London Day 2

We started our day by eating breakfast at a place called The Little Chef. It's a chain.... and it's horrible. I think Tom thought he'd start at the bottom and then he have no where else to take us but up (at least in the english cuisine department) (It was either really stupid or brilliant on his part. I'll let you know later.) I don't understand the things they serve for breakfast either... baked beans, grilled tomatoes, bacon (that's not really bacon, it's really ham). Really it doesn't matter, I just tried to eat scrambled eggs, pancakes and coffee and I felt like I was eating rubber and drinking plastic. YUCK!

After breakfast, we drove to Ely (pronounced Elee) Cathedral. It is a massive, gorgeous church. We walked in, and since it was Sunday, there was a service going on. We were allowed to stand in the back. There was a choral group singing and it was absolutely beautiful. Then we heard some scripture being read and we heard an amazing heartfelt prayer that was very worshipful. Because the cathedral is so high, the acoustics in the place make the vocals ring clearly through the air. It was overwhelming to walk around such am old, breathtaking place. The Ely Cathedral is over 1000 years old. The size of the structure along with the millions upon millions of tiny details... it's hard to imagine how something like it could have been constructed so many years ago with technology and equipment. There are many things I'd like to (and will post later) show, but.... SURPRISE, SURPRISE... I didn't bring the card reader for my camera. Plus, my card stopped working later in the day. We did buy a new card, but all the pictures you will see over the next several days were taken with an iphone. Bare with me.

Are arial view of Ely. Nope, didn't fly above to take the picture. I just copied it from elsewhere. I just wanted you to catch a glimpse.

After Ely, we went to preschool. Well, sort of....

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,

He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.

And they all lived together in a little crooked house

We went to a quaint little town today. (Quaint has taken on a whole new meaning for me.) It's called Lavenham. The houses are about 1000 years old. When they were built, the people used green wood (So as not to confuse you like I was confused, green wood is wood that is wet and has not had a chance to dry out.), when the wood dried, it all went crooked and so did all the houses. Therefore, there is a whole little town that has a whole bunch of crooked houses. The theory is, and this town claims, that the the nursery rhyme about the crooked man originated here.

I realize the pictures do not do the crookedness justice. But, it's the craziest thing I have ever seen. (relatively speaking, of course) In the picture above, I am standing under THE Crooked House- the one the poem was written about.

Ok, can you see that whole wall leaning back? I can't believe this whole town is like that... and they left it!! How cool is that? I think I or we (Americans) might have torn it down. BUT, we are talking 1000 years ago, can you imagine the time it took to build a house? Guess maybe I would have left it too!

How do they put those windows in? I just can't get over it.



For some of these pictures, you are going to have to look really closely to see the unevenness.

After we had walked around the town a bit, we decided to have real afternoon tea, just like real British people.





A basket of scones, plain or with fruit.


We thought our girls would think our little server was cute.

There is a proper way to eat a scone... in case you didn't know. The scone needs to split in half first and then butter is spread on. On top of the butter, jelly and on top of the jelly.... ready... clotted cream. I about hurled when they told me it was clotted cream. How absolutely disgusting does that sound? For a time, I refused to put it on, but then I caved. All it is... really thick whipped cream. Why do I have to act like such a kid sometimes?

Getting ready to take my first bite of a scone...ever! Can you believe I have never had a scone?


Doesn't this picture look so "english" to you? Whatever that means.









Another view of the wall that looks like it all but caved in? And, just a little FYI... these houses... they are NOT cheap! I think we saw 1.8 million pounds. For US dollars, multiply that by 1.75 approximately. Geesh! I think I'd rather have a straight house.

Ok, so clearly, I have an obsession with doors. I can't get enough of them. This was the door on the bathroom at the tea house in Lavenham.


















For the next pictures... brace yourself. We just could not get over the name of this place.





We've eaten at a pub for every meal. No chains for us on this trip.

I know you can't see the roofs on this place, but they are all over this part of England. They are thatched roofs. Thatched roofs are made of twigs and such and then covered in some kind of oil. They are meant to last 20-30 years and there is a big government tax break for putting this kind of roof on a house.







I can't get over how unique and old these places are. They are gorgeous. And, they are all different and intriguing. We had the greatest meal at this place. We could choose from 3 different kinds of meat and then lots of grilled vegetables: potatoes, parsnips (LOVED THEM), carrots, etc... and Yorkshire pudding. Really confused about Yorkshire Pudding. How come no one ever told me it was like a dinner roll. A weird one... but nonetheless.

Day 2... better than I could have imagined. Loved it!!!

P.S. Still dealing with a bit of jet lag. Plus, we leave our hotel first thing in the morning and come back 10-14 hours later. We've walked about 100 miles and I am tired. On a good day, I can't catch all my mistakes, so please pardon all the grammar errors.