Barrow-in-Furness

Gavin had a work meeting one day in Barrow-in-Furness at the BAE Systems branch there, which is in north western part of England. If you heard about the sub that ran aground in England, it was made by the BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness.

We went with one of Gavin's work buddies, Peter. We had dinner at the fancy restuarant in hotel Peter was staying at. We stayed at this hotel the next night.

Gavin and I stayed the first couple of nights in a nearby town called Ulverston. It's really tiny. While Gavin and Peter were at their meetings, I walked around the city a little bit. That they they were doing a farmers market. Ulverston must not get a lot of American tourists because when I ordered my lunch, the guy dropped the glass he was holding and looked at me in shock when I first started talking.

The next day, Gavin and I started driving around the Lake District. We had heard from everyone that we talked to that the Lake District is absolutely beautiful. The first day we drove, we went along the western edge. It actually wasn't the best day. Since it was off season and a weekday, most everything was closed. It was still really pretty, though.

This is just outside of Ulverston.

We drove past the BAE Systems where Gavin and Peter had their meetings.

Lots and lots of sheep. :)

We stopped in this tiny village for lunch at a pub where we were able to get some authentic British food. . Gavin ordered a steak and ale pie.

I had spotted dick for desert.

As we were driving, we saw these windmills with cows roaming right along them.

We drove all the way up to Carlisle to see the castle there. We got there right as they were closing, but the lady let us in for a minute to take a few pictures.

Parts of the castle date back to 72 AD.

The Military is still currently housed there.

And We're Back!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely back to the States. I promise to finish all of our trips in the next few days, but for now, we are tired. We're heading to bed. Keep posted for the updates.

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas.

While we wish we could spend it with everyone, we are enjoying our time in Italy. We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas

This video is from a house that went all out in Bristol. They took donations for a local children hospital foundation. I think it was called the Wallace and Grommet Foundation... Sorry the video is so shaky, but I was freezing. :)

PS. We will be home in exactly one week! And for those asking, we aren't mixed up in that whole Heathrow Airport mess yet. Hopefully, it everything is back to normal next week.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

We got to celebrate a British holiday!! It was actually a lot of fun.

We got to meet Wallace.

I have decided that Guy Fawks Day is the best. You celebrate with bon fires and fireworks. You make Guy Fauxes, or someone else if you prefer, and burn them in the bon fire, then watch fire works. How great is that?

We went to see the firework display at Bath University with a guy Gavin works with and his girlfriend. It was a very enjoyable evening. We had a great Italian meal in Bath, then hung out at the University until the fireworks started. Unfortunately, Bath University didn't have a bon fire.

There were fire dancers, though.

The fire works were a lot of fun, even though it was a small show.

Happy (late) Guy Fawks Day!!

Versailles Palace

Before we left Paris, we spent the morning at the Palace of Versailles. It's about an hour train ride from the city, but well worth it.

We had a general idea of where we needed to walk from the train station to get the to palace. We got to the corner that we needed to turn at and couldn't remember which way we needed to turn. As we looked around, this is what we saw. We figured it was the place.

Inside the main gate.
The Chapel room. This was one of my favorite rooms.
There was a statue of L'Hopital. Gavin was pretty excited. He created some math law, something to do with triangles? Gavin tried to explain it to me.

The second floor of the Chapel Room, where the king would attend church.

I wish we could have gone in to get a better look at it.

There was this really weird Asian pop art exhibit going on there. It was actually really annoying because there were weird art pieces in the middle of these beautiful rooms.

Each room had beautiful paintings on the ceiling.

The Hall of Mirrors, which is one of the most famous rooms at Versailles. Louis XIV at Le Brun to depict himself in different poses on the ceiling of the room. It was built in 1978 after the Treaty of Nijmegen was signed.

The Queen's Room.

The ceiling of the Queen's room.

The Crusade Rooms, which has pictures of the most famous battles of France.There were a couple hallways with statues. One of them had statues of French kings.

The back side of the palace.
Looking out over the garden. These were huge. According to the map, it would take about 60 minutes to walk from the back of the palace to the end of the garden.
The back of the palace.


There were statues all along the garden.


Gavin was laughing at me because with my sun glasses on, the leaves looked a lot more colorful and whenever I would take them off, I would be disappointed at how they actually looked. We tried to take a picture with my glasses covering the lens. This is what it looked like normally.
This is with my glasses.
The Petite Trianon
This was a buggy used for one of her kids.
The Salon.
The dining room.

Some of the original china.
We were told by a friend that the gardens by Marie Antoinette's estate were prettier than the Versailles Gardens, which they were.

One of the cottages in the Marie Antoinette's Estates.





The Temple of Love.


The Grand Trianon. This was built at the request of Louis XIV as a retreat for him and his mistresses.
One of salons.


Louis XIV's bedroom.
The back of the Grand Trianon.
The main gate of Versailles.

We really enjoyed Versailles. It was such a nice was to end our time in Paris. Everything was so opulant and grand. It was very incredible to see.