Rule One for Adventures

Rule one for adventures is take every opportunity veer from the plans. Matt's last Kelly day and subsequent days off we decided to take a road trip and visit the capitol of Austentopia (Alexis speak for the world of Jane Austen), Bath. On our road trip we had just exited the M25 heading onto the M4 and over the hills we saw a majestic, ginormous, and breath taking castle. Immediately Matt and I said I want to go there!!! So we took a side trip to Windsor Castle.

Ty getting psyched to start our day of fun!

Me ready to heel click my way up the hill to the castle.

A neat flag by part of the outer walls of the castle.

Still walking up the hill to get to the entrance.

Isn't it grand?

The moat garden that the royal family frequent.

Posing by our tour guide (we're such tourists :))

In front of the quadrangle where they used to have jousting tournaments back in medieval times.

Matt is living the dream imagining he is a soldier guarding the castle (not very foreboding is he?) He is in front of the Norman gate where they have spots to pour out hot oil onto the possible enemy invaders.

Matt in front of the church that Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are buried.

You can't tell but the guard was making goofy eyes as well. They do have a sense of humor!

Windsor Castle was a blast! We spent way more time then we planned on but it was so worth it and we still had to rush through things. Did you know that Windsor Castle is Queen Elizabeth II's favorite castle and she often chooses to reside there? Unfortunately she was taking holiday in Scotland while we were there. The inside of the Castle is so magnificent as well unfortunately pictures inside our not allowed. As Matt and I were walking through the Castle we kept looking at each other and saying things like this is too good to be true! It is absolutely worth every penny. 

We then headed to our destination of Bath and got there after all the exhibits were closed but there was a beautiful day and still sunny out. We decided to walk around the city and figure out where all the sights were.

The second day we went straight to the Roman Baths and did their whole tour. It comes with a free audio guide and we were so enthralled that we completely lost track of time. We didn't realize that we were only 3/4 of the way through and we'd been in there for over 2 hours! Matt's a big fan of Roman history and lets face it who isn't a little intrigued by them? After the baths we tasted the "healing" spring waters and saw the Pump room (if you read Jane Austen novels then you'll know what I'm talking about). Then we did some walking around and went to the Jane Austen Center. We had just missed the tour and so we did some shopping in their gift shop and I took a picture with an employee. We were starved so we went to lunch and then headed to Lacock.

Me in front of the river and Pultney Bridge.

A beautiful park you actually had to pay to enter. It was that nice!

Ty and I at the Royal Circus. For those who don't know much about them, they are a row of 18th century homes build in a gigantic circle. They are 5 stories tall, the top floor being the servants quarters and the the rest were used by the rich home owner. Today they are apartments, each one having there own floor. Some of the homes even had two stories below ground for a total of 6 floors.

Here is Matt in front of the Royal Crescent. These homes are a little more luxurious then the previous homes.

Can you believe it?

look how stinkin cut he is!

Family photo in front of the largest roman bath there! It is so amazing how hot the water is!!!!

Part of the admission is you get to try the over ten thousand year old (hot) water for yourself. It was so gross but of course if you challenge Matt he is not going to back down. He succeeded in drink the entire glass! I could only stand a sip!

Here is a view of one the side baths you cant really tell but there are some bubbles coming up in the middle.

This is a Roman drainage system from the Baths into the river. It was steaming really good again you cant really tell in the pic.

Sitting in front of the main bath.

Ty and I in front of the Bath Abbey door.

A look inside the Abbey in bath. If you look close you can see Ty and I sitting in one of the pews.

We went out to lunch at a place called Garfunkel's It was pretty good. The coolest thing was they brought out a balloon for Ty and it just made his Day!!!!!!

Me in front of the Jane Austen Centre.

Behind me is an amazing view of the country side on our way into Bath.

A street in Lacock a village where parts of Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice were filmed.

The Town of Meryton in Pride and Prejudice is High street in Lacock!

Lacock Abbey Hall used in many of the Harry Potter Movies.

Harry's house he grows up in where Voldermort comes and kills Harry's parents and gives him his scar.

Ty and Matt in front of the Tavern (Angel Inn) used in Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Apple Stores make me happy!

About a month or so ago I was walking to my car in the church parking lot carrying Ty in his carrier, my diaper bag, and scriptures with my phone in my other arm. While I was attempting to juggle everything my iphone slipped out of my arms and landed face first onto the concrete. Of course there were spectators and so I tried to laugh it off when I picked up my phone and realized the entire front screen was shattered. As soon as I reached my car the devastation and stress about having to tell Matt about it was starting to set in. I also was not looking forward to hearing the inevitable, "I told you to buy a case for that phone." comment that I knew was bound to be uttered. Weirdly the touch screen actually worked so I figured I could suffer through the shattered glass for awhile before having to get a new phone.

Unfortunately a few days later I started noticing pieces of glass would pop out when I'd try to slide my finger to unlock the phone. Though this was a little worrying I still told myself that it was the penance I had to pay for my clumsiness. The real problem was a couple days later when I talked on the phone and  a chunk of glass stuck to my face. I decided my phone had become a hazard and told Matt we needed to get me a new phone no matter what. He fervently agreed and so for my birthday we made a trip to Norwich which has the nearest Apple store.

Before we started out we let Ty play with some balloons I got from a friend for my birthday. He adored them. He loved trying to get them in his mouth and waving them around.

We drove the hour to Norwich and once we got to our destination we realized we forgot Ty's stroller. Dun da dun (input Oregon Trail sounds of impending doom). We foolishly decided we didn't want to use the carrier and that we'd find a place where we could buy a cheap umbrella stroller (can I just say we're idiots cause we've never found anything "cheap" here so I have no idea why we deluded ourselves with that notion). So we went to the Apple store and took turns with who got to carry the 20lb diaper bag or 18lb Ty.

At the Apple store we had an amazing experience. Instead of paying 138 pounds  to replace my phone we got a completely new phone for...FREE!!!! We bought a case for the phone before leaving. It's a super cute Kate Spade case with turquoise, white and bright green uneven stripes. I LOVE IT!!!! After the Apple store we decided to do some exploring.

A cathedral that we thought was the Norwich cathedral but it wasn't. :)

The boys in front of a market (the multi colored roofs) and the Norwich Castle in the way background.

Cool indoor shopping area.

After a couple hours of exploring we were extremely tired, both Ty and Matt were sick and I was getting their bug. Also Ty and the diaper bag were getting so heavy and we didn't find a stroller anywhere. At least not a cheap one. We decided we'd have to come back to get the true flavor of Norwich. There's so much to do and we didn't do much. Maybe next time. All in all it was a good time.

Bury Bury Bury

So the produce at the commissary is TERRIBLE!!! Literally you buy a tomato and the next day it is rotten. Or if you want to make guacamole and you look for avocados they are florescent green and cost $1.70 a piece!!! So needless to say I haven't made much guac. And we LOVE guacamole. sad...but since this is a common complaint (the poor quality of produce) people let us know about a great street market that happens every Wednesday and Saturday in Bury St. Edmunds. By the way its really difficult to type with a bandaged finger. I sliced open my finger last night when I was opening a can of cream of mushroom soup. Luckily my own private EMT was home and he had me fixed up in no time. :) But back to Bury St. Edmunds, we decided to give this market a try. So we drove 30 minutes to the historical district  and parked in front of the Angel Hotel and walked up the alleyway past lots of cute shops to their market.

The Angel Hotel

The alley of shops.

What the market looks like.

I am so glad we went!! They had loads of fresh produce that was super cheap (or the guy miscalculated). We bought 3 small pkgs of strawberries, 4 avocados, 3 apples and 3 pears for 4.55 pounds. We were very pleased. Also we decided to try some cheese from a cheeseman. We bought some Brie and a different type of Swiss. They were so weird tasting and we accidentally bought huge chunks of it and it was NOT cheap. :( We basically ate a bite of each cheese and tossed them. We bought some beautiful bread from a baker. We bought rosemary and olive oil foccacia and a hearty multigrain bread. The foccacia was delicious and the multigrain bread was...blah. After our shopping we ate at a lovely italian restaurant, Prezzo. Yum!! Ty had his first experience sitting in a highchair and he loved it!! But he also liked eating and ripping up the napkins, stealing my silverware, getting his hands in my pasta and trying to eat my menu. He is a busy boy.

loving mommy

He wanted to be held by daddy.

They're so cute!!!

Across the street from the Angel hotel is the St. Edmunds Cathedral and the ruins of the old Abbey. We decided to explore.

The cathedral is in the background.

The abbey gate.

Ty and I chillin' at the ruins.

In the abbey gardens eating not very good pistachio ice cream.

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The pillar behind Matt talks about how the Magna Carta was signed at this location.

Heavenly picture behind the Cathedral in their rose garden.

We had a wonderful time in Bury and brought home lots of yummy food to eat.

A Wonderful London Adventure!!!

We finally made it!!!!!!!!! 3 cheers for the Meekers!!! London attempt 3 was a blast! Exhausting but a blast! We got on the tube in Epping where we almost had to turn back because we couldn't find parking but with a little scavenging we did. We rode the tube all the way to downtown London and only had to change lines once. Let me tell you if you have a stroller and are planning on riding the tube just carry your baby and carry the stroller cause there are so many stairs and  crazy amounts of people it's just not worth it. But, once we got out to the street level it was all good.

We started in Trafalgar Square which is beautiful and has an amazing fountain, a huge boat in a bottle, and lots of street performers. We saw a mime dressed as Charlie Chaplin, a man dressed as a statue and though it was boiling hot outside didn't move at all, and of course what street is complete without a man dressed as Darth Vader. Our first stop was to get some Gelato. I got hazelnut (YUMMM) and Matt got Strawberry (he's very predictable). Gus will be happy to hear their idea of Frozen Yogurt is that nasty stuff he gets all the time, original tart (bleh).

We got to explore the National Gallery which had the original Sunflowers by Picasso, Waterlilies by Monet and several other paintings that literally took my breath away. Since this was a belated birthday adventure for Matt he got to choose where we went. The Cavalry Museum struck his fancy and so we took pictures with the horses and saw all it had to offer (which wasn't much).

Matt and Ty petting the horse in front of the Cavalry Museum

The courtyard in front of the Cavalry Museum

I totally tried to make him smile and I swear he did with his eyes. He's too much of a pro!

Obviously Matt has control of the camera. These are some things from the museum.

Matt has made the comment that he wants to collect replica helmets and armor while we're here. (And where will he keep these dust collectors? No idea.)

More uniforms.

A bullet went through his cigarette case, journal and stopped in his bible, saving his life.

Matt outside the museum.

Then we went to the Churchill War Rooms which is a museum that's in an underground bunker where the British Government would conduct business and be protected during air raids during WWII. This was the coolest museum we have seen so far. An audio tour is included in your admission and they even include actual recordings of conversations between Churchill and other world leaders. It was thrilling!

The actual war room.

A map from one of the rooms.

 We got super tired but prevailed and walked to Buckingham Palace and we were in awe of how HUGE it is. I can't believe they used to live there!

The palace.

Ty and I in front of the gates to the garden.

We were exhausted by this time and starved. I REALLY wanted to go and see Harrods so we headed that way all the while looking for something to eat. We finally made it there and we saw all the crazy expensive things in Harrods and found a hole in the wall restaurant. Matt ordered a Pina Colada and it was the most vile thing I have ever tasted. It was like water with sweetened condensed milk that had been mixed to add foam on the top. Bleh!! But our actual food was pretty good (we were so hungry I'm sure it really wasn't but we couldn't tell).

One nice thing about living so close to London is that we didn't have to stress about not seeing everything. We know we can go back anytime. Can't wait to see all the neat museums. British Museum here we come!