas that was closed. We ended up going next door to the National Portrait Gallery. Much better, but it wasn't open late like the National Gallery was.

By this time, we were quite hungry. So we headed up to Leicester Square where the premiere of Harry Potter had been just a few nights before. Steve bought us tickets to go see a show, then we searched for a place to grab a quick bite to eat.

After the show, we walked around London, taking pictures. I'm so glad we were able to see so many of the sights at night. They are beautiful in the day, but absolutely breathtaking at night.

A perfect end to a perfect day.

 

Steve pretty much hogged posted all the pictures from Day 1. After being exhausted and disappointed on our first day in England, we went back to the hotel early. We snacked on some goodies that I picked up at the local grocery store in Bexleyheath. We did not bring back any tuna and mayonnaise paste. They also had beef and onion paste and several other flavors I can't recall. I took a nice long bath and settled in for a good night's sleep. I needed to rest up. We had to jam 4 days worth of stuff that I wanted to do into 3 now.

Tuesday morning we got up and took full advantage of the free breakfast we had at the hotel. (Hooray again for Marriott points!) I was too chicken to try the beans on toast and didn't see the marmite hiding behind the bowl of margerine. I stuck to more "american" things.

We drove up to Warwick Castle, north of London in Warwickshire. We passed several thatched roof cottages but sadly, I didn't get any pictures. I meant to bring my Strong Bad figurine and get a picture of him by a thatched roof cottage, because I am dorky like that. Just another reason we have to go back.

The castle was just amazing. I'm glad Steve made the decision to go. Personally, I couldn't decide whether to go to Stratford Upon Avon or Warwick Castle, so I asked him to make a command decision. Although, I have a feeling I would say the same thing if he had chosen Stratford. England is just so amazing all around. I can't imagine being disappointed at much of anything!

After the castle, we drove up to the little village where Esther and Damien live to join them for dinner at the Joiner's Arms. We met at their house. Right after Esther answered the door I asked to take a picture of her cat, as she had a black nose and chin similar to a cat I had as a child. She was a good sport and obliged. We chatted a little after that, then headed over to the Joiner's Arms. The food was ridiculously good. It completely exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high thanks to Hannah. I had a chicken liver parfait (not gross like it sounds, absolutely spectacular) and Scottish Salmon with peas, asparagus, and leeks in a lovely cream sauce. Ridiculously good. Steve had some sort of roast chicken. My food was so good, I didn't ask Steve for any of his, and I didn't even think to offer any of mine to him.

We went back to the Essiequard abode after dinner. We had a wonderful time talking and meeting their 3 children. They were also very good sports about answering all of our questions about the differences between England and America. After hearing that Esther thought Renee Zellweger did an awful British accent in her two "Bridget Jones" movies, I decided that perhaps there was no hope of me walking around talking in an accent and being mistaken for a real Brit. We stayed til sometime around 1am. The conversation was so enjoyable that we could have stayed much longer, but we had a 2 hour drive to get back to our hotel in Bexleyheath.

So that's my day 2 rundown. I'll post my day 3 once I get a chance to get the pictures I want from Steve's computer!

 

What a pain to not have internet so I could blog my vacation as we went! Now that I'm back, I wanted to give you a day by day recap, but my brain is fried. So here are some pictures that I took from our day at the airport last Sunday.

The airplane ride was one of the worst, not because of the turbulence, but because I was so tired but ended up being cold and uncomfortable. I was in and out of this horrible sleep. Add to that the disappointment of arriving in London later than I originally anticipated, so it took me a while to get into the swing of things.

It was very strange to be riding in the "driver's side" of the car minus the steering wheel. The car we rented was a stick, so that meant I never got to try out driving on the english roads.

Sadly, I never ended up getting fish and chips while we were there. Now I have an excuse for Steve to take me back again. They actually have Ben and Jerry's over there! I was tempted to buy some on several occasions, but decided since I can get that here in the states, I would stick to eating things I can only get in England. Although, now that I know that they have B&J's over there, I am adding England to my list of countries I would love to live in for a year or so.

I also found out that although we speak english, it isn't the same as what we speak over here. The slang, accents, and unique sayings perplexed me on many occasions and left me asking people to please repeat themselves, sometimes more than once. And here I thought I was going to a country that didn't have a language barrier! I meant to get pictures of all the different signs like "Way Out" instead of "Exit" and "Mind the Gap" to remind you to watch yourself while getting on the subway. Yes, I am easily amused.

Of course, I had to bring back goodies for myself the kids.

Because I am NOT obsessed with the strange foods that I can find in other countries. I don't get just as excited to see an English grocery store as I do Buckingham Palace. That would be weird. Steve totally dragged me against my will to the grocery store down the street from our hotel. He can be so cruel.

So that's all I got for you for now. I think I need a nap.

 

Despite getting here quite a bit later than we expected on Monday, it has been a wonderful trip so far. England definitely exceeds my expectations, and my expectations were high. I'm having a hard time not talking in a fake British accent. It's quite tempting, but as Esther told us, even Renee Zellweger can't do a good British accent and she played Bridgit Jones TWICE! So, I won't succomb to temptation*. Sadly, Steve did break out his accent once or twice tonight and got quite the laugh, so I'm thinking it wasn't that great.

So yes, we are alive and we are having an awesome time. Seeing castles and thatched roof cottages, visiting with friends, and imagining that any moment "rage" infected zombies might come running across the English countryside and attack our car. Dark windy backroads and strange creepy music on the radio after midnight will do that to you. Of course, you will get a more detailed post once we are back in the states. But this is all you get for now.

*Just for me, would you imagine I said all that in a perfect British accent, please?

Waiting, waiting, waiting. At least the airlines gave us vouchers for dinner. That was nice. Free food is good, but I'd rather just have left the airport on time. Now our flight has been bumped back to 10:30pm. So yeah, if you do the math, well, I'll be nice and do it for you...that is 5 hours later. At least I have a hot guy to sit next to while I am waiting. I suppose I'll have to make him get up when Steve gets back from the bathroom. Heh. I'm cracking myself up.

Let's not get started on how I stupidly chose to wear "cute" shoes today. Steve tracked me down some band-aids to cover my adorable blisters. Seriously, sometimes I just need to be hit upside the head. I was so smart, I even packed my comfortable shoes in the bag I checked.

Ok, so how many parents are going to let their kids play on the moving walkway? Hmm? Seriously, they could get hurt. Earlier some couple was letting their kids play on it for about 20 minutes while they were waiting for their flight, running in the WRONG DIRECTION. It just bugs me when parents do the whole, "Well, at least they aren't bugging me." No, but I am sure there were people that wanted to use the moving walkway but couldn't because some child was "having fun" walking in the wrong direction. Add to that that they could've been seriously hurt. Oh wait, just had a responsible parent go by, making sure the kid was behaving on the thing. Maybe the whole world isn't lacking good sense and manners, eh? Perhaps there is hope!

I'm just a little cranky, can you tell? I think I need to go find some chocolate or ice cream, or chocolate and ice cream. I know I'll feel better once I get on the plane and know I'm on my way to London.

So we are near Savannah, just off I-95 for the night. We didn't get too far today. Steve had a migraine this morning, so we got a late start. Then he wanted to stop at the outlets in Orlando. Yes, I am a lucky gal, my man likes to shop. I scored a pair of sunglasses. Steve and Victoria both ended up with a pair of plaid shorts. Alex got a funky green polo shirt. Not so bad for a couple of hours of wondering around I suppose. As you can see from my mobloggin', Steve also made sure to stop and get me some boiled peanuts and pecans. The peanuts were really good. We couldn't figure out what they reminded us of, til Alex suggested potatoes. They did have a kind of potato taste to them. The pecans were ok. Not sure what possessed me to buy 10 lbs of pecans.

Steve insisted on driving today, so I was off the hook. I would've driven if he really wanted me too. I kept bugging him, asking whether he was feeling ok, did he want me to drive. He says the pain isn't as bad, so he's stopped taking the pain meds the dentist prescribed. Just going with good ol' ibuprofen now. He's much more himself than he has been since Wednesday afternoon.

I'm still a bit nervous about driving up the coast with this bad weather on the way. Looks like we'll just have to drive right through it.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now. I'm itchy. I have this thing about bed bugs when I stay in hotels. I get all itchy just thinking about them. So then I'm not sure if there are really bed bugs, or if I'm just being paranoid. Guess I can't complain. The hotel may not be all that fancy, but at least we have free internet!

My poor husband has a migraine. We are waiting for it to pass. Even though he isn't the one driving, he still couldn't even be in the car with this thing. Seriously, the guy is falling apart!

So anyway, pray and send me all your safe driving vibes. First off, I lost my license somewhere between the bank and Target a week before we came down here. No worries! Steve is driving, or so I thought at the time. So in the event I'm pulled over for some reason (highly unlikely since I drive like a grandma anyway), I have no license. This freaks me out. Add to that the horrendous drivers in the states between Florida and Maryland. These people were brake happy fools on the drive down. Last minute, brake hard, type of drivers. We had to go into the grass median twice to avoid accidents. Needless to say, I might not be showing it, because I'm an adult and I am too old to lay on the floor and cry and kick my feet, but I'm scared about driving. Luckily Steve is too sick to read this, so that's why I'm posting it.

Ok, I better get off of here and get the stuff into the van. If Steve gets to feeling better, I'll have him moblog a bit on the way back up. I promised Melissa that I would get her a picture of Sadler's Truck Stop.

I am so tired. Last night, Steve was tossing and turning in his sleep. I was in and out of nightmares during the brief period that I did sleep. Steve is still in pain, not as much as before, but it's still pretty bad. He's drugged up on some narcotic/tylenol combo.

I was fine most of the day. Mrs P, Grandma (Mrs P's mom), and I took the kids over to Grandma's sister's house. She has a pool. Well, that just made their day. Steve was able to stay behind and get some sleep. He also finished his parent's taxes for them. After we got back, he decided we needed to go see the swamp and hopefully a gator or two. Obviously, I moblogged that. Steve and I took pictures with the good camera too. I'll let him post those pictures. Especially since he was the photographer for the gators.

Now we are back at the house. My tummy is full of Taco Bell and I really need to pack us up. I want to get as much driving in as we can tomorrow. There is a nor'easter coming on Sunday, and I'd rather not drive too much in the rain. I'm not sure if Steve will be up to any driving. So right now, I'm just planning on it being all me. I wish we had an extra day or two for the antibiotics to kick in, but we don't.

I guess I ought to get off here and do something, but I am the self proclaimed Queen of Procrastination. So I think I'll wrap this up and read some more blogs.

Boy, I am still exhausted from walking around Epcot all day yesterday. It was a fun but exhausting day. Now we have done 3 out of the four parks. We did the Magic Kingdom and MGM two summers ago when Steve was on a business trip to Georgia. We figured we were half way there already, might as well drive down to Orlando and take a couple of days in Disney. Between Marriott points and the gas from Maryland to Georgia being a business expense, it made the trip quite doable. Now we just have Animal Kingdom to see. Maybe if we come down in the fall we can get that in.

We really enjoyed Epcot. Much different from the time we went with my grandparents when I was a kid. It had just opened and well, it was lame. I would have to say, that my favorite rides were Mission:Space and Soarin'. Although I must admit that I almost had a major panic attack before Mission:Space. They started showing the video instructions and it was a capsule that seated 4 people with a screen and fake control panel. After they shut you in, the control panel comes toward you, about 12-18 inches from your face. It was all too reminiscent of my MRI. I totally freaked out. I decided, 'Ok, I am an adult, I can do this'. We had already convinced Ashley it was a safe fun ride. If I opted out because I was scared to death, um, yeah, we lose all credibility for the rest of the day. Despite feeling like my heart was going to beat out of my chest, I hopped in and had alot of fun.

We had lunch at the Biergarten German Buffet complete with schnitzel, spaetzle, sauerkraut, and apple struedel. Needless to say, I stuffed myself. Luckily we saw a show after that. If we had done a ride, I'm sure I would have spread a little german cheer all over the place.

Poor Steve, his tooth started bugging him and he went off in search of some medicine and a bench to chill out on. The kids and I hung out in Innovations. It reminded me of a Science Center type place. We played the Great Pizza Game and won. It was one of the high points of the day. It was a fake game show and we got to be contestants. Totally smeared some middle aged couple. We rock!

Now Steve is in bed waiting for the pain meds and amoxicillan to kick in. The dentist seemed to think that Steve may have bitten down on something hard, shoved the post from his crown down into the root, causing an absess, or something like that. So far, the pain meds aren't doing a thing.

I think I might just venture to Wal-Mart with the kids. Steve told Alex he would take him to find a remote control sailboat. I don't think that they would have a sailboat, maybe a speedboat. Either way, it would get us out of the house for a bit.

say a prayer for Steve. He has a horrendous toothache. So I made a dentist appointment for him. He goes at 12:30 this afternoon. Pray that they can make him all better. He is in a world of pain!