Our annual tradition of high-tailing it out of California for the Thanksgiving week break continued again this year. With Sara unable to make it due to her recent job change Dad and the girls decided to visit the Grand Parents back in jolly ol' England. The plan was to hit the ground running with a few days in London first before heading to Lechlade for the remainder of the week.
First stop was LAX and a 10 hour flight to Heathrow on a British Airways 777. We made good time and zipped through arrivals and onto the train to Paddington where our hotel favorite "The Premier Inn" was waiting.
No time to dilly-dally, we checked in, dropped our bags and hit the town to see the Christmas lights and do some shopping. Top of the list was Selfridges and the Jellycat popup store:
After dinner it was back to the hotel and an early bed, we were pooped.
There's no better way to start your day than the famous Premier Inn "Full English". I think this might be one of our highlights of hotel stays in the UK, and set us up for a very busy day ahead:
First stop was to visit Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, a short walk across the Thames from St Paul's Cathedral. It was a beautiful crisp English morning and provided lovely views of the City. Unfortunately filming inside the theatre is prohibited. The tour was excellent and especially good as rehearsals were underway for an upcoming production, so we were able to get a feel for how a play is performed in the open air theatre.
After the Globe we popped next door to the Tate Modern Gallery and took in some of the modern art on a few of the floors. We didn't have time to see it all but it was fun to see some of the famous pieces:
By now our stomachs were grumbling (especially Gemma's) and so we made the short walk along the river to Borough Market. It was packed and buzzing with life although this made it hard to decide what to eat. The famous TikTok inspired chocolate covered strawberries were a must for desert and we settled for pulled pork sandwiches for the main course.
In the afternoon we headed out to the Millennium Dome to drop by the Radiohead merchandise store. The band (a favorite of Lily's) were playing that evening and she wanted to grab a t-shirt from the tour. Unfortunately the tickets were long sold out. Better yet though we had tickets for Mamma Mia in the West End, so it was back to the hotel (via a short stop in Harrods for more JellyCat's) to freshen up before heading out.
The show was fantastic and had everyone singing in the aisles by the end. We hummed Abba songs all the way home on the Tube!!
For our final half-day in London we headed up to Camden Market. We spent the morning making our way through the stalls looking at all the oddities on sale. There were so many food options it was impossible to choose but we settled on some traditional English Fish-n-Chips, which we all devoured and made a great end to our short stay in London.
And so it was back to Paddington Station (and the obligatory photo with the famous Bear) to catch our train to Swindon and meet up with Gran and Gramps for the rest our our trip.
Once we had settled in at Lechade the first order of business was for Gemma to present her annual Christmas gift list PowerPoint presentation to a riveted audience:
After a quiet morning in Lechlade we set off in the afternoon to Blenheim Palace. Gran and Gramps very generously treated us to the annual Christmas lights event. The palace was decorated and the grounds transformed and setup with an amazing light show walking tour.
Christmas market stalls were setup in front of the Palace selling food and drinks. So we all tucked into hot chocolates before it was time to start the tour, perfect for a chilly English evening:
The inside of the Palace had been transformed into a Wizard of Oz theme complete with all the characters and interactive rooms.
Granny even got to meet Dorothy and Toto:
Then it was outside to start the walking tour of the lights. As we moved through the tour the themes of the lights changed from disco to Christmas to classical, all set to music with smoke and effects. The highlight was the water fountain show over the lake set to the music from Disney's Frozen. It was wonderfully done and a fantastic experience.
The tour ended of course at Santa's grotto:
The next day we headed into Oxford. A special exhibition of Radiohead artwork was on display at the Ashmolean Museum. Granny had managed to secure tickets especially for Lily and we were very excited to attend. The exhibition showcased the artistic partnership between lead singer Thom Yorke and his long term collaborator Stanley Dodwood. This included album artwork and other projects that has defined the image of the band over the past 30 years.
Our final adventure of the trip was to visit the city of Bath. Their Christmas market had just opened for the season and we also wanted visit the famous Roman Baths museum. A short 30 minute train ride from Swindon dropped us right into the city center. It was packed with everyone coming to visit the market and start their Christmas shopping, all very festive.
We headed straight for the Roman museum first to start the tour. We were given an audio headset which allowed us to explore at our own pace and transported us back to Roman times. The tour starts high above the main baths and winds down through to street level and then the underground waterways.
The museum was a hit and kept us thoroughly entertained for several hours It was interesting to see the Roman influences in England and compare back to our Italy trip just a year earlier when we visited the historic sites of Rome and Pompeii.
After the museum we braved the Christmas Market crowds and enjoyed some mulled wine and West Country sausage hotdogs, yum. Then explored the shops and back streets of Bath for a few hours before heading back to Lechlade.
We made it back to Lechlade just in time for the annual "turning on" of the Christmas lights. A stage was setup in the town square with live music and Santa was on-hand to flip the switch.
It was another great trip and a safe flight home to the evening lights of Los Angeles. Many thanks to Gran and Gramps for hosting, we had a wonderful time and can't wait to be back.
No comments:
Post a Comment