I am happy to report that the snow has finally melted! It was a long time coming, too. I was beginning to think it would be here all winter. We are very happy to be seeing green again.
But while there was snow on the ground, we took our first
sight-seeing trip in England. We had big plans! It was Matthew’s first four-day
weekend since being stationed here so we were going to take full advantage.
On the itinerary was Windsor Castle, “official residency of Her Majesty;” and then Stonehenge,
“perhaps the most famous prehistoric monument in the world.” We were very excited.
We had our GPS set for the destinations in the order they occurred on the
route. We were going to get up early to make sure we had time for everything
(because both sites closed by 4:30 p.m. and none opened before 9 a.m.)
Now let me start off by explaining that both of these sites
are a good distance away from where we are. Windsor is about 100 miles away and
Stonehenge is 162 miles. And on top of
the distance, there was still quite a lot of snow on the ground and it was
bitterly cold and wet that weekend.
Needless to say, we only made it to Windsor Castle.
First, we got a tad bit lost (we went round the same giant
roundabout three times, and took the wrong exit the first time round, before we
figured out which exit we needed). Then we spent about an hour looking for
parking (I’ll get to that in a minute). Then we had to hike a good ways uphill
from where we parked to get to the castle entrance.
But we didn’t let any of that get us down. We loved every
minute of the castle. Just to see that kind of history was enough for me. Unfortunately,
we were not permitted to take pictures inside the castle. But we took loads
outside!
When we left Windsor Castle, and as we were walking through
the village back to the car, everyone had to go to the bathroom of course. So
we took a detour through a shopping centre down the hill from the castle. We
walked through an open area of several cafes and coffee shops. Naturally,
Matthew and I couldn’t resist.
I had my first “Cream Tea” there and it was a real
eye-opener. This is basically a large cup of tea (or large Americano, as was my
case) with a Cornish Scone served with jam and clotted cream. Clotted cream is amazing.
Why don’t we have it in the States?? I cannot even describe the flavour. You’ll
just have to try it.
The café was so quaint. The kind you see in the movies that
is out in the open, couches and tables, people bustling by. I loved it. And the
pigeons just come right up to you.
Oh,yeah. About the Parking. I hate to keep comparing
Britain to America, but it’s just impossible to overlook this one. There is
NO parking anywhere in England. America definitely takes the cake on this
one. To say that the parking here is “ridiculous” would be the understatement
of the century. People literally park right out in the roads (yes, on the
teeny-tiny English roads they will just pop a squat.) This is not only annoying
to the people trying to drive down these roads, but it is also dangerous for
those people’s cars. Drivers will knock your side-view mirror off and just keep
going! Not to mention, when you park in the middle of the road like that, you
also have to somehow step out of your vehicle into the middle of the road.
In the case of Windsor Castle, there were several
pay-to-park lots in the village. This is relatively convenient (and yet,
pricey) when you are going to view an attraction. But what about just going to
a store or pub? Forget about it. You are parking way down the street somewhere
on the road and walking. There are a few exceptions to this and that is usually
the superstores or chains, like Sainsbury’s and such, that do have car parks
(that’s British for “parking lot”) at the store. Just like Walmart or Kroger in
the States, only a tad smaller.
Stay tuned for more stories and outings pictures!
