Escaping To England

Stop 1 - Stonehenge: After having our flight delayed several hours and then running into issues with our rental car, we ended up getting a much later start than originally expected. When we were finally on the road, we made our first stop at Stonehenge. We decided to forgo paying the entrance fee and just admired the structure from afar. After Stonehenge we drove to our hotel for the night. 

Despite making arrangements for an automatic transmission car, we ended up getting stuck with a manual transmission. Since Ryan doesn't have experience with a manual, I took on the responsibility of driving. Between the dark roads, rain, and driving a stick shift on the wrong side of the road, our first day of driving was quite the adventure.

 

Stop 2 - Bibury, Gloucestershire, UK: The next morning we started our day off in the small town of Bibury. Although it was tiny the town perfect with its dreamy rows of small cottages.

Stop 3 - Snowshill, Gloucestershire, UK: After Bibury, we headed towards the small town of Snowshill. It was there that we spent time admiring the breathtaking views and driving through the windy roads lined with homes. With Bibury coming in first, we ranked Snowshill as being our second favorite Cotswold town.

Stop 3 - Bourton-On-The-Water, Gloucestershire, UK: Our next stop in the town of Bourton-On-The-Water consisted of a visit to a toy store, antique shops, and a candy store. After our visit we drove through several more towns including Stow-On-The-Wold, Chipping Camden, Broadway, and Burford. When driving through Broadway, we also stopped at the historic Broadway Tower for a quick climb to the top of the tower. After seeing all the towns, we headed to our hotel for an early dinner and bedtime. Next stop - Arizona!!

 

Read more...

Touring Central Europe - Day 7

Stop 22 - Fisherman's Bastion: When we got up the next morning we headed over to Fisherman's Bastion to see the beautiful views of Budapest. The bastion had tons of stairs so the kids spent their time racing up and down the many stairways.

Stop 23 - Hungarian State Circus: When walking through the city the previous day, we came across a permanent circus show that resides in Budapest. We checked the times and decided that the circus would be the perfect way to close our our trip to Central Europe. The circus was amazing! We have seen several circuses as a family, but this was the first one that had a strong man and an elephant. The kids sat in awe eating their popcorn as they watched the various performers.

Read more...

Touring Central Europe - Day 6

Stop 19 - Demel Bakery: The next morning we dropped by the well-known Demel Bakery for breakfast. While the staff was less than friendly, the kids enjoyed getting to watch the chefs work their magic in the glass-enclosed kitchen in the back of the bakery. 

Stop 20 - Bratislava, Slovakia: On our way to Budapest we took a small detour to Bratislava to get a feel for the culture of Slovakia. We were impressed by the friendliness of the people we met and enjoyed all of the unique statues scattered throughout the city.

Stop 21 - Gyermekvasút Children's Railway: Upon arriving in Budapest we drove into the hills to take a ride on the Children's Railway. While waiting for the train, the kids had fun running and playing in a nearby park. The Children's Railway is unique because all of the workers are school-age children. Once the train began its journey two kids dressed in railroad uniforms came to us to collect money for our tickets. The kids only spoke a little English so we struggled to understand what they were trying to say. After a few minutes we understood that we were on the last train for the day meaning it was one-way. After we realized this, we paid the boys and got off on the second stop. We then proceeded to walk all the way back to the station we departed from since that was where our car was parked. Although it wasn't quite the experience we expected, the kids still enjoyed their "quick" ride on the train.

Stop 21 - Szechenyi Spa Baths: After getting back to our car we drove into the city centre and had dinner at a Hungarian restaurant. The food was great and affordable, but the restaurant was a bit fancier than we had expected. Maeli did great and enjoyed what she called her "fancy princess dinner." Milo was bouncing off the walls the entire time. When we finally left the restaurant we knew we needed to burn off some of that energy before heading to the hotel. 

We headed over to the Szechenyi Spa Baths to take a swim in the famous thermal baths. After a chaotic change of clothes and dragging the kids out into the cold weather, we were all relieved to feel how warm the outdoor baths actually were. The kids all had so much fun and Cooley especially loved it as it was his first time swimming. 

Things seemed to be going great until I decided to take Milo's over-sized diaper off of him. A few minutes later I noticed him making a pooping face and asking him what he was doing. I quickly got my answer as I felt his swimsuit and could tell he had pooped. After running him back into the building and cleaning him up in the bathroom, we came back out and he began playing again. While playing, he ended up swallowing some water and started gagging and ended up throwing up in the pool as well. When we were finally done swimming we had to get all of the kids out of the water, run through the cold, and get all of us changed back into layers of winter clothing in one small dressing room. After all of that and having Milo poop, throw up, and lose his wristband in the water, I think we can safely say that we had a "memorable" experience at the baths.

Read more...