Good Girls go to Heaven, Bad Girls go to Amsterdam

Thursday afternoon we took a trip to Amsterdam. This has to be one of my favorite cities I've ever visited in all of my travels. Amsterdam has this image of being this crazy city with no rules. Which it can be that way to a degree, if you're looking for those things. Of course you probably don't want to walk into a coffee shop if you're looking for a nice cup of coffee. But if you're looking for a nice day to walk around and see some amazing architecture and beautiful canals, this is definitely the city to satisfy those needs.

However, Amsterdam can be very dangerous, mainly for Americans. It seems like there are a thousand bikers on every road, and if you're not paying strict attention, you will get run over. But this trip I managed to be quite alert and didn't even have any close encounters with crazy bikers.

Sadly, my first trip to an automatiek (which is kind of like a vending machine but with hot food like hamburgers and krokets) was in Amsterdam, my last full day in Holland. When we walked into the walk-up fast food restaurant, FEBO, there were not many people in there. However, when I decided I would purchase a kroket, hundreds of other people decided it was a good time to invade the restaurant and make me incredibly nervous. The kroket cost E1.40 and it must be exact change. They have change machines in the restaurant so if you do not have exact change it can give you the correct coins you need. After I got my change, I went over to the wall where the food is and I successfully received my kroket. I don't really like the franchise of FEBO's krokets, but they are definitely still worthy of being eaten.

After my successful automatiek purchase, we continued to walk though the city. We stopped for some drinks, did some souvenir shopping, and took pictures. It was a very relaxing day in Amsterdam, and as I said before, this is one of my favorite cities ever. Last year when we went to Amsterdam we did all the tourist musts, like going through the Anne Frank house, going on the canal boat tour, and going to the center. So this year we walked around different parts of the city as there was really no need to do those tourist things again. Walking through the city you will pass many coffee shops and get strong whiffs of marijuana, but this shouldn't turn people away from going there because unless you're looking for the liberal things like pot and hookers, you don't really run into them. Especially since the hookers stay inside their little windows and the pot stays in the coffee shops.

When we got home we relaxed in the nice weather outside, and I was convinced to ride Isabel's bike. As I told myself I would never ride a bike again in Holland because I almost died doing so last year, for the sake of photos I gave in. However, it seems as though I still can't get the hang of the damn things, as I ended up in the middle of the street. Like I said before, for the sake of photos, I'll do pretty much anything.

My time in Holland was absolutely fantastic, and as I'm now currently sitting in my family room typing this up, I miss it tremendously. I am not sure when the next time it is that I will be making a trip back there, so it was very hard for me to leave this time. My family I stayed with was better than great to me, and I am truly thankful for all that they did to make my vacation as relaxing and wonderful as they did. I do have one more little post that may entertain some of you, but specifically my dad. It's a little surprise the Olijerhoek's worked out for me. So if you're interested, sit tight and you will find it in the coming days.

But now, it's back to reality, back to stress, back to the heat. I'm home Arizona.

The Longer the Vacation, the more Astounding the Stories

My time in Holland has been very relaxing, mixed with a lot of water. In other words, rain, rain and more rain. Our week started our fairly dry, however today made up for all the days I've been here that it has not rained.

Earlier this week we took a walk through the forest called Groenendaal. It was a very peaceful and quiet walk, where people bring their dogs and let them run around. It seemed like a quiet day in the forest though as we didn't get attacked by too many dogs. Also on a positive note, we didn't get attacked by any of the wild cows that roam the forest. I unfortunately, have not see any of these supposed wild cows here though, only domesticated dogs.

After the forest we went to a nearby cemetery. I have seen many cemeteries in my travels and have been able to tell that they are different from many American cemeteries, however I have never walked through any other than the American ones. The two differ greatly. We walked through a children section, and I noticed that there were 2 two headstones on the same spot but in a row. It turns out that two children were buried in these sections, so that is why there are the two headstones. All the headstones throughout the cemetery looked independently different from one another. Others had nothing, as they probably did not have any relatives. This cemetery was very beautiful and also peaceful, like the forest. I surprisingly did not get freaked out in a more "spooky" looking cemetery than the typical American ones.

Today, the day of water, we went to a city called Den Bosch, about an hour from Ringo and Sandra's home. After my little nap in the car, we finally arrived to the city, and found a parking spot. We proceeded to the center of the village, called the Square. It was raining pretty lightly at this point so we decided to sit at a cafe for some coffee and a Bosche Bol, a cream filled chocolate covered delight. After we filled our tummies, we walked around the village and found a place to take a boat tour. We bought our tickets and had a couple hours until our boat took off.

We continued to walk around the village, in and out of little allies, somewhat getting lost, but that makes sightseeing all the better. The streets were close together and very quaint. The little canals throughout the city had bridges and tunnels about every 50 feet or so. The village reminded me of what Italy would look like with boats floating in and out of all the tunnels. We found a very large church and decided to take a brief look inside. On the inside it was extremely tall, and extremely long. They began a service so we sat at watched for a few minutes, convincing ourselves God would be happy we stopped in to say "hello". When we left the church it started to rain much harder, so we found a different cafe next to the boat dock and had some drinks before our tour. In hopes that the rain would lighten up before we took off on our roofless boat, we kept our eyes to the skies.

Finally, it was time to go to the dock. We were excited because the rain had ceased just as we were getting ready to board, but our luck it was only for a brief moment. We got our seats on the boat, that probably fit about 15 people, most of which had umbrellas and dorky ponchos. We ignorantly chuckled to each other about how silly the "bag ladies", as we called them, looked. The boat engine started and we were off. Just at that moment, the clouds burst open and hit us with piercing, cold rain. Every time we would go under a tunnel we tried to defrost, dreading the end of the tunnel where we were forced to get soaked. Here we are, the only three people on this entire boat without even just one umbrella, and definitely not wearing those dorky ponchos. The chuckles soon went from our mouths to our dry companions on the boat. I found it offensive that when I would squeeze out the water from my sweater, they would laugh, like I found what I was doing funny or something. Ringo spotted a woman on our boat who was in one of those ponchos, holding an umbrella. How ironic. She didn't even offer us a sleeve of her bag, or a corner of her umbrella. Dry, unkind woman! The tour itself was nice though, it would have been very nice though on a dry day. I like the city, but could barley look at it as I was trying to protect myself under my sweater that was definitely not helping to keep me dry. We soon realized that maybe our quick visit to the church, and leaving the service early, must have offended God, and this was his vengeance.

When we exited the boat, we ran for cover and made the decision that we desperately needed to find a cheap store to buy new clothes. So we ran through this village, dodging puddles and other people with umbrellas not paying attention, and we found a store that would fulfill our needs. Sandra and I went to the women section, and Ringo to the men. Two sweat pants and 3 shirts later we had dry clothes. As we proceeded to the bathroom to change, an alarm rang. Just as Ringo thought he could get away with theft, he was busted. Turned out the woman forgot to ring up his shirt, that he had already put on, in the middle of the store. So we stood in the customer service line to pay for his stolen shirt, still in our sopping wet clothes. We told the women about the boat tour and that we needed dry clothes so we were going to change in that bathroom, however they charged 30 cents to get in. The women was very nice and let us use the employee restroom to change, for free. After we changed we were walking out of the store and realized it would probably be wise to also purchase some umbrellas.

We were then able to walk through the city, as it was still pouring hurricane rain, in dry clothes, that would stay dry with our newly purchased umbrellas. Lunch and a souvenir shop later, we were ready to hit the road for home.

Even though the day was full of rain, and we all got completely drenched from head to toe, I really enjoyed our time in Den Bosch. It is a beautiful city and I would love to go back there, on a warm day, and be able to relax on the boat tour. But the experience today made for ironically, hysterical memories, that I know Ringo and Sandra will hold against me forever!

What's in a Dutch Wedding?

On Friday we prepared ourselves for a family wedding that was to start bright and early, and end in late hours of the night. Our morning started with meeting at the house where the bride and groom were getting ready. I had the honors of doing the brides makeup, a woman I had only met a few days prior.

After we got the bride dressed and ready the bridal party, and myself, all sat in the family room with the bride and groom waiting to go to city hall. Once it was time we all got in our cars and drove to city hall. When we arrived their was a crowd of people waiting around for the bride and groom to arrive. We walked up the stairs on a red carpet into the city hall building.

The family and the witnesses sat on a bench on the sides and the rest of the people sat in the middle behind a bench where the bride and groom sat. The man who married them stood behind a table and began to speak in Dutch. It was then when I realized, 'I am not going to have any idea as to what is going on.' And I really didn't.

The bride and the children in the wedding walked down the stairs and to to the front of the room where they then sat in the first row and the bride and groom sat on their own bench in the very front. Ringo then leaned over to me and said "Isabel lost the ring". Isabel is his daughter and was the one who had the rings on a pillow. I looked at the pillow and only saw one ring on it, and she had tears in her eyes. The people who worked at city hall then scrambled around lifting rugs and checking all the stairs for the missing ring. Ringo and Sandra then had an epiphany, maybe it was in Isabel's dress. The next thing I see is Sandra searching for the ring in Isabel's dress, and then, success! She found it and all the worry was over. I mean, you can't have a wedding without a little bit of drama.

After the bride and groom both said "Ya" the gavel was slammed down and a great applause began. We then walked out of city hall and were given bubbles to blow when the newly married couple came out. As we proceeded outside, the next wedding party was already gathering outside waiting to get married. Bubbles were blown and the couple got in their car and drove to get their pictures taken. Because they were the first couple scheduled to get married at the city hall, there was a huge gap between the ceremony and the reception after. Many of the people from the wedding took a tour around Haarlem to help pass the time. But rather, we just had some drinks and food at a restaurant. After a quick stop back home to freshen up and change shoes, we were off to the dinner and the party.

We arrived at the party location at 4:00pm and mingled with new people. However, it was a little more difficult for me to mingle, as everyone else was speaking Dutch. When the bride and groom arrived we welcomed them and had a glass of champagne. Everyone then sang "Long will They Live" to the tune of "Happy Birthday, with a little "hip hip hooray" in the middle. Again, all in Dutch, so I felt a little rude when I couldn't participate. Then everyone made a line to the couple to congratulate them and give them their presents. When it was your turn to congratulate them and give them their gift, they then opened it right away in front of you. The table behind them was full of all the opened gifts. We had dinner at 5:30pm and then cake and ice cream a little later. Then at 8:00pm the rest of the people who went to the wedding and a few other friends were allowed to join the party. It was then when the room became very crowded and the dancing began.

The party went all night and finally around midnight the couple was getting ready to leave. They got on the mic and said their thanks to their witnesses and the children who were in the wedding. They handed out their thank you gifts and then proceeded to leave the party. Having gotten up around the same time as the sun, we decided to call it a night as well.

I would say the biggest difficulty I had at the wedding was the language barrier. It was very interesting though, to see how a different culture has a wedding. The differences weren't extreme, but there are definitely differences. Traditions we find so important in American weddings, aren't even recognized in other cultures. Things like having the brides father walk her down the isle, or the bouquet and garter tosses. And then when I think about, I ask myself 'why the heck is it that we even do those things?' My father walking me down then isle I can understand, but these 'something old, something blue' and all the other "somethings" I don't even know, don't seem to make logical sense to me. And they must not to the Dutch either, that's why they just don't even do them. To me, all those traditional, superstitious American things we do in weddings just add more stress. But then I realize, I will probably still do them, even though I don't fully understand them. "Just for kicks" I guess, as my grandfather would say.

Here is a little clip from the end of the wedding:
The password is: Wedding

Dutch Wedding from Megan on Vimeo.

Relaxation in The Netherlands

Most of our time spent thus far in Holland has had the goal of being lazy and relaxing. When I arrived here from the ferry on Tuesday we spent the day sitting outside just chatting. As I still wasn't feeling 100% and had a fear of getting sick if I ate anything, I was happy just to be in beautiful weather with great company.

Ringo and Sandra's home, my family I am staying with here, is located right in the middle of a village that never sleeps. We sit out front of their house where there is a very narrow road that cars do actually drive down. Sometimes when we have the whole family sitting out there, our circle gets bigger and extends into the street, where we could get run over. It's quite entertaining, especially because it is often the kids who are sitting in the dangerous spot, and definitely not me! We sit outside until late hours of the night watching people walk by or ride by on their scooters. There is always something happening on this road, even after we go to bed.

The beginning of the week we spent a couple days at the beach. Only about a 5 minute walk from Ringo and Sandra's home it's very easy to take multiple trips to the beach in just one day. The weather has been great for going to the beach and it seemed as though all of Holland knew it. I have never see such a crowed beach before in my life. I was able to excitedly enjoy some Krokets on the beach. One of my favorite foods to eat while I'm here, I think I've managed to eat on average 2 per day. The best way to explain this amazing snack is a fried roll that has Ragout (flower, milk and herbs mixed) and beef in them. By far the best food I've ever eaten. My carnivore of a cousin, Ringo, always finds great meat to eat. One day after the beach we stopped at a restaurant where he ordered a very interesting looking meal. This was called Veil Sateh. This meat has a peanut butter sauce on it, that I am actually not too fond of, but it is very popular here.

Last night we had a BBQ with some neighbors. Ringo and the neighbor woke up early to do the shopping and came home with more meat than a butcher shop! We had burgers, chicken, spare ribs, some thickly cut bacon looking stuff, bread with garlic butter and a fantastic "salad" that Sandra made. I guess when she bought the head of lettuce it wasn't really lettuce. We tried to Google what the vegetable was that she bought in English, but I'm pretty sure that we don't have it in America. Either way, it was still very tasty. The burger meat that I ate was by far the best hamburger I've ever eaten in all my life, without a doubt. It seems as though the food I've eaten in Holland, and even England, is much better and has a lot more flavor than typical American food. American meat is so processed and sold in such large quantities it seems like the Dutch take more pride in their food. You haven't tried a real hamburger, until you've had the Dutch burger I had last night.


I guess this post turned more into a food post than anything else. But food and relaxation for me typically go hand in hand. In the coming days we will be taking a few trips to do some sightseeing. I have a feeling my last week here will be gone in the blink of an eye, so I am trying to soak up as much vacation as I possibly can. And in the mean time, more laziness, more relaxing, more Krokets please!

A Wonderful Ferry Ride to Holland

Monday, my last day in England, was spent packing and making sure all the souvenirs I bought from all over England were collected and also packed. We went to the store to pick up some last minute items, specifically Krispy Kream doughnuts for the family in Holland. After creatively packing the doughnuts it was time to head to Harwich to get on the ferry to Holland.

Once we arrived to the port I was very nervous as I've never been on a boat, let alone a huge ferry all by myself before. All I could see were industrial ships in the port, I kept thinking, 'What kind of boat am I going to be on!!!?!!' Once John walked around and got some information from the people inside, We knew I was in the right place. We walked in and it looked just like a terminal at any airport. We sat down at about 8:30pm, and they would start boarding people on the ship at 9pm. After 3 sad goodbyes, I was alone. Shortly after my favorite people left, it was time to get on the ship.

I walked through the big double doors and walked up to the check-in desk where they checked my passport and gave me my room key. I then proceeded to the ship. I had to walk through a tunnel, the same as getting on an airplane, to get on the ship. Here I am with my 2 huge suitcases, my backpack, and a huge purse, walking up the tinniest slope; I was struggling with all my might to get up it. However, I finally did and once I stepped foot on the ship, I knew I was on the road to success.

A man standing at the entrance pointed me in the direction of the elevator and told me to go up 1 floor. I pushed my huge bags in the tiny lift and went up. Once the doors opened, I had another struggling task of trying to turn my bags around to get out of this thing. I went to an information desk and asked them which way to my room. The woman told me it was the first on the left. First on the left!!!! FIRST!! Thank God!!! Just as I thought I would be able to find my room right away, I was wrong. Surprise, surprise! I must have walked up and down the entire ship before I found my room. Once I did stumble upon it, I stood in front of the door saying 'Wow, how did I ever find that? Is this really it?' It was.

I walked in to find 2 beds, a little couch, a vanity and the bathroom. I was under the impression the bathroom would only have a toilet and a sink, which I was okay with, I was just happy I had my own room. I threw my bags down and took a break from the huge workout I just did. I went into the bathroom, only to find a SHOWER! I was so excited, before I did anything else I took that much needed shower! I was even able to wash my hair. However, I did not have a converter that would fit in the outlet to blow dry my hair. So 2 hours later of letting it air dry, I was able to straighten it with my European flat iron I bought last year in Holland.




The ship took off at 11:55pm and we were on our way. Even though I was already sick from the day before, I did not get seasick. I fell asleep around midnight, and slept comfortably until the wake up call at 6:45am. An hour later we were able to disembark. After getting a little lost and having a few more elevator issues, I was off the ship and officially in Holland.

I stood in a short line for customs and could see Ringo and Sandra in the distance waiting for me. After the passport check I went to my family relieved to be done with traveling again. An hour later we arrived at the house ready to relax.

And relax is what we'll do. Holland I am here, at last!

With Saturday and Sunday comes Oxford and Warwick

When we woke up Saturday morning, after a very needed nights sleep, we made our way to Oxford. The drive there was about 30 minutes from our hotel and was much smoother and had a lot less traffic issues then the day before. We arrived at the Park and Ride that took us into the heart of Oxford. When we stepped off the bus we were struck with cold, strong rain. We quickly made our way to an indoor market. We walked through and out pretty quickly, a little unimpressed.

The main souvenir I wanted from here, like Cambridge, was an University of Oxford sweater. After walking all around in the rain we finally found a reasonably priced shop to buy shirts and sweaters. I almost went a little overboard with buying too many University of Oxford clothing items. I realized my obsession with this university is a little scary. However, I refrained and only bought a few items.

After our little shopping spree we hopped on a City Bus Tour bus and road around for about an hour. I do have to say, I felt very at home in this town. I can definitely see myself living in Oxford over Cambridge. As such, I would much rather go to University of Oxford than Cambridge, but that is just because of my own obsession with Oxford. The town is very quaint and peaceful. Filled with trees and beautiful, acient buildings. It just so happened that we were there on a day that many students were gratuating from one of the 38 colleges of the University of Oxford. We saw a few students walking around town with family taking pictures in their gowns, which made me very excited. I'm sure the students thought I was nuts as I excitedly yelled and pointed at them. But for me, it was something I may never see again, unless that is, one day I would be lucky enough to wear one myself.

Once we got off the bus tour there was a huge downpour of rain, so we ran for cover into Starbucks and sat to have a cup of coffee. After which we decided to call it a day and make our way to stay at our second hotel about another 30 minutes away.

The next day, on Sunday, we woke early to head on over to Warwick to see the Warwick Castle. After driving around for 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot in the very crowed car park, we stumbled upon an open spot and squeezed our way into it. We walked over to the castle and paid our 20 Pounds to get in.

We first went through the Victorian Rose Garden which was very pretty and relaxing. However, I expected there to be more flowers, as it was a "rose garden" but maybe it's just not their season. After the quick walk through the garden we made our way to the castle. We went though one section of the castle and were able to see many of the rooms and how they were set up when the castle was in use. Fully equipped with wax manikins it felt like we were actually there in the 17th century, minus all the gawking, slow walking tourists that is.


After the tour inside we made our way outside and walked up a hill that at the top had the oldest part of the castle, build in 1068. It gave us a beautiful view high up above the castle and over the surrounding river and farm land.

After that gentle hike, we noticed on the other side of the castle court yard there were some towers that you could go to the top of. What originally seemed like a good idea, soon lost its fun appeal. We read a sign before we began that stated there were 530 steep steps and that it was only a one-way path. Basically, if you can't handle it, don't do it because there's no turning back. Well here we are, one 7 month pregnant woman, a 2 year old little girl, and me, the most out of shape cow walking the planet, we said "yeah! Let's do it!" This was by far the worst decision made the whole weekend. Rachelle carried her prego belly and I carried her 2 year old daughter, up and down 530 of the steepest, spiralliest, most vertical set of stairs built by man. First up, then come back down, then walk across, then go back up another tower that looks exactly the same as the other one, then come back down, then run into 500 other out of shape morons who made the same idiot mistake you did. Don't forget, you can't turn back! Then back up to some other watch tower then come back down thinking you're done and going all the way down, but all hope for that is lost when you find more steps going back up. What person in his right mind would build something like this? I don't think a dungeon in this castle is even necessary, making a person do this hike is torture in and of itself! Finally, we completed the maze and quickly decided it was time for food and drink.

We ordered baked potatoes with baked beans and cheese, a typical British meal and sat in the court yard park to eat it. In the center there was a cheesy show being put on for the kids. In my opinion, it really took away from the beauty and historical aspect of the castle. I mean think about it, here we are sitting in the court yard of this gorgeous, historical castle and there are people prancing around in tights and plastic swords like they do at the Renaissance Festival. But hey, if it will keep your kid entertained, I guess I'm okay with it.

We ended the day in a garden that about 50 peacocks have invaded. One peacock had all his feathers completely out for everyone to see. Every now and then he would shake them and make this weird hissing sound. Maybe it was a mating call, maybe it was a threating 'leave me the 'F' alone call'. I took it as the latter, and quickly made my way elsewhere. The peacock garden was beautiful and fairly relaxing, especially after the huge hike we just completed.

After this we headed back to the car and made our way back to home sweet home. However, when we arrived I suddenly felt very ill and realized I only took 2 tiny sips of H2O for the day, which wasn't wise considering all the stairs that beat me. I ended up getting very sick Sunday night and all day Monday, spending most of my time next to the toilet. It isn't until now, on Wednesday, that I am actually able to eat real food without getting sick. If you ever make your way to Warwick Castle, please whatever you do, do not choose to hike the 530 steep stairs, no matter how fun it may seem.

All in all, my time in England was absolutely fantastic, even though I did get sick, it was all worth it to me. I will miss it there tremendously, and the wonderful family that let me invade their home for a week and a half. England is a beautiful, green, farm country. Hidden in all the green are the most amazing ancient towns that most people have only dreamt about. As for myself, I was lucky enough to have been thrust into its beauty, and will never forget any of it.

But now, it's onto The Netherlands!

A Crazy Start to the Weekend

I am now finally able to sit down and catch you all up on the weekend we had. It started Friday morning hitting the road for Stonehenge and then city of Bath. We were told to not make Stonehenge a trip in itself, but to stop there on the way to somewhere else. I mean really, all it is is a bunch a standing up rocks. How long would you need there?

Our plan was to leave the house around 9am to make it to Stonehenge around 11. We thought we would only be there for 30 to 45 minutes so we could make it to Bath around 1pm. It was all planned out very well, however, you shouldn't be surprised when I say, it didn't really work out that way, at all.

We ran into a ridiculous amount of traffic only 2 miles from Stonehenge. People walking on the side of the road were moving faster than us in the car. It took us at LEAST 45 minutes to make it through the 2 miles of traffic to get into Stonehenge. Once we arrived we were bombarded by thousands of tourists scrambling around trying to take pictures and get as close to these rocks as possible. We were given little portable headsets to listen to information about Stonehenge. I do have to admit, I learned nothing. Between the craziness of the billions of people everywhere and trying to navigate our way through them, it was nearly impossible to comprehend the nonsense being played.

In the end, we only did actually spend about 45 minutes there, but because of all the traffic that we ran into, we were unable to leave there until 2:45pm, an hour and 45 minutes after we wanted to be at Bath. We made a left turn out of Stonehenge happy and excited to be going the opposite direction of all the traffic. Our excitement was shot down instantly when our Navitron forced us to go around the next round-about putting us right back in the traffic we so desperately wanted to avoid. Stuck in the same line of cars that took us 45 minutes to go 2 miles, but this time, we were needing to go this direction for about 45 miles. It was looking in the up-in-up for us to make it to Bath before everything closed.

We finally got through the majority of the traffic and were on the road to speedy success to Bath. When we finally got to the city we realized we were about to enter one of the most beautiful cities around. It appeared to resemble a Roman or Greek city all built on a huge cliff on a mountain side. Our Natitron was set to bring us to a Park and Ride so we could take it into the city and then take a city bus tour. Once again, just as we think things our going our way, we hit more traffic. Wanting to turn right at one of the only traffic lights in all of England, it seemed as though the British folks were utterly confused, and didn't know when to go. We were at a complete stand still. After about 10 minutes of only managing to move 2 car lengths, Rachelle made the intelligent decision to go around the traffic and turn left rather than right. The Navitron rerouted us and managed to put us back on the right path.

I am unsure how exactly the next slue of events happened, but I sure wont forget how it ended. Somehow we ended up making a turn that forced us to go on a road that went vertically straight up. We couldn't make a u-turn as the roads were as wide as me with both my arms stretched out. In the mean time, Rachelle's 2 year old daughter is screaming in the back seat because she desperately needed a diaper change. Having told her for the past hour "We're almost there Haylee, just wait" we realized, that an hour sitting in a poopie diaper, might just be a little too long. Being forced up multiple frighteningly, narrow roads we finally ended up at an area large enough to pull over to change the girl, but more importantly, take a breather.

One successful diaper change later, we realized we were at the top of the city, meaning the top of this mountain. With luck in sight, a women was walking down the road and Rachelle again, made the intelligent decision to ask for directions. It just so happened that the Park and Ride was a mile down the road we were already heading. On the down side, this road was again, more narrow than one single car, mind you, it is in fact a 2-way street. The bushes were taller than most trees, so it was impossible to see around the corners for oncoming cars.

All worked out in our favor and we made it to the Park and Ride. By this time it was probably after 6pm (remember we wanted to be there by 1pm). We took the bus down into the city, I have no idea how he could drive this huge bus in this narrow town, but we all survived. We then got a quick bite to eat, after nearly dropping a meal in the shop, we made it to the bus stop for the City Bus Tour. Relaxation, finally.

A couple hours later we were back on our way to our first hotel stay. The Holiday Inn Express. Sleep, what a wonderful thing.

In the end, Bath is an incredibly, beautiful city and even though we got there terribly late, it was well worth going there. Here are some pictures of the city for you to enjoy.