Day 87 - 89

Sorry, Papa, that I haven't been writing blogs. I've been so tired and have gotten back late with Mom and Dad that I go right to bed. On Thursday, I met up with Mom and Dad at Westminster Abbey.  We walked around and saw where certain famous people are buried, such as Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, etc. It was nice because the people at Westminster wished Americans a happy Thanksgiving over the intercom. After that we decided to find ourselves a nice place to go to lunch to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we ended up at a Mexican restaurant where I got fajitas. It wasn't exactly turkey, but it was good. After that we walked up to the National Portrait Gallery where there's paintings of kings and queens and leaders from the UK. We went through relatively quickly, and then went on the Tube to Kew Gardens. We made a brief detour at Starbucks (where I got a cookie and a really, really good hot apple cider), then went to the Gardens for their Christmas lights at 8. The Park itself is really big, and basically you just walk through all the lights and decorations. It's like Forest Park, except no cars. The displays were really pretty, some with fire and others with dangling lights to walk through and others with peacocks and flowers. We got some hot cinnamon donuts at one of the stands and they reminded me of the ones at the Big E. After walking through we went back to Richmond.

Friday was Cardiff day! Visiting Cardiff in Wales was pretty high on my bucket list, so I was happy we were able to get to go. We took a 3 hour train ride to Cardiff (after switching over in Reading) and eventually got to Cardiff at about 10:30 in the morning. The first stop was to the Ianto Jones Shrine, which was the attraction I had wanted to see. Basically, Ianto Jones is a character from the TV show Torchwood, a spin off of Doctor Who. A lot of that TV show was filmed in Cardiff, so we got to see the entrance to where Torchwood was in the show. Ianto Jones was an amazing character who was in love with another character, but he got killed off in one of the episodes. People were so upset by his death that they created a 'shrine' to him on Cardiff Bay near the ocean. It's basically a lot of pictures, artwork, letters, toys, etc., attached to a wall that people have added over the years. It's a legit thing to see, as it even has a Trip Advisor page. I just love the fact that people can love a character so much as to do something like that. After walking back the 1.5 miles we had walked to get there, we stopped at Nando's to have lunch. We got some good spiced chicken and brownies for dessert, then walked to Cardiff Castle. It was raining at the Castle, but we still got to walk through the corridors of the Castle that were used as bomb shelters during WWII, and got to climb to the top of the Castle's Keep. We also got to walk through some of the rooms, which was my favorite part because the library was so beautiful. Also, the TV shows Doctor Who and Sherlock were both filmed at one point inside Cardiff Castle, so those rooms were cool to see. After the Castle we had time to browse some stores, Dad got a coffee and Mom tried some new cheese dippers at McDonalds. We then had time to walk to the National Museum of Cardiff, which housed an art museum and a natural history museum. We only went to the art museum, but got to see some of my favorite artists like Degas and Monet. After that we walked back to the train station and took the ride back to Richmond. At Richmond I introduced Mom and Dad to Tortilla, which has amazing burritos and nachos for mom. Then we called it a night.

Today was our tour of Leeds, Canterbury, and Dover. We got to Victoria Station to meet our guide, and then left at around 9. Our first stop was Leeds Castle, which was pretty much as picturesque as can be, with a surrounding moat and green grass surrounding it. The Castle was actually still lived in until 2001 by the daughter of a rich American who married an English lord and bought the castle. We got to see all the different rooms of the castle, and my favorite was one room that was solely dedicated to clothes and shoes and was huge with a secret staircase. The outside was prettier than Cardiff Castle, but the inside of Cardiff Castle was prettier. Leeds Castle also was used by different politicians to have peace treaties and for celebrity parties at one point. We also grabbed a snack then hopped back on the bus. Our next stop was the Battle of Britain Memorial. The Memorial itself was an air force pilot sitting on a propeller, but there were two mounds on either side that used to hold guns to shoot down the German Lufthansa(?) If you climbed the mound you could see France in the distance, so that was really amazing to see. After that we stopped on a beach to take a picture of Dover Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover.  Finally, the last stop was in Canterbury for Canterbury Cathedral. We ran after our tour guide to make it to the Cathedral before a certain area was closed for service, so luckily we were able to see the entire Cathedral, which was really beautiful. Afterwards we walked around and shopped a little, then grabbed dinner/lunch. Our tour guide had previously recommended a little family owned restaurant to us on the bus and took our orders, so our food was practically ready for us when we got there. Mom and Dad had fish and chips and I had chicken and chips. I also had some apple juice, which may sound lame, but it was the best tasting thing ever. It tasted like liquid Motts applesauce. We also got apple pie (with whipped cream!) for dessert, which was so good. After that we walked around a little Christmas festival that was happening in the cute town, then got back on the bus and took a nap for the 2 hour ride back. We got back to Victoria and took a train back to Richmond. Mom and Dad then took me to Tesco to buy some granola bars, cereal, and my favorite 17 pence lemonade. Dad also bought me strawberries at Whole Foods because I really need strawberries in my life. We went back up to my school and their hotel, and they have to pack because they're leaving tomorrow :(