Day fifteen and sixteen. . . winding down. . .

September 30th, 2011

We are packing up to go home. . . Our flight is bright and early! Come 5:30 AM we will be manhandling our bags down four flights of stairs and out into the dark London morning. Its so depressing!

Anyway, yesterday we traveled from York back to London. It was rough. We have so much stuff now! Once the train hit London we had to drag all our things through the tube station, then on the tube, and then back off again. By the time we got to the hotel we were dripping wet in sweat! We stripped down and laid on the beds for a whole hour before we could move again.

Debbie has been looking for a Pink Floyd hat for Bruce so I looked up a Rock and Roll memorabilia store and we went in search of that. It happened to be on "Bakers Street." You know what is coming next don’t you! Hello! Bakers Street! You guessed it, right across from the Rock and Roll store was 221B Bakers Street! This is the literary adventure trip, so we had to take a look. The rooms of Sherlock Holmes are just as I would expect. It was a lot of fun to explore the home of London’s most famous sleuth! (Before any of you email me, I know Sherlock Holmes is not real. . . but he should be!)

This morning we hopped on the train and headed for Winchester. It ended up being a really fun little town. We wandered the shops and ate fish and chips before stopping at Winchester Cathedral. This is where Jane Austen is entombed. Paying a visit to her grave was a perfect ending to our trip. The cathedral itself is nothing to ignore either. It was gorgeous!

There was some sort of market going on down the main street so of course we had to do a little shopping before we stopped at the Great Hall. This is the last surviving bit of Winchester’s medieval castle. The Great Hall houses the famous King Arthur’s round table! No joke. Henry the eighth had it painted over so it looks a bit Tudor-ish now, but it was still pretty cool to see it!

That was pretty much our day. . . and that is pretty much the end of our trip! I hope you enjoyed following along. We had a great time living it! Wish us luck in getting all this stuff home. See you all soon!

Day Thirteen and Fourteen: The Bronte's, buying out the grocery store and THE WALL!

September 28

We only have two full days left of our trip before we start the journey home. . . that makes me a little sad! Mom and Debbie are excited to get back home to their husbands. I can’t comprehend that. I have decided that this is my new definition of love. If I ever find someone I want to leave Europe for, then I will know I am in love!

So, its inevitable when any trip starts to wind down. . . panic sets in. It’s the panic that makes you overeat because "we can’t taste this at home!" and the panic that makes you over-spend because "we can’t get this at home!" So yesterday we gorged ourselves on Yorkshire pudding and tea and scones and clotted cream. We went to the grocery store and loaded a cart with digestive biscuits and Cadbury chocolate. (For those of you who say "we have Cadbury chocolate in the U.S." you are totally wrong! It tastes nothing like the chocolate here!) We had to make embarrassed apologies to the lady who rung up our items, she was very understanding. (Yes Matty, the "Jammy Dodgers" are for you!) So now the question is, how do we get all this stuff home!

Anyway, buying out the entire McVities Digestive section at the Keighley Sainsbury, was not the only thing we did yesterday. We got up early and hopped on a train to Leeds, and then another train to Keighley and then onto a bus that climbed and wove through country lanes until the driver set us down in the middle of the British moors and a small town called Haworth. Many of you won’t know about Haworth, but Bronte sister fans out there know it as the sight where many of our favorite books were dreamed up! The Bronte sisters lived in a small parsonage with their father and alcoholic brother. They wrote Jane Eyre and Weathering Heights and The Tenant of Wieldfell Hall along with others and then they started to die, one right after the other, until only their father was left. Their story is a sad one. . . but I am so grateful they left us the books they did! I love Haworth! I never thought I would go there again, but mom and Deb wanted to see it. If you stand super still and listen to the wind blowing through the grass on the moors I SWEAR you can hear Mr. Rochester calling for Jane. It is not my imagination! The pictures I have posted show the parsonage house where they lived, the church and the grave yard between the two. It’s a very compact little area up there on the top of the hill.

After shopping and making our way back to our room, we made ourselves a hot dinner in the convent kitchen and called it an early night.

This morning we took our time getting ready for the day. We started our site seeing day by exploring the convent we are staying in! We have loved it here so much. I always stay in budget hotels when I am traveling and the most you can hope for is that they are clean. The rest is just gravy! But this place goes beyond clean! There is not a speck of dust or dirt any where. Our towels are white and fluffy and so big they wrap around Debbie twice! (And me once!) The sheets are bleached crisp and everything in our room smells of fresh cleaner. Mom says it feels like once someone vacates the room the nuns rush in to apply a new coat of paint to the walls! The bathrooms are also amazing. The toilets and bath rooms are separate. In the bathrooms there are these gigantic metal tubs of which I have taken full advantage! I had an hour soak tonight resting my aching site seeing muscles. We head back to London tomorrow and are sad to leave this place. . .

I wanted to tell you a little bit about the history. The full name is The Convent of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin at Micklegate Bar or its nickname is The Bar Convent. Micklegate Bar is the name of the gate opening in the city wall that is next to the convent. The convent boasts to be the oldest running Roman Catholic convent in England and was established in 1686. The convent has had a troubled past. Catholicism was not always a popular religion in England. In the 1800's renovations were made to the building to hide its chapel and religious nature from the outside. Many new stair wells and corridors were added as escape routes (which explains why I keep getting lost in the maze of floors and corridors!) Nuns still live and work here, though we have not seen them. At least we don’t think we have. They may not be the habit wearing type of nuns! Anyway, if you want to know more there is a Wiki page about the convent. We had fun exploring the museum and chapel this morning.

Next we headed off to the York Castle museum. This place housed many rooms set to different eras in time. They even have a full size replica of a Victorian street. It was a fun place to wonder through. After that we headed back to the convent for lunch at the café. So yummy! Next we decided to walk part of the medieval walls as we made our way to another museum. It was not to bad at first. Mom and I don’t do to well with high stuff, but their were railings on both sides for the first bit and then suddenly there wasn’t! The rail on one side stopped and mom and I started to freak out a little! We clung to the wall and made people walk around us as we edged our way along it. It seemed to go on forever! Eventually we got to a set of stairs. Debbie wanted to take the wall back to the convent later as it was the quickest route back, but we refused! Anyway, after facing death by walking on the wall we went to the Yorkshire museum which has been built near and around some very old roman ruins. I love all this old stuff! This country is so old there are things here that you never could see in America. Though, I am sure you could turn that around. We have Native American things you could never see over here! We ran into an English man yesterday who told us all about his trip to Bryce Canyon. That was pretty exciting for him! I guess it is natural to take for granted where you live huh. . .

So, we are off to London tomorrow! We will be home soon! Hang in there Dad and Bruce!

Day Twelve: A long train ride, an old church and making dinner in a convent. . .

September 26
We are staying in an old convent tonight. It has become a little oasis for us! It was difficult for us to leave it to go site seeing after we got here. . . We are staying up in one of the attic bedrooms. Our room is one of the larger ones that we have had since our trip began. We even have a little seating area. The bathroom and toilets are down the hall, but it doesn’t matter. There is a recreation room one floor below us with comfy sofas, a TV and a pool table. I am writing to you from the small kitchen next to our room. We are making real food tonight! We are having quiche, carrot soup and of course tea. I am writing while I wait for everything to cook.

Today was another big travel day for us. We got up early in order to catch the early train to London. From London’s Waterloo station we took a taxi to Kings Cross station (where we stopped briefly for a photo opt at plateform 9 3/4 before catching our train!). We were going to take the tube but you should see us loaded down with our bags! We initially packed light, but the volume in our bags have grown so much that we each had to buy another bag to put all our stuff in! How did that happen! It was the Jane Austen house that pushed me over the tipping point. Anyway, the taxi actually ended up being cheaper and less of a hassle then the tube anyway. Mom and Deb nearly had heart attacks during the drive though! Mom says she can’t understand why I scream at my dads driving but don’t so much as have a heart flutter in a London taxi cab. I don’t know, go figure.

We arrived in York at about noon and found the convent easily enough. We dropped off our things and then headed out into the old part of town. I have been to York before with my sister Misty. It is was one of our favorite places during or visit. Every time I revisit one of these places I have been to before, I miss my sis! Anyway, York is the only city in England that still has its entire medieval city wall intact. You can actually climb the stairs and walk around it. The old part of the city has so many narrow streets and alleyways that the bulk of it is a pedestrian only zone. Its nice to be able to just wander the city without having to worry about the traffic!

The only thing we could fit in today was The York Minster. It is a huge old church! The current building was built about 800 years ago, but there have been religious structures on the sight for much longer then that. The York Minster boasts to be the largest cathedral in Europe and has more midieval stained glass in it then all the other churches in England combined! Our tour guide today said that the cathedral was built by the archbishop of York to "one up" the cathedral the archbishop of Canterbury had built in the south. Do I sense a little cathedral envy going on there?
So, that has been our day!

Mom and Debbie are in the basement doing laundry. YES! The convent has a place to do laundry too! I will finish up with dinner and relax. One of the bathrooms has a gigantic bathtub! Or maybe we should find the chapel later for evening prayers? You know, I just might! When in Rome. . .

Day eleven: Getting lost on the freeway (with out being in a car) for Jane Austen!

September 25th
We set out early this morning to make our way to Jane Austen’s House! Next to going to Guernsey, this day was the one I was most excited about! Jane Austen lived in a few houses during her life time. I have visited the one she lived in while she lived in Bath a few years ago. She didn’t like it there and did not produce much writing. The theory is she was depressed over her surroundings at that time and could not write. However, the place she spent the last decade of her life was deep in the English country in a small town called Chawton. She reportedly loved it there. The closest train station to Chawton is Alton. From Alton my thinking was to snag a taxi from the station, but today is Sunday and their was only one taxi running and he was out. So, we decided to walk the 2.5 miles through Alton and into Chawton. We did ask for directions! Honest! The guy said to keep walking straight through town and "don’t deviate from the road and you will find it!" So we started walking, and walking and walking. Alton is a pretty charming town so it was not a bad walk. After about 2 miles we came to a round-about. A brown sign indicated that the Jane Austen House was to the left, so, yes we deviated and went left. It was not long before we found ourselves on the freeway and hugging the bank of the road! Yet, we were determined to make it to Jane Austen’s House! We walked and walked for probably another mile before we saw the brown sign pointing to the left again. That was the scary part, we had to run across the freeway! The whole time I was thinking, "this can not be right!" But we kept walking. The sign pointed right and we kept walking some more. . . finally, we found the house! I was determined we were not going to go through that again even if we had to hitch a ride back! I asked one of the little ladies working at the Jane Austen House about an easier way to get back to town. She apologize profusely for our perilous journey! Apparently we were suppose to go straight through the round-about and there was a underpass for us to walk through and straight into Chawton, but there are no signs directing the way. She assured us she has complained to the mayor about that on several occasions. Anyway, we took that route back to Alton and it was much shorter and we were happy to find ourselves on sidewalks the entire way!

So, the Jane Austen house. . . it was so awesome!!! I always feel like I am on a religious pilgrimage when I go to the sites of my favorite authors. I feel like I should be lighting a candle and saying a prayer or something once I get there! Instead I wondered around in awe thinking "Jane Austen was here!" I stood alone in her bedroom and closed my eyes trying to feel her spirit. . . it didn’t work. . . but it was a nice quiet moment anyway! I even put my hand on her writing desk (when no one was looking). We wondered through the gardens and ate our lunch on one of the benches. I also spent over $100 dollars in the gift shop. I could not help myself!

We had a little shock when we first walked into the house! We had been warned that a bat had gotten in over night and they had not been able to get it out. We stepped into the drawing room and it started flapping around the room! We squealed like school girls and ran back outside! The workers in the house tried to coax us back in by saying, "its ok, he won’t hurt you!" But I wanted to yell back, "How do you know!" Eventually the bat calmed down and perched on a beam. We quietly walked around the room trying not to set him off again. The worker said they had named him Mr. Bingley. (Got to love that!)

Before heading back to town we stopped for tea and scones. We are trying to get a few hundred pounds worth of scones and clotted cream into our systems before we go home. It’s a lofty goal, but we are managing some how. We are also enjoying the tradition of stopping to have a little tea break in the middle of the day. We have decided that we need to continue it once we get home! Today we had licorice peppermint tea. It was divine!
Tomorrow we are off to York!

Day ten: Traveling to the ghetto. . .

Sept 24, 2010

We are in the ghetto! A British ghetto! I am not joking! But I am ahead of myself. . .

Today was a travel day so there is not really much to report! Our ferry was late getting into Guernsey so that put us behind schedule all day. I felt a little bad about leaving Guernsey. I really liked it there! Funny thing is the book that inspired that little adventure, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" was unknown to nearly everyone we talked too! No one in England had heard of it, we could not even find a copy at the book stores we went to. In Guernsey we saw the book at various locations but when we asked people if they had read it they all said they had never heard of it! One man detected our American accents and then and then asked "What brings you go Guernsey? Is it the book?" Of course we did not even need to ask what book! I squealed "Yes, but no one here has heard of it!" He just nodded and said in his Guernsey accent, "ahhhh yes, I have read it, but it was given to me in Oklahoma." So, there you go. I beseech the people of Guernsey to read the book! It is divine!

Anyway, after the ferry we spent a couple hours on a train and now we are in Southampton. The only reason I settled on a room in Southampton was because it was the only place I could find an available room in all of Hampshire! Now that we are here, the neighborhood we are in seems a bit dodgy. The houses look like they are caving in and the street is littered in trash. Our landlady met us outside with a cigarette hanging from her lips. She was wearing a tight pink tank top and pink see-through pajama bottoms (I could see the cartoon print of her underpants). She made me swear to her three times we would not smoke or drink alcohol in the room. Apparently this is a big problem as she has to go around at night sniffing under the doors to make sure no one is smoking. We have a TV in or room that only receive static. The bathroom and toilet are down the hall. When I asked our landlady about the safety of the neighborhood she assured me it is perfectly safe as "there are police cars everywhere! You walk outside and you will see them on every corner!" Somehow that didn’t make me feel better. We have locked ourselves in for the night! Its only for two nights. . .

As today was just a travel day and we did not take great pains with our appearance I promised the gals I wouldn’t take their pictures, so I have none to add to the blog today. But tomorrow we are going to Jane Austen’s House! So stay tuned!

Day nine: An odd writer, boring castle and microscopic seafood!

Sept 23, 2011
We had a lazy morning today. We got up at 7:00 AM, threw on some clothes and stumbled out to breakfast. The hotel we are staying out does a great breakfast set-up! I had toast with butter and marmalade, sweet sausage, fried mushrooms, eggs, portage and juice! Anyway, it is too good to miss which is why we got up, ate, and then went back to bed! We didn’t get up again until after 9:30! See what I mean! Lazy! Anyway, my feet are killing me and the thought of the walk into town did not seem appealing this morning. Mom and Deb set out twenty minutes before me. I planned on catching the bus and meeting them in town. I thought I had plenty of time to get to our meeting place and have a little sit while I read my book. No such luck, they were standing there outside of the bus doors when I arrived. So, off we went!

Our first site today was Victor Hugo’s House. Victor Hugo was exciled from France for 19 years because of his outspoken political views. He spent 14 of those years in Guernsey. He wrote the largest volume of his books while here including Les Miserables. His children donated the house to the city of Paris 40 years after his death so everything in the house is original. All his books and furnature are just how he left them. His house was nothing like I expected. He was defiantly an eccentric kind of dude. He did all his own interior decorating. I think if I had to describe it in one word it would be "theatrical." It seems like everything was done for the shock and ahhhhhh value. He cut up beds and used the craved posters as pillars and head boards as wall art. He covered the walls and ceilings in tapestries. He hung plates and tiles everywhere. There is a chair in the dinning room that looks more like a thrown that was reserved for his dead daughter. He spent four years decorating his bedroom only to have slept in it twice and then deciding that he was saving it for his "death bed." Anyway, the house was fun to visit as it was so unexpectedly odd!

Next we went to the Guernsey Castle. Honestly it was a bit of a let down. It is an old medieval castle set out on the tip of St. Peter’s Port harbor. We hoped to learn the history of the castle, but it ended up being a collection of military museums. One plaque said that the original purpose and history of the castle is unknown. . . so. . . there you go!

I took the bus back to the hotel while mom and deb hoofed it. I am surprised at how brave they are! They have headed out on their own on more then one occasion. Look at them!
We have done really well about not spending a lot of money on food. We have been mainly eating out of the grocery store and then having some "street" food once and a while (fish and chips, pasties, kabobs, etc) Tonight we decided we were going to have a little splurge. There was a fancy seafood restaurant down the street from our hotel we decided to give a try. You know the type, white table clothes, candles, wine glasses, etc. The owner did give us a side ways glance when we handed him back the wine list and then asked for tap water! The prices were expensive but we are worth it! Debbie ordered a seafood salad. She received a half a cup of seafood, fruit and mayo all mixed together and prettily displayed on gigantic plate. Yes, a half a cup! Oh, I forgot to mention there was a garnish. Debbie doesn't eat much and even she was hungry after this meal! Mom ordered the local seafood trio. Her portion was only slightly larger then Debs. I ordered the seafood linguine. I got a nice sized portion but it didn’t taste like anything until I sprinkled it with a generous amount of salt! For that meal we paid nearly 50 pounds ($80!) We walked home wishing we had gone for a $3 Cornish pasty instead! We have decided to stick to the grocery store and street food from now on! It tastes a lot better and is a lot cheaper!

Day eight. . . continued. . . the occupation.

The bulk of today was spent on our "occupation" bus tour. It was amazing! It was so informative. We really enjoyed ourselves. Our bus driver and tour guide is a local man who’s parents lived through the war. His father stayed on the island during the occupation while his mother left for england (they were not married yet). He gave such a great perspective into what life was like on the island during the war. As we drove around he pointed out little things we would have never noticed. Things like slits cut out of stone walls to make room for a machine gun, cement bunkers left by the Germans that are now covered by moss and foliage and the letter "V" painted in random places painted by the locals to bug the Germans. The "V" stood for victory. He said the children were evacuated from the island and gone for 5 years. Can you imagine! Toward the end of the war everyone was starving and the red cross came to their aide with supplies saving them all. Anyway, the story of survival on this little island during the war was inspiring.
Oh, and mom stayed awake the whole time! I think she was two afraid to fall asleep actually. Like most European towns, the streets here are pretty narrow. Some places are only wide enough for one car to pass through let alone a gigantic tour bus! Our bus constantly seemed to narrowly shave past stone walls, ocean cliff drops, parked cars and pedestrians. Mom kept grabbing my knee and squeezing as if the more pain she inflected on me was some how directly related to whether we would live or die! I kept telling her there was no reason to be nervous. I have been on many such tours on my past travels. I always tell myself, "these guys do this for a living, they would not make much money if they were constantly killing tourists!"
Anyway, after the tour we followed the coast around on foot to the military museum that is now housed in some underground tunnels created by the Nazi’s. After that we spent the rest of the afternoon wondering St. Peter’s Port and shopping. This island really is beautiful. It is not as rural as I expected, but it has so many charms.
We have spent a lot of money here! Mainly on books. Georgina suggested some British cookbooks for my aunt to get so we have been on a quest to find them. I think Deb has found everything she wanted and I bought one myself (thanks again G!). My mom bought a published journal written by a lady during the occupation. We have had a lot of fun wondering through St. Peters Port. Tomorrow is our last day here. We have no set plans! Those are always the best days!
On a happy note, did you know that the UK’s version of Nyquil (Night Nurse) is 18% alcohol as opposed to 10% in the U.S.! Can’t wait to down two tablespoons of that stuff!

Day 8: The ocean and an island!

September 22

I have not posted for a couple of days. Not much has happened really since my past post! Day 6 was a "taking care of business" day. We traveled from London to Weymouth so that we could take the ferry the next morning. Once we got there we did laundry (which was greatly needed) and walked the beach munching on fish and chips and ice cream. We ducked in and out of little shops spending money we don’t have!

Yesterday morning we caught the ferry for Guernsey! Guernsey is pretty much the whole purpose of this trip. The three of us adored the book "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and we had to come. Guernsey is a small island in the English channel. It once belonged to France but a few hundred years ago they declared independence and swore allegiance to the British crown. They are protected by the British military, but the island itself is its own independent country. The people here have a variation of an English accent, but all the streets names are in french. It is an interesting little place!

Once we docked in St. Peters Port (the capital) and dumped our bags at the hotel, we boarded a city bus and rode around the entire outside of the island. It only took a little over an hour. The Island is 25 miles around and 75 miles across. That will give you an idea of its small size. It is pretty compact! In my mind I pictured it being more rural then it is. Downtown St. Peters Port is crowded and busy!

So, the book we read was set in the post World War II era. It is about the German occupation of Guernsey. Guernsey is the closets the Germans got to occupying England. Just before the Germans arrived the residence of Guernsey packed up all there children and shipped them off to live with strangers in England. They were gone for a few of years. How sad is that! The Germans were excited to get their hands on Guernsey thinking it was only a matter of time before they took over England, but Guernsey quickly became a liability to them. It had to be defended and was quickly flooded with thousands of German solders. Guernsey received most of their food and other supplies from England so of course that stopped as soon as the Germans arrived. Things on the island started to get pretty bad after that. Between the islanders and the Germans, food, clothes, and firewood quickly ran out. No one was allowed on or off the island. The Germans had it pretty miserable here too. There are stories of the Germans and the islanders having to collaborate and almost become friends in order to survive during those years.

The German occupation of Guernsey is now what pulls many tourists to it shores! (Like us!) Today we have booked our selves on an "Occupation Bus Tour." We are excited for that! However, (and my family will get this) my mother is sleeping her way through England and Guernsey. We can’t get her to stay awake for anything! On the ferry she knocked her tea over when she jerked awake. It flew all over the table soaking everything. Yesterday she slept through our entire bus ride through the island! At one point she nearly fell into the aile! So, I doubt she will get much out of the bus tour today. We tease her that she never really had "jet lag" when she got her because her natrual state is to be jet lagged!

On a depressing note. . . I have come down with a cold. I always get sick after a week into a trip. Always! I can’t figure it out! It makes me so mad. . . I want to be all "get up and go" but instead I am "where is the nearest bed". . . Grrr. . .

Day five: Georgina, Kay, and attending a royal court!

September 19th
So, today was the day I have been looking forward to for months! I know that some of you are a little envious that I got to meet Georgina. You should be! She is amazing, and gorgeous, and talented, and so kind and we were so happy she was willing to spend her Birthday showing us around. Her mother Kay was also so delightful! The day sped by way too fast. . . my mom, aunt and I got a little teary eyed as we said our goodbyes. Its sad when you make new friends who live half a world away! Deb said it best when she said "it feels like we have known them all or our lives."

So, anyway we met Georgina and her Mom at Hampton Court. This palace is most famously remembered as the court of King Henry the eighth. (Yes, the dude who divorced and killed off his wives for not giving him sons.) It was breathe taking, and we had a beautifully clear day for our visit! Georgina and Kay were perfect tour guides. Honestly, they should start charging for tours. They would make a fortune! Not only did they educate us on the lives of Tudor reign, we also pummeled them with question after question on British culture. We compared differences between American and English words and customs, and watched them laugh with embarrassment as my mother kept saying "Ding Dong" over and over! (Sorry G!)

The highlights of the day was having scones and tea at the café, the hedge maze and the gardens. Oh my gosh, the gardens!!! They were so beautiful it made me wonder if it was actually possible that I could be standing in such a place! At times like these I always get the impression that God has made this world as an enchanting playground just for us to explore! Its meant to be enjoyed and appreciated! We defiantly did a lot of enjoying and appreciating today!

So, tomorrow we move on from London. It always makes me sad to leave London. . . I love this city. But tomorrow we will be staying on the beach! We will me in Weymouth for one night and then we catch the fairy to Guernsey. Can’t wait to get to the island!

Thanks Georgina and Kay for such a great day!