Longest Post Known to Mankind.....The Trip!

Here is the trip diary.....good luck.

February 9 & 10, 2008

I am breathing English air. Not only am I breathing English air, but the air doesn't hurt. In fact it's warm and filled with the scents of budding flowers, spring, and newly cut grass. Yes, it's February 10th and spring is in bloom.

Our trip went as smooth as could be expected. It took us about an hour to get to the airport because of the latest blizzard. It was -27'c with blowing snow, the roads were horrible, and visibility was crap. There was a slight hiccup when we tried to use the self-serve check-in and they told us they couldn't process us and to see an agent. Bad mojo. Then while we were in line the agents were talking about cancelled flights - say wha??? Luckily it didn't affect us as we were not flying through Toronto, Ontario where mother-nature had dumped oodles of snow and shut down the airport.

Once we had checked in, and made sure all the suitcases were not overweight ($75 a pop for international flights) we whizzed through security and down to our gate. We had Internet....or rather I had Internet.....so that was bearable. We used the kids (and why not? They were useful in this case) to pre-board. I hate how they make you walk past the rich-people seats with their comfortable seats, private TVs, and no doubt a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. Sick. Our seats were cramped, but bearable. I had decided that I would drug them (bow down to the Gravol gods) after the meal - which was surprisingly quite good. They ate, took their pills, and then we tried to get them to sleep. Wouldn't you know? My kids are the ones that it takes 2 hours to take effect...just long enough for them to fall asleep for 2 hours and then be woken up for breakfast....groggy and grouchy. Plan failed. We are counting down the seconds till they can sleep - 2 hours in 48 is NOT enough to make anyone bearable. Especially my offspring.

The flight was smooth, and other than not sleeping was quite enjoyable. We landed safely and Uncle John was waiting for us when we arrived (did I mention all the bags made it too? High five!). He had already scoped out the rental car counter and we went out to the stop to wait for our shuttle. The first one filled up but luckily there was a second one behind it. We picked up the van (and another High Five for switching vehicles....it all barely fit in the van!) and started the hair-raising experience of driving the English roads. It went fairly well - all things considered....lack of sleep, wrong side of the car, wrong side of the road, blatant disregard for reasonable speeds. Or personal space for that matter. Yes, the highways were all just fine. It was when we left the highway that it got....I need to think of just the right work here......nut-shrinkingly scary. Yes, if I had them, they would have been in my throat for sure. For some unknown reason they decided when cars were invented that they would keep the roads designed for 2 horses to pass each other. No widening. At all. So, the speed limit is 50 mph (80 km) and all of a sudden you are nose to nose with another car and someone has to pull over into a bush for the other person to get by. Not at ALL cool.

Oh, and the rental house (15th century home) is also in the middle of nowhere. Awesome. And there is no phone. Thank-goodness Uncle knew where he was going and we made it here safely. It's amazing.....3 full floors of beamed rooms....antiques....you open a cupboard and you can see the walls and roof sloping. It's a little disconcerting. It's also WAY cool. I feel like I'm in the Weasley home (read Harry Potter dammit, the rest of the world has!). It has it's drawbacks. No phone. I don't know why...but there is no phone. We have to walk down the road a few minutes to a red box...yes a true British phone booth. There is laundry....but the dryer is out in the shed. I dunno why....beyond me really. This is why we have designated Grandma in charge of all drying of clothes. Sweet huh? Anyway, it's amazing. I'm fairly certain I'll knock myself out in the bathroom with the low ceilings and beams everywhere....but all in good fun.

We had a quick bite to eat at tea time (when in Rome....) with crumpets, eggs, and fruit. And tea of course. Then I unpacked and we went for a walk down the main road. This turned out to be a fairly short walk as there is NOT much of a sidewalk and the drivers here are....freaking insane. They come roaring up the road and ridonkulous speeds and then slam on the brakes if they need to. Not really cool for walking with kids. We found a side road that led us up to some sheep pastures and the boy had fun running with his stick and attacking all the evil plants. We are exhausted....and it's only 5pm here. I give the kids 2 more hours before they are done. I'm done now but apparently we can't just go to sleep because we'll mess up our internal clocks. Tomorrow we have the groceries coming, and then I think we might try to drive into civilization and find a phone. At this point the thought of getting back into the van scares the bejeebers out of me.

February 11, 2008

Day two has taught me a few lessons.

Lesson One - England is good for my soul. I feel at home here, everything gives me a sense of peace and homecoming. If I could, I'd move all of my things into this 15th century home and stay. This said despite the fact I found the carcass of the holy-mother-of-all-spiders in the kitchen drawer this morning. I calmly closed it back up and made mother-in-law take care of it. I don't do spiders.

Lesson Two - The stress of driving on these roads may completely obliterate Lesson One. Hubby is still doing well with the driving situation. He hasn't killed us and we've only gone over 2 curbs - so I consider that success. The amount of "Holy shit's!", "Oh God's!", and "Whaaaaa's!" along with the indrawn breaths and bitten lips is not good for my health. It gives me a tummy ache, headache, and gas. Bad, bad gas.

Lesson Three - The English don't believe in large packaging. I don't know how any of them can be fat. On the other hand I completely understand why so many North Americans are obese. The sour cream....the largest sour cream.....I got, was the size of a large single serving yogurt container. If I ever have anyone from England brave a visit to our home I am immediately taking them to Costco and blowing their brain circuits.

Lesson Four - English eggs have chicken feathers on them. I don't know about the rest of the world, but up in the land of ice and snow (aka Canada) I have never encountered this in my store bought eggs. A little chicken poop once in a blue moon...but never feathers.

While we were waiting for the groceries to arrive this morning my uncle showed up with a cell phone for us. What a guy! It would seem that the owners of the home don't WANT us to be able to have communication with the outside world. They gave us a phone number, but not a phone in sight. Or out of sight. Unless they have cleverly disguised one of the decorative plates as a phone...I will have to investigate further. We had to stand in the middle of the "Road of Death" outside the house to get a signal, but it's good to know if we need help we will have it. Kind of.

We ventured into Maidstone (the closest large town) this afternoon. Parking was an experience. Of course we didn't have change so hubby had to run downstairs to the shop and buy a Coke (with vitamins added? WTF?) and some chocolate for the kids. While he was away I was reading the terms of parking there. You would be fined 60 pounds ($120 Canadian dollars) for a bunch of offences (no ticket, blah blah blah) which all seemed reasonable until we came to the last one. You may NOT RETURN TO YOUR VEHICLE before an hour is up. This confuses me. I don't know why it's that way. You pay for it still. But it was clearly stated on the sign. We had a nice walk around the shops and the kids used their super-power abilities to locate a toy shop. They didn't get anything English, but they each for a cheap little toy to shut them up. I'm a good Mummy...yes I am. We came across a 14th century church and walked around the outside of it and discovered a museum and art gallery in an old mansion. It was pretty neat! Seeing all the artifacts (some from 8000 years ago!) and works of art in a home that was equally old was impressive. The architecture and inside of the home were almost as impressive as the items we were there to see. The kids saw their first mummy which was a hit. I can't wait to take them to the British Museum and show them the good stuff there. In the family chapel there were some old used coffins - creeeeepy. But cool. We didn't get to see everything as the sun was setting and despite the awesome reliability of the Tomtom Nav. System in the van, I did not want to try and navigate the teeny tiny roads at night.

For dinner (now that the groceries arrived....and according to the poor delivery man who came we have enough to last us a year!) I made Mexican tacos. We were trying to figure out what was so weird about the meat (other than the fact they a. call it Scottish Mince and b. run it through a sausage mill to make wormies) and it came to me. They substituted chili powder for curry. Weirdest tacos/fajitas I've every had.

February 12, 2008

Well, it's been a very busy day. We had a fairly leisurely morning at the house taking some photos of the back garden, of some strange food products we've found (prawn flavoured potato chips, strawberry filled pancakes, etc), and doing the much hated homework.

After breakfast we took ourselves off to Leeds Castle. We have fallen in love with our Satellite Navigation System and are going to marry it and take it home to Canada. What an absolute life saver! Yes, the British woman's voice makes you want to pierce your own eardrums with a long stick after a day of listening to her....but she's gotten us there. Which is a hell of a lot more than I can do. She also reminds you to stay on the left hand side of the road - which would be really handy if the roads were large enough to have a left or a right side. Sometimes I wonder if we are driving down a footpath.

The castle is truly beautiful. We arrived just at opening so we avoided much of the crowds. There is a 15 minute walk through the grounds to get to the main buildings and it seems to rise up out of the morning mist as you walk towards it. With giant ancient oak trees, gardens, and birds of all sorts. Including some very lost Canadian Geese. It's strange to leave a place where all you can see is white and minutes 25 Celsius temperatures, and all of a sudden find yourself in the middle of a gorgeous spring.

The castle itself is extremely pretty, with some of the parts dating as far back as pre-Norman conquest. The kids found it interesting and didn't seem to lose their enthusiasm the whole time - which is an accomplishment given that they have the attention span of a fly. After the castle we went up to the gift shop (where I found some lovely wine to take home for my collection) and then to the restaurant for lunch. Almost everyone had the fish and chips, and I had the bangers and mash. YUMMY! I was going to have the scones and cream....seeing as this was the first place I had ever tried this NECTAR OF THE GODS! But they were out of clotted cream. You can't have them without clotted cream. Ever. It's just not right. Soon after that we hit the aviary, the maze (which was not cool - our family is not smart enough to navigate ourselves through a maze....we turned alot of circles before we finally found ourselves back where we started), and the birds of prey. Then it was off to Uncle's house!

I didn't think it was possible, but the roads to him home were even SMALLER than the ones we've been on. We had a lovely visit with him and Aunty. The kids played snooker with him, went into his large garden and ran around, and we chatted over tea and looked at some old photographs that had been saved for me. The drive home was during the start of rush hour but we didn't get too tied down. The truly horrific part of the day came when it was time to prepare the dinner. The oven....the teeny tiny minuscule oven.....has weird knobs. And odd numbers. And it doesn't make any sense to me. A dish of scalloped potatoes and a dish of roasted chicken shouldn't take more than an hour right? Try 90 minutes, 2 turns in the microwave and a spin under the broiler. It was edible...but it sure made me grumpy. We are off to bed soon to get ready for our big day out in London tomorrow. We are going to brave the train and tube systems to get to the British Museum.

On a side note.....we pulverized a pigeon on the way to Uncle's house. Grandma said she couldn't understand why a pigeon went by her window flying upside down. All I saw when I looked behind us was a cloud of feathers slowly falling through the air.

February 13, 2008

Today we were up pretty early in order to get a train out of Maidstone. It worked out to be pretty pointless in taking the early train as we hadn't checked the schedule and we had to wait for it anyway - but lesson learned. We picked up a schedule and set out for the British Museum.

We got out at Cannon Street and then the real challenge began. We needed to find the right tube station. Problem is everything is so freaking jam-packed in that you have no idea where to get to the next street. Which you can't see anyway because the only way to get to the next street is through an alley that may or may not be open to traffic, and curves in between ancient buildings. It was confusing.....but eventually we found the right station and got through the confusing entrance (kids are free with a paying adult, but the have to be passed through separately so you have to find a helper who works there). It was a further challenge once we hit the road at our stop as there is no clear path to the museum. Considering how massive it is...it does a really good job of tucking itself away. Hubby navigated us in a couple circles, and then we found the right path and entered the building triumphant. And sweaty. Our first stop was the cafe for a really overpriced lunch as it was noon. Then, the washrooms. And finally the exhibits. We hit Egyptology first. As did about 20 school groups of running, screaming, congregating children. It was hard not to lose our patience with them.

The exhibits were amazing! The kids were fascinated with the mummies and the bones. The ancient Europe exhibit was really interesting as well, you can really see the rapid and increasing progress of humanity over the eras. We ended up going through the whole place (well, the rooms we wanted to see at any rate) at a good pace and we finished up early. The kids wanted to go to the children's gift shop for their post-cards and at the time it seemed like a good idea. Until I went inside with them and discovered those 20 classes of children crammed into one screaming, sweating, horrific room. Words cannot express the depths of trauma experienced. I am trying to block it from my memory.

We walked around for a little while, looking into some (overpriced) shops and picking up some groceries at the Sainsbury's. We made it through the maze of alleys and streets to the tube station, and the on to the rail station. We were early so we had time to relax and nibble on some apple tarts before the train came. It was a good ride home, and a pretty easy drive at the end of the day. Dinner was spaghetti which made us feel at home a bit more. And dessert was some very good puddings we found at the store.

Tomorrow we are back to London early in the morning to see the Tower (where we may leave the children as a new exhibit) and then in the evening we are going to cousin David's house in Borough Green for dinner.

February 14, 2008

Stupid time change. We threw a breaker last night while plugging in all our appliances, electronics, and watching TV. So, of course all the clocks were re-set. And we don't have an alarm clock in our room. So all I have is my blackberry which is set to Calgary time. And I couldn't for the life of me figure out how many fingers were needed for us to get up early enough to be in London for 9am.

Well, turns out 4:30 is when I was up. And at 5:30 I woke up hubby and told him it was time to get up. Then I told him it was either 5:30 or 6:30. It was 5:30, and he went back to sleep. At least I got a fair amount done in the morning before we had to leave. We made it to the train station without too much bother and we were able to get a closer parking spot. The train was a bit frightening as a horde of school children came pouring out of it...and then a horde of office workers were trying to get onto it. We all ended up sitting close, but not together. Today we got off at Victoria station which is a grand old throw-back to the turn of the century. When you look up you can see the beams that have been in place since my grandparents were newborns.

The tube station is directly below the train so we just had to hop through all the ticket places and wait for one. Which would have been easier if there weren't so many people doing the same thing. We couldn't fit on the first train, or the second. The third was the charm. Luckily we had some cute little mice running around the tracks to keep us entertained. We went a few stops and them emerged onto Tower Hill, with the massive Tower of London sitting on the banks rising out of the fog. Pretty impressive! We took some photos, then entered the gate-house. Walking into a structure that has seen so much history, and has stood for almost a thousand years is pretty impressive. They've done a good job of making it easy to navigate through the towers and passage-ways. We walked up the stairs under which the two princes were found almost 200 hundred years after their murders, past the traitor's gate where the most famous and dangerous prisoners were brought, and past the green-space where Anne Boleyn and several others were beheaded. We didn't see any ghosts but it definitely has a different feeling to it. Very heavy. We saw the crown jewels, and a 52 carat diamond, cut from a 300+ carat diamond. Must be nice to be born royal! They also had a giant solid gold punch bowl big enough to bathe in with intricate carvings all around it.

We spent a good 3 hours walking around (once again contending with wild packs of school children) and then hunger took hold and we left. We thought we would be smart and find a restaurant a little ways from the Tower so we could avoid paying such inflated prices. Unfortunately all the restaurants are catering to the office and business types so we rushed into the first one we saw that seemed able to accomodate 5 people, including 2 children. Chinese buffet, not necessarily good for the tummy but with hunger we didn't really care. It was fairly good for being a buffet and the kids at the food which is all one can really hope for. I don't think we saved too much money, but we had a place to sit down and it wasn't normal cafeteria type food so we were happy.

The train back was easy and we weren't dealing with insane crowds this time so it was much more bearable. We were however, early again so the kids and I wandered down to the corner shop and brought back sweets for everyone. Then we had a lovely nap on the train on the way home. Bleary eyed, and stumbling our way out, we got to the van and seriously considered parking somewhere for a nap. It was pretty early to go to Cousin David's, but with nowhere else to go we set out for the village. We arrived (after a few missed turns and re-direction) an hour early....so we went for a drive out to some manor house (which looked like it wasn't open to the public) and then out to Ightam Mote - which was closed but was also pretty to drive by. The roads were scary as per usual....a couple close calls (a giant Mercedes truck coming nose to nose with us....caught on video with some sort of explanative).....then we got some gas in the van, some more sweets, and went off to find their house. Which was pretty impossible to find the first time. After turning around and approaching from a different angle we were able to get it done. We had a lovely visit with some fish and chips for dinner, and some lovely company. The kids all got along very well (being second cousins, the oldest two being within a year of each other, and the second two boys being within a few months of each other) which was a relief. They are off to Singapore as a family for a month or so for work/pleasure so we won't get a chance to see them again before we/they go.

We had a pretty reasonable drive home, even with it being night. Tomorrow we are off to the London Zoo and hopefully some antique stores for Holly to browse through.

February 15, 2008

Today began with a disaster of monumental proportions. Not only did my $150 hairdryer blow it's fan, but the $140 hair straightener went tits up as well. Not good. Not good at all.

We left the house at a pretty reasonable time not being in any great hurry to get to London and the zoo. The train was easy, we pulled into Victoria Station again and then we had to take a couple of trains to get to Church Street and the markets. I had the idea in my head that I wanted to hit the antique district and do some shopping. I was clear pretty early on that we most definately did not belong in that area of the city. Very very uncomfortable. We found the famous Alfie's market, and as I was afraid the prices were marked up beyond ridiculous. We left fairly quickly and started the insanely long walk around Regent's Park, which is freaking gorgeous, to the London Zoo. It was a very very long walk. Did I mention it was also cold? At any rate, after nearly being run down in the street we made it into the relative safety of the park path and proceeded to the zoo. We arrived just after noon so the school groups were not so bad near the entrance. We went straight to the cafe for some lunch and fuel for the walking ahead of us.

The zoo was typical of most, animals and the smell of poo. The really amazing part was all of the Victorian buildings housing the animals! They were so pretty, and the grounds look out over the park and cricket pitches. Daughter was super impressed with the actual spot where the first Harry Potter film had a scene done with the snake exhibit. Luckily the gift shop had gloves for sale so my fingers were saved. We enjoyed ourselves and then started the trek back to the tube station. The promanade through the park is very grand, you almost feel like you should be riding in a carriage doing the "Queen wave" to the common people. Except we are the common people.

You can really tell the difference between the stations in the poorer sections of town. This one was VERY nice with an elevator to take you down to a clean, tiled and new looking station. I guess the taxes those people pay in all the mansions must pay for that.

The train once again proved to be a relaxing sleep and we got into Maidstone as it was getting dark. Hubby wanted to find some replacements for my hair products so we drove in circles for awhile, trying to find the right route to the right shop. We eventually ended up in some weird home store....that didn't have bathrooms which son desperately needed. They did have a hair dryer and straightener which was awesome! And son left a present behind for them in the bushes outside the store. Dinner was sandwiches.....which were pretty kick ass. Mmmm, canned turkey. One could learn to love it.

Tomorrow is our big trip to Calais, France. I wonder if they are as annoying in France as they are in Canada?

February 16, 2008

^Cultural Differences^

Today was our big trip to Calais, France. We were up very early and on the road before the sun was up. We hit the Dover port just as the sun was rising which made for some beautiful photos. We entered the port with very little trouble and almost no security. After our frequent invasive security sessions while crossing into the US it felt very strange. We were very early but only just had enough time to pop into the store to get some magazines and treats before we had to get into the vehicles to board the ferry. It loads early so it can take off right on time. The crossing was fairly smooth. I think. I slept in one of the not-so-comfy chairs the entire way. It would appear that all modes of transportation put me to sleep.

As we drove off the ferry into the bright sunshine of France all the other cars seemed to go in another direction. We began to worry a little. Hubby directed us to the town centre where there was no parking. Making this harder was the fact we were now having to drive on the other side of the road with the steering wheel still on the wrong side. There was no parking at all and it was too bad because there looked to be a cute little market in the square. We found an empty spot to re-program the GPS and drove to the Cite Europe shopping centre. And here is where we found all the other Brits we had lost when we left the ferry. And the reason why they were all there. The liqueur store was full of them, leaving with carts FULL of wine. It's much cheaper there, and you are allowed 90 litres back to England. Crazy. We did a little shopping, picking up a couple pretty decorative items, some slippers, and of course a little wine. We ate lunch pretty high class, at the French McDonalds. We had Royal Burgers....and the special sauce was dijon mustard. Well, we were in France.

Did we like it there? Honestly not very much. We don't speak French....and as soon as they heard our Canadian accents they mistook us for Americans and treated us like crap at the check-out. Apparently Americans do not have many fans in that country. The only exceptions to this was at the Disney store...where I think they are legally required to be bright and chipper on a constant basis, and the creepy guy at the liqueur store who I think was trying to flirt. Though I'm not sure. It was creepy at any rate.

We had enough and decided to try and get home early. We would rather see Dover. Where the English are. Unfortunately hubby had picked the wrong port on the GPS and we had a nice little tour of the countryside. Once we had turned ourselves around and could see the ocean again we got into the line-up at the Calais Port and hoped they would let us go home early. We got up to the passport booth and then proceeded to hold up our entire line (including the poor bugger we had cut-off to get in there) when we threw them for a loop with our Canadian passports. They did eventually let us pass (after paying $10 to change our reservation time) and we got through to the next booth where we had to open the back of the van for them to have a look inside. At last we were in the line to go back to the land of niceness.

The ferry ride back was smooth. Again, I think. I passed out and slept the entire way home. We hit Dover at sunset, which again meant some beautiful photos. It was too late to get to the castle, or to tour the town so we aimed for Ashford to buy some food for dinner. We tried a shopping centre the GPS found us, sadly it was closed. We decided to just head home when we spotted a Sainsbury's (grocery store) and darted across a few lanes of traffic to get there. Success! We did a little shopping, picked up a couple DVDs for the kids to save our sanity.....and then went home to cook dinner. It was a busy day, and though we are glad we saw Calais and had the experience, we won't be planning a trip back.

Tomorrow will be a nicer paced day with a family visit planned with Cousin Paul and his family who have driven down to see us.

February 17, 2008

We were able to sleep in a little this morning and have a quieter start to the day. Which of course turned into too much of a slow start and we were running about 20 minutes behind schedule. Eventually, even after a wrong turn or two we made it to Uncle John's house where we had a nice visit with them. We then went out to the pub in the village of Otford "The Bull" with Cousin Paul and Cousin Lizzie with their two little ones. They had a Sunday "Roast" which was absolutely amazing food. There was SO much! Dessert was wonderful as well with a Treacle Pudding and Custard for me, and the rest of the table had cheesecakes and chocolate puddings.

After our meal we ventured down to the antique shops where I found much more reasonable prices that on Church Street in London. I could have looked for hours but with the hubby and kids waiting outside I behaved myself. I did leave with a 19th century print, turn of the century (20th) plate, and a bird statue from the same era. I think I may just have to head back there before the week is out.

We also walked around the village pond (which a few hundred years ago would have been the main water-source for the entire village) and saw an old church with a graveyard that facinated the children. They loved reading all of the old tombstones. We had a couple cranky children on our hands by that point so we went back to Uncle John's house for tea and some more visiting before starting back to our house for dinner. We are having to get creative with food now so it was meatballs, potatoes, and pasta hoops in bacons sauce with sausages. Yes, you read that right. I had canned macaroni and cheese.

The kids were put to bed early to save our sanity and their hides....and now it's a relaxing evening planned for us.

Tomorrow we will head out to Hampton Court Palace in South West London via car for the day.

February 18, 2008

Today we drove off on the hour long trek to Hampton Court Palace just south-west of London. The drive was pretty smooth until we came to the palace and then had to determine where exactly the car park was. A couple round-a-bouts and a few curses later it turns out we were supposed to turn into the actual gate to the palace as the car park was just off to the side of it.

What an amazing entrance! The palace is a massive building, right on the banks of the Thames, with ornate architectural designs and perfectly kept gardens and grounds. The audio tour we took was really interesting, filling us in on what all the heraldry symbols on the walls meant, and what each room was used for. The kitchens were my favorite, with the actual ovens and the same fireplace burning that was burning 500 years ago when the king wanted his roast beef! The rooms upstairs were so ornate....gilt ceilings, murals depicting the monarchs all over the place. I think it's one of the most impressive places we've seen so far. In it's opulance at any rate. We toured 3 wings, then went off for lunch in the tilting courtyard. After lunch we finished the 4th wing and began our drive to Maidstone to stop in at the grocery store.
This time we found it on our first try and we had good fun buying various things (alot of sweets) there. We arrived home in daylight for a change and had a nice dinner. Toromorrow will be sausages and mash! We head back to London in the morning to see Harrods Department Store and the Imperial War Museum.

February 19, 2008

We are officially almost at the end of our adventure. Tomorrow will be spent with my uncles here at the rental house, then one more day in London and a day in Dover. I could keep this up for months if I had the funds and time to do it....sadly I think we will have to leave it for another visit. There is so much we won't be able to see that I want to show the children.....Canterbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Whipsnade Zoo, my old school in Tunbridge Wells.....their Grandfather's (my Dad) old house.....sigh.

After today my ass, legs and feet have officially given up and are begging for mercy. Mercy dammit! We didn't get up too early this morning, we were out by about 8:30 but the train was still busy. So busy we had to stand. Uncool. Grandma got a seat, and daughter plopped herself down with another family and proceeded to tell them her life story and started playing hangman with them. It's rough having such shy kids.

We came into Victoria station and had to hop on 2 tubes in order to get to Harrods. The nice part about Harrods was that it was beside the end station so there wasn't a long walk to get to it. Inside was completely overwhelming. And ridonculous. I don't know if the British know this, but they are getting ROYALLY screwed. A Burberry scarf (that I want) is $165 pounds here - in Vegas I saw the same thing for half that price. And the purses....more than double what we would pay - even in Canada! Needless to say I didn't make any purchases in those departments. We went right down to the logo shop in the basement, past the gaudy memorials and tributes to Princess Di and Dodi El-Fayed. His dad went a little overboard. HUGE statues showing Dodi with his shirt flying open dancing with her on what looks like the beach....I'd be cringing in my grave if I were her.
I bought some of the oilcloth bags that I LOVE in the basement - a big one for me to replace the one I bought about 8-9 years ago that died, and a slightly smaller one as well. I got a couple for the kids for their library books....and then an apron. Not that I cook...but if and when I do I will use it. Probably.

Next we went upstairs to the children's department (again, prices were completely nuts) and had lunch in the restaurant there. The food was good - but it was expensive. The kids had Madagascar playing so they were thrilled. We walked through a few more departments but we eventually got tired of it and headed back to the tube station to go to Hamley's. This is the largest toy store we've ever seen - 7 floors!

It was a bit of a hike down Regent Street but we didn't mind as we got to pass by all the very posh shops there. We popped into Burberry and their prices were stupid as well....thank-goodness Vegas is only a few months away. Hamley's was packed. I don't think we've been anywhere in London yet that hasn't been packed. The city is like a bee-hive - always buzzing. There wasn't anything too particularily wonderful there. Just alot of toys - which the kids have at home so we didn't really worry about buying anything. I got a couple little travel tins for on the plane-ride home, and some candy to fuel our walk, but otherwise we escaped with most of our wallet intact.

Next was the Imperial War Museum set up in the old Bedlam Hospital for the Insane. Yet another stunning building. I kept trying to imagine all the crazies walking the halls. This was really a stop for hubby and son. They were completely in their element. They were like two kids in a candy shop. The women did their duties and followed them around. The set-up of the second world war house, and the school/market/rations etc was really interesting for me. My dad was 10 when the war broke out and that is what he would have been living through here. Some of it was really interesting.

We left there very tired. I didn't buy much - a book of "Wicked Wit" of Winston Churchill (whom I love!)...son got a blow up plane and they both got another post-card for their collections.

The two tubes we had to take to get back to the train station were annoying, only because all we wanted to do was rest. But we managed to drag ourselves there and got to our train. It was busy so we did have to share our seats with some lady - but it was alright. I dozed for a little on hubby but it didn't seem very long. Then we drove home for a late supper of "Bangers and Mash" - sadly son was "Voted off the Island" and went to bed early when we found out he had picked the edging off one of the antique chairs here. Wonder-freaking-ful. Here's hoping we can get home in time to put a stop payment on that damage depost cheque we gave the lady!

The Rest of It

OK, so here's where I got too burnt out to keep up with the journal. The 2oth we spent at the cottage with my uncles and aunts who came for a visit and meal with us. It was really nice to see them all at once and we had a good time. The kids love Uncle John so much - it's very cute.


On the 21st we went to London again and hit Westminster Abbey first. It was truly amazing. I can't even describe the feeling of standing next to the bodies for the first Kings and Queens of England - Elizabeth the First, Mary Queen of Scots.....incredible. We also stood at the feet of Chaucer, Kipling, saw Churchill's Memorial and we stood by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We weren't allowed to take photos inside unfortunately - it was amazing. The architecture....and the history. We stood next to the coronation throne that has been used for hundreds of years, and walked the same path that they all walked as they were crowned. This building dates to before the conquest of 1066. You can really feel the whole history of the country in this one place.

Once we had finished there we took the tube to the Natural History Museum and had some lunch. That was stressful as it was crowded beyond all belief. In fact, after lunch we got through ONE exhibit before we had enough and called it quits. We went back to Maidstone via the train and did a little shopping, then went back to the cottage and started cleaning and prepping for our departure on Saturday.

On Friday morning we were up pretty early and set off for Dover. We made it there faster than we expected so we went up to a park that overlooked the cliffs (well, I guess technically it was on top of some of the cliffs as well) and we got some nice photos. It was really windy and a bit chilly. Alot chilly. We walked for about half an hour and then set off for Dover Castle. This is another old old castle that has parts that have stood since before the Norman invasion. This castle is all about defence (played a big part in the World Wars) and not about oppulance. We walked around looking in all the nooks and crannies....then we had lunch and went to the gift shop. We went into Dover to look around and find a store for daughter to buy her "big item" for the trip. We ended up in Woolworths, which used to be in Canada but was later bought out by Kmart. We then headed home where Uncle John met us to take home the left-over foods. We had a nice chat about family history, he had some photos for me to take home, and a couple paintings of my Grandfather's which I loved. Then the packing frenzy started. And the lady came to find out if we had trashed the house (which we hadn't) and give us back our deposit cheque.

On Saturday we were up very early, and off to the rental car place ($2000 later...ugh) and then back to the airport. We had a long wait until our gate was announced. Then we got on the plane and settled in for a relaxing 8 1/2 hour flight back home. And by relaxing I mean horrible and painful. Of COURSE a family with a 3 year old and 2 year old sit behind us. And of COURSE they are asshole parents who don't care that their tantrum throwing, screaming, brat of a kids is kicking and punching my seat the ENTIRE f-ing 8 hours back home. I glared a couple times and she stopped the kid - for maybe 3 minutes. So no sleep for me. We got home to a happy kitty and a nice clean house. Which we've destroyed in the process of unpacking. Everything made it home safely though. Including the antiques I bought - yay! - and the paintings from my uncle. We were in bed early ..... ahhhh, King bed. How I've missed you. And we are having a nice relaxing morning.

It's my 24th (again) birthday today so we will have lunch out soon and then pick up some groceries - then off to the MIL's for dinner.