It’s our last actual day in London – but we won’t be here
much longer. We pick up the car at 9:00am,
so we’re packed, and up and out of the flat by 8:30. I made my little mini pastys and they're not bad... We pack up some of the
food that we bought – although I can’t tell you when we’re going to eat it, we
have some cheese and crackers left, nutella, crumpets (no one wants to try my
crumpets), half a bagel, a few bananas…. Never know when you’ll need them.
We walk back past the place where we got the key (Mission
Impossible style) and we are much better this time round at getting the pass
codes to work. Not sure why we struggled so much the first time around – maybe
we were just tired?
We
get to the Euston station and check the fare and our cards to make sure that we
have enough to get to our stop. We have to make a transfer to the red line –
and honestly that’s the worst part.
We’re carrying our bags, and I’ve got my heavy laptop bag (took the full
sized laptop since we’d be travelling by car instead of hopping trains) and
I’ve got the food. But all of our bags
are heavier… and we can’t figure out why, not really bought much – Dana says
she just has postcards. But maybe it’s the fact that we’re taking them 3
miles through the tunnels of the tubes, up and down stairs? Tends to make things heavier.
We’re off at the stop, and we only have 4 blocks to walk to get to the rental car place, its in the Marriott – and it’s always disorientating when we come out of the Tube station – takes a while for us to get our bearing and figure which streets we’re on, and which ones we want. The names of the streets are on signs attached to building, not on the streets like in the states. But there is a posted street map nearby and Patti and I study it – we’re looking for the Marble Arch Marriott – and we spot a Marriott on their map… but ours is on George Street and this one is on George Place Two Marriott both on a George street. What are the chances of having 2 Marriotts that close to each other, both on a street named George?? Well – apparently the odds are pretty damn good because they are two different hotels. WTH? So we walk for a few blocks before we figure that out – and then have to walk back, and then have closed roads so we have to detour (they call it “divert” here)… so our 4 blocks have turned into FOREVER with heavy bags. By the time we find it, we’ve walked 3 miles from the time we left the apt.
We’re off at the stop, and we only have 4 blocks to walk to get to the rental car place, its in the Marriott – and it’s always disorientating when we come out of the Tube station – takes a while for us to get our bearing and figure which streets we’re on, and which ones we want. The names of the streets are on signs attached to building, not on the streets like in the states. But there is a posted street map nearby and Patti and I study it – we’re looking for the Marble Arch Marriott – and we spot a Marriott on their map… but ours is on George Street and this one is on George Place Two Marriott both on a George street. What are the chances of having 2 Marriotts that close to each other, both on a street named George?? Well – apparently the odds are pretty damn good because they are two different hotels. WTH? So we walk for a few blocks before we figure that out – and then have to walk back, and then have closed roads so we have to detour (they call it “divert” here)… so our 4 blocks have turned into FOREVER with heavy bags. By the time we find it, we’ve walked 3 miles from the time we left the apt.
It’s getting cooler – like 50s – but inside is warmer. It’s actually a normal temperature, but after walking in the cool air, we’re pretty warm inside. The line is long – there is only one guy working the desk and he’s got a guy in there that’s been in there since we walked in, and there are obvious problems. After about an hour in line, it’s our turn (we warned the others to get comfy, it was going to be a while).. he asks for our number and types it in… is our name Karen McKillan? Nope. He couldn’t find our car under Patti’s name or the confirmation number that we have.. we panic just a little, but we keep it together. We ask him to search under my name since she listed me as the driver – and it comes up! Yay! We were really concerned because sometimes they switch cars on you, and we really (really) needed the 7 seater car (there are 6 of us plus luggage, if you haven’t counted). He gives us the keys and we had already overheard the insurance conversation with other people ahead of us in line – and the insurance is 27 pounds PER DAY (we have the car for 19 days).. so that’s roughly $700 for the insurance. We ask about liability (3 pounds/day) – but he says they don’t offer that… hmm. We notice that people that rent through Avis are getting their cars brought up stairs – but we’re renting through Budget, and we’re told where our car is down in the garage… well, not really – we’re told that it’s in the garage, and we just figure out where the car is by hitting the button on our keys. The others have been waiting outside the whole time (Lauren came in and hung out for a while), and Dana was nearly hit by a person who drove up on the curb! NO HOSPITAL!!
So we gather our people, our bags and our keys and we head down to the garage… now this is a 7 seater – but two of the “seats” are jump seats in the back of the car. This car is not much bigger than Patti’s car (A hatchback Nissan Sentra).. I was imagining OUR cars that seat 7 people.. so we have the two up front, 3 crammed into the “back” seat, and then one person with zero leg room sqeezing into the jump seat in the back. Packing is a challenge. We have the space of the one jump seat that we’re not using to fit 6 full sized bags plus carry ons.. plus misc stuff to fit in. It’s tight. And the parking is tight too.. the spaces are smaller, getting around is VERY close – and this will be our first driving experience.
We have to pull up and then reverse and do a 3 point, just to get out of the space. One problem – we can’t find reverse. It’s labeled as a slot up and left of 1st… no matter what we try, it’s not happening.. So we’re pretty stuck and we’ve literally driven about 3 feet. We see a guy that I recognize from the line upstairs and I ask him for a little help, if he can tell us where reverse is. He laughs at the Americans just a little – and then offers to get in the car to show us. There is a trick to it! You have to pull up on this thing that is attached to the column of the shift and THEN put it into position – so easy. He’s pretty surprised that we’re driving a stick and we’re Americans… like that’s not a good combination. But we didn’t have a choice – the 7 seater car only comes in the manual shift. It’s what I drive at home – so I’m ok with shifting in general – but it’s on the opposite side of course.
We get straightened out and we follow the arrow signs, and it’s a dead end. Not sure the point of the arrows leading us literally into the wall. Wrong way...so now we have to practice our 3 point turn again to reverse and head back out. These corners are TIGHT – I mean, scary tight. Like trying to get a mattress/sofa/bed up and around a stairwell kind of tight. The corners aren’t curved at all – it’s like 90 degrees, and all surrounded by concrete. We make it – and it’s nerver wracking because its obviously our first attempts at this. We wanted a little space to practice in before setting us up for this level of difficulty. We come to another tight corner – even worse than the first, and the corners of the concrete columns bordering our path are lined with black rubber to soften the corners. It makes me feel a little better, gives me a little less fear because I know we won’t scrape concrete… And then we hear the crunch. We run right along that black rubber and we catch it. It’s kind of the sound of hitting your mirror --- so I had hope – but it’s not the mirror, it’s the back seat door on the passenger side. We have denied the insurance, we’re not even off the property where we rented the car, and we have a dent.. We literally don’t even want to look. And we don’t. I know that it’s not good – nothing will be good – I know that we can’t change it – and I know that we don’t want it to ruin the rest of our trip. I’ll have to deal with the damage later – but for now, it’s not something that I can think about. So we go into Pollyanna denial mode and we Stay Calm and Drive On… we get out without further incident and the whole car is on duty. Everyone is in charge of saying “keep left” and providing any information that they think is pertinent. This is a collective.
We park across the street for a second to wait for the GPS to load, but it’s not loading. We just want to get out of London and get on a highway asap – so I turn on my roaming data and we use Siri to get us going. We’re doing ok – driving in London – which was what I dreaded most, and we think that we’re about to get on an “M” (motorway – all the big highways are Ms – M1, M2, etc)… and she RECALCULATES!! She then takes us around in circles in busy London just for her own entertainment -- She's a liar, and I hate her. Patti's in the co-pilot seat and she’s trying to juggle both Siri and figure out why the car’s gps isn’t working. She throws in random “Stay left” commands just as gentle reminders.
We finally get the GPS working, Brittany works some of her magic on it – and now we have “Tim” (she chose that voice because it sounded calming) – we like Tim much better than Siri.. I’m getting my feet wet with the driving on the open road – much better than the streets of London for sure – but it takes a while to get the perspective right. Being on the right side of the car and figuring out my space on the left so that I’m centered in the lane. It comes naturally of course in the US, but we’ve worked out a code for when I’m getting too close to the shoulder.. ok code? Not sure why I called it that – she just says “too close” –
I’m also getting to know the etiquette of the road -- the fast lane is on the right, and you’re
only to be in it while you’re passing or if you’re just going really fast. The speed on the signs and on the speedometer
is measured in miles, which surprised me – I expected kilometers – and the
limit is typically 70. Turn signals are
taken very seriously here – if I’m in the left lane and I put on my blinker,
the person in the right passing lane lets me out, even if it means they have to
slow their speed. And they will not
pass on the left, even if an American doesn’t realize that they’re breaking
rules by staying in the right passing lane for too long. I’m trying to figure out the cruise control
– there is a “limit” setting that you can set and say that you don’t want to go
over 70 (or any number) and then you could put your foot to the floor, and you
won’t go over that number – I kind of like that idea – keep the lead foot at
bay. The other is the cruise like ours,
but there is a pause button that took me a while to figure out. Learning curve. But we’re getting there.
There is a little tension in the car – I mean, I have already hit something – although everyone was so gracious and about that and helped me calm down because they reassured me that was a CRAZY tight space to fit that car through and that there was no way for me to do it any better than I did. I know that I’m responsible, and I’m not going to be “mad” at the rental place, but I will tell them that I think the cars should be brought up. Getting out of that garage should be something that is performed by a professional.. I’m going to be sure to get pictures of the garage when we return the car. Anyway – digressing.. Patti is super anxious in the passenger seat – she’s a self admitted “nervous Nellie” and she keeps apologizing for being nervous or for telling me “too close” too much – but I keep assuring her that isn’t needed-- I need to hear it.. I try to ask the others in the car how they’re feeling – but they’re all a little nervous too. I seem to be the only one that thinks we can do this. But I know that we can do this. I don’t regret getting the car – the places we wanted to see and the time frame that we wanted to see them in, the only way to do it was to drive. Trains and buses would be nightmares..
Our first destination is Stonehenge and it’s about 90 minutes away, but that’s extended because we’re hitting long lines (they call it queuing) due to rubber neckers. You can see Stonehenge for free from the highway, but we want to go in and get the full experience. We pull in to park and they give us a voucher to give at the ticket booth and we’ll get our parking fee back. He says that it’s free parking, but not a free lunch. We drive around and think that we’re supposed to go a certain way to park, but it’s completely blocked by a wall of people – so there must be another way in. Nope.. that was it. So now we have to exit the parking lot and come back in. We see the guy that promised us no free lunches and show him our voucher again – he laughs at us when we say that we just wanted to come around again, and he says we’re welcome to drive around as many times as we like. We park, everyone falls out of the car and stretches out.. and for the first time get a look at the car... It’s scary at first – but it’s really not bad. It looks worse because there is a little strip missing off the bottom of the car (a little accent piece that snaps on the trim) … But I’m not thinking about it.
We hit the restrooms (which stink and have a porta-potty feel) -- and then we get in line for tickets, and Brittany keeps saying that there is a bug in her pants. I think that it’s just Britt being Britt.. surely there isn’t a bug in her pants – how would a bug get in her pants? We chat a little longer, move up in line, and she’s really dancing around now an getting louder about the bug in her pants – people are looking – and her hands are down her pants digging for bugs – and then she pulls her pants down a little in a panic (the guy behind her got a show and a laugh) and a bug falls out onto the sidewalk… there was a bug in her pants… in her underwear.. “it was on my butt!” Later she figures that it had to have happened when she went to the bathroom… These bugs are like little green beetle bugs. They love Britt – they attack her for the rest of the time that we’re there – she says that she had to just rush through the tour because the bugs where attacking her so viciously.
There is a little tension in the car – I mean, I have already hit something – although everyone was so gracious and about that and helped me calm down because they reassured me that was a CRAZY tight space to fit that car through and that there was no way for me to do it any better than I did. I know that I’m responsible, and I’m not going to be “mad” at the rental place, but I will tell them that I think the cars should be brought up. Getting out of that garage should be something that is performed by a professional.. I’m going to be sure to get pictures of the garage when we return the car. Anyway – digressing.. Patti is super anxious in the passenger seat – she’s a self admitted “nervous Nellie” and she keeps apologizing for being nervous or for telling me “too close” too much – but I keep assuring her that isn’t needed-- I need to hear it.. I try to ask the others in the car how they’re feeling – but they’re all a little nervous too. I seem to be the only one that thinks we can do this. But I know that we can do this. I don’t regret getting the car – the places we wanted to see and the time frame that we wanted to see them in, the only way to do it was to drive. Trains and buses would be nightmares..
Our first destination is Stonehenge and it’s about 90 minutes away, but that’s extended because we’re hitting long lines (they call it queuing) due to rubber neckers. You can see Stonehenge for free from the highway, but we want to go in and get the full experience. We pull in to park and they give us a voucher to give at the ticket booth and we’ll get our parking fee back. He says that it’s free parking, but not a free lunch. We drive around and think that we’re supposed to go a certain way to park, but it’s completely blocked by a wall of people – so there must be another way in. Nope.. that was it. So now we have to exit the parking lot and come back in. We see the guy that promised us no free lunches and show him our voucher again – he laughs at us when we say that we just wanted to come around again, and he says we’re welcome to drive around as many times as we like. We park, everyone falls out of the car and stretches out.. and for the first time get a look at the car... It’s scary at first – but it’s really not bad. It looks worse because there is a little strip missing off the bottom of the car (a little accent piece that snaps on the trim) … But I’m not thinking about it.
We hit the restrooms (which stink and have a porta-potty feel) -- and then we get in line for tickets, and Brittany keeps saying that there is a bug in her pants. I think that it’s just Britt being Britt.. surely there isn’t a bug in her pants – how would a bug get in her pants? We chat a little longer, move up in line, and she’s really dancing around now an getting louder about the bug in her pants – people are looking – and her hands are down her pants digging for bugs – and then she pulls her pants down a little in a panic (the guy behind her got a show and a laugh) and a bug falls out onto the sidewalk… there was a bug in her pants… in her underwear.. “it was on my butt!” Later she figures that it had to have happened when she went to the bathroom… These bugs are like little green beetle bugs. They love Britt – they attack her for the rest of the time that we’re there – she says that she had to just rush through the tour because the bugs where attacking her so viciously.
 |
| The actual bug |
The kids and I are on one ticket – and we were in one line
but had to change to the credit line. I
think it was fate – our lady in the credit card line asked for proof that they
were students (which at first I was a little annoyed by, just because we’ve
gotten student prices at every other place to this point w/o their IDs, and we
had already seen her giving the people in front of us the 3rd degree
and not just checking the ID, but REALLY checking the ID to make sure that
there wasn’t any funny business) – and we’re saving like 3 pounds total – I was
just going to pay full price for them, but the kids are ready with their
IDS. She looks at them and makes a
comment about Missouri – she had been there – and then she asks if they attend
Missouri University.. and I say no, it’s S&T in Rolla … she squeals and softens
to us (she had been hard-line strict lady) and she says, “Oh my! Then you must know about the Stonehenge
there!!” Thomas thinks for a second and
says, “OH YAH!!” – She had been in MO for a trip and had just happened to see
that there was a replica on the campus so near to where she was going to be, so
she went to it. She told Thomas that it
was quite beautiful and that she tells everyone about it and she can’t believe
that we’ve come through her line … It was pretty cool.
We get free audio tours with the ticket – and I’m not really
listening to it.. I started to, but then
I had important things to do – like record a Vine and upload pictures to
facebook. But the kids are listening and
teaching me things. I tell them that
this was all part of my plan, a person learns best through teaching other…
they’re not buying it (but it’s totally true) -
They tell me about the stones and how they’re made of “blue” stone that
doesn’t absorb heat, so the stones are always cool to the touch.. And one of my
big thrills is that the Doctor filmed here.
In the audio tour they mention that (so I hear) and so I listened to
that part that promised “more” about the Tardis – not Tardis talk.
We
eat lunch there – or eat to some degree because we’re not sure when we’re going
to be near food again. We’re out in the
country, I got a “cheese and onion
pocket” which looks kind of like a pie from McDonalds, but tastes like a
chicken pot pie. Others get Pastys
(Cornish traditional food… more on that later) or just something simple like a
sandwich. There are vendors selling home
grown strawberries and cherries, and we get some of that too.. so good!
From
Stonehenge we had planned to go to Bath and see the Roman Baths.. but we didn’t
get tickets in advance and Patti is looking at the map. We have to go north to get to Bath and then
back down – and the rental car took longer to get, and we added time getting
out of London, we took our time at Stonehenge.. and we don’t want to drive
north to drive south. So we make a
decision to cut out Bath and just head straight south (about 3 hours) to
Newquay (prounounced NewKey – but with an emphasis on the first syllable so
more like Nukey). It’s about 3 now, so
that’s perfect.
We get to Newquay and it’s a tiny town with TINY roads.. Like the plants on BOTH sides are of the car are TOUCHING the car. In “town” there are cars just parked anywhere, making the roads narrower… we’re driving around and around, and then we see this older man walking along with his dog. We ask for directions and he says that he knows where it is, but it’s hard to tell us. We actually video record him so we can refer to it later when we’re lost again. But it's basically.. Left them right, right, right.. and when you come to the fork in the road, take it… (old joke). And just when I’m sure that we’ve messed up, we finally see a sign. It's so cute!! Little farmhouse in the country – lovely traditional English gardens, sheep pastures stretching for miles… we go in and meet our hosts – lovely people – and we pick rooms. We have 3 rooms, two people each – The kids in the room with two twin beds (which has the master suite bathroom that is seriously awesome). The rest of us partner up - me and Britt in the other room that has a bathroom (much smaller), and then Dana and Patti in the room that is just a bedroom but has easy access to the communal bathroom (with a huge shower) just across the hall.
We get to Newquay and it’s a tiny town with TINY roads.. Like the plants on BOTH sides are of the car are TOUCHING the car. In “town” there are cars just parked anywhere, making the roads narrower… we’re driving around and around, and then we see this older man walking along with his dog. We ask for directions and he says that he knows where it is, but it’s hard to tell us. We actually video record him so we can refer to it later when we’re lost again. But it's basically.. Left them right, right, right.. and when you come to the fork in the road, take it… (old joke). And just when I’m sure that we’ve messed up, we finally see a sign. It's so cute!! Little farmhouse in the country – lovely traditional English gardens, sheep pastures stretching for miles… we go in and meet our hosts – lovely people – and we pick rooms. We have 3 rooms, two people each – The kids in the room with two twin beds (which has the master suite bathroom that is seriously awesome). The rest of us partner up - me and Britt in the other room that has a bathroom (much smaller), and then Dana and Patti in the room that is just a bedroom but has easy access to the communal bathroom (with a huge shower) just across the hall.
 |
| Susen and Britt's room |
 |
| Thomas and Lauren |
 |
| Dana and Patti |
 |
| The master bath... |
We settle and get directions to a restaurant, but when we get there, it’s booked up ...(and it took something to get there, more narrow roads, roundabouts, missing the place and turning around on narrow roads and roundabouts… And Britt said that it smelled really good when she went in to check – so we’re going to try and go back tmw night. We go to the first place that we can find, and even they were unsure they could get us in. It’s a busy night (Saturday) in the country – and we see some boys walking around in wigs and dresses (but not the same guys – some have a dress, others have a wig) – and we put together that it’s Pride weekend here too! We whine a little and they offer to seat us at a place in the bar area (not the restaurant) – which is perfect for us because it’s still the same menu and we get to do our ordering at the bar. The bartender is great – Robbi – he has tattoo sleeves and loves Brittany. He can’t wait to tell people that he met a Brittany from America (because they have a Brittany area). I order fish and chips and Robbi asks what everyone else is ordering, because if someone orders one of these other specific items on the list then we get a free bottle of wine. He list off… spaghetti..blah, blah, blah… hamburger… THOMAS!! Are you getting a burger?? Yep. Then step right up here! And just like that, I get a free bottle of wine. That’s how Robbi takes care of us. I pay and it’s like 12 pounds or something, and I had a 10, and 1, but needed to make another 1 out of change. The pressure of trying to figure out their money in front of them as you know they’re giggling at you.. I tell him, “Don’t watch me do this! We’re like children when it comes to your money!” Others are starting to look for a pound out of their money for me – but he puts his hand up to them like “hold on” and he just looks at me and smiles and tells me to go on… And I do it! I find a pound out of all my change, and I say, “You knew I had it – you were just waiting for me to figure it out” – he had obviously already seen. He asks if I want a glass to have my wine now, and I say nooooo… they won’t let me – I’m the driver.
Patti was next and she accidentally threw her money at him
but said, “That’s how we do it in America.. “.
Britt talked to him about where we were from – he has no clue where
Missouri or St. Louis are – he just knows New York, he has a friend in NYC, and
he says that he’s sure that if he visited that he would never come back. Thomas
does get the burger, and he says that it’s the best burger yet. It also some with a “ketchup relish” which
tastes just like Pace mixed with ketchup.
Patti and Britt get the BLT (with English bacon which is more like a
ham), and they have BUTTER on their sandwich.
Patti got it on toast and Britt in a baguette. Lauren got a chicken and bacon sandwich, and
Dana got a “jacket potato with cheese” – it just means that it’s a skin on
baked potato. And the cheese is like a rich white cheddar.
It’s been a long day – we head back to the B&B and
relax. The kids skype with Amy after we
get the internet working (had to go down and get help and he had to reset the
router to get it up and running) -- and
the we head to bed (after some of my wine) – no blogging gets done again (I
mentioned wine, right?). Breakfast is
served between 8-9, and we’re heading to
Land’s End in the morning after --
Total for the day… 9408 steps – 31 stairs – 3.94 miles
Total for the day… 9408 steps – 31 stairs – 3.94 miles
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