Hiya!

Hiya! This is how you are greeted by most "Englishmen" while traveling through England and I loved every minute of it! It was such a whirlwind trip and before I get started I just want to thank mom for making it such a wonderful experience never to be forgotten! I couldn't have asked for a better tour guide! Thank you mom! Now for the fun stuff! In our crazy 14 day trip we managed to drive most of the length of England all the way into the southern part of Scotland, see 8 castles with an additional 22 points of interest (listed later), ride the train into London twice along with the "underground", see the Broadway play Wicked!, take a ride on the London Eye, and do temple work in the London and Preston Temple! Can you say busy!!

We arrived in Gatwick Airport at 6:30 a.m. and hit the ground running - I really mean it. On the first day - sleep deprived after traveling for almost 15 hours - we went straight to Windsor Castle, this is the weekend residence of the Queen, and she was there that weekend although we were not able to see her. It is amazing how old things are there and yet still very much in use today. I loved how green everything is and all the varieties of flowers and bushes that are in abundance there - living in Arizona leaves one lacking in the lush green landscape experience. When we were finally able to check in to our first accommodations we had been traveling for almost 30 hours at this point, I took a very much needed shower and passed out!

I would love to write about ALL the things I was able to see and share the incredible-ness of it all but I will just list the places we went and hit a highlight or two about each.

Windsor Castle - weekend residence of the Queen and the place where James Bond (Sean Connery) was knighted!

Arundle Castle - absolutely gorgeous gardens!



Brighton - a seaside city, extremely scary especially for 4 beautiful young women!



2 trips on the train into London and then a very interesting ride on the subway "underground" where hygiene must be low on the priority list.


Tower Bridge - A prison used for traitors and Kings and famous for it's be-headings and the home of the official crown jewels - amazing - I know what I want for my birthday!

A rainy walk across the Thames River and a short visit to the Globe Theater where Shakespeare's Plays were acted out.


Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament - huge!

St. Paul's Cathedral - where Princess Diana was married and the old lady feeds the birds in Mary Poppins.


Buckingham Palace - The Queen was in residence and therefore no admittance but we did get pictures!

Wicked - amazing musical - I recommend everyone see it!

Stonehenge - when we got there it was our only rainy day and I do mean rainy! Pouring freezing rain!

Bath - amazing pools and amazing more that the English are not the best smelling people in the world!

Royal Crescent - A bunch of connected homes built in a semi-circle -also used in Jane Austin books and films.


Warwick Castle - This amazing fun castle lets you explore with camera's inside the castle as well as letting you try on clothing and experience castle life hands on! A child's dream castle!


Anne Hathaway's Home - this is the home where Shakespeare wife grew up and where she later lived with Shakespeare after they were married.


Nottingham - I got to see the home and town where my mom grew up! A nice little treat to see her old home and where she and dad courted. We even got to see Uncle George but missed the sighting of the famous fox.


Chatsworth House - the famed Pemberly - home of Mr. Darcy - in the recent film Pride and Prejudice. Absolutely gorgeous inside with some of the most amazing painted ceilings!



Alnwick Castle - the castle made famous in the Harry Potter Movies. I even got to stand where Harry and friends learned how to fly and play quidditch!


Princess Street - a famous shopping street in Edinburgh. The Gray name is quite famous in Scotland.


Edinburgh Castle - where Mary Queen of Scott's lived.


Gretna Green - the famous town for runaway weddings for all of you Jane Austin Fans!


Lake District - more specifically Lake Windermere, home of Beatrix Potter.


Leeds Castle - The last remaining castle with a moat still in existence! Way cool!

Lyme Park - (Or as mom frequently called it Lyme Green). My favorite home of the original Pemberly from the BBC showing of Pride and Prejudice. I got to walk down the steps where Mr. Darcy comes running after Lizzy and see the view that Lizzy sees and I fell in love with Mr. Darcy too!


Westminster Abby - I even got to sit in the seat where Queen Elizabeth sits during special functions! The church is absolutely beautiful and amazing and almost makes you want to join the Church of England just so you can go every week! I did say almost! Our temples are just as amazing!

Shopping at Harrod's - a girls ultimate dream store! Anything and everything a girl could desire! Sorry, no pictures allowed.

Trafalgar Square - Aslan (from The Chronicles of Narnia) is fashioned after the giant lion statues here! HUGE!

The London Eye - all I can say is WOW!


Hampton Court - the famed home of Henry VIII. Very cool home. We learned that if you were royalty, you had servants to wipe your pooter too! My goodness what a life!


Hever Castle - This unfortunately was closed when we got there - but the grounds were beautiful too!

Fish and Chips - the best in the world! Another thing Arizona is greatly lacking!
All in all I had a wonderful time and I am forever grateful for a wonderful mother who took me, a wonderful mother-in-law (Sandi) and sister-in-law (Brooke) who loved and cared for my children so that I could go with confidence that all was well at home and a darling husband (this is the longest we have been apart since we met!) Thank you Jeff for letting me go. I love you eternally! I know this was lengthy but what can you expect from two solid weeks of jam packed days of fun! I am thankful to be home, I missed my children who were happy to see me and all the chocolate and goodies I brought home. Just think I took almost 400 pictures not to mention the ones taken by mom, Sarah, and Michelle. You just got to see a small portion of the great time we had!