A Tour to Remember

Oh my goodness.  Jeremy and I are still laughing about our day.  Thanks to some incredible sites along with our highly entertaining guide, Hugh, we enjoyed a tour that we will remember for years and years to come.

We decided to venture out of London today so we booked a tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath.  When we got to the bus terminal, we met Hugh, who would be our tour guide for the day.  He was friendly and had a delightful accent.  We should have known it was going to be a interesting day when Hugh gave the go ahead to leave while two people were frantically chasing the bus.  Thankfully passengers caught his attention and he stopped the driver to let them on.  

Our first stop was Windsor Castle.  Being in England, it seems natural that you would visit a castle and ours just happened to be the one Queen spends her weekends.  Upon entering, we were given tour swag, including a map, audio guide and a ribbon bracelet.  After we put our bracelets on Hugh warned us not to tighten them too much.  That information probably would have been more helpful to hear before we put them on.  The funny thing now, is that we still still can’t get them off.  I just tried for about five minutes to cut Jeremy’s off with a pair of sharp tweezers.  It didn’t work.  He may have to wear it forever.

We had about an hour and a half to explore the castle.  It was pretty awesome.  My favorite parts were areas where places where they didn’t allow photography.  I loved seeing the incredible details of Queen Mary’s Doll’s house and the opulence and splendor of the State Rooms.  We did get to catch a glimpse of these cool guys just doing their thing and it was quite impressive.

We finished up our time with a quick peek inside of this beautiful chapel.  And then we were on our way to our next destination.

Stonehenge was next on our list.  It’s a prehistoric Neolithic Monument and considered one of the great wonders of the world.  I personally was pretty excited to see it.  Our tour guide Hugh’s interpretation was, “Well, I hope you aren’t  TOO disappointed.”  Which just made us laugh.  I think it was very funny to hear how blunt and factual our guide was.  He wasn’t afraid to let us know exactly what he was feeling in his curt British accent.  If you’ve ever watched The Office, I told Jeremy it was like having the character Michael Scott be your tour guide.

That being said, it wasn’t a disappointment.  It was a bit smaller than I had thought, but it was pretty impressive to see in person.  I remember feeling the same way when I first saw the Statue of Liberty.  I think it may just be a result of my glorifying things in my head.  I’m so glad we stopped and am glad to add it to the books.

On our way out, we grabbed a quick bit to eat.  We sat on the bus waiting for an extra ten minutes or so because we were missing a person that Hugh decided to call the “Russian lady who didn’t speak English”.  The funniest thing, is that we were pretty sure she was that she wasn’t Russian, but since she didn’t speak English, I guess it was impossible to tell.  Thankfully she finally arrived.  Hugh had this thing where he went through the rows on the bus saying or guessing everyone’s name.  When she came and he got to her, he leaned over and instead of saying her name, simple mumbled, “Um, unpronounceable.”   It was another Hugh moment that made us smile.

After Stonehenge, we drove through the English countryside.  I’m sure it was beautiful but unfortunately I tend to get a bit motion sick in the car, so spent most of the time trying not to feel nauseous.  I did peek out the window a few times and it really was very lovely.

Thankfully, we stopped in a town called Lacock for lunch at a Pub.  It happened to be a town where they shot parts of the Harry Potter movies.  It was pretty adorable with so many fun houses and stores to see.

We ate Fish and Chips at a Pub, getting in some authentic British food.  It was pretty tasty.

Then we wandered around for a few minutes to take in the sights of the town.

This reminded me of my sister Leslie because her last name is Carpenter.

And I loved the sign on this church, because it is how all churches should be.

Our final destination of the day was a town called Bath, famous for its historical Roman baths, a gorgeous Abbey and it’s beautiful streets and shops.

Sadly, we just missed being able to walk in the Bath Abbey.  We did admire the outside and even enjoyed listening to a girls choir that was practicing inside.

I grabbed this gelato before getting back on the bus and it was a sweet way to end the day.

We had a three hour bus ride to get back to London.  Thankfully, I was able to sleep most of it and avoid feeling too badly.  We got dropped off about two miles from our hotel.  We decided to take the “Tube” which is London’s underground subway system.  It was awesome because it’s actually shaped like a tube with a round circular ceiling.  What was not awesome was when Jeremy and I literally almost got crushed in the doors trying to get on.  Thankfully, we survived and commemorated it with this picture.

All in all, it was quite a memorable day.  I didn’t share all of our stories about Hugh, probably because they wouldn’t make much sense, but in the end, he made us laugh and made it a trip that we will never forget.  Thanks for taking time to read.  Granted I’m sure there are spelling mistakes, any my iPhone 5c pictures probably aren’t the best, but the combination and time spent is recording memories from a very fun and funny vacation with the man I love most in this world.  We travel tomorrow and will say goodbye to our London adventures while we await what is next in store.