Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge

This was probably our busiest day of all.  We crammed in three major tourist attractions in one day.  We booked a bus tour that would take us to Windsor (where the queen has her preffered weekend/vacation palace), Bath (site of ancient Roman baths) and Stonehenge (you know, the big rocks).  Anyway, it turns out that cramming three major sites in to one day leads to a whole lot of rushing around and stressing over missing the bus.  And yes, our tour guide did leave FOUR people behind when they were late getting back to the bus!

A special note about our tour guide:  She was cray-cray!  She told all sorts of random stories, did bad impersonations of Queen Elizabeth II and had a bright pink umbrella that she called the pink pussycat that we had to follow around.  She also took to calling us her little pussycats.  Anyway, I guess it takes a "certain type" to be a tour guide!

Windsor Castle was beautiful!  No wonder it's the queen's favorite place.  I wouldn't mind spending my weekends there either.  Of all the castles I've seen so far, and there are a lot in Great Brittain, Windsor has been my absolute favorite!  Unfortunately, we only had about an hour to spend there so we didn't get to explore nearly as much as we wanted to. We did get to see the changing of the guard that they do there and a lot of the artwork that is on display there.  The nice thing is that they stamped our entry ticket and it becomes sort of like a season pass, so we can go back to Windsor as many times as we'd like for 12 months.  We'll definitely be back to finish what we started!

Next was Bath, which was about a 2 hour drive.  I really knew nothing about the history of this beautiful town, so I found the whole experience fascinating.  The town was founded around some natural hot springs that formed there.  The legend goes that there was a handsome young prince who was banished from his city because he became infected with Leprosy.  He was reduced to being a pig herder, and one day while out, his pigs all jumped into this stinky pool of water and would NOT come out.  When he finally got the pigs to come out, he noticed that their sores (apparently pigs get Leprosy too) were starting to heal.  He decided to go in to the pool himself and that's when he realized that the water was hot!  The pool cured his Leprosy, he went back to his town, word spread about the hot springs, etc...etc...

It was when the Romans came to England that they turned it into what was essentially a day spa, and also a shrine to the Goddess Minerva.  What we visited was the ruins of the Roman baths.  They're amazing!  And of course, the hot spring is still running with hot water filling the bath.  Unfortunately, we couldn't go in or touch the water since there's lead in the water.  I was real tempted to touch it though!

Finally, we drove about another hour to get to Stonehenge. I was pretty excited to see it and I must say, it was a bit of a letdown. They really are just piles of rocks. I mean, it is pretty interesting to look at them and wonder how in the heck these ancient people got them up there like that. But yeah...they're just really big rocks out in the middle of nowhere. Maybe if you could walk through them and touch them it would be better, but I wasn't all that impressed. Apparently you USED to be able to touch them, but not anymore. Although according to our crazy tour guide, they're changing it back soon so that you can go through them. We just missed out. Oh well!

Eli and I at Windsor Castle

The Changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle

At the Roman Baths.

Stonehenge.  So Magical.

Stratford-Upon-Avon...Arantxa's Mecca!

I've been to England once before (with Bernadette and Melissa) and I was heart-broken that I couldn't get in all my nerdy English teacher tourist needs.  Well this time, I'm able to get it done!  On our way back to London from Edinburgh, we stopped in Stratford-Upon Avon.  Obviously, it's most famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare, but it is such a beautiful little city.  Even a non Shakespeare fan would enjoy this place.  It has beautiful parks, cute cafes, lots of shopping and plenty of easy parking!

Unfortunately, we only had a couple of hours to spend there, but we got to check out Shakespeare's childhood home.  They have a great exhibit there.  It starts off with video about his life and the video takes you through all these different rooms that are decorated to look like Elizabethan England and that contain different artifacts related to Shakespeare.  Then you get to go through his house.  It's pretty neat.  I took lots of photos and video but I think most people will find it boring.

After touring his house, we walked over to Holy Trinity Church where he is burried.  The church was beautiful and dates pack to 1210!  His grave is quite modest and it's next to his wife Anne Hathaway and some of his other family members.

I of course bought tons of souvenirs. Mostly things that I'll put up in my classroom and some gifts for my fellow nerdy English teachers! We would have loved to stay longer, but unfortunately we had to return our rental car and had a tour already scheduled out of London for the next day. Oh well...if we ever find ourselves back in England, we'll definitely spend at least a couple of days in Stratford!

A view of Shakespeare's birthplace from the back garden.

In front of Shakespeare's birthplace.

The grave of William Shakespeare.

Better Late Than Never?

I knew this would happen...I would get really pumped up about blogging about all our European adventures and then when it comes down to it...nothing!  I apologize for not posting.  I'm sure you've all been anxiously waiting to hear about what we've been up to and I've just completely left you all hanging.  Please accept my sincerest apologies.

Well, we've been here for a little over a week now and already, the time has been flying by!  Eli and I arrived to London safe and sound, but exhausted.  After a long night's sleep, we got our rental car and drove about 7 hours north to Edinburgh Scotland.  It was a long drive but well worth it!  We had a blast in Edinburgh.  We toured the castle, which is beautiful and full of so much history.  We experienced the one o'clock gun, which is a cannon they shoot of the castle at 1 pm every day.  It was a way to signal the time for sailors who were at sea.  Even though we knew it was coming it totally freaked me out.  Pretty embarrassing, actually.  Tried to add a video but the internet was going in and out, so we gave up on that.

We stayed at an awesome B&B.  The breakfasts were delicious and the rooms were really clean and modern.  No stuffy flowery wallpaper here!  The owners were really nice too.  A younger couple with three boys.  We didn't get to try any haggus (is that how you spell it?) and I couldn't get Eli to buy a kilt, but we did have A LOT of shortbread and listened to a lot of bagpipes playing.  One of my favorite parts though might have been just driving through Scotland.  It's beautiful country.  So green and filled with sheepies!! :)  It reminded me a lot of the Basque Country. 

Next up...Stratford Upon Avon!

In front of Edinburgh Castle

Our car was a Panda!  Shout out to Pablo Sandoval!

Eli with our little Fiat

Greetings from the desert!

So here I am writing my very first blog!  Forgive me if it's not clever or insightful as I'm new to this whole thing and also, I'm very sensitive and delicate.

 A lot of people thought it would be cool for Eli and I to blog while we're on vacation in Europe, so this trip to Phoenix is sort of my test run.  (Thanks for the tip, Allie!)  We arrived in Phoenix to visit Eli's brother Sean, his wife Michelle and their new baby, Zane!  That's right...Eli and I are officially an uncle and aunt.  And I must say, I think we're pretty awesome at it!  Eli hasn't been nearly as awkward as we thought he'd be.  He's even held Zane a couple times!  Zane is such a sweet baby.  Sean and Michelle are so blessed.  They have Zane on the "babywise" schedule, so the kid is sleeping 9-10 hours a night at less than 3 months old.  Pretty cool, no?

We've mostly been laying low, but it's been fun and relaxing.  We've gone swimming, to the gym, and of course...to Chino Bandido!  This place is heaven!  It's a mix of Chinese and Mexican food with a little bit of Jamaican thrown in.  Now, I know that sounds weird, but trust me...it's soooo delicious!

Eli and baby Zane

Arantxa and Zane at Chino Bandido

Zane pooped out after Chino Bandido

The famous Chino Bandido!

The (kind of racist?) mural at Chino Bandido

Next up...we leave for Europe!  Woohoo!