England Trip - Day 2

Today started with sleeping in till 1PM.  B-E-A-Utiful.  13 hours of sleep.  Glorious.  I think it's been at least 3 years since we slept so late.  So nice.



We started the day a little behind. 



We were going to see Cambridge today, but since we were running short on time--we cut Cambridge out and spent the whole day hanging out at the base and the house. 



There was lots of cool stuff to see at the base, but I was hesitant to photograph it (and certainly to post it), so I didn't take many pictures there.  But the planes and jets are cool!  And the people Carrie works with are very nice.
 

Oliver has been a trooper.  This was him before his lunch.



And right after.



We went home and hung out for a bit. 



Lots of time for conversation, which was nice.

 

Then we went to The Bushel for dinner. 



It's a very nice pub in Bury with "foodie" type dishes and a nice selection of ales, lagars, and ciders.  I got a kiwi cider that tasted like a wine cooler.




And an awesome burger.  So good.

 

Then we went to Tesco -- sort of like a Tom Thumb, but with some clothes and household stuff, too.

 

I was amazed by how much cooler their food is, just in the regular grocery store! 



What I mean is--lots of the pre-prepared foods had a variety of ingredients and herbs.





Much more so than in the states.
 

This. is. the reason I wanted to go to Tesco.  Flake bars.  I LOVE them.  They are the most delicious chocolate I've had.  I love them.  I stocked up.
 


I could have spent several hours at Tesco.  I think seeing what's at the grocery store in another country is so interesting!

 

Lays, as in Lays potato chips is called Walkers in the UK. 



They have such interesting flavors!  I got a bag of the "smokey bacon" to try.  They call them crisps here (since fries are "chips"). 


These were the American foods selected to stock the "International Foods" aisle.  So interesting to see what represents us here in England!  I was amazed to learn that England has banned artificial colors (anything petroleum-based) from their foods!  So the American version of Fruit Loops that you buy on base contains numerous artificial colors (like Red dye #5, etc.), but the Fruit Loops available at Tesco don't contain any of those!  Now I am super irritated that the US hasn't banned these from our foods!  Why are we still eating this stuff??  Clearly the companies are capable of manufacturing their products without it and are already doing so for the UK!



We thought this fundraising sign was funny and ironic. 



And that was day 2!  Tomorrow is Dublin!