Finally got a christmas tree today. Turned out to be quite a pilgrimage. I found the British equivalent to Home Depot and finally figured out how to get a bus there. I had been on the bus for about 25 minutes, thought I was gettin pretty close when I saw a little market with a guy that was selling christmas trees....so in a moment of passion (hehe) I jumped off and inquired. They turned out to be really expensive. So other than get back on the bus and pay again I nievely thought I could walk the last ten minutes to the store. I got "directions" and headed off.

After walking about 15 minutes I asked some Indian guy, who informed me that I was walking in the wrong direction and then asked me to have coffee with him....yikes....so I headed back to where I started , paid the extra money to get on the bus and finally got there about 2 hours after I left my house.

After three hours though I got this little beauty home and decorated and I am so happy! Completly worth the hastle.

A British Christmas Dinner

Sunday evening we came back and prepaired a traditional British Christmas dinner. They have very different traditions from us suprisingly. This being a very fun one. Christmas crackers. They are these little "tear apart" presents and everyone grabs the end of one in a circle and all pull at the same time. The person who gets the bigger end gets the present inside. I am now the proud owner of a mini tape measure key chain....nice.... It also has a crown and a paper with cheezy jokes and riddles.

Charlotte was very pleased with her jokes and hat.

And then we chowed down. They eat turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce like us at Thanksgiving and supplement that with parsnips, carrot and swede(a potato like thing) mash, sausage wrapped in bacon (low fat I'm sure) and roast potatoes. Charlotte also made malt wine - no wine involved. It is kind of like our wassal but has grape juice, orange juice, spices and tons of sugar which made it very tasty.

This is their traditional christmas drink....Schloer. You sound drunk just pronouncing the name. It tasts like nonalcoholic wine - not that tasty. Sparkling cider please. So christmas dinner was overall a very exciting and tasty experience.

Wells

Wells is the smallest city in England. I learned that a city here is defined as any place where there is a cathedral - all the other little places are villages. Emily used to live here so she showed us around after church. This is a quaint, little road leading into town.

The city is all decked out for christmas - life reindeer and all. They didn't look too enthusiastic about the christmas season.

This is the Cathedral, which makes this an official city.

Emily and I just having a little fun.

This is Vicars Close. The houses on this street were built for the vicars that sung in the cathedral in the 1300's!

I am still amazed at how old things are here!

Charlotte followed around this cat for quite a while as here artistic side came out. She had just fallen over, but still got this great shot....hehe.

This house was just really beautiful.

A music hall.

We went into the cathedral while they were having evensong. Choir music is always more stunning in a building like this. I was particularly impressed with the red and blue designs on the ceiling. Very unique.

All the architecture and arches were also very different from any other cathedral I have seen.

Next stop was Bishops Palace. It has been the home to the Bishops of the cathedral since the 1200's.

Allegedly the swans that swim in this mote are trained to ring a bell to beg for food. Wish I could have seen that...

The sunset was beautiful....but a little to early for my liking - its about 4pm.

We took a walking path out into this big open field with sheep - so classically British!

Laycock Village

This is Laycock village where Meryton was filmed.

The ball at the beginning of the movie was filmed here.

This is the Laycock Abbey which has no connection with Pride and Prejudice, but was used in the filming of some of the Harry Potter movies.

Thought maybe Prince William would saunter by and meet me half way....hehe

This is the piece used in Harry Potter, don't remember in which one but they are running through these halls. Cool!

Right now it is all decked out as a christmas market.

Next we wandered around town. This pub was built in the 1300's!

This piece of the village was used in the latest Harry Potter movie when Harry and Dumbledoor are walking to Slughorns house. I walked where Dumbledoor walked!

And this is the house where Hagrid came to rescue Harry as a baby in the first Harry Potter. And if you are wondering why my hair is so crazy....I was trying to make it very Hagridlike - sad that I did so well...

After the big tour we went and had a nice dinner at a pub and then headed home. Emily had to babysit so Charlotte and I watched half of Pride and Prejudice and saw all the differnt sights we'd seen in the movie and oogled over Mr. Darcy of course. So fun!

Castle Combe

We took a quick stop in the little town of Caslte Combe - also used in the filming of Harry Potter. Extremely quaint. I can't get enough of these litte towns!

We walked out of town, which took about 2 minutes and walked a little ways into the countryside on this foot path.

It was a really beautiful crisp December day.....Lizzie Bennet would have enjoyed that walk....haha...I am sure our countenances were all brightened by the exercise - pretty sure Mr. Darcy says that at some point in the movie. I have definitly seen that movie too many times.

Longbourne

Saturday we went to Bristol and met up with Emily and went on our own mini BBC Pride and Prejudice tour. First stop was Longbourne...

This is the church by their house that they go to in the very beginning of the movie and where Mr. Darcy and Lizzie are married in the end.

Here are the gardens...

And of course Longbourne itself. Just before I took this shot this crotchety old lady (very Lady Catherine DeBurgh) came out and started asking us what we were doing there and what tour we were with and essentially kicked us off her land - apparently it is a private farm now. In that case they should really consider taking down the Longbourne sign out front. Luckily we had seen it all before she "discovered" us. Much better to ask forgiveness (which was not given) than permission in this case. Lizzie would have approved of our adventure.

Best Church Dance Ever!

After "date night" with Lauren I met up with Charlotte for the Hyde Park dance. We decided that sequins are the way to go this year.....can't even see hers, but I'm loving the sequin revolution that has taken over London.

This is one of our friends, Nathan from down in Poole where Charlotte lives. He is our real life teeny bopper, Zac Effron crush...such a cutie.

The dance was so amazing, not because of the people there....which we expected. Charlotte and I danced around with all the young kids she knows from home. The great part was that the dj played all this really amazing old school hip hop music. I loved every song they played and just had a great time dancing.

Date Night with Lauren

After Lauren and I found the perfect fabric in the market we headed to her favorite restaurant, Pizza Express. It sounds cheap, but is actually a pretty nice italian restaurant. Very yummy...
Then we went to catch the new Twilight movies. I have not read the books....but this movie was great! Lauren went into the movie loving Edward.....

But by the end of the show we both knew that I had chosen the right boy.....ah...Jacob....dreamy! I have far too many teeny bopper crushes.

We were both agreed on being completly jealous of Bella - hehe!

Shepherds Bush Market

Today I met up with Lauren and we went to Shepherds Bush market which was pretty shady, but had tons of fabric and sewing stuff.

Lauren is making a formal dress for a friend so we went on a mission to find the perfect fabric. There were tons of shops and stalls all of them were full of crazy fabric. It was a very colorful experience.

Surry Quays

I was walking to Tesco (British equivalent of Target) the other day and I realize what a beautiful part of town I live in. So beautiful!

These are just a few of the sights on the walk from my place to Tesco.