Aurora Garden Hotel Windsor

... and less commercial than other towns, but plenty of people in this country know how to do the polished brass and hanging basket thing so well I'm always getting out the camera and never doing it justice.

And the castle--what can I say? Magnificent. Gigantic. Old. Staffed by more people in navy blue suits with red lapels, the uniform of the Royal Staff That Interacts With Tourists. Polite but vigilant, and firm if ...

As the sun started to peak through the curtains, I woke up to glorious day in England. And as clear blue skies don't come around too often in these parts, I had to make the most of it and explore something new. So I got up & got myself ready for a day of exploring. I headed to Waterloo Station & checked the times of some trains out of town. The first to depart somewhere interesting was a train to Windsor. So Windsor it was...in search of a prince. Or at least to find a castle ...

... it was a McClub of sorts!) It had so much more food than our McDonalds at home. Lots of big huge breakfast muffins, porridge, brownies, and they have a European Monopoly game going on. It was packed in there too. We walked around the town a bit more before settling in at the Ha Ha Bar & Grill. We each had a glass of wine (which mine got me drunk-it was a Merlot from Chile) and split a plate of Camembert ...

... for me will remain as the one place I never intended to visit but am so glad that I did not miss. It's definitely a must see to any traveller coming to England. On the way out of the town of Windsor we drove past the equestrian and horse track that houses the royal weekend festivals once a year as well. We obviously didn't stop but got a good view from the bus and some fun facts and history on it. 2 hour bus ride later...

After a huge day looking around Paris and a good sleep, Mum and I packed out bags and check out of our hotel room and taxi to the Eurostar train station to head back to London but before that we sat in a little french cafe and had a little drink while Mum read the paper and I caught up with my Diary. Then we jumped on our 2.13pm Train to London having a fantastic time in Paris.

Okay, I'm back. Today I had to wake up and take care of some stuff for work so that was fun. Also, my phone wasn't working- also fun? No. I had a near come apart this morning trying to get everything done and not being able to contact anybody and running behind and giving in to a general air of "frazzled" (which happens often) until I stood still, took a deep breath and remembered that I'm on vacation and things are only late if I tell them they're late. I decided to be ...

Over the last two days I have been heading into the centre of London to check out all the different things the city has to offer. I had been in the UK for 2 weeks now but I haven't really spent much time in London so I was eagerly waiting for some good weather so I could see everything and get some good photos! The previous day before heading into the city centre, I went to Kingston which is south of the main city and attractions just for 2 hours to go to the mall and ...

My sleep deprivation came to an end today after awakening from a 12 hour snoozefest. It was noon when I finally crawled out of bed and jumped into the shower to help bring me back to a functioning level. Freshly showered and tummy filled, I set out ...

... apparently! The place was totally dead, and there was actually some kind of promotion going on where they were giving tickets a way for free. No fair! My very first bit of advanced planning had already gone awry. We did have a very typical foggy London day for our ride which was nice and atmospheric but the pictures didn't come out so great so I'll only post a few. I took better ones the next time I went to London.

... photos and video. Drove on further to Avebury and the stone circles that surround the town. Lots of hippies, druids and unemployed people sitting around made the town feel a bit weird. As the site was so spread out you could walk amongst the stones. Drove onto the M4 heading towards Heathrow, stopping at a service centre for lunch which was more like a small shopping centre ...