Happy New Year!
I know, a bit late, but there you go. I had a lovely holiday at home in Wisconsin, although I had to drive back sooner than I would have liked to beat the bad weather system that was moving into Ohio. We had cold temperatures and quite a lot of snow for a few weeks but now it's warming up rapidly - in the 60s by this weekend! - and raining, so the snow'll be gone soon. I've been cooking quite a bit, but late December and this early part of January have been pretty quiet, which is nice...frankly, I needed the break.
But now it's full steam ahead, and one of the projects is to get things planned and sorted for my trip to London with my mother in May. I've found us a fantastic rental flat in Kensington (for those of you who know London it's a few blocks north of the Gloucester Road tube station) so I need to put the deposit down on that, and soon plane tickets.
I'm also organizing a few more trips out of the city than I took, because Mom would love to see some stately homes and palaces besides just the ones in town. So we're going to Hampton Court Palace, and probably Ham House the same trip. In addition to the previous package day trip I took (Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath) we're taking one to the Cotswolds. I'm trying to figure out if it'd be worth it to go to Chatsworth. It's in the middle of nowhere, there's not a lot else to see there, and it's like three hours' travel. Sadly, Highclere Castle (the real Downton Abbey) is not an option...they're not open in May except on bank holidays, which there isn't one during our planned stay, and even if we were going to be there, those days are sold out. Blenheim Palace is much closer so that's a viable alternative.
I'm trying to pay for as much stuff ahead of time as possible. I bought us a joint membership to the Historic Royal Palaces after I figured out that even if we only go to the Tower and Hampton Court, I'll save money on admissions. I'm going to order our Oyster cards online and have them sent here. I won't be able to buy tickets for some things ahead because I just don't know what day we'll be going to, say, St. Paul's.
But it's so exciting to be planning.
Other than that, there is no big news.
But now it's full steam ahead, and one of the projects is to get things planned and sorted for my trip to London with my mother in May. I've found us a fantastic rental flat in Kensington (for those of you who know London it's a few blocks north of the Gloucester Road tube station) so I need to put the deposit down on that, and soon plane tickets.
I'm also organizing a few more trips out of the city than I took, because Mom would love to see some stately homes and palaces besides just the ones in town. So we're going to Hampton Court Palace, and probably Ham House the same trip. In addition to the previous package day trip I took (Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath) we're taking one to the Cotswolds. I'm trying to figure out if it'd be worth it to go to Chatsworth. It's in the middle of nowhere, there's not a lot else to see there, and it's like three hours' travel. Sadly, Highclere Castle (the real Downton Abbey) is not an option...they're not open in May except on bank holidays, which there isn't one during our planned stay, and even if we were going to be there, those days are sold out. Blenheim Palace is much closer so that's a viable alternative.
I'm trying to pay for as much stuff ahead of time as possible. I bought us a joint membership to the Historic Royal Palaces after I figured out that even if we only go to the Tower and Hampton Court, I'll save money on admissions. I'm going to order our Oyster cards online and have them sent here. I won't be able to buy tickets for some things ahead because I just don't know what day we'll be going to, say, St. Paul's.
But it's so exciting to be planning.
Other than that, there is no big news.