UK Trip #27: Windsor Arrival / Drive Me Crazy!

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Back to our UK Trip today! When we last left you, we had taken the commuter train to Windsor. Windsor is where we stayed for the remainder of our stay in the United Kingdom and used it as a base to travel to other attractions.
   When we got to the Windsor train station, I (Rob) immediately recognized it from the year before and knew the route to walk directly to our bed and breakfast (the same one we stayed at last year!).
        Our friend Anne Marie Clarke at Across the Pond Vacations  (http://www.atpvacations.com/) found Langdon House for us last year and booked us for it this  year. We highly recommend it! 

our room!

    LANGDON HOUSE B&B - We love staying with Paul and Sonja, who manage the bed and breakfast (and whom we befriended after last year's stay). We got to see Paul for a short time because he was going to France to learn how to jump from a plane! Sonja took care of us and was so wonderful and fun! The breakfasts were wonderful, we slept soundly, love the neighborhood. For anyone going to London- Stay in Windsor, just west of London. It's a great transport spot.

   Langton House Bed and Breakfast is in central Windsor, in a quiet leafy street and a short 5 minutes walk from the town center shops & Windsor Castle, the World's largest inhabited castle. (More info: http://www.langtonhouse.co.uk/) They're just  45 miles from Highclere Castle - the setting for the fabulous Downton Abbey.

Looks like roads the GPS always took us on!

   FISH AND CHIPS - One of my simple pleasures during the trip was ordering Fish and Chips, made with Atlantic Cod, my favorite seafood. In fact, I had it almost every day either for lunch or dinner!
   DRIVE ME CRAZY ! - On Saturday, June 22nd, we took a cab from the B&B to Hertz where we rented a car. We made sure we had purchased a GPS unit. We learned (again this year) that the GPS unit works well in the city, but doesn't work well in the country!
    We headed out of the city of Slough (where we rented the car, got on the highway and were good to go for about an hour. We were trying to find Hever Castle. The signs on the highway said to go one way, but the GPS told us to go another. So, we opted to follow the GPS. BIG MISTAKE.

Love those roundabouts... not!

    We went from the highway to a 4 lane road, to a 2 lane road, and around a lot of roundabouts (they're everywhere!). We saw a sign for Hever Castle and were relieved. That's when the GPS told us to "turn right" but I didn't see a sign for the castle. We followed, trusting the GPS. For an hour the GPS took us on winding, twisting roads, It was mid-morning and the castle opened at 10am. The road became more narrow, and it could only accommodate 1 1/2 cars!  I knew we were in trouble. My hands gripped the wheel so tightly, they ached.  
   WHEN DID I KNOW WE WERE IN TROUBLE? - as we drove through the winding roads with vegetation as high as 6 feet on either side of the road, we came to a sign in the middle of land-locked England that said "Fish Farm."
We finally got on a "real road" and I found a place to ask directions. Yes, we had to turn around. Needless to say we were BOTH Stressed!!!  Fortunately, we both dismissed the stress when we got to our destination. It was like being on the Amazing Race.

NEXT: FINALLY ARRIVING AT HEVER CASTLE!