England Trip

This could be a potentially long post.  How do you recap 10 exciting days in England and not have it be long?  Plus I have lots of photos to go along with my narrative.  I will have to post only the cream of the crop photos.  Ok, so.... Dave and I flew out early evening March 1.  We flew to Minneapolis and almost missed our connecting flight to London.  We flew all night and with the 7 hr time change, by the time we got to London, it was 12:30 pm March 2, Friday.  Customs took FOREVER to get through and I was practically falling asleep on my feet since I really didn't sleep during the flight.  Try sleeping sitting up, with meals being served at midnight, people moving around the cabin and conversations and laughter going on a few rows behind you.  I dare you to do it.  So Friday was just an arrive to Alyssa's house, which is about 2-2.5 hrs from the airport, visit for a little while and then crash day.

Saturday, March 3, we went to a local farmer's market in Bury St. Edmunds and mozied through the stalls taking in the sights. 

It was pretty cold and windy.  This took most of the morning so by the time we were done we had to hit up a local restaurant for some chow.  After eating we headed over to a local park called Abbey Gardens.  That's because all throughout the park are ruins of an abbey from long ago.  See photos below.

Even though we were cold, we enjoyed ourselves. 

Sunday, March 4th was church and Cosette's blessing day.  Dave was asked to offer the blessing, which he gladly did.  See the happy grandparents below with the star of the day.

And here are the proud parents.

Monday, March 5th we took off to tour England.  We headed to Bath which is on the western side of England and Alyssa and family live on the eastern side so it was a number of hours to get there, but it was well worth it.  We toured the bath, saw the abbey and walked around a bit.  See some of my favorite photos below from Bath.

 Main entrance to the abbey.

 Abbey in the background.  We are on the balcony surrounding the Roman bath.

 I liked this shot because it shows the bath below, the roman architecture and the abbey in the background.

 I love this photo because Sierra looks so delighted to be with her grandparents and seeing the sights.

 We couldn't actually bathe in the hot springs, but Dave managed to stick his hand in the water.

I like this one because it shows the steam coming up from the water and you can see the reflection of the balcony above.

It was like walking back in time and made me think of the pool of Bethsaida paintings.  It was probably a place similar to this where Jesus healed the lame man.

There was a museum with lots of artifacts that we wondered through and enjoyed and we went underground and saw the hot springs and sauna rooms.  It was all quite facinating.

Then since Stonehenge was only an hour drive from Bath, we headed in that direction.  Little did we know that access to Stonehenge only went until 4 pm.  We arrived at 4:20, 20 minutes too late!  It was such a disappointment.  We were able to view it from outside the chainlink fence, and got a few photos, but it wasn't the same as if we could have gone in and viewed it up close. 

Oh well, at least I can say I've been then and seen Stonehenge in person.

The trip back put us home rather late, and no one was in the mood to cook, so Kelan and Alyssa took us to one of their favorite restaurants in Cambridge, yes, the town where Cambridge University is located and apparently where Prince William and Kate are now named after (Duke & Duchess of Cambridge).  I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was portuguese cuisine.

Tuesday was a rest day, hanging around the military base.  Kelan took Dave on a tour of his working facilities and other places on the base while I helped around the house and with the kids.  We all did take a trip to the BX where we perused the souvenir shops and got an idea of what we might want to purchase to bring home.  Kelan is stationed at RAF Lakenhealth, home of the Liberty division, 48th fighting wing.  It was really cool because every day at 4:30 pm when the flag is retired, the national anthem of both England and USA is played and no matter where you on on the base, if you are within hearing distance, you stop and honor the flag, in your car or walking, it doesn't matter.  Everyone stops.

 The entrance to the base closest to Alyssa & Kelan's home so we used this frequently.  Every time you enter the base you have to provide photo identification and we had to have a pass allowing us to be on the base as visitors.

 There is a mini statue of Liberty at the flag pole location in honor of the fact that they are the Liberty Division.

Tuesday evening the storm came in and it actually snowed, no sticking to the streets however.  Wednesday was our planned day into London and it rained, pretty hard until about 2 pm.  It kept the crowds down, but made walking the streets not very enjoyable.  We went to Buckingham Palace first, walked through St. James Park over to Westminster Abbey.  We took the tour of the Abbey mostly to get out of the rain, but it was pretty facinating to see the architecture and all the scepulchres and plaques honoring many famous people from English history.  We weren't allowed to take photos inside the abbey so I only have outside photos.

 In front of the royal gates at Buckingham palace. 

 Buckingham palace, London, England.  See, no crowds, which Alyssa said was highly unusual, but I'm sure the rain kept people away

 St. James Park.  Signs of spring were there.

 Great views of Big Ben as we walked to Westminster.

 Front view of Westminster Abbey.

Side entrance to Westminster Abbey.  Incredible architecture both inside and out!

We headed over to Trafalgar Square after this and took some photos of typical London sights as well as strolled down some of the nearby streets.

 Trafalgar Square was quite large of an area.  Not only did it have this large fountain, but also a very large statue of Lord Trafalgar, of course!  The National Gallery is in the background behind the fountain. 

 Dave and his sense of humor.  Don't little boys ever grow up?  What can I say??

 Ah, the red double decker buses.

 And the red telephone booths.

 This appeared to be Scotland Yard.  At least we saw a sign indicating that and there was a Sherlock Holmes restaurant across from this building.

 The river Thames behind us with Big Ben, the Parliment and Westminster as well.

Sierra, Kelan & Alyssa with the London Eye behind them and of course the Thames River.  One of the few moments of sunshine that day.

We said goodbye to them and headed over to Victoria Station for dinner and to enjoy our show, Wicked.

It turned out to be a late night by the time we got to our hotel, but it was a fun show.  Thursday morning, we got up and I dropped Dave off at Heathrow airport for his flight back home and then headed back into London to do some serious playing... on my terms.

I went right back to Trafalgar Square and spent an hour and a half in the National Gallery.  I got there right when it opened so there were not a lot of crowds.  I enjoyed wondering from room to room viewing the paintings.  There wasn't any particular ones that really stood out.  I just loved seeing original pieces of many of the artist I had studied in college for my Humanities degree.  Compared with the Louvre in Paris and the Prado in Madrid, it wasn't nearly as spectacular as I remember those, but it was quite enjoyable.

By the time I was done there it was noon so I made sure to stop at a small cafe that had fish and chips.  Mmmm is all I can say.  Then I headed over to St. Paul's cathedral, but ended up taking a detour when I noticed that my underground train stopped near one of the only remaining homes that Charles Dickens had lived in and since I do enjoy his writings and this is the 200th year of his birth I decided I just HAD to stop by so I could at least say I had been there.  Which I did and I have the picture to prove it.  His home is now a museum.

Then it was on to St. Paul's Cathedral and all I can say is WOW!!  St. Paul's is so immense, so ornate and so fascinating.  It is called the nation's cathedral.  It is where Princess Diana was wed, Winston Churchill's funeral was held and in the crypt is buried Lord Nelson who defeated the Spanish Armada and Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon Bonaparte.  It was built by Christopher Wren in the 1700's and was designed to tower over all of  London, which is does quite well.  I spent quite a bit of time in there, but no photos were allowed inside so the only photos I have are below.

This photo was taken miles from the cathedral and yet look how large it seems.

I tried to see Tower Bridge and got in the general neighborhood but then ran out of energy.  So I headed back to Victoria Station to do some souvenir shopping and then hopped on the tube to head back for pick up by Alyssa to return to the base.  

Friday was a down day to hang with the family.  I tried to help out by doing some cleaning around the house and taking Sierra to the playground near by.  Kelan went back to work and Alyssa and I entertained ourselves that evening by going to the movie theater on base to see The Lorax (not a movie I would recommend by the way, too much environmental propaganda!).

Saturday we headed out on another adventure that was quite fun.  I couldn't leave England without seeing a castle so we found the nearest castle to the base and headed over to check it out.  Framlington Castle is about an hour east and it was wonderful experience.  Sierra kept calling it Cinderella's castle, which was fun.  We were able to climb up on the walls and walk around the perimeter of the castle.  You could see where the moat used to be (no water in there any more), the dungeon tower, and there was a nice little museum inside.  Check out the photos below.

 Framlingham castle is listed as a 12th century castle.

 Doesn't that look medieval?

 The moat is now a walkway around the castle.

 Sierra & Kelan at the entrance

Inside the castle

The last Sunday I was there was probably the sunniest and warmest day.  I had one more day, Monday, where I tried to get in last minute souvenir shopping and just enjoyed the grandkids.  Then it was up early the next morning, and a close call getting to the airport in time for my flight home.  Luckily it left about 20 minutes late or I might not have made it.  The flight home was long.  Next time I plan a layover in Atlanta with my brother, Kent to break up the flight.

But I'm grateful to live in a time when traveling is so quick and relatively comfortable.  Before airplanes a visit to England to see family would never have happened since we would have been talking days/weeks just in travel time.

Now I can say I have been to 3 major European cities/countries:  London, England, Paris, France & Madrid, Spain.  I've also been to Mexico, Guatemala & El Salvador along with Canada.  I wonder what other travels await me in the future?