Day 8 - Galway, Ireland

We checked in to our flight the night before and found that the flight was not leaving at 11:40am but had been moved to 6:45am! WHAT?  A bit of quick math(s) told us that we had to be up at 4:30am and on the road by 5:00am. I think Paul was salivating at the opportunity to take the Bentley out and open her up on some open road. Of course, this is England, and the roads are busy 24 hrs a day but we were able to fly past some cars doing a measley 90mph as if they were standing still.
Luton airport was an absolute zoo. It was like walking into Wembley stadium prior to a major football match. It was packed. I have to say though, the English have got moving masses of people down to a fine art. We weren't standing around for long. We flowed through security like a we'll oiled machine. Dozens of screeners open and some very efficient people pushed us through like chicken livers and onions going through a mincer. There's a reason why I said that.
Our 1 hr Ryan Air flight was short and painless and we arrived in Knock to sideways, lashing rain that was actually quite warm. Apparently, the weather had been great up until this morning. Charming!
So Jemma set foot on Irish soil for the first time in her life. Both my Nan and Grandad on my mums side have Irish descent and of course Joanne, Jenny's mum is a Finner. You can't get much more Irish than that!
Paul and Sally met us at the airport and whisked us away to Galway to hot cups of tea and a mountainous Irish Fry.
We let our bodies recover from the early morning flight and delicious breakfast for a couple of hours then set of in the car again in pursuit of some sunshine. We optimistically pointed out some bluish looking sky in the distance and headed in that direction. After an hour of winding roads we found ourselves not only under some clear sky but back at Kylemore Abbey where Paul took me last time we were here. It was 15Euros to get in but unfortunately, one of the sisters (nuns) had passed away and the funeral was being held at the church, closing part of the grounds, so half price today. I made a slightly insensitive comment about one persons pain is another's gain and we strolled in to the Abbey grounds. More history and more oohs and has and ' I never would gave guessed that's and the sun actually came out!

 Kylemore Abbey

 The Victorian Garden

 Afternoon Tea

 An angel on the gothic church 

Stained glass in the gothic church

Day 7 - St Albans

I spent nine years in St Albans and Harpenden after leaving Harrow at age 19. It's a beautiful City with a lot of history, pubs and Indian restaurants. St Albans was named Verulamium in Roman times and still has a few remains. There are many stories of residents digging up their garden to plant potatoes or build an extension only to find some Roman coins or the floor of a Roman Spa!
On this Thursday morning we dropped off Jake, Raif and Gabe to school and Lisa, Rhys, Jemma and I drove the 35minutes to St Albans.
We parked up at the high street and wandered down the hill to the Abbey church. St Alban was the first English Christian martyr in about AD300. Christianity was still illegal in these days and punishable by death. Ironically, it wasn't long after St Alban was beheaded that Rome converted to Christianity.
We had just walked in to the cathedral when an enthusiastic tour guide informed us that a tour would begin in 10 minutes. The guide was very informative and explained the entire history of England, all it's kings and queens (or so it seemed) over the next hour.

 St Albans Abbey and Cathedral

 Amazing stained glass

 Gothic style architecture

Fully saturated with the rich history of the Abbey, or was it a church?, we headed off to find a pub for some grub. I had a vague memory of the location of The Ole Fighting Cocks, an ancient pub and reputed to be ( it's in the Guinness Book of Records) the oldest pub in England. One thing I do know is the beer I had and the bangers and mash were none like I had ever had before! Fantastic! I'm sure they would have been as good if we had not got lost and tracked half way across St Albans in the wrong direction for the previous half hour.

 Lunch in the Ole Fighting Cocks

My old house in St Albans

After lunch we trekked back up the hill in a circuitous fashion to the car and headed back to Amersham to collect the kids from school.

That evening we had an Indian delivered (in Canada that means East Indian food) and enjoyed the hottest Madras I have had in three decades. Holy mackerel was that hot!  I basically didn't taste any of the other 9 or 10 dishes.

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.