Lansers Get Lost!: Destination: UK

My last post ended with saying goodbye to family in the Netherlands. Since then it's been a blur of new cities each day, trying to take in as much as we can of this big world.

I'll begin where I left off in the last post--with a broken down vehicle. We rented another vehicle over the weekend while ours got fixed. That left us in the predicament of two vehicles to drive to the car rental drop off. I resisted as much as possible, but logically it made sense to each drive a vehicle. So one of my major accomplishments of this trip is driving a stick shift of a large van between Haarlem and Amsterdam. I'd like to thank Celia for being my willing passenger and Kari and Anne for giving me all the (limited) stick shift knowledge I have.

Many of you will recognize this as my "highly, highly stressed but trying not to show it" face. I only stalled three times and that was because reverse was where I thought second gear should be :)

Finally was able to drag my family into an art museum--The Rijksmuseum (thank goodness they have an armaments room). Got to see the Dutch masters--Rembrandt, VanGogh, Vermeer

Toilets only for costumers?!! Talk about picky! We broke the rules and used it anyway.

Loved this teabag! It looked like a sugar packet, but had tiny little holes that released the tea when you dunked it.

Is a caption even necessary? Classic Amsterdam!

Only the Netherlands can still carry off its charm in the rain. Good thing, because wow, did it rain!

We felt it necessary to visit the province of Zeeland before leaving the Netherlands, so we stopped in this very quaint town of Middelburg (I recognized the name because of the Tulip Time costumes!)

Next was a quick stop in Bruges, Belgium. We had been here a number of years ago with Bryan and Jamie, but my memories were dim so it was fun to come back.

The girls wanted to come for one reason only! We made them suffer through some culture before the reward of a Belgian waffle.

We visited this Begijnhof, founded in 1245--formerly a home for semi-monastic women who lived here and served the community. Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict still live here.

Then it was time to take the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) across to England. I had no idea that you don't just actually drive through the tunnel. You drive on to a train which takes you across. Interesting experience.

Of course our main destination was London. But on the way we made a quick "lunch" stop in Canterbury. Some of the girls said they liked it better than London.

We began our whirlwind tour of London with a visit to the Tower of London. I remembered this as one of the more interesting tours I've taken and again it didn't disappoint.

The Beefeaters actually live on site and care for the Tower but also give tours. I bet our group had at least 200 people in it, but he projected and made the tour very interesting and entertaining.

Had to.

We walked to Trafalgar Square, where there was a variety of street entertainment. We watched a juggling show, bought some wire rings from a guy, watched The Homeless Bard write his poems in chalk, and then these flags of the world caught our eye.

Big Ben, beautifully adorned :)

This is how our trip develops: In order to get from London to Ireland, we needed to travel through Wales. We met a Welsh couple on our Yangtze River cruise in China who talked about the beauty, so we decided it was worth a stop. This is another "want to come back someday" destination--so picturesque.

White Hart Inn, our home for the night in the little town of Lleilailo.

We visited this little pub for fish and chips. It was run by a family (mom, dad and two sons) who were such nice people.

Love these times that just turn into fun. They had a dartboard, so the son refreshed us on the rules (with his cute accent) and we all took turns.

Mmm! Fish and chips and mushy peas!

In the morning I took a little walk through town. Some scenic pictures for your enjoyment:

I'm thinking if we covered our Midway house in stone, it could look like this! So pretty.

OK, my pet peeve of Europe (well, other than paying 3 euros for water): Paying 50 cents X 6 people adds up, but that's not my peeve. How often do you think to carry money to the bathroom and then how often do you have the exact change? And by the time you arrive, how long can you usually wait to try to figure things out? :)

We had hoped to spend some time on the beaches of Wales, but alas--more rain. Instead, we visited the seaside town of Tenby and at least walked the beach.