Beeping horns

Our first drive in the UK reminded me of a scene in the movie, The Holiday.

Cameron Diaz's character, Amanda, drives a red Mini Cooper. 

Our car. Not exactly a Mini. Shoot! But, nonetheless, compact enough to keep us between the lines.

So Amanda is driving down the wrong side of the road. "I can do this," she mutters.
Our thoughts exactly. We can do this!

She's got both hands on the wheel, paying full attention to the road in front of her. She's got this. That is, until a big lorry (English for truck) comes barreling along in the other lane.
Amanda flinches as she begs, "Please don't hit me." She turns the wheel, hugging the side of the road, barely squeaking past the lorry.
The next scene shows her darting the red Mini into the village, barely missing a bicyclist as the car comes to an abrupt stop. "I need a drink," Amanda proclaims.

Us too, Amanda. Us too.

We hugged hedges with the wheels of our car. We almost hit a pedestrian who ignorantly assumed we could drive like a local. It takes my breath away thinking how we could have killed someone while on holiday in my happy place.

There was no reading a book AT ALL while driving the entire time we were in England. Bummer. I had to help Mr Wonderful navigate. Which, actually, I was really no help at all. I can't read a map to save my life. Clearly, if I hadn't known that before, I most certainly solidified that fact while on this trip! I think it's pretty funny. Mr Wonderful found no humor in it whatsoever!

A parked car is a safe car. We made it to our first stop. Barely. Like pressure in a slowly leaking tire, we needed time to decompress.   


    

Word

Peace
Resilience
Intentional
Authentic

These are a few front runners for my ONE WORD in 2019. I've done this practice now for at least six years. Picking that one word that will walk with me throughout the year. 2018=Wonder. A perfect word since it has been my year of jubilee. Turning 50 has been a great time to focus on that one word. Wonder.

I will post soon about all the WONDER I experienced this past year. 

I am listening for that new One Word. I'm all ears.

Wouldn't recommend it

What were we thinking?

After a brilliant weekend in Paris, we made it back to London and headed for the rental office near Heathrow.  "Whatever for," you ask?

Well, in order to get around in the countryside of England, the very best way is to drive. And yep, we were stupid enough to think,  How hard can it be?  

Hard, I say. Hard. Extremely difficult. Grueling. Confusing.  Need I keep going?

Such friendly staff at the rental office. I wondered if they thought, Stupid Americans. Whatever are you thinking? Who knows! But, we signed on the dotted line, listened to all the things we were responsible for should we get in an accident. (That in itself should have clued us in. Yikes!)

We walked out to the lot and had our pick. "Which one do you want?" The sales lady asked.

"The smallest one you've got," I said.

We walked to the end of the row. "Will this do?"

Compact. Not a showy color. "Perfect."

She checked over  the car. "Any nicks or dents larger than a quarter will be your responsibility when you return the vehicle."
That was promising. At least she said, "When!"She had confidence in us. This is a good thing!
Once the paper work was completed, she shook our hands and said, "Good luck."

"Are we going to need it?" I asked.

"You'll be fine. Besides, you're not the one driving." She pointed in the direction of Mr. Wonderful. "He is."

Somehow that didn't make me feel any better. We wheeled our suitcases to the back of the vehicle, opened the boot (that's English for trunk) and packed them inside.

We must have sat in the car for at least twenty minutes figuring out how to turn the car on! (Bad sign!)  We fiddled with the wipers and plugged in our GPS.  Soon Mr Wonderful would pull out of our parking spot and do something we did every single day in America. Drive.
But, never had we practiced driving in the UK on the WRONG side of the road.

We buckled our seat belts. Mr Wonderful looked at me. "Ready?" 

"No," I squeaked.

"Ready or not, here we go." Mr Wonderful stepped on the gas.

I covered my eyes and peeked through my fingers. 

We turned the corner.  Our first round a bout in front of us, there was no time to think. No turning back. I ordered, "Just punch it!"

Stay tuned.

Before Leaving

Just a few candid shots of London before we move on to the countryside.
These are a few of my favorite London serendipitous moments.   

I'd like to think this bunting is waving at me! We walked past this pub nightly due to the fact that our hotel was mere feet from its front door. English pubs are so inviting. I'm convinced relationships are strengthened because of them.

 Relaxing over the noon hour in the parks.

Once upon a time they were used to make a phone call. Technology is a good thing, I know. But I hope these iconic booths never disappear completely from the London landscape.

 Love the signs for the underground. Notice it really does say TOILETS. I giggled many times throughout this holiday as the English educated me on that very term. It's not bathroom or restroom as we like to say.

One tour guide matter-of-fact replied to me, "A bathroom is for taking a bath. Is that what you plan to do in there, take a bath?" 

TOILET  just sounds rough for some reason, doesn't it?  But, the English are very proper, and if they're okay with it, then so am I!

Finally got to visit the Victoria and Albert museum.
Sadly, the  Beatrix Potter exhibition was on tour. SIGH. On the list for the next holiday to England.

Flat. Not an apartment. A flat.
I'm using this photo to visualize my fictional character living here for my novel!

The swans at Hyde Park. Stunning isn't it.

The famous Peter Pan statue.
It took me quite a long while to snap this photo without people in it. Patience!

This was our walk to get on the bus from our hotel. We always had great weather.
London is a wonderful city full of great adventures.
The stuff of fairy tales.
      

On this Day

I was going to go on and on about my favorite author, CS Lewis, and the fact that today would have been his 120th birthday. What an amazing thought. 120 years old. 

But honestly,  I am feeling pretty lousy right now. Just got back from the doctor and I have bronchitis. UGH.

So, I'm going to take some medication and get some rest and think happy thoughts about how I got to go inside "the wardrobe" and visit his home, The Kilns.
 

 

Letters

So I love to write letters. Handwritten ones. The lost art kind.

While in England, I found a most lovely place for stationary.

I did some research before we left.
A certain Duchess with the initials MM gave another Duchess ( I wonder who?!) a gift from Smythson upon meeting her. I read that. Who knows if its true, but lets go with it because this place is amazing! Lets just say I would be ecstatic to receive such a gift.

It's on Bond Street in London.

Yep. Fancy.

I kept the bag! Want to see what's inside?

First, notice the year. Smythson has been in business a very long while.
No wonder. Such class.

How could I resist?

I'm such an anglophile.
If you get one in the mail from me, do a favor would you? Just ooh and aah as you think of me in my happy place! 

No Crowds

So today, I opened my mail and did a happy dance. My next issue of Anglotopia magazine has arrived. Wouldn't you know, an article about the big day back in May graced the inside pages.

Brought me right back to Windsor.

As we ambled down cobblestone streets, peeks of the castle winked at us.

You're looking at the oldest occupied castle in the world.

It's pretty epic.

I assure you, it's real.
I stared at this scene for a long while. Notice the guard house. One's missing. Where'd he go? We all need to take a rest. Do the guards take breaks? I'll have to look into that. 

The Long Walk. I walked for part of it. Mr. Wonderful asked, "Why?!"
What's not in this photo that was there during the Royal Wedding?

Any guesses?

NO CROWDS!
As we walked around Windsor, I imagined what it must have been like to be there with all those people. If you recall, it was a rather warm day. So many must have scrambled for some shade.
More importantly, where did they all go to use the toilets? UGH! But, a good question, don't you think?

I paid attention to every detail.

And I never missed a chance to snap a photo of a Mini!