England Day One: Arriving in London

We hadn't spent Christmas away from home since Portia was born. This year, we found a good airplane price to London and decided to spend Christmas in England this year. The plane flew out of Las Vegas, so we drove to Las Vegas, Eric went to the BYU football bowl game (BYU v. U of U), we spent the night in a hotel, and then go on an airplane the next morning. Eric's dad even flew in from Dallas to watch the game with Eric. I won't mention the ridiculous night I spent in the Las Vegas Emergency Room worried I was having an appendicitis. Anyway, we all did get on an airplane the next day (after a quick lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville) and watched movies & slept.

We arrived in London in the morning to rain and cold, as expected. We had to carry our suitcases up stairs in the subway (not sure we thought this through), then Bianca, Portia, and I waited at a park near the Tower of London while Eric went to pick up our rental car. I don't know how he does it—driving a manual transmission car on the left side of the road—but am just glad I don't have to! We slept while Eric drove to Stratford-upon-Avon. Rose Cottage (where we stayed) is near the Anne Hathaway house (Shakespeare's wife). The house where we're staying is sooo old, nearly as old as Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare's childhood home and may have been built with the same timbers! The walls and stone floors were cold (and a little lopsided) so it wasn't the most comfortable place to stay, but we were definitely getting an "experience." It's cute and authentic for learning all about Shakespeare's time.

Here are some pics of our little cottage. They had even put up a Christmas tree and decorated for Christmas!

We unpacked a bit, then went to The Bell (a pub nearby) for dinner. It was a really cute, laid-back place with really good food. I ordered lasagna and it was actually amazing! I wanted to eat there every night, but we didn't get back to The Bell sadly. Here's Portia eating the ice cream that came with her meal.

We stopped by the supermarket on our way home to pick up milk, bread and fruit so that we can eat our breakfasts at home. We mainly unpacked and settled in before bed.