In the mail today I got TWO baby shower invitations! and they are the SAME style (only one is a boy theme and one is a girl theme).

There are seriously just too many people I know having babies.

Thursday – We have an 11am flight, which sounds perfect until you realize that you have to be at the airport 3 hours before your flight and that is takes 45 minutes to an hour to ride the bus to the airport. So we were up at 6:15 and at the bus stop by 6:45 (for a 7:05 bus). Getting to the airport was uneventful and even getting on the plane too. We wer an hour delayed taking off because somehow they allowed someone to board the plane who had some issue with their passport. So they then had to take that person off and of course they couldn’t fly the plane with an empty seat so they took MORE time to load another person on. Chanler got a cute little kids back pack from the airline with “entertainment” stuff in it. He loved wearing the back pack! For this flight we got a window seat (as opposed to sitting in the middle seats like we did on the way over.) I thought this was going to be great – Chanler could look out the window and be entertained. He was while we were on the ground, but as soon as we took off and started gaining alititude he FREAKED out and wanted the plane to go “down, Down, DOWN”, so we had to close the window to keep him happy.
Chanler managed a 2.5 hour nap on this flight (which isn’t terrible) but that meant that he was awake for the rest of the 10+ hour flight. He did remarkable well, watching the inflight entertainment, coloring, playing with new cars, nursing, eating junk food, etc. The only rough time was during landing when they turn off the tvs, make you put on your seat belt and no one knows why, but they asked us to open the window (Chanler was NOT happy about that above all)

Tuesday Cont. – We arrived at the Windsor train station in early afternoon and proceeded to walk (uphill) through the town and to our B&B. This place is in between the other two. Is in bigger and nicer than the first, but can’t touch the second. It also feels more like you are staying in someones house and less like they are running a business. We walked back into downtown for dinner
WARNING BEGIN RANT
So because we are trying to travel cheaply, we have been skipping sodas, sit down lunches, etc to allows us to have a nicer dinners now and then. So tonight we order water with our dinner. The man asked if we wanted sparkling or still and we said still (thinking that is the free kind) Lo and behold he comes back with 3 bottled waters (Tiny bottles at that) which were already open so we couldn’t do anything about it. Then when I go to pay I look at the bill and the water was 2 pounds EACH. Yes that is right we were charged $12 for maybe 24 oz of WATER. I AM BEYOND PISSED. I was nearly in tears and kicking things as we walked home. I suppose it doesn’t help that I am hormonal because of my period, but still $12 is OUTRAGOUS for WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok Moving On

Wednesday – Was dedicated to visiting Windsor Castle. It was pretty interesting as far as castles go. We got to see parts that the Queen uses to entertain and tons of cool paintings and artifacts. Also got to stand up close with a royal guard and be ignored/inspected at the same time. That job must SUCK. I mean the guys at Buckingham have a good 50 yard between them and the people. The poor guy in the lower bailey of Windsor Castle has no space. You can literally walk right up to him (except that everyone is terrified of them and if the move people jump) Still of all the post to guard that must be the worst.
Tonight is our last night and we finally succumbed. We went to Pizza hut because 1) They give you ice in your drinks, 2) they give free refills, 3) they are always non- smoking, and 4) because I don’t think I can eat any more “pub food”

Monday – We got up early this morning to make it to breakfast and let me just say it was the biggest meal I have had in a very long time! Headed down to the bus station to catch a city bus to Stonehenge. We were debating between a bus tour vs city bus to go to Stonehenge, but Scott discovered yesterday that the tourist buses don’t run on weekdays during the off season. So the city bus it is. I can’t believe how much a bus pass costs – a day pass is 7 pounds (yes I mean pounds). Anyway went to Stonehenge, but I don’t really know how to describe it. It is someplace I really wanted to go (or to have been), but being there didn’t feel special. Maybe it was because you could literally almost touch the cars driving past on the road or that you aren’t allowed anywhere near the actual stone (without special permission granted months in advance). It was just weird.
On the bus ride home we stopped at Old Sarum – the original site of Salisbury. It is mostly just a big hill with some ruins on it. It was interesting and had an amazing view. Well worth the time spent, although we didn’t actually spend the money to go into the ruins.
Once we were back in town we grabbed a bite to eat (I found a new lunch that I love – the Cornish Pasty – although the name makes me giggle) and headed to Salisbury Cathedral. The Cathedral was beautiful. It is one of the oldest in England and is unique because it was completed in one generation and therefore in one style. I find it interesting/creepy that the bury people in the floor (and other parts) of churches, but I guess it is as good a place as any. The other interesting thing at the Cathedral is one of the 4 remaining original copies of the Magna Carta.
I have to admit that most of the reason we took the side trip to Salisbury steams from a book that I read (the Covenant by James Michener). Ever since reading it for the first time (in high school) I have wanted to see this part of England (and parts of South Africa).

Tuesday – Another big breakfast today then we sadly checked out. We walked down to the market square (Salisbury is know for their market days) and looked around the Market that was going on. It was mostly Meats and Veggies, but there were a few stalls of random (think flea market) trinkets and junk. I was astounded by the number of butchers stalls! nearly 1/3 to 1/2 of the market. After the market it was on to the train to Windsor.

Saturday – This is Scott’s first and only official vacation day in London. We have done a few things during the week, but this is the day to squeeze everything else in. So today we did a “Westminster Walk” (as recommended by our travel book) in included, Westminster Bridge, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abby, # 10 Downing St., Horse Guards Station, Old Scotland yard building, Trafalgar Sq. Found a great place for lunch (they had 2 meals for 8 pounds) Walked over to the National Gallery Museum. On the way we passed the pigeons of Trafalgar Sq. Chanler had a BALL – he LOVED chasing the birdies all over! The national gallery was cool, but Scott and I both think we are not much of painting museum people. Next we went to the Tower of London. Saw the crown jewels, Amory, yeoman warders/beef-eaters etc. Also cool, but not sure it was worth the cost. We were going to go to a different restaurant in the same chain as we went to lunch for dinner, but we discovered that they won’t allow children after 6 pm (last order by 5pm) WHAT THE HELL! So we again searched all over for a restaurant – ended up in an Italian place near. As we were being seated Chanler piped up “I want Pizza” very loudly. So we got him pizza and he proceeded to eat 3/4 of it by himself (this was not a individual pizza size like you would normally think of – it was the size of an entire plate 8-10 inches at least, but very thin crust)

Sunday – We made it to Buckingham Palace today to see the Changing of the guard. Let me just say – it is NOT worth it to do this if you have a 2 year old with you. It is an interesting ceremony (albeit a long one with not much understandable at times), but a 2 year old has no patience for any of it. Chanler did like the band and music, but that didn’t hold his attention for long enough. We had to move away from the gates about 3/4 of the way through and go check out the police horses and pigeons – that was the only way we made it to the end of the ceremony. The funniest thing was that we ended up in a “pocket” of Americans and each of us were glad to meet a “friendly” face. I was just so nice to not have to deal withe the accent and to be able to heckle things without offending some local.
Checked out of the tiny B&B and headed to the train station for a train to Salisbury.
What a beautiful ride! green hills, trees, animals, etc
Got to Salisbury and walked to our new B&B. What we didn’t realize it that is was over a mile and up a hill. We also didn’t go the best way and actually ended up going up and down and up the hill. We were pooped when we finally arrived. But WOW what a difference it is not being in London. This place it AMAZING. The room is huge and lovely! and it includes a full English breakfast (unlike the fruit basket and cereal bars at the last place) I don’t really want to leave the room. 1) because it is so nice and 2) because it seems far from the center of town. Oh well we have to leave to eat sometime.
And we did leave to get dinner. As we were going down the stairs, Chanler was having trouble walking (didn’t have his sea legs kind of trouble – Maybe it was the ride in the carrier to the place that cut off his circulation or something). He figured this out and decided to go down the stairs backwards ( the safest way), but still managed to “miss” the last step and fall face first into the wooden corner of the baniser with a huge crash. He now has a huge lum on his forehead and two gashes on his tongue where he bit it when he fell. Poor baby.

Tuesday – Today we went down to the south side of the river. Saw the London Eye and walked along the Thames all the way to the Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge (about 1 to 1.5 miles). Went to Saint Paul’s for Evensong and met Scott for dinner. We were going to follow the advice of the travel book again and visit a historic pub. The 2 on the list that interested us were 1) closed and 2) unable to find. So we ended up at a random, but nice pub near St. James Park. This was our first encounter with the children in eating establishments problem (more later). The pub keeper was nice enough to let us eat upstairs in the dinning room even though it was technically closed. The food was amazingly good and since we were the only ones in the room it was actually a relaxing meal!

Wednesday – Today we discovered that our Tube passes worked on the buses too. Chanler and I rode the bus around town (Passed – Piccadilly circus, Trafalgar Sq, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Waterloo Station, Etc.) Chanler LOVED it. He had been asking to ride the bus since we arrived in London. I tried to take Scott to a museum this evening because a few of them have late nights tonight. We had Chinese for dinner and some bum lit up and made the whole place stink. Caught the tube and ended up at the Victoria and Albert Museum only it was closed. The late day the travel book had was NOT actually the real late night. Oh well, Scott has been there before I just wanted to see it too. On the way back we rode the bus past Harrods (which I wanted to see but not shop at)

Thursday – More walking and bus riding today. I was planning on going to the London Zoo, but it is TOO cold. Chanler and I stopped at the Princess Diana memorial playground in Kensington Gardens – it is super cool! It is a huge play area that is more landscaped than playground equipment. There is a Peter Pan ship and Tee-Pees etc. Chanler had fun and would have had more except the slides were all wet from the rain. Tonight we had dinner with some of Scott London colleges (and they paid for dinner). Dinner was wonderful and by far the nicest I will have on this trip. We were supposed to go to a great steak place, but couldn’t get it – I am (and everyone else was too) seriously bummed. Instead we ended up at a nice Italian place. It was a bit weird going to dinner with Scott’s work people and being the only one there who was not affiliated with the company (other than Chanler) not to mention bringing a two year old with me. But it was still nice.

Friday – Not much of a fun day. Since Cisco isn’t paying from hear on out, we decided to relocate to cheaper digs. We found a B&B recommended by our travel book. So I took one of our bags and Chanler and made my way across the city. Actually got there without incident and then had to do laundry. What an experience – I guess I haven’t done laundry in a public laundry for a long time, but boy was it confusing and weird! The laundry was staffed by a possibly french woman who you could pay to do your laundry (or you could save $$ and do it yourself), there was also machines I had never heard of (a “spin dryer” as opposed to a regular tumble dryer etc.) I was a bit bummed because it felt like a wasted day and because I lost one of Scott’s socks and ruined Chanler’s sweater while doing laundry. But no more of that on this trip. We search long and hard for a place to eat tonight. The closest places didn’t allow children because their dining room was booked for a private function (“it is Friday, you know”) so we ended up at a Indian/Tandoori Chicken place. It was good, but not wonderful.
Our room at the B&B is postage stamp size (and that is a generous description) We have the smallest double bed I have ever seen with a 2 foot walk way and then a small single bed and that is about it. We do have a “bathroom” but is isn’t much more that a toilet, sink and shower you can’t turn around in. But again it is relatively cheap for London and it will do – at least it is pretty clean.

Well I just figured out that I CAN actually access this blog while we are on the road. So here is an overview of our trip so far.
Saturday – we got a ride from Fanny – Thank you again! Chanler insisted on “ride the airport” once we got to SFO and had a great time checking out the airplanes while we waited for ours to take off.

Sunday – Chanler slept for a few hours of the flight (Thank God!!!) unfortunately he woke up with 3 hours left and was “all done ride the airplane” from then on out.
We tubed from the airport (thanks to the guy who gave me a free ticket since he was getting on a plane and wasn’t going to use it for the rest of the day) and then walked the 4 blocks to the hotel. Got to the room (which thankfully Cisco was paying for) and was amazed at how little you get for the money in London. More on that later. In an effort to stay wake long enough to “adjust to the time change” we decided to go to the Millenium bridge – since everything else we were thinking of doing closed early on Sunday. The bridge it self is cool, but since it goes over the river (duh) it was really windy! I was very glad that Chanler had his winter coat.

Monday – Chanler and I walked through Hyde Park (found a playground) and then down to Buckingham palace (roughly a 2 mile walk one way). Sounds ok, maybe even fun, if not far to walk, but the kicker was that on the way back – it SNOWED on us. Yes that is right it snowed. I was prepared (mentally) for it to be cold and rainy . . . not for snow. It is REALLY COLD! For dinner we check our travel book and found a “good deal” near piccadilly circus. Walk around a bit and made it all the way to Trafalgar Square. I am trying to get some touristing in for Scott during the week so that Saturday isn’t too crowded with things to do.

I have been too busy.
Busy with Emily P’s baby shower
Busy with Chanler’s birthday party
Busy with planning our unplanned trip to England.
Busy with planning Michelle’s baby shower

Just too busy to blog anything