On our second day in England, we took a train to Oxford to see the University and then we rented a car. I had no idea what good entertainment this would be. First of all, you drive on the opposite side of the street as well as sit on the wrong side of the car but the best part was they were out of automatic cars so it was a stick as well!! That combination was the best!! Oh did I mention that it rained on and off all day? Or how about the fact that the British do not believe in street signs?
I had to take a turn just to say I drove in England. I drove about 4 miles on the highway and that was enough for me.
When we picked up the car we asked them how to get to Cotswald area from Oxford. The guy told us in a really strong accent and I looked at him with this really dumb blank stare on my face that I get every time when I have no idea what they are saying but I looked at Jarod and he was nodding his head like he understood. We go to get in the car and I asked Jarod if he knew where he was going and he said he thought he did. Well he didn't have a clue. He understood as much as I did out of the conversation. We ended up going the wrong way down a one way street that was a dead end. Let me tell you how fun it was to reverse a stick shift on the wrong side of the street out of an alley with a bunch of English people looking at you like dumb Americans. I thought it was so funny! Jarod at the time did not think it was very funny. We survived with minimal damage to the car.
We finally found our way to our first destination which was the castle that Winston Churchill was born in. This place was amazing! They started building it in 1100 and relatives of Winston's lived in it until the 1940's. We took a tour of the inside as well and it had all the original furniture. It was beautiful!
This is a very small portion of the English Gardens at the Churchill Palace. I loved seeing all of the English gardens all over England. They were so pretty!
Jarod's favorite part was the back yard. Who wouldn't want this as their back yard? He kept telling me how fun it would be to play football so he finally posed for a picture. Too funny!
Jarod crossing the bridge to the castle. It was situated on a private lake that they were actually having a wake boarding competition on that day. It was fun to watch but the best part was the announcer. He sounded just like the Ali G show for anyone that has ever seen that before. We could not stop laughing. Just think of an Englishman with a strong accent trying to rap and sound hip. It just doesn't work that well. Yo, yo, yo!!
Look how huge this place is! Wow!
King of the Castle! Or so he thinks. This was the Broadway Castle that a family actually lived in until just a few years ago. Now it is being taken over by sheep and deer. Every time I look at this picture it makes me laugh.
Sitting on the top of the world. 
You can see Baby in this picture! Yep, I have definitely started showing. View of the valley down below.
A typical street in the English country side.
If you ever have go to England, this is one of the must take pictures. All the stereotypes are true.
The beautiful view of the Cotswald that we drove through that day. After our sightseeing we took the car back, had a great dinner in Oxford and took the train back to London. 
3 comments:
Looking at your pictures makes me want to go back to Europe!! I love the little gardens they have and all of the old buildings..although I have never been to England, Matt really wants to go someday.
As for maternity clothes, I find that Motherhood is hit and miss...sometimes they have really cute stuff and other times it is horrid!! But I like them because their prices are really good.....and there are some good places online, like Mimi's Maternity, and I think it is called Pea in a Pod. And of course there is always old navy and gap, I like them for the t-shirts and cheapy things that I don't want to spend money on. Anyway, looks like you guys had sooo much fun!
P.S you are very brave for even trying to drive in England....we only had to drive in Paris and I made Matt do it, and they drive on the right side of the car and the street! (He also had some experience driving there from his mission so he kind of new what he was doing...I was too afraid to even try it!! )
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