All You Need is Love
So, Ryan went home yesterday and rather than bore you with how lonely that feels, I’m choosing to remember our week o’ fun! Where to begin? Saturday when Ryan got here we drove to Stonehenge. Well, you have to as it is right next to the main highway. I mean really, that ancient wonder of the world is RIGHT NEXT TO THE ROAD. (and between you and me, I hope the only other time I see that pile of rocks in my life is when I’m on my way to the airport for my own trip home) Then on Sunday we went to Glastonbury Abbey. These ruins are the oldest remains of a Christian church above ground in the world. King Arthur and Guinevere are said to be buried here.
After that we headed to bath. Looks the same as when I was there about a month ago so I’ll spare you (most of) the pictures. This time was WAY more fun though and we actually did the tour of the Roman Baths which I would highly recommend if you’re in England. It was really interesting. Here we are on the bus tour:
Sunday night a young couple who are on long-term assignment here in England w/ my company treated us to homecooked MEXICAN FOOD! mmm. Monday we drove up to Oxford which is GORGEOUS. I mean seriously, gorgeous. The architecture is amazing and the whole city feels smart. My favorite part was Christ Church, which is the college where 13 PMs attended, Lewis Carroll taught and gained most of his ideas for Alice in Wonderland, some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed, and where many other famous people attended, including John Wesley (any Methodists out there??). Already showed you a picture of the Great Hall, which if you look around has in it a stained glass window with hidden Alice in Wonderland characters in it and there’s a painting of a former Dean who, when you walk across the room, actually turns his whole head to follow you! Creepy. This was spray-painted on the wall behind the college which totally cracked me up:
Tues I had to work, but as it was my b-day I made sure to take some time in the afternoon. That’s when we went to the Haynes Car Museum which was amazing. Here’s Ryan with his most favorite car in the whole world.
Wednesday we went to a Somerset cider mill after I got off work (look for Somerset mentioned in the new HP book!). Thur I was able to take some time again and we went to the amazing Montacute House. Seriously, it was beautiful and it sits on a HUGE piece of land with gorgeous gardens everywhere. You can even find little hidden gardens if you look carefully for openings in the hedges. We both really enjoyed the tour of the house then we ran around in the gardens like all the other kids. Here’s some pictures of the house (you really couldn’t take a bad picture) and a picture of Ryan feeding his new friend.
I should point out that if you plan on feeding cows or running through gardens in England, you should be on the lookout for Stinging Nettles. That clump of stuff in Ryan’s hand was sitting right next to some and I managed to run through some while we were hiding from each other in the gardens. Nice welt I got from those suckers.
Then we drove down to Chesil beach. The beach was full of VERY red Brits sunbathing and loads of fishermen casting from shore. This beach doesn’t have sand, it has millions of tiny, smooth, gorgeous little stones which were actually really comfy to lay on. They were so pretty that we decided as a surprise for the parents that we’d pick out the prettiest we could find, then we’d put them in glass, water-filled bowls so they could float candles in them. We spent an HOUR laying on a blanket picking out the perfect stones, comparing stones, picking out our favorites of the other person’s pile. It was so fun, and a great idea for a souvenir! Until we saw the threatening sign about stealing stones from the beach. We put them back. We both have super guilty consciences.
Friday afternoon was for sitting at a coffee house people watching, then that night we, well, that’s none of your business! Saturday was so, so sad. I still have no idea when I’ll be leaving (and the testing has taken another turn for the worst), so watching him disappear through security was heartbreaking. What I do know is that I’ve taken for granted how easy it usually is to be with Ryan, to call him at work, to steal a kiss when we’re passing each other in the hall of our house. But I know that somewhere in the world is a man who loves me so much that I’m dying to go home.
