London is Wicked!

Wow...what a crazy busy place London is. Holy cow. So insane! Took the train into Paddington Station (like the bear in the kids' book!) and then taxied to Buckingham palace, only we couldn't get there because traffic was stopped due to some parade...which we later saw.

Missed the official Changing of the Guard due to practice for some parade (Trooping of the Colours) for The Queen's birthday next month. Were unable to get very close to Buckingham Palace because of that. Though we did get to see all the guard in their fancy uniforms, some atop horses and playing instruments. We couldn't even get to that memorial dad was talking about. The police had the whole area blocked off. We walked round Buckingham Palace to the theatre outside Victoria Station. Let me just say, The Queen has a damn big house. My legs still hurt today. It's hilly walking that seems to bother them most, my shins just BURN. Ugh.

Then we went to see Wicked. Which was FREAKING AWESOME!!!!! Only a few of the characters did I really notice their accents...for those of you who were wondering. The cast was awesome, our seats were awesome, the sound was awesome, and Fiyero's trousers were lovely. It made me CRY it was so good!!! Also gave my goosebumps at one point. LOVED it!! I hope I can still get tickets for Phoenix next month. I already want to see it again!!! I bought 2 shirts (one says Wicked London on it, the other says Defying Gravity).

We had drinks with Jaz at The Shakespeare Pub after. It was lovely to finally meet her!! She's loads of fun. I look forward to next week, but I will be sad leaving Sal in Newbury. : ( Tomorrow is our last day together, until I come back on Thursday to go to school with her.

Me and the Jazzy one at the pub. See laminated Kimmy in the foreground.

Fancy British parade practice.

Palace guards. We were quite far away... zoomity lens action!!

WICKED SQUEE!!!! The signage was v. cool.. all sparkly.. the lighting inside the theatre was all GREEN too!!!!!

By The Sea!

Today we took the train to Bournemouth on the coast. It was a lovely sunny day and the beach was super crowded. It was a really long painful walk to the beach when we got there...partly, because of my sore muscles from yesterday, partly because I am a wussy American who never walks anywhere. : P Had to wear my stipey socks to the beach in homage to Sweeney Todd. We ate fish & chips at Harry Ramsden's (apparently world famous fish & chips shop). Sally had the traditional 'mushy peas' I just ate the regular ones. We sat on the beach, I took pictures of my feet, I set foot in the English Channel, Sal took a silly video for __grobs. We walked the pier, sat in deck chairs we were supposed to pay for, and had some ice cream after playing around in the amusement arcade and riding on a carousel. Then we hiked up the hill and got a taxi back to the train station, where we had to wait an hour for the next train back because of some random delay, then that train was so crowded we had to stand part of the way. Had dinner at KFC (they don't have mashed potates at UK KFCs!? *gasp!*) then back to Sal's where I took a bath and got some of the kinks out of my muscles.

Sally was oh so excited to ride on the carousel!





Fish & Chips!!!!!
In the English Channel... we couldn't see France, but we could see the White Cliffs of Dover in the distance.


An ode to Sweeney Todd. My spanking new cons, they are double tongued and GREEN inside!!

Amusing things at the end of the pier. That tower thing is a 'helter skelter' which is a big slide.

Tomorrow: London!!!!!! Jaz!!! Wicked!!!! Changing of the Guard!!!!

Bath

Today we went to Bath by train. It was lovely. We waved at Chippenham for you Cari & went into Lush! My favorite place so far is Bath Abbey. It was gorgeous! I wanted to take it home with me. It's a bit too big for my luggage though. We also went to the Roman Baths there, which was a bit like stepping back in time and visiting Italy all at once. Dad, you would have loved it!!! We sampled the Bath waters which tasted rather metallic, smelled funny, and were warm. Went into Reading on the way home and met up with Sally's friend Laura for tea. We ate at Chili's which niether of them had before, and I didn't know existed in the UK... then had Krispy Kremes for dessert. *SQUEE* Today I also had Ribena, a Crunchie Shakaway Shake, and a Cheese & Onion Pasty (my favorite meal so far... SO YUM!!) Oh and guess what mom? They let DOGS on trains in England!!!!! I think that's just awesome. I miss mine. : ( I am so tired!!! I walked more today than I usually do in a week!

Photos!

The interior of Bath Abbey. The ceiling was SO high!!!! Built in 1496..how the heck did they do that!? There was a mass going on when we got there so we had to wait to take photos until afterwards.

Me excited over a dozen KKs. Laura looking at me incredulously thinking soemthing about crazy americans I am sure.
More of Bath Abbey. This was near the altar.

The exterior of the Abbey! Isn't it grand?

The Roman Baths.

Tomorrow: Fish & Chips at the seaside! :) Also, I'll try calling home, hopefully I can get a phone card at the post office. I miss you!!

Another Post!!!!!!?

Yeah, the photo uploading is getting quite tedious, and I feel like I am hogging Sally's computer, hence so few photos in each post. I've met some lovely people the last two days... Sally's mum, dad,and sister Hazel, and her adorable friend Adele & her boyfriend Ed.



Sally's parents bought me dinner at the pub last night and Hazel gave me some fun little gifts. I felt right spazzy that I'd forgotten the gifts I brought from them on Sally's bookshelf. I'll send them by post later this week. Sally's mum told me all about the canal system and the canal boats in Braunton. Her dad, who was a teacher and is now still works in the schools and I had some lovely conversations about schools and the difference between ours and theirs (not too much really). Hazel let my play with her Dr. Who toys while Sally rolled her eyes at us. :P



Sally & her adorable friend Adele took me to an AMERICAN themed resturant today for lunch. It was called Frankie and Benny's. I went out of my way to eat the least American item on the menu (sausage and mash). They did a good job of making it seem American though, lots of tradtional American foods, and the decor was much like an American resturant like Chili's... but alas no Dr. Pepper. Sal has 2 bottles of it here for me. :) I tried smoky bacon crisps (potato chips) just now...OMG. I think I have to buy another suitcase just to bring home packets of crisps. This is Amy's fault. :P During lunch Adele asks 'so is anyone going on holiday soon?' It was quite funny as I AM on holiday now. She's quite funny. We galavanted about the countryside scoping out the church where Princess Di is really buried... and shopping!




Pictures...



Sally and her parents.

Sally and Adele skipping down the road.









Sally & Adele being more civilized.


Me, enjoying hot chocolate at Costa Coffee (just for you Cari!!)











me & Hazel on the site of the medieval ruins of a town where everyone died of the plauge. How morbid!!

Me looking very excited about the phone box pencil sharpener Hazel has given me. I'm inside my first pub!

It uploaded the wrong photos...grrr. Oh well. Here's the yummy knight again.
The Spencer estate -Althrop House- where Princess Diana grew up and where everyone thinks she's buried on an island... but she's not. She's actually in an old church up the road. I do have photos of that church, but don't feel like uploading anymore at the moment.

The house gate.

Davetry town centre- where went shopping today. Not many people about as it was wet and rainy.

Okay... tomorrow we go to Bath early. So we need to head to bed soon. Goodnews, the jetlag has finally seemed to wear off!

Braunston

I just can't seem to get over how GREEN & hilly it is here!! So the opposite of Arizona!!

Typical English countryside.


Braunston Church, you can see the steeple of this church in the photo above.

Canal dogs!!! For you mum!!

They were on a canal boat that was going through a lock near the pub we ate at.

I had steak & ale pie and soemthing called Eaton Mess for dessert...tasty!!!

Me and Sal at the Braunston Marnia.

The Braunston Marina. One of my favotite places to photograph so far!

Warwick Castle

Yesterday we went to Warwick Castle, a real Medieval Castle built in about 1300. It was so COOL!!!!! It was huge, but you really couldn't see it until you were right at it, as it was in a dense forest, which we had to walk 20 minutes through to get to. We had a picnic lunch on thr grounds inside the castle and then walked around the place. We watched some jousting with very good looking knights ( I took tons of pictures of them, with my zoomity lens). Toured the grounds and the staterooms where they had elaborate displays wit wax figures of famous Brits... including this one of The Queen. She looks real doesn't she?



The back of the castle.



Nummy Knight number one.

The front of the castle.

More entries about other activties yesterday and today soon to come, including: shopping!! more old churches, the real plac where Princess Di is buried, meeting Adele & Sally's family, and visiting the Braunton marina/canals.

I'm HERE!!!!!!

After a long 10 hour flight, in which I was seated in the vicinity of 10 children...I think every kid on that flight was sitting near me!...I arrived safely in England. Went through immigration easily and quickly and found Sally waiting for me. We drove down the M4 to Newbury and Sal's house. Took a walk through Victoria Park to the town centre shops and went to the grocery store, where I spent my first British £'s on snackfood. A bit later we returned to the town centre for some pizza for supper. Yummy!

Here's a handful of the pics I took on our walk.
The old church-St. Nicholas'

The Snooty Fox Pub, the name made me giggle.

The canal.

The park, look how green it is!!!

The path leading from Sally's house to the park.

I probably won't be updating again until after we come back to Sally's house on Wednesday. Tomorrow we're going to Warwick Castle and Daventry so I can meet the rest of Sally's family.After we stop at the camera shop to see if I can get a battery charger, my one battery is almost drained (I think my camera must have gotten knocked on in my bag or something, the batteries usually last for ages!) but I do have a spare, and it looks like they carry my charger in the store here from their website.

I {heart} Basic Grey

Those scrap geniuses over at Basic Grey just released 2 new lines...

June Bug
& Lemonade

I totally love the colors of Lemonade but this June Bug paper is my fave!!
I want a whole stack of it!

Shipping in mid June!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In other news... look for a new look for my blog in the next day or so. I am going to be keeping my trip journal here so you can all read about my adventures abroad and am going to change my header to reflect that! :D

I have my own kit!

It's named after me and everything. : )


Click on the pic to see the whole book. It was my Mother's Day present to my mom!

This kit includes:

(1) Jenni Bowlin Die-Cut Label Paper - Navy Lined Label
(2) Jenni Bowlin Trendy Floral
(2) Jenni Bowlin Navy Tiny Dot
(2) Jenni Bowlin Red Wallpaper
(2) Jenni Bowlin Navy Harlequin
(2) Teresa Collins Journal-It - Document
(1) Maya Road Mini 2-ring Scallop Layer Book
(1) Daisy D's Rub-On Transfers - Photo Accents
(1) Daisy D's Rub-Ons Transfers - Family Expressions
(1) Heidi Swapp Clear Stamps - Smile
(1) Heidi Swapp Round Floral - Crimson
(1) Tim Holtz Mini-Mask - Regal
(4) Red and Pink Brads
(1) Black Plated Safety Pin
(1) Maya Road 1/2 Yard - Cream Ribbon
(1) 7gypsies XL Cardholder - Silver

You know you want one.
Click this linky and go to Concroption and buy one!!
There's only 7 left!