March 17 - Our 30th Anniversary!
We woke up today at about 8:30 and had coffee with Shelly. We packed up our things for a two night stay at Hever Castle. Mark walked to ASDA and picked up a few things for the trip (crackers, cheese..) Shelly put together a to-go cold box and gave us a bottle of red wine. She even let me take a full bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon to sip on a bit.
Took Uber to Hever Castle about noon. Our driver was Tahir. It took just over an hour.
We had requested a specific room from the online photographs on the web site. It turns out we have the Tulip room, which is the honeymoon suite. It is in the Astor Wing, at the end of one of the hallways. It is a beautiful Tudor style room with magnificent wooden details throughout the room. I also like all of the old style hardware on the doors and windows.
We checked in with reception about 13:00. Our room was not quite ready so they kept our bags and we went out to explore the grounds and the castle. We stopped and had a quick bite to eat and hot tea at the Moat Restaurant on the grounds.
After we ate we walked over to see the castle and the yew maze. On the way to and around the castle there is a topiary garden which has beautiful large plants. We did the maze first. It is a small maze but it is fun. In the middle of the maze I asked Pat to marry me again. She said yes! :-)
Then we walked over and did a self-guided tour of the castle. Tomorrow and Tuesday the castle and shops are closed to the public, but we will get a private tour of the castle at 10:30. We toured the castle on our own. It looks small from the outside but there are a lot of rooms and a lot to see in the castle.
When we got back to our room a storm came through and it was actually sleeting for a little while. We opened some of the windows, which open sideways at an angle using the old style hardware, and watched the sleet.
Mark had arranged for champagne and red roses and custom fancy to be in the room when we arrived, and even a card from him snuck in and surprised me! The fudge is a gourmet fudge mixology selection from Fudge Kitchen. There are 9 selections, such has Brandy Alexander and Irish Cream.
After we rested for a while we went for a short walk in the gardens before it got dark. The swans, ducks and pheasants were all out. They come up close because they are used to getting fed. You can buy duck and fish food when the shops are open.
The Astor wing is beautiful. There is a lounge they call the music room, which has plush chairs and a working fireplace. Pat and I played a game of chess across from the fireplace. She won...
There is also a billiards room with a huge 12 ft x 8 ft snooker table. We read the rules online how to play and we played a game, after waiting for another couple to finish their game. Pat won the snooker game too... :-)
The bathtub is so long pat can lay in it and her head and feet do not touch the ends. She took a long bath. The shower is amazing too and is a little modern for the actual age of the wing but super nice nevertheless.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Day Four - Thursday - Museums and Walkie Talkie
Today we decided to go to some museums. The weather is sketchy, rainy and cold. We headed off to the Woking station using Uber. At the station we got our tickets using our '2 Together' rail card which saves us %30. We made it into Waterloo and there we need to take the subway so we stopped and purchased an Oyster card. Everything went smoothly.
We made our way to the British museum and focused mainly on the Egyptian exhibits. They have some incredible artifacts, especially the mummies.
Our time was limited because we are meeting Shelly at 17:30 at the Walkie Talkie building for a 18:00 dinner. We have reservations at the Darwin Brasserie on the 36th floor.
We also wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery, which is next to the National Museum(?). So we headed over there on the tube. We got there with about 2 1/2 hours before we had to leave, which was plenty of time. We reviewed all of the portraits of British royalty and notables, ranging from the early Tudors to present day. It is all arranged chronologically which makes it very nice, like you are walking through history. Each portrait has a small description with some details.
We left with 45 minutes to get to the Walkie Talkie building and meet Shelly. We got there at 17:20, right on time. Windy and cold. We found the entrance for the Sky Garden and went in an waited for Shelly. She showed up just a few minutes later. We went through the metal detectors, third time today, and Mark had a hard time this time :-)
The Sky Garden at the Walkie Talkie building is incredible. It is the top 3 or 4 floors of the building, 36 floors up. You can walk all the way around with incredible views of London in all directions. There are two or three separate restaurants, and also several bars. We ate at the Darwin Brasserie with a window view which looked out into the Sky Garden, with the Tower of London and Tower Bridge in the near distance.
Took the tube and train home, tired... :-)
We made our way to the British museum and focused mainly on the Egyptian exhibits. They have some incredible artifacts, especially the mummies.
Our time was limited because we are meeting Shelly at 17:30 at the Walkie Talkie building for a 18:00 dinner. We have reservations at the Darwin Brasserie on the 36th floor.
We also wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery, which is next to the National Museum(?). So we headed over there on the tube. We got there with about 2 1/2 hours before we had to leave, which was plenty of time. We reviewed all of the portraits of British royalty and notables, ranging from the early Tudors to present day. It is all arranged chronologically which makes it very nice, like you are walking through history. Each portrait has a small description with some details.
We left with 45 minutes to get to the Walkie Talkie building and meet Shelly. We got there at 17:20, right on time. Windy and cold. We found the entrance for the Sky Garden and went in an waited for Shelly. She showed up just a few minutes later. We went through the metal detectors, third time today, and Mark had a hard time this time :-)
The Sky Garden at the Walkie Talkie building is incredible. It is the top 3 or 4 floors of the building, 36 floors up. You can walk all the way around with incredible views of London in all directions. There are two or three separate restaurants, and also several bars. We ate at the Darwin Brasserie with a window view which looked out into the Sky Garden, with the Tower of London and Tower Bridge in the near distance.
Took the tube and train home, tired... :-)
Friday, March 15, 2019
Day Five - Friday - Bridges
Friday, and an easy lazy morning at Shelly's. We stayed up late last night so a late start today.
Very windy again today, and no rain.
This morning Ria texted us and told us that Nick was throwing up at night each night, although he has been having good potties. We were really concerned because Nick never throws up. We were concerned there may still be a piece of the plastic in his stomach. We emailed the vet, it is only 7 AM ET, and they open at 8. Ria took Nick into the vet and later told us the vet wanted to keep Nick and run some tests.
We got out of the house close to noon and picked up a train at Woking and into Waterloo. We headed over to see Tower Bridge. Mark has always wanted to see it. The bridge is one of the world's most famous bridges and it is quite a tourist attraction. We really enjoyed the tour. You get to walk across both of the top towers and go into the engine room which drives the bridge mechanisms. In the top towers they have a portion of the floor that is glass. It is made of 6 layers of glass, a total of about 3 1/2 inches. A guide told us each glass panel will hold 5 tons.
After the bridge we headed over to Kym's Chinese food. On the way Dr Anne Marie Moir called us and gave us a full report on Nicky. She had taken X-Rays and done a full examination. There is no evidence of any blockage and he looks just fine. She thinks the vomiting is due to stomach inflammation from the plastic ball. She sent him home with some nausea meds and something to ease the stomach.
We arrived at Kym's at 2:40, and thought we would get some lunch. Their website states they close lunch at 15:00. The greeter told us that the kitchen had already closed at 14:30. He refused to seat us, even for soup. Pat decided she did not like the look of the place anyway. It was very European style, not old lady Chinese.
We left and decided to go to walk over the Millennium Pedestrian Bridge and go to the Tate Modern museum. Shelly told us they have a great observation area to get a bite to eat and drink. The Millennium Bridge is a beautiful piece of architecture. Walking over the bridge was fun because it was so windy. They had barriers put in place the length of the bridge keeping pedestrians on the upward side of the bridge. Evidently they did not want people against the downward side of the bridge for fear of them being blown over. The sides of the bridge are not very high and with the wind I could see how someone could be blown off.
We walked across the Thames 5 times today. :-) Four times on Tower Bridge and once across Millennium Bridge.
The Tate Modern museum is a very large building, apparently an old factory building. It is two towers, one about 6 stories and one about 10 stories. We went to the restaurant and bar on the 6th floor of the shorter building. We were able to get a nice table right against a window looking across the Thames river at St Paul's cathedral. And of course the entire London skyline in both directions. We shared a hamburger and American style fries.
After we ate and sat and enjoyed the view for a while, we decided to go to Harrod's and get Pat the Shalimar perfume. We followed City Mapper as we have been doing pretty much this whole trip. We made it to Harrods with no issue. Harrods is a beautiful store. We went up the Egyptian escalator, Fabulous!
We took the train back and picked up some bell peppers and onion and made white chicken chili at Shelly's. Very Good!
Very windy again today, and no rain.
This morning Ria texted us and told us that Nick was throwing up at night each night, although he has been having good potties. We were really concerned because Nick never throws up. We were concerned there may still be a piece of the plastic in his stomach. We emailed the vet, it is only 7 AM ET, and they open at 8. Ria took Nick into the vet and later told us the vet wanted to keep Nick and run some tests.
We got out of the house close to noon and picked up a train at Woking and into Waterloo. We headed over to see Tower Bridge. Mark has always wanted to see it. The bridge is one of the world's most famous bridges and it is quite a tourist attraction. We really enjoyed the tour. You get to walk across both of the top towers and go into the engine room which drives the bridge mechanisms. In the top towers they have a portion of the floor that is glass. It is made of 6 layers of glass, a total of about 3 1/2 inches. A guide told us each glass panel will hold 5 tons.
After the bridge we headed over to Kym's Chinese food. On the way Dr Anne Marie Moir called us and gave us a full report on Nicky. She had taken X-Rays and done a full examination. There is no evidence of any blockage and he looks just fine. She thinks the vomiting is due to stomach inflammation from the plastic ball. She sent him home with some nausea meds and something to ease the stomach.
We arrived at Kym's at 2:40, and thought we would get some lunch. Their website states they close lunch at 15:00. The greeter told us that the kitchen had already closed at 14:30. He refused to seat us, even for soup. Pat decided she did not like the look of the place anyway. It was very European style, not old lady Chinese.
We left and decided to go to walk over the Millennium Pedestrian Bridge and go to the Tate Modern museum. Shelly told us they have a great observation area to get a bite to eat and drink. The Millennium Bridge is a beautiful piece of architecture. Walking over the bridge was fun because it was so windy. They had barriers put in place the length of the bridge keeping pedestrians on the upward side of the bridge. Evidently they did not want people against the downward side of the bridge for fear of them being blown over. The sides of the bridge are not very high and with the wind I could see how someone could be blown off.
We walked across the Thames 5 times today. :-) Four times on Tower Bridge and once across Millennium Bridge.
The Tate Modern museum is a very large building, apparently an old factory building. It is two towers, one about 6 stories and one about 10 stories. We went to the restaurant and bar on the 6th floor of the shorter building. We were able to get a nice table right against a window looking across the Thames river at St Paul's cathedral. And of course the entire London skyline in both directions. We shared a hamburger and American style fries.
After we ate and sat and enjoyed the view for a while, we decided to go to Harrod's and get Pat the Shalimar perfume. We followed City Mapper as we have been doing pretty much this whole trip. We made it to Harrods with no issue. Harrods is a beautiful store. We went up the Egyptian escalator, Fabulous!
We took the train back and picked up some bell peppers and onion and made white chicken chili at Shelly's. Very Good!
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Day Three - Wednesday - Windsor Castle
We slept in a bit today, to brush off a final touch of jet lag.
Today we decided to take it easy and go to Windsor castle. It is North-West of Woking, and there is really not a good way to get there. By train it takes you into London, and then back out again for a 2 hour trip. Uber is here in the U.K., and we were able to get an Uber for about 32 Pounds, and about 30 minutes. It was well worth it rather than two hours to get there, and front door service! We had a very nice ride to Windsor. The driver was pleasant and was a great conversationalist. Of course we pull up to the front of Windsor and Mark says "Gee, there are police with machine guns to meet us, how comforting!"
There is no rain today, it's relatively clear, cold and very windy. I stood and spoke with one of the docents and told her what a beautiful day it was the whole time her teeth were chattering. She just looked at me and did the eye roll. I must say she has a beautiful cape on and that she was probably warmer than I. And, it's not raining so quit complaining!
The castle is beautiful and stands on a hill. It is still a Royal Residence and the Queen likes to spend her weekends there. Windsor Castle is a royal palace in the area of Berkshire and it is notable for its long association with royal families of England. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. We toured the public parts of the castle and enjoyed the many beautiful works of art, paintings and furniture.
Afterwards we took a cold stroll down the foot mall and did a little shopping, and stopped in to get a cup of coffee and sandwich, and I was feeling the jet lag again like my eyes were crossed. Some of the furniture in the castle was just amazing and the detail work in it beautiful. Eye overload here and I can't take it. I can't wait to get home.
On the Uber ride home we spoke with the driver about Brexit. It turns out, he is actually in favor of Brexit although he is not sure about all of the implications. Just like in this country some of the information he passed to us was incorrect as we inquired when we got back to the residence. Always do complete research before you vote upon anything, don't become one of the "Uneducated". We are paying for it!!
In the evening Mark replaced some ceiling light bulbs in the kitchen and master bathroom. One of the old florescent lights had burned out, and the rest were very dim. Wow, she has a bright kitchen again! It made a huge difference and the living room/kitchen are no longer dark like a cave. It's been a long day for me and my diabetes bottomed out several times while we were walking around the town of Windsor. Thankfully I had tabs upon me and occasionally ate one as needed while touring the castle.
Today we decided to take it easy and go to Windsor castle. It is North-West of Woking, and there is really not a good way to get there. By train it takes you into London, and then back out again for a 2 hour trip. Uber is here in the U.K., and we were able to get an Uber for about 32 Pounds, and about 30 minutes. It was well worth it rather than two hours to get there, and front door service! We had a very nice ride to Windsor. The driver was pleasant and was a great conversationalist. Of course we pull up to the front of Windsor and Mark says "Gee, there are police with machine guns to meet us, how comforting!"
There is no rain today, it's relatively clear, cold and very windy. I stood and spoke with one of the docents and told her what a beautiful day it was the whole time her teeth were chattering. She just looked at me and did the eye roll. I must say she has a beautiful cape on and that she was probably warmer than I. And, it's not raining so quit complaining!
The castle is beautiful and stands on a hill. It is still a Royal Residence and the Queen likes to spend her weekends there. Windsor Castle is a royal palace in the area of Berkshire and it is notable for its long association with royal families of England. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. We toured the public parts of the castle and enjoyed the many beautiful works of art, paintings and furniture.
Afterwards we took a cold stroll down the foot mall and did a little shopping, and stopped in to get a cup of coffee and sandwich, and I was feeling the jet lag again like my eyes were crossed. Some of the furniture in the castle was just amazing and the detail work in it beautiful. Eye overload here and I can't take it. I can't wait to get home.
On the Uber ride home we spoke with the driver about Brexit. It turns out, he is actually in favor of Brexit although he is not sure about all of the implications. Just like in this country some of the information he passed to us was incorrect as we inquired when we got back to the residence. Always do complete research before you vote upon anything, don't become one of the "Uneducated". We are paying for it!!
In the evening Mark replaced some ceiling light bulbs in the kitchen and master bathroom. One of the old florescent lights had burned out, and the rest were very dim. Wow, she has a bright kitchen again! It made a huge difference and the living room/kitchen are no longer dark like a cave. It's been a long day for me and my diabetes bottomed out several times while we were walking around the town of Windsor. Thankfully I had tabs upon me and occasionally ate one as needed while touring the castle.
Day Two - Tuesday - Arrival in London
We arrived in at Heathrow airport ahead of schedule and were placed in a holding pattern till they could get us in in to land, who knew that Heathrow only had two runways? 😮
Breezed through passport control with no issues.
Our driver was not initially at the arriving station and there were lots of them about. Mark called them and also called Shelly. He had taken a bathroom break and showed up a few minutes later :-), poor guy he takes a break and who breezes through and is there before him?
It was a nice drive through countryside to Woking. We arrived at Shelly's about 09:30, and I pulled out my Sterling Pounds and he said, "these are old they're no good." I looked at him and said REALLY? I mean come on, the Bank of England issued them! We always when traveling bring some of our foreign cash home to use on our next trip. Turns out that the BOE has turned all the paper bills into some sort of plastic! I mean aren't the oceans choking enough on plastic? He did take our pounds as he said that the bank would take them and issue the new bills. Shelly was working and we spoke a little then Mark took a shower and we both took a two hour nap, getting up about 13:00.
Finally some time for visiting for a while and discussed what things we might want to do throughout this week. Windsor, British Museum, The Portrait Gallery and so many more things. There is NO way we can manage to do they all unless we decided to take a vacation when we get home!
We wanted to get out of the house so we walked to the Woking station. There we got some cash (our old bills are no longer valid!) and shopped at M & S and picked up a few things, including Colin Caterpillars - Fruit Sours... Colin Caterpillars Sours, more Colin Caterpillars, you get the idea. Hide your caterpillars as Pat is coming to take them away!
We decided to take a walk through the shop streets of Woking, on the other side of the station. We took the pedestrian tunnel under that station and came up on the other side.
Stopped into the Ogilvy to have a pint and a cup of tea. Mark had the beer, I the tea. It was nice for a cold day.
Afterwards walked around the town some more and came across Oz's Fruit and Veggies. We picked up some bananas, grapes and clementines. The grapes were from Peru.
Dinner was at The Inn at Maybury, and we had a nice time. I hit the shower tonight and now I'm wait on.... DIABETES ALERT - my electronics keeps working and has to be reset, replaced and adjusted if needed despite the time change. What other things could make DIABETES more fun??
Tomorrow we will start going out and doing some excursions... :-)
Ria let us know that Nicky ate about one fourth of one of the balls last night and threw some up over night. They will continue to watch him.
Breezed through passport control with no issues.
Our driver was not initially at the arriving station and there were lots of them about. Mark called them and also called Shelly. He had taken a bathroom break and showed up a few minutes later :-), poor guy he takes a break and who breezes through and is there before him?
It was a nice drive through countryside to Woking. We arrived at Shelly's about 09:30, and I pulled out my Sterling Pounds and he said, "these are old they're no good." I looked at him and said REALLY? I mean come on, the Bank of England issued them! We always when traveling bring some of our foreign cash home to use on our next trip. Turns out that the BOE has turned all the paper bills into some sort of plastic! I mean aren't the oceans choking enough on plastic? He did take our pounds as he said that the bank would take them and issue the new bills. Shelly was working and we spoke a little then Mark took a shower and we both took a two hour nap, getting up about 13:00.
Finally some time for visiting for a while and discussed what things we might want to do throughout this week. Windsor, British Museum, The Portrait Gallery and so many more things. There is NO way we can manage to do they all unless we decided to take a vacation when we get home!
We wanted to get out of the house so we walked to the Woking station. There we got some cash (our old bills are no longer valid!) and shopped at M & S and picked up a few things, including Colin Caterpillars - Fruit Sours... Colin Caterpillars Sours, more Colin Caterpillars, you get the idea. Hide your caterpillars as Pat is coming to take them away!
We decided to take a walk through the shop streets of Woking, on the other side of the station. We took the pedestrian tunnel under that station and came up on the other side.
Stopped into the Ogilvy to have a pint and a cup of tea. Mark had the beer, I the tea. It was nice for a cold day.
Afterwards walked around the town some more and came across Oz's Fruit and Veggies. We picked up some bananas, grapes and clementines. The grapes were from Peru.
Dinner was at The Inn at Maybury, and we had a nice time. I hit the shower tonight and now I'm wait on.... DIABETES ALERT - my electronics keeps working and has to be reset, replaced and adjusted if needed despite the time change. What other things could make DIABETES more fun??
Tomorrow we will start going out and doing some excursions... :-)
Ria let us know that Nicky ate about one fourth of one of the balls last night and threw some up over night. They will continue to watch him.
Monday, March 11, 2019
Day One - Monday - On The Way!
Day one - Leaving Atlanta
The day is finally here! We leave for London today!
We had an easy relaxing kind of day this morning as we did most of the packing yesterday or so he thinks as I insisted that we clean the house before we left. We dropped Sherlock and Nick off at Uncle Brian and Aunt Ria's around 14:00, they were happy to see Brian but that wonder in their eyes like, what's going on?? Yesterday I made the homemade food for Nick, and with that we took toys, bed, blankets, etc. We will miss them terribly but they will be fine with Brian and Ria. They have taken care of Scots for years and they take very good care of them.
By coincidence, Kevin was leaving town today also and he suggested we ride together. Makes sense... We left Horizon at 15:30 and we parked at a parking lot on Camp Creek Blvd. RAIN AGAIN, we are living in the Seattle of the south. We took the shuttle with him to the domestic terminal, and we had to change shuttles there to get us to the International Terminal. There we checked our bags and found out MY GOD, they are taking our pictures!!! I would have touched up make-up if I had known :O We went through security INSULIN-DIABETIC ALERT: Of course my Tandem insulin pump set the detectors off so a "Female Assist" was called for. A guy showed up and he didn't look feminine at all 😕but he was taking me to the scanner to be checked out. I informed him that my Tandem pump could NOT go through the scanner and handed it to him to be checked for volatile stuff I guess. Does insulin combust? We went to the Delta Sky Club lounge to consume some combustibles 😁 We arrived at the lounge at 17:30. It took us two hours to get here, with the traffic on I285 and the two shuttles at the airport. No biggie, that is why we left early. :-)
So we are sitting at a window overlooking one of the ramps at the airport having a complimentary drink to start our vacation. We have about one hour now before boarding.
We are in business class in an Airbus A330-200 with the lay flat seating. This will be nice!
The day is finally here! We leave for London today!
We had an easy relaxing kind of day this morning as we did most of the packing yesterday or so he thinks as I insisted that we clean the house before we left. We dropped Sherlock and Nick off at Uncle Brian and Aunt Ria's around 14:00, they were happy to see Brian but that wonder in their eyes like, what's going on?? Yesterday I made the homemade food for Nick, and with that we took toys, bed, blankets, etc. We will miss them terribly but they will be fine with Brian and Ria. They have taken care of Scots for years and they take very good care of them.
By coincidence, Kevin was leaving town today also and he suggested we ride together. Makes sense... We left Horizon at 15:30 and we parked at a parking lot on Camp Creek Blvd. RAIN AGAIN, we are living in the Seattle of the south. We took the shuttle with him to the domestic terminal, and we had to change shuttles there to get us to the International Terminal. There we checked our bags and found out MY GOD, they are taking our pictures!!! I would have touched up make-up if I had known :O We went through security INSULIN-DIABETIC ALERT: Of course my Tandem insulin pump set the detectors off so a "Female Assist" was called for. A guy showed up and he didn't look feminine at all 😕but he was taking me to the scanner to be checked out. I informed him that my Tandem pump could NOT go through the scanner and handed it to him to be checked for volatile stuff I guess. Does insulin combust? We went to the Delta Sky Club lounge to consume some combustibles 😁 We arrived at the lounge at 17:30. It took us two hours to get here, with the traffic on I285 and the two shuttles at the airport. No biggie, that is why we left early. :-)
So we are sitting at a window overlooking one of the ramps at the airport having a complimentary drink to start our vacation. We have about one hour now before boarding.
We are in business class in an Airbus A330-200 with the lay flat seating. This will be nice!
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