Mum's visit & Cotswold trip

Hi everyone :)

I've just dropped mum off at the airport so she will be on her way back to America now :( We've all had a great couple of weeks with her visiting and i wanted to fill you guys in on what we've been up to.

The first few days that mum was here sam still had to work so we did a few things that he wouldn't be very interested in. So it was off to the shops on the first day! We went into Oxford Street (i had been waiting for someone to shop with) and we visited Harrods which i think mum really enjoyed and i got to have a proper look around.

Day 2 we went to the 'Tower of London' in the morning. Sam and i had been but we did a 'Beefeater' guide this time which was better i think instead of reading all the plaques. We then took a ferry ride up the Thames to Covent Garden (a really nice but touristy area) where we had lunch and saw some nice old pubs including the claimed oldest in London some 500yrs old!

In the evening we walked past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament all lit up to go on the 'London Eye' ferris wheel - lovely at night. We then went home where sam had a drink ready for us :) The next day we went to Portobello Rd markets and Kensington Palace which i had not seen yet and it was certainly worth a look.
While sam was doing his "joy ride" in the previous blog, us girls went and saw 'Wicked' the musical which was great! It was mum, Tor and I and we all really enjoyed it. We then walked up past Buckingham Palace (only open to public at a certain time of the year) to meet the boys in town for dinner, so it was another great day.
For the 2nd week which sam and i both had off work, we decided to get out of London for a while and see some of the rest of the country. It was great because we had the car and could take our time. We headed off for the Costswold area. The Costwolds is a narrow strip of country side in mid south/west England and it is just beautiful.

We drove through Oxford and our first stop was Stratford-upon-Avon. This is the home of William Shakespears birthplace from the early 1600's! And Anne Hathway's Cottage which has a quaint english cottage garden which was just starting to bloom. Stratford was a very nice town set on the River Avon.
We slowly drove through the Cotswolds getting off main roads and onto the back country roads (which are tiny). Stopping at little villages and nice old english pubs along the way. We prefered some of the smaller villages like Lower Slaughter and Burton-on-the-Water. They have little streams running through the village, cobbled lanes and cute homes made of the characteristic honey-stone. It's all very typically English and the country side is very green and pretty. We stayed in B&B's on the way which were all very nice.
After a while looking at these little villages in the Cotswolds Sam was getting bored at times - but he did well! We also went to Warwick Castle near Stratford-upon-Avon which was great! we realy liked looking around there.
We kept driving and made our way to Bath. Another city which we all really liked. It has some great buildings like The Cresent (below) and Bath Abby
And the famous Pultney Bridge at night...

We went to the old Roman Baths there which were used as baths and a temple by the Romans between the 1st and 5th centuries A.D! They were built around the natural hot spring which rises at 46 degrees C. It was really great to have a look and hear about how they were used all that time ago and that it's still here today. The photos below are the old Roman Baths which are still standing but not used for bathing any longer. When the Romans used the water, the bath was enclosed with a roof. Now that the roof is no longer in place the organisims in the water have been exposed to sunlight and this is why the water is green.
There is a different area where the public can use the natural thermal springs. It has been recently reopened as a spa and is very luxurious. You pay for a 2 hr session and get to go for a swim in the water from the same natural hot spring the Romans used all that time ago and use the aromatherapy steam rooms. It was lots of fun and very relaxing...here we are in our robes!
We spent 2 days in Bath and while we were there we went for a drive to Bristol which was close by. Glad we had a look there but didn't stay long.
We ended up staying away for an extra 2 nights than planned because we felt we needed more time to look around properly. When we finally decided to head home we came back via Stonehenge which was amazing. It's an eerie and mysterious place.

We were so lucky to have great weather the whole time mum was here which made the whole trip even better i think.

Well that's all for now. Hope it hasn't been too much reading.
We'll look forward to reading your comments.
p.s. have a look at mum and john's blog too, she might put some different pics on

It's back to work now for Sam and I but we'll keep in touch, cya xoxoxox

Joy Riding

Hello, Sam's bloggin' for a bit....

Hope everyone is well, I heard Emily has got her learners (watch out!) congratulations Em & Happy 21st Leon sounded like a good party!

Have been enjoying the week off (Anita will blog about the trip soon). On Saturday while the girls (Anita, Gae and Tor) were at a musical, "Wicked" Spence, His neighbour Ian and myself went for a ride down to the south coast town of Hastings (as in the battle of Hastings).

Ian very generously lent me his Triumph Trophy 900 whilst he rode his other bike a Triumph Rocket 2300! and Spence was on his bike a Suzuki SV 1000. I had a great time riding around this part of England all day, 'cause i had a major itch to get on a bike again! Great Fun!

The Green bike is the one that I rode.

The black Suzuki is Spence's Bike

This is Ian's Rocket

Spence standing next to the rocket down at Hastings.

Thanks to Spence for organizing this for me and a big thanks to Ian for lending me his bike!

Check this site again soon because Anita will do a big blog on our trip to the Cotswalds, Bath and Stonehenge!