In September 2018, we were getting ready for dinner when Jake emerged from the basement to say he was going to Wal-Mart for batteries. Jared was taking care of dinner so I would ride along with him. It was a short trip to town and back. We returned to Jared sniffling in the kitchen and Macy bawling at the kitchen counter. What could have possibly happened in the last 30 minutes??? Apparently, a lot! We had a friend who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It had been in remission but had come back. Jared asked her husband if they had gotten to do the things they had wanted to do in life (bucket list items). He said no that they had planned to travel and do those things when they retired. When Jared was done with the phone call, he got online and ordered tickets to the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker performance at the Royal Opera House in London on New Year's Day and made hotel reservations. So why all of the tears? It had been my dream to go to London since I can remember. I had told Jared about it repeatedly. Never did I think I would actually get to go. After Jared spoke to his friend, he decided we were going because tomorrow isn't a promise.
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Our favorite family photo ever! It sums up each of our personalities perfectly.
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He was so proud and so happy. He kept asking me, "Aren't you excited?" For two and a half hours, all I could say was, "I just went to get batteries..." I couldn't process what had happened. This man was handing me my biggest bucket list item on a silver platter. We hadn't done anything like this ever before, not because of means but because I was scared. I could think of a million reasons not to go. We would be missing Christmas. I didn't have the right clothes. Could I really travel to Europe - this little Kansas girl - could I? Could I really take that long of a flight??? I hate flying especially over the water (Funny thing about this fear, it was a shorter flight than our flight to Hawaii.)? And then the answer came to me, yes I could! I could be happy about this, I could enjoy it. Jared has travelled the globe extensively. I would be in the best of hands. I couldn't get to sleep that night. My mind was spinning. I was going to England! How do I express my gratitude to my wonderful husband???
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Winston Churchill is one of our favorite people from history.
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Lots of shopping and packing later, the day for us to leave finally came! To save some money on tickets, we decided to fly out of DFW (an 8 hour drive) instead of our local airport. This decision was the right one. We ended up with a horrible snow/ice storm that closed our airport down for 5 days starting the day before we left. We never would have gotten out! God was watching out for us. We drove down the day before and had dinner at our favorite Fort Worth restaurant. Could life be any better??? After we boarded our flight to London, Jared and I told the kids we were going to make the most of our time. There would be no fighting, just joy! We had uneventful flights! Finally, it was touch down in England. We arrived late their time. We had the absolute best experience at passport control. We began our walk to baggage claim when I became overwhelmed emotionally! I was here!!! Never in my wildest dreams, did I think that I would ever be standing in Heathrow Airport!
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| And we are off to DFW, next stop London! |
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Fish and chips for lunch!
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Jake legally enjoying a pint of ale.
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| A different pub down the street (that's really all there is to eat or get a drink) totally jet lagged waiting for our room to be done. |
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Scotch egg at the Pig and the Butcher
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My lamb roast with Yorkshire pudding and the most amazing gravy I have ever tasted.
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Yeah, we don't photograph well, but it documents one of the best days we have ever had so that's ok.
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First stop on day two? Why Buckingham Palace of course! It is so much bigger than it appears on tv. The Queen Victoria statue in front of the palace is really something. We took pictures, even a family selfie. Then, we walked to Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery. Along the way, we saw Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, all kinds of architecture, and a few pubs along the way to rest our tired feet. At the National Gallery, we saw paintings by Rapheal, Michealangelo, Van Gogh, Monet, and many, many others. It was pretty surreal to see them in person. It was New Year's Eve. That evening, we returned to the Charles Dickens pub. We were in London in a building where one of our favorite authors had lived on New Years Eve!!! We were scooted along promptly at 10:00 p.m., in the most polite way possible, as Macy was under 16. We were exhausted anyway so we grabbed some Middle Eastern food and took it back to the hotel for a midnight celebration. We could see all kinds of fireworks from our hotel windows. Macy was such a riot on this trip. She didn't want to miss anything and didn't want to waste a minute of it sleeping. She kept me up until 1:00 a.m. every morning and got me up no later than 7:00 ready to hit the ground running. She was the spirit of our trip.
We rang in the new year by spending four hours touring Westminster Abbey including the new gallery that was added for the queen's diamond jubilee in the top of the abbey. As you climb the stairs, you get to see the amazing outside architecture and gargoyles that you would normally not get to see. You can also see St. Peter's Abbey which is the original structure. King Edward the Confessor rebuilt it between 1042 and 1052. Because of its age, it is closed to the public. The only way to see it is from above. Westminster over all was a sensory overload experience. Between the the architecture covering every square inch of the place and the history (Sir Isaac Newton's tomb is one of the first things you see when walking in), your eyes don't know where to look. It got a little eerie at the tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I. All of us agreed that the air was a little heavier almost as if the tension that existed between them on this earth was still there. It was kind of spooky, and we were all glad to leave that area. The most amazing part of the day was walking out to all of the chimes ringing in celebration of the new year. Next on our agenda was the ballet. All I can say is WOW - just WOW!!! The building, the dancers, and the musicians were out of this world amazing. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day!
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Westminster Abbey - you can only take photos outside.
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The other entrance
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The kids and I loved this quote.
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You know how there is one thing you always forget on a trip??? Well, I forgot my hairstyling products and appliances! Oh well!
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Macy was more interested in the musicians than the dancers.
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| This place was so big and so amazing. |
The next day, we went to the Tower of London. If you are a fan of history, this is your place. There is so much to see. It is actually several different towers not just one. The Fortress is pretty cool. It is a stealthy structure where the queen's jewels and many other priceless items are displayed. There is a lot of history there. The Tower of Torture, while rather small, was very interesting. Repeatedly on the tour, you will read that they didn't really behead or torture all that many people in England. We found ourselves asking, "So why is there an entire tower devoted just to torture, and why, while it was active, were people employed just to torture and behead?" Things that make you go hmm... White Castle also stood out to us. It was built by William the Conqueror during the 1080s. All of the restrooms were located along the outside walls of the castle. A hole was knocked out of the wall so that all of the waste would run down the outside walls of the castle. It is also the home of St. John's Chapel. It was my favorite thing of the entire trip. Its simplicity was so incredibly beautiful. Our other favorite tower was the Imprisonment Tower. Many of the prisoners carved beautiful art into the walls while imprisoned. It was really impressive! We finished the day by hanging out at the British Museum. A person could spend weeks there and still not see everything. We will have to go back.
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British Museum
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Mummy of a girl named Cleopatra
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Our last day in London was spent walking around Islington and doing a little shopping. We loved Islington. When we go back, we will stay there again. We used cabs to get around. They drivers are amazing. They have to memorize all of the streets, hotels, restaurants, and points of interests. You just get in and tell them where you want to go. They are just incredible. Macy wanted to get photos with the red phone booths so we did that too. We can't wait to go back. It was with very heavy hearts that we boarded a plane that evening to go back to the US. I think England will always have a piece of my heart.
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