Pink Cat Studio Digi and Rubber Stamp Release and European Trip - Windsor Castle and Stonehenge

Hello Friends!! Well, I'm not 100% well yet but I'm getting there. I have no crafty creations to post today. I haven't had the time to buckle down and actually work on any cards or projects since returning from my trip. I, actually, stepped in to my craft room for the first time yesterday. Unfortunately, I have a lot of catching up to do. I still need to finish up the laundry. . .3 weeks worth of it. Ugggh! Luckily, I was really smart. . .before we left for our trip, I cleaned the house spotless knowing I wouldn't be in the mood to clean when I returned. I highly recommend cleaning your house thoroughly before you go on a trip. . .it feels wonderful when you come home to a clean house.

Okay. . .enough of my introductory rambling. . .guess what today is? Well it's the release of Pink Cat Studio's digi and rubber stamp release. As I stated yesterday, three of the images will be available in both digi and rubber: "the Pixies make a cupcake, Lily Valentine Ballerina, and Lily Valentine Fairy". Aren't the images adorable? Be sure to stop by the Pink Cat Studio blog . . .there's a fun contest going on. Be sure to play along and you can win all 5 of the digi images released today. Also, stop by the blog to check out the beautiful cards and projects the design team created!

European Trip - England Windsor Castle and Stonehenge

On our third day in England, we took a bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and the city of Bath. I'll post photos of Bath tomorrow; otherwise, this post will be too long. I don't want to bore you. The drive to Windsor Castle from London was about an hour drive and from Windsor Castle, it took about 2 hours to drive to Stonehenge. London to Bath is about a 4 hour drive (2 hours from Stonehenge).

No, the picture above is not Windsor Castle. LOL! I'm posting it because I found the town of Windsor very interesting. Why? Well, considering there's a humongous castle sitting right in the middle of the town you would think that the homes in the area would consist of luxurious homes. Well, not so. Basically, the homes surrounding the Windsor Castle. . .in close proximity, I might add, are how should I say it. . .quite ordinary. Most of the homes consisted of duplex type home. Here in the US, you would call them "townhomes". I guess the Royals don't want competition! LOL!

Actually, the first thing that crossed my mind as we were driving through the town was. . .the Kings and Queens live in the big castle while the peasants live around them in their humble huts. Just kidding.

I took so many photos of the castle, I just randomly chose this one. Nothing significant about this particular picture. The castle's exterior well, looks just like a castle. Apparently Windsor Castle is the largest regularly occupied castle in the world.

Windsor Castle is one of the residences of the Queen and she actually spends her weekends here. Visitors don't have access to the resident apartments, just the museum part of the castle. We weren't able to take photos inside of the castle so I can't show you the pretty art works and beautiful interior of the castle. It looks rather cold on the outside but it's amazing how beautiful the inside is. Here is a link of photos of the interior of the castle: Click Here

Unfortunately, on the day that we visited, St. George Chapel was closed. Bummers!! St. George Chapel is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The Queen Mother (who passed away in 2002 at 101 years old) is buried there as well as a host of other Kings and Queens of the past. It's also the chosen burial site of Queen Elizabeth when she passes away. It would have been nice to be able to visit the inside of the chapel. Oh well. . .I guess we chose the wrong day to visit the castle.

Another photo of one of the wings of the castle. The castle is quite large. If you're interested in viewing more of the castle: Click Here

This photo is the entrance way as you head to the castle's main towers and wards.


What I found really interesting about Windsor Castle other than the grandeur of the interior was right adjacent to the castle was a huge shopping mall. LOL! I'm not kidding. It was right at the foot of the entrance of the castle. I wonder if Queen Elizabeth or Prince William go shopping there. Just a thought.

Here we are at Stonehenge. My husband is a big fan of National Geographic and the History channel so Stonehenge was a "must visit" for him. If you are not familiar with Stonehenge, here is a background about it: Click Here

Stonehenge is located right in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing surrounding it. Stonehenge is in the middle of a field and adjacent to a road. Nearby there were a herd of sheeps. When you visit it, you basically walk around it. You can't go near it. In the distant past, visitors would chip off parts of the rocks to keep as souvenirs so now there is a barrier around it.

If I were to ever visit Europe again, I definitely would love to travel through the United Kingdom. What I love about England. . .or London specifically, is that of all the countries I visited in Europe, I felt most at home in England. Everyone spoke perfect English, the food/restaurants were similar to the US, and there were a lot of Asians. LOL! I'm serious. . .there were a lot of Asians in London and many, many Asian restaurants. My daughter thought that she was going to have a problem with the food in Europe until she realized there are as many Asian restaurants in London as there are in the US. You can pretty much guess what restaurants we ate at. The first night, at a Thai Restaurant, the next night, at a Japanese restaurant, for lunch, at a sushi bar, etc., etc. I would have preferred to eat elsewhere but well we had to eat in restaurants where my daughter will eat the food. It's a bit annoying but oh, well.

This photo was Photoshop'd by the way. The sky wasn't "that" blue. LOL! We took this tour through a tour company called Trafalgar. I'll discuss Trafalgar in future posts for those interested in doing a tour through Europe. I do recommend the Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Bath tour. Although the drive in between are uneventful, you really get a feel of what England is about outside of London. A lot of tourist tend to stick to London because there are a lot of things to see and do there but there's more to England than London.

Anyway, that's it for today. I'll post more photos tomorrow. Hope you all have a beautiful day!