Marc and I just got back from our 15 day adventure. We went to NYC, London, Isle of Wight, Garmish Germany, Belfast Ireland and Poughkeepsie New York. We had such a good time and it's been hard getting back into our busy routine here, but we are glad we went and happy to be back. Here are some pictures to show the highlights of our trip. We did the hop on hop off bus tour which included tickets for the statue of liberty. We also went to FAO Schwartz and played on the piano, had dinner with Keith from
Orinda and walked through central park.
It is fun going on trips with Marc because he watches the history channel all the time and knows a lot of random facts about things you see along the way. Example: the Liberty building in this picture was built out of wood from a ship hundreds of years ago. I can't remember when exactly you would you have to ask Marc, but it was a long time ago. 
We took a tour of Buckingham Palace and this is a picture from the very top of St. Paul's Cathedral. My legs are still burning from climbing all those stairs.
We took a tour of Buckingham Palace and this is a picture from the very top of St. Paul's Cathedral. My legs are still burning from climbing all those stairs.
We saw the Tower of London and the crown jewels. After Marc was brave enough to drive us down to the Isle of Wight (which was the purpose of our trip) to see the court where his dad grew up in Freshwater.
It was amazing to see Freshwater. It was the highlight of the trip. Here is a link with a picture of Marc's grandma at the house back in the day. I will look for the link with more pictures later. http://ventnorblog.com/freshwater-court-renovation-talk/ We took the car ferry over from Lymington to Yarmouth and then drove 10 minutes to the court.
There are so many crazy things we learned about the place. Here are my few favorites...the picture with the red moulding on the wall shows one of the fleur de lis missing. "The Canadians" came and took over the home during the world war and did target practice on these. Many are still missing. They also built a bomb shelter under the driveway which has never been opened! I am excited to hear about what is in it. Lewis Carol the author of Alice in Wonderland stayed there which is why the owner today, Chris Jarman, had the fallen trees carved into some of the characters. In 1923 the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon was played on the tennis court near the upper garden. Lord Alfred Tennyson owned the place before the Wasson's. He used it as a place for his in-laws to stay when they came to visit. The man that owns it now is getting it back to how it used to be. The owner before him destroyed it so badly that the plumbing was ruined so they used the formal garden to do their business and the fireplaces were clogged so instead of unclogging them they smased holes in the ceiling to let the smoke out of the house from the fires they started on the floor! The man who bought it from him that we met wants it back exactly how it was so he paid some men to glue all the original pots back together that had been shattered throughout the gardens and he hired a mason to take apart the brick wall near the formal garden and put it back with each brick in the same spot by using numbers for the rows and letters for the columns. Crazy, but great that someone cares about it now! We had such a good time, hopefully someday we will get back.
This is a picture of Hilary and Chris Jarman the owners of the court. When we went back the second day there were workers all over. He has been working on repairing the house full-time for the past four years. He is close, but still has a ways to go. This is a picture of Marc and Elsie Pilott. She lived in the Lodge on the property while Ted was growing up there and still does today. She is 93. It was so fun to visit with her.
We also toured Osbourne House which was lived in by Queen Victoria for the last years of her life.
We went to Christchurch on the Isle of Wight and saw the grave of Aaron Murry Wasson. Marc's family inherited Freshwater from the great Uncle Aaron Murry Wasson which is why Marc's family changed their name from Holmes to Wasson. I am very grateful to Aaron Murry Wasson...if he had had children I would be Katie Holmes. 
We saw the Needles which is the lighthouse on the little islands off the east point of the Isle. Then we flew to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for two nights. We took a tram up to the highest point in Germany called Zugspitze. It was terryfying going up there in a little metal box.
We saw the Needles which is the lighthouse on the little islands off the east point of the Isle. Then we flew to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for two nights. We took a tram up to the highest point in Germany called Zugspitze. It was terryfying going up there in a little metal box.
We ate lunch at this restaurant right below the alps and it had this cute flower garden. We did most of our shopping here and I loved that part! We also hiked through Partnachklamm. We walked through caves that had melting snow dripping all over us the entire time. Again
I loved it.
After Germany we flew to Belfast Ireland to see Giant's Causeway. My sister gave Marc a book last time she was here called 100 Wonders of the World. Marc saw Giant's Causeway in there and decided we had to go. It was the highlight of Northern Ireland. Legend has it that an Irish Giant, Finn MacCool, built the causeway to reach Scotland to fight the Scottish Giant, Benandonner. We are sitting on the giants boot and above Marc is playing the organ.
After Ireland we stayed in London for a night and then flew back to NYC the next day. We rented a car and drove north to Poughkeepsie to meet Marc's aunt Kitty. We spent two days with her. Marc had only seen her one time before when he was very young. We went to the Vanderbilt Mansion and the Culinary School of America. I hope to spend more time with her in the future.
We are back in the real world now and I start school Monday. I am happy to be home!
