Weekend of English in the UK

We had a really great weekend in the UK and appreciated the friendly people and ability to speak/read/understand English. It was a nice little fix of English and we were glad to make the trip. We kept busy and the weather was a bit on the cold side. Don't let the pictures fool you. I've included a few pics but take a look at the slide show for more with captions if you click on the slide show.  There is so much to see in London and we were there only a short time. We saw a lot of the sites from the outside and got to see two very good shows!

Saturday: Travel, Market, & Shows

We got up early (5am) on Saturday and took a flight from Koln to London Stansted Airport.  When we arrived we took a 45min train ride to Liverpool Station and then the tube to our hotel at Paddington Station.  Chad's past travel paid off as we were able to use his Hilton Points and stay at a nice hotel connected to the station which was very convenient.  When we got settled we 

left for our day of theatre! Chad was a trooper and we saw Lord of Rings at 2:00pm and Wicked at 7:30pm. Both shows were very good.   Lord of the Rings had great effects and staging and Wicked was just amazing!  We need to buy the soundtrack. Before the first show we were also able to walk around Covent Garden which Chad thought reminded him of Summerfest with all of the people gathered and the bands and street entertainers.  We were tired by the time we got back to the hotel, but it was a great day.

Sunday:  Hyde Park & the Big Bus Tour

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then spent the day in the city. We walked a lot!  We walked around Hyde Park and saw so many people just sitting and relaxing outdoors. The day was a bit cold so we appreciated drinking some coffee and hot chocolate. :) We saw the tribute to Princess Diana and a very old statue of Peter Pan in the park. We then took the Big Bus tour to see as many sites as possible. We were also able to do a short cruise on the Thames River which was great because the sun came out! :)

The rest of the time...

Monday and Tuesday Chad had to work at the PWC Office and the JCI site in Waterlooville. Kelly however, was on Holiday! :)  Chad got to put some faces with names and voices! Kelly spent the day walking around Reading enjoying the sun, parks and the mall! Yes, a mall where everything is in English. I didn't buy a thing because I kept doing the conversion rate from dollar and euro to British pound and I couldn't bring myself to spend that much. :)  But it was great to be able to see familiar items from home and just get out and not feel so lost.

The gardens and parks were also really nice and the temperature reached about 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was a relaxing few days for me. :)  But it also made me miss work too.

Funny story... and Lesson Learned

So they don't use screens on windows here or in the UK.  Well we left the window open Monday night in our hotel room and went to dinner. We left a small light on and when we returned we had a bunch of bugs & mosquitos around the light on the wall. Yeah now picture us with shoes trying to kill all the bugs before we went to bed. 

We're off tomorrow night to Frankfurt until Friday evening. We were hoping to come back to have an update on our phone and internet, but yet no luck!  :(  Hope everyone had a great weekend!