London - Thanksgiving 2009 (day 2, part 2)

So here's one more Eye picture that I missed, but I think it's cool enough to add here...

This is the pod next to ours. What a trip, right?  Creepy and fun at the same time!

After we left the Eye, we walked along the waterfront, there was a Christmas Market set up, selling all sorts of crafts and imports, and food! 

 

Scott bought some chestnuts, yes, roasted on an open fire!  Of course, thanks to the girls' Kindergarten teacher, we've already had these on the Kindergarten field trip back home.  Thanks Heather!  :) 

 We had lunch at a restaurant down the way, it was cold and we were ready to sit down.  But on our way back to where we would meet our bus, we let the girls ride the carousel.  At this point, it's mainly Cambria who wants to ride, but fortunately Meridian is still game enough to go with her.  :)

 

So our next thing was to catch a hop on - hop off bus tour, we chose the Big Bus, though I don't know if it was best.  It was OK, but some of our legs didn't have a tour guide, I guess we needed to ask for headphones, I don't know.  Anyway, the kids loved riding in the open top, even though it was FREEZING cold.  

 

So our goal was Hamley's, the 7 floor toy store on Regent Street.  There were only a few things on our must-see list, and for the girls Hamley's topped the list.  It was pretty impressive, though Christmas time is probably not the best time to go, duh.  :)  There was a couple of guys standing outside the store doing magic tricks and blowing bubbles, and inside the store there were a lot more employees playing with toys.  That was pretty cool to see how the toys actually worked. 

And, they have a whole Harry Potter section!  You can get a time-turner necklace just like Hermione's.  Or a broomstick like Harry's, or a Wizarding Chess Set!  There were lots of fun items in that section, Meridian bought a set of house shield pins, and really, really wanted a Maurauder's Map.  We said No (at £29, that's like $49)!!  I did end up ordering one online for $35 when we got home, and it was her Christmas present this year. 

Dobby!  Life sized!

Cambria with Harry's broom, and Dumbledore's?

The window displays outside Hamley's were pretty extraordinary too!  The bears were rocking, the fire was lit, there was music - it was neat.

So Hamley's is on Regent Street, which has a ton of shops.  It was partly lit up for Christmas, Cambria thought the stars over the street were really cool.

As we were walking down Regent Street (toward a tube station, honestly, ready to head home) we looked down an alley and saw this:

So, ok, we couldn't just walk past!!  Well, the kids could have, they were done for the day despite our many stops and treats and breaks.  But I dragged them down here to find a fun little shopping street with lots of holiday flair.  Unfortunately I had to give in to the whining of two kids a block after we turned down this street, and we had to head back to our hotel (it was only maybe 7pm).  I would really have liked to have stopped for dessert or a cup of tea or a pint.  Another time, maybe. 

London - Thanksgiving 2009 (day 2)

First thing the next morning, we figured out the Tube, and our Oyster cards that Jason and Shelly handed down to us from their visit in September (with credit still on them, thankyouverymuch!!)!  So we didn't realize you just have to hold the card up to the machine, it's not a swipe or anything... after we got that it was easier to figure out.  Also, kids ride free!  So that was a pleasant surprise!

The stop closest to our hotel was Kilburn Park on the Bakerloo line.  We found our way over to the Waterloo tube stop, which fortunately took no transfers since we had to make our Duck Tour by 10am. 

On the duck tour, they asked if we wanted the windows closed, but we're tough!  LOL

 

We got our first (and only I think) glimpse of No.10 Downing Street on this tour, this is where the Prime Minister resides. The tour guide was funny, but I'm afraid we didn't learn much, and the drive through London was very fast - it's so small, and many landmarks are right next to each other.  The result is "look over there - now over there, and we just passed..."  It's very fast, I think a walking tour would have been much more understandable.  At least we got the basic layout of the city on the tour.

Driving directly from the land into the water was a little crazy!  We had to switch drivers first, because the land driving and the boat piloting are two separate jobs!  This is honestly what we paid for... and it was worth it!  Very fun for all of us, we couldn't stop smiling!

It was neat to see Parliament and the rest of London from the water too - we did learn that people used the river to travel around London back before cars, it was quicker and cleaner than using the streets.

The picture above is MI-6!   Like where 007 reports to?  We went into and came out of the water just to the left of it.  I thought that was pretty cool.  :)

Next we headed over to the London Eye, since it's right next to the Duck Tour drop off.  We had purchased tickets in advance so we could avoid the ticket queue, thank goodness.  It was quite long.  Meridian and I were both nervous about being so high up in the air, with so little support, so we decided to just get it over with.  :)

Here comes our "pod" for our "flight"...

A word of advice here... we saw a private group get on before us, it was a "champagne flight" - that is the way to go.  You get the whole pod to your group, and we found it uncomfortable to ask strangers to get out of the way so we could see something too.  Friends and family however, we'd just push aside, ha!  I hope we'll do a private flight if we ever do it again, though since I spent so much of the time trying not to think about it, maybe I won't go again.  :)

Hungerford Bridge, from the Eye

Parliament and Big Ben from the Eye

 

OK, so this was a really long day... I'm going to split the blog here and continue with the second half when I get back to working on the blog.

London - Thanksgiving 2009 (day 1)

We decided to take our first trip into London Thanksgiving weekend.  Since we're usually at the ocean in Bodega Bay for Thanksgiving, we talked about maybe hitting a coastal town this year too, but we all decided London was where we'd rather go.  So with about 30 places to see on our itinerary (ha!), we drove to the train station in Bicester (where we now live) Thursday morning and caught the train to London! 

 The train ride only took about an hour, wahoo!  The line ends at Marylebone, and we could have taken the Underground to our hotel, but we thought with our luggage it was worth it to grab a cab.  So glad we did!  For about £7 we zipped over to our hotel in Maida Vale.  Here's pictures of us in the cab - see I'm riding backwards with the driver's head behind mine?

So we got to the hotel and got settled, and I knew the kids would want to unwind a bit, so we ordered room service lunch and then headed down to the pool.  The pool was quite far from our room, and Scott forgot to pack swim trunks in his luggage from home, so we only went the one time.  The kids had a ball though, swimming for a couple hours.  

Scott and I thought we'd get dressed and maybe take the Underground (the tube) somewhere fun for dinner, but we had two reluctant little girls on our hands who only wanted to stay in the hotel, so we compromised by just walking a couple blocks down to a fish/kebab shop.  Then straight back to the hotel, where I pretty much laid it out that we were not going to spend our entire trip in the room, so they should get used to the idea.  At least I brought some wine so Scott and I had a couple glasses while the kids watched tv.   Sheesh. 

A car, finally

So I'm a bit behind in my blogs... we got the car before Thanksgiving, (after a month without one). These pictures are from November 23rd. It's a used Renault Laguna we found over at RAF Lakenheath.

It's been an odd experience learning to drive here.  Scott and I are both constantly reminding ourselves to stay on the left as we make turns onto other roads.  It's easy to forget and end up on the wrong side if you get too complacent. 

Drivers here drive really, really fast.  I was in a 60 zone and being passed (overtaken, lol) quickly by many cars, so I checked my speedometer - I was going 75!

Many drivers here are polite though, they pause at a roundabout to give you time to jump in, or stop to let you turn right in front of them - it still surprises me when it happens, I need to learn to take advantage of the opportunity faster so they don't have to wait for me! 

Another thing about driving here - when the conditions get sketchy, like heavy rain or fog or whatever, people *actually* slow down.  That part is excellent! 

Meridian's pointing out our funny license plate or "number plate", on the right.  :)   These pictures were taken in front of our TLF (Temporary Living Facility) as we were living there when we got the car. 

So we're both doing a lot better at driving now, but I keep my Rescue Remedy drops in the car just in case, since I was nauseous with stress the first time I drove here in a hard rain.  I've since learned that you you pull over and wait for a bit, it will often let up within 20-30 minutes.  :)

Oxford and Blenheim Palace

We still don't have a car to get ourselves around, but I was determined to get off base this weekend and visit somewhere significant. We arranged to have Scott's co-worker, Al, and his wife Stephanie pick us up on base and drop us off at the bus station in Bicester (less than 1/2 mile from where our house is going to be, yay!). We boarded a double decker bus headed for Oxford and enjoyed the ride there.


Once in Oxford we hit the visitor information center, got less info than we needed it turned out, and went back out to catch a bus up to Woodstock, where Blenheim Palace is. We were dropped outside the main gates to the palace, which is a World Heritage Site. We were cold, walking in a persistent breeze up the very long road to the palace, but amazed anyway. The palace has acres and acres of surrounding grounds, which we'll have to go back and explore on a warmer day.


The Palace was really astounding in it's granduer. Photos weren't allowed inside, so we only have pictures of the outside. Sir Winston Churchill was born in a bedroom of the palace. They had a neat animatronic and video presentation that guided you through the history of the Dukes and Duchesses who have owned it. The 11th Duke of Marlborough is the current Duke.

Check out the eyeballs painted on the ceiling of the portico!




They had an offer to convert your one day pass to an annual pass, so we did... anyone want to go with us? :)


We had lunch in the cafe there... we're wishing the dollar was stronger, that's for sure. Everything seems reasonably priced, until you realize that it's 1.7 pounds per dollar. :(


More pictures out in the gardens...






Meridian gives her sister a lift... :)



After strolling through the town of Woodstock and wishing we had planned to stay over at one of the quaint B&Bs there, we returned on the bus to Oxford. Unfortunately, the information center was closed, so we didn't get a dinner recommendation from them, nor information about bonfire night. I had read that there was an event with fireworks, concessions and a bonfire, but I hadn't written down where or when. AND I forgot I just got a phone with internet... I'm not used to relying on it yet. :(

So, we grabbed something to eat at Pret a Manger because we were all starving, even after a nice lunch at Blenheim (6 meals I've had off base so far, 2 of them have been at Pret locations, lol). It's quite good, but still a chain. (http://www.pret.com/)

When we came out, we could hear the fireworks, so we headed toward them... as always things are further away than they seem. We finally just stopped in a street and watched from afar with everyone else on the street.


I did finally remember my phone, so we knew they were supposed to have a spectacular bonfire too (with a 26 foot Guy), but after the fireworks ended we couldn't follow them to get there anymore. We'd already walked a couple miles, so we just headed back to catch the bus back to Bicester.


Al picked us up in Bicester and drove us back home and we all crashed after a very long day out. We have lots more to see and do in Oxford, including all the Harry Potter filming sites. The scene in Order of the Phoenix where Snape is harrassed by Harry's dad by the lake was filmed at Blenheim, and the colleges in Oxford were used for the Great Hall and for the library. We will be back for sure!