Windsor Castle

Douglas and I had planned to visit Windsor Castle in May but that was not to be so I was thrilled when Brendon and Wendy arranged for us to go to Windsor after we had been to Lego Land. This was to be my special treat as we had tried to visit the castle many years ago but because there had been a funeral in the chapel we had not managed to do so.

 We checked out of our hotel and caught a train to Windsor. Owen loves trains so he was thrilled that he had a chance to watch the "Jet Trains" while we waited for the Mommy and the Daddy.

In Windsor we discovered that the crowds that had been to Legoland the day before had decided to come to Windsor. There were many tour groups and at one time I thought that Japan had arrived.

 Windsor Castle is lovely and as the Queen was at Balmoral for her Summer holiday we were able to see most of the palace.

 The audio guides were a bonus and we learnt much about the History of the Castle. At one point Brendon overhead one of the officials say that they had run out of audio guides because there were so many visitors that day.

After a picnic lunch in the grounds we made our way back to the station.

 Wendy and Brendon took Erin to see the crooked house while Owen and I went to see the train at the station.

 Then we were on our way from Slough to London. The train was packed but Owen did not seem to mind sitting next to a stranger.

 We arrived at Paddington and then it was down to the underground once more.

 Erin had had enough so decided to have a sleep.

 Owen does not like the underground very much so kept checking to see if we had arrived at our station.

 Unfortunately our tube only went a far as Edgware Road so we had steps to climb with Erin asleep in the buggy and two huge cases. A stranger kindly helped me with the buggy while Brendon lugged the cases up the stairs and Wendy helped Owen.

Eventually we reached Kings Cross and did not have too long to wait for the train to Downham.

 Everyone was exhausted but books and technology kept us all entertained along the way.

At last we arrived at Downham. Owen had to say goodbye to our train and because another train arrived before we crossed the line he had to greet it as well.

 Eventually we managed to get across the line and then had a short wait for our taxi home.

Not sure how we were going to cope with the big move and church services as we seemed to have used up all our energy. Brendon was suffering from Jet lag as he had only arrived from Doha two days previously.

A visit to Banham Zoo

Yesterday we decided to visit the zoo in our area. It was an hours drive by car but we had a Sat Nav., a mobile phone with Google maps, a map book and a print out of the directions so we managed well. Wendy navigated and I drove. The Cherubs had their Leap Pads on so it was rather difficult to hear the man on the Sat Nav.

Picture by Wendy

We discovered that there were many places where we could see keepers in action and listen to explanations so rushed to the penguins as soon as we had bought our tickets. SA penguins brought memories of Cape Town and Durban flooding back as did the antics of the Fur seals.

We decided that we needed to have an overview of the area so took a ride on the road train much to the delight of the Cherubs. Owen and Erin enjoyed a snack while we wandered down the different lanes and listened to the driver explain what there was to see.

Picture by Wendy

On our return to the station we set off to see the different sights. The Zoo is more like a Safari Park so there was much walking. The children had endless energy but the Granny found the heat rather exhausting.

We were thrilled to see some camels and the children were fascinated by the two humps as those in Qatar only have one hump. They loved seeing the balls that were provided for the camel's enjoyment.

I loved the sign telling us that Douglas was around. He would have loved seeing all these animals.

He was so cute and even let people rub his nose.

We saw many more animals but could have done with a second visit as there were places that we never managed to get to.

After all the walking we decided to have some lunch and then went to the play area so the Cherubs could have some fun running and climbing before we returned home.

Picture by Wendy

After all the fun it was time to say good bye to the zoo. We decided to take the fast route home and managed that too thanks to Wendy's excellent navigation. Douglas would have been impressed as he always liked to travel along different routes. He trained me well.