Friday my parents and I got back to Poole in the early afternoon. It was too early for them to check into their hotel yet so they came with me to Bournemouth to pay the deposit on the place that I will be staying in September when I have to move out of my current place. They got to see the common areas but not the particular room I am getting, although it is nothing special, really. The place as a whole is pretty awesome though and is right by the park, so it should make for a nice last few weeks in England. After paying we came back to Poole to check them into their hotel. Then they rested for awhile before we went out for fish and chips on the quay. After that we called it an early night because they were pretty tired and we had to get up early the next day for Stonehenge.
My friend Danielle came to Stonehenge with us as she hadn't been there yet. We had to leave fairly early because we had to take a bus to Bournemouth and then another one to Salisbury before catching the tour bus out to Stonehenge. It worked out pretty well though. We also got to see Old Sarum, which is where the city of Salisbury originally started, up on the hill. It gave an excellent view of the current town. Then we went back into Salisbury for lunch, as we were starving at this point. We ate in a fancy-ish pub and mom got a steak and ale pie. We sat there for a really long time and then headed to the cathedral to see it and the Magna Carta. After that we headed back to the bus station as we had a two hour ride home ahead of us. The bus from Bournemouth was quite entertaining though as there were some kids sitting in front of us that were quite interested in us being Americans and Canadians (in Danielle's case).
Sunday was pretty calm. We wandered around Poole and then got Thai food for lunch. It was good and my parents really enjoyed it. Then they went to the Poole museum and wandered around town while I did laundry and got dinner ready. I made Chinese BBQ ribs and chicken wings and invited some friends for a dinner party. They brought mac and cheese, vegetables and dessert. It turned out to be a really nice dinner.
Monday we again headed off early to go to Osbourne House on the Isle of Wight. It is where Queen Victoria lived with her family. We had to take a train, a bus and a ferry to get there, but it was pretty nice. I thought it might rain, but the sky cleared and it was a pretty nice day. The view from that house is amazing. I can see why she would want to live there.
Tuesday we headed into London. We took the coach and then had to take the tube to our hotel. Mom did not like that. We got checked in and had to change quickly and then head to dinner. We ate at a Brazilian BBQ. I thought it was good, but I'm not sure how much my parents enjoyed it. Then we headed to the theatre to see The Phantom of the Opera. I thought the girl that played Christine was really good, but the rest of the cast was only ok. And Raul seemed too old. Oh well...
Wednesday we stayed close to our hotel and went to the Science and Natural History museums. They didn't open until 10 so we walked up to Hyde park and wandered around for awhile. The Science museum was pretty nice, but wasn't my favourite. The Natural History museum had some nice stuff, but it was very hard to find your way around in there, despite the map. We ate at an Indian place for lunch and then had pizza for dinner.
Thursday we took the tube down to the Tower of London right away in the morning and did a tour with one of the beefeaters. Then we walked through all the different areas. Saw the crown jewels and all that stuff. The funniest thing was that a couple of the coronation batons were off display with signs saying "in use" as if Charles II was being coronated while we were there....After the Tower we went to the Tower Bridge and went up to the upper walkway. That was pretty neat. Then we got to see the old engines that were originally used to open the bridge. After that we went searching for lunch and ended up at a Greek place. It was really good. Then we walked down past the Eye and by Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. After that we were pretty tired so we decided to head home for a rest before dinner. For dinner we just went to a place near our hotel. Nothing fancy, but it was good.
Friday we headed to the British Museum in the morning. We spent a few hours there and then set out to find lunch. We looked for Covent Gardens, but never made it. We found a nice cafe for lunch though. From there we wandered over to the Horse Guards area and saw the horses and saw them change the guard. Then we walked up to Buckingham Palace and saw a small changing of the guard there too. Then we looked for Hyde park and had a bit of trouble finding it, but we did see most of the embassies. Finally we found the park and walked through it until we got to the road our hotel was on. Then we went back to our hotel to get a cab to the hotel that we were going to stay in by the airport. Mom and Dad decided that they didn't want to have to take a train in the morning and would rather be near the airport so we went over there. We ate dinner at a bar and grill there that was American themed. It even had a Green Bay Packers pennant and Dad's old Transam. Red with a black bird on it. Me and Dad had more Indian food and it was pretty good.
The next morning we had to be up really early to get the shuttle to the airport. Checking in had a really long line until we realized that no one was using the self check-in machines so we headed to them and got that done fairly quickly. Then I left them at the airport as they went through security and went to find my bus back to Poole. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long and I was back in Poole by about 10am. So I got some stuff done around my house since I hadn't been there in awhile and had an early night. This week I have to go to a museum to measure bone tools and try to get a ton of work done and it is starting to get to crunch time. So that is it for now. See you next week and here are the rest of the pics.
No comments:
Post a Comment