Ah, Get Outta Here

**Warning: OVERABUNDANCE of photos and format CHAOS.  After 2 hours of uploading pics, I just don't care anymore....

In the chapter entitled "Get Outta Here" on page 1 of our

Summer Vacation Instruction Manual (SVIM),

it states, and I quote directly from its text:
Summer Vacation Priorities
1. Get outta the country
2. Get outta town
3. Get outta the state

Go on....get goin'. Time's a' wastin'."

And we followed our SVIM word for word this year, (which, for you, means reading this lengthy, belabored post is reminiscent of reading an actual instruction manual, but, for us, represents an entire glorious month of summer vacationing).
SVIM SECTION 1:
GET OUTTA THE COUNTRY

May we suggest a place with an abundance of your favorite things? (i.e. British accents, tree-lined streets, old buildings)

May we suggest....ENGLAND?

We took the SVIMs advice and went to England for 10 days.
While on the jolly English Isle, we also...

stared open-mouthed at incredible architecture, most hundreds of years older than the United States (or Christopher Columbus, for that matter), such as:

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

WARWICK CASTLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

VARIOUS COTSWOLDS VILLAGES

 

  

STONEHENGE

We stayed in stunning places,

like Odstone Hall, a 1500s manor house near Coventry, England,

                                             

                                                               

with views of the English countryside,        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

         

and plenty of British recreation…

and Aylesbury Country House, from the early 1600s,surrounded by gardens and ivy in Solihull, England,

 

where we found the entrance to the Secret Garden…

and  landed at our London flat in Kensington.

.

We learned that Brits don’t value space, head-room or bathroom privacy,

 

   

I searched for our perfect country manor.

I’m having a bit of a time deciding between these....

but I DO know I want to live in Box Parish

and perhaps relocate my manor to Box Hill.

(Austen fans, this is Austen country and, might I add, charmingly named…)

I guess it doesn’t really matter WHERE my manor is, as long as it has a tree-covered lane like this

and gardens like these…

I narrowed my choices for our London flat to these,

Nicole—do you guys want red or white?

 

because I fell in LOVE with London!!

 

!

NOTTING HILL

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

We curbed our theatre appetites with WICKED

AND AS YOU LIKE IT AT THE GLOBE

 

We boarded a double-decker, open-top bus

and took in the incredible buildings and sights of London Town.

PARLIAMENT BUILDING

ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL

THE PEASANTS AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE

TOWER OF LONDON

 

TRAFALGAR SQUARE

**Cool Tidbit: Legend says if Big Ben ever strikes 13, the lions in Trafalgar Square will come to life.**

BIG BEN

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE

We walked tree-lined street after tree-lined street,

 

walked the Millennium Bridge at night,

 

and said “‘Allo” to Mary Poppins…

 

 

We tried foreign delicacies…

 

Pizza at Fuel in Covent Garden—their Diablo is over-the-top goodness

Ice cream on a waffle at Rendezvous in Leicester Square—Jake and Nicole, you were right—YUMMMM

Kabab in Birmingham—our fave

 

Who SAID England doesn’t have good food?

 

We learned how to be proper ladies

 

 

and gentlemen.

Well, almost….

Christopher got the cold shoulder from the British girls.  :)

We definately let our mark on the U.K..

 

*Note 1: Graffiti and defacement ALREADY THERE!!

*Note 2: “Cleo” (Pic 1) is a nickname given to me by my niece and nephew…this is for you Horsley fam!!

We covered a LOT of air…

a LOT of road….

 

a LOT of (under)ground…

a LOT of track…

and a LOT of pavement…

 

 

 

until we ran out on the coast of Wales.

THE GOWER, SWANSEA, WALES

 

CARDIFF, WALES

 

                           “The Iron Rod”  :)

 

 

WE MET THE LOCALS,

 

The Three Emilys 

ATTEMPTED THE LANGUAGE

I LOVE the word “whilst”!

AND DRESS,

AND FORCED NICK TO COME BACK TO THE UNITED STATES.

 

 

Welcome home!

Ahhh…England.  I’m ready for my second round….  :)