The Ponczoch Family!

We had a FABULOUS with

Kim, Dave and the kids here.

So nice to share some of our love for London with them.

 

Because Kim did such a GREAT job doing a daily Facebook post, I'm just using much of her stuff for my record.  Thanks Kim!  (Sorry if you're bored because you've seen most of it.)

 

Day one: Big Ben, double decker bus, Trafalgar Square, ice cream, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park, Westminster Abbey & fish & chips. #lovelondon #lovefamily #lovesleep

 

 

 

 Day 2:  Afternoon tea and front row seats to see Wicked, where Elphaba said hello and waved to the girls during curtain call. #lovelondon #lovewicked #love scones #couldgetusedtothis #thanksdadforwatchingzack

Day 3:  Went to Warwick Castle and watched jousting, met princesses and climbed lots of towers.  Also saw Shakespeare's home.  #lovingengland #lovecastles #could get used to this

 

                        

 

 

Day 4: Sneaking off to Hogwarts, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, National Gallery, English Monopoly, and scones with clotted cream and lemon curd. #loveengland #zackdoesntfeelreadytoleavemefortheschoolyear #englishladythoughtiwasfromireland #couldgetusedtothis #mydadowesmecandy.

 

Day 5: Day of rest... Church, puzzles, play dough, Cluedo (English version of Clue), Sunday dinner. #loveengland#lovefamily #zackneedshisownbedroom#couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 6:  Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Princess Diana Memorial Playground, and Dave finally joined us#loveengland #lovefamily #loveroyalclothing#tookthebuswithoutmyparents #imgrowingup #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

Day 7: Changing of the guards (kind of...  Tried not to get trampled by the rest of the tourists), Royal Mews, Churchill War Rooms, St James Park, Big Ben, breakdancers, fish & chips, tradional British breakfast.  #loveengland #lovefamily #hatecrowds #lovehavingdavehere #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 8:  Boat tour on the canal, afternoon with Dave (Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Supreme Court and Speakers Corner in Hyde Park) while my mom and the kids prepared a proper afternoon tea for us.  #loveengland #lovefamily #homemadesconesarethebest #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 9:  Windsor Castle by train and souvenir shopping #bestcastleyet #loveengland #lovefamily #daughterslovetoshop #husbandanddaddont #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 10:  Royal Albert Hall and train to Hampton Court Palace. #loveengland #lovefamily #neededawholedayatthepalace #historybookscomingtolife #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

 

Day 11:  St Paul's Cathedral, Tower ofLondon, Tower Bridge, boat ride on the Thames River, and LOTS of London rain. #loveengland #mayhavesetarecordformoststairsclimbedinaday #windbroketwoumbrellas #gladimnotafraidofheights #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

 



Day 12:  Early church, bus to the South of England, crossed the English Channel via ferry.  Viva France!  #goodbyeengland #myfrenchisveryrusty #idbebetteroffinspain #goodthingmydadspeaksfrench #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 13:  Drove to Paris, walked down the Champs-Elysees, saw Arc de Triomphe, ate escargot, duck liver and pain au chocolat, and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  #lovefamily #jinniesnewfavoritefoodisescargot #eiffeltowerisbestatnight ##lasttimeiwashereiwas15 #couldgetusedtothis

 

 

 

 

Day 14:  Notre Dame, Conciergerie, lots of yummy pastries for lunch (eclairs, mille-feuilles, pistachio almond raspberry macroon, croque-monsieurs, & quiche), the Louvre, boat tour on the Sein, and dad was pic pocked on the metro.  #lovefamily #lovefrenchfood #everyoneissafe #dontmesswithmydad #theguyisinjail #davedoesjustfinewithhislimitedfrench #ispoketotheconductorinspanish #couldgetusedtomostofthis

 

 

 

 

 

Day 15:  Drove to Normandy, visited Utah Beach, Pont du Hoc, and the American Cemetery; ate crepes, croque madame, snails, frog legs & stinky cheese. Slept in a chateau that was occupied by Germans during WWII.  #betterthanparis #historycomingtolife #loveourmilitary #nowifiatthechateau #couldgetusedtothis #cantbelievethisisendingsosoon

 

 



Yup, frog legs at Chateau Baffy
 





Day 16:  Left the Chateau at 5:30 am.  Rental car, taxi, bus, ferry, bus and tube.  Walked into mom & Dads flat at 7:30 pm.  #worstdayofthevacation #buswastwohourslate #iwantachateau #lovelondon #cantbelievethisisendingsosoon

 



 

 

 

Day 17:  Making of Harry Potter Studio, shopping, Jinnie played Bells of Great Britain on a piano in the middle of a train station, last afternoon tea, Harry Potter board game, Picadilly Circus with Dave, and ate treacle tart, sausage & mash and drank elderberry juice.  #lovelondon #lovefamily #needtofindabutterbeerrecipe #couldgetused tothis #cantbelievethisisendingsosoon

 

Practicing spells.
 

Butter beer is delish!

 

 

 Day 18: Packed, pictures at Abbey Road, shopped, kids returned library books & played in the gardens, played dthe London version of Monopoly, and said goodbye. #wenttoofast #lovelondon #lovefamily #missmyparentsalready #heathrowhasthebestkidsareaever #toomuchturbulance #letthejetlagbegin

 

You can see we did a TON and this is just a condensed version. Twas so much fun!

 

I must explain Day 14 a little.

 

As we were hopping on the metro, it appeared a man was sort of helping Rick with the stroller but he was really helping himself with the contents of Rick's pockets. He passed the wallet (which was in his front pocket) off to another man who hopped off the train as the doors were closing. When he took Rick's phone from his little change pocket, Rick felt it and confronted him. Soon we had him emptying his bag onto the floor looking for the wallet too. A woman standing back further said she'd seen him pass it off. Rick grabbed him as the door opened, but he broke away and took off running....never dreaming a gray-haired man could run so fast. A man from our train tripped him up a bit on the stairs and Rick was able to grab him again. Three gendarmes were waiting at the top of the stairs for them. Several people who saw the whole thing stopped and gave statements. The thief, Rick and 4 policemen had the ride of their lives getting to the police station as if it were an emergency. Glad they're still alive. We're told the thief would be before the judge in the morning and straight to jail. Apparently he'd given a false name too and must have had a record cuz they figured it out.

 

A week later a letter was sent to our home address saying the wallet was found. Rick will be back in Paris in a few weeks and will pick it up then.

 

Blah. I used to love Paris.