Our room wasn't in the castle but in the conference center just next door. Expectedly, our room wasn't ready when we arrived (around 9am). However, there was a luggage room for us to store our things. The hotel called us a courtesy car to the train station. We bought our to and from Waterloo Station tickets and nervously waited for the train. No big deal. We were in the heart of London about 40 minutes later.
We walked around the immediate area to orient ourselves and take a few pictures of parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye. Then, we found our Big Bus Tours stop. We saved $ by booking the tickets online and presenting our voucher at the stop. We hopped on the bus and went straight up to the top. We had no problems with crowds. However, it was COLD and windy. Determined to stay on the top level, we moved up to the front and it helped a little. The tour was great. When you get on, you receive a pair of headphones. You plug them into a jack at your seat and it gives you information about the landmarks as you pass them.
We both agreed we were so glad we decided to do this rather than spend the day resting in Surrey. I'm sure that would have been lovely too, but we were trying to see as many sights as possible in a few short days. Taking this tour allowed us to see an overview of the whole city. We were so thankful for that later when we came back to London and found we didn't have the time to do everything we wanted.
At this point, we hadn't slept in 36+ hours. We had been told to stay awake as long as possible that first day to acclimate to the time change as quickly as possible. Hubby did very well. I succumbed to the lovely classical music that played between landmarks on the bus tour. I got 2-3 minute naps here and there until the hubby would elbow me to wake up, haha. We stayed on the bus for the whole loop which took several hours. It wasn't a great photo opportunity as it was a dreary day, but it was a wonderful overview of the city.
We got off where we got on and headed back to Waterloo Station. Unsure what the food situation would be at Horsley, we decided to grab a quick meal at the train station. We ate at Yo! Sushi. Concept = A, Food= C-. You have a water tap at your table to refill your own glasses...which was great because we needed that water and would have driven a waiter nuts. Food comes around on this conveyor belt. You grab what you want off of the belt. The color of the bowl corresponds to the price.
You could also order hot food. Uncomfortable eating sushi in a strange city, hubby had chicken terriyaki and friend rice. I opted for a chicken noodle bowl.
We nervously found our way to the correct platform and made it safely back to Horsley Station. It was very odd to not have a working cell phone. When we stepped off the train, the station was closed. We were praying for a taxi to be nearby so we didn't have to walk through an unfamiliar area in the dark.
Our prayers were more than answered when we caught the courtesy car about to pull out of the parking lot. We chased him down and arrived back at the hotel to check in.
We got settled, showered, caught up on emails (they had excellent wireless), skyped my sister, and I kept my eyes open for as long as I could. Hubby went to the bar to see if any other conference attendees had arrived. He said he didn't care whether or not I went... I took that as a sign to begin counting sheep. I don't think I counted one before I was fast asleep.
The advice worked, we woke up early the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. At the breakfast buffet at the hotel, hubby introduced me to a coworker he knew from Canada. His wife had made the trip also. We became fast friends and agreed to meet in the lobby after getting ready.
We went next door to the castle for a little history and a little tour. The castle's most notable resident was Ada Lovelace (daughter of Lord Byron). We explored tunnels and a beautiful chapel, but never made it to the "tower."
The brickwork was unusual and exquisite. We thanked our gracious hostess and headed out to explore the grounds. We got to know each other walking beautiful paths next to horse fields. We walked though a beautiful neighborhood and down the only main road in Horsley. We stopped at the only shopping area where we explored a thrift shop and drug store. Then we finished our walking loop back to the conference center. Hoping we had wasted the whole day, we made it back to the front desk at 11am. We made friends with the receptionist, Fran, and asked her suggestion for the remainder of the day. She suggested taking a taxi to Guildford. It sounded better than sitting at the hotel for hours so we did. Our "taxi" was a Mercedes though we both agreed it seemed more appropriate to be picked up in a horse and carriage from the castle.
After the 25 minute car ride, we were greeted by a bustling little town with a TGIFridays and this...
Yes, my dear southern friends-- Hot doughnuts now, across the pond. We didn't go in but I had to snag the pic. We went to a mall and both found some things at Mango. Then we did a little browsing on some side streets. There were cute little stands set up on the side of the road.
We decided to warm up and grab lunch at All Bar One. We had a lovely time getting to know one another, laughing, eating and drinking good wine. It was so nice to have a meal with no distractions and no worries. Neither of us had working cell phones so it was really just the two of us stranded in Guildford. It kind of made me long for simpler times. Don't get my wrong, I'm as dependent on my cellphone as your average American, but it was kind of lovely to be "off the grid."
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| Chandelier made from wine glasses |
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| Wine from lunch |
Dinner was very nice and in the castle's Great Hall. It was fun to watch my hubby in action, shmoozing and networking. He is so good at what he does. I ate, drank wine, and tried to throw in a halfway intelligent comment here and there.
Later the party moved to the castle bar, which moved to a search for the tower, which moved to climbing ladders, and out windows on to balconies that were not meant to be balconies. We met some great people and had a wonderful time.
The next morning was a little hazy but not too bad. We had breakfast at the hotel bar again. Then I went to the room to repack us.
We traveled with a large (checked) suitcase, a carry-on size suitcase, and a Baggallini messenger bag that went with us everywhere. We also had packing cubes which we found helpful for the long trip with many different stops.
We had packed light and decided to do laundry in the sink as we went. I was very prepared with a flat sink stopper (which none of the hotels we stayed at required) and cut up Purex laundry sheets. The laundry I had done the day before wasn't dry so I spent some of the morning drying our clothes with a blow-dryer in order to pack them.
My new friend and I had lunch at the hotel bar and then went back to Fran to find another adventure assignment. Fran sent us in the car to Bocketts Farm. This time we arranged for the car to meet us in a couple of hours.
It was very cute! It's main draw is the petting zoo. We saw all kinds of animals and even got to pet a few. The highlight was a donkey that had been born the day before. It was very well set up for a day with kids. It had a train ride, awesome park, bouncy thingy, pig racing, pony rides, and lots of animals to feed.
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| One day old donkey |
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| There is no frame of reference but trust me this pig was GINORMOUS |
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| Cute little goat |
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| Horse that wasn't too happy with my friend |
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| Friend at petting zoo |
We had just enough time to split "tea for two" at the little restaurant before meeting our car to go to Horsley for the last time.
The only tea I had in England-- this is probably terrible to say but I prefer it iced!
The boys were about finished with their conference when we returned. We said our goodbyes and took a car the loonnnggg and expensive ride to the St. Pancras Train Station where we caught the Eurostar to PARIS!!!
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