curses
09-20-2006, 04:52 PM
Sooo yeah. I got back in the country Sunday night, and have slowly been recovering.
England was great. So great, in fact, that we're planning on moving there in the next 5 or so years. My husband's friends and family are worth the uprooting. I've got a lot of research ahead of me concerning immigrating :overwork:
On to the tales. Two of our friends were kind enough to let us sleep at their house for two weeks. We used this as base camp, since it's walking distance from the High Brooms train station. (Think Tonbridge, then go one more stop farther on the Hastings line) We spent the first day (Sunday) there trying to locate lost baggage. That and catching up on sleep. The baggage was found later that day, having been picked up in error by someone, who was kind enough to look up our details from the tag and call us.
Second day was a lovely day for a barbeque. All our friends came round for some beer, burgers, and football. It was so good to see everyone after two years. Don't worry, I won't bore you with details of people you've never met :cool: .
Tuesday saw us on a train to Paddock Wood to visit my sister in law and her kids. Holy crap, I never realized how much energy can be contained in a five year old! I must say that I loved her garden, though.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/fuschia.jpg
We spent Wednesday doing laundry and sleeping. We wandered into town for a bite to eat and some shopping. Wednesday was the only day we had that wasn't extremely busy.
The next day was spent visiting my husband's nan in Hurst Green. We spent two hours wandering round the village, all the while I was getting the grand tour of where hubby went to school, broke his arm, went to play...the usual fun childhood relived.
Friday involved us first going to Winchelsea and then Rye with hubby's parents. It was a lovely day, just warm enough to enjoy the beach and our packed lunch.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/winchelsea1.jpg
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/winchelsea2.jpg
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/me.jpg
(yes, I took the majority of the trip photos here. It was just so beautiful.)
We wandered back into Rye to have a look at the castle.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/ryecastle.jpg
Eventually we made our way back to Paddock Wood for a Friday curry and an early night, for the next day we'd find ourselves at..
Chessington World of Adventures! (or as we were calling it, Chessington World of All The Rides For Grownups Are Shut Down For Maintenance!) It was nice not having to lug my niece and nephew around, and just spend the afternoon getting hopelessly lost. We came across a McDonald's that was done in a Gothic style near the Vampire roller coaster. Sadly, the only picture I took was of the frightening Ronald McDonald.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/mcdonald.jpg
Sunday morning we made the trek to a village outside of Andover in Hampshire to visit the extended family. They had put together a huge party for Alan and my wedding (since nobody could make it to the states to see us get married). I met so many people I can't even keep the names and faces straight! The night at the farmhouse ended with a lovely sunset.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/sunset.jpg
We then retired to the hotel in Andover with my brother in law and his girlfriend, where many jack and cokes were consumed.
Cue Monday morning, which was a hot day! We decided to visit Stonehenge, since it's all of 15 miles from where we were, and none of us have ever been. We stopped by the local garage to get drinks and cigarettes, and found the following gem of a headline:
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/headline.jpg
Seriously, if that's all there is to be pissed off about, I'm moving there.
We arrive at Stonehenge and park, only to discover that they want £15 to get in the gate! Not to worry, we had a decent view from the other side of the fence.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/us.jpg
The second Tuesday of our visit found us romping around Camden Town, shopping in Resurrection Records, and eating dinner with my husband's old coworkers on the south bank of the Thames (in a place fittingly called Gourmet Pizza) I remember now why I hate the Tube during peak hours. Assholes have no idea how to fucking MOVE OUT OF THE WAY SO YOU CAN EXIT THE BLEEDING TRAIN. My training as a rude American came in handy here as they were unceremoniously shoved so that I didn't end up at Waterloo East instead of Charing Cross. Bastards.
Wednesday rolls around again, and cue another trip into the local town for chips, shopping, and general dallying about. Wednesday night was spent in London for a Woodentops gig. It started raining halfway between the car park and the club on Oxford St. It was absolutely pissing down when we left, a proper thunderstorm. It was slightly harrowing standing on the Millennium Bridge during a thunderstorm.
Thursday afternoon was spent in London again, this time visiting the British Museum. I took pictures here, but they're requiring a bit of correction, and I haven't got around to fixing them yet. Thursday evening included a trip into East Croydon to visit friends, and for me to do something I've never done before: drink an entire bottle of wine by myself. Good times.
Friday found us back in London, this time our focus was Greenwich. We met up with a friend for lunch, then wandered around the Cutty Sark.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/cuttysark.jpg
Next we headed over to the Maritime Museum, which was a lovely museum. Sadly there was a no photography rule. We were run out of the building around closing time, so we headed up to the Royal Observatory. It was also closed. We wandered around the top of the hill that the Observatory is on and took pictures, then went for tea.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/queenshouse.jpg
Saturday was spent packing and watching episodes of The Mighty Boosh. Another slightly down day, but the rest was very much needed.
Sunday was a (very sad) car ride to the airport and subsequent flight home. I really didn't want to come back. I'm still a bit too tired to offer up any other thoughts of the trip except how busy we were and how expensive everything was, but we really enjoyed ourselves.
England was great. So great, in fact, that we're planning on moving there in the next 5 or so years. My husband's friends and family are worth the uprooting. I've got a lot of research ahead of me concerning immigrating :overwork:
On to the tales. Two of our friends were kind enough to let us sleep at their house for two weeks. We used this as base camp, since it's walking distance from the High Brooms train station. (Think Tonbridge, then go one more stop farther on the Hastings line) We spent the first day (Sunday) there trying to locate lost baggage. That and catching up on sleep. The baggage was found later that day, having been picked up in error by someone, who was kind enough to look up our details from the tag and call us.
Second day was a lovely day for a barbeque. All our friends came round for some beer, burgers, and football. It was so good to see everyone after two years. Don't worry, I won't bore you with details of people you've never met :cool: .
Tuesday saw us on a train to Paddock Wood to visit my sister in law and her kids. Holy crap, I never realized how much energy can be contained in a five year old! I must say that I loved her garden, though.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/fuschia.jpg
We spent Wednesday doing laundry and sleeping. We wandered into town for a bite to eat and some shopping. Wednesday was the only day we had that wasn't extremely busy.
The next day was spent visiting my husband's nan in Hurst Green. We spent two hours wandering round the village, all the while I was getting the grand tour of where hubby went to school, broke his arm, went to play...the usual fun childhood relived.
Friday involved us first going to Winchelsea and then Rye with hubby's parents. It was a lovely day, just warm enough to enjoy the beach and our packed lunch.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/winchelsea1.jpg
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/winchelsea2.jpg
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/me.jpg
(yes, I took the majority of the trip photos here. It was just so beautiful.)
We wandered back into Rye to have a look at the castle.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/ryecastle.jpg
Eventually we made our way back to Paddock Wood for a Friday curry and an early night, for the next day we'd find ourselves at..
Chessington World of Adventures! (or as we were calling it, Chessington World of All The Rides For Grownups Are Shut Down For Maintenance!) It was nice not having to lug my niece and nephew around, and just spend the afternoon getting hopelessly lost. We came across a McDonald's that was done in a Gothic style near the Vampire roller coaster. Sadly, the only picture I took was of the frightening Ronald McDonald.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/mcdonald.jpg
Sunday morning we made the trek to a village outside of Andover in Hampshire to visit the extended family. They had put together a huge party for Alan and my wedding (since nobody could make it to the states to see us get married). I met so many people I can't even keep the names and faces straight! The night at the farmhouse ended with a lovely sunset.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/sunset.jpg
We then retired to the hotel in Andover with my brother in law and his girlfriend, where many jack and cokes were consumed.
Cue Monday morning, which was a hot day! We decided to visit Stonehenge, since it's all of 15 miles from where we were, and none of us have ever been. We stopped by the local garage to get drinks and cigarettes, and found the following gem of a headline:
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/headline.jpg
Seriously, if that's all there is to be pissed off about, I'm moving there.
We arrive at Stonehenge and park, only to discover that they want £15 to get in the gate! Not to worry, we had a decent view from the other side of the fence.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/us.jpg
The second Tuesday of our visit found us romping around Camden Town, shopping in Resurrection Records, and eating dinner with my husband's old coworkers on the south bank of the Thames (in a place fittingly called Gourmet Pizza) I remember now why I hate the Tube during peak hours. Assholes have no idea how to fucking MOVE OUT OF THE WAY SO YOU CAN EXIT THE BLEEDING TRAIN. My training as a rude American came in handy here as they were unceremoniously shoved so that I didn't end up at Waterloo East instead of Charing Cross. Bastards.
Wednesday rolls around again, and cue another trip into the local town for chips, shopping, and general dallying about. Wednesday night was spent in London for a Woodentops gig. It started raining halfway between the car park and the club on Oxford St. It was absolutely pissing down when we left, a proper thunderstorm. It was slightly harrowing standing on the Millennium Bridge during a thunderstorm.
Thursday afternoon was spent in London again, this time visiting the British Museum. I took pictures here, but they're requiring a bit of correction, and I haven't got around to fixing them yet. Thursday evening included a trip into East Croydon to visit friends, and for me to do something I've never done before: drink an entire bottle of wine by myself. Good times.
Friday found us back in London, this time our focus was Greenwich. We met up with a friend for lunch, then wandered around the Cutty Sark.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/cuttysark.jpg
Next we headed over to the Maritime Museum, which was a lovely museum. Sadly there was a no photography rule. We were run out of the building around closing time, so we headed up to the Royal Observatory. It was also closed. We wandered around the top of the hill that the Observatory is on and took pictures, then went for tea.
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/3/8/0/queenshouse.jpg
Saturday was spent packing and watching episodes of The Mighty Boosh. Another slightly down day, but the rest was very much needed.
Sunday was a (very sad) car ride to the airport and subsequent flight home. I really didn't want to come back. I'm still a bit too tired to offer up any other thoughts of the trip except how busy we were and how expensive everything was, but we really enjoyed ourselves.