England, The End... For Now

Here is the last of mom and I's trip to England. It was really lovely and I hope that she and I can go back again sometime. Sooner rather than later if I have my way :) On our last few days in England we did have some very important places to go...

Stop #1 - London!

As you can see THIS, is the real reason I
wanted to catch a train into King's Cross
Station. :) Mom wasn't too impressed.

When we were booking our trip, I made a big deal about mom and I getting a train into King's Cross Station. She wasn't really super sure why but she was game and put up with me going there. Although I did feel bad when afterwards we had to walk about 3 miles to get to our station to being our red bus tour : / Which was fantastic by the way! It was such a fun time and unless you're one of those people who researches everything there is to know about every place you go, and you are planning on spending more than a few hours there, I would very much recommend doing a tour like this. Our guide was great, he told us all sorts of interesting fun little facts, made jokes, it was great! We also got a chance to ride on the London Eye which was really amazing. Not to mention it was fun just being in London. It was incredibly busy though because they were busy taking stuff down from the Queen's Jubilee and getting ready to set up for the Olympics. It was a beautiful time though and mom and I had a great time together, although it was a very long day and the way back was... interesting :) More on that after our next stop though!

Me in front of the Eagle and Child Pub! I was so excited!
Oxford was such a cute little town and I absolutely
loved the pub. It was honestly the best food I'd had the
whole trip, and I was just honestly on cloud 9 to be there
in the first place. :) Talk about a perfect dinner!

Mom and I decided to go to Oxford for dinner after our day in London. On our way there though, we had a bit of a scare because the first station we changed trains at, our train was late, and the connection was early! So we had to run across the platform. Once we were on that train we heard an announcement over the intercom about the fact that they were going to stop the train before we got to Oxford! And that we would have to find our own way to Oxford because there was something wrong with the signals! We were so freaked out but then thankfully they got it fixed and so we were able to make it :) The whole reason we wanted to go to Oxford was so we could eat at the Eagle and Child Pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, along with their other friends in their writers club known as the "Inklings" would meet for dinner and drinks quite often. Since I'm a huge fan of both writers, this was at the top of my list of "Must See Places" for mom and I's trip. It was completely worth it! However, our trip back to York that night was less than great. To sum it up and shrink it down, mom and I had a few tight connections to make with our trains and we had been doing great so far. In fact, although we did have to run across platforms once or twice, we did make it thank goodness. However, when we got off the train for what was supposed to be our tightest connection of the night... Our connecting train was 40 minutes late! Because of that we missed our last connecting train into York and so when we arrived in Manchester at 1AM (the time that we were supposed to arrive in York originally) and the whole station was pretty much closed! It was terrible. There wasn't going to be another train in until 4:30! However, I was very resolved to not have that keep mom and I from our wonderful bed and breakfast. So we found a resolution, and the train company called my mom and myself a taxi cab. And the three of us, oh yeah did I forget to mention the random stranded French businessman that was with us too? Anyway, I digress, the three of us, headed back to York, and with some clever navigating, we got the driver to leave us just across the street from our bed and breakfast.

Our very lovely tea

The next day mom and I headed into the country side for a visit to Chatsworth house, which translates in my world to Pemberly :) It was absolutely GORGEOUS! I could not have imagined a more beautiful park (seriously acres of grounds here), garden maze, walk ways, gardens, flowers, green houses, and the most amazing house in the world! :) And we had tea too! It was so lovely and we had such a great time :) Although, it was a bit of an issue because we were so American that we kept on forgetting to use our strainers for the tea leaves. :) Oh well :) It was still a beautiful time :)

So this is the end of my tales from England :) At least for now anyway :) I am hoping that someday soon I can go back again. I don't know who will go with me or where I will go, but I do know that I have to go back :) What about you though? Where was one of your favorite places to travel? What were some of your favorite things that you did while you were there? Where did you visit and you are counting the days to get back to it? Let me know!