Europe...Days 3 - 7

DAY 3

We got up and went to Sacrament meeting at church. It was on the bottom floor of a business building. Apparently, the church house is being renovated and they have been meeting at this building for 2 hours each Sunday for awhile. Sacrament meeting was only an hour long – and they stood up and announced nobody else was allowed to come up and bear their testimonies. I was amazed at how many people where there – and of all the different nationalities. It really shows me that the gospel is in all the world! The bishopric member who talked to us was from Utah and works at Rio Tinto. He is here for 3 years. Many of the people at church that we heard speak sounded like Americans. After church, we changed and contemplated what to do next. This is where our day turned sour. This was our last day to use our London Pass – which gives us free admission to many places. We really wanted to go see Windsor Castle, and we had already scheduled a tour at Wimbledon…definitely both things we really wanted to do. It was a way out to Windsor – and it was a way out to Wimbledon. Why we even thought we would make it shocks me now. Maybe we underestimated the size of Windsor Castle. We bought train tickets out to Windsor – and headed to the ticket office. There was a line around the block – literally. Luckily – our London Pass gave us a ‘no queue’ pass and we went to the head of the line. We took some photos and made our way inside the gate. We think the queen was there. They told us they use 2 flags on the castle. One of them is the union jack – that they use when she’s away – and the other is the coat of arms. If the coat of arms flag is flying – that means the queen is there. They do this same thing at Buckingham Palace.

The Walls were super thick!

Everything is so ornate..check out the gold crown on top of the lamppost.

We waiting in a long line to go in and see Queen Mary’s doll house. It was amazing. The details were incredible – and the items they used to make it were authentic. The doll house was definitely larger than our hotel room in London. Then we were able to walk through the castle. At this point, we were trying to hurry – because we knew we needed to get to Wimbledon. So – wow it was truly amazing to walk through the castle, and I did think I was on the set of a Disney movie- we definitely rushed. Our second problem was that we couldn’t just leave. The tour winded in and out and in and out and while we rushed and tried not to run over children, we couldn’t get out fast enough to catch our train which only came every 20 minutes. So – we got to our train station. We got on and then had to transfer. We just barely missed the train to Wimbledon – and found out we had a 30 minute wait ahead of us. At this point – we knew we would NEVER make it to Wimbledon. We were sick. That was one place we had been dying to go. So, I called them (with our un-locked phone that anyone is welcome to borrow if they go abroad) and told them we would miss it. They told us we could come the next day, but when I explained to them that our passes expired – she told us if we could get to Wimbledon that day for her to scan our cards – she would let us come the next morning. So – we did it. We waited 30 minutes for the train – and the train took twice as long on the way back – and it just kept getting further and further behind. We got to the station of Wimbledon – and saw a sign that pointed in the direction of the Museum that said 1500 meters. I didn’t really understand how far that was when I saw the sign – but I’m telling you now – it was stinking far. We could have taken the bus – but kept thinking – it’s just around the corner. Well – we finally arrived – 30 minutes prior to closing. We got our pass for the next day – and looked at the museum and saw Centre Court from a portable lookout.

We were anxious to go back the next day. This time – on the way back to the train – we took the bus. Naturally – the bus took twice as long to arrive than what was posted – but we figured with our luck – that’s just how it was gonna be! While we were waiting – we tried to call the kids. I couldn’t get through on the Owens’ home phone, and whenever we tried calling Doug’s phone, it just rang. One time – someone answered it, and Troy heard a prophets name, and then it hung up. We used about the same amount of minutes trying to call the kids as if we would have talked to them. We figured we would have to wait until tomorrow. Troy and I have absolutely no aversion to walking – I promise you – but we had walked so much the previous 3 days – and I was hauling my heavy camera backpack around (Troy and I would take turns) that our legs are sore, our feet ached, and we were exhausted! As tired as we were – we could not go back to our dive of a hotel until we were ready to sleep. I told Troy I really wanted to see Kensington Palace. I believe it was where Princess Diana lived, and was also the home of Queen Victoria. I have watched that movie about her and wanted to see it. We took the train out there and walked to see the palace. It opened up for visitors the next day. We wouldn’t have made it that day – but I was happy I at least saw it.

They have all these amazing royal parks everywhere. Families were having a great time playing and walking and riding bikes. Troy and I almost got taken out by an Indian lady dressed head to toe in her (don’t know what they’re called) dresses and scarves. I saw her actually crash – but how on earth she made it as far as she did in those clothes is beyond me! There was an amazing Princess Diana playground there for the kids. It was gated and looked amazing. They wouldn’t allow adults in unless they were with kids. I understand why – but it would have been fun to see. It was huge and they patterned some of it after Peter Pan. Another place I wanted to go was to China Town.

I wanted to find a white Chinese dress to take photos of Kristin in for her baptism. They didn’t have white. They were beautiful dresses – and I wanted to buy some – but Troy wouldn’t let me. After this – we decided to head back. It was about 8:30 – but we were tired, had a crappy day(well, crappy traveling day), and wanted to go to bed. We couldn’t even wait up until after 11 to call the kids again. We hope they are doing good. We went to bed thinking if we would have been on the Amazing Race – we would have gotten kicked off today. Tomorrow better be better.

 DAY 4

We got up early and packed up. We were so anxious to get out of our disgusting place. We didn’t want to miss our tour of Wimbledon again – so we tried to be quick. We have not had internet service except for a few random places. Here – you can’t just tap into someone’s WiFi. You have to enter your name and birth date and zip code. The few free ones that there are – are very random to find – and you still have to enter info before you can sign on. We actually paid for oingoboingo for a month – but have come across NONE of its hotspots. If we are somewhere – and I notice there is service, we stand still, I enter all the information, and then we have a few minutes to do what we need to. Mostly it’s just checking email, sending a few pics, and that’s it! I think not having WiFi is worse than no phone. We did notice KFC had WiFi – so this morning we stopped there to figure out how to get to the location we would pick up our rental car that afternoon. Even with KFC – I had to enter tons of info. So frustrating! Anyways, we made our tour of Wimbledon! It was fabulous. Amazing. Here are some details – at Wimbledon there is Centre Court and Court 1 that are the main courts. Centre Court being the best. They now have a moveable roof on it. Some of the things we found so interesting are: 1. The Wimbledon Lawn, Tennis, and Croquet Club has about 350 members. There are 2 ways to become a member. You can either win the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament (good luck) or 4 members have to vouch for you, and then your name goes on the waiting list. There is a 1500 person waiting list. They like to keep the members to around 350 – so once you get on the waiting list – you are just waiting for people to die. How’s that for crazy? 2. Members of the club ONLY pay 100 pounds a year in fees. WHAT?? Are you kidding me? I have worked at tennis clubs. People are lucky to pay that much a month! These members have access to 50 courts – some indoor, some outdoor, and most grass. 3. The arena’d courts are ONLY…ONLY used during Wimbledon. This year they will also be used for the Olympics – but normally they are only played on once a year! 4. This year – for the Olympics, they will have 3 weeks after Wimbledon ends to plant new grass so the courts look good for the Olympics. No sod…they plant it from seed. They have tried on 2 previous occasions – with the IOC over their shoulder – and it can be done. 5. They re-seed all the grass courts every year. In September they rip them up and start over. New grass every year. 6. They sell day tickets to people who wait in line. They sell these tickets until the facility gets to capacity at about 35-37000. The first 500 get tickets to the Centre Court matches. So – for 20 pounds you could go to Wimbledon. If you wanted to buy tickets for Wimbledon – actual tickets – you put your name in a lottery. If you win – you could win front row tickets, or back row. Same price – just luck of the draw.

This was Court #18

After Wimbledon – I realized that I left about $2000 of my camera equipment in our old hotel room. So, we called and had to go back to retrieve it. Luckily I remembered in time. On the way back – our train got in a huge delay (of course) and we feel the Wimbledon Gods had cursed us. We got everything taken care of and headed toward our rental car – at Gatwick Airport. We got the rental car – and due to reviews online – I video taped our entire car before we picked it up. Apparently, people have been charged for dings and dents a few months after they dropped off their car. So – I videotaped the whole car prior – made them do a thorough inspection – the man was laughing at me – and keep gas receipts. Make copies – and staple copies onto paperwork when we turn in the vehicles. Hopefully this will be good enough. When we got the car – a man was arguing about a scratch the rental car company was charging him for. YIKES. So – when all was taken care of – off we went. Now – our car is a stick shift and we are driving on the wrong side of the road. The shift still works like the driver is on the left side of the car. We had no clue where we were going. We navigated though a few roundabouts – with me telling Troy – stay to the left…left side…left side…left side…and found a gas station. We bought a map. I could see on the map where the London Temple was – but I had no clue where we were on the map. I sent us in the wrong direction – and there were no exits to turn around – but once we were turned around – and I knew exactly where we were – I got us really close to the temple. We were both so busy navigating and driving – that we drove right past it. I called the temple and they told me how to get back. Duh. There it was.
When we parked the car, I told Troy that going those 20 miles was the most tense my body has ever felt. Troy had to have felt it too. He was so focused on staying on the left side, and shifting – it was crazy. We are definitely the people in the slow lane – but I don’t care. We got settled in our room – which is really like a 4 Seasons compared to where we were staying. Gorgeous grounds – clean – big rooms - little kitchenettes. Our toilet and shower are not one and the same here. We went to f

ind dinner and drove around. We have found some awesome road signs here. I have taken photos - here they are...the first is my all time favorite. I made Troy stop and then we had to walk a few hundred yards back for a photo.

It was so odd that the road signs were in meters and feet...the speed limit was MPH.

We ate at a pub – the food was okay. Nothing amazing – but better than granola bars. We also stopped at the grocery store. We needed a few things for breakfast – and I needed chocolate. The chocolate is really good here – in fact, I’ve eaten a chocolate bar every day we’ve been here. We are now doing our laundry and waiting for the kids to get home from school to call them. We hope that tomorrow’s driving will go smoothly. We are starting our morning off in the temple – so it has to be a good day.

 DAY 5
We woke up and did a session at the temple this morning.

We were the witness couple – and other than us – there was 1 other man. We got there, and the temple staff wasn’t really ready to give us our names – so I took a self -guided tour of the locker room. I looked in the brides room. It is the most beautiful brides room I have ever seen – EVER. I don’t know what I liked about it. It was all old-fashioned. Nothing new or modern. Gorgeous. Being in the temple was a great feeling after being in London for a few days. Nice people, nice spirit…just nice. After our session – we changed and headed toward the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are old villages that are so beautiful. They are quaint villages – that I am amazed people still live in – that have gorgeous view of the countryside – and cool old buildings. We went to Bibury first – and walked around – taking many photos.

Another one of my favorite signs.  It was down low - just where those dogs can read it!

2 photos above is a photo of a row of houses.  Apparently, Henry Ford was so in love with these, he wanted them moved to Michigan!  The British refused, and they remain where they are!  A few locals were commenting when we were there how happy they were that Henry Ford didn't take their precious Bibury Row Houses.  I was so excited to see the countryside. It did not disappoint. After Bibury, we headed toward Stow-on-the-Wold. The travel route was sure an event. They are teeny tiny one way roads – that people do at least 50 on! A few times Troy would slam on the brakes so a car coming upon us wouldn’t hit us head on. It was scary. Driving sure is an adventure here. It takes both of us to drive. Troy to just physically drive the car – me to navigate and watch signs to make sure we are going the right direction. We didn’t have a place planned to sleep – and so we just stopped in a B&B on an old main street. The room was huge – the bathroom almost as large as our whole room in London. We LOVED it. It only cost 60 pounds – and came with a hot breakfast and cereal. WAHOO! I would recommend ANYONE to stay here!  Our room is the 4 windows right above Cotswold Garden Tea Rooms.

Cars really drove down this road...this would be a "B" road with 4 numbers after it...

We ate that night in a little pub that had WiFi. Another WAHOO! I had a burger and fries – and Troy had a traditional English breakfast that included eggs, beans, sausage, grilled tomato, hash browns, toast and bacon.

That’s why I got a burger. My burger was pretty good. I feel like when we eat here – I don’t have healthy choices. Not to mention – it’s all weird food, that, I’m sure I won’t like. So – while I don’t think a burger and fries are good for me – it’s at least food. We have yet to see a grocery store just little gas stations. After dinner – we waited up to call the kids. That’s the thing that is hardest for us. We have to wait up until 10:40pm to call the kids right when they get home from school. Oh – the B&B had a TV with cable – or something. Troy was happy. We ended up watching something similar to AFV while we waited - although British AFV is a lot racier than American AFV. We talked to the kids – and they seem to be doing good. Jake had his pinewood derby that night – and was anxious for it. We decided to sleep. We had no plans the next day and didn’t set an alarm. It was even quiet enough we didn’t use our masks and ear plugs.

 DAY 6
Today we slept in. Until 9! It was so fabulous! We went down for breakfast and had a bowl of cereal - and then they cooked up some hot breakfast. Scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, and toast. Well, we all know how picky I am about food. The salmon was bigger than the plate, and the eggs were very moist. I didn't know what to do. We were kind of being waited on, and I didn't want to be rude. I could choke down the eggs if I put them on the toast - but there was NO WAY I was going to get that salmon down. When the waitress went in the back room, I shoved the salmon in my napkin and slipped it into my pocket. We decided to enjoy the countryside and went for a walk/jog/weights session. I found a garbage outside that I tossed the salmon in. I know - I'm a total child. We went walking out in the country and we would stop and do push ups, and then keep going…if we saw a bench, we stopped and did tricep dips, on the way home we did walking lunges and even walking squats. We jogged a little bit – but mostly walked. I worked up a sweat. It was nice to be moving. We even found a red phone booth in the middle of nowhere!

It was such a gorgeous setting. The weather has been amazing here. Upper 60’s! Everyone who finds out we are on ‘holiday’ comments that we got nice weather – and it’s so true! I even have a bit of a sunburn. We are loving every second! We cleaned up and checked out – and I noticed a hat shop across the street. I told Troy that I HAD to have a photo of me with a hat on – it was the British thing to do! The first shop we stopped in – I tried a few on, Troy took photos…the hats were 230 pounds – INSANE! We left, and I was looking at the photos, they were all blurry, so we stopped in another little shop. I tried some on – and the sales lady – was amazing. Really – so amazing that I bought a hat. I tried some on – she told me how fabulous I looked, which I did, and I found one I LOVED! It was only 50 pounds – but I really was in love. She was such a good sales lady, that Troy was telling me to buy it. Where the crap am I going to wear this thing? So – I bought it. The crazy thing, is the style of the hat is called a ‘Jennifer’. I’m pretty sure it’s meant to be. I don’t buy souvenirs and stuff on trips – at least for me – so I don’t feel too guilty. I am a bit nervous to wear it at home. I guess it’s like Disneyland…you buy stupid large hats – but then can’t wear it when you get home because you realize how ridiculous it is. I don’t care. I WILL wear it…to a funeral…a wedding…church…beware…it’s so gonna happen. And – if all else fails, when Prince Harry gets married, I will have a hat party.

After the purchasing of my hat – we went into an information booth. We realized we had passed by Downton Abbey – and didn’t know it. The irritations of no WiFi. It’s too far to go back, but we are really close to Pemberley…the A&E Pride and Prejudice version. We figured out the route to get us to the Preston Temple and off we went. This time we stuck to ‘A’ Roads. Here, the roads are named. ‘M’ roads are the motorways. ‘A’ Roads are pretty good, ‘B’ roads kinda scary and roads with 4 numbers after B are freaky. We decided to stick with the ‘A’ roads. It turned out pretty good. On our way, we stopped at a service store off the motorway and they had fresh fruit, veggies, and stuff. I was DYING for some good, healthy food, and got some Grilled Chicken slices, an orange, carrot sticks and a large water bottle. Oh yeah – and chocolate. I have eaten some every day. It’s so stinking good here! Have I already mentioned that? Troy also got a chocolate milk. It was so nice to enjoy good for you food! We traveled along and made it to the temple! We saw Angel Moroni from a distance and had to call the temple to figure out how to get there. The address system is crazy. No house numbers, just street names and cities. We made it and decided to change real quick and do a session. We made it. The Preston temple is gorgeous. It’s much closer to cities than the London temple – and we had 9 people in our session. The grounds are amazing!

On the church property is an MTC, missionary housing, temple accommodations housing, a stake center, and a youth center…not to mention the temple! CRAZY, huh? The great thing – is we had LDS Access wifi at the stake center. So, after our session, we went and ate at a little place across the street. Eating out is not easy for us Americans. We walked in – it looked pretty nice – we weren’t sure if we should wait to be seated, or just find a seat. We stood there awkwardly until the bartender told us to find a seat. We sat down, checked out the menus, and couldn’t figure out why nobody would take our order. Well, I asked, and you have to go to the bar to order and pay – and then the tables are numbered. They bring you your food. And then you stand up and leave. No tip – no waiting for a check. It was actually really nice. Another mistake I made – when I ordered my food, I ordered a tap water with ice. Then I turned around and went and sat down. Well, I was supposed to wait for my drink. The bartender brought it to me. I have never apologized so much trying to purchase a meal. I have noticed up north that the accents are much thicker and harder to understand. Luckily – Troy and I can tag team. What one of us may not understand the other picks up and either answers, or lets us know what was asked. Thank heavens for that. There was an activity at the stake center, so we took our laptop to the foyer and planned out our day tomorrow. It really was a blessing! The time distance is hard – we couldn’t Skype with the kids – they were still in school. Anyways – we just showered and started laundry. This is our last time doing laundry on our trip. We fly to France tomorrow night. This vacation has been awesome. I am still in awe of everything.

DAY 7
 We woke up this morning and cleaned up and ate our oatmeal packets we brought from home. SO glad I did that. With temple accommodations, you have to clean up your room when you leave – no biggie – when you’re there for 1 night – there’s not much to clean. Just take your sheets off, vacuum, etc. We left at 9 and made our way to Lyme Park. Now, I don’t want to call it Lyme Park – in my mind, it’s Pemberley. Yes, Mr. Darcy’s Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice. We got there about 15 minutes before the garden opened, and I was seriously dying. Had to settle for photo taking in the courtyard and out front.

If you watch the movie - Mr. Darcy rides a horse right where I am standing

I was SO ANXIOUS to see it! We were the first people in – and were able to walk the grounds and take photos - with nobody else in my photos. It was amazing. It’s beautiful and I was in awe and in love. I made Troy take a bazillion photos.

The gardens are amazing. I would LOVE to be able to live in a place like that! There were statues on the house and in the garden – which got Troy and I to talking about why they do nude statues? I mean really – why? It was kind of the same thing in the Art Museum. Beautiful art – and then in the middle of the photo – one boob hanging out. There has got to be a reason – I truly would like to know. Why do people want nude statues on their home as well? Must be an artsy thing that I’m not understanding. We spent a few hours walking around.

At about 2:00 – we decided to start heading toward the airport. Our flight wasn’t leaving until 7:45 – but we wanted to make sure we got the rental car turned in full of gas – make sure they didn’t charge us for anything additional – etc…we really wanted to go to Scotland – but we didn’t want to get stuck in traffic and miss our flight. We went to fill up the car – and along the way, we noticed some gas stations were shut down. We found a gas station near the airport, and the line of cars went down the street. We got in line and filled up. When I went into pay, I asked a lady in line what the deal was? She told me that the truck drivers are threatening a strike next week and won’t be delivering petrol, people are freaking out and stocking up – which has caused some stations to run out of gas. The interesting thing – you would think that other stations would jack up their prices – but not so. It makes me glad we returned our rental car here in the UK when we did! So – we have been sitting in the airport for awhile. We have WiFi and we were able to talk to Haley this morning. I have enjoyed our stay in England. Our system for driving was great – I even mentioned to Troy that we really should try out for the Amazing Race…he said no way…we wouldn’t survive… We leave in a few hours for Paris. Another adventure – this time, we don’t speak the language. I can’t wait! (After landing in Paris) Well – our flight from Manchester to Paris was late – about an hour. This really sucked, because we got to Paris too late to ride a train to our hotel. Our only option was a taxi. We were staying in Versailles – about 60km from the airport. As we were following some signs toward the taxi – a man came up to us and told us that it was too late – taxi was closed. He was a taxi and would take us. We asked him how much, and he told us 140Euro’s. That is almost $200. We told him no way – and went to continue to follow the taxi signs – it wasn’t closed. It was open. When we asked the taxi driver how much to Versailles, he told us about 80 euro. It ended up costing 85 euro’s or at least $100 to ride the cab to our hotel. We had no other choice. The ride to the hotel was interesting. I almost vomited. Our taxi driver was driving so fast through little streets completely lined with cars. He would slam on the breaks for red lights and speed up as soon as they turned green. It was awful. A few times, I almost said, pull over, I will walk. But – I had no clue where I was and it was late…after midnight. So – we finally got to our hotel about 12:30am. The room was insane. It was ceiling to carpet gold fabric. The crazy thing was the carpet on the wall matched the bedding and the curtains. It was crazy.

I was so grouchy because I was car sick – and sick that we had to spend so much money to get to the hotel. We had told the kids we would for sure Skype with them when we got to our hotel – since we knew it would have WiFi – and I was so grouchy – I just told Troy – you talk…The kids asked to talk to me – and I talked – but my head was aching and I just wanted to go to bed. I knew we had to be up early in the morning – and it had been a long day. It’s hard being in France not speaking the language. What was I thinking not trying to learn it?