Whirlwind Trip to the UK

This has taken much longer getting back into posting after our busy holiday than I imagined it would.  Before I get to our amazing holiday I wanted to share a PSA with everyone.  Our trip was 3 weeks long but it’s been another couple of weeks since and I haven’t posted.

I had decided a few months ago I would come off my fibro meds once we were back from holiday because I still had the fibro symptoms plus some awful side effects.  Including a brain fog that was something else!  Now I spoke with doctors beforehand and the only thing they said was to step down the dose carefully.  I did it nice and slow.  It went better than I thought it would.  But once I finished the fun really started and they never mentioned anything about this which is why I’m sharing this with you.  I know I’m not the only one going through this.  The withdrawal after the meds was horrendous and I could barely get out of bed.  I did some research and found that people can end up having seizures or have to be in hospital.  Luckily I didn’t have that but I was really upset that I wasn’t told of this prior to going on the meds and not being told this when I said I was coming off!  So if you are going to be dealing with this, do research and really push your doctor to give you proper support, otherwise it can get really miserable.

That’s the end of the PSA and on to the fun stuff!

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This year we took the kids with us to the UK, one because we were due for a family trip and two because our daughter is touring universities this year.  Surreal that she is beginning this new chapter!  We had so much to fit into this trip and hit the ground running by taking a day trip to Cardiff.  We were all pleasantly surprised at what a fabulous city it is.  The university was right near the town centre and we were fortunate to be able to speak with a senior professor who is part of the admissions.  It was a well spent half hour.  Crossing the Severn was quite the treat as well.

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Without much of a break we headed to our next adventure.  My husband’s family planned a day coach trip to the Somme because his great great uncle was killed in action 100 years ago to the day.  The cemeteries take your breath away and they are immaculate.

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Thiepval was very powerful.  73,000 names of people of unknown burial.  73,000 families had the heartbreak of not knowing what happened.  It was overwhelming for me.  I was struck by the inability of humans to learn from history and the current climate doesn’t hold much hope that we won’t see another Thiepval.

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We were treated to a gorgeous view back across the channel with the sunset.  Hard to beat the sun going down over water.

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We realised that the kids had never been to Stonehenge so it sounded like a perfect day trip.  I really like how they’ve changed the area by moving the visitor centre a mile and a half away.  It really opens up the surrounding area so you see how it was in ancient times.  It was really lovely to walk in the countryside seeing all the barrows.  We also went to Avebury which is a village smack in the middle of a very large stone circle.  A fascinating place.

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After a couple of days puttering about it was time to head north.  I couldn’t wait to show the kids the countryside up north.  University of Manchester was on the list to tour and my friend works there.  Which was fabulous as she actually gave us a much better tour than the official one.  Including getting into the Rutherford Room where the atom was split in 1911.  That was so cool.

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The next day was a gorgeous trip into Yorkshire with Skipton Castle and Bolton Abbey.  I hadn’t been to the Abbey before and I loved it.  The whole area includes the Abbey, the current church in use and the village.  Loads of walking to be done.

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The next day was a great mix of geeky stuff.  We went to see the Lovell Telescope which is an incredible bit of engineering.  You have to have your phones off or in airplane mode as you can interfere with the telescope.  The telescope can pick up a single mobile phone signal from Mars.  We also enjoyed the diesel gala at the East Lancs Railway.  We rode the rails for bit.  The door windows were popular as it was the best way to cool off on the trains!

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It was time to head to London, no rest for the wicked!  Our daughter wanted to visit the Tate as some of the art work was in her image set from her AP Art History course.  I’ll admit, I don’t get the Tate.  At all but to each their own.  It was this afternoon that our daughter got her results for her AP Art History and AP Bio.  She achieved a 5 in both, we are so incredibly proud of all her hard work.  She worked so much with the studying.  It took a lot of time after school and weekends for the heavy coursework.

My husband noticed before our trip that the London Transport Museum was having an open day at Acton.  Our kids weren’t overly impressed but he and I loved walking round all the old stock, maps, signs and artifacts.

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We spent the rest of the day wandering round Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square.  I have to say by this time I was tired of the sun and heat.  It wasn’t so bad in the countryside but London was pushing it!

For the last full day we headed to Cambridge for the last of the university tours.  We loved being able to walk in the footsteps of Darwin.  His room is still used by students.  Can you imagine being assigned his room?  Because most of the colleges own the river banks they charge you to walk through to the River Cam so we decided to do a punt tour down the river.  So much cooler on the river!  We got a great view of the Bridge of Sighs, named because Queen Victoria thought it looked just like a bridge in Venice.  It doesn’t but who was going to argue with the Queen?

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After a week straight of walking 4-8 miles a day, we were done in but what memories.  It was amazing to do all the exploring with the kids and spending the time with them before they went off on their next summer adventures.

 

 

The Cowards Will Never Win

It’s been another trying few weeks for Britain.  The startling and crazy politics aside, I mean really, the DUP?  But two cities close to my heart were once again cruelly attacked by  cowards.  What else can you call them?  It’s bad enough if you target fellow man but to target children?  No, you are a coward.

We were in London when the attacks happened in Manchester.  Once again I was taken and impressed with the spirit of the people coming together, despite what an orange useless so called leader likes to spout on stuff he doesn’t understand.  He doesn’t get what the people of Britain are made of.  We’re very good at getting back up again, pulling up the boot straps, and coming together with humour, strength, and acts of kindness.

So while this terrible problem needs to be solved, preferably sooner rather than later, these cowards need to know they aren’t ever going to win.

When we were in London we walked miles and miles visiting places I used to go when I lived there and discovering new sights.  I took my husband to Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park.  I used to go years ago.  I love how people can just have a soap box to talk about whatever they want as long as it doesn’t incite hate or violence.

It was only just starting when we arrived, just one guy talking about his Christian beliefs.    He did have a sense of humour about it.  There was a lively debate between him and a gentleman who was Muslim.  I couldn’t hear too much what he was saying but all of a sudden the man holding court said “but you don’t want 4 wives, you’d have 4 mother in laws!”  Given that most obviously don’t have 4 wives, I do wonder what point was being brought up.

While this was going on a man came up to us asking if he could talk to us.  Nice enough but it wasn’t too long before we realised he was a bit out there.  He had some wild ideas about saving the earth and that we shouldn’t pollute, as he was rolling cigarettes.  He also talked about how the policeman was rude trying to arrest him for riding his bicycle on the M5.  He moved on to how we should all love each other which is when I got a bit naughty and suggested he talk to the guy above as he was talking about love as well.

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And so he did!  Much to the delight of the crowd.  Which begs the question why some choose to just chant and sing to get their message across.

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I don’t think their message is getting out, or maybe it is.  Who knows?

It was a gorgeous day and as we were walking through the park, for a laugh, I called to a squirrel.  Wouldn’t you know, it came running!  I think people need to stop feeding the animals!

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We also had a bit of fun with celebrity sightings on this trip.  When we arrived in the UK, James Blunt walked by me with his guitar, not a bad start.  As we were walking through Leicester Sq we came upon the theatre for “Don Juan in Soho” starring David Tennant.  We quickly got tickets.  It was hilarious and not for children!

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Because we queued politely, we missed out on getting an autograph.  I might have to rethink that!  But while we were sitting in the theatre I suddenly realised Tom Hollander was 10 feet away.  I stayed perfectly calm.  Well most of me, my left arm was hitting my husband frantically so he could look over.  It wasn’t long before I was tapping him again because 4 feet away Steven Moffat was sitting there!  Needless to say it was a fun night.

Luck would have it, two of my cousins arrived in London just before we left and my younger cousin had never been to London before.  It was a great treat giving her a bit of a walking tour at night, introducing her to some of the famous sites.  How wonderful to see London through fresh eyes.

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We did swing by the Lego store, where I am envious of those who have the job of building this:

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We walked through the War Rooms of Churchill and through the area filled with monuments and symbols of strength and perseverance.

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As I said, the cowards will never overcome the spirit and the strength of the people.

My London Fix

Half a lifetime ago I lived in London. It’s one of my favourite cities. Even living there for a year I think I only scratched the surface of what to see. When we decided to visit with the kids it was hard to narrow down what to see. We still had a whirlwind visit.

For the most part we were lucky with the weather with the exception of the first day. Gorgeous until we were ready to see the sights then it got cold and rainy. There was a scramble for umbrellas, shawls, and jumpers. It wasn’t too bad until the Tower of London when the skies opened up. Tipping down. We saw that the first day as there is a 2 for 1 if you see it the day you arrive on train. There are loads of sights that offer the deal. I think it was day out guide.

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We did get in to see the Crown Jewels which was great timing as we had to escape the downpour. All the kids thought it was an adventure. My friend from up north came down with her family to visit. We’ve known each other for 40 years now. So we had to celebrate! Been too long as we hadn’t seen each other since 2009.

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The next day was quite the adventure. We found out about the hop on and off river cruises that included tickets to the Tower Bridge Exhibition. It stops at a ton of piers on the river including Greenwich. We had a picnic at the park looking at the Royal Observatory. It was perfect for getting away from the crowds.

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It was discovered that the Tower of London was a bit of a jinx with the weather as we had to walk by it to get to the Tower Bridge and it began raining again! As luck would have it it was the 120th anniversary of the bridge that day so we got a free guide book. I recommend going into the tower as you get fabulous views and you get to see how the steam engine rooms were like.

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The sun came out as we were exploring and finishing the tour. As soon as we got near the tower again the skies opened up. We avoided the tower for the rest of the trip.

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On our son’s bucket list was the London Eye. We couldn’t have picked a better day for it! We could see for miles. Buckingham Palace looked tiny as did Big Ben.

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We managed the British Museum, the Science Museum, and the Transport Museum so we were walked off our feet by the time we caught the train back to Swanage. It was a great visit and a good introduction for the kids. They will have to come back!