London in a day, August 24, 2014

This week we had our first party! Well not really a party, but Josh joined a Fantasy Football league with some people from work. Thursday night was drafting night, so about 12 people came over to our flat. We have a large reception area (living room) but it filled up quickly with computers and food! We ordered pizza (Dominoes) but I also made my cookies and cream cupcakes and Josh made salsa. I think it was a success! Let’s just hope Josh’s team does well! He’s already obsessively checking and watching the player stats.

Saturday was a lazy day. We went to lunch at Nando’s, (this is becoming Josh’s favorite go-to weekend spot), Argos to get a soup pot I have been wanting, and then Sainsbury’s (our grocery store).  Josh has decided that he wants to make a pasta Bolognese from scratch for dinner one night, so we got all the ingredients for that. We have planned a fun day trip with Matt and Danielle to see London in a day. Since it will take all day we had to figure out a plan for the pups. I found a company that watches dogs at their own house. Saturday night we walked the dogs over to our assigned sitter. She seems very nice and really liked Remy and Cricket.

Sunday morning we got up early to get ready for our exciting day trip! We caught our bus at the Victoria Coach (bus) station right down the street from our house. This trip has 4 stops, Windsor Castle, the city of Bath, lunch in Lacock, and finally Stonehenge. The trip takes about 12 hours.

Windsor Castle:

Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. The castle is notable for its long association with the English and later British royal family and also for its architecture. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by succeeding monarchs and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe.  The Queen is on holiday (vacation) but she comes here almost every weekend. This is one of he favorite places. Her parents and husband are buried here. We got to look around the castle grounds and the State Apartments. We also got to take a peek at the Queens private garden and front entrance. A tour costs £18.50.

Station

Waiting to get in

Oldest part of castle

Queen's private entrance

Queen's private garden

Kinsells at Windsor

We also got a glimpse off in the distance of Eton, an English independent boarding school located in Berkshire, near Windsor. It educates over 1,300 pupils, aged between 13 and 18 years and was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. Eton is a full boarding school, and is one of four such remaining single-sex boys' public schools in the United Kingdom. It has educated 19 British Prime Ministers and generations of aristocracy, and has been referred to as the chief nurse of England's statesmen. William and Harry attended this school and most likely baby George is already on the waiting list (but is guaranteed admission). Maybe we can get baby Kinsell on that list?

Eton is the white building off to the top right

Bath

Bath is a city in Somerset, South West England, 97 miles west of London. The city became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") c. AD 60 when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although oral tradition suggests that the hot springs were known before then. All the buildings and houses are crafted from Bath Stone, beautiful, strong and expensive yellowish stone. This is also a town where Jane Austen lived and was actually engaged. She was not a fan of the city but did often write about a pub called The Pump Room that is still in existence. This a beautiful city with many stunning views. There is lots of shopping in the town square along with beautiful architecture. They filmed some scens from Les Miserables on the Pulteney Bridge. Other movies include Dracula, Vanity Fair, Persuasion and The Duchess. Nicolas Cage owns a home here, I included a picture below. We will definitely come back to Bath, as we have 2 friends who have it on their London must see list! Don’t worry Bobbi and Cantrells we can’t wait to go back.

Bath Abbey

Street performer

Bath House

Kinsells in Bath

The Pump Room

Nicholas Cage's house

Village of Lacock

This is a tiny village located in a rural county of Wiltshire. When I say rural, I mean RURAL. You feel like you went back in time! You will not see any cable lines, satellite dishes or other modern technology from the main streets as this is a law in Lacock. Since it looks so authentic many movie directors have fallen in love, and used this setting for many movies such as Harry Potter, and Pride and Prejudice. We ate at the one pub I think the village has. We were starving as lunch was served at 3:30. We had packed some snacks but next time I will pack more! Our lunch at George Inn was included in our trip ticket. There were 4 options to choose from, fish and chips, beef wellington, I had pasta with veggies and Josh had a traditional London dish, bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes with brown gravy). We loaded the bus and headed to our last stop.

Professor Slughorn's House

Harry Potter

Sheep

Harry Potter picture (seen in pub)

See the blue door with Harry Potter?

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, England. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds. Its one of those things that’s cool to see but I can’t imagine needing to go back again. Its cool for about 10 minutes and then I felt like I saw it all. We did take some great group pictures! A ticket to Stonehenge will cost you £13.90.

Kinsells at Stonehenge

On our journey we saw and heard about many of the small towns we passed through. We went through the town Elizabeth Hurley is from, the creator of Kit Kat bar, a secret underground city, the inspiration for Black Beauty and many other random facts.

Underground city of Burlington

Built in the late 1950s this bomb-proof, radiation-proof, poison-gas-proof underground city was designed to house up to 4,000 Central Government personnel in the event of a nuclear strike. Not simply a bunker, this massive complex is over a mile in length and featured 60 miles of roads. It was designed to be fully self-sufficient and sustain its 4000 occupants for at least three months in complete isolation from the outside world. The people in this town had no idea this was under them.

Entrance made to look like a school

The bus ride home was about 1.5 hours of beautiful countryside. I got to see lots of sheep. On the way home the bus made 4 stops, one happened to be by the dogs babysitter so Josh got off to get the dogs and I got off a Victoria station, picked up some food for dinner and walked home. Josh and the pups met me at home, we ate our dinner and went right to bed. It was late, we had a long day and the pups were so excited to be home! Tomorrow, Monday is a bank holiday so Josh will not be going to work. We plan on having another lazy day, but Josh is going to make his big meal!

Church Alfred Hitchcock got married in