My trip to England in October 2010 Photos Contact
Family Day Trips: (Rye, Tenterden, Cranbrook and Leeds Castle)
London, Barnes and Richmond Food 
A quick flight on American Airlines from Colorado Springs to Dallas was the start of my overseas trip to England. After a delay of about an hour because of "a little problem", we were on our way. The plane was almost full but I had a spare seat next to me which was great for stretching out a little. About an hour into the flight I took a sleeping tablet as it was around 9.30pm and we were about to have supper. Half an hour later the pilot came on air and announced that "that little problem returned" and that we had to land, but, we were carrying too much fuel to turn back and land in Dallas, so we were heading to JFK where they would have a "plane waiting for us to change over and then we'd be on our way again".
Great. Supper came and went and before I knew it, the pilot announced that we were about to land and that we shouldn't be alarmed but there would be emergency vehicles alongside the runway. No, I wasn't alarmed, I was freaked out. The landing was a perfect one and we all traipsed into JFK to wait for the changeover. I called home and asked that my sister be emailed about the delay and that she should check American Airlines' website for my new time of arrival at Heathrow. Then I proceeded to walk around the waiting room for an hour. I was too scared to sit down in case I fell asleep and they went to England without me! The rest of the trip was just fine and I managed to sleep a little and was met by my sister, niece, and father, who'd all been waiting for three hours, because when my sister checked the website (not having checked her email), there was no mention of a delay by American Airlines. Nevermind, I was given 10,000 bonus air miles for the delay, so thank you American Airlines!
My trip was a family reunion (we'd not seen each other in four years) and included my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, one of my two nieces, and my only nephew. I also got to see my best friend in the world, Bronwen, who lives in London. I took a day trip into London and met up with my nephew and the two of us walked around the city, took a couple of tube rides, went to Harrod's, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Westminster and Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey which was closed. I then hopped on a tube to Portobello Road for a quick scout around before heading back down to Kent where I was based.
The rest of my three weeks were spent in Kent catching up with family news and taking a couple of jaunts down to the cute village of Rye, and also to Tenterden (had a wonderful lunch of mussels in a curry and coconut sauce at The Vine Inn) and Cranbrook. We had a few pub lunches, the required fish and chips (the best fresh haddock ever — Marino's Fish Bar in Rye), trips into Maidstone, and lots of walks. We also went to Leeds Castle which is about five minutes from where my sister lives.
My last weekend was spent with Bronwen in Barnes and we had the best time ever.
She kindly took me for a walk in Barnes where I saw a wonderful food
market with fresh fish, meat, cheeses of all kinds, so many olives
in buckets, breads, cakes, drinks and so much more.
We also enjoyed a take-out breakfast on a bench in
Richmond and then walked along the Thames which was just delightful,
and it was a positively hot day. Then it was a long walk
in Richmond Park where we saw deer and parakeets. Our last night
together was spent eating a gorgeous Indian meal and
yakking our heads off.
