I was introduced to my friend Jenna through Andrew’s parents. Jenna’s dad used to work with Andrew’s dad, and she & her husband have been in England for about a year longer than us. She was a GREAT resource for me when I was stressing out about moving across the pond. I finally met her in person about a week after we arrived here, but we didn’t get to meet her hubby until his deployment ended in December. Jenna suggested that she and John take Andrew & I into London as a fun little excursion one weekend.

This was a great way for Andrew & I to see how to get into London inexpensively and how to navigate the Tube! I’m not sure if we’re ready to do this again ourselves, but part of that is because we are more into castles and churches than exploring a large city. I’m sure we’ll get back there at some point to see some historical things!

First stop? Harrod’s. Jenna needed to do a little shopping here. This is a beautiful store, but most of it is WAY out of my price range, and it’s HUGE! I would seriously get lost in here by myself!

It was really pretty when we came back this way in the evening and got to see all of the Christmas lights!

Next we walked to Hyde Park, which is where Winter Wonderland is. Here’s us at the park:

I’m not really sure what I had in my head when I heard the term “Winter Wonderland.” Well, part of me was hoping there would be snow, I think! Note: It is currently January 24th, and we have not had any significant snowfall. This makes me very sad. I miss Wisconsin. I think what I was NOT expecting was all of the amusement park rides. It seriously surprised me, haha! It was cool to see, but I wasn’t about to stand in line to ride a roller coaster, and I didn’t have any kids to ride the carousel.

Andrew & I had forgotten to eat breakfast, so once we started getting rained on, we weren’t very happy campers. I hope Jenna & John weren’t too disappointed in us! We found a pub to eat a late lunch at, and that definitely helped! Then we walked to Buckingham Palace for a few night photos. I really enjoyed going here, but I wish my photos had turned out a little better!

Overall, I think we all had a pretty good day. I think my biggest complaint was to myself: Why didn’t you wear more comfortable shoes?! My feet were killing me by the time I got home. Andrew is used to this happening to me; he always suggests wearing comfortable shoes, and I always opt for cute ones instead. Oh well.

Thanks for the mini-tour of London, Jenna & John! 🙂

Since we didn’t have enough time to see Castle Acre Priory the previous weekend, we planned to do this weekend. For mid-October, we had a beautiful day! Sunny and pleasant.

As you can see, the priory has seen better days as well. Parts of it were still in good enough condition to go inside, but the part that had been the church was ruined after Henry VIII started dismantling the Catholic churches in England.

The church itself was consecrated in the mid-12th century. The priory was the home of the first Cluniac order of monks to England, and the Cluniac love of decoration is everywhere reflected in the extensive ruins.

The lodging of the prior is still intact, because it was very nicely adorned, so aristocracy still stayed here.

After the priory, we went to a pub called The Ostrich for lunch. Something to note if you’re going to go out for lunch on a Sunday: nearly every restaurant serves Sunday Roast. Some have other options, but a lot of them only have the Sunday Roast available.

I thought it was delicious! Especially with a pint of British cider… yum! And Yorkshire pudding is not what you call pudding in the States. 🙂
Overall, it was a really nice day & a great weekend!