Oops! Long time no post!

Wow, I realize that it has been a long time since I posted. However, I made no promises when I started this!

I need to go back to over a month ago - my sister arrived on Sept 10. That was really exciting for me! I picked her up at the airport and dropper her at our older brother’s, where she was going to spend the weekend getting over jet lag. I drove over on Saturday and then she and I took the tube into London. We had made plans to tour the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace since they are only open during August and September. We knew it wouldn’t take all day, so we had been searching for something else to do. While trying to find a gluten-free place to have lunch (my sister has Celiac’s, which means she is gluten intolerant….and gluten is in a LOT of things, but notably in bread). I found a place that sounded pretty good. While looking at Google maps, I noticed that the Dickens House Museum was around the corner. My sister is a HUGE Charles Dickens fan (yes, my whole family is a bit nerdy). :D Anyway, we visited that museum first, which was pretty interesting. I learned a lot about Dickens’ life that I didn’t know. Then we ate lunch, which we both enjoyed. Then we made our way over to the Palace. I’m glad that I had purchased tickets on-line earlier in the week. There is a timed entry, so I was able to specify the time that worked for us. When we arrived for our 2:00 entry, they were no longer selling tickets for entry that day! Whew! The tour was really interesting. It included an audio guide (they always say that it’s “free”, but all that really means is that you don’t pay any extra….hehe). The rooms are incredible! Most other palaces/castles aren’t “working” places. However, this is still used and the Queen lives there for most of the year. After we left there, we headed back to our brother’s, where I was also going to spend the night. We had a good evening visiting with our brother and sister-in-law and playing with the nephews. The next day, we all went to church and then hung out during the afternoon. Karen ended up coming home with me that evening. Originally, she was going to stay with our brother until Monday morning and then meet a friend at Heathrow Airport before heading to Oxford. However, her friend didn’t get her visa in time to catch her flight. So, Karen came to hang out with me for a day or two since it’s easier to get from Reading to Oxford. She was also sick for a couple of days, so I ended up driving her to Oxford to check her into her program. Thankfully, she is better now!

Buckingham Palace photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/navygirl29/BuckinghamPalace?authkey=Gv1sRgCMrngLfl-Y3_Jw&feat=directlink

Fast forward to this past weekend. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a HUGE history buff (I even majored in it at university!). My sister also loves history. So, we made plans to visit Hastings, where William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and defeated the Anglo-Saxons. This past weekend, there was a re-enactment of the battle by the English Heritage group. We purchased tickets in advance for Saturday and made a weekend out of it. The re-enactment was like a laid-back Renaissance Fair in the US. There were tents all over the place where the actors “lived”. They did demonstrations of what life was like during that time. And, of course, people were selling things. At the Abbey that William built, there was a couple that sang songs from that time period and gave some good history of written music. That was interesting because one of my sister’s tutorials is on Music History.  We also got to see a cavalry exhibition, an archery exhibition, and a falconry exhibition. Then, at 3:00 PM, the re-enactment actually started. The guy doing the narration was really good. During the day, he had been giving a history lesson up events that lead up to the battle. He continued during the battle to tell us what we were seeing. Karen and I had gotten really good seats, right in the middle. Of course, (spoiler alert!) William and the Normans won. :D All in all, it was really interesting.

We had booked into a hotel in Hastings, so we headed over there after the re-enactment was finished. We had dinner at a local pub and then she worked on some homework. Sunday, we had plans to visit a couple of properties. We started with Pevensey Castle. Oh, since we were right on the southern coast, we were able to follow a road along the water, so that was cool. This castle is an old Roman fortification that the Normans then built into a castle. There are only ruins, but the audio guide was pretty interesting. Then, we went to Herstmonceaux Castle. We had originally ruled it out because we thought there wasn’t anything there. However, we decided to drive by to see if there what was there. Turns out, it is used by Queen’s University (Canada) as an International Study Center. The outside is fabulous, although, most of it is reconstruction. However, it was so well done that you can’t tell. The interior is classrooms and such, but we were still able to learn about the history of the place. Our guide was really interesting. After that, we went to Michaelham Priory. This had been an Augustinian priory, but was mostly destroyed during the Dissolution during Henry VIII’s reign. Again, it was interesting to see how the property had changed over time and the gardens were nice (even for a cold, October day!). After that, we headed back to Reading.

Hastings weekend photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/navygirl29/HastingsWeekend?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDNrqGTzf-2hQE&feat=directlink

We are busy planning the rest of our time together since I am almost half-way through my stay here. It’s hard to believe!

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Part of trip: UK

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