Eric’s Journal

We are now in France, but the following is a excerpt I wrote on the train in England.

Where are those sheep? I was looking forward to viewing sheep close up.

When we arrived in Moreton-In-Marsh, it was raining, again. It happened to be Market Day, so I figured there would be flowers, meat, veggies, seafood…however, there were also socks, batteries, sweaters, old cds, and a Meat Machine. What’s a “Meat Machine”? We didn’t get close enough to find out! The market was much like a mall, but on a smaller level. Still… no sheep, just saw them from afar on the train.

We decided to visit Stow-In-the-Wold, sounds like someplace sheep would be, right? Well, it was a quaint town with shops and it was still pouring. Eric had a chance to try out the stocks in the town square, but he got a little wet. No sheep.

The next morning, the sun was sort of breaking through, so we went off on a hike or a walk to examine the English countryside. The puddles were virtually impassable, but we trudged on. I can’t remember the last time I was that muddy. Guess what? We didn’t see ANY sheep, but we sure got a good look at some cows! The couple in front of us meandered through the herd without a hitch, not us! When walked by a couple cows turned their backs and took care of business before we could turn away. Boy, it smelled bad and Eric couldn’t stop laughing through the entire field. I think that just encouraged the behavior. Due to this experience, that afternoon, I had to muster up some courage to eat cheese . The walk was enjoyable, we ruined a couple of white hotel towels, but it was fantastic to be outside.

Chippen Camden was a town to the North and it had a beautiful Catholic Church. The altar coverings were supposedly the only ones to survive the English Civil War. The bus ride was a little scary due to the narrow roads and how they drive on the other side of the road.

The Cotswolds were definitely quite a bit slower than London. Too bad we didn’t get to see the animal that creates the famous Cotswold wool, I guess we were in the wrong area. I can’t believe there weren’t ANY sheep. The hotel was fantastic and we had an amazing meal one night, all in all, it was a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Next up: D-Day and the beaches of Normandy, France.

Update: view photos of the Cotswolds.

Filed by LeAnn at 12:32 pm under Europe 2007
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It’s not London Bridge, but Eric and LeAnn that are falling down. 3 full days is not enough time to see all of the major sites, but we tried! We’ve managed to squeeze in trips to Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, the Royal Botanical Garden, the Chocolate Bar at Harrods, and more.

Today, we made it in the nick of time to the British Library to see some amazing manuscripts. Eric spent much of his time staring at the first edition of the complete works of Shakespeare. This morning, I was more fascinated with bypassing the ropes at the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels . We happened to be some of the first people inside and didn’t even have to get up that early!!

We’ve really felt like we are still at home, since it has been raining off and on. We even got caught in a torrential downpour walking home because the tube was busted. Fortunately, the sun came out yesterday afternoon and we were able to ride the GIANT ferris wheel, the London Eye.

We’ve taken the most pictures of Big Ben or maybe the London Eye or maybe even the Tower of London. At Westminster Abbey we definitely walked on the most bodies, considering how the graves are stacked on top of each other.

The food has been better than home! Tonight we had Indian food in Piccadilly Circus.

Tomorrow we leave for Moreton-In-Marsh in the Cotswolds. Hopefully the sheep won’t be too wet!

Update: view photos from London.

Filed by LeAnn at 11:56 am under Europe 2007
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