Monday, June 29, 2009

Last day!

Em and I flew out on Friday the 26th. We spent the morning packing and such, and then took off for the airport. Max was able to get out of work early enough that we had plenty of time to get there on time. Since things were going smoothly, we decided to drive through Oxford. It's one of the places I had wanted to visit, but didn't get around to going. We were going to drive through after Hatfield on Wednesday, but after Tuesday's adventures, there was no way I was driving around in another big city.

But anyway, we set Bruce and took off. We didn't have time to get out at all, but I took lots of pictures of the University. I used to want to go there so badly, so it was nice to see. It was really beautiful.

We got to the airport like 3.5 hours before the plane left. We got there at 2:30, and they wouldn't even tell us our gate until 4:45. I guess they do that a lot, though, because they have big seating areas before the passages to the gates. So, Em & I sat around for a couple of hours and read.

The ride back was much nicer than the one out. There were free magazines & newspapers at the gate, and a good gossip rag is a nice way to start any trip, even if you don't know who half the celebrities are. It had stuff about the royal family, so I was happy.

We were on the side this time, instead of in the middle. The sides have a row less than the middle, so there is that much more room for your legs. We were also in the very last row in the plane, and our seats laid further back than any airplane seats I have ever experienced. I was as comfy in those seats as I am on JetBlue, and I do love JetBlue. It was early enough that we could watch a movie before we went to sleep, and we got another little amenities kit. The only real problem was that we had two very noisy children in the row in front of us, and they wanted to chat. Ah, well. Better than many things that can be wrong on the plane. We had lovely dinners, and super yummy raspberry & dark chocolate ganache for dessert.

So, Virgin Atlantic is super strict. During takeoff and landing, you not only still aren't allowed to listen to headphones, but you also have to have absolutely everything stowed. Blankets, pillows, eye masks, everything. Poor Em just wanted to sleep, but they made her take everything off.

When we landed, the flight attendant came on the intercom and told us that it was 9:15 pm local time, and that it was "dead warm." That's my new favorite phrase. She also told us thank you from the pilot, all of the crew, and the Oompa Loompa. I think she was a little punch drunk.

It was indeed dead warm. 93, according to the thermometer in the car. It was quite a punch in the gut after such lovely cool weather.

We got through immigration & customs in pretty good time. We were the only plane at that time. I did have to answer yes on the question about whether we had been on a farm. I was kind of afraid they would confiscate my shoes, but when I said it was more of a petting zoo than an actual farm, they let us go. I just knew that if I had said no, Em would have told the agent that her favorite part of the trip was visiting the farm, or something like that. But, we escaped with our shoes, and we did it legally. :)

We got our rental car, and the first thing we did as we drove through Leesburg was to go through Taco Bell. I had the worst burrito of my life, but I didn't care. It was 11 at night, it was a drive through, and they had Dew with ice. What more could you want?

We got home around midnight, and the kitties were very, very glad to see us. :) We went and got Max on Saturday afternoon. His flight sucked. Now, it's Monday, and I'm still friggin' exhausted.

Worth it, though, a million times over.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

6/25- Stratford part 2

When we went to Stratford on Saturday, we had limited time, since we needed to get to Stonehenge on time. So, out of the 5 Shakespeare properties, we only got to see 3. Since the ticket to see all 5 properties was cheaper than individual tickets to even see 2, we went with the 5 properties tickets. The really cool thing is that the tickets are all good for a year, so Em & I went back today to see the other two properties. It worked out perfectly, since Stratford isn't very far away, and I am still terrified of driving since the Great Hever/London Incident of Tuesday.

I was prepared to pay for the double-decker sightseeing bus this time, but Em decided to do a treasure hunt that we found instead. I'm glad she did. not only was it cheaper, but it was a lot of fun. It was a walking treasure hunt, and we really had a lovely time. We took a break for some detours to some more Shakespeare parts, and we actually finished both the treasure hunt and the houses in just the right amount of time. The treasure hunt didn't actually win anything, it was just going around the town answering questions for which you had to look pretty hard, sometimes. There were even a couple for which we couldn't find the answers.

We had lunch at the Baguette Barge - a canal boat that has been transformed into a sandwich shop. There's no seating on the barge, but there's a huge park in which to sit and eat. I got a beef & cheese sanwich, and I thought a little mustard would be nice. I thought it would be a little spicy, but I was OK with that. Holy crap, that was the spiciest mustard I have ever had in my life. It was the kind of spice that went up through my palate into my nose, and I'm pretty sure it was trying to crawl through my skull to eat my brain. Oh. My. God. I couldn't even finish the sandwich. I picked off the meat and tried to wipe off the mustard. I ate what I could of the meat, and a few shreds of the cheese. Then, I picked away the parts of the baguette that had no mustard. just thinking about it makes my throat burn.

Anyway, we went to Hall's Croft and Anne Hathaway's house. Both were quite nice. At Hall's Croft, we got to join a school group in the introduction in the parlor. It was a nice group of quiet Indian schoolgirls, so Em got to answer all of the questions. ;)

We came back to the hotel, and then we all walked downtown for dinner, and to buy all of the treats we need to bring back home. Now, we're sitting in the hotel room reading/playing on the computer. The ice cream man has now driven past 8 times, and it's driving Em nuts.

Tomorrow is Em's & my flight home, and then Max will come back Saturday. We get in very, very late.

Another lesson I learned....

Another lesson yesterday. Don't assume that what is on the label means what you think it does.

What would you think if you saw a "cheddar and pickle" sandwich. (as an American) You'd think it was cheddar cheese and slices of pickle, right? Nope. It is cheddar and pickled who-knows-what. Something with chunks, in a sauce that tastes a lot like terriyaki. It wasn't too horrible - I ate the whole thing. Not something I would ever order again, though.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

6/24 - Hatfield

We slept a long time at the hotel. Hatfield was only 30 minutes away, and it didn't even open until 10:30. A no alarm morning was nice.

Hatfield was where Elizabeth I and Edward VI spent much of their childhoods. Mary I was also there for a while, and later it became one of Anne of Cleave's estates. I was really excited about so many Tudors!

A lesson we learned today - make sure that the address the GPS has for your point of interest is the same one on the website. Bruce took us to what may have been an entrance to Hatfield once upon a time, but is now a tiny little street with no easy way to turn around. Luckily, I remembered that the train station is right across the street from the entrance, so I had him get us to the train station. Of course, I had driven right past it on the way in. Ah, well.

Hatfield was lovely. I was rather disappointed to find out that the big palace-looking thing is not, in fact, where Elizabeth lived. It was built later, during the reign of her successor, James I. It was built by her chief advisor, though, so that was cool. Only 1/4 of the old palace remains, and we didn't get to see much of that. It was being prepared for a private function, so we could only see the main room from the doorway.

The house and gardens were very nice, though.

The story goes that Elizabeth was sitting under an oak tree in the park when she got word that Mary had died, and she was now queen. According to the guide, we could go see where that oak tree was. Well, it was vaguely enough written in the guide, apparently. What we got to see was an oak tree that had been planted on the spot of the oak tree where Elizabeth was sitting. Not worth the walk all the way out there, but still cool.

The drive back was blessedly uneventful. :)

It has taken me about 3 hours to catch up with email, facebook, and blogging. I'm going to bed now. :)

English hotels suck

We stayed at the Hilton, which should be nice, right? Well, it did have very nice pillows and more than 4 channels. But, the shower didn't even work. The tub faucet did, though, so we had to do a makeshift washing thing. Lovely. There was one bottle of water in the room (for a measly 5 pounds or so) and you had to call room service if you wanted ice. There was one soda machine in the whole place, and it didn't have a single thing not sweetened with aspartame. It was 15 pounds to access the internet. The restaurant was staffed with people I couldn't understand, and the food was both mediocre and outrageously expensive. 16 ponds for a dry, flavorless chicken breast? It came with some sort of sauce, and I wasn't sure if it was for the chicken or the french fries. I think it was mayonnaise with lime & cilantro. Ugh. But, we were stuck there. Luckily, Em got to eat free.

But, like I said, lovely pillows. Oh, and blackout curtains, which is a definite plus when the sun rises at 4:30.

The biggest advantage was that it saved us like 4 hours of driving. So, it was worth it.

More hitting stuff

So, since Hever & Hatfield are both about 2.5 hours away from our hotel, but only about 1.5 hours away from each other (Hever below London & Hatfield above), we decided to stay the night on the other side of London, between the two.

For some reason, after sending me through the hedges again, Bruce decided I needed to go through London, instead of around it. I think he was trying to get me away from the traffic. Well, he freaked me out, is what he did. I had no desire to drive in London. But, that's what I did. So, there was a bus lane on my left. Then, the bus lane ended, and there was a strange sidewalky bit in the middle of the lanes. It was shaped rather like a P, where I had to drive up from the bottom of the P and around the round part. Then, I had to get back over to the left quite suddenly, so the oncoming traffic didn't smash me. Well, somehow I managed to completely cut the lump off the P, and just go up over it, instead. That wouldn't have been too big a deal, had not there been a pole there. Luckily, my side mirror took the brunt of the pole instead of the body of the car. So, I drove on. But there I was, completely freaked out, with the mirror folded against the car (thank God for the person who invented the folding car mirrors), and the actual mirror was hanging out of its casing by the wires.

There are no places to pull over in England.

So, we continued to our hotel, me crying, and Em telling me that everything was OK. We finally got to the hotel, after a billion roundabouts. The hotel was at an airport, so it was roundabout after roundabout. Plus, I was confused, because we actually had to drive through the entrance to the airport to get to the hotel. The signs were marked with "short stay" and "long stay," so I thought they were talking about parking! But no, it was hotels. We found it eventually.

Luckily, the mirror popped back into place. I am soooooo lucky the whole thing wasn't smashed to bits. Most of the scratches even rubbed out of the side of the car.

I don't want to drive anymore.

6/23 - Hever

Hever was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII and mother to Elizabeth I. It was quite lovely. Em & I got there not too long after it opened. The castle wasn't open yet, but the grounds were. So, we went around the grounds first. A lot of the gardens were from a later period. The Astors lived there, and much of it was redone then. There were beautiful formal gardens, as well as a couple of mazes. Em loved the water maze, which was made for kids. The maze was raised panels above a pond, and if you stepped on some of them in a certain way, you would get sprayed with water. Em actually made it through pretty well, so she had to go back through so she could get wet. Then, she just stood in a water jet until she was thoroughly soaked.

We couldn't go in the castle right away, since she was soaked. So, we decided to take the lake walk. There's a big lake on the property. The walk around it took about an hour, and led through some very pretty areas. One area that wasn't so pretty was a sheep pasture. It was rather fun to walk through and watch all of the sheep run away from us, but stepping through all of the poo was pretty gross. It was a tiptoe dance to get through it.

We were starving after our walk, so we went for lunch. It seems that every place Tudor has a kids' "pick 5" meal, so Em had a ham sandwich. I had a pork & stuffing sandwich. It was OK. The fun part was when a couple of ducklings decided to visit the lunch area. The mama duck came waddling up afterthem, yelling at them to come away, but they wouldn't listen. They came really close to our table. Em really got a kick out of it.

The castle had been redone in Victorian times, but much of the upstairs was put back into Tudor looks. We got to see the bed that was there for Henry VIII, so that was neat. Of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the house.

We then got some ice cream, and went to the play area for a while.

It was a lovely day, until.....