It was time for a last hurrah for us before our final move back to America. We really tormented whether to go or not because of the timing being so close to our move, but we realized the chances of us getting to just hop over to the UK for a weekend were slim. So, in true Taylor fashion we quickly packed some suitcases (actually we're getting pretty good at this) and on the last day of school and after a going-away party hosted by one of Jacoba's friends, we drove to Berlin to catch our really, really reasonable flight to London's Heathrow.
This is where it gets interesting. On our way we encountered road construction (gasp) and we were squeezed into a little country road along with approximately 500 other cars all going to Berlin. This detour created a 45 minute delay and now we know why German's love their Autobahns, we drove like maniacs going 192 km per hour!! (gasp-gasp) Alas, IT STILL WASN'T FAST ENOUGH, because we missed our flight by about 3 minutes, they closed the gate and wouldn't let us on, even though there was about 15-17 minutes before take off. Can you imagine? So, after Ruby gave the ticket agent her best "Puss n'Boots" (think Shrek) eyes- the agent re-booked us for a flight first thing Saturday morning for a minimal fee. We were super lucky.
We hit the streets of London right after we checked into our hotel. We had showers throughout the day but somehow always managed to be inside when they popped up, it was perfect British weather. Highlights for our first day included the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Tower of London Bridge, marvelous fish & chips, Guiness, English tea and lots of yummy treats. But we opted out on the Spotted Dick.
Day two was fantastic, after riding the train and then the tube to Baker Street, Jacoba started hyperventalating when she saw the Sherlock Holmes museum and the Beatles memorabilia shop right next door. It was in a really charming part of town and along the way we discovered an amazing shop with cupcakes!!
After our sugar rush we headed to the British Museum, much like the US's Smithsonian, you could spend days inside and still see just a fraction. We did our best to catch and enjoy the highlights, we were not disappointed. We saw things from Egyptian artifacts to a modern exhibit on Living & Dying, of course, the Rosetta Stone and the world's oldest known best preserved dead man...
We had lost our invite for tea at Buckingham Palace but we still managed to see the famous guards with the big furry hats. We strolled through Hyde Park and enjoyed the Lady Diana memorial walkway to her fountain. It was really beautiful and the flowers along the way were very pretty. We took a special little walk and saw Peter Pan's statue and the house of the author. And after a great dinner headed over to Picadilly Circus, and that it was. The girls also enjoyed riding around in the little old-fashioned black taxi cabs.
Monday morning bright an early, Avis rental car offices got us hooked-up with a snazzy rental car. We were going north towards Lichfield to visit some very special family friends that Jackie had not seen since the 6th grade. It was really exciting after all these years. Ron did super driving on the opposite side of the road and I still marvel at how he was able to shift gears left-handed after being so used to the right side set up...After a brief visit to the city cathedral and walking tour through Lichfield we jumped back in our car and headed further north to Appleton Thorn. Here we met up with a dear friend from Ron's days at Auburn University.
Although our trip was fast, we managed to see many wonderful things and visit some dear friends. We made it back to Dresden on Tuesday night at 1 a.m. without any flight delays or near misses! Cheerio!