We went to England this past week. We took a ferry across the Channel. It was a very fun experience. You just drive on the boat and park your car and then there are public sitting areas, a children's play area, shops and even private cabins you can pay a little extra to utilize and take a nap in if you like. On the way to England we just decided to use the public waiting area and children's play area. It was a little like a mini cruise.
This is Leeds Castle. There are only about 450+ Castles in England. Not to mention the Palaces and Abbeys.
This castle actually has a moat that goes completely around and even through the castle. There are basically two sections to this castle and each are built on separate pieces of land with this middle section connecting the two.
The had a pretty cool "Eye Spy" game that the kids enjoyed.
This castle was actually occupied until 2003. So they had a variety of furnishings through out the castle. Some rooms were really modern while others dated pretty far back. It was neat to see the history throughout it.
The boys favorite part was the birds we saw. They talked and talked about the ducks, the black swans and of course the Peacocks! They were pretty cool.
We got to attend the London Temple as well. Even after the splendors of Leeds Castle, this place was still the most beautiful of all.
This is St. Bury Edmond's Cathedral. It is in Central England and is built to honor St. Edmond. A king who history tells us refused to denounce Christianity when the Vikings invaded and threatened his life.
St. Edmond
There were very pretty flower gardens on the grounds at St. Edmonds and I would have to say that the girls enjoyed the flowers as much as the boy enjoyed the birds at Leed's Castle.
Jane
Matthew
Philip
What is left from the Abbey on the grounds.
A church we saw in a little town while driving around.
I know it is completely out of the shot, but it was cool to see the red phone booths in the towns too.
And then there was our day in London.
We rode up top a double decker bus and had a great tour of London and West Minster. We took a lot of photos and saw a lot of history in just one day.
The Marble Arch.
The changing of the guard ceremony was pretty long and intensive. Really neat to see such a parade to just change the guards. It is a tradition that was really cool to see.
I have to admit that the guards uniforms where so traditional that the modern guns they were packing almost looked out of places.
Still really cool.
Buckingham palace.
Big Ben
The House of Parliament.
Ben in front of Big Ben.
West Minster Abbey.
The kids LOVED seeing Big Ben.
The London Eye.
Tower Bridge.
London Tower.
We walked across the Tower Bridge.
This is were Charles Dickens had his first job.
We saw so many things that on our return trip on the ferry we opted to get a cabin. Good thing too. The water was much rougher on the return and between our fatigue and the rough waves it was all we could do, but to just lie down and rest for the 6 hour trip.
