We had one of our home teachers take us to the airport. We checked two bags, and I got my first pat down (the girl who did it was so nice). We were SUPER early because there was no way we were going to miss that flight. Plus, with our business class tickets we had access to the British Airways lounge which was pretty sweet. We read Hello! Magazine (the UK version of People Magazine, but, you know, with British People), ate a ton of snacks, did our baby registry, and ate dinner. This is the view from the lounge.
We were definitely the youngest people in the British Airways lounge by about 15 years. Which was nice because we didn't have to deal with any obnoxious teenagers or hipsters (that part would come later and often in London).
A bump shot right before we boarded at 9:50.
We had the option to eat dinner on the flight, but we had dinner in the lounge. I'm SOOO glad we flew business class – the perks were amazing. Here's what each individual seat looks like in Club World (British Airways business class).
I loved sharing a little pod like this with T. Our pod had so much room when the seats weren't lying down. T also notes that the plane is really roomy - the ceilings are tall and the aisles are wide.
We left at 10:20 and right as we pushed out from the gate the power in the Club World seats (where we were) went out and the seats wouldn't recline. But it was fine because the British Airways people are so nice and put our seats down manually. We slept for about 4.5 hours. I did get up twice to walk around (and take off the compression socks the first time and put them back on the second time).
You probably can't see, but the map shows us about an hour outside of London.
Mmmm, breakfast of fresh fruit. T didn't really care for the grapefruit. There were also hot rolls (a breakfast sandwich), croissants, and muffins for breakfast. Sleeper flights (which is what they called it which made me think of "sleeper cells") are totally the way to go. Eat, sleep, eat, land makes the flight go by so quickly!
We also got little spa goodie bags that we didn't use but were still pretty cool. Pretty much flying Club World on British Airways will ruin us forever because we'll never want to fly economy again. We LOVE flying this way.
Getting off the plane we got onto a bus to take us to the terminal. On the airport tarmac it was seriously trippy to see another bus coming towards us on the "wrong" side of the road. Heathrow airport is HUGE and confusing. Luckily everyone was super nice and we could understand the accent. Actually, we wonder if the accent makes the people sound nice and charming, even when they are not...
The sign in this picture didn't really turn out. But it says "2012. We're ready." and has some Olympic medals.
We breezed through immigration and customs (customs was strange - you go through the "I don't have anything to claim" line and there is absolutely no one there to even look at you, much less ask you questions or check your bags).
We had checked a big rolling duffel bag and a smaller gym sized duffel bag and we each had a small carry on. We put one of the carry ons in the rolling duffel so we only had three bags to look after. T was so fabulous to schlep our two big bags all around town. After some confusion about where to find the right bus stop we took a bus then two trains then walked a mile to get our Bed and Breakfast. The B and B owner was seriously aghast that we didn't have a car. It was around 3 p.m. and we were starving and almost nothing was open. We know this because we walked a mile through the entire center of the town. We moseyed about town and T spoke with an accent the entire time and we just laughed and said ridiculous things that sounded vaguely British. We ate at an Italian place then crashed around 9 p.m. It was HARD to stay awake that long, but by the next morning we had already totally adjusted to London time.
The next morning (Monday May 7) the B and B owner fixed us a traditional English breakfast which was fruit compote with yogurt, "frosted shreddies" (a cereal like shredded wheat), canandian bacon, sausage, fried egg, toast, and a fried tomato.
The B and B owner drove us to Hever Castle. And oh, my goodness, British drivers are nutso! Like driving crazy fast on very skinny, curvy two lane roads. Plus it was still freaking us out that cars were coming at us from the wrong direction! All of these things = the reason we didn't want to rent a car in the UK.
Anyway, Hever Castle was the home of Ann Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife (and the first one to get her head chopped). There was a pretty great playground and maze toward the entrance, but the first thing we really saw was the gift shop!
In one of the little shops on the grounds, they had an exhibit about houses. Yeah, I know it sounds pretty lame, but it was actually pretty interesting (or at least T thought so). Basically, it chronicled via models the progression of houses from simple dwellings to the great halls of Henry VII's time to lavish estates like this one.
T really digs this staircase. We might have to have one like this in our house someday. The only problem is that a staircase like this probably also requires the matching house. Just as long as the wig isn't required as well…
I don't know if you can see, but the chandeliers all have little tiny light bulbs. The candles in other models did, too.
The grounds of Hever Castle were beautiful. Here's a giant swan in front of a sculpted shrub. We were pretty sure it was going to attack a small child or something. T wanted to ride it (like in Swiss Family Robinson when Ernst rides the ostrich!).
The Christmas ornament we liked the most. We didn't buy it because we figured that we could find something similar (or at least find it cheaper) in London. Big mistake.
Hever Castle was bought by the Waldorf Astor family in 1903. The outside is still pretty much original, and though a few things are still original, a lot of the interior of the castle now looks like the 1920's. (Photos weren't allowed inside the castle at all).
We were going to download the Hever Castle app so we could get more out of the inside of the castle, but we totally forgot. I felt like the rooms / signs in the castle were all laid out wrong / in awkward positions for people to be able to read them. Overall, we were much more impressed with the grounds than with the castle.
Morris dancing for May Day. Not really though, because May Day was the week prior. Maybe they were celebrating the May Bank Holiday which was that day, but I really have no idea what the UK May Bank holiday is about.
We did the yew (hedge) maze which was actually pretty cool. Below is the exit to the hedge maze, complete with lovely tulips. You know it's cold if there are still tulips just starting to bloom in May.
The castle and moat and drawbridge.
Part of the classic Italian gardens.
The castle's 35 acre private, man-made lake. (One of the additions from the Astors.) We took a very nice walk all the way around it. You could also rent a boat and row around the lake, but who would pay money to do extra work on vacation?!
The blossoms on this tree were incredible. They looked like day lilies.
Maypole dancing in front of Hever Castle. Another UK May Day / May Bank Holiday activity. The little kids (and their parents) actually did a pretty good job.
There was a lot of shaped shrubbery, including a whole chess set!
The yellow blooms are from the yellow tree in one of the previous photos. The roses were two of the few roses blooming in the classic gardens. It was a bummer because there were so many plants - it must be incredible when they are all in bloom.
So fun to see your pictures and hear the stories! Thanks for sharing. I love this post!
ReplyDeleteOh wow. I've always wanted to go to England.
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