Yesterday we made a substitute for Black Friday, only a little early. In the morning we went to Harrods. We got to see a good bit of it including the toys and Christmas world. Those are the most important parts in my opinion. We then headed up to the new Westfield Shopping Centre. This is now the largest mall in Europe and we have been there! We took a cab to these places just for simplicity and the people at Westfield were very nice to Mom.

In the evening, after some great pub food, we ventured up to the Winter Wonderland festival in Hyde Park. They have quite a celebration going on there. There is a German Christmas market set up with vendors selling nearly everything, an ice skating rink, food, rides, lights, and of course Father Christmas. I’m so glad that we made it there!

Today Mom and Dad left a 5:15am for their day trip to Paris. This is the same one that Jamie and I took when she was here. I have no doubt they will have a great time. I just hope it warms up for them a little. I’ll be posting pictures once they have returned. Tomorrow is their trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Again, the same one that Jamie and I took.

Today I planned on doing a little exploring of areas that I haven’t really been to in the city. However the weather has taken a turn for the worse and I’m still recovering from a hectic past week I decided this is one rainy day that I will stay in and relax.

So I’ll pick up the story where I left off, Tuesday, 21 October, we awoke early once again to be picked up by a shuttle. This time we were transported to Victoria Coach Station not to far away from our hotel. We would shortly disembark for Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and then on to Bath.

A short coach ride to Windsor Castle revealed that we would have a beautiful but cold day. Mind you that this is the first of very cold weather, which had to happen the week of break! As I always say though, it could be much worse. The first view of Windsor was astonishing. It is perched upon a hill, which gives it a sense of presence and importance. The rising sun lit up its stone façade. Our tour group was herded into the walls of the castle while the little British man rambled on about it’s importance and the fact that it is still a royal residence and used by the Queen on the weekends. What a weekend home!! The moat, like the Tower of London’s, is now a luscious, green garden. The group was then herded into the bowels of the castle where our first sight was the largest dollhouse I’ve ever seen.

“Queen Mary’s dollhouse was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1924. Nearly every item in it was specially commissioned on a scale of twelve to one. The mechanical and engineering equipment is made to work, including the water system, the electric lights and the two lifts. Can you imagine the fun the children could have had sending the baby up on the lift for its evening bath, drying it off with small hand towels, then putting it to bed?”

At the end of our Windsor tour we did manage to get a glimpse at changing of the guard. The band had quite a sense of humor as they played the Mission Impossible them song while we waited.

Next up was lunch at a restaurant at the side of the road (AKA tourist trap). I did get to try Yorkshire pudding. It’s not pudding in the sense that you may think. I see it as more of a pastry than pudding.

When then headed towards Salisbury Plains, once again seeing Stonehenge. This was my second time seeing the henge, but I didn’t mind. It’s an infamous landmark that it gets better with every viewing. This time however the weather was much nicer and there weren’t kamikaze spiders attacking use from what appeared to be thin air (did I mention that I made sure to wear a hat this day!).

Next off was Bath. I was actually disappointed in this portion of the trip. When I got to go earlier in the semester we had a great deal of time to explore the small city and take a lot of photos. This time it was very rushed. We had a few minutes to jump into a shop and buy some things and then meet in front of the Roman Baths. We actually missed the meeting time but what had to be seconds but were admitted slightly late. After a walk through the baths we then loaded onto the coach and headed back towards London arriving back at our hotel around 8pm completely exhausted. 

Today was a very long and very exciting day! CAPA sponsored a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. We left very early and I actually was able to sleep on the coach. Something I normally can’t do. I think it was a mix of little sleep last night, getting up early and being extremely car sick. 

We arrived at Stonehenge and I must say it is nothing less than amazing. The shear size will blow you away. Click photos at the top to see the full album.

You are no longer able to go near the stones so pictures from a distance will have to do.

Next was an hours drive to Bath, a small village with ancient Roman ruins. Bath has a natural hot spring coming up through the ground. It is said to be able to heal people. Its a wonderful town full of many, many houses and quite a few shops. We had a walking tour through the town and then admittance to the Roman Bath. It is unbelievable that the bath is over 1500 years old and it was uncovered and still fully functional. All of the baths still hold water, the original canals still carry the water through the structure. After the tour they offered a cup of the water. It has a large amount of iron and the taste was definitely there. It was also very warm. The average temperature coming out of the spring is around 117°F. Check the album for pictures!

Tomorrow I plan to get up early, get breakfast out and head to Buckingham Palace. I will tour the inside of the palace, hopefully see the queen’s gallery and see the royal mews. I hope to catch some of the Mayor’s Thames Festival this weekend as well. It celebrates the River Thames that runs through London.