England Part 1: June 5th to 9th

We arrived in London via the Eurostar and Uncle Steve picked us up from Mill Hill Station. We had tea that night with Uncle Steve, Sandy, Mum and Grandpa at Grandpa's house. We had a YUM pork roast - Mum outdid herself. For those of you who don't know, Mum was in London for a few months helping out my Grandpa after my Grandma died.


The next day we picked up our rental car and took Mum for a quick look in Brent Cross, and then went back to Grandpa's for a visit from Auntie Kath, Jenny and Jodie. That was a great visit!

Grandpa and his little sister, my Auntie Kath

Adrian, Mum, Jenny, Me, Grandpa, Auntie Kath, Jodie

For tea there was Adrian, Mum, Grandpa and I. We managed to get Grandpa talking about 'the old days', and even Mum learned things she didn't know before. Like that Grandpa always wanted to be a bus conductor but he wasn't allowed because of a medical problem in his childhood! So his elder brother 'got him a job' at his work, an electrical firm and of course Grandpa continued to be part of his own electrical business. The stories were lovely to hear.

On June the 7th we started our mini road trip, heading north to Warwick Castle. We were planning on going to Oxford on the way, but it took us longer than we expected to get there so we didn't stop there. The weather was horrid, cold and wet, though Mum let me take her Union Jack umbrella which was fun.

The best thing about Warwick Castle was the 'Birds of Prey' show/demonstration.

 We also saw some of the jousting, and a weaponry demonstration. In the end it was just too cold and wet. I became moany and we left. We continued to our first place to sleep for the night - Macdonald Ansty Hall. It was built in 1678 and is a Georgian Manor, which made it extra interesting to stay there! It had lots of landscaped gardens but as you will see in a little while, we could not enjoy them.

We went to the Rose and Castle for tea, which was the local pub just down the road.

I had a steak and blue cheese pie, and Adrian had faggots (we had not previously heard of faggots!). My meal was really good. But it was not so good at about 2am the next morning when, let's just say, I had to visit the bathroom multiple times in a hurry. Horrible! I have not been that sick for ages. Adrian was fine which was good. But it screwed up our planned adventures for Alton Towers the next day. Instead, Adrian did some grocery shopping but otherwise we did not much. In the evening we drove to Coventry to have a look round, but still being cold and rainy, and me feeling very green, we did not leave the car. We stayed our second night in Macdonald Ansty, and I did not get to try the breakfast, which had very good reviews. We saved a bit of money because I got sick! It was a nice place to stay - quiet, large rooms, bath, and lovely bed. And a TV which we watched a lot more than I would have predicted! All you could ask for while moping around feeling angry that you can't enjoy your holiday to the fullest!

June the 9th was our last chance to visit Alton Towers before we had to move towns. I was feeling a bit bitter about it because we drove up north specifically to go to the UK's biggest amusement park, and then I get food poisoning the day before! Grr. I still was not eating properly - had a date scone and apple for breakfast and that's all, nothing else during the day. I was pretty much resigned to the feeling that I would probably not be able to go on any of the big rides because of my stomach. We started off with Sonic Spinball which was very fun though it had a MASSIVE queue. And my stomach was fine! I now had confidence to try something bigger. Yay! We rode:

• Air - strangely peaceful, and my first rollercoaster in a 'lying down' position. The best of the day tied with:
• Nemesis - having previously ridden Nemesis Inferno with my cousin Steve at Thorpe Park, I expected this to be much the same. NO! It was much better! The best of the day.
• Nemesis Sub-terra - a new ride. Unimpressed.
• (saw) Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs "4D" experience [fascinating how the entertainment industry continue to invent Ds].
• Rita - great! So fast :)
• possibly some other smaller rides that I can't remember as well. 

I was bummed we couldn't ride Thirteen - quite a new addition. But while we were queueing for Rita we saw why - one of the trains had stopped half way up the lift hill, with all the riders still in it! It was there for at least an hour. Poor people! I was less bummed that we couldn't ride Oblivion, because it was also broken. Oblivion is a straight down drop and I can't stand straight down drops. But I would have done it, simply because we will probably never be at Alton Towers again. Let's just say I wasn't entirely disappointed it was broken!

That night we drove South toward Bath, then east into Wiltshire to stay at our next hotel, Guyer's House.

Sunshine! Better weather in Wiltshire.

It was also nice, though a bit less luxurious than Macdonald Ansty. I also didn't get to try the breakfast here, because my stomach was still bad. Adrian had it though, and enjoyed it.

Next... exploring Bath.