Day 6 - Great Missenden

I joined Lisa taking the kids to school. They don't break up until July 23rd, a full month after schools break up in Canada.
We then popped over to Great Missenden, a lovely little village just a few miles away to see the Roald Dahl Museum. I found it a little emotional as it was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that inspired me to read at age 10. If it hadn't been for this 6ft 4inch war veteran who decided to put his inspired ideas on paper. Here are a few things I didn't know about Roald Dahl.

 Great Missenden - the doors are very small

 This man is about the height of Roald Dahl (maybe a relative?)

 Roald Dahl's writing workshop in the shed at the back of his house

 A life size photo of Roald Dahl when he was in the RAF

1. He wrote 33 books including Gremlins and the screen play for the James Bond Film You Only Live Twice, Ian Flemming.
2. He was an actual chocolate taster when he was a boy and was inspired to write about Willy Wonka after a visit to the Cadbury's chocolate factory.
3. He used to eat at least one bar of chocolate a day
4. He was posted in Dar Es Salaam, Tanganique, now called Tanzania.
5. He crashed landed is spitfire over Libya causing a spinal injury that plagued him the rest of his life. He cut a hole in the back of his writing chair to provide relief.
6. His unusual name is from his Norwegian Parents.
7. He also wrote adult stories including 'Tales of the Unexpected' that had some great twists.

The museum was situated right on the main street of Great Missenden. We took a little walk around afterwards but were unable to find the church where he buried.

On the way home we popped in to Tescos to stock up on Marmite, Cadbury's chocolate bars, trifle mixes and fairy liquid for Jenny. Perfect!

We picked up the kids from school, played some tennis at the park and Jemma and I went for a Guiness at the Sugarloaf pub with Grandad.

Response to Day 5

Hello, it's Jenny from Canada!  We want to see Jemma's clothes, not dumb ol Big Ben!  Jemma told me she made her very first purchase on some nail polish stamping system.  Post a pic Barge!  Cmon!  Gotta go as we are at T-1 for moving day!  I would also like to shout out to some faithful readers!  Going to their house tonight for dinner!

Oi, get off my blog! I will get Jemma to pose for some photos and take some picks of our purchases. We have to have some surprises when we get home!

Day 5 - London

We took the Metropolitan line through Harrow on the Hill and Wembley to Westminster. The view was amazing as we exited the train station. Big Ben was right in front of us and striking the quarter hour, 10:45am.
We were carried along by the current of tourists down the length of the House of Commons to Westminster Abbey. The police presence was amazing. Heavily armed police at every entrance like they were expecting an attack any minute. Turns out this is the 'new normal' for London's high profile tourist attractions.
We crossed the road, passed a huge statue of Winston Churchill and headed in to St James' Park toward Buckingham Palace.

 Westminster Abbey

 Buckingham Palace seen from St James' Park

 Changing of the guard

There must have been something going on at the Palace. There were millions of tourists. We had a good look, took a few photos and then pushed our way up The Mall to Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square.

 Trafalgar Square

We wandered up through Leicester Square and then on to Gerard Street and china town for some lunch. After lunch we went on to Covent Garden.

 Joke Shop in Covent Garden

 Maple Leaf pub on Canada Day

Carnaby Street where I bought a very expensive pair
of handmade (in England) Doc Martins. Yikes!

Selfridges

Day 3 - Chalfont St Giles

Our first full night was good. Jemma slept through till 7:30am and I woke up at 3:45am. I watched Tron on Netflix. We had our first morning breakfast at the Aitchisons. Lots of tea and toast with Marmite.
We popped out to see the new Little dragons preschool in High Wycombe.

Little Dragons - High Wycombe

Gabe and Raif in the Land Rover

 Simon, Jude and Tyler

 Jake

 Everyone

Day 4 - Windsor Castle

A gorgeous day to go for a 40 minute drive out to Windsor. We dropped the kids off at school and Paul had to work at the new preschool.
We arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard. Windsor Castle is amazing. The flag was up meaning that the queen was at home. Reading that King Henry VIII was involved in castle improvements really drives home how old the buildings are!

In the evening Jemma went shopping at Selfridges in London with Lisa and Paul. I don't think shopping at Value Village will ever be the same again! She got some great outfits. Jemma has already removed the price tags. Apparently she went pale when she saw the price of the first dress. It took a while for her to warm up to Lisa and Paul's style of shopping.

Day 2 -Chalfont St Giles

The flight was on time and even faster than I remember from the past. 8hrs 20 ministers. Are planes getting faster? We did go on a Boeing 777 which is massive. While watching the entertainment you can click on a button at any time to get flight speed, altitude and progress. The meal was adequate. I should never have checked on line to see what economy plus and business class passengers were getting. Oh we'll it's not like I don't eat we'll every other day!
Lisa and Paul picked us up in the Bentley. How can I describe it? It's like a Bond car. I think we actually went faster than the Boeing 777. If it wasn't for traffic we could have made the 30 minute drive in about 5 mins. Paul said in can go up to 200mph. Seriously that's got to be getting close to the sound barrier!
Rhys, Jake, Raif , Gabe and grandad were waiting fir us at the 17th Century barn they call home. I will post photos once I future out how to get them off the camera and in to the iPad. The kids are great. Rhys is over 6ft tall. He's  nursing an athletics injury right now so off his usual rigorous trading schedule. Jake has grown tons too and is quite quiet. He's probably just a little shy because I haven't seen him in almost 5 years. A lifetime for a 14 yr old. raif is also doing great. Again, much taller and not drawing any more. Gabe. We'll if the other kids are a bit quiet Gabe makes up for all of them put together! He's lovely. It's just like being at home with Ryan.
We visited Grandad's new house. Saw Raif and Gabe's school, and even popped over to Tescos with the kids to buy some marmite. Seriously, Lisa and Paul ran out and needed some. When I run out of Marmite it's like an Indiana Jones expedition to find some. Is it banned in Canada or not? Can I buy some on the black market? What British Shops are still in business and closer than 50km?
I will bring back 5-10 litres of kg or whatever to make sure I don't run out again. It's not like it ever goes off! What is it anyway? A kind of beef stock? No, there's no animal product in it. It's made from yeast extract. That makes it much more appealing....
Anyhoo, jet lag is a bummer. Jems and I slept a bit on the plane. Note to self about watching the movie Gravity, while on a plane. The exciting crash scene at the end of the movie while the plane is coming down through the clouds to land kind of blends into one in your mind! A bit stressful.
We managed to keep awake till 10;00pm and collapsed into bed. It's now 4:30am and I feel well rested. No problem sleeping last night. The barbecue is today. I will try to get the photos from my camera to a laptop and on to the blog today.

 Jemma and Gabe

 The entrance in to Loudhams Barn (built 1647)

Grandad's New House

Day 1 - travel day

We are officially checked in. It's only 8:00 am and we don't fly till 6:30pm but why wait?
I have been scouring the internet for upgrade options but it looks like its $2,000 per person for a wider seat and fancy meal. Oh, and the tv is larger. I don't know what difference that makes when you are only 6 inches from the screen.
We are packed. I'm a little concerned about the 4 litres of Maple Syrup in my suitcase. I'm only taking a small case so they kind of dominate the case, and could look a little weird on the x-ray. Oh we'll. we will see. I don't even know if my family like maple syrup. From our trip to Quebec in 2012 I know that it takes about 40 litres to make one litre of syrup so they had better like it! That's like 160 litres of maple tree sap. A shame to waste.
Next blog will be from the UK.