At 8:00am we boarded a tour bus to take us on an adventure outside of the city for the day... our first stop was about 1 1/2 hours from London, Stonehenge! I hadn't been there yet so I was excited to see it for the first time with Mom and Dad. Brian had already been there in high school on a family trip, so he wasn't concerned I would be seeing it without him. It really is quite amazing to think how such large stones were placed the way they are still today in approx 3000-2000 BC!
After admiring the stones and a little time in the gift shop & visitor center we made our way back to the bus. Then we were on the road again and drove through the countryside for about 2 hours before getting to Bath just before lunchtime. Here is one of the small villages we passed through and even some sheep we saw!
Once we arrived in Bath, we toured the Roman Baths. The baths were sacred healing grounds during the roman times. The main hot spring bath had a large temple built around it, much of which is no longer there today however many artifacts can been seen and history as to what it is believed to have looked like many years ago.
From there we walked around a bit and then found lunch at restaurant called Sally Lunn's. It is located in the oldest house in Bath, built in 1482 and famous for their giant buns!
After lunch, it was about time to board the bus again and head back to London. On the way back, our trip was filled with more beautiful scenery and to top it off a gorgeous double rainbow that lasted about 15 minutes!
I was blown away by this 17th century church, the size alone is unbelievable! Take a look at these pictures and the size of us compared to the size of massive the door and steps which lead to the center isle of the church!
Once inside, there is so much detailing and intricate work everywhere, (sorry no pictures allowed inside). My favorite part was the colorful mosaic tiles that make up images on most of the ceiling towards the front of the altar and choir area. After touring the main floor and listening to our audio guides about the various areas we moved 257 steps up the spiral staircase to the Whispering Gallery. This is a circular walkway which runs around the interior of the base of the dome. It was a nice way to look down over the inside of the church from a different viewpoint. This level gets it's name "Whispering Gallery" because if you stand on one side and whisper against the wall it will go up the dome and the sound will resonate clearly on the other side... so they say, we didn't try it out.
We then continued up the spiral stairs to the Stone Gallery this is located 378 stairs from the bottom and is the first point in which you come out on the exterior of the dome and can see the view outside. From there we continued on to the Golden Gallery which is the highest point you can go 528 steps (280 feet)! This is also along the outer dome so the 360 degree views are spectacular and it was pretty windy up there! Here are some pics...
Then it was off to the next place... Bringing Dad to drop him to tour the Churchill War Rooms while Mom and I went to the Royal Horseguards Hotel for afternoon tea. First though, on the way we passed through the Horse Guards Parade area and Mom and Dad got a quick pic!
After Dad was in the museum, Mom & I went to relax at our afternoon tea! I was so excited to have her try one of my favorite British traditions! What could be better then indulging in fresh warm scones with clotted cream and jam along with a platter full of desserts where it is completely acceptable to eat it all?! (The mini sandwiches, tea and champagne were great also!)
After we royally stuffed ourselves and were ready to fall asleep (or into a sugar coma) while listening to the woman playing the harp nearby we decided to roll ourselves out of there! Since we had a little time before the designated time we had given Dad to be out of the museum we wandered into the nearby St. James's Park. The tulips were beginning to bloom and were so pretty!
Then, around 3:30 we tried calling Dad (I gave him an extra phone we have here). It kept going straight to voice mail because he had no service... Then mine ended up dying! I was nervous we were going to be in a real predicament... For those of you who know my Dad and his sense of time along with how quickly (or should I say slowly) he moves through museums, you will understand my concern! But believe it or not long after he came wandering out, with a bag from the gift shop of course with some new reading material and claiming he saw everything he wanted to... Whew, what a relief!!
From there we walked back through St. James's Park to Buckingham Palace for them to get some pics. I was so excited because I was finally able to see the Royal Standard flying above the palace! This is the flag that is raised when the Queen is home! Here is a pic even though it's not the best but finally after living in London for 6 months I finally got to see it and she was there when we "stopped by!"
Then we went to walk Munch again quick! From there we made our way back into the city for them to see
Piccadilly Circus at night followed by drinks at a cocktail lounge called Zedel.
Piccadilly Circus at night followed by drinks at a cocktail lounge called Zedel.
Another great fun filled day!
Day 8:
Started out by taking the train to Windsor which isn’t really that far from London but takes about an hour by the time you make a couple trains switches. We went there to tour one of the royal residences, Windsor Castle! I’ve been there before so I got to use my ticket that allows free entry back within the year! Once inside I couldn’t believe what we were seeing… The Royal Standard again flying above the palace! The Queen must have moved the night before after we had “seen” her there at Buckingham Palace or that morning before we arrived! I had been excited to see it the day before but to see it back to back days at different places was VERY neat!!! We were following the Queen! (Or maybe she was following us!!)
Windsor Castle is used primarily by the Queen and Royal Family as a weekend residence which explained why she was there since it was Friday! Here we are before the castle tour having a quick breakfast stop…
Touring the castle this time was much nicer then when Brian and I went in August and it was so crowded. This time there was hardly anyone there and instead of getting shoved along we were able to move along slowly and I noticed a lot of things I hadn't before. Again, there were no pictures allowed. While we were inside we heard some people say that earlier in the day the Queen was seen leaving with her 4 corgi dogs! She got into a private car and was driven off to take them out for a walk in the woods. Darn that we missed that one. Everyone was hoping to catch a glimpse of her on the way back but we had no luck. Here we are with the Queen's Quarters behind us!
Mom and Dad of course had to get a pic by a guard. You can just walk right up to them and they don’t budge.
We didn’t see the Queen with her dogs but I did find “her” in a telephone booth… “Kate” too!!
Then we took the train back and got ready for an early dinner with Brian at a French restaurant near to our flat. It had started raining pretty hard, here is a quick umbrella shot…
Then after dinner we rushed off to see our first show in London, Wicked! It was a great way to spend their last night with us and the show was amazing, we all loved it!
Dad messing with the binoculars that you could rent from the back of the seats...
Yes, we were sitting high up in the theater but we didn’t mind since we had bought last minute tickets.
After the show, we went to get a couple of quick last shots of Mom and Dad by Big Ben and the London Eye. Once we got to the Westminster tube station and we were casually trying to exit things took an unexpected turn. Whenever you leave a tube station you scan your Oyster card which deducts money depending on how far you went. So as we were exiting, Brian and I scanned through first and then Mom and Dad were behind. When Dad tried to scan through it wasn't working. Sometimes this occasionally happens and you just have to scan the card again. As Mom and Dad stood there I was trying to tell them what to do from the other side. Meanwhile one of the station employees came up and was trying to tell him there was no money on the card. I knew there was money on his card, however, there was some trouble coming through at the last station so the real problem was that he hadn't technically scanned in. While I was trying to tell Mom and Dad what was happening the guy thought I was mouthing off to him. Long story short... Things just went downhill from there. He was on a total power trip and when I was trying to ask him what we were supposed to do in the midst of asking him how we could top up the card (add more money) he completely went nuts and told me to exit the station! He wouldn't even let the rest of them go to the machine to add money to the card (we found out later there WAS money still on the card!)
I was so caught off guard by the whole situation and how ridiculous it was because I wasn't even being snippy with the guy to begin with. Then as things went on my disbelief heightened to him thinking I was mouthing off even more and that's when he threatened to get the police involved if we didn't leave immediately. WHAT?? Seriously!?! Me?! That was definitely an experience I didn't see coming. I was so angry afterwards that Mom, Dad and Brian didn't dare mention the humor in the whole situation. I was NOT happy with having to walk to the next closest tube station after these two pictures below for no reason. But now that some time has passed I guess it is a pretty funny story! Every time I enter or exit that station now I still get a tiny bit worked up about it or we joke that I better watch out!
Next morning before heading to the airport...
It stung to see them go but we had the best time and was so great to have them with us and to show them our life here in London! So glad they made the last minute trip! :)
