Started in London, ended in Peru

The day started early. Sara had the cleaners coming and we were eager to get to London. She took us to ashford international where we bought four high speed train tickets that included all tube and bus transportation. £60 for all of us was a great deal since the train got us to London in 37 minutes an a comparable GO ride to TO would cost $20 each return, wouldn't include TTC and would take over an hour.
We managed to navigate the tube all the way to the British museum which is surprisingly FREE!! That is one BIG museum.





The Rosetta Stone is the first wonder you see. We also saw a number of pieces that have companions in the Met in NYC. We saw an awful lot of dead people, mummies, remains and Lindow man (something for you to look up). I think we could've spent several days there but we finished around three.
After an in depth consultation of our guide books, we decided we could make the most of our visit by heading down to the houses of parliament. As we exited the tube, we were greeted by Big Ben.





He seemed happy to see us. We walked around the parliament and then headed to Jewel Tower. It's the last remaining part of the original palace of Westminster. It's pretty old. It's also the place where weights and measures were standardized.
We then walked around Westminster Abbey (sure is expensive to go in there!) and took our fair share of pictures. We walked back to the river then and headed onto a rather amusing boat cruise to the tower bridge.





Our travelcard that brought us to London also got us a sizable discount for the boat. Apparently it gives us 2 for 1 access to many of the top attractions.
The commentary for the cruise was provided by a gentleman whose family has worked the boats for the past 200 years (guess that's the only way to get a job there). He gave us lots of great information including the fact that the Tate Museum of Modern Art is free for a good reason and that the word WHARF stands for WareHouse Accessing River Front (c'mon now, admit you never knew that). After walking around the Tower we crossed the Tower Bridge and started to look for our restaurant.





We were going on a recommendation from the DK travel book I had bought at Costco. We walked past the Dungeon exhibit (not so sure I want to go into that scary place) but we couldn't find the street for the restaurant. Turns out preparations for the olympics have eliminated the street where the restaurant had resided due to massive expansions at the Tower Bridge tube station but more because of this massive skyscraper that's being built. It didn't really matter though because we ended up at an AMAZING Peruvian restaurant called Tito. Service was good and the food was even better. Everyone loved their foods.





Yes, I know there are probably a million restaurants where we could eat when we are back in London next week but it will be hard to turn down a return trip to Peru.
Tomorrow it's the long awaited Arundel castle. Mark has spoken about this since I met him. I hope it lives up to expectations!


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I'm Henry the VIII I am, I am...

http://www.eastwellmanor.com/

Quick sidetrip tonight to Eastwell Manor.


It was built as one of Henry the VIII's country homes. It's now a rather posh hotel, spa, golf course, restaurant etc etc etc.


More beautiful gardens, more beautiful vistas and some really proper people sighting on leather furniture speaking in really posh accents.


We had brought Josh and because Sara had on her gardening outfit, she opted to stay at the vehicle with him. While I believe anyone should be able to go anywhere, in hindsight, after seeing maids in black and white outfits and butlers in red tailcoats, I believe she made a good call.
On the way back we had a quick stop at the equally posh grocery store, Waitrose.


This was HIGH END but boy was it nice. I only took one pic outside but I'm sure I'll be back and I'm sure I'll take more pics!
www.waitrose.com

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Extra tidbits and morsels

Here's Cristian and Georgie having a cuddle.  She's had a bit of a tough time since her bout with tetanus and sometimes all you really need is a good cuddle!



Here's Ethan and Josh doing some male bonding with playing on the iPhone.  Somethings never change eh?


This is the sign on the entrance to Sara and Cristian's place.  Their home is referred to as 'the old barn'.


Ok nature lovers and tree experts:  can anyone tell me what is going on with this tree?  It's very tall and very old and very warty.  It goes up so high you can't really see the leaves but Mark thinks it's a maple.  I have a lovely UK pen for the first person with the correct answer.


Look at that cute face!!  Emma spends a great part of her day carrying Josh around and playing with him.  I think she's looking for employment.

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Location:Ashford,United Kingdom

Cow pastures and shopping carts

Another quiet day around Great Chart. Birds singing, sun shining. Mark and Ethan and I headed out for a walk through the village and beyond.


We passed the 'chav' (google it) pub and then the better pub and headed towards the historical town sign.


At that point you turn right into what looks like a barnyard. Well actually it is a barnyard but you're allowed to walk through it. Cows look the same in any country but the interesting thing with these cows was that they had numbers tattooed in white on their hindsides. We never did find the Gretzky cow but I'm sure he was out there somewhere. We continued down the road until we came to a beautiful view of the Downs, Tenterden and the site of the Battle of Hastings.


On our way back to town we stopped in at the church. It dates back to the 1200's but they believe it may have been there even before that. The graves outside sure looked OLD, we couldn't read most of them they were so covered in lichen.
We returned to 'the old barn' for leftover Indian food.


We'd had an assortment of rices, spices and meats and it tasted even better the next day.
The shopper in me resurfaced in a delightful store called matalan where we spend £61 and got two bags jam packed with clothing deals. So much england stuff that the clerk commented that our accents didn't match our merchandise. The store is kind of like a Winners with not as much stuff.


Ethan said it smelled like Winners. It was a short walk there so I could be going back before we leave if anyone would like any dirt cheap England football paraphenalia (sp?). Apparently the Brits will have to keep reliving the victory of 1966 for another 4 years.


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Location:Ashford,United Kingdom

Rye, the town, not the stuff you drink

Today was a day on the coast in Rye. Well not exactly on the coast but in ancient times it would have been. Now it's more of an incredibly flat marshland inhabited mainly by millions of sheep, sheep next to massive power lines and under giant wind turbines. We had a bit more of a stereotypical English day weatherwise. Bright, sunny and warm one minute, cool and drizzly the next ( with a bit of a downpour for good measure.





We walked around a bit and then headed to a proper pub for lunch. Ethan had bacon and eggs, Emma had a blt, mark had a ploughmans lunch and cristian and I had scampi and chips.





(in case anyone was wondering, we aren't neglecting Sara, it's just that her puppy Georgie is in recovery and Josh is sticking to his schedule. Also our numbers would necessitate another vehicle for each trip). With any pub meal you must have beer so the adults happily obliged. I found it amusing that the bathrooms were in a building out the back door, much like a converted shed.





It had started to rain when we had finished so we promptly walked up to the church for some shelter. When the rain had let up, we headed to the castle, a small one in comparison to Dover but with a very curious attendant.





He told us his own ghost story when I asked if the castle was haunted. Too long to explain in the blog but definitely worth asking next time you see me. There sure are some curious houses on Rye on those little cobbled streets. One is labelled 'the first house', another is ' the house with two front doors' and yet another has a front door that would challenge a hobbit.





Not sure if it was the weather, wasn't a particularly long or strenuous day but we all seem rather wiped by it all. Tonight we are having a feast on Indian food, mmmmmmm!!


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Location:Ashford,United Kingdom

Ghostbusters

Ok so we had no confirmed ghost sightings but we also had no shortage of ghostly events. As we left Great Chart, we drove past a graveyard. What would walk across our path but none other than a black cat. We arrived in Pluckley proper and took s stroll through the graveyard at the church, right at dusk. It was very overrun and rather ghostly with some strange sounds but the strangest was the man walking his three dogs who said NOTHING when I said 'hello' and 'hello puppies. It was as if he never even saw us!!


We entered the pub where Cristian tried to buy drink but because he had no cash couldn't. You see, the man behind the bar had only just taken over since the previous owners had just 'up and went'. As he put it, they left the keys on the bar and walked out. I asked if business was slow and he said it had been ok for him. He said he'd lived in the area forever so you'd think he'd know why they'd gone. Scared by the ghosts in the graveyard next door perhaps???


He headed to the Dering Inn but it had closed, despite having people still inside and out. One of the locals started to tell us all about the best businesses in the area, the best one being Newhouse farms, coincidentally (or not) Mark and Cristians grandad used to own that farm! Did I mention the bar that flew in front of the vehicle??
Well not as spooky as anticipated but lots of fun just the same.




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Location:Sprotlands Ave,,United Kingdom

The great gardens of Great Chart

This is the Italian gardens, long and skinny with a really skinny but long rectangular pool (it's kinda orange though so I'd pass on the swimming)


-some lovely ripe peaches growing in the greenhouse, known as a hothouse here.


close up.  Don't they look delicious????


A really funny apple tree.  Looks like its elbows are leaning on the ground.  I believe it may have been grafted.


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Location:Ashford,United Kingdom