The Real Winner
by mathe | Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 2:29 pm | Life as I See it |
I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I am back with a vengeance. Well, I was not lying. But it’s all so sunny here in England and it’s that time of the year when families go out for quality time and make the most of the sun. After that picnic gone different that we had last Monday, our family went to Alton Towers, a fantastic “playground” in Staffordshire (in the Midlands) where one can find some of the most intense riding experiences in the world: Oblivion, Air, Nemesis and Rita Queen of Speed. We were there for two days last week and boy, did we enjoy! That explains why I missed a few days of posting again.
the boys with the Gothic towers behind them (how’s that for a residence?)
Alton Towers actually refers to the ruins of an 18th century Gothic castle set in a magnificent estate surrounded by lush countryside and which boasts one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen (not that I have seen a lot of magnificent gardens). It used to be the residence of the Earls of Shrewsbury. A big entertainment and amusement company converted the estate into a world-class amusement park with exciting, thrilling, scary, insane rides and family facilities.
I must say, though, that I enjoyed the quiet, tranquil grounds of its gardens more than the amusement part of the park crowded with sweaty, excited and shrieking riders and thrill-seekers. It is in the gardens that I got to experience the real character and sense of history of the place. The gardens were restored to reflect its former glory. It was an awesome experience.
me with my boys in the gardenswith the Skyride gondolas atop the tall trees in the background
the look-alikes in a spot where we enjoyed stunning panoramic views of the gardensI must be the most boring person that ever visited Alton Towers. I never went on a ride more intense than a five-year old can handle. As I’ve said, I appreciated the gardens more. It’s a good thing that we got our 1st day tickets for free from our Tesco vouchers (we always use Tesco vouchers, which we have a lot of) for most if not all of our days out. Then for our second day, we availed of their family promo package for two consecutive day-visitors. It was a good deal we got for which I am thankful because I did not actually make the most of the rides (nevertheless, I had fun!).
this was a sedate boat ride in the MacDonald farm part of Alton Towers – for toddlers and grade schoolers, hehehe!
The hubby and the older boy are more of thrill-seekers than I am so they went for almost all the big guys’ rides except three of the most dreadful and intense ones – Oblivion, Rita Queen of Speed and Air. I was actually praying that they would not have the guts to try any of these but they went for one that’s almost as scary, the Nemesis. At least they survived, except for a few hours of being dizzy. I mean, it was pretty intense. Nevertheless, it is a very popular ride. They were in the queue for almost an hour and were in the Nemesis ride for not more than five minutes. Not that anyone would last longer than five minutes in that kind of intense speed being whizzed to and turned towards all directions and in every position imaginable. I feared for them so much that I left them and went on the Skyride with Elijah to another part of the park.
Aside from that, worry was farthest from my mind as we explored the whole park. Elijah had a blast – from the Runaway Mine Train Ride (which was so scary for me already) to merely playing in the trampoline. While I was screaming my lungs out during the Mine Train Ride, he was saying: “I am so loving this, yes!” That’s when I realized that my baby is totally gone and in his place is a boy who is not scared of a train ride that’s driving his mom insane already! His trampoline time was extended from five minutes to 15 minutes because the minder forgot all about him. When we could not wait for him to be done with it anymore, we approached the minder and that was when she realized Elijah had been there longer than he should. Bonus.
trampoline boy
Jonathan and the hubby also had fun – they were just like any two little boys who were given a chance to run loose in a kiddie-heaven kind of place.
in the queue for the Rapids Ride
in the Heave-ho ride (this boat was made to move like a mad bull in a Rodeo)
But the real winner was me. I did not cook and do any washing for two days, hehehe!
More of this experience in my next post. See you!
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Tags: Life as I See it
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Ang ganda mo , Mare ah…you look just like their sister. Masarap kasama ang pamilya sa pagpasyal, ano? All the best.
Salamat, kumare!