Apr 9, 2013 - England Day 12

I woke early, much to my surprise. I think my feet were throbbing too much to allow me to sleep after the Paris excursion. I went down for breakfast and Lara joined me soon after. She asked what adventure we should have on this free “recovery” day. My first response was to go back to sleep! Thank goodness Lara didn't let that happen. We decided to make the excursion to the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great again. This is the one we tried to tour with our private guide, but was closed for the filming of a “Whitechapel” episode. Lara...

Apr 8, 2013 - legoland

we went to my auntie Lisa's house and we stayed they and had yummy Chinese. the next day we were getting ready for Lego land who's going in which car i am going with auntie Lisa. are we there yet i said just a little bit longer. look Lego land i said wow look at the Lego people look a parking space. the first ride was the rapes in this ride you get wet allot and it is very bumpy but the second ride was the best of the best this was called the jolly rocker you would go right up and when you came down your tummy feels very weird. the funniest...

Apr 8, 2013 - legoland

"are we there yet"said Beth "you doofus" i shouted. walking through the car park drinking Capri sun a really nice drink i spotted legoland and i sprinted for my life until i realized i don't have my ticket to go through the gates so i run back and i ask for my ticket and she said no so i walked with them to the gate. we needed to get our hand stamped so we could go on the rides,the first ride we went on was the rapids, it was a nine seater boat and we all got drenched except me. i also went on the roller coaster, speed boat, passed my...

Apr 8, 2013 - London - Buckingham Palace

This morning I had an appointment at Buckingham Palace. I didn’t get to see the Queen or have tea with her but I did have a ticket to the exhibition in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace called “The Northern Renaissance – Durer to Holbein”. It sounded interesting & my timing was right for once because it finishes next weekend & I thought the Queen’s Gallery might be worth seeing too. The tickets were timed; mine was for 10:30 but I had no idea how long it would take me to get there & didn’t want to be late so of course I got there ½...

Apr 8, 2013 - Last day in London

Last day in London we did a boat ride on the Thames down to the Tower of London. Had a power lunch in the banking district, then basically pub crawled half way back to Earls Court where we stayed (in our shoebox room). During the week during rush hour the tube is like a Tibetan monestary. Nobody talks. It's kind of creepy. Weather was decent in London, but cold.

Apr 7, 2013 - 9 dongs from Big Ben

Breakfast is crazy here. Beans for breakfast? I'm already having coffee, so don't overstimulate me. Really enjoy the choob, but it makes it hard to ever know where you are. It is easy which is nice. Always nice. We went to the Queens Park Rangers soccer game which was fun. Good to see a part of London that isn't "touristy". My one beef with London is the time the bars close. Way too early. My second beef is the food and general service. My third is the size of our hotel room. And the cold. The good: words. Cockfosters, bangers and mash,...

Apr 7, 2013 - London - Cutty Sark / Kensington

Another good sight-seeing day, in fact I was able to dispense with the heavy jacket today & just wear my light silk one. I started off in Greenwich because I wanted to see the Cutty Sark which was still being restored when I was here last year. It’s beautifully displayed, a bit like the Great Britain in Bristol with glass to define where the water-line would be so it looks like it’s floating but you can go down under the glass & see the hull. Of course, the special design of Cutty Sark’s hull is what made her the fastest cargo sailing ship...

Apr 7, 2013 - England Day 10

We were off to Arundel Castle, about an hour and a half by train south of London. Arundel is the seat of the Dukes of Norfolk (including Thomas Howard, Anne Boleyn's uncle). It is also the former home of the Earls of Arundel and the FitzAlans. I am a direct descendent of this bunch, hence the reason for the trip. We took the Tube to Victoria train station. The train ride south to almost the coast was fun and we saw some very beautiful countryside. This beat all the other countryside we've seen. We saw horses, cows, Shetland ponies, dogs and...

Apr 6, 2013 - England Day 9

Sleeping until I woke is wonderful. I loved it. I ventured down to breakfast in the main dining room (I'm still not entirely sure why these people don't cook bacon) and received special muffins from our favorite Hungarian waitress, Iboyla. She brought them to me in a bowl under a napkin because she made them at home and she was sneaking them to me. They are her favorite, morning glory muffins. She wanted me to try them and tell her what I thought. I took the secret muffin up to the room for Lara, who again enjoyed breakfast in bed. The...

Apr 6, 2013 - London - "Peter & Alice"

This morning I woke up to bright sunshine, which was wonderful. I did a load of laundry last night in the washer/dryer which washed & dried my clothes just fine but left them very wrinkled so I had to do some ironing (first, find the iron, which wasn’t easy but this place is set up so well I knew it was here somewhere). I still needed to buy a back-up battery for my camera to replace the one I lost in Paris so did some research & found several camera shops in Tottenham Court Road. The Northern Line of the tube was closed today so I walked...

Apr 5, 2013 - Day1?

London observations 215am. City is awesome. Though they dress like 10 million Lauren Koellers. Beer is legit. Really shocked how many cute girls are here. Tbd. Though I don't know what they wear in the summer when boots would be weird. Everyone wears boots,or super fresh kicks. So Naumann-ism #1 needs to be documented. We go through security in the SD airport with his work friend Jenna. We go through and I turn to her and say, "there's no way mike makes it through without an issue". He walks out and it's cool. I'm shocked. We go grab a...

Apr 5, 2013 - London - Wimbledon / Apsley House

The weather was slightly better today so I knocked a few places off my to-see list. It’s still cold & overcast but there wasn’t such a biting wind & no sleet or snow. I started off at Wimbledon which, as I’ve played & followed tennis all my life, was a must see destination this time. The guide book told me that the nearest tube station was Southfields, which was fine, but it didn’t tell me it was over a mile to walk after I left the station. If I’d known that, I would have caught the bus but I eventually got there. There’s a very good...