Andrea Finally Goes to Europe–Cotswolds

 

On Thursday, April 17, 2014 we awoke nice and rested and ready to explore the Cotswolds.  Once again, we’ll go to Wikipedia, which has to say this about the Cotswolds:

The Cotswolds is an area in south central England containing the Cotswold Hills, a range of rolling hills which rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment, known as the Cotswold Edge, above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the U.K. and that is quarried for the golden coloured Cotswold stone.^[1] The area, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, is considered to have unique features derived from the local Cotswold stone; the predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, historical towns, and stately homes and gardens.

I believe we first stopped at Lower Slaughter where there was the most charming little old mill now converted into a little shop.  The town is so beautiful and so completely a step back in time, it makes you feel like you’re living the life of all of the characters in every old English book you’ve ever read.  I thought I took pictures of the Mill, but apparently I didn’t, here is the little surrounding village though:

After wandering Lower Slaughter, we found a path leading to Upper Slaughter.  By path, I mean a few little gates leading you through the prettiest pastures full of sweet little sheep. 

 

Obviously, I should have gotten a million more pictures!  Upper Slaughter is much more upscale than Lower Slaughter.  It has the same old structures, and lovely scenery, but the houses are much bigger and fancier.  We saw wealthy families about the yards and walking through the scenic roads.  My Dad took this picture of this particularly fancy home in Upper Slaughter:

It is the most serenely beautiful place I have ever seen, there’s no traffic or rushing around, it was so peaceful and no matter you looked it was perfectly picturesque.

Some manicured hedges

We forced ourselves to leave this paradise and get back on the road where we got stuck in some pretty major traffic.  It was quite a contrast, but we didn’t really mind since we were in good company.  We were worried about trying to get our car back to the Manchester airport by our 7 pm deadline.  We were late, but it worked out.  We were shuttled to our nearby hotel and settled in and met downstairs in the hotel for a nice, late dinner.  It always seemed to be about 9 before we ate dinner each night despite our best efforts.  It was a fun way to cap off each day though sitting and enjoying each other’s company and good food.  That was actually one of my favorite meals, but I can’t remember what I had.  It was good though, mostly it was good not to be in the car.  We had got another sound sleep for our travel-weary bodies and woke up ready for our next leg of our journey.  By now I am sure you are wondering if this trip will ever end!

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe–Windsor and Oxford

 

April 16, 2014

Wednesday morning, the 16th, Brennan and I and my parents got up and said goodbye to Davis and Melissa and Bea for a few days and loaded into the rental car and drove about an hour, hour and a half outside of London to Windsor Castle.   This was definitely one of my favorites and one of the few things we took the time to go inside.

Here we are at Windsor, looking pretty cool with our recorded guided tour headphones

We must not have been allowed to take pictures inside, because I don’t have any.  It was amazing.  It was like a museum of incredible works of art, and architecture and history.  I loved every room and every minute we spent there. 

After loving every thing about Windsor Castle, we stopped in the charming little town around the castle at a little pub for a very English lunch

 

Fish and Chips

After lunch we drove another hour or so to Oxford University where they take their education very seriously and tourism…not so seriously.  I think we arrived around 2 and everything was pretty much closed.  We walked around the lovely town and admired the stunning and imposing buildings from the outside.  When we came to Christ Church, we realized they were allowing people in so we got in line, when the lady asked us if we were here for the concert, Brennan quickly said we were and we were in!  Each college has it’s own courtyard and surrounding smaller buildings.  Christ Church is one of the most distinguished colleges in Oxford.  It was incredible.  We walked through the courtyard and entered the stunning cathedral where we found some seats for a baroque Haydn Easter Concert.  Wow!  What a treat.  My Mom, especially was in heaven.

I think we left a little early, as it was getting late.  We found a restaurant in Oxford and enjoyed a nice meal, (but it took a while because we once again had a miscommunication on our order), but our waitress was so sweet.  She tried to pay for the meal that got ordered mistakenly with her own money.  We didn’t let her.  As we ate, we tried to find a hotel in the Cotswolds to stay in that evening, but because it was late, and we wouldn’t be there before 10, we couldn’t.  Things work differently there than in the US, I learned that .  What we lack in culture and old things, we make up for in customer service!  Anyway, whooped and getting a little discouraged, my Dad surprised us and booked us each beautiful rooms at an Oxford hotel.  We were thrilled to be able to drive across the street and have luxurious lodgings in that historic place.    

Here are Mom and Dad in front of Magdalen College where CS Lewis taught

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, Brennan’s Golf Adventure

April 14-15, 2014

As I mentioned Brennan left us Monday morning and as we headed to England, he flew into Scotland.  I think he flew into Edinburgh, Scotland where he rented a car and drove up to St. Andrews.  Apparently, if you are any kind of golf enthusiast, you know all about St. Andrews.  Well, evidently, to play it is worth all kinds of trouble .   I need to ask him the details, but if I recall correctly, as I said he flew in to Edinburgh where he rented a car and drove a couple of hours to St. Andrews.  We planned this trip so quickly, he had called ahead to find out what his chances were of getting on.  Fortunately because he was alone, there was a shot.  He would have to be there at 5 am and wait in line, then if there was a group less than a threesome, they could decide whether or not to let him join them.  He was worried that since he had to rent clubs he would look like a hack and no one would let him play with them.  He got to St. Andrews around 9 or 10 pm, I believe where he “slept” in his tiny rental car and nearly froze (about 30 degrees)  to death about 20 yards from the first tee.  I’m not sure what the biggest factor in not sleeping was, the cold, the discomfort or the anticipation.  He got in line at 3:45 am and teed off at 7:20 and in his own words, “well worth it!”  He ended up playing with two guys from Philadelphia, wealthy soccer Dad’s there for a soccer tournament for their kids.  They were impressed and a little more than surprised by this unassuming, janitorial salesman from Utah with rented clubs.  I love that.   He had a great game checking off yet another “once in a lifetime opportunity”. 

Living the dream at St. Andrew’s Golf Course

After a long, but amazing day and a sleepless night, he started the drive to London.  We had planned to meet up with him Wednesday morning, perhaps in the Cotswolds, but he decided to keep going and drive straight through to London Tuesday night.  As I mentioned in my last post, it was kind of a harrowing journey.  It actually went fairly smoothly until he hit London and had no idea how to get to Davis’s.  He made it eventually though and it was so good to be together again.  He was thrilled with his little detour.

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, London II

April 15, 2014

Day two in London!  We woke up and I think enjoyed doing a little laundry in Davis and Melissa’s tiny little washing machine and no dryer, but it was a welcome opportunity to clean our clothes.  Mom and Dad and I headed out to do the tour bus again.  It was a perfect day and so much fun to see the incredible and enormous city of London.  I think we got off early near the Thames and walked down to see Big Ben and the incredible Parliament Building. 



My statesman Dad was dying to take a tour of that magnificent and historic building, so Mom and I left him there while we  explored around Westminster Abbey, it was closed to go in, but we loved walking around and enjoying the beautiful grounds and views of so many incredible buildings and statues everywhere we looked. 

A statue of Abraham Lincoln!

We made our way down to Buckingham Palace where we saw the famous guards, didn’t get any great pictures, boo.

We walked around the extensive and beautiful grounds around the palace, grabbed some lunch and then met up with my Dad.  We got back on the bus and after that  I don’t think we got out of the bus for quite a while.   Most of the time the buses had a recorded tour you listened too on headphones, but at one point that day we had a real live Londoner tour guide full of British charm and knowledge.  We got to see the incredible architecture spanning centuries all mixed in to the lovely City.  So many historic and amazing sites.  We finally got off the bus at Herod’s to explore what felt like city within a city. 

A view of the Thames and the London Eye

My favorite part of Herod’s

I think we spent a couple of hours in that store, mostly the toy department.  It was incredible.   Mom and Dad bought some things for the grandkids and I bought some darling lollipops for my kiddos.  After shopping, we met Davis and Melissa and Bea for dinner at Wagamama’s.  I thought it was yummy, everyone else thought it was ok, but it was fun to be together.  We parted with Mom and Dad again and went back to Davis’s apartment.  Brennan called and was driving into London.  After a very long two days mostly driving and sleeping in his car, he was lost trying to find Davis and Melissa’s apartment.  Davis sweetly talked him down from the figurative ledge, and waited outside talking to him to get him safely to their apartment.  We were so happy to be reunited!

This little girl, was our very favorite London attraction

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, London

April 14, 2014

Monday morning we got up early and packed up and said goodbye to our sweet little hotel, but much worse was saying goodbye to Brennan.  My parents and I were heading to London while he was flying to Scotland for his golfing adventure.  We would only be apart for a few days, but it was sad to part after getting used to being so together.  However, we were both excited for the next legs of our journey and looked forward to reuniting soon.  My parents and I boarded the EuroStar or Chunnel train in the Gare du Nord Station in Paris.  It was so slick and painless.  We did have to go through customs, but it was quick and orderly and we had all our bags and loaded them right on with us.

I think the ride lasted about 2 hours, it was comfy and smooth and crazy to realize we were going under the English channel.  Before we got to the channel we could look out the windows and see the gorgeous French countryside.  I saw several little villages centered around beautiful chapels and lots of rolling hills and wildflowers.  Once we went under water, it was just a big tunnel, so not much of a view.  It was so exciting to arrive at St. Pancras station in London.  It was so British!

We had instructions from Davis as to which tube line to get on and where to stop.  We managed to find it and settled in for our tube ride.  I think we had to change lines at one point which was an adventure to hustle through crowded stations with multiple sets of stairs while we lugged three giant suitcases and several carry ons.  My sweet Dad went up and down several times to help my Mom and I with our suitcases.  We finally got out of the mazes of stations and tubes to daylight where we were thrilled to see Davis!  He helped us with our luggage and led us on a short walk to their apartment.  It was so good to see Davis, Melissa and Bea!  I think Bea was about 5 months at the time and as cheerful and delightful as could be.  Their apartment was up several flights of stairs and was so cute.  After a busy few days it was nice to feel like we were home.  Mom and Dad had arranged to let us stay with Davis and Melissa and they had reserved a nearby hotel.  That day we settled in at Davis's and caught up with them for a minute before venturing out.  It was early afternoon and I believe we decided to do the Tower of London and all set out together, catching an underground train (tube) and minding the gap ;).  We walked out to the this incredible sight of modern and clean and beautiful buildings everywhere surrounding a HUGE ancient castle, right out of medieval times, with massive castle walls and a moat and the Thames just below it.  Everywhere you looked was a gorgeous cityscape of very modern architecture with a smattering of the very old and somehow it was seamless and breathtaking.  The Thames was stunning and so big and bold and a constant companion throughout the City.  There are several bridges each a little different and each an incredible sight, and then you see the London Eye looming high above everything but somehow delicate and unobtrusive. All of it truly took my breath away.  We grabbed some lunch and discovered Millionaire Shortbread (shortbread with a layer or caramel and chocolate).  We bought our tickets for The Tower of London and entered a whole new or rather old world.

We wandered around for several hours and were completely fascinated by all of the history surrounding us.  It was incredible.  We also got to see the Crown Jewels there.  We kind of ran out of time and left wishing we had a whole day to wander the whole thing.  I know I keep saying this, but it was thrilling!  I still can't believe I got to do all those things.

I think after that we walked through Covent Garden (incredible!) where I could almost see Eliza Doolittle selling flowers in the streets.

Wikipedia says, "Covent Garden (/ˈkɒvənt/) is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between Charing Cross Road and Drury Lane.^[1] It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as "Covent Garden"."   

Charing Cross Road and Drury Lane?  Are you kidding me?  How did I get there?  We ate at The Shake Shack and thoroughly enjoyed our food, surroundings and company.  As we walked through the Covent Garden district, we came upon little treasures like this:

We then made our way to Trafalgar Square and evidently my phone must have died cause I don't have any pictures.  It was so much fun to see Admiral Horatio Nelson looming high above us on the Nelson Column to commemorate his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.  I knew Admiral Nelson from the movie, "That Hamilton Woman".  It was so fun to see so much of what I had read about or watched in movies!  It was an exhilarating and we were happy and tired as we made our way back to Davis and Melissa's apartment.  Mom and Dad settled into their hotel and we were all happy to end another wonderful day.

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, Paris, II

April 13, 2014

Seriously, I think that was my best night of sleep ever, and after that Jet lag was not an issue.  Day two in Paris was Sunday.  We tried to get to church but overslept and then couldn't find a way out there in time.   Brennan and I decided we wanted to out to Versailles, but my parents had already been on a previous trip and decided to try to go see Monet's gardens, so we went our separate ways.  I think Brennan and I caught a train out to Versailles, it was probably an hour or so out of Paris.  We arrived in the beautiful little town and walked a few blocks to the Palace.  Wow.  The Palace is beyond what I ever could have imagined, it is massive and ornate and massive.   It was so so crowded, and the line to go inside would have taken several hours so we decided to do the grounds tour.  I'm so glad, someday I would love to see inside, but walking the lovely grounds all day was the perfect way to spend a Sunday in France.

Here is Brennan in front of the gigantic palace.

I wish I knew how many hundreds of acres the grounds were.  It went on forever, and at the very bottom or end of the palace grounds there was a park with the little river that ran through the palace grounds with cute little cafe's and shops.  We probably spent 3 or 4 hours wandering through the grounds.  There was one huge, corridor with lawn or water in the middle that ran down as far as you could see and then off to the sides were mazes of endless little forest paths leading to little courtyards with fountains or pools and lakes.  Now there are also little shops and cafes and restrooms scattered throughout the grounds.

This is part of the back of the palace

When your back is to the palace, this is what you see

Here is one of hundreds of little fountain courtyards

Here's our Palace of Versailles Selfie

It was all so beautiful and so green.  There weren't flowers, but the endless green and hundreds of water features were just so serenely beautiful.  It was a chilly day, but never rained.  We ate a yummy sandwich of just ham and swiss or maybe provolone cheese on a huge baguette, so simple and straightforward, but so good and filling.  We also ordered hot chocolate at one the park cafes and sat under the heater on the patio enjoying the warmth.

After wandering there for several hours, we had heard about Marie Antoinette's farm nearby and decided to walk over there.  It was one of the loveliest walks I have ever taken.  We followed a little path from the Palace grounds to her farm through rustic little pastures, it was breathtaking!

I wish I had a picture of when we finally got to the farm.  The whole property was surrounded by a stone fence and even a dry moat.  We had walked for hours now and miles and miles and our feet were tired and aching.  We found a gate and entrance to the farm only to find it closed, there people inside, and therefore obviously another entrance but it seems it was on the other side of the huge property.  We saw some young adults jump the mote and climb a little part of the wall, so Brennan decided we were following suit.  I hated to do it, but I hated the thought of walking several more miles to find an official entrance even more, so down moat we went and up the steep bank and over the wall, the group of young adults were so nice and kindly helped me up.  We finally made it in and loved walking around the beautiful country farm with it's quaint little buildings and pastures.

We finally made found our way back to the Palace and then back to the train station where we caught our ride back to Paris.  We figured we walked at least 8-10 miles.  It felt good to sit for a while.  When we arrived back in Paris, I think my parents were napping so we must have caught a tour bus over to the Champs-Elysees where we explored some of the shops and looked for a restaurant that Brennan ate at years before when he found french fries with a special kind of sauce.  We wanted some real French cuisine, but most of the restaurants were Italian or German or American!  We finally found a little spot and managed to get seated.  Fortunately they had English menus, but our waitress didn't speak any English.  We had a couple of mis-communications but finally got our food.  I don't even remember what I had, but I remember liking it and more importantly Brennan found his sauce!  It seems like after that we met my parents somewhere for dessert perhaps and then back to our hotel for another well-earned sound sleep.

Andrea Finally Goes to Europe, Paris

We left on a Friday morning, April 11th early in the morning. If I remember correctly, Josh took us to the airport. I think we met my parents there. I was nervous to fly so far and for such a long time. We boarded our plane, it was a direct flight to Paris. I think it took about 10 hours. It was a really long 10 hours, and I don't think I slept more than a few minutes here and there. I was so happy to get off that plane, and I couldn't believe I was actually in Paris, France! We bustled around the airport, and managed to get a ride to our hotel. It was a quaint little place with tiny little rooms, but a big comfy bed. We were all exhausted and it was now Saturday morning in Paris, so we agreed we'd take a nap for an hour and then head out to sight see. We only had two days in Paris so as painful as it was to force ourselves out of bed, we did it and were off to see the City of Love!

Our Paris Hotel

Here's our fancy room, basically four walls and a little room between them and the walls :)

Our crazy neighbors, a stone's throw away (he actually threw an orange into our room, I believe ;))

With maps in hand, we went straight for the tour bus office. The bus was the perfect way to see a lot in a short amount of time which is just what we needed. I was so tired, I was having a hard time staying coherent, but everything around me was incredible. I loved everything I saw, every corner was charming. Everything was so old, but still so sturdy and functional and beautiful.. It was so fun to just drive the quaint tree-lined streets and take in all the sites.

Just a random, beautiful street from the bus ride

I believe the first place we stopped and got off the bus was at Notre Dame, it was amazing. We walked through it and marveled at it's massive, formidable presence. It was huge and so so impressive.

I still can't believe that's me in front Notre Dame de Paris!

After that we walked over to the Sainte-Chapelle, on a recommendation from Melissa. I am so grateful she told us about it, because I know we would have missed it, it's tucked away just a block or two away from Notre Dame. The Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel) is in the process of renovations, but fortunately we were still able to go in and see the breathtaking stained glass.

There was panel after panel of beautiful detailed, biblical scenes that went on and on around the entire room. It was stunning.

We walked along the Siene River which was so thrilling and reminded me of scenes from "Charade" with Carey Grand and Audrey Hepburn.

Driving by the Louvre was another definite thrill, but kind of a painful one knowing we didn't have time to go in, someday I'll go back and spend hours and days in all the museums!

I was so tired, but it was all so amazing. It was all a little bit fuzzy in the moment because of jet lag, but it's really fuzzy now 10 months later. After the Louvre, our bus drove down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and then to the Eiffel Tower. I know we got off at near the Eiffel Tower and walked down around the base. I decided the thought of going up was too much for me, but it was beautiful and shockingly huge. It was all beautiful and awe-inspiring and exhausting.

After the Eiffel Tower, we caught a bus back towards our hotel and walked around looking for a dinner spot. We found a quaint little patisserie and were grateful to sit and eat. Our waitress was very nice and spoke fairly good English which was a welcome change. I was so surprised how much language was an issue, it was a frustrating obstacle. Another downside was how many people smoked. As we walked the beautiful streets there was a constant and potent smell of smoke everywhere. I couldn't believe the always progressive and fashionable Parisians were so behind on the coolness of smoking!  Anyway, we enjoyed a lovely meal and by the time we finished we were all thoroughly pooped! We tiredly stumbled back to our hotel for the best night's sleep I think I've ever had.

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