UK – The House on Ladd

Lamberts Take London: Day 4, Wait, That’s Stonehenge!?

March 14, 2025March 11, 2025AmandaLeave a comment

Ah, Day Four. The day we learned (unknowingly) learned that the Brits do not play games when it comes to driving.

We had a few firsts that day, including our first British taxi ride with the kindest driver. Our goal for the day was to get our rental car, avoid the high toll areas, and get to our first stop of the day: Windsor Castle. It started easily enough, with a long wait at the taxi stand. Austin decided he needed to drive a Mini Cooper in England, so that’s what we rented. What we didn’t know was that this would lead us to a “dodgy” (the taxi driver’s word, not ours) part of town. He was kind enough to make sure we made it to our stop safely. The gentlemen at the shop were so kind and funny, and they had a beautiful selection of cars.

So, off we went, the law breakers we are, into the English countryside on our way to Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle was an awesome experience. There are limited areas for photos and you have to be searched prior to entering, since it’s an actual royal residence. But the grounds were so well kept and beautiful. We skipped the dollhouses and toured the Royal Apartments. I had to sneak a few photos in St. George’s Chapel where Prince Harry and Meghan were married. Also in that chapel were the newly made tombs for QEII and Prince Philip, heavily watched over by staff.

We walked into town for a burger at Honest Burgers . I had the Pesto Chicken Sandwich with the Rosemary Chips and mmmmmm. We walked around town a little, and then headed out.

Like I said in the planning post, sometimes you don’t realize how much time you will take at a stop. So when we left for Windsor for Bath, we realized that Stonehenge was going to be closed. You can’t just walk up to it anymore, it has opening times and fencing around to protect it. But I, for whatever reason, didn’t change the route set on the GPS even though it was a longer route. We were driving along, admiring the countryside, when all of a sudden, “is that STONEHENGE??” Sure enough, there it was!! My new iPhone 14 was able to get a great video of us passing by. Hey, we can say we saw it!

Now, if you have not driven in a foreign country, you may not think about how small the roadways are in town… The city of Bath was a stressful little drive. It’s set in hills, with tiny streets. But once you ditch your car, it’s a lovely city.

We stayed at the Gainsborough Bath Spa. Our goal of our one night in Bath was to relax after what we knew would be very fast paced days in London. And Gainsborough did not disappoint! They have their own spa circuit in the hotel, with a mineral water pool, hot tubs, saunas and, my favorite, a lavender ice bath. They also have hot chocolate on tap to drink while you do the circuit. It was divine. We have never felt so relaxed. The next morning we got up, had breakfast and a massage before heading out. We both wish we had stayed another night, and plan to go back just to Bath. I want to go for their annual Jane Austen Festival! I have almost convince Austin, as long as he doesn’t have to dress up as a Red Coat, ha!

xo, Amanda

Lamberts Take London: Day 3, Crowns and Calling

March 13, 2025March 13, 2025AmandaLeave a comment

Day three was another busy one! We started with pastry and coffee from Victoria Station and headed off to The Tower of London! At this point, we were feeling really good about our ability to navigate public transport. They truly do make it easy.

Tower Bridge looks over the River Thames, and the Tower of London (or White Tower). This site, full of so much history, is really a must-see. There was a menagerie (where a woman had her hand bitten off by a wild lion), a prison, a chapel, and my favorite, the Crown Jewels.

To view the Crown Jewels, you walk into a dark building and into a room where spotlights dance on gold and silver and diamonds and rubies and emeralds and all else you can imagine. Step onto the moving sidewalk for a close, but not too close view of the suite of crowns and scepters. I, unashamedly, rode them forward and back five times. The Imperial State Crown was not on display, as it was being readied for the Coronation. Queen Victoria’s tiny diamond crown sparkles so much more than I imagined from just seeing photos. It was breathtaking.

Along the wall were solid gold coronation spoons, and salt cellars and punch bowls, and other items used for Coronation Banquets. Gaudy as they were, the craftmanship was very impressive. I’ll never forget the punch bowl with a serving ladle made to look like a conch shell.

On the grounds, there is a memorial made to those executed at the Tower of London, including Ann Boleyn.

We wandered through the other towers, where my favorite spot was the chapel for the Yeomen Warders (AKA “Beefeaters” or Royal Bodyguards). It was so beautiful! The Yeomen Warders still live there in little houses on the edges of the tower grounds. We had lunch in the New Armouries Cafe inside the Tower of London. It was a great spot to pick up grab and go sandwiches, soups and sweets, as well as a coffee for our next adventure.

As you may or may not know, my real job is being a nurse. Does one choose to be a nurse, or, just as in medicine or religious work, is one called to be a nurse. Any guesses on our next stop?

The Florence Nightingale Museum was one of my non-negotiables on this trip. What a treat to learn about the woman, who by God’s calling, left her privileged life and changed the face of nursing forever. She began the area of nursing research. She was why so many survived in her battlefield hospitals during the Crimean War, where more men died from infection than from actual war. She revolutionized the ideas of cleanliness, working with the emerging Germ Theory to create better outcomes for all her patients and staff. Clearly, this was a very meaningful stop for me on our great English adventure!

Our next stop was Floris London, the oldest English perfumery. They made perfumes for Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, just to name a few. They were also a favorite of Florence Nightingale. If it’s good enough for Florence and the Royal Family, it’s good enough for me! The shop was such a fun experience, and we were able to smell some of the fragrances made for the famous figures named above. They also have a design-your-own fragrance experience, but we did not have the time. We settled on our new signature scents (Tuberose in Silk for me, and Mulberry Fig for Austin), and headed out again.

Fortnum and Mason is another great, very English stop! We did not realize they also have a restaurant and Tea Room on site, and will have to visit again. But their selection of teas, cookies, candies and food items were amazing! We may have stocked up a little too much but how much is really too much? The tins make such great gifts!

And finally, what is a trip to London without visiting the famous Harrod’s? It was so large one can barely take it all in. The food hall was a delight with so many options! Who buys milk from Harrod’s?? Not us, but I guess someone does!

We had Italian food that night, and then back to the hotel to pack our things for our next leg of the trip! We walked just shy of 11 miles on Day 3. Be sure to pack good shoes!

xo, Amanda

Lamberts Take London: Day 2, Double Decker Bus

March 12, 2025March 12, 2025AmandaLeave a comment

The joy of a new day in a new city after much needed sleep is one of my favorite feelings. Up and at ’em, we left the hotel for our first full day in London. We set off to find a bakery I had seen (a true Millennial follows the ratings), giving us our first ride on a double decker bus. How clever we felt, giddily climbing the stairs to the top floor! Surely the locals know just how lucky they are? One of the best things we did to help find our way was to download the CityMapper app. This app has all the public transport routes downloaded for major cities, and follows you stop by stop. All we had to do is say where we were and where we wanted to go, and it gave us several options of how to get there. Hop on a bus or train, and it will guide you through each stop, with warning that your stop on the route is about to arrive! So, so easy. A godsend.

The bakery we wanted didn’t impress, so we walked a bit to a cafe, Loka Lounge. The french toast was perfect. It was a lovely breakfast and just right for a start to a very busy day. Afterword, we walked to Kensington Gardens.

Did you know that Kensington Palace is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays? Neither did we. See, mistakes are inevitable. Much like my trip through Moscow, sometimes you win and sometimes it’s closed. Oh well. The gardens were lovely. We had ample time to see The Albert Memorial, to walk through Hyde Park, see Royal Albert Hall, make a pit stop at the Royal College of Music, and make our way past consulates and other stately homes. Then, we hopped on a bus to visit Westminster Abbey.

The Abbey, Westminster Hall, and the illustrious Big Ben all stand together on the same block. How exciting to walk into Westminster Abbey, where men and women are made Kings and Queens. Where I watched Kate become Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Where so many are buried and remembered. So much history it was overwhelming. I truly had no idea that people were buried inside the abbey… I found it so odd, and to just walk on top of them felt so… wrong? Anyone else go the long way in a cemetery just to avoid walking on top of someone’s grandma? In the walls and on the floor were tomb after tomb. It didn’t feel spooky like a cemetery or catacomb, it just felt like an old building.

And there it was, the checkered floors made famous by royal weddings, and the rows of seats with little lamps. Magic. All of it.

Walking through the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots was so moving. The stone reminding us of those before us who were doing their best to serve God and honor Him. Those are thoughts for another post.

The Abbey has an exhibit for Queen Elizabeth II on the top floor called The Diamond Jubilee Galleries of Westminster Abbey. Photos were not allowed, but it was worth the extra $10 to visit. I was brought to tears by this portrait of QEII, wearing her red coronation robe, which was painted in honor of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The look on her face, heavy and worn. The grandeur of an empty Abbey. The light shines through the window as if God Himself looks upon her. It felt final, and sad. The world, as I gazed upon this painting, was readying itself for a new English monarch. In fact, they were painting and applying gold leaf to the Abbey while we walked around. The Coronation Chair was being readied, the world was moving on. And yet, here they stood, she and God alone in the Abbey, the end of 70 years of faithful service.

The Coronation Theatre: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Ralph Heimans

Next, we headed to The British Museum. I had no idea why Austin wanted to visit a museum about England, but quickly found out this was not a museum about England at all… We saw collections from Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome. The Rosetta Stone, and the stone with the first written depiction of the Flood from Genesis. All controversy aside, this free museum was an incredible stop!

After, we stopped by Buckingham Palace. What I expected to feel overwhelming, was not. They were setting up for the Coronation, lining the streets with flags and stands. It was so fun to watch the Coronation after we returned home to say, “I stood right there!”

We ended the evening with dinner at our hotel restaurant The Soak. Austin had the Fish and Chips, and I tried the Black Prawn Dumplings. All were good, and it was nice to just walk back upstairs to go to bed. We walked over eight miles this day!

xo, Amanda

Lamberts Take London 2023: The Itinerary

March 10, 2025March 12, 2025Amanda2 Comments

A little late to the update, but I couldn’t not share the details for our trip to England last spring. If you know me in person, you know that I am obsessed with the royal family. My sports are State Dinners, Trouping the Color, and all other events where Catherine, Princess of Wales (AKA Kate Middleton), makes any sort of debut, especially involving a tiara. We were in a semi-close area, and could have made the trip to see her and Prince William out and about, but forewent the opportunity and survived. I won’t, however, let myself live down missing The Princess of Wales when she came to Boston later that year… Tragic.

Since this post is not an update on all things royal, we’ll move on. We’ve been asked multiple times: why England? Well, my sweet husband and I had not, at that point, traveled outside the U.S. together, except for our honeymoon to St. Lucia. We don’t always travel well together (two first-borns… need I say more?), and wanted to get our international feet wet without the added stress of a language barrier. We have each traveled to non-English speaking countries, he to Peru and I to Central Asia, but never together. So, we made it easy on ourselves.

Using our American Airlines miles we booked flights in April. We love to travel during shoulder seasons, as flights are cheaper and there are less crowds. It was perfect. Cold, but perfect. I highly suggest England in Spring, especially if you love wildflowers. I was enraptured by wildflowers and bright yellow fields. Magic.

When it comes to planning any sort of itinerary, you need to decide a few things. What is the purpose of visiting this place? How much time do you have? What are major area attractions, and will there be any added disruptions such as cruises, sporting events, festivals, or concerts? Do a quick scan of the local town website to get a good idea of what may be going on, or what major sites you don’t want to miss. Trip Advisor is a great resource for things to do.

London is a great city to visit because of the incredible variety of things to see and do, all reachable by public transport. I do not recommend renting a car until you are leaving the city, and then perhaps rent one as far from the city center as possible, as there is a strict area of increased tolls/fees, and the traffic cameras are a little too good. That’s a story for later.

After that, consider a drive to the beautiful Cotswold’s and beyond. Driving on the other side of the highway can be stressful, but it can be done! If you aren’t feeling up to it, most of England can be reached by train or bus. Toto, we are not in Texas anymore!

Our Itinerary starts where every good thing starts: Microsoft Word. Good for party planning, as seen here, as well as itinerary planning. This is the rough draft outlining each day, where we start to where we finish. Clearly we did not make any dinner reservations… It all worked out, and no one went hungry.

It is tempting for some to start planning the nitty-gritty, moment by moment details of each day as you go. My advice: don’t. Start with a very basic idea of where you start and where you end the day, and fill in later. Trust me, too many details too soon can cause some burnout. First, plan flights. Then transportation, then hotels, then any concrete activity reservations (unless you’re going for a specific reason: concert, sports event, etc., then purchase those first).

When it comes to filling in the details, guesstimate how long each attraction will take (reddit is a great place to find this information). We grossly underestimated how long we would take at various points of interest… A supposed two hour trip to the Tower of London really took us four. Maybe it was my five trips around the crown jewels. Maybe it was him reading every. single. sign in the sword and armor rooms. Who really knows? But, live, learn, and give yourself more time next time. Lifelong learning, isn’t that the goal?

Okay, below is our detailed timeline of events. We stuck to this fairly well, although we did not do the Robin Hood Tour or Warwick Castle. My best advice is to always start your day earlier than you think. Most crowds start lining up around 10am, so if you get up and get going, you can see what you really want to before having to fight someone else to see it. Austin kept saying, “man, our timing is so perfect!” Thank you, remember that tomorrow when we are up at 7am!

There, of course, is so much more to see in London and beyond. We missed quite a few sites in Bath simply for lack of time and knowledge. Our goal for Bath was to relax and soak up the mineral waters. Next time, I would see more of the historical sites, and obviously, any and everything Jane Austen. I hope this helps you in planning your next adventure!

xo, Amanda