A Rockin' Family Holiday

My parents arrived at my house shortly after Mike, Juli and I got back from Belgium.  It was so nice to see them (even though I was super jealous of their gorgeous tans - they had amazing weather on their cruise).  They needed to get some laundry done and were looking very much forward to a home-cooked meal, so we stayed in that evening and had a delicious (if I do say so myself) spaghetti dinner.
The next day we were off bright and early to London to start our little family holiday.  I brought them to Camden Market to start.

I love wandering around there so much and figured they would find it fun as well (which they very much did).  I especially love shopping with my mom as I always seem to end up with more stuff than I would if I had gone by myself!  We spent a couple hours there, had a yummy Chinese lunch from one of the many stalls to choose from (I thought Mike was going to vomit, he ate so much), and made our way to the theatre district.
Next up was We Will Rock You, one of the few shows on my list that I had yet to see. 

I must admit, it wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, although not necessarily in a bad way.  I guess that was my own fault though; I had no clue what the musical was about - the only thing I knew was that the story centered around the music of the band Queen.  I suppose, because of that, I assumed the musical would take place in the seventies.  Um, not exactly.  The show is set in a futuristic dystopian era where originality and individualism are shunned and music is essentially outlawed.  The main character, known as the Dreamer, is destined to fulfill a prophecy that will bring rock and roll back to mankind.  I must say that most of the costumes, characters, and sets are very bizarre (due to the futuristic theme), but the show is very funny, the singing was fantastic, and the music itself most definitely had me singing along (although I have to admit I didn't even realise most of the songs in the show were Queen)!  All in all, I would have to agree that I was rocked.

That evening I took my fam to a restaurant I am truly going to miss when I move back home: Gourmet Burger Kitchen.  GBK specialises in gourmet burgers of pretty much any description you can imagine.  They have beef, chicken and veggie burgers, as you might expect, but the variety of toppings they offer are endless and, some might say, kind of strange.  One of the burgers worth mentioning (although they were all delicious) is the one Juli got: Aubergine and Goat's Cheese (for those of you who don't know, aubergine is eggplant).  When Juli's burger was delivered we all burst out into fits of hysterical laughter.  It was HUGE; the goat's cheese itself was the size of a regular beef patty!  It was definitely a kodak moment:

As Juli disassmbled her burger so she could actually eat it, Mike and dad were wiping the sweat off their foreheads and gulping what must have been gallons of water.  They each had the Habanero burger and apparently it is very, very spicy (Mike even claims it is the spiciest thing he has ever eaten)!  Although tears were pouring out of our eyes (some due to spice seeping out of pours, others due to laughter), dinner was a success.  GBK, two thumbs up as usual; you never fail to impress.

After dinner we went back to our hotel for a relatively early night; we had to wake up at about five in the morning for our day trip and I must say, I wasn't very happy about it.  However, up we got and we were on our way by 7am - thank god there was a Starbucks open right around the corner from our pick up spot (Chai Tea Latte me)!
The first stop on our bus trip was to Oxford. 

Our visit to Oxford primarily consisted of a tour through Oxford University, consistently ranked as one of the world's top ten post-secondary schools.  My mom and I didn't really know how exciting this was going to be but we were very pleasantly surprised.  It was absolutely huge and wonderfully impressive, not to mention our tour guide was a very cheerful, passionate woman who offered an abundance of incredibly interesting information about the history of, and life within, the university.  For instance, Oxford is the second oldest surviving university in the world; there is evidence of teaching that dates as far back as the 11th century!  I could tell the buildings were very old just by looking at them, but I didn't realise just how old some of them were. 
A very cool fact about the first section we explored is that several scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed there - I felt very magical, standing there, taking it all in...

It was very peaceful, wandering from place to place within the university grounds.  I don't know if it's just because it was exam time and therefore all the students were inside studying, but it seemed like a very calming, serene campus.

We walked a short distance from the main entrance, through one of the many gorgeous archways that link each and every section together, to the Bodleian Library - this is the central research library of the university and is only one of one hundred libraries the universtiy has.  This library is famous for several things; first of all it is another popular filming location for the Harry Potter films; secondly, it is what is known as a "legal deposit" library, which means that it is legally entitled to the first published book of every book ever published in the United Kingdom.  This means that if I ever publish a book in England, the Bodleian Library will get the first copy.  Because of this there are over eleven million books in the library, and they have to add approximately three miles of shelving every year - crazy!

After the library we passed under another archway to visit some of the colleges; the university is divided into thirty-eight colleges, each with its own structure and activities.  When a student is accepted to a particular college, this is where they will sleep, eat, and study for their entire degree.  We visited two of those colleges, Trinity College and Jesus College:

By now our time in Oxford was up and we made our way back to the bus (we did, however, walk past J.R.R. Tolkien's old room window on the way!):

We continued our journey to Stratford-Upon-Avon through the Cotswolds.  If you connect the dots between London, Oxford, and Stratford, the Cotswolds is the entire area within the triangle that is created.  Our first stop was Bibury, an unbelievably adorable, charming, precious little village.  We only spent a short time here but, as we wandered around, snapping countless photos, I envisioned myself retiring in one of the delightful cottages; it really would be the perfect place to grow old with someone you love.

Two of the most popular attractions in Bibury include Arlington Row and the Bibury Trout Farm.  Arlington Row is a strip of twelfth century cottages that were originally used as the production site of woolen cloth.  Apparently Arlington Row is one of the most photographed parts of the entire Cotswolds area.

The Bibury Trout Farm, directly across the street from Arlington Row, is one of the oldest trout farms in England (founded in 1902), and is famous for their high quality Rainbow Trout.

I was very sad to leave Bibury; it really is one of the prettiest places I have ever been.  We next drove through another little village called Lower Slaughter and our tour guide let us get out and walk to meet him at the bus about ten minutes away so we could experience more cuteness.

The last stop in the Cotwolds was Stow; we stopped here for about an hour for a very short lunch and wander.  It isn't as cute here, in my opinion, as the other places we stopped, but it is more of a "town centre" area as opposed to cottages and housing, so maybe that's why.  Regardless, it is still a lovely, quaint little area.

I have to admit, I initially wasn't very excited about our trip through the Cotswolds.  When my family and I were planning our trip I voted for Liverpool but Mike and our dad really wanted to do this trip; I am so incredibly happy that I lost the vote!  The Cotswolds is known as the "Heart of England" and has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Beauty.  I have to agree with both of these statements; as I mentioned above, it really is one of the most enchanting, picturesque places I have ever visited.

Last but not least was Stratford-Upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare!

This was unfortunately rather disappointing; because this was the last stop of the day, and because the tour ended at 6:30pm, we only had about an hour in Stratford and were dropped off in the town centre where Shakespeare's birthplace is located.  I would have liked to stay a bit longer to explore the river and park area that we drove by as it looked lovely.  Oh well...can't have everything. 

Aside from that, though, Stratford was great.  I was over the moon to visit Shakespeare's birthplace, an extremely old house that looked like it was even more ancient than the houses in the Cotswolds.

I even learned a little something during the tour: apparently, when families wanted to show off to their neighbours that they had a little extra cash lying around, they would put a bedroom in one of the downstairs rooms of their house.  This was so a bed could be seen from the front, ground-level window; only wealthy families could afford beds, so this was the perfect way to show off.  The Shakespeare family was one of the lucky few who had a bedroom on the ground-level.  Cool eh?

Upstairs in the house is the actual room where William was born - very exciting!

There was a rather nice view of the courtyard from the bedroom too!

As we left the house there was a performance of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in the courtyard (admittedly I was reciting the lines along with the actors...but really, what else did you expect from me?).

This was the end of our day trip and we made the two and a half hour journey back to London.  We got back to Maidstone at about 8pm and had dinner at a pub before heading home for a very well-deserved night's sleep.  It was a really nice trip, and I enjoyed it even more because my family was there with me.  Awwwww, I know.
The next two days, before my family went back home, were spent lazing around the house, shopping in town, playing cards, eating loads of really healthy food (hah!), and just being together.  It sounds uber cheesy but it is exactly what the doctor ordered.
I said goodbye to my family early Sunday morning, but only for another couple of months - I have finally booked my flight home and move back to Canada on August 1st.  Let the countdown begin...again.