Heading Home

Heading home in a couple of hours. We've already cashed in our Oyster cards and had a Starbucks. Sadly this will be the last blog. We've had a great couple of days. Jeff and I went to St. Peter's Cathedral which was very beautiful. I had a little panic attack as we climbed up to the top part of the dome on metal see through grated steps with huge gaps between them. Somehow I made it up and Jeff had to talk me down the whole way. Not a highlight of the trip. Then from there we met up with Brucey and did a little pub crawl around the pubs in his neighborhood. There are some very charming old pubs around. Yesterday we met Izzy and Brucey in Russel Square for some coffee and breakfast then we walked by Dickens house which was closed for renovations. Then the rain came down and we went back to our hotel for for another umbrella and shelter for a bit. After a little while we headed back out to Picadilly Circus for some strolling and shopping. It was really hot and humid and we needed to take refuge in a Pub. Jeff, Izzy and I had a  Pimms cocktail with lots of fruit in it. Delicious and refreshing. We decided to see another area of London on the East side called Liverpool Street. Supposed to be like the cool area. Think Brooklyn. Brucey's friend Crazy Mark lives there and met us at a pub with his wife. We sucked down some pints and had some pub food food for dinner. I met a couple of gay guys who were sitting near us and liked my accent. I told them we were there cause Izzy was in a play in Scotland and they immediately said, "The Fringe" (name of the theater festival) and once I said yes they were all about Izzy. Funny. We called it an early night since Brucey had to work and we wanted a good nights sleep. Sadly in the tube station we said bye to Brucey for a year which made both Jeff and I sad. We miss our friend. After a sweltering tube ride we were so happy to get back to our air conditioned room.  Jeff is ready to get home. Me, I always feel sad to leave vacations especially when they are such great experiences like this one.

A Brucey Kinda Day

We had a very leisurely Brucey kinda day. We all slept in and met at Russell Square at 12:30. Russell Square is a park that is just a couple of blocks from our hotel. They have a a little cafe in the middle of the park where Brucey likes to get coffee. So we all met there for coffee, beers and fries and to start our day together. We sat there for awhile taking in the sunshine and freshness of the park. London is kinda funny with all of it's parks. Someone decided that within the city there needed to be parks randomly placed throughout. It's really bizarre to me to be sitting in a park packed full of people as cars wiz by so close by. Feels unnatural to me. Very constructed. So from the park we hopped on the tube (as seen above) to Borough Market for "the best grilled cheese" according to Brucey. And actually he was right. We all loved it. Borough Market is this cute almost farmers market type place except it's permanent and only has food and beer. So after we all pounded our grilled cheeses we perused the market. The boys ate some scallops which Brucey likes and Sam, Jeff and I shared a Pimms Sangria. Not bad. The market was full of all kinds of things - rabbit, kangaroo, deer, ostrich. Made me so happy to be a vegetarian. After awhile in the market we all split up. Brucey back home to nap. Kids back to hotel to nap and Jeff and I off to tour a bit. We tubed to St. Cathrine's Marina where where we checked out the boats and the marina life of London. It actually was quite nice. It was the quietest part of the city and there were several cute shops and restaurants right on the water. It was soooooooooo hot. We were both sweaty messes. I just keep calling all of us "fat loud Americans" seems to fit most things that we do. From the marina we walked past tower of London. It was a crowded chaotic scene so we just kept walking. We finally got to the tube and headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner. Around 7:30 Jeff, the kids and I met Brucey at our hotel. We hit a couple of pubs one being a Smith's pub. It was really old and interesting. Around 9ish we went to Brucey's favorite Indian food place for dinner. Talk about night and day between where Jeff and I were before for Indian food. The waiter was incredible. He knew we were hot so he brought over a fan just for our table, poured ice water down izzy's back and brought us a pitcher of ice water (which by the way is unheard of here. No one believes in ice or cold beverages here). The food was excellent and even Sami who thought she didn't like Indian food loved it. Somehow Brucey convinced us to go to his french wine bar despite us all being packed and bloated. It was charming and nice like before but we were full and tired for it. We walked in and Sam was wearing a crown of flowers in her hair and some guy asked her if she had won an award. I told them she was miss America and they believed me for awhile. We got a kick out of it until they figured it out.

Tubin Boatin & Walkin

We had a very productive day. We woke up at 8:30 had a quick/expensive breakfast at the hotel then took a tube to Westminster Pier where we caught a boat. We took the boat from there all the way down the Thames River all the way to Greenwich. We went under all of the major bridges here-London Bridge, Tower Bridge and several others I can't remember their names. We got to see the Tower of London (pictured above) from the water which was cool. When we arrived at Greenwich we got off the boat and went to the maritime museum which was a little disappointing. Not a lot there. Next we went for some lunch. We made it just in time cause it started pouring rain as soon as we sat down. From there we walked up to the observatory which is also where the prime meridian was. As boaters we are constantly listening to the coast guard and military refer to Grenich mean time so this was really cool for us. We have a picture of our feet straddling the line with a foot in the west and another in the east. We caught one of the last boats back up the Thames. After the boat ride we hopped on the tube to go and visit Brucey at his work in Wembley Park. It was a long hot tube ride but well worth it. His warehouse is much larger then I expected and he told me that he has around 80,000 hats there. We saw Marty and several other crew members. After about 10 minutes we left. Back on the tube to our hotel to rest. After a brief rest and shower we met up with Brucey and hit a couple of pubs. One of which called itself London's first vegetarian pub and had tofufish and chips on the menu. I so wanted to try them but knew we weren't going to settle there for dinner so I didn't push it. As we were walking Jeff spotted a crowded somewhat trendy looking place and declared this is where we were eating. It ended up being a Spanish place. We had to wait for 30 mins for a table and stood at a skinny little bar chatting and having some drinks. We quickly friended a waiter (whose name I can't remember now) who seemed like he was on something cause he was flying all over the place talking a million miles a minute. There were very few veggie options for me but the boys seemed happy. Izzy and a friend met us there midway through our dinner. From there the five of us headed to a bar. It was kinda weird. We walked downstairs and it was packed. The owner/bartender was a transvestite and there was lots of gay people there. We were fine with it just didn't know what it was. We met lots of people and one guy from Orange County of all places. Not sure what time we left but much fun was had by all.

Walking walking and more walking

Slept in a bit yesterday. Woke up around 10 and met the kids for breakfast at this french street cafe. The service was horrible and the food was weird. Kids had slimy salmon and I had grilled cheese with egg on it which was cut into 4 triangles pieces as if I was a toddler. Bizarre. Half way through our breakfast the rain started. Fortunately we were under a covered awning.  From there we went our separate ways. Jeff and I hopped on the tube to the Victoria and Albert museum. Jeff of course wanted to go straight to the photography section which was quite nice. We saw one of his photos (my favorite actually) in the show. That made him happy/proud. From there we went to the paintings exhibit. My favorite. There were some very impressive pieces. After several hours we were all museumed out. By this time the rain had subsided and we headed out by foot to Harrods. One word to describe Harrods - Amazing! To call this place a large department store really doesn't give it justice. We were both impressed by the Egyptian escalators, the open food forum, the Ferrari's and the vastness of the place. We ate lunch at a charmless restaurant on the 5th floor but the food was good. We then perused the food forum area where were checked out all kinds of meats, fresh fish, cheeses and ate some yummy chocolates. From Harrods it was off to our first walking tour courtesy of our London Access book. We headed off to Westminster and saw Buckingham Palace (pictured above) and Prince Charles's house. It was really fun watching the guards parade back and fourth and at Prince Charles's residence Jeff spoke to one of them and they of course didn't budge. From there it was a walk by Hyde Park past several interesting monuments. Then we took a walk through St. James Place (the name automatically made me think of monopoly) where we saw the square, some very pretty government buildings, churches and some super posh gentleman's clubs. By this time our dogs were barking and I needed a rest so we headed into a pub for a pint and some chips. From the time we left the kids till the pint it was six and a half hours of walking and touring around. The pint and chips revived us and we were able to make it back to the hotel. We rested and showered briefly and headed out to an Indian place for dinner which Jeff found in the book. The service was something unlike anything I have ever seen. To call the wait staff Rude would the the understatement of the century. We both agreed the food was really good but by the time the meal was over it was so uncomfortable that I just wanted to take my purse and run out of there. Jeff said never again.

English countryside to Londontown

Yesterday was our last day with the Braybrooks. We woke up early around 7ish and headed into the main house and waited for the rest of the crew to wake up while I chatted with Claire and drank tea as she cooked and served the "real" guests. Jeff took some tea outside and watched the morning unfold. Around 8:30ish the kids and Kevin woke up. We all had a nice English breakfast together prepared by Claire. Ben went to work with his Tudor while Jeff, Sam, Kevin Claire, Bella (the dog) and I went for a nice stroll through the countryside. We crossed the street from the B&B into this gorgeous open field where we walked in our wellies (boots) in the tall grass along the riverside. We saw the fisherman who were staying with us at the b&b fishing and the most amazing scenery. After our walk we went back to the b&b to sit outside and enjoy the view. We all ate Popsicles to cool down and Jeff made friends with some of the neighbor's bulls (as seen above). After Ben finished his lessons we all sat down for a spot of lunch. From their Claire drove us to the train station to head to London. Ben was very excited to watch the trains coming and going and told his joy and his Jeff that he was going to miss us. Two hours later we arrived in London. We checked into our hotel just to find the a.c. in our room not working. Of course Jeff wasn't happy about this. Fortunately they had another room for us to to move into. As soon as we moved we were off again on the tube to cousin Bruceys to pickup the rest of our luggage we left behind. Hauling luggage up and down the tube stations sucks!!!! It's a thousand degrees, there are no escalators or elevators (no idea how disabled people get around here), the tube is a jam packed oven and it's miserable. Oh yeah not to mention we were doing all of this at rush hour time. Needless to say when we finished hauling our luggage back to the hotel an hour an a half later I was tired and cranky. Nothing that my friend Jameson couldn't handle though:) After a brief rest and shower we were off to find dinner. Another fiasco. We weren't really paying attention to the time and it wasn't until about 9:45 that we ventured out. Jeff had a cute pub in mind but when we got there they told us the kitchen was closed. Four places later everyone had the same story. Finally we found a Korean place that was packed that served food until 10. We just made it. We had a great meal of veggies, noodles and tofu. Jeff had chicken and lamb. We were full and happy.

In Fownhope with Braybrooks

We made it to Fownhope with the Braybrooks. We left Brucey around 10:00 in Scottland and took the train to Birmingham. From there we switched to the Gloucester train where we were awaited by Ben and Claire. We were all very very excited to see each other. Ben keeps calling us "my joy" and "my jeff" and telling us "we've blown it." We put our stuff down in our very very cute bongalo room 9 to be exact and then headed back to the back yard which is this 1 acre grassland which views sheep and horses. We had some libation with everyone while we took turns riding the pretend train with Ben. Kevin and Claire made us a delicious BBQ(sausages (2 kinds, burgers, chicken and veggie sausage for me plus salad, beans, bread, coleslaw and potato salad to be followed by cheese cake)) and we all ate in the back yard of the B&B together (picture above). We were all so happy to be together. Around 10 after tons of food and drinks we decided to call it a night. Jeff and I slept the best we have slept since getting to Europe (12 hours to be exact). We woke up to a nice traditional English breakfast prepared by Claire nicely for us. Eggs for me and lots of meat and eggs for Jeff. Then we took a drive to Whales. It's only 20 minutes from their house. We walked around this cute little town (forgot the name) and had cream tea together. Cream tea for those of you who don't know is a pot of english tea, a scone with cream and jelly. Delicious!!!! From their Ben had a doctors apointment he asked if I could come with him so Ben, Claire and I went to the doctors appointment while Jeff and Sam walked around Hereford. We toured around after and saw an old church and another one that's the only thatch roof in England. Now it's a quick blog then off to a pub for dinner.

Salisbury Crag & Holyrood Palace

Hoot mon. We had a very nice touristy day yesterday. We woke up and had a traditional Scottish breakfast in the hotel (well really Jeff was the only one who ate it all Brucey and I just had modifications). The breakfast consisted of: fried egg, beans, mushrooms, tomato, sausage, ham, black pudding and toast. After we relaxed and digested a bit we went on a really gorgeous hike up the Salisbury Crag. It wasn't very difficult but when we reached the top we had a spectacular panoramic view of all of Edinburgh and the North Sea. Today's picture is the three of us at the top with the city behind us. From there we made our way to the Holyrood Palace which is the royal palace where the queen of England stays when she comes here. We took an audio tour which guided us through several rooms of the house and of the gardens. It was actually pretty interesting to learn about the history of the house and see all of the past royalty that has stayed there and what there story was. From there it was back to the hotel for a quick showers then off to see Izzy's play. Brucey was in explorer mode and chose to take a second hike up to some old replica of the Parthenon. After the play we all went to a posh place Sami liked called Angles and Bagpipes to try some of their fish and chips and have a pint. Everyone agreed they were good and fancy fish and chips. Next the kids, Brucey, Jeff and I did a little pub crawling just to end up at a place where Izzy's cast was having a little party to celebrate the ending of their show. We watched a little Olympics and hung out. Around 9:30 the old folks (Jeff, Brucey and I) hit a wall and decided to call it a night. We meandered back to the hotel and went to sleep shortly after. Today we split up for a couple of days:( Jeff and I to Gloucester to see Ben & Sam and Brucey back to his world.