Bletchley Park Birthday Trip

May 7th is the hubby's birthday and I had something special planned for weeks and was having trouble containing myself and avoiding spilling the beans.  The weekend before his Birthday happened to fall over a bank holiday so we both had the time off so we didn't have to ask off from school.  Trevor had been talking about Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes being the one place he wanted to see before we left the UK, and with both of our busy schedules, we were not sure it would happen. 

I figured what better gift for his birthday is there then a trip to Bletchley Park (computer nerd heaven).  So, I organized a dog sitter, and then a schedule of places to see, and then how I was going to announce it when they day came.

May 4th- Bright and early in the morning I wake the husband up and hand him a gift and  insist he open it early.  After a bit of nudging he eventually opened it to see "Alan Turing Monopoly" which features figurines from Bletchley Park (Alan Turing is considered the father of computing).  Then I said, "that is where we are going for the weekend, so pack your things", I gave him about an hour to pack all of his things and then we handed off the dog to our wonderful friend, and we headed to the train station. 

A few hours on the train and we first arrived at Bletchley Park (we only brought a backpack to minimize carrying tons of things-after all it was only a weekend away).  We walked just a short distance from the train station and there was Bletchley Park.  I loved seeing the smile on Trevor's face as he said "I have only ever since this in pictures".  We weaved in and out of every building in the museum scrutinizing every gadget and memorial.  Seeing how happy he was really made all the planning and waiting worth it. 

It turned out to be a beautiful day, aside from a little bit of rain.  I really enjoyed the gardens full of Trees from all over the world.  Of course, Trevor would tell you an entirely different story, probably saying something about how cool the Enigma machine was, and how he loved seeing Alan Turing's office.  When the afternoon rolled around Trevor and I ate at the on site cafe, and then quickly scurried to our feet to view more.  We were then very lucky to have actually met a WREN.

In the Tree Garden.

"PETARD Bombe - a small version of the Bombe, Alan Turing's code breaking machine." -Trevor

"Colossus - The World's First Programmable Computer (of course, this is just a replica -- the original was destroyed after the war). Designed by Tommy Flowers, it was used to crack telegraphic messages by German High Command." -Trevor

The Replica Bombe.

"This woman we happened to bump into was a member of the Women's Royal Naval Service (wrens) during the war and worked at Bletchley Park helping to crack Nazi codes -- although they had no idea exactly what it was that they were working on. Without these heroines, World War II would have probably lasted two more years -- they saved countless lives.
She just celebrated her 95th birthday as I begin to celebrate my 25th." -Trevor

 Once we finished at Bletchley Park we had a taxi take us to our hotel, which was very nicely located in the heart of Milton Keynes, and we were surrounded by lots of shopping and great places to eat.  But, this was Trevor's birthday trip so we did everything at his pace.  So, we napped, and then had a late night dinner at a fancy seafood restaurant and then took a walk.

May 5th- I had one more surprise planned for Trevor, and the only trouble was going to be finding it.  I slipped out of the room in the morning while Trevor was asleep to ask the hotel staff how to get to excape on foot.  So, once Trevor felt up to being awake I took him on a walk and would not tell him where we were going, but of course he guessed almost the entire way, but still couldn't figure it out.  How could he have though, when we arrived to excape, he found he would be spending a couple of hours indoor skiing!  Yes, you read that right, INDOOR skiing.  Trevor loves cold, and Trevor loves skiing, so it was the perfect thing for him.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at Costa and then we were ready to enjoy some skiing.  It was a weird experience, the snow certainly was not quite is good, and it was only so steep, but it was still very cool. 

So, now we had the entire day left at our disposal as we had done everything I planned.  So, Trevor said, lets go shopping.  We went to all these huge malls, and some street markets and found a couple of fun things.  And...the most exciting thing for me is we had dinner at an American Restaurant TGIFridays!  Mmmm...Chicken wings in ranch!  We were pretty significantly tired after this so we went back to the hotel and slept, and it was glorious.

May 6th- We stayed at the hotel just before check out as to get plenty of sleep and had a Taxi drive us to Maplins so Trevor could spend the final moments of his Birthday weekend looking at electronics!  He was very happy.  Then on our walk back to the train station we saw a B & M store (basically an outlet store), and stopped and grabbed Nova his favorite treats...because, well, we really missed him!  We grabbed the next train home, then gave our friend a call to return our dog, and we waited at the front door for him excitedly!  We gave him lots of cuddles and then slept for the rest of the night.  

Now, the next problem is how I am going to top this Birthday next year?