Day 1Trip started well, we were packed and at the airport with plenty of time to spare!! Luckily as our flight was cancelled, we managed to get an earlier flight.
We were not as lucky as our Thailand trip, the plane was packed, and we were at the very end of the plane!! Managed to get a bit of sleep before we got to Bangkok, and a lot more before London.
Customs let us through, pheww, although from what I have heard they will just let anyone in. Case in point!!!
From here on in there is what really happened in italics, and the censored version!!!
We caught the underground to Paddington and managed to find our hotel. We were not able to check-in as it was only 9 am so we decided to go and find some caffeine.
We went for coffee scowling at each other due to lack of sleep. Argued about whether it was important to get coffee or look for a sim card first. The pregnant woman won and got coffee.We then headed to Hyde Park and walked around a very small portion. We visited the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. On our way back to the hotel it started to rain and we got very wet, even though we had an umbrella!!
We decided to go and walk around Hyde Park, however after a juice and coffee I needed a bathroom. Managed to find some toilets next to some lovely fountains that would distract Gav so I could sit on a park bench. Lasted only about 20 minutes before we moved on. Gav wanted to go the long way; I wanted to go the short way!! I won!! Saw fountains and deck chairs and a water ponds and green grass, oh my. Started to get our second wind and we were being a little nicer, but now I was hungry must have lunch!!Gav: lunch was good, they definitely know their bacon and egg rolls in the UK!
We were able to check into the hotel after lunch and got some sleep before we headed out in evening to met up with Gene and Ana.
That evening we went to Notting Hill with Gene and Ana. Gene told Gav about the squirrels in Hyde Park. We headed back to the hotel via Hyde Park and saw about 3 squirrels. Picked up fish and Chips for dinner and went back to the hotel to eat. Ate dinner and then went to bed for some well deserved sleep.
Bloody squirrels how many photo’s does he need. Doesn’t he know I am hungry now!!! Ah food and sleep, my most favorite things!!!Day 2We had a full day around London today, so we decided to hop on one of the tourist buses. We hopped off at the Tower of London and decided to have a look around there. We spent almost 3 hours going around. We got to see the crown jewels and a really good display on Henry the VIII armor, you could see him getting fatter through out the years. One of the perks of being king I suppose!!
For a man that loves his sleep what the hell was he doing up at 5am!!! He is also not very quiet when he is moving around. Had to wait 2 hours for breakfast to start, which gave me plenty of time to sit and scowl at him. Hopefully soon we get used to the time difference!! Convinced him that the bus was going to be easier than walking, so we buy our bus ticket however as the bus is 20 minutes away Gav decides we are going to walk!! I do not want to walk too much it wears me out.We get to Hyde park, about 2 blocks from the hotel and find the bus about to leave from there, so we jump on at that stop instead!! I enjoy sitting and seeing the sights. We get off at the Tower and have a look around, why do castles have so many stairs??
As we leave the Tower, there are so many tourist starting to come through, lucky we got in early!! We jump back on the bus and head back to Hyde Park as I am starting to get very worn out, and it is almost time to go and collect the car.
One of the few perks of Gav getting up early is we manage to miss the crowds at the tower, not sure how much of a perk that is though at the moment!!
The tour bus is packed and is getting so stuffy!! We argue about getting off to look at Buckingham Palace, however I just want food now!! We catch the bus through to a stop where on the map is a Hard Rock Café; Gav can get a shirt he must be up for that!! Bugger cannot find it; both of us are getting crankier by the moment. Gav yells and I cry finally find sandwiches and I get to eat. We have ice cream to make it all better. I think I am going to have a lot of ice cream on this trip!!!After a late lunch we head back to get our luggages (must be a new European word!!) and head off to Heathrow to pick up the car. Being pregnant gets us a free upgrade to a Peugeot 308 and free Sat Nav. Considering how I can work it to upgrade our seats on the flight now. We head off to find Sue and Steve with our trusty sat nav in German, Bugger have to change the language.
Lets just say there was a lot more arguing, I am trying to change the Sat Nav to English and reading the signs to tell Gav where to go. Gav finally gets the shits pulls over changes the sat nav and heads off, at least I did have us going in the right direction. Pull over at a rest stop and have dinner before heading off again. Takes us about 2 hours to get to Sue and Steve’s, mainly due to traffic.We made it through and played nice until bedtime!!
Day 3Following Steve’s expert advice we headed off to Bodiam Castle. The castle was built in 1385; it was both a castle and a manor house for Sir Edward Dalyngrigge and his wife. As they were use to the Manor House style of living they extensively landscaped the grounds to make it more visually appealing!!
A lot of time and money has been spent preserving the castle and you are able to walk up to the top of 2 of its corner towers and the 2 centre towers in the front and back wall.
Feeling a little more refreshed, although Gav was up early again this morning, at least this time I could send him into another room. We set off to Bodiam castle, which was very pretty, however after climbing 2 of the towers I was thirsty, hungry and sleepy. Let Gav go around and take more photos while I sat and watched. We then headed down to the café for lunch and scones.We then drove through to Hastings and walked along the beach and around the amusement parks. We then drove up to the castle, of which most has been lost due to erosion and town planning.
We were hoping to come back home via Battle however as it was raining and I was getting tired we went straight home.
After arguing about where to park and how Gav was driving, we sat on the beach sulking. We agreed to be nicer to each other and went and got ice cream. Gav then wanted to walk up the MOUNTAIN to the castle. As I was already sleep walking I declined. We headed back to the car to drive back to Sue and Steve’s. In the route back we ended up at the castle, so we decided to get out and have a look, in the rain!!When we got back to Sue and Steve’s we walked up the shop and picked up some dinner, and the Sue and Steve were away camping with their girls. Got back after being told I was walking too slow and went to bed for a snooze. Got up at 11 and warmed up some soup made up with Gav and went back to bed. We will get used to this time difference I am sure!!!Day 4We caught up with Frena and Andrew for lunch today!! We caught the train into the London and managed to get the underground to Canary Wharf where they live.
We had a fantastic lunch at a pub called The Gun on the river Thames. The weather was so good I got sun burnt.
We were then going to catch the train to Westminster and have an up close look at Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, however the line was closed due to signal works. Instead we go off at London Bridge and walked around there, before heading back to Sue and Steve’s.
I was keen to go through to Westminster, however, not up for much more walking. This upset Gav. After a brief walk around London Bridge and some ice cream we headed back to Sue and Steve’s.
Day 5We are finally running on UK time!! So hopefully no more Italic events…
Today we head into Windsor and visit Windsor castle. Windsor Castle is a beautiful castle at the top of a hill, not a pregnant woman friendly location. The walk around the castle takes you through the State Apartments, where the Queen holds most of her functions when she is in town. It is such a show of the wealth and power that the Monarchy has and had at one point in time. Many of the responsibilities and power has now been taken away by the parliament.
They had a fantastic display of fine bone china. Of course my expensive taste, I liked the oldest china there. We also were able to look around St George’s Chapel, where Charles and Camellia were blessed following their civil ceremony.
We had lunch at a pub just outside the gates, as I was getting very hungry. We then went to find a place where we could recharge our sim card. We then got lost heading back to the car. We eventually found our way back only to find 2 men clamping the car as we had over stayed by 15 minutes. 125 pounds later we were able to head off to Hever Castle.
There was yelling and sulking followed by scones and ice cream!!
We visited Hever Castle on the way back home, which was the birthplace and home of Anne Boleyn, Henry the VIII third wife. She was beheaded because she was suspected of cheating on Henry.
As the castle has been a home up until fairly recently it has been kept in very good condition. We even got to stand in the room that Henry the VIII once slept in.
Sue cooked us a roast chicken for dinner that night with Yorkshire puddings. Gav had one too many beers .
Day 6As Gav had a little too much to drink the night before it was my turn to drive today. We left Sue and Steve and headed over to Karen in Swindon, going via Portsmouth on the way.
Portsmouth is one of the main ports for the Royal Navy and houses the Royal Navy Museum. The museum has a number of ships in dock. As it was school holidays the town was packed, we had to queue and wait 30 minutes for a parking space to become available, we took this time to eat lunch in the car.
Gav and I were able to go onto HMS Victory an old steam and sail powered war ship. Gav was a little disappointed as the ship had never fired a shot in anger, the size and power of the ship at the time was enough.
We also walked around d HMS Warrior, an 1860 ship on which Nelson was shot whilst fighting the French. The ship was very stuffy inside!! There was also not much room between the floor and the ceiling, they were so short back then!!!
The Mary Rose was also in the dock, currently being treated so it can go on display. The Mary Rose was King Henry VIII’s favorite ship and was sunk by they think the French. As the ship was under water, obviously, you get the opposite to what happens on land. The wood and most natural fibers survive and the metals erode. In the museum you are able to touch some of the relics from the ship. Gav and I were able to smell 500 year old tar and handle part of the anchor rope and arrow.
We then headed off to Swindon.
Day 7We headed off into Bath today and visited to the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey.
It took us about 2 hours to get around the baths, and we did not stop and listen to every thing on the audio tour. We also looked at Bath Abbey after lunch.
We then headed to Averbey, which has a stone circle similar to Stonehenge. You are able to go right up to the stones. We arrived at about 2:45, however parking after 3:00 was only 3 pounds, so we slowly had an ice-cream before paying to park!!
The circle is just massive and you are walking through paddocks that have sheep and cows grazing, luck we wore our walking boots!! As it had been raining it was also very muddy!! We had to wash our boots off when we got back as they were filthy!
Day 8We went into Oxford today after spending the morning relaxing at Karen’s in the sun. By the time we got to Oxford it was pouring!! We picked up a map and planned out what we wanted to see, all of which was either closed or not taking any more people on their tours!!
We sulked in a pub with a beer/lemonade and hot chips.
We then decided to go and check out the castle quickly before we left. We paid our 1 pound to walk on to the mound that was thrown up for the castle. Gav was a little disappointed, it has a view of the tree that was growing half way up.
We then headed to Cheltenham and had dinner with Amelia and Alistair.
Day 9After spending the night in Cheltenham we headed home via Wales.
We headed off to Cardiff and stopped in Monmouth and Caerleon on the way. Monmouth has the only surviving example of a fortified gate bridge in Britain, or so the guidebook says.
We then headed to Caerleon, which has a fully excavated 2nd century Roman Amphitheatre, baths and part of the fort wall remaining. After having lunch at the amphitheatre in the sun we headed off to Cardiff.
We hit the most horrific traffic on the way to Cardiff, 2 sets of road works taking the motorway from 3 lanes down to 1, with a breakdown to complicate things!! By the time we got into Cardiff we were buggered. Found carparking very close to the castle though so decided to head in. We spent about an hour and a half looking around the castle.
There was a falconer in the castle that was displaying an European Eagle Owl, a massive bird!!!
We then headed back through all the road works back to Swindon.
Day 10We went to Cheddar Gorge today, it is where cheddar cheese is made (well the English Cheddar at least). Gav made me pack my walking boots, I had no idea why! I was picturing cheese making, ice cream, cream teas, etc. I later find out Gav was picturing what we actually attempted to do, walking!!!
After walking up 276 stairs to get to the top of the Gorge and then climbing another 3 stories to get up into the observation tower to see over the trees someone was too tired to walk the 3 miles around the gorge. We headed back down the 276 stairs and had ice cream instead!
We then drove up through the gorge and headed off to Stonehenge.
There was so much traffic on the way to Stonehenge. We eventually made it there. Although it is one of those things you have to go and see to say you have, it is and awesome sight.
