Bletchley Park

Today we went to Bletchley Park. Bletchley Park is a war museum from World War II that shows how England intercepted messages from the Germans. It was called the Enigma cipher machine. It was based on a series of dials and you would enter a certain code. Then you would type a letter from the message and gears in the machine would choose numbers according to the code. The message would come out encrypted and and they would use Morse code to send the numbers to the another person who had an Enigma machine. Those numbers would be the new code, and when you typed in the letters from the message, it would come out the message in English. The Germans thought their code could never be broken. They thought there was a spy among them. The Enigma machine made it possible for England to find out the locations of the Germans next attack and stop them.

There were many other things in the museum other than just that, though. They had rooms showing what to do if you were gassed, bombed, or attacked. There were signs everywhere from the war. They showed what a house might look like and the rations they would get. Eggs would come in a powder! They had rooms showing what living quarters would be like for the soldiers and rooms showing the worlds first programmable electronic computer. Another building was dedicated to Winston Churchill. He was the Prime Minister of England during the war. It had pictures, quotes, statues, figure heads, badges and just about anything relating to Churchill. Another building was the house where Churchill had lived. It was a huge mansion that had a ballroom, living room, dining room, main room and so many other rooms.

Getting to the park itself was an adventure. Andie gets carsick very easily, and of course we were on a windy road, and of course she was looking down. She then said, "I don't feel very good" and vomited five seconds later. Luckily it had just snowed so we washed the car out with napkins and snow. Since we had no extra clothes, we had to go shopping. That was definitely very interesting. Andie was fine for the rest of the day, though. When we got back we didn't do anything interesting. Just hung out. It was very interesting seeing all of the ways England found out the German messages and what the war was like. My Nana was a child during World War II and had actually come home, finding nothing because of bombings. It was very interesting learning what it was like and tomorrow should be another interesting day!

Dunstable Downs and the Priory

Today we went to Priory Church of St. Peter Dunstable. We went with Nana, my mom, my dad, me, Andie and James. The Priory used to be a lot bigger but part of it burnt down 300 years ago. It was built in the 12th century and founded by King Henry the First. The church was obviously old. The door had bullet holes in it from the War of the Roses in the 1600's. The architecture was amazing, kind of like in St. Albans. The ceiling had pictures carved into it and big pillars with designs and patterns on them. The church itself was actually very, very small though. We walked around the sanctuary, which was actually locked but we were let in by a labourer of the church. There was a graveyard from people who died in the 1200's. There weren't very many statues but there were pews and names of benefactors written in the wall. There were lot's of things written on the wall, Pastors and people who had died, Kings and Queens, anybody who had done anything to be remembered really.

Then we headed to Dunstable Downs. We couldn't really see anything because of all of the fog. So we went into the nature center. Dunstable Downs is a park. The big thing they do there is hang glide and fly kites. There is actually hang glide airport there! It's also a great place to watch birds, though. Dunstable Downs is a lot like a nature preserve. There were very dramatic hills. There would be a hill, then a 200 foot drop, then another hill, and another drop. Since we had Andie with us we couldn't really stay that long since she would complain and have to be carried and then get cold, then hungry. I'm sure it's a very nice park, but since we couldn't really see and we were cold, it wasn't amazing. In the summer I bet it's very pretty, though, and hang gliding must be fun!

When we got home I went to Tesco with my cousin, Becky. We just bought presents for friends, and some groceries. Tesco is walking distance from my aunt's home. It's like a combination of Target and Kroger. Not that interesting. It wasn't a very nice day today. It was rainy and dark all day. It's normally rainy or foggy in England, we'd been lucky for the past couple of days, but now it was getting bad. The snow was melting and turning black from car pollution. It was very cold and dark outside. A typical day in England. Today was a fun day, despite the weather and tomorrow should be fun too!

Exploring London

It's Moses!

Today we went to London. England is probably most well known for London. To get to London we had to drive for about an hour to get to a subway then after we got off the subway we rode on a bus, then five more short subway rides. We got off at Kings Cross and visited 9 and 3/4. In case you didn't know what 9 and 3/4 is, it is where wizards go to get to Hogwarts. The first thing we did when we got out of the subway was to go to the Albert and Victoria Museum. I've been to a lot of museums, but this one seemed different. They had a huge collection of statues by Rodin. Rodin is the sculptor who made The Thinker. There was Greek mythology and each statue told a story. Then once you left the statue section you were in Asia. Asia had a huge selection. Things like quilts, armour, dresses, statues, carvings, silverware, swords and so many other amazing things. There were other parts of the museum like ceramics, glassware, architecture, furniture, beauty and jewellery and so many more.

After the museum we headed out to find somewhere to eat. We ended up in China Town (yes, China Town in London) where we, of course, ate Chinese. After that we hadn't really planned any more so we just walked around sight seeing. We saw the Eye of London but didn't go on it. It gets dark in England at 4:00 PM so we only had about an hour of sunlight left by this time. We decided to head for Big Ben. Big Ben is actually a giant bell tower, not a clock as most people think. The bell is called Big Ben and the tower is called St. Stephens Tower. Big Ben isn't as big as most people think it is. It's 315 feet which is pretty small compared to the 1,063 foot Eiffel Tower. It was pretty hard to get a good picture since it was already pretty dark. On our way back to the subway, we stopped by Westminster Abbey. It was closed so we couldn't go inside but we could explore the grounds and garden. Westminster Abbey is where royalty in England get married.

To get back we went on one big subway ride back and rode a bus back to the subway station. London really is amazing. It isn't like other big cities all polluted and kind of depressing, with homeless people. There were lights hanging from the buildings and there's a warm glow from all of the houses and restaurants. There were amazing fountains and statues and everybody seemed so happy ice skating and running around. We got to climb on giant lion statues and window shop. Every store had a different scent, perfume, fish and chips, old and dusty, just cleaned. As we explored, everything became more and more familiar and it was like being four again, being in England for the first time. It's so hard to capture everything about London in words. It was just so different than down town Kentucky. Everybody is so happy and helpful even if we are confused Americans.

Boxing Day

Today is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Boxing Day is just a bank holiday. The special thing about Boxing Day is the pantomime. A pantomime is a play, but more of a comedy than an actual play. The one that we saw was Aladdin. It was very different, though. It was set in China and all of the songs were different and the all of the characters except for Aladdin were different. The characters were Aladdin, Princess Baroobudum, Jafar, Sweep the dog puppet, Sooty the bear puppet, Soo the panda puppet, Widow Twankey (Aladdin's mom), the emperor, genie, and extras like dancers, guards and villagers. The play started off with all the villagers singing about Aladdin and Aladdin coming on singing about his life of crime. Aladdin has a friend named Sooty. Sooty is a dog puppet that goes with Aladdin everywhere. They then sing a song about "Where is Sooty?" which is about, where Sooty is. It then shows you Jafar and he talks about how he wants the magic lamp to rule the world. He sings a song, and back to Aladdin. Aladdin tells us about how he's in love with Princess Baroobudum but if anybody finds out he'll be killed.

Back in the palace Princess Baroobudum is telling her friend, Soo the panda puppet, about how she's in love with a village boy she saw. The village boy, coincidentally, being Aladdin. Jafar then finds Aladdin and tricks him into taking the lamp from a cave but traps him in the cave when Aladdin won't give him the lamp. Aladdin rubs the lamp and out comes the genie. Aladdin wishes for a magic rug and out they go flying through the sky. He wishes to be a prince so he can marry Princess Baroobudum. Before the marriage Jafar shows up and steals the lamp and kidnaps Princess Baroobudum. Sooty, Sweep,Soo and Aladdin show up to save her and steal the lamp back. Of course, they succeed and Aladdin and Princess Baroobudum get married. Of course this is only a very basic version of the plot line and there are songs and jokes and audience interaction and I didn't even mention the mom! Tomorrow we're exploring the city and going to London. I'll have more news tomorrow!

Christmas Day

Today is Christmas! Yay! We didn't do very much today, just hung out. We woke up and opened up presents, but that's pretty obvious. At 1:00PM we had our Christmas dinner. Christmas dinner is basically a big lunch. We had turkey and roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, peas, sage and onion stuffing, yorkshire pudding, mince pie, lemon meringue  and raspberry chocolate gateaux. Raspberry chocolate gateaux is a chocolate cake with creamy filling and raspberries and top. After Christmas dinner my mom, dad and I took our aunt's dogs, Angel and Freddie, for a walk. It was a beautiful snowy day. It's not normally sunny in England, but today it was! The snow was perfect and fluffy and white instead of the normal black polluted snow. We went up a little trail that lead into a big hill. There were cows and everything seemed fresh and new.

This was definitely the best Christmas I've ever had. It was great being able to spend time with my family. My cousin's boyfriend, Jay, came by to see us and wish us a merry Christmas. It was great being able to relax and just hang out. Everybody seemed very happy and we are all over the jet lag. England is an amazing place and I love being with my family.

St. Alban's Church

Today we went to see St. Alban's Church. First we went to Verulamium where we saw the Roman walls that used to go around the city. Verulamium was a Roman city that existed before the town of St. Alban's. After the rise of Christianity St. Alban's became the bigger town. We explored the town and walked around the park. It was snowy day and people were ice skating on frozen pond and sledding on all the little hills. We then went to St. Alban's Church. They were actually having a service there since it was Christmas Eve! It was the "crib service" which is a service especially for children. The church was huge with beautiful and amazing architecture. It got its name because of St. Alban. He was the first English Christian to be executed for his religion. St. Alban's church was built in 1100. That is a very old church! There was a little museum set up that gave information on some of the Kings and Queens that were buried there and how it was built.

After that we went to the City of St. Alban. As you walked the walked the streets of the city you saw and heard and smelled just about everything. On the side of the street there were people selling selling fish heads and buttons and hats and jewellery and scarves and teddy bears and little toys and anything else you could think of. They had fish and chip restaurants, chocolate stores, candy stores, bakery's and so many others! All the stores smelled amazing. Especially the pastys. Pastys are sausages or chicken pot pie or beef stew wrapped in a pie like crust. They are amazing! The city had small houses that were just like the ones you would see in a stereotypical old village. There were people bustling around the streets and carolling and everybody was very friendly. The city really was fascinating and fun and interesting. Tomorrow is Christmas so I guess we'll just be hanging out!