A few weeks ago, Scott, Deb, and Brandon arrived! We had so much fun seeing the city with them. They arrived while Kyle was at work, so Colston and I took them to a couple different places. We started with Leadenhall Market, the Gherkin, and then got a bite to eat. After Kyle got home, we walked to Tower Bridge and by this time it had started raining! We were soaked by the time we got home but that didn't stop us from seeing the sights. After looking at the Tower of London, we walked across Tower Bridge, and then headed to Cafe Rogue. It was getting quite chilly, so we headed back to our flat across London Bridge. It was really neat seeing these things through the eyes of Brandon. I am so glad that he came!
We decided to do something different with Mom and Dad. We bought tickets for the big, double decker sight seeing buses from the Big Bus Company, where you can "hop on and hop off" all over the city. We figured it would be a neat, and cheaper way to get around London without using the tube (the tube is fast and cheap but you miss out on seeing London). We bought our tickets and prayed for a sunny day!
The day was beautiful! We walked back to the Gherkin to take some senior pics for Brandon and then got on the bus. The tour was better than we could have asked for! It was very informative and took us right by the things we wanted to see, like the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliment, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace, where we made our first stop. Mom and Dad wanted to see the Changing of the Guard...there were so many people there!!! Nothing like with Dave and Renee and we couldn't see hardly anything. After it was over, we walked to Balls Brothers, and had lunch. I got the fish and chips...they were awesome! They were completely different than the first time I had them. I will order it again if we ever go back :).
After lunch, we walked to Harrods. That store amazes me every time I go in. I recently came across some info about Harrods. It stated that Harrods is a place that only tourists and the very, very rich shop. And that is the truth! I think the neatest part is the food area, with the different departments and rooms full of delicacies! The "boys" went down to the Wine and Cigar Room, while Mom, Colston and I went up to the craft and baby floors. Kyle, Dad, and Brandon really enjoyed tasting different whiskeys and seeing all the cigars. It was fun to see all the cute, very expensive, baby clothes from Dolce and Gabanna, Burberry, and the like. We then met on the toy floor. Colston enjoyed the toy floor! Papaw saw a horse puppet and bought it for Colston. He didn't let it go for the rest of the evening!
We hopped on the bus and rode past Paddington Station and Notting Hill, on our way to Oxford Street, to do some shopping. We stopped in little stores, and big stores all along Oxford Street. By this time, it was getting late, so we decided to eat dinner at Garfunkels. Colston entertained the entire restaurant, him and his horse puppet! We headed home after that, since we had another full day of bus tours the next day.
The next day, we got up and lesiurly made our way to the bus. We took more pictures of Brandon and had lunch down by the Tower. Then, we were off! We were on a mission to find a soccer ball for Connor's birthday, and I remembered a soccer store behind Hamelys on Regent Street. After the soccer store, we headed to Hamleys. We got Colston out of his stroller when we got there. And he had so much fun! It was neat to see the choo choos through his eyes. He picked out a toddler sized Percy the Train and Daddy just had to get it ;) Colston played with it for the next week non-stop.
We got back on the bus, and went to the horse stables to get pictures with the guards. Then, we took a river cruise back down the river. It was neat to see London from a different point of view. Mom and Dad would be taking off in the morning to go to Italy and France, so we just spent time in our flat. It was very nice!
After Italy and France, Dad, Mom and Brandon headed back here. Brandon was nice enough to babysit Friday night, so we could have a date night. Kyle took us to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant. It was a lot of fun!
Saturday, we decided to take a day bus trip to Windsor Castle, just outside of London, Stonehenge, and Bath. It was wonderful!
We started at Windsor Castle, the Queen's residence on the weekends. It was massive and we got to see where the royal family spends their time. The flag was up, meaning that the queen was there that day!! The entire property is gorgeous and maticuously manicured. The family also has a church at the castle.
The village of Windsor is a quaint little town, with lots of little shops and cafes. I wish we would have had more time to explore but after lunch, we were off to Stonehenge.
Stonehenge is an unbelievable sight! It was freezing that day and the stones are on top of a hill in the middle of the countryside, so it was a bit chilly!
The structure itself is amazing to see. How did they move those rocks? What did they use? Why did they build it? Well, they have no idea how it was made, but they do think that it has something to do with death. They have found similar rings of logs in the woods surrounding this, meaning life, and the rocks meaning death. In the mounds surrounding the stones, they have found remains of humans, so they think the mounds are burial sites. But they really cannot say with certaninty why it was built. My theory: the people spent hours and hours and hours chiseling this structure out of a hill of rock...um, ok, I have no idea! But it was really neat to see!
After Stonehenge, we headed to Bath. It is a neat town set down in a valley. There is a beautiful river running through it and it is full of little shops and cafes. We did not have a lot of time here, but did get to see the Roman Baths, had a snack, and just walked around. It was raining by the time we got there and rained for much of the time. We tried keeping Colston dry: it worked for awhile ;) Then, it was time to head home. It was a neat day trip to spend with Mom, Dad, and Brandon! I only wish we had a little more time in each place.
Dad, Mom, and Brandon left on Sunday, so we had a nice breakfast before they had to take off. We really enjoyed having them here and are so glad they came!! And I think they enjoyed it just as much!
