Today was not as early…. we got to sleep in until 7am. We
took the Tube to the train station and then spent a good 10 minutes trying to
figure out the right train to Windsor. We tried using our Oyster Cards to get on
the wrong platform, but a nice gentleman told us we needed different tickets a full 10 mins
after we asked him where we needed to be.
We purchased tickets, found our train, and started running to it, as it
was just about to depart. We jumped on with about 15 seconds to spare, and we barely
fit it was so crammed. We were standing in the train, packed like sardines, and a
woman asks me, “what seat are you in?” I
look around at the wall to wall people and say, “um, ma’am, I’m not in a seat.” She gets a bit aggravated and barks, “no, I mean,
what seat are you assigned to?” I almost
said, “you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition – it’s ‘to which seat
are you assigned?’ but thought better of it. I replied, “I don’t have an assigned
seat.” She retorts, “Well, I’m in B2, and
I need to get to my seat.” Having the
unique vantage point of being able to see the entire length of the train, I
respond, “I'm sorry ma’am, I don’t think you’re going to be able to get to your seat…. or
any seat for that matter. This train is packed, and you will not be able to get
to your seat, wherever it is. Even if you find your seat, it’s highly likely someone
else is sitting in it.” She glares at me
and starts urging her group to make their way to their seats. They make it
about 3 inches and then run into a wall of people. The rest of the 15-minute
journey all I hear about is how they should be in their seats. It’s a good
reminder that it’s always much more pleasant to make the best of your situation
and just go with the flow. Nothing changed for that woman during the ride, and
it would’ve been much more pleasant for her if she had just taken a breath and
just looked out the window at the scenery.
Being high season, there are crazy-long lines to all of the
tourist spots. Once again, our pre-purchase of our Windsor Castle tickets saved
us probably 90 minutes in line. It’s like Fast Pass at Disneyland! We made our
way to the security line, which was probably 30 mins long. We would’ve missed the
Changing of the Guard ceremony had we not bought tickets in advance. The Changing
of the Guard is ceremony where, accompanied by a band (marching, not heavy
metal), they change the guard at the castle. It would be pretty awesome to see
them do something like this at, say, WalMart. The Changing of the Greeter.
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| "Hey, who do you have for the game on Sunday?" |
After the Changing of the Guard ceremony, we toured the State
Apartments of the castle as well as the castle grounds. All the rooms were very elaborately decorated and
contained many historical artifacts. We were all amazed at the detail and intricacies
of the tapestries, woodwork, and weaponry. We reflected on how ‘disposable’ we make
things today and pined for the days where people passed down furniture, artwork,
clothing, and mementos for generations. Ok, maybe not clothing. No one wants my
parachute pants from the 80s. They wouldn’t fit you anyway….hell, they don't even fit me anymore.
Every single State Apartment was decorated differently,
every single one of them was one-of-a-kind and completely over the top. In our kids lingo, they call
this “extra," "flex," or will say, “weird flex, but ok.”
On the grounds of Windsor Castle, we also saw St. George's Cathedral. I don't care how many cathedrals we go in (and boy are we going in a lot of them!), it just never gets old. So much beauty and peace. Unfortunately, this was another place we could not take pictures. Where's Google Glass when I need it??
We headed off to lunch at another amazing lunch place housed in a building that is from the 12th century! With Yelp's help, we've been pretty fortunate with the restaurant choices we've made.
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| They require you to drink beer with your meal. At least, that's what I'm telling Sherri.... |
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| Sherri had this word memorized as soon as we touched down in Europe! |
After lunch it was off to take the trains back to our neighborhood. We had enough time to spend another two hours in the British Museum. At least, until Haley approached us and informed us that she left her phone at the restaurant. I called the place and communicated in perfect English (I've picked up a lot here!) that my daughter left her phone there. We went back to get it, and the entire train ride back I was conflicted about whether I should be upset that she forgot her phone or proud of the fact that she's not so tied to it and can go quite some time without looking at it. I picked the latter.
We scratched the British Museum plan, but since the National Gallery is literally 3 mins from our place, we spent a good hour and a half wandering the rooms looking at all of the amazing art from Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and many others. About 15 times during our tour, we all asked Haley, "do you have your phone?"
Missing the 80s, we decided to go to dinner at a place called "The Breakfast Club." We had pancakes and bacon for dinner and then headed home for the night. About 20 times during dinner, we asked Haley, "do you have your phone?" You need to have a pretty thick skin if you're going to hang with the Hummels.
We walked back with our fists in the air, having conquered another awesome day in London.
so good!
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