So again, here is their visitor blog entry. As you can see, we did some of the same things we did with Eric's mom so we've combined some of the pictures in the new links at the right.
Mark and Heather's England Adventure:
"We arrived in London around midday on a Friday after a long, sleepless flight. As we walked out of the terminal, Anne was right there to greet us, along with a Starbucks. We needed some coffee and tea if we were going to make it very long that first day in London. After we got our caffeine fix, we hopped on the tube and headed to Chiswick, where Anne and Eric's flat is. We grabbed a quick shower and tried to tell our
bodies that it really was early afternoon. Once we were so fresh and so clean clean, Anne took us out into the wilds of London. We saw the parliament house, Big Ben, the London eye, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, and much more. This was the first time in awhile that Mark and I had been in a big city, so the crowds of people were a little overwhelming for us at first. I guess we've just gotten used to the Montana lifestyle. After walking around and seeing a little more of London, we headed back to the flat to meet Eric and cook dinner. We then headed to a bar to have a few drinks. After Eric and Mark were a couple beers deep, they decided to try to have an Irish car bomb. This proved to be more trouble than it was really worth, but it was still good, and funny just trying to figure out exactly how to do it since the bartenders in London could not mix different liquors in the same shotglass. On top of that, the shotglasses were too big to be able to drop them into the pint glasses. Well, they ended up getting a shot of whiskey, a shot of Irish cream, and an extra shot glass and mixed the shots themselves and poured them into their pint glasses. It was a good night cap.The next day, we drug ourselves out of bed fairly early, got freshened up,
and hit the highway towards Bath, England, where the ancient Roman baths are. We arrived in Bath mid morning after having to stop for some petrol because Anne was freaking out about running out of gas. We went to the Roman baths museum first and learned about how the baths were built on a hot spring and some of the ingenious engineering that the Romans implemented in the bath house. By the time we left the Bath House it was lunchtime, so we decided to go eat at Sally Lunn's Buns cafe. As the name says, they specialize in buns, and big buns at that. We had a good lunch, with a delicious chocolate butter covered bun for dessert. We strolled around Bath for a little bit longer, and then jumped back in the car and headed to Stonehenge. We made a quick stop at Stonehenge since we didn't want to pay the ridiculous admission fee. Instead, we just took in the views from the other side of the fence. We then hit the road back to London. That night we went to a great little Thai restaurant right across the street from Anne and Eric's
flat. It was nice being able to enjoy some good ethnic food since pickings are scarce in Great Falls, MT. From the restaurant, we walked down the High Street (Main Street) to a bar called Henry VIII, where Mark got to enjoy some traditional cask ales. Though the cask ales were warmer than what Americans are used to, Mark didn't seem to mind too much, as long as it was beer. I was also able to see an old high school classmate of mine who is also living in London at the time. After closing down the bar, we walked back to the flat and fell into bed, which was a great air mattress for us, courtesy of Anne and Eric.We woke up the second morning a little slower than the previous
and went to a quaint little cafe where we enjoyed a hearty full English breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, tomatoes, and toast. Then we jumped in the car and headed to Oxford, England where we toured the Oxford University campuses and learned of its history. We also walked around the town of Oxford and took in the scenery from atop an old church tower. On the drive back to London, we detoured through Windsor and drove by Windsor Castle and waved to the Queen. Once we got back to the flat, we went across the street and picked up some fish and chips for dinner. That night we went to the Jason Mraz concert in London that Anne and Eric were nice
enough to invite us to. It was an awesome concert.The following day was Monday, and unfortunately, Anne and Eric had to work so they were unable to spend the day with us, but we still managed to enjoy London without them. We got to the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms Museum right as they opened and spend some time reading and learning about how Winston Churchill conducted WWII operations from the underground bunker. It was really interesting, and since the majority of it had been left just the way it was during the war, it was very realistic. From there, we walked to Buckingham Palace to try to get a glimpse of the changing of the guards, but with the hundreds of other people who had the same idea, we were only able to witness the guards marching in and out of the palace grounds. We then caught the tube to Tower of London and spent the rest of the afternoon there viewing the numerous exhibits and buildings. It was amazing seeing towers that were built 800 - 900 years ago. We also saw the precious crown jewels, as well as Henry VIII's armor collection. Mark and I headed back to Buckingham Palace to take some better pictures sans the hoards of people. We took the crowded tube back to Anne and Eric's flat where we ate some delicious turkey enchiladas prepared by Anne and Eric. After dinner we just packed up and relaxed and prepared for our departure the next morning for Ireland.
It was great being able to see Anne and Eric, especially in London. We enjoyed everything we were able to do over there and appreciate Anne and Eric's hospitality and for being our tour guides."
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