THE GREAT TRIP con.

Sunday, September 13

Today has been such a long and wonderful day. First off we went to church. We had some trouble getting there, but a taxi rescued us and we made it. Jaremy and I could have walked but Chrissy had on heels and was having problems. It was a good meeting. Then we came home, changed clothes and were off!
First we went to the Portobello Road Market. That was really fun. There was so much stuff for sale, all kinds of little shops. We got Jennah’s present there. Chrissy bought a strawberry and cream crepe that a girl made at a little stand on the street. She shared it with Jaremy and me. It was wonderful!
Then we were off to the Tower of London. We were there a long time. It was so interesting I could have spent longer. We saw the place where people got their heads chopped off (how could people have been so cruel?) and there was a guide there telling stories about the people who had been sent to the Tower to be executed. I stood there for a while listening. Chrissy and I decided next time we go there we would like to have a guide so we could listen to all the stories. We also heard the story about the two young princes who were imprisoned in the Tower and were never seen alive again. Their bodies were found 2 years later. We listened to all the evidence and then cast our vote for who we thought did them in. They also had a special display all on Henry the 8th and then of course we got to see the crown jewels. It was just all so interesting.
Next we went to Camden Market where we got Kaeley, Kiren and Maeyah’s present. That was a very interesting and exotic place. There were lots of unique people with quite original hair and piercings and tattoos. Then we went to King’s Cross Station and found platform 9 ¾. Yay for Harry Potter! The Brits don’t seem as enthused as us about it though.
We rode the tube so much today. Those oyster cards have been well worth it. Today the sun never did come out. It looked like rain but was only windy. It was a great day.

MORE STUFF ABOUT BEING HERE

They have very interesting toilets here. They all have different kinds of flushing handles. One thing in common though, is you have to hurl all your strength into pushing down the handle and then hold it, to get it to work properly.
Instead of having “exit” signs, their signs say “Way Out”.
Also we got stopped on one of the trains today and a whole bunch of police came running along. Someone said they were looking for someone, (with a big moustache??)

Monday, September 14

Today we were off bright and early to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, (from Mary Poppins, also Princess Diana was married here). More stone and dead people and tons of monuments and statues. It was very ornate too, very magnificent, very beautiful in a hard, cold way. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect and he wanted it to be kept simple, but he died before it was finished and someone decided to fancy the cathedral up since he wasn’t there to stop them. We went down into the crypt to see the burial places of Lord Horatio Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. They were amazing, very big and very splendid. Lots of other important people were buried there too, in the walls, in the floor, all over the place. They had a café down there too, “The Crypt Café”. I am not kidding! We didn’t feel much like eating there though. It was very dim down there in the crypt and Chrissy said it smelt funny. Lord Nelson had defeated the French in a great naval battle and the Duke of Wellington beat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. I asked the information people about them (the Duke and the Lord) you know I was wondering if they had been chums. The information people, (a little old woman and man, so cute) said they thought there was one picture of them together somewhere, but they probably hadn’t been chums. The lady told me that the Duke of Wellington had been the youngest son in his family and his family didn’t think he was much good at anything, so they put him into the army. He was pretty good at that so he became a general and must have had quite the career. There is an outside monument to him that is unbelievable. Anyway he became the Prime Minister later, but he wasn’t very good at that. He was better at being a general, according to the man.
After that we went to the British Museum, (which had not lost its charm, luckily). It was so much fun! You could spend days there. We saw lots of stuff, among them the Rosetta Stone. It also had a much more cheerful place to eat, so we had lunch there.
After the British Museum we went to an umbrella store we had passed earlier, James Smith and Sons, established in 1830. I have never seen a store that was just umbrellas before. One side was women’s umbrellas and the other side was for men. I got my Mom’s present here and I am so excited! I think it is gorgeous! I hope she will like it. It is a sage green color with a real maple handle and is the “classic umbrella” as the proprietor of the shop informed me. He wrapped it up very proper too.
Next we went to Chiltern Street and got my recorder. All the little shops are squished together and we had to ring the bell for them to open the door. It is a dream come true for me to buy this. It made me cry. It is so beautiful.
Then we went to Preacher’s Corner at Hyde Park. Luckily there were no preachers at Preacher’s Corner so we did not have another “crap” incident. Then we went back to Buckingham Palace so Chrissy could get a bear that she had seen earlier and didn’t get, but then she decided that she had to get it. This one is a piper bear and will go with her other one that she got 3 years ago when she was here. Then we went to Harrods’s, an amazing department store. We didn’t buy anything there of course, but Jaremy and I did check out their bathrooms. Jaremy said in “The Men’s Luxury Toilet and Washroom” they had gentlemen handing out towels for the men to dry their hands on. In the woman’s there was a lady spraying perfume on patrons who so desired it. That was fun, but I don’t think I was made for the opulent life!
We got back to our hotel and had a short rest and then went and did our laundry at a place that was not “The Clothes Washer’s Luxury Wash and Dry Room”. This is our last night in London and I have loved it here!

Tuesday, September 15

Well, here we are on the train to Chester! A real train! We’ve left London and are on our way to Llandudno. I have never been on a real train before and this is so great! We are passing some lovely countryside, rolling green hills, trees and hedges. There are green fields and gold fields and ponds. I have seen a lot of sheep too. They are so cute! It is a very pastoral scene. Jaremy said they use the hedges instead of fences. What a good idea, they are much more charming. There are also canals with boats negotiating along them. I loved London but I think it will be really nice to be out in the country.

Later

We stopped at Chester and changed trains and then made it to Llandudno, Wales. Jaremy said that this was one of the favorite areas of his mission. It is so beautiful here. It is so green with rolling hills and trees and the Irish Sea! It is so beautiful with the afternoon sun breaking through the clouds and bathing everything in gold that I can hardly describe it. I want to fix it in my mind forever.
We got a rental car here. It is a little black Peugeot, really spiffy. The driving has been pretty much pure panic for me however. Even though I am not the one driving. We’re on the wrong side of the road you know. We’ve smacked into the curb a couple of times but no worse so far. It could have been other cars, people, buildings. Oh, I hope it gets better. We have the car for 4 days!!
We went driving around for a while and Jaremy even found the street he used to live on, “Bryn Lupus”. Then we came back to our bed and breakfast and walked down to the sea and out on the pier. There are all these amazing hotels right by the water, painted pastel colors. It looks so wonderful and foreign! And the Irish Sea, it is breath-taking! I can’t believe I am really here!
We went to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch where we bought Maggie and Chloey’s presents.
Tomorrow, on to Stoke-on-Trent.

Wednesday, September 16

Oh, our poor little Peugeot! It has been through so much, round and round the round a bouts, up this street, down that street, smacking into curbs and cars. Actually, it was a parked car and it only bent back the side view mirror, but I pulled it back into the right place. The GPS working and not working and Jaremy arguing with the cool female voice. “Go right, across the round a bout and take the fourth exit”. Jaremy, the fourth exit? There is no fourth exit! I’m not listening to her. I’m going this way!” Well, we did make it to Stoke-on-Trent and to our bed and breakfast. It is the best place we have stayed so far. It is so cute and the owner Allison is very nice. After we got here we went to the pottery outlet stores, Wedgwood and Royal Dalton. That was really fun even though we didn’t buy anything. Then we went driving around the city looking for places Jaremy could remember from his mission. That was when we were having adventures with the GPS. The cool female voice, “Recalculating, recalculating, turn right, TURN RIGHT, NOW!!” Jaremy, “Right? I’m not turning right! You’re trying to make me go the wrong way again!”
We also went to a shopping mall. That was fun too. A mall security guy came up and talked to us and asked us where we were from. We told him the States and he said he was coming to Florida in November. He said he was coming out for his 40th birthday and he would bring his girlfriend along if he could afford it. He also said he wanted to take acting lessons and become an actor over here (in America). He said, “America is where it’s at!”
Tonight after we got back (I think it was another miracle that we got back, as we kept going in circles and ending up back at the mall) Jaremy and I went to dinner. We walked up the street to a pub that Allison recommended. We had the 5 pound roast dinner special for two. (I mean 5 pounds as in money not weight.) Jaremy had the roast beef and I had the turkey. The plates were huge! There was a big pile of cooked carrots, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower stationed around the plate and then a bit of meat and then the plate was circled with little boiled potatoes. The gravy (very runny) was on the bottom and there was a piece of Yorkshire pudding on the top with 1 more little boiled potato topping everything off. Jaremy said it was very typical English food. I thought it wasn’t half bad. Chrissy had stayed at our hotel so we brought her back a sandwich. On our way home we were waiting to cross the street when a bus stopped right next to us and I saw 2 missionaries sitting by the window reading their scriptures. It was the first missionaries we’ve seen. They looked so cute and I just wanted to hop on the bus and hug them! Jaremy ran over and knocked on the bus window and they looked up in question. Jaremy called, “We’re from Utah!” and we waved. Their faces just lit up and they gave us the thumbs up and waved as their bus pulled away. Isn’t that cool? If only we could have talked to them.
Also on our way back we walked by an old church that Jaremy and his companion had walked by so many times all those years ago. It was kind of creepy in the dark. Jaremy said he always thought it was kind of creepy when he was here on his mission.
Tomorrow, on to Nottingham! Two more days with the car! Will we make it?