EUROPE TRIP . DAYS 1-2 . TRAVEL AND LONDON (JUNE 1-2)

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 3 . TOWER OF LONDON AND ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL (JUNE 3)

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 4 . CHURCH, MUSEUMS IN LONDON (JUNE 4)

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 5 . HARRY POTTER STUDIO (JUNE 5)

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 6 . WHITSTABLE AND CANTERBURY (JUNE 6) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 7 . TRAIN TO PARIS (JUNE 7) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 8 . DISNEY PARIS (JUNE 8) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 9 . EIFFEL TOWER, RODIN AND NAPOLEAN’S TOMB (JUNE 9) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 10 . VERSAILLES (JUNE 10) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 11 . ARC DE TRIOMPHE, LOUVRE, MUSEE D’ORSAY (JUNE 11) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 12 . FLYING TO SCOTLAND, URQUHART CASTLE (JUNE 12) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 13 . HIKING IN TOMICH, SCOTLAND (JUNE 13) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 14 . EILEEN DONAN CASTLE, ISLE OF SKYE, FAIRY POOLS (JUNE 14) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 15 . EDINBURGH CASTLE, ROYAL MILE, ARTHURS SEAT HIKE (JUNE 15)- not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 16 . DRIVE TO YORKSHIRE AREA (JUNE 16) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 17 . YORKSHIRE DALES (JUNE 17) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 18 . CHURCH, YORK, TEWKSBURRY (JUNE 18) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 19 . COTSWOLDS, STONHENGE (JUNE 19) - not yet posted

EUROPE TRIP . DAY 20 . TRAVELING HOME (JUNE 20) - not yet posted

​We were all packed and ready to go Sunday night, but it was also our last day of the most ridiculous breakfast we have ever had at a hotel, so we went downstairs and gorged ourselves on the tasty food.   Then Mike left to get the car, which led to him walking all the way around Waterloo Station, before he figured out it was just beyond Waterloo station.  Unfortunately, when he got there, the car was too small, so he had to wait for someone else to get back with a bigger car that would fit our big gaggle of people.   He waited, and waited, and waited until suddenly, it was 12:30 and the car finally appeared.  Then they washed it FOREVER.  Or as the guy called it, “We’ll wiz it up”.  Mike sped back to the hotel and picked all of us up and then sped through London at unreal speeds defying motorcycles and uber delivery guys and deliveroos and porsches and BMWs as we raced to get to the Harry Potter experience by 2:30 PM.  We made it all the way through crazy traffic and turns and got there at 2:29 PM (after one missed roundabout and some minor yelling).  It was a rainy day, but since we were going to be inside, we weren't at all sad about it.  
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The Harry Potter Warner Brother’s set was AMAZING!  It had all kinds of stuff from the movies and was really well done.  It was fun to see the wardrobes, animatronics, sets, props, and everything from the movies.  To be in the Great Hall and to walk down Diagon Alley, and to see the enormous replica of Hogwarts Castle was incredible.  The kids loved seeing the moving staircase, the fat lady, the sleeping quarters, the Gryffindor common room, the gigantic clock, Dumbledore's office, the potions area, the flying car and motorbike, all the cool doors, Hagrid's hut and the Burrow.  It was all so very cool.  The kids even got to stop and fly on their own brooms.  We loved seeing the inside of the Ministry of Magic and going through the Dark Forest which was new to the studio this year.  Inside the forest we got to see Buckbeak and Aragog.  The highlight of the tour was definitely seeing the Hogwarts Express and being able to go inside the train and see the different cabins arranged for scenes from the different movies.  When all the inside touring was over we stopped at the cafe and tried butter beer.  It turns out that the butter beer was pretty good…who would have thought.  Then we went outside to walk along the covered bridge and go inside the Privot Drive house and stand inside the Night Bus.  The kids loved seeing the life sized chess pieces and having their turn sitting in the flying car and Hagrid's motorbike.  Back inside the last part of the tour we got to see all the animatronics and were fascinated that they did the Patronus by putting a light vest on a dog.  Hagrid's head robot and Dobby were both so cool to see as well.  At the end of the tour we got to see the giant replica of the castle and then go inside the shop where you could find every Harry Potter paraphernalia you could possibly think of.  We will all remember this day for a very long time!

​Speaking of which, Sunday morning found us on the tube rushing to get to church.  We thought we were going to be late, but we made it just in time for the Sacrament hymn and the sacrament.  It was fast and testimony meeting, and we heard testimonies from all over the world.  The Stake visitor (maybe the Stake President) spoke about this and how it demonstrated God’s love for his children as the Gospel makes its way to every country and every people.  He also spoke about the need for the message of the Gospel, particularly families, to be spread through the world and the hope that comes through Jesus Christ, the peace that comes in troubled times.  I remember really liking what he said and feeling the Spirit. 
 
After Sacrament meeting, we walked over to the science museum and saw some dinosaur bones.  The best part about the museum was the entrance.  After that, it was pretty much another science museum.  From the science museum, we took the tube over to the British Museum, the largest museum in the world.  We saw the Egyptian collection, the Rosetta Stone, Dumb Dumb, and a really cool library room.  Before we went in, we ate lunch outside and let Madeline chase the birds in her stroller.  After the museum, we left mom behind as we started walking up to King’s Cross station.  This led to mom being mad at everyone for a period of time.  Pretty much on par with the wet spoon incident.  When we got to King’s Cross, we went to platform 9 ¾ and got our photos pushing the cart into the wall.  We then got some food.  Peter and Abbey had burgers and a milk shake.  The rest had Japanese curry.  We then had Mille Filleule, which was delicious.  From there, we walked over to the Biritish library and saw the Magna Carta, the King James Bible, some original Beetles stuff, the Guttenberg Bible, and other old stuff.  Unfortuantely, they don’t let you take pictures of anything, which is kind of sad. 
 
After the museums, we took the tube back to our hotel…with 10 pence left on our Oyster cards!  Pretty well planned if you ask me.  After so much walking, it was nap time for everyone.
 
 

​14 hours after we fell asleep we woke up.  Soooo, a little later than was planned.  No worries, we got up and went downstairs to the largest hotel breakfast that has ever been imagined on the face of the planet.  We were truly dumbfounded by the sheer volume of food that was present.  Waffles, Grapefruit, Sausage, Taters, Hot Chocolate, Croissants, Muffins, Breads, Jams, Bacon!  We gorged ourselves and then made lunch for the day and put it in our trusty zip-lock bags.  From there, we walked down to Waterloo Station and got on the tube to go to Tower of London.  We took the tube to Embankement station and then we were going to transfer to the District line.  However, the District line was closed…kind of awesome after walking all over the station with the stroller.  The tube is like a hamster maze for humans…many of the lines are not really that close to one another in the underground.  So we went to plan B and got on a river taxi and got a tour of London on the Thames!  It was pretty great because we got to see all the various sights from the river.  Not a bad reward for a broken subway system!
 
We got off the boat at the Tower of London and walked in to one of the coolest fortresses of all times.  While some of us were disappointed with the torture room, the crown jewels more than made up for the lack of people hanging from the walls.  While the crowns were cool, the scepters, maces, swords, and goblets were amazing as well.  Clearly, Britain’s Monarch have a flair for extravagance.  It was also interesting to see them talk about how the Monarch is anointed with oil to make them a king.  Many things to consider aside from the 3,000 carat diamonds. 
 
Mike and the boys and got to see the Fusillier’s museum with remnants of all their campaigns throughout the world.   It is interesting that Tower of London is still a garrison for an infantry unit.  Peter could barely lift up the infantry soldier’s pack!  The girls got to see the guards and get a photo with one of the soldiers.  It turns out to work there, you have to have been in the Army for at least 22 years, be retired, and have attained the rank of Sergeant Major.  Everyone except Mike and Madeline toured the white tower and saw all the armor and weapons.  Madeline got to eat baby food and get carried up and down endless stairs in the stroller.  Tower of London was not really stroller friendly.  We got some good photos of London Bridge and steered our way back through the masses to the tube station to go to St Paul’s Cathedral.  

Of course, when we arrived at the tube station, it was closed…so we hopped on the bus with our handy oyster cards and made our way down the street to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  St Paul’s is one nifty Cathedral.  Like Westminster Abbey, it is full of dead people, but the architecture is ridiculous.  From the naïve to the dome to the altars, it was amazing.  Behind the altar is a book with the names of all the American service members who died in WWII that were stationed in Great Britain (some 22,000).  It was a nice tribute to the sacrifice of so many who came to defeat hatred so far from their homes.  When we picked up the audio tours, Mike spoke in French and the guy thought we were from France, until Mike told him we wanted the guides in English….tricky Mike.
 
Of course, since we were at St. Paul’s, and we’re Wilhelms, we decided to hike up to the top of the Cathedral dome…the whole way up, with a baby, and a stroller (mostly because Mike isn’t smart enough to check the stroller at the bottom).  The staircase to the first level was wide with short steps.  It put us up in the rotundum about ½ way.  The next set of stairs was crazy narrow and steep with bonus narrow sections put in there.   This took us up and outside where we got great views of London and waited for the final ascent to the top of the dome to a little balcony on the outside that got you the best views of the city.  The steps though were tortuous with a stroller, but doable, if you’re Mike.
 
From there, we came back down the stairs all the way to the bottom and found a nice plaza to have lunch.  We ate our sandwiches that we made at breakfast and got some ice-cream from the local grocery store and sat in the plaza by a fountain and ate our lunch.  After that, we got our Poppins on and fed the birds.  Yes indeed, on the steps of St. Paul, we fed the birds.  We also lost Andrew, who stated emphatically that he had been standing there the whole time…well we had video evidence, and sure enough, he was standing by the pole while the other kids fed the birds.  This time, he was saved by the video. 
 
From St. Paul’s, we walked over the Millennium bridge back across the Thames and walked through the back roads to our hotel.  Of course, being good parents, we left all our kids in the hotel and went out to get some tasty Ramen for ourselves.  The Ramen was by far the best we have eaten since leaving Japan.  Strange thing is that as we were leaving the hotel, Mike had a bad feeling about gong out.  All was good and we made it back safely to our hotel after dinner, but that night some terrorists killed a bunch of people on London bridge and in the nearby restaurants.  We were about 5 blocks away, fortunately, we were not in that area when it happened.  We hate terrorists and the non-sense that accompanies all this stuff.  It takes something out of the fun of travelling when you have to beware of the nut jobs out there.  We were able to get our kids some Japanese food and headed home early, which ended up being a good thing because we were fast asleep in our hotel when all the bad stuff went down.  Stand ye in holy places. ​

JUNE 1, 2017
 
After almost 4 months of planning we were finally headed to Europe for our 3 week adventure to England, France, and Scotland.  After going to bed around midnight (some of us a little later), Sara got up at 3:30 AM to take a shower and get ready for the trek.  Mike was up by 3:45 and ready to go.  Emma and Abby by 4:00 AM and the boys around 4:10… with some effort.  Since we had packed the car the night before, we mostly got up, grabbed our bags and hopped in the car.  We were out of the driveway by 4:27 AM,  parked by 5:30 and were in the airport by about 5:45.  The girl in front of us was dropping off her bag and left her car running outside the airport…she then ran out to park her car.  We felt bad for her thinking she would probably miss the flight.  We checked in and checked our bags and then went through TSA pre-check…we were at the gate with time to spare.  We LOVE TSA Pre-check.  To our surprise, the girl made it back just in time!  We were on a little Embraer plane, all loaded up ready to go by 7:05, but the pilot came on and said there was a problem with the plane….so we sat there for a bit and then after about 40 minutes took off.  We had a pretty smooth flight to Toronto with some nice in flight entertainment (Mike watched Hidden Figures, Sara Passengers, Peter Sing, Abby Sing, Emma Ghostbusters, and Andrew…well who knows what he was doing).  So we got to Toronto and headed over to the International Departures.  The cleaning lady was totally infatuated with our family and kids…kind of like we were back in Japan.  Unfortunately, the Priority Pass lounge was being refurbished so the lounge was kind of ghetto and shoved into the corner of part of the terminal.  At least there was free food and comfy chairs to sit in.  I think Abby had 34 cream puffs and Sara had the same number of brownies.  No really...we all ate too much food.  Some of us slept while others just kept eating.  I wonder who will puke first on the flight!
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Mike and his amazing planning and creative skills were key in putting together this AWESOME itinerary book that he had printed for each one of us.  Here are today's pages: