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We began our post-wedding adventure in Seaside, Oregon, home of a beautiful part of the Pacific Coast, a nifty albino slug (sorry, no picture), lots of other wildlife, and really, REALLY big trees. Preston's family had vacationed there for years and it is a favorite of his; we even stayed in the same hotel that he had as a kid, the Ebb Tide. From Seaside we went to see Preston's family in Boise, Idaho, which was great! We had a second reception there for Preston's West-coast friends who hadn't been able to come to New Jersey for the real thing.
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 | After a brief stop in NJ, we then were off to Denmark! We started in Copenhagen, where the Little Mermaid (shown here) resides--with her head on, no thanks to %^&*$@!! vandals! We had a grand time in the capital city (sure, an 8-oz Coke costs you $3, but hey, they serve caviar with everything). While we were in town, one place that we visited was The Royal Library. Yes, I hate to admit it, but we did Web-surf on our honeymoon. From Copenhagen we worked our way west across Denmark via train and bus. Among other places, we saw an Iron-age village in Lejre; the Viking museum and a medieval cathedral in Roskilde; Odense, the hometown of Hans Christian Anderson; and the Funen Village Museum. (Please don't ask me to pronounce any of these place names; it took me long enough to get "Copenhagen" right!) |
| In the middle of our cross-country trip we stopped in Helsingor; pictured here is Kronborg, known as "Hamlet's Castle." There is actually some evidence that Shakespeare may have been here before writing that tragedy! It was VERY cool. |  |
Then, on the west coast of Denmark, in the little town of Billund, there it was--our Mecca, our Oz, our Holy Grail--LEGOLand! (For those of you who might not know, when Preston proposed to me, he put the ring in a LEGO box.) Words really cannot describe LEGOland, but here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what it is like. (We have lots more if you're interested, and the site above has plenty too.) Needless to say, we came home with lots of new ideas for our own LEGO Empire.
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 | From Denmark, we took a little bitty plane to England, where we spent some time making trips in and out of London. We visited two places that I have always wanted to see but had missed on my previous trip. One was Canterbury (the town gate is pictured at left). We almost didn't make it, because of a fire on the train tracks, but still got in most of an afternoon there; I regaled Preston with the saga of Tristan & Isolde in the meantime. The other was Glastonbury, which I loved, loved, loved. We spent an extra day there because I liked it so much; you might say my priorities were changed! (Actually, the best part of this picture is that there is a church at the top of the street.) I had always wanted to go to the Abbey and the Tor (below); it was incredible. You might not know that Preston's mother wrote a very well-received book about the Christian history of Glastonbury. She is something of a local heroine there; everyone was quite pleased to meet us! | 
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Look at those legs!!! --PC *ahem* Yes... well... Our final stop was in one of my favorite spots on earth, Stratford-upon-Avon, where (after cuddling up with Princa Hal at the Shakespeare Monument, left) we saw "The Tempest" performed in the Swan Theatre by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I haven't quite figured out why that's the show they're doing every time I'm there, but I don't mind (yet). The only disappointment was that the new Globe Theatre was not yet open, but we did get to see the plans and a museum piece about it. (Other plays seen: "The Woman in Black," very creepy, and a 100th-anniversary production of "The Importance of Being Earnest," both in London. "Romeo and Juliet" in Canterbury Cathedral, ending up in the catecombs, was sadly sold out before we arrived.) And then we returned to New Jersey... and slept for a week! *grin* I hope you enjoyed this virtual trip! You can click here to return to my homepage. |