ENGLAND!!

Kenney and I were able to go visit England at the end of March. He has always talked about taking me there and wanting me to see so many things he experienced while he was on his mission. We were able to spend 3 days touring London by ourselves, and then Kenney's parents and my sister Shandi met us there to see some city and the countryside. It was amazing how many things we saw and how many things we did not see! We had a great time, met with some new/old faces, tried some interesting food, saw amazing things, and enjoyed spending time together! We definitely realized how slow paced our lives are, once we returned home!

LONDON

Busy Busy, Busy!! That pretty much sums up London! I have been to the biggest cities in the US, but they are nothing like London. There were tons of people and hardly anyone speaking English! Who knew going to England we would hardly hear English? We had amazing weather except when we had to pull our luggage for a 30 minute walk across the city, and it rained the whole time! We saw a lot and took many more pictures, but here are some highlights.

Buckingham Palace

(Most of these places are probably familiar with all the Royal Wedding coverage)

Beautiful flowers in one of the many parks

Big Ben

(which is actually the name of the bell inside the tower, not the clock or the tower itself)

Kenney next to the old Texas Embassy. Who knew that Texas has its own embassy in London? A nice man at the British Museum told us about it and exactly where to find it. Even the British can't get away from Texans!!

Me on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. I think I look much better than the bird lady on Mary Poppins, but that's just my opinion! And remember I am pregnant, not just fat!

Kenney & I with Kenney's Parents at the Tower Bridge

Shandi and I acutally went inside the Tower of London which is close by. We had so much fun. I didn't realize so much history happened right there! We also saw the Crown Jewels. WOW! We may have gone through a couple times to see those!

Going to see Wicked was one of the highlights of the trip. It was nice just sitting there and being entertained rather than having to catch a subway, walk a mile and stand there looking at something. Yes, I sound like a spoiled American, but the play was AWESOME!

THE FOOD

I definitely had a love/hate relationship with the food in England. I was actually pretty excited about it because Kenney mentioned a few things that sounded really good and that he enjoyed while he was on his mission (fish-n-chips, kebabs, roast dinner, some Chinese place that was everywhere). He was also the first to admit that most of the food is not that great. We had some of both!!

This is a typical English breakfast. It doesn't look too bad, but trust me, it's gross! The hotel we were at the first 3 days served this every morning with toast. The first morning I was excited; the next 2 mornings I ate toast! The eggs were poached (aka soggy), the sausage was not sausage or what I call sausage, beans & tomato for breakfast?? where did that come from?? I'm glad we lost some of the English traditions in this country and now have flavor to our food!!

I neglected to take any pictures of the good food, but we found some in South London. Kenney's friends in the country also made a traditional Sunday Roast Dinner. It was amazing!! We had roast beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, swede and carrots, broccoli, Yorkshire pudding and gravy to pour over everything. And to top it all off apple crumble with custard!! AMAZING!!

COUNTRYSIDE

Windsor Castle

We took a tour inside and learned a lot about English Royalty

Some of the gardens at Windsor Castle

Stonehenge


My Favorite Place
Bath, England


Some of the Roman architecture in the background.
I love pillars, especially authentic Roman ones!!

We had a great time in the countryside. It was fun to see the beautiful rolling green hills and Kenney driving on the wrong side of the car and on tiny country roads and roundabouts. The best part was getting to meet some of the people Kenney taught on his mission and find out that they are doing great! They are from Bristol, England and talk like pirates!! Seriously. The words they use and the way they talk was hilarious, much like our Texas drawls to them I'm sure. It was great to embrace the English culture and talk with the people.

We had a blast in England, but we sure missed our Kyler!! Oma and Papa Dude (with some Auntie help) took great care of him while we were gone. Thanks for the help!!