London- Redux
Jeanette’s Version
We are not doing a very good job of keeping up with our belongings. It all started when we left the B&B in Salisbury and discovered after we got to back to WSM that I had walked off and left the folder containing our tickets to Richard III in Stratford lying on the table in our room. We called the B&B and the owner very obligingly sent them to us. Lucky we aren't going to need them for a couple of days so they will have time to get here. Then Emily suddenly discovered that she had left her caricature in the hotel in London. She called them and discovered that when I changed handbags my passport had apparently fallen out on the floor between the bed and the wall and that also Emily had left an undergarment as well. All of this necessitated a return trip to London without delay.
Naturally the first thing we did on arrival was take the underground to the hotel and retrieve my passport and Emily's unmentionable. Sadly the caricature must have been thrown away, so we went back to Covent Garden so that she could get it done again. We are all falling in love with this place and could spend hours there. We pretty much did, wandering through the flea market area and then going across the street to a shop that sold souvenir sport shirts. Emily got a Scottish rugby shirt and a couple of other items.
Tonight was Jorel's birthday so dinner was special for him and there was a cake and presents. He is such a cutie. The present he liked the best was a fancy shirt with flames all over it. After dinner we all just relaxed and visited and watched movies.
The next morning we all loaded up and went down to Breen where Bob's family were all gathering for week of sun, fun and family togetherness. It was an interesting experience for us, especially for Emily and Kathy who had not met Bob's family before and also to go somewhere that was totally different from where tourist's visit. The Chalets were not what we pictured when we first heard the word. We had somehow pictured an A-Frame with little gingerbread house type trimming, although how we figured this to be located on a beach in Devon is beyond me. But it was all different to us and we enjoyed it. Joanne, Emily and Kathy and I went down to the beach in the car. I was amazed at how wide and sandy it was. My prior experience with beaches in Britain had all involved gravel so this was a pleasant surprise. Later on we all went out to a local restaurant/bar/nightclub/disco that we ate in that night. I will leave it to Emily to describe it.
The next morning I went to the beach with the family and later on Jenny drove us back to WSM as we were leaving the next morning for Stratford and The North. On the way we did a little sightseeing through the Mendip Hills. I had visited Cheddar Gorge before but wanted Kathy and Emily to see it. We parked at the end of the main street and made our way slowly up, shop-hopping as we went. We stopped in a lovely tea room and had lunch, topped off with a cream tea which consists of a scone, topped with clotted cream, and strawberry jam. The area around Cheddar is an internationally famous archeological site because of its Late Upper Paleolithic finds (12-13,000 years old) and where Britain's oldest complete skeleton (9,000 years old) was found. It was also an important Roman and Saxon Center, and the site of one of Alfred the Great's strongholds. It later became famous as the place where Cheddar cheese originated. You can just go in most of the shops and buy a chunk and walk down the street munching on it, which we did.
Emily’s Side of the Story
Got up, caught a train (6:57 AM) which was a straight shot First Class all the way. I crawled under the seats- which most would say is yucky but....who cares...hehe- and I slept. Now, in case you have forgotten, our reasons for heading BACK to London: Grams forgot her passport, and I forgot my blue bra, brown shoes and my caricature...which at the time I thought they may have kept it...yea...right..and they say I am not a blonde. Anyway, got to the hotel..got everything that we had left, except for the beloved caricature- the one where I had big boobies. Got on the underground..."Love is...standing to the right of the escalator."
Made it to Covent Gardens..almost an hour later..kinda poopy but all we have is time. Saw one of those painted people. He was a bronze man..and he was mean, I asked him to take a picture with him and he said "No.." and he was very mean. Then, every person that wanted to take a picture with him he like had a mean look on his face. I mean..COME ON..you are there to MAKE MONEY. Get a grip on life, you freak. Anyway then Grams and I went to get my caricature done...AGAIN. It is way better than the one that I had done before..just think, if I had gone to that guy in the first place, Kathy and I would have never gotten fondled. Sheesh. Then we all ate at Ponti's..high priced crap :) We then all went shopping...as always..and then we got back on the London Underground. The underground is our friend now. We went to Paddington..and I ate two bagels..yum yum to my tum tum.
We then got on our train home...our "train helper"..well cause I can't really call the person a "stewardess" because well we couldn't figure out if it was a man or woman..and well to be quite frank..we still can't. Hmmmm... There were no muggers on this train..just two chicks who put away a huge bottle of wine.
Got back to Bob and Jenny's..met Steve, Joanne's partner. Had Jorell's birthday party.The cake itself was...spongey...with raspberry JAM in the middle. Then Jorell opened his presents and one of them was a bag with toys in it and he goes, "WOW!" and we were all like, "What is it?" and he goes "I have NO idea." Man it was a hoot. Then he got some videos of Thunderbirds, and he was like, "Awh..Thunderbirds?" Haha it was classic. After that it was pretty late so I laid on the couch and finished watching Harry Potter with Bob and Jenny and then I crashed. Muggles stink :)
Saturday
Bob and I messed with my computer for forever! Finally Bob got my songs that I had downloaded, onto a CD. Then we went to Brean...yay. Off to our chalet..ugh. I felt like we were in the ghetto. Everyone was mad about how gross it was. 630 pounds later you still have to pay for the electric. This is how poopy it was: couch was completely torn up, bed sheets had urine and blood stains on them. No toaster..extra 10 pounds. Microwave- NOT. Jenny took the sodded bed clothes back and had them replaced. Price stickers still on wall pictures. Then later Kathy, Grams, Joanne and I all went to the beach..it was pretty, I got some really good shots..and I wrote in the sand.."Emily 's {bleep}" and I took pictures of that and pictures of me with it :) Then I wrote "Emily Brean 2003" because everytime I go to the beach I write my name in the sand and the year and then we take a picture and my mom has them all..
So anyway... Ate at the "Seagull"....night club/Chuck-E-Cheese gone bad/Pub/restaraunt. Okay but they had a DRESS CODE. The dress code was a dress shirt. There was this guy in there though that had a shirt on that was with his FAMILY, his daughter-young like 3 or 4, and his wife/girlfriend, and he had on a shirt that said "Porn, Beer, Footy." Footy= Football. Now, does that sound like something a dress shirt would say? Anyway, 20 million kids engulfed in smoke, beer, and 30 year olds acting like a Boy Band called "Life, " well, life passed them by while they were singing that awful song. Left at 10 PM and the night life was still going strong..and kids were still there...they must've had dance fever.
Got up...Grams went to the beach with the family. Kathy chilled, and I slept. Left there, saying parting words- they were nice :) promise. Went to Chedder Gorge. Ate at "The Wishing Well"..cream teas, cheese and tomato sandwiches. Kathy paid :) I love my best friend forever. Bought some postcards..and I saw this gold plaque thing and it said "On this spot in 1832 nothing happened." Which apparently is a really old joke, but I had never seen it before. Came back to the house...Pilfered through Luke's rucksack, that he left here. Nothing worth stealing :) Sitting here with Gram's reliving the last week of my life, cause I don't keep people up to date. Stuff was left out cause..."What happens on the road, stays on the road." Summer Tour 03..."Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story." *smiles*
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