I'm home!

[piplover]

Hello, all!

Well, my trip to England has once more come to an end. I was sad to leave, but am happy to be home with the kitties again.  I had a lot of fun, even if traveling with my family was a bit more - well, more, than I expected.  I don't think I'll be sharing a room again with them anytime soon, lol. 

Still, we saw so much stuff, and it was fun watching them discover England. Even if they did the most touristy route to do it. 

Lots of photos beneath the cut, so be warned when opening. 


Here is the Shard, the one landmark besides the Gherkin that let us find my sister's place.   She lives very close to it, so we always know which way we're going by looking up. 

This is a horrible picture of my sister and I on the first night, when I hadn't slept in 24 hours and was freezing in the cold wind.  That expression is me saying, "Take the damn picture already, I want to be moving again!"



This is the market near where our sister lives, located right on the Thames.




This is the mother and brother unit in the park near my sister's.  Taking pictures of everything, including me. 



My sister at her graduation. She's the one in purple.







After her graduation we went to dinner at a Russian restaurant we had gone to last time I visited. The food was really good, the atmosphere bizarre, and it was only after dinner that my sister's boyfriend let us know that below the restaurant was a strip club, lol.  Never let it be said my family is boring. This was on the way to the restaurant. I think it's Piccadilly Circus, though I'm probably wrong.



It rained the next day, but we didn't let it deter us!  We went to the Tower Bridge and did the exhibit there. 





We went different ways on Wed. I went to spend the day with nodbear at the National Archives, while the family went to the zoo.  Much fun was had by all!  I had a blast at the archives, even with a fire alarm, lol.  It was a great day!  When the family converged again that night we were off to explore around town and came upon a large palace.




Thursday was the Crown Jewels, so no pictures, and the British War Experience.  Lots of pictures of that, but probably only of things that would interest me, lol.  Then, on Friday, Stonehenge!
 

Saturday was mostly spent on a train to Scotland.  We found a lovely pub where we had haggis, which I quite liked, and had some wonderful cider. It was a great day!



Then Sunday was a Loch Ness tour.  From 8am to 8pm, we went through the Highlands, to Loch Ness, and then back to Edinburgh.  Beautiful!







Then we were back to London, and our last full day.  We had dinner with my sister and her friends, and it was  another great day.  Then Tuesday my mom and I got up early to visit St. Paul's.  Lovely, absolutely beautiful. 




Then, sadly, it was time to go. 

I had a wonderful trip, and even though there were bits I wish had been a bit better, or less - um, filled with family, I didn't want it to end. Thank you England and Scotland for being so amazing and enduring our visit!

Comments

[shirebound]

You saw a LOT during your trip. I'm so glad you had this experience.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

It was amazing, and I'm so happy I was able to share it with my family.

[glorfinniel.livejournal.com]

Ah, Rekorderlig! That's my favourite cider :) I'm glad you had such a great time, and managed to see as much as you did! It's a shame we couldn't meet again (you were so near to me when in London and when you went to Stonehenge!) but I suppose there's always next time :P

It's a shame you've left now though - you've just missed the really cold weather I told you about. Well, cold for the UK anyway! And we're expecting snow in the next day or two as well.

What did you think of Stonehenge? Also, if you do ever decide to post pictures of the British War Experience I for one would be very very interested :)

(P.S We must catch up sometime soon to discuss Sherlock and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows!)

[piplover.livejournal.com]

I loved that cider! I really hope there's a way to get it over here, otherwise I'll have to go back just to have more!

I loved Stonehenge, it was amazing. Even if you couldn't get very close, it was still awe inspiring. And I'll try to post some pictures of the War Experience.

Yes! We must meet up next time in England, and we definitely need to catch up on all the Sherlock Holmes goodness!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Holy cow, you guys seriously stuffed an incredible amount of stuff into such a brief trip, talk about getting your money's worth. Love the pics, and so glad you had a chance to go! Belated congrats to your Sis too, a fine accomplishment.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It was an amazing trip, but I don't think we stopped moving once we got off the plane. We literally tried to cram as much as humanly possible into the time we had.

[jcporter1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. The tours sound pretty good. I never got to lock ness or stonehenge when I was there. Did you go up to the top of St Pauls? Love the ruins.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

The tours were great, and especially the tour to Loch Ness. Our driver was hilarious and full of stories.

Unfortunately we only had about a half hour at St. Paul's, since we went on the day we were flying out. I hope that next time I'm there I can go to the top, though.

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's Piccadilly Circus. :)

It's shame you didn't get a clear day for Tower Bridge - the views from the walkways are amazing.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

Yay, I got the location right!

Even with the rain the Tower Bridge was amazing, I can't imagine how awesome it will be in sunshine.

[elayna88.livejournal.com]

It looks like a great trip!

[piplover.livejournal.com]

It was wonderful! I'm so thankful I was able to go, and share it with my family.

[nodbear.livejournal.com]

We were so glad you could come ! And you even witnessed the British being British in a fire alarm situation :)

thanks for the great day at the archives and our Beanie movie based on that day is in production = just that things here at Team Nodbear are a little understaffed compared to Team Downey:)