Bonus day

So our flight didn't work out.  After a couple of hours of the air India girls relentlessly searching for another option, we are finally booked on a plane tomorrow at 10:30.  We have actual seats assigned this time, so it looks pretty good.  Apparently all of the uk is flying to NYC this weekend, and every flight is booked or over booked.  

It is a beautiful day, so we hit the town after lunch and a short nap.  We missed this side of london, so to Trafalgar Square we head.

I don't know who this guy is, but he has a good name!

Selfies at covent garden.  It's really cool, and I'm so glad we didn't miss out on seeing it.

There were a couple of really cool cars there for us to see.  The matte finish is popular.

 

We finished with a silly ghost tour that started across the street. There wasn't time for a drink, though.

On our way back for dinner on air India.   Tired and definitely ready to go home....again.

This is a much nicer hotel.

Saying goodbye again was just as hard today.  Love you, Al!

Good night!

Friday

A quick drive down the motorway +/- 5 hours to Stonehenge.  It was cool, but hard to fully appreciate as a full on tourist attraction.  Perhaps I'll go back someday for the winter solstice, which is what it's meant for. 

Another drive back to windsor for a final dinner celebration with the Bowen-Davies family.  We loved every minute of our time here, thanks to this wonderful family.  

Saturday -travel day

As I write this, it is Saturday.  I am standing in terminal 4 at london heathrow airport.  We made the decision last summer to spend less money on plane tickets.  By booking with air India, we saved a significant amount of money on a direct flight.  As it happens, we are stuck because air India and Kuwaiti air cancelled their agreement to contract flights together.  As we booked initially through air India and they contracted to kuwaiti, we now have no flight out.  I booked travel insurance with the  tickets, but there is no guaranteed reimbursement with a cancelled agreement.  Everyone is working hard to get us home, but it looks like we won't make it out today.

Air India management did not inform their employees prior to us showing up, and refused to come down to explain the situation or try to appease thier customers.  They told the agents not to upsell any tickets, so if we booked economy they would not give us available business seats.  A terrible position for the desk agents, but they did a great job once we all got over the initial shock.  After exhibiting extreme patience, we are now booked to go home on virgin Atlantic tomorrow at 12:30.   

Next, had to deal with the pre-booked and paid hotel and rental in NYC.  It took some phone calls, but we are now all set for tomorrow.

I believe that it will work out for the better in the end.  Stay tuned.

An extra dinner with Ali was a bonus.  I will so miss spending time with the Bowen-Davies family.  Hopefully, we will meet again soon.  

Thursday

Today we drive to wales to do some mine ziplining and some cave trampolining.  On the way, we stopped for coffee/breakfast and saw this.....

Must be a sharknado in town.

Wales is lovely.  It reminds a lot of Ireland, but which better roads.

Made it to the slate mine where our adventures will be.

It's quite the place.  We started with the zip line.  There are three different lines to go on this route.  Scott is nervous, since he isn't a real fan of heights and he hasn't ever done anything like this before.  So they gear us up in fancy red jumpsuits, helmets and vests, and load us into a van to take us to the top of the mountain.  Here I think Scott is going to lose it because the guy is careening around these curves on a cliff side.  Once we get to the top, they take extra care to talk us through, buckle us in, and make sure that we're safe.  We go second.  It's the longest and slowest of the lines and if we wait any longer, I'm sure that my husband will get back in the car and go down.  Fortunately, that was also life-threatening, so he opts to stay with us.  It was beautiful!!

So, we did the first.  Now, picture this.  A short walk to the next line.  Red jumpsuits, helmets and gear that probably weigh about 10 extra pounds.  A funny seat flap that is attached to our legs that make us walk like penguins.  Colorado like altitude.  There is waddling.  And laughing.  And gasping.  And laughing.  It's a vicious circle.

We get to the second line and it's shorter and faster. And a 200' foot drop off.  It was extremely cool!  Scott said he even enjoyed a few seconds of it before he thought about dying.  Now, another short walk.  This one is completely uphill.  Laughing and gasping commence.  The last one is the shortest and fastest yet.  They take these great pictures as we come to the end.

I loved every second!

This about sums it up for Scott, although he says he enjoyed it at the end.

They caught this exactly as Sean hit the breaks. 

This cool chic came in the fastest of all of us!

Took a break before bouncing to have dinner and........

Visit a castle, of course.

This little guy was hanging out on the path.  Most castles we visit have some sort of animal life, so we always watch our step. 

After dinner, we went back to the mine to do some cave trampolining.  Black lights and four levels of nets to jump, climb and slide on.  Sean was in his element!

After an hour, we walked into the light tired and ready for a relaxing evening at a hotel.  What a beautiful sunset.

Ooo....a castle?  This one is closed, but we stop and turn around for it.  Oh no Scott!  We're on the wrong side of the road!  It only happened the once, but it was a little alarming.  The castle was worth it though, and a full moon as well.

Off to bed at a beautiful hotel in northern wales.  Until tomorrow.

Wednesday

Sean's birthday is today!   Scott and Sean spent the day at Chessington world of adventures, an amusement park.  Haley and I took the day off to rest and recuperate (watch movies and do laundry).

Happy birthday, buddy!  

Tomorrow we drive to wales for a four person zipline and underground cave trampoline park.  Woohoo!

Tuesday

The Tower of London today.  An extraordinary fortress with stories like fairy tales, but as real as the bodies that passed through there.

This is the gate that Anne Boleyn was brought through.

This tower is where king Henry IV sons were murdered so that king Richard could take the throne.

The original tower built by William the conquerer.

The building where the Crown Jewels are kept.  They are spectacular.  No pictures allowed.

A dragon made of weaponry in the white tower.

A dungeon lies under that grate.

In this building, prisoners carved thier last words into the walls.

In this pretty square with this chapel in the background, 3 wives of king Henry VIII lost their heads and were then buried in the chapel.

An original portcullis, still in working order.

Poor Haley.  Those stupid hips are acting up again.

Oh no Sean!  Stabbed by a metal soldier.

The cutty sark in Greenwich.

We didn't have enough time to get to the meridian, but it's by that dome in the distance.

In order for me to get a picture of my daughter I have to make a ridiculous face.  :)

Hey, the tower bridge is raised!

BBQ in London!  Yummy.

Al got us tickets to the key ceremony at the tower tonight.  A 700 year old ceremony locking the gates of the castle every night.  The basis of the "halt, who goes there?" quote.  Quite fantastic.

Just a cool building on the way out.  Tomorrow is Sean's birthday so an exciting day is on the way for him.