London

So Andrew and I arrived in London on Thursday, March 29th.  My brother picked us up at Gatwick, we landed about 7:30 a.m. London time.  He took us to his house so we could nap until Caitriona came to collect us to pick up Harry from school.  That was just after 3:00 p.m.  Harry is completely adorable, completely British, and completely funny.

Once we got home, we played with Harry on his Wii and then I promptly fell asleep again while Andrew and Harry continued.  Apparently the cat, Madam, and I were competing for loudest snorer.  I think I won that round.  Clearly I needed rest, which I got.

Friday, Harry had to go to school one last day before his Easter Break started.  It was also sports day so we brought him a Braves jersey to wear, he looked fantastic.  While he was at school, Caitriona and I went grocery shopping then back home to get Andrew then we went into downtime Guildford to shop.  Andrew got two t-shirts and a new zip-up hoodie.  I got nothing.  That night we went to dinner at The Beijing, Harry's favorite restaurant.  I had to go all the way to England to have some of the best Chinese food ever.  If you are ever in Guildford, go to The Beijing and order the Crispy Duck - delicious!

Saturday, Chris and Andrew went to a football game, Fulham vs. Norwich, while Caitriona, Harry and I went to Bekonscot Model Village.  A windy day for us and I was ready to get back indoors.

Sunday, Chris had to work so the rest of us when to Legoland UK.  Upon entering Legoland I knew two things, Andrew was going to hate it and my legs were going to suffer.  Imagine the most amazing place for children, built in a valley and you start at the top of the mountain.  You must descend down to the rides and attractions, which is fine, but at the end of the day, when you are all tuckered out, you must then climb back to the top to reach your car.  There are no elevators, no scooters, no muscled men with stretchers to carry you back up, you must walk.  Shorter routes included stairs, but seriously, I thought I might actually die and have to be buried in a coffin made of legos.  Other than the walking and climbing, it was a lot of fun for Harry.  None of the rides were fast and certainly none appropriate for a teenage daredevil, but Andrew tolerated it for Harry.  I'm not even sure what happened after we got home from Legoland, I somehow made it to the bed.

Monday morning, Andrew and I hit the train into London with Chris.  We got off at Waterloo and took a ride on the Thames River Cruise.  This was probably one of my favorite things we did, great history told on these cruises.  Then we took a spin on the London Eye.  It was fine, a nice sunny day, but not anything I would ever be compelled to HAVE to do again.  We walked around a bit and then Andrew wanted to go back home.  So we took the train back and Caitriona came to pick us up.  Chris was off to Ireland on business.  Caitriona made tacos that night, so I was happy as that is one of my favorite meals!

Tuesday, we went to Hampton Court Palace, one of the homes of King Henry VIII.  We had to park at the train station, walk across the bridge, and then into the Palace.  Then we had to walk around the palace.  I was sensing a general theme in London, walking.  I also felt like there was national plot against my knee.  I told Andrew to keep reminding me how much weight I was going to lose with all this walking.  Several hours later, after touring the great kitchens (Harry's favorite), the staterooms, part of the garden and the maze, we returned to the car...which meant, out of the castle, across the bridge to the train station. I kept checking my shoes because surely I must have put holes in the soles, but no, they were holding up fine, it was just my feet, legs and knee that were dying.  Caitriona re-fortified me with Shepherd's Pie that night.  It was really delicious.

Wednesday, Andrew slept in and the rest of us headed into a town called Haselmere for some furniture shopping and just general, yeah you guessed it, walking.  I don't even know why my brother has a car, because all we did was drive somewhere to park so we could walk to whatever we were going to do.   Fortunately I made it and we didn't end up walking too much.  That night we had The Beijing again, only this time "take away" as the Brits call it.

Thursday, our final full day, and we were off to Windsor Castle.  Now, at this point, my feet were saying things like "look bitch, if you make us walk much more we are going to collapse on you", but I ignored them.  Chris did kindly drop us at the top of the hill where you enter the castle and then went to park at the bottom of the hill.  This was all out of courtesy for me, but I feel certain Caitriona, Harry and Andrew were happy for the drop as well.  We toured the castle, which is really quite amazing, saw the 60 photos for 60 years, celebrating the Queen's Diamond Anniversary of service, and visited St. George's Chapel.  Andrew saw where King Henry VIII's was buried and Caitriona and I went in every shop within the castle.  Fortunately we did manage to hang on to all of our money, except the 3 pounds we spent to get Andrew about two spoonfuls of the Queens "Luxury Ice Cream".  Granted it was silky, but too expensive.  We walked partially down the hill and into the Starbucks where we got some hot chocolate and waited for Chris to retrieve the car.  I was officially done with touring England.  We had dinner at a nice little pub, The Olive Tree, just down the street from there house.  Caitriona took mercy on me and drove me down there.

We left the house Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. to get to the airport for our 9:00 a.m. flight home.  Again our good friend Anne-Marie picked us up at the curb.  The flight was smooth and fast, getting us in almost an hour earlier than expected.  The food choices did not disappoint us this time, the movies were better, and no noisy teenagers.  We did have a few screaming babies, and one seriously chatty woman behind us, but again who cares, I fit in the seat.

The best thing(s) about my visit, spending time with Caitriona and Harry, and benefiting from Caitriona's wonderful kitchen skills!
The worst thing about my visit, I arrived 72 pounds lighter and when I got home, I was still 72 pounds lighter.  Apparently the weight you lose walking all over England stays in England!