Last day in London

We spent our last day in London. We have been to London together before so we did not really feel the need to be there for a long time. I was really excited though because my good friend from when we lived in Norway was in London the same week for work. Her conference started the day we flew out so she came a day early to hang out with us. When we left Norway 3 years ago I honestly did not know if I would see Hilde again so this was a special treat.

We spent a few hours having lunch at a little cafe. Then we walked a long way in the rain through Kensington Gardens, past the palace. We went to Harrod's to buy souvenirs. It was a great time just to catch up.

Warwick Castle

I loved traveling without a plan. We ended up doing totally different things than we had planned. One of those destinations was Warwick Castle.

I was not entirely sure about this site as we read that it was owned by the second largest entertainment group on the world (second to Disney) so I feared it would be too much like an amusement park.

There was more entertainment and exhibits than other castles but they were well done and it was interesting to have a different perspective. The castle was set up so that you felt you were there in a working castle. There were people in costume telling you about life during the time they would have lived there. In the lower levels it was set up from the middle ages preparing for battle.
The great hall was set up for Halloween and that was a little odd but cool I guess. There was even a headless ghost wandering around.
Upstairs it was set up like the castle was used about 150 years ago during the Victorian age. It was downright scandalous!

Outside on the castle lawn they had a witch hunt and trial.

At the end of the witch hunt the crowd all went to another lawn to see her sentence carried out.

They set up a Trebuchet (like a HUGE catapult but better) where they set the witch on fire and launched her. The Trebuchet was very cool and would certainly have been a huge asset during a castle siege.

The castle was certainly different and more entertainment oriented but it was very enjoyable and we would love to bring the kids to see it someday. They even had a princess tower experience where there was a princess up there to greet the girls but you had to have a child with you to go up there so we did not.

The Cotswolds

We spent the night in a lovely B&B in the Cotswold region of England. The owner of the B&B was very interesting. He traveled 6 times a year for 6 years to my university to train people in terrorist preparedness. Small world.

When we woke up and went to leave there was frost covering the plants. It was beautiful.
We drove around for a bit to see some of the "quaint" villages featured in Rick Steves' guidebooks. If you ever were going to use the word "quaint" to describe something, this would be the time. We found a small church in a small town with a pretty cemetery overlooking a hillside full of sheep-quintessential Cotswold charm.






There were not as many thatched cottage roofs as I remember 20 years ago. They are cute but I bet they are a pain to upkeep.

Blenheim Palace

After spending a restful night outside of Oxford and having a wonderful full English breakfast, we went to Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. It is a beautiful estate with a large garden and grounds to walk.

England

Sam had a business trip to a city north of London. We have not had a trip without the kids since we had the kids so we thought this was a good chance to get away. He left on a Sunday (while Caroline was in the ER getting her stitches) and I left on Thursday. I sat on the airplane next to a delightful chap (doesn't that sound British) who had gone hunting with and had tea with the Queen. Pretty impressive. I can say I have 2 degrees to the Queen.

When I arrived I had a company car take me straight to the hotel. It was so nice to not have to navigate the train, subway and train when exhausted from travel. Sam was waiting for me. I was exhausted so I took a short nap before we explored the city a bit. Stevenage did not have much but there was a small city museum and a street that was "old town" where we walked to eat dinner. We had a lot of typical pub food such as bangers and mash, fish and chips and shepherd's pie on this trip. I decided to take photos of some of the cool pub signs.

When I arrived we literally had NO plans. We did not know if we were renting a car or taking the train. We had no hotel reservations and we had no itinerary. We also had no working cell phones. I still don't know what the deal is with that because I talked to AT&T before and after the trip and they just shrug their shoulders and say it should have worked. Luckily we did have a laptop and most hotels and B&B's have WiFi now so we would stay one day ahead.

Saturday we rented a car and drove across the countryside towards Oxford which we never actually saw. We stopped first at Wrest Park. It was a former Abbey turned residence. Most of the residence is not open to the public. The real attraction was the beautiful gardens designed by "Capability" Brown. They were huge and beautiful. After posting the photo below on facebook, a friend commented that she did not recognize us as we were so relaxed and well rested. It has been a tough summer and fall with Sam traveling most of the time so we really did need this trip and we really did relax. Next we drove through the countryside and small towns to Woburn where we had lunch in a delightful tearoom before heading to Woburn Abbey, which also is now a residence. The Duke and Duchess of Bedford live there and the current Duke appears to be about my age with a 5 and 9 year old. We would be in a room with 17th century paintings on the walls and pictures of the kids on the coffee table. Woburn Abbey also has a deer preserve and wildlife park. We saw a lot of pheasant and deer including two bucks sparring. It was pretty spectacular to watch.
We had a bit of trouble that night as we arrived to Oxford after dark. Street signs are not well marked or well lit so we ended up on the other side of the town from where all the hotels I had marked were located. We pulled into a B&B with restaurant where they helped us find a reservation and served us an amazing meal.