Back to London

Well, it has been a great few days...I feel like we have been all over the place, I guess b/c we were! P and I spent a day in London, went to Kensington Gardens, saw the Peter Pan statue...made me think of my friend Betsy and I. We also saw the Princess Diana Memorial, and the park was so peaceful to walk through. We walked past some other museums, stopped at Harrods, and then went to the British Museum, which is right by our hotel. We saw lots of Egyptian stuff, mummies, etc., and some Roman stuff as well. It was not as big as the Louvre, thank goodness! Day after that, we tubed over to Heathrow and picked up our rental car and also met Matt there. Shortly after we drove off to head to the Midlands, Peter accidentally hit a curb and we got a flat tire, not even a mile from the rental place :( Matt changed it quickly, and Peter felt bad. It was no big deal, actually kinda funny! It is really difficult driving opposite from what we're used to, and the traffic is insane! Afterwards, Europcar gave us another car, and said we'd have to take better care of it, b/c they probably can't give us another if we break it...thank goodness we bought the extra insurance! Peter drove fine after that, no problem! It was a good 4 hours maybe to where Emma and Scott live, just outside Birmingham. Thank goodness for GPS as well, or we would have been lost MANY times! It is very confusing! Emma & Scott and their 3 von Traps: Millie, Lily Rose, and Will. Beautiful house, great family, I was so glad to meet them all, wished we could've had more time w/ them, they took really good care of us Yanks! We met the rest of the family at a Pub for dinner: Aunt Viv and Uncle Matt, Cousin Wendy and fiancee Dean...it was nice to have a yummy, hot, traditional English meal. Then we went to a couple bars in the area, did some shots and drank some pints. Whew! We did not drink very much in Paris or London, no partying til we got w/ the family! Felt it the next day as we woke up to toast and tea at Emma & Scotts. Then we went to the Aston Villa game w/ their neighbor and his kids. Nice family as well. It was a great experience going to the stadium, wow! They get into football a hundred times more than any baseball/basketball/american football games we go to! They chant and sing almost the whole time! It was so cool, and even better when Villa won 2-0! That night, we went out in Cannock, nearby. Same family met us out, and we pub-crawled, and club-hopped. It was EPIC! Matt made out w/ some girls, apparently they think an American accent is sexy, just like American girls think English accents are. It was such a great night out, we drank and danced to great music. Our night ended at a great club, dancing, jumping, and shouting to Black Eyed Peas' "I gotta feeling." That has become sort of a theme song for our trip to England. It was sad to leave the Ridgeways and Townsends in the morning, but we had to make our way to see Grandad. Was a really long drive, very beautiful countryside, and we finally made it through Wales into a great little town called Tenby. Found grandad no problem, and checked into our cute bed and breakfast just across the street form his apartment. The sights were beautiful, it is right on the coast. We visited Carew Castle, Pembroke Castle, and some other sights. Grandad is great, so funny. We just loved to listen to him talk and talk. He has a really funny way of putting things some times! I am just so thankful I got to meet him. Peter, Matt, and I went to some pubs searching for Sky TV/ESPN for some American Football stats. Well, really the boys were interested, I was just along for the ride :) We met some young, Welsh guys that we could only understand about 15% of what they were saying. They taught us some Welsh words :)The next morning, we had breakfast w/ Grandad and visited w/ him a bit more before heading back to London w/ Matt. On the way back, we took a detour through some cute little towns to see Stonehenge. It took a while, but was worth it, I guess. We didn't pay to go in, but it's just neat to see it. It is so old. Another long drive back to London, but P did a great job driving, even through the city, which is way crazier than anywhere in the states! People speed like mad, people and cars everywhere, tiny lanes, just nuts! But we made it, whew! We have walked around a lot, and taken the tube quite a bit too. We have seen, Buckingham Palace (official residence of the Queen), Picadilly Circus (the Times Square of London), St. Paul's Cathedral (where Lady Di was married to Charles), Tower of London (where Anne Boleyn was beheaded), Tower Bridge, The London Eye (huge, modern ferris wheel), Big Ben, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, and tonight we are going out, hoping to catch up w/ a fashion party. It is fashion week in London, could we have planned this any better? I have spotted some models here and there. Matt is hoping to hook up w/ some, I think, hehe! Sorry for typos, etc., doing what I can as quickly as possible. Well, cheers! See you all soon!