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Published: April 16th 2009
Hi again everyone! We are now in the second half of our two week Easter break. We spent all of our first week waiting around, hoping that we could come home for our buck & doe. Again, thank you to everyone who helped make it a big success! Since the buck & doe we have tried to make the best of our time off while we've been stuck here in England!
Last week we ventured into London for one day,simply because we couldn't stand being in our house any more! We originally intended on seeing the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace but later found out that it is only running every other day in April, and we were there on the wrong day! So, we decided to go see the Tower of London. The Tower of London, properly known as
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. The tower's primary function was a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison, particularly for high status and royal prisoners. The tower has also served as a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a
treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. In the evening we bought tickets to go and see a comedy show in Leicester Square. The show was a lot of fun and it was nice to get out of the house for the day.
On Saturday morning we hired a car for two days. Road trip! We drove to Leeds Castle, located near Maidstone. Leeds Castle is absolutely stunning! The castle grounds are lush, green and full of beauty. The castle dates back to 1119 and has served as a royal palace for many kings. We wandered around the castle grounds for about 5 hours, enjoying the castle itself as well as a birds of prey show and an aviary. After our visit we then made our way to our hotel in Folkstone. Folkstone is a really small town with not much to do and our hotel was a bit sketchy, but it was right on the edge of the English channel so we had a lovely view! We woke up many times during the night because we could hear EVERYTHING through
the walls. Thankfully we couldn't hear anything "interesting"! In the evening we ventured into the town and enjoyed gourment subs from SUBWAY for dinner and then stumbled upon a 1960's style movie theatre, so we bought tickets to see the moving
Knowing . In the morning we enjoyed a surprisingly yummy breakfast in our sketchy hotel and then hit the road to head to Dover Castle. Dover is on the east coast of England, facing France across the English Channel. Ferries ply back and forth across the channel and is a main way of transport for tourists and trade. Dover Castle sits atop the famous White Cliffs of Dover, overlooking the town. It dates back to the 11th century and is described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Underneath the castle, set deep inside the White Cliffs, are a vast network of underground tunnels called the Secret Wartime Tunnels. These tunnels have served multiple purposes since the Middle Ages: air-raid shelter, barracks, military command centre and underground hospital. We walked around the castle gounds and went on an intriguing tour of the Secret Wartime Tunnels. The weather turned out to be fantastic. The sun
was out all day! It's like England had a weather identity crisis! After our time at Dover Castle we parked our car down by the waterfront and walked along the pier and into the town centre, just enjoying each other's company.
On Tuesday this week we caught a 9 am train to London so that we could go and watch the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The palace was surrounded by thousands of people! The ceremony lasted approximately 45 minutes and was relatively unexciting. The entrance and exit of the military band and soldiers were the best parts and we had a great view to capture some pictures and video! Unfortunately, the video files are too large to post on our blog. In the afternoon we took a boat to Greenwich, the place where time officially begins. Greenwich is best known for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. We visited the Royal Observatory and straddled the line that officially divides the world between east and west (the Prime Meridian/Greenwich Meridian). For the evening, we had tickets to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London's West End. The
set and costumes were absolutely spectacular. What a fabulous show! We would reccommend that everyone go to see it!
Now, we have only a few days left of our holiday and then it's time to return to work. We'll be home exactly 3 months from Monday!
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Linda paola
non-member comment
Hi Guys
Glad to hear from you. Missed you's at the buck and doe but nothing you could do. Have you got them back yet. we went to see Lion King great show. Take care love ya Aunt Linda