On a beautiful sunny day, we were able to tour through Raglan Castle. We have really been loving the castle ruins around here! Such a cool castle to explore. I love walking around, imagining all of the people who have been there before us. For more details on our explorations at Raglan Castle check out Sam's blogging and video of it HERE.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tales From Wales: Big Pit and Abersychan
Sam and I had the incredible opportunity to go to the Big Pit coal mine with my parents in Wales. Two of my ancestors, Lewis and John Bowen, worked here. It was a very sobering experience to see the incredibly hard conditions they endured working there. Sam jumped the gun a little and posted about this tour about two months ago. (He is WAY ahead of me in posts!) See the video and his thoughts here.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Madrid, Spain (video)
Our next stop was Madrid, Spain. Rather than doing one of the standard tours, we just got a transit pass and wandered through the city at our own pace. We were nervous because the weather forecast called for rain the whole weekend, but we ended up having clear skies most the time. Although Madrid does have its share of history and culture, it felt much more like a city focused on business and government than tourism. I guess that's to be expected, being the capital.
The video below includes some highlights from the Royal Palace, the disappointing radio tower, and a relaxing day in the park. We also got to pop in at a sacrament meeting on Sunday, though we didn't stay for the whole thing as everything was in Spanish. I took a few years of Spanish in high school, but I only remember bits and pieces. It was enough to ask for directions or order food, but there was usually enough people close by that spoke English, too.
The video below includes some highlights from the Royal Palace, the disappointing radio tower, and a relaxing day in the park. We also got to pop in at a sacrament meeting on Sunday, though we didn't stay for the whole thing as everything was in Spanish. I took a few years of Spanish in high school, but I only remember bits and pieces. It was enough to ask for directions or order food, but there was usually enough people close by that spoke English, too.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Barcelona, Spain (video)
So apparently, I was really trigger happy with the video camera in Barcelona--30 minutes of video, even after I cropped it down. We spent three days there and did one of the hop-on, hop-off bus tours. We were a bit nervous our first night there, because everything was closed. Even restaurants--at 6:00 and 7:00. Apparently, a lot of their restaurants don't open back up for dinner until around 7:30pm or 8:00pm. Normally, that'd be perfect for us, but hunger struck at the wrong time.
Luckily, the trip picked up quite a bit the next day, and we had a lot of fun touring the city. I think my favorite attraction was Sagrada Familia. It's a huge, imposing cathedral that stands out in a flat part of the city like Shaq at a concert of the Wiggles. It's been "in construction" for the last 130 years or so, and the original creator, Antoni GaudÃ, wasn't even alive for half of that. The stained glass windows were abstract, but the colors were very vibrant and bright. The pope just dedicated it last November, but who knows how long it will be until it's "finished."
Luckily, the trip picked up quite a bit the next day, and we had a lot of fun touring the city. I think my favorite attraction was Sagrada Familia. It's a huge, imposing cathedral that stands out in a flat part of the city like Shaq at a concert of the Wiggles. It's been "in construction" for the last 130 years or so, and the original creator, Antoni GaudÃ, wasn't even alive for half of that. The stained glass windows were abstract, but the colors were very vibrant and bright. The pope just dedicated it last November, but who knows how long it will be until it's "finished."
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Waltons in London (video)
Finally got around to putting together a video from our adventures with the Waltons in London. Brittany's parents and her brother Jeremy and his wife Maria came to visit a few weeks ago. This video includes highlights from Big Ben/Parliament, the London Eye, the Sherlock Holmes Museum, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. Sorry I'm too lazy to spend time dressing it up. It's sub-PBS late-night documentary. Think more along the lines of local access cable. Then drop it down a few notches. At least the sets have been carefully and patiently designed by the British people over the last several centuries.
Brittany and I had gone up in the London Eye a year and half ago during the daytime, but it was kind of fun to go up at night to get a different perspective. I'm a sucker for city skylines, particularly at night. You'll probably see a recurring theme as I post videos of our other adventures later on.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum was interesting, but it did make us wonder for a bit, "Wait a minute... was this a real person?" I mean, the guy's house has one of those little blue plaques the Brits put up on buildings where famous people used to live. I was kind of thinking it was one of those situations where there was a real person named Sherlock Holmes, and the stories were just embellishments or something. Wanna know the answer? Look it up.
Abbey Road was one almost traffic accident after another, as tourists casually strolled across the street while sports cars and lorries came precariously close to recreating the scene from Meet Joe Black. We didn't get to spot the queen this time at Buckingham Palace, but I have since learned the system for knowing when the queen is at home. When she's out and about, the Union Jack flag flies atop the palace. When she's in da house, her royal flag is raised instead. Random fact: apparently she was recently watching her sons play on their iPads, and she ordered her iPad 2 immediately thereafter.
Over the next little while, I'll work on trying to get more videos posted. We spent three days in Barcelona, three in Madrid, and three in Porto with Brittany's uncle Chuck and aunt Liz. They're serving as the mission presidents there right now. It was really fun to visit with them. When we got back to London, we camped out for a good view of the Royal Wedding procession. That weekend we then visited Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, the White Cliffs of Dover, Hampton Court Palace, and Westminster Abbey. They still had some of the decorations up from the wedding, so that was kind of cool. More on that when we get there. For now, you can enjoy Brittany's teaser shot from the wedding. Cheers!
Brittany and I had gone up in the London Eye a year and half ago during the daytime, but it was kind of fun to go up at night to get a different perspective. I'm a sucker for city skylines, particularly at night. You'll probably see a recurring theme as I post videos of our other adventures later on.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum was interesting, but it did make us wonder for a bit, "Wait a minute... was this a real person?" I mean, the guy's house has one of those little blue plaques the Brits put up on buildings where famous people used to live. I was kind of thinking it was one of those situations where there was a real person named Sherlock Holmes, and the stories were just embellishments or something. Wanna know the answer? Look it up.
Abbey Road was one almost traffic accident after another, as tourists casually strolled across the street while sports cars and lorries came precariously close to recreating the scene from Meet Joe Black. We didn't get to spot the queen this time at Buckingham Palace, but I have since learned the system for knowing when the queen is at home. When she's out and about, the Union Jack flag flies atop the palace. When she's in da house, her royal flag is raised instead. Random fact: apparently she was recently watching her sons play on their iPads, and she ordered her iPad 2 immediately thereafter.
Over the next little while, I'll work on trying to get more videos posted. We spent three days in Barcelona, three in Madrid, and three in Porto with Brittany's uncle Chuck and aunt Liz. They're serving as the mission presidents there right now. It was really fun to visit with them. When we got back to London, we camped out for a good view of the Royal Wedding procession. That weekend we then visited Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, the White Cliffs of Dover, Hampton Court Palace, and Westminster Abbey. They still had some of the decorations up from the wedding, so that was kind of cool. More on that when we get there. For now, you can enjoy Brittany's teaser shot from the wedding. Cheers!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Chepstow Castle
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| Sam and me in front of Chepstow Castle |
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| Mom and Dad in front of the castle |
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| We really loved this castle. It had a lot of walls surviving and it was so beautiful! I love to tromp around old castles and imagine all of the people who were there before me |
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| The castle was originally built in the 11th century by the Normans |
Friday, May 6, 2011
Visit to Seaton, England
My parents took Sam and me on a trip around England and Wales. Here is part one of the journey! Our first stop was Seaton, England. One of my ancestors was a Reverend at a parish here in the early 1600's. He went to Cambridge before moving to Seaton. He left from Seaton to move to America and was the first of my Walton ancestors to make that trek. It was such a cool experience to walk to shores he walked and visit his parish.
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| Mom and Dad on the beach right in front of the lovely B&B we stayed at |
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| Sam and me on the same stretch of beach |
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| The whole Seaton beach was pepples rather than sand. The only two beaches I have been to in England are rocky shores. Not sure if they all are, but that is my experience so far! |
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| This was the beautiful parish where William Walton preached |
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| Mom and Dad in front of the church |
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| The wall hanging that shows William Walton was a Reverend here. |
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| My Dad giving us a sermon |
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| Mom and Dad sitting in the parish pews |
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| Me in front of this beautiful old church |
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
London With My Parents
So I definitely have some catching up to do, and I finally have time to do it!
We had SO much fun with my parents when they came to visit us! They came to visit us in London for a weekend, then they went to Portugal. After Portugal we got to hang out with them in Wales and the midlands of England. Then they went off on their own adventures, then came back to spend a few days with us in London before flying out. So here are some of the photos of our adventures with them that first weekend in London.
We had SO much fun with my parents when they came to visit us! They came to visit us in London for a weekend, then they went to Portugal. After Portugal we got to hang out with them in Wales and the midlands of England. Then they went off on their own adventures, then came back to spend a few days with us in London before flying out. So here are some of the photos of our adventures with them that first weekend in London.
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| Sam and me in front of Kensington Palace |
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| Sam and me with my parents in front of the palace |
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| My Momma in me in front of the palace! By the way this is the palace where Princess Diana lived. It is about 3 blocks from our flat |
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| Paige and me at the BYU London Centre where she lived while in London |
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| My parents in front of Garfunkels |
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| All of us in front of Garfunkels where we ate that night. It reminded me of a Chilis or something, which is a welcome break for me! |
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| Banksy sighting in Notting Hill on our way to the amazing antiques market--Portobello Road |
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