Welcome to your castle... 022206

It seems that the excitement is never ending on this trip. Last night, I got to the airport fine. No issues with immigration or customs… Boarded my plane on time, pushed and shoved in the unorganized manner that is boarding on Cyprus airways. I was seated next to some Brits who had fried themselves crispy on the isle. They were not at all interested in talking to me… Whatever. I took a nap. Woke up for them to tell me we were to land. We circle Heathrow for over an hour in a holding pattern.

The landing was horrendous! As we are approaching the ground, we are swaying hard. It was so bad that I, the veteran flyer, am getting a bit motion sick. The poor kid a row over and up loses his lunch. I'm wondering does the free alcohol on Cyprus Airways extends to the pilots as well. We hit the ground and the fan jet reversers kick in and stop the swaying. I'd like to take a moment to thank my dad for engineering quality fan jet reversers. I swear they were the only thing that kept the wings from smashing into the ground. You know it is a bad landing as when we finally stop, people start kissing one another.

So, once again through immigration… I love being the only one on the flight from another land. I breeze through the non-EU line. There are three lines open there. The EU side has about a 40 minute wait. Haha! Once again, I cheat the bureaucracy that is immigration. I change some money. I changed 3 different currencies (SEK, RUR, CYP) into GBP. I arrive at luggage just in time to retrieve my bag. This trip is going great. No waiting, everything in line. I speed through customs and for once my car is waiting! Woohoo! What a day! I'd like to say that I'm just getting better at this, but the truth is that I'm just lucky right now. Too bad there is no Powerball over here! ;-)

So, the UK is chilly and a bit rainy right now. Big surprise! It is lovely and green though. This time I'm staying in Ascot. It is right next to Windsor (yes, as in the castle), and is known for its big horse races in the summer (of which the track is owned by the royals). We are speeding along the English countryside and even at night, it is magnificent. We arrive at my "hotel." I am staying at The Berystede, which is a huge old country manor. It is lovely. It was built in the 1800s.

So, I settle in and am marveling a bit at this hotel. It is exactly what an English country castle should be. So, I get to my room and am reading the hotel information. Apparently, in addition to its charm, this hotel is haunted!!! Yes, as in ghosts. Here is the excerpt from the history:

"Local newspaper reports give a graphic account of the conflagration including the death of a Ms Eliza Kleininger. Eliza was lady maid to Mrs Standish and as befitting the role of a faithful advisor and confidante would often be bestowed gifts of jewels not only from her mistress but also from visiting unattended ladies staying as house guests. Eliza kept these precious gifts in a box in her room - her retirement insurance. Small wonder then that she was tempted to rush back into the burning Berystede to retrieve it. The following day her charred bones were found at the foot of the servants staircase surrounded by the trinkets that she had so nearly saved. Today her spirit is still wanders the north side of the house forever searching for her precious jewels...." They call her the blue lady.

So, not just any ghost but a ghost named ELIZA looking for jewels… hahahah what an odd life I live. For those of you not getting the connection… my mothers middle name is Eliza. When Claron and I have a baby (one day far from now), if it is a girl, we plan on naming her Eliza. As for the jewels, Claron is always teasing me that I have more jewelry than the royals… I guess it is a good thing that I didn't bring a lot… Eliza might have come after me.

You know, I couldn't make this stuff up! Anyway, I had a lovely drive to work this morning. I am trying to decide my plans for the weekend. I have been throwing around the idea of going to Paris, but I don't think it will be enough time for me. I really want to go to the Louvre, but think that I will need at least a week there. I'd also LOVE to see Versailles. The other option is to go to Windsor Castle on Saturday and trawl around this area. There is also a murder mystery weekend at the Berystede this weekend. We'll see.
So, I'll definitely put pics of the Berystede and Eliza on the blog. The website is: http://amandastravel.blogspot.com/
I'd better get to work!
Cheerio!
Amanda