day trip from London

Henley-on-Thames

4:26 PM

A couple of weeks ago, we found this interesting list of day trips from London while trying to drum up some reviews to help us prioritise our weekend adventures (we are getting better and better at making the most of Friday-Sunday trips and Saturday only day trips)

There is an ever-growing list of places we want to see and things we want to do.
It will never reach zero, ever. But we're working on it.

My favourite guy found some tickets to Henley on Trainline.com and with a little research discovered that we were only a week away from the annual Henley Boat Race!

It seemed too perfect to pass up an opportunity to see a pretty little town AND some good old Cambridge versus Oxford rowing.



Our friends Ryan and Madeline came along with us which made the whole day a blast! Just as nosy, I mean, curious, intrigued by and appreciative of the town's charm as we were :)

This IS the Thames. It is such a windy crazy river but the riverside homes are stunning.


Had a nice little pub lunch at the Angel. A cozy spot that is highly recommended.
And definitely try their Henley Ice Cream!



Women's Race starting line. They had to be very precise in keeping the boats in place as to avoid any advantage to either team.
Those guys in the yellow vests must have gotten frostbite on their hands. The water and wind were FRIGID.

Walking along the river to the finish line is beautifully scenic.





Women's Race (Oxford won by a hair)






Future Home #goals

Cambridge men beat Oxford men by more than two boat lengths!


Well done, men


Oldest pub in Henley!

Small town door obsession is alive and well

#curbappeal

Cambridge

Cambridge MBA Experience day

3:38 PM

The future is a fickle thing. It can be exciting, terrifying and as hard to see as the trees are through this fog...
(taken from the train from London Kings Cross headed north to Cambridge, UK)

While we figure out where we go from here, we get to investigate the options.

This day of adventure took us to Cambridge University!
Taylor found information about an MBA experience day at the Cambridge Judge Business School and he asked if I would like to go with him.
I love spending time with my husband and, hello? Hang out in Cambridge as a prospective student? Yes, please!

Cambridge in the fall...

Cambridge Judge Business School

Does this remind anyone else of Harry Potter?

We spent the morning in information sessions with professors and alumni of CJBS. It's an accelerated program so the MBA is done in one year. To be perfectly honest, they did a great job selling their program. They even had ME considering the MBA program.

We wandered just around the corner after a lovely lunch of sandwiches and cakes. The sign by the door reads, "Charles Darwin lived here 1836-7"

Fall colours look goooood on these old buildings.

Last time we didn't go into the Peterhouse College area. There is a small chapel (as most colleges do), a lovely square and housing and common rooms toward the back.

These photos were taken in the same quadrangle.


It's just all sooo good. And this is just one of the thirty some odd colleges!

Mathematical Bridge. See my last Cambridge post to see about the bridges and punting tour we did on the River Cam the last time we were here.


Has everyone seen The Imitation Game? If not, worth the time!


Guess who graces the side of King's College?...(hint: he married a lot of people)

The Senate House, used for degree ceremonies though it was formerly used for meetings of the University's Council of the Senate.




I love the shopping lanes around the market square
Smelled like lots of good cheese and they offer more types of crackers than I ever imagine would have existed in the world....


Cambridge is one of my favourites! Maybe we'll be back here someday....

day trip from London

Temple and Croydon

4:53 PM

Weekends are so special. At this time of our lives, it means we get to soak up 48 hours of being together.

We attended the London England LDS Temple. It is about 30 miles from the City of London.
For people who don't have a car, the public transport from the City to the Temple consists of either hiring a small bus with a bunch of other people or taking the train and a cab or a series of buses and a bit of walking. 
We did the train this time and it worked out! We didn't sleep in or nearly miss the train so...oh wait, one of us slept in a bit. ;)
England has beautiful country. It's gorgeous and inspiring just to be out in so much green and fresh air in a place where mobile service is patchy. A nice little break from the city. 

One the way back home, we got off the train in East Croydon for a Costco run.
We wandered through the city to find FOOD before shopping. If I go to the store hungry, I buy sooo much more than I should. At Costco, that could be a mistake of terrible economic proportion...

We have been meaning to try the chain Yo!Sushi that is all over town.
Pleasantly found a small branch inside one of the many malls of Croydon. (Seriously, so many big malls all close together)

The coloured plates have different price values attached. At the end of the meal, an attendant counts up the number of each colour plate and hands you the bill. It could be really easy to spend loads of money by just grabbing off the conveyor. We stuck to pushing the red button at our table and getting the warm, fresh options that were not coming out as often on the conveyor belt. 
There is a refreshingly cold water tap right in front of you, both still and sparkling water are unlimited. You just pay for the cup.
Aubergine Salad (I looooove eggplant)
I had some chicken katsu curry. Taylor had a yummy veggie soup with udon noodle. We split a few plates of sushi. Sushi wasn't bad.
While I'm glad we tried it, I wouldn't recommend it over somewhere like Hare & Tortoise which is probably in the same price point.

We got our loot at the Costco and hauled it back home. We took the train to London Bridge station during the peak time that the train was experiencing severe delays and other issues due to the England/Wales Rugby game. It's an exciting time to be in London (isn't it always?....) Rugby World Cup 2015! I just wish I knew more about rugby...

day trip from London

A day trip: Brighton

12:05 PM

Again, too many pictures but I have to post before days or weeks go by!

Taylor's associate went out of town on business so we took advantage and headed south to the sea! A quick 50-minute train ride from the London Victoria station down to the seaside town of Brighton. 13-09-14

I was thrilled just by the idea of getting to see this historic town that I have read about in Jane Austen novels. When Taylor found out there was an amusement park on the pier, he got onboard with my day trip idea. 

We arrived at 9:30am which is about 2 hours before everyone is out and about! The pier doesn't open until 10 and the rides start at 11. 

The Brighton Wheel
At £11 a pop, we decided not to ride it because we got some pretty great views from the rides on the pier. 

We got an unlimited pass for the rides for £15 each. Extremely worth it since we made up the cost of the pass with 3 rides. We rode almost all of them (too much spinning in one day is not good...to be explained) 
Also, I don't know if it's like this always, but we had to wait in ONE line the 3 hours we went there. And the line was about 4 minutes long so... 

A gorgeous day. 

Our very first 'ride' was this surprisingly fun slide. Probably meant to appease young children in a place where they can't ride very many rides but we loved it!  Probably because of the view you get at the top. 

From the window of the slide (pictured above) 

The view at the top of the slide. I made a video of the ride (the whole 12 seconds) and it's on my Instagram 

The Horror House. Taylor closed his eyes the whole time. His whimpering made me giggle except for the brief moment we were genuinely terrified by something falling on our heads in the dark. Otherwise a very lame scary ride. 

We didn't ride this. Mostly disinterest but I'm also secretly afraid of these. Not such a secret anymore. 

Can't get over how beautiful it is! 

We only went on this once. See how it turns you upside down? Yeah it keeps flipping you around and around and then switches direction mid turn which is sickening even on an empty stomach. Little kids who spend a lot of time upside down on monkey bars will be just fine. We were not. 

Shortest log flume ever probably. It was right up my alley though because Taylor would have ridden alone if that was an steeper/longer. 

Favourite ride of the day. We rode it three times! Most rides like this are terribly jerky and uncomfortable but this kept us laughing so hard, we cried! So entertaining and can't complain about the view we got at the top of the climb! 

Looking over the rides to the west. 

Looking east. 

Don't let the blue sky fool you. It was so windy at very short intervals that the sun would be covered one minute, casting a gloomy gray day, and the next minute it would look like this again. Hot, cold, hot cold. 

Worst. Ride. Ever. It had a promising loop-de-loop and some good drops but it  was so incredibly bouncy that we were shaken so hard it hurt. Painful to the point of drawing blood! Since we went upside down on the ride, it had that restraint that goes over your shoulders and in front of you. You know the kind? So I'm short and my ears sit where other people's shoulders might be. Therefore, when getting jostled HARD, instead of hitting my shoulder, my ears and earrings got shoved against the restraints. The dull back of my earrings hit the tender skin hard enough to cut me. 
Might be easy to conclude that one ride was enough for us on the terrible, terrible ride. 

We read about The Lanes and wanted to go check it out. Wouldn't you know that everything we went to Brighton to see was all in the same general area, right along the coast? 

Bakeries, boutiques, jewelry and more can be found all squashed together in The Lanes. Pen shops, dress shops, joke shops for window shopping at its best. 
Best of all was FatFace. My new favourite shop where I will be buying all my clothes. It's a UK brand for which everything is fabricated right here in Britain. That and Joules. I'm obsessed. 



I was taking a picture of the menu (classic British banger and mash) only to step back and get this shot of all the loveliness of the outside of Druids Head :)
 
After wandering so much, we ended right back at the pier. Got a tasty milkshake from Moo Moos and laid down on the rocky beach for a rest. 

Our first experience of having to pay to use the toilet! I knew this would eventually be part of the package of travelling around Europe but still, a first is a first. 
It was very fitting considering the day before we had been talking about how there are so many shows we want to see here (if you don't know Taylor, you should know that my husband is a huge theatre buff. Even took the stage as the lead role in a few high school productions. Had he not changed his mind, I'm sure his name would have graced the lights on Broadway.) Anywho, we happened to be in Central London for dinner Friday having this discussion about shows right in front of the theatre where Urinetown is playing. Taylor told me the premise of the show and we laughed about it. How silly would that be, we thought. To pay to pee?....

20 pence later, I have to say it was the cleanest and best smelling bathroom we used all day. 

Getting on the train heading home. Word to the wise: unless you plan to see a show at the Theatre Royal or catch a late dinner, you don't need to stay in Brighton past 7. Everything worth exploring closes down at 6:30ish. The Lanes were all packing up and the museum and Royal Pavilion were closed long before the sun went down. We had return tickets for 9:15pm....we watched a movie on my phone in the passenger lounge at the train station :) thank goodness for free wifi! 

First day trip and we learned a lot! 
Check out-- www.365tickets.co.uk --for some great deals or just to save a pound or two when booking tickets to attractions. Usually you have to print out the voucher in advance so be prepared. We didn't use it this time but next time we'll know better where to research. 

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