Saturday, November 26, 2011

Duggar World Tour, Part 2

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I thought that the strangest thing about this episode was the fact that the title assumes that the Duggars will meet the Royal Family or be treated like royals in some other way. Nope, not really. They just happen to go to England... which is probably the main place that they know there are royal people. I wasn't overly impressed with the educational aspect (both learning and demonstrated) in this episode, but the family did seem to enjoy themselves quite a bit. There was a larger focus on Jana than we've seen lately, and I'm not really sure why that would be. Otherwise, it was a pretty standard episode. I'm looking forward to the Israel episode next week, but I'm kinda glad that this "world tour" stuff will be over after that. Are there people who are thoroughly enjoying the Duggars in foreign countries?

19 Kids and Counting "World Tour: Royal Duggars": In Dublin, the bus driver mentions that the Duggar family takes their time. [hahaha!] Jedidiah got a guitar from a dumpster. The family is traveling with 260 outfits, 78 pairs of shoes, and 40 hair bows. On their way to London, their airline counterperson apparently had a nightmare that one day she'd have to check-in the Duggars. [I found this hysterical.] When she actually did so, however, it wasn't too bad - she said that they were pretty organized. [still some nice background music throughout.] The kids didn't know what a bidet was, and thought it was a sink... or maybe something for dogs. [LoL.]

The show's "fixer" allowed JimBob to go for a drive in her car. Police officers on motorcycles ended up yelling at the camera crew in the backseat, as they weren't wearing seatbelts. [tsk tsk!] No tickets were issued, tho. Michelle gave driving a try, and was concerned about the road signs. [that's good... she was attempting to be aware of her surroundings, unlike JimBob!] She stalled once and also clipped a sideview mirror. [oops! It also seemed like they hit-and-ran...] While this was all going on, the kids took high tea, which didn't go over all that well. The kids ate things out of the proper order and wanted sweet tea, etc.

Day 2 they went sight-seeing. via double-decker bus. [why all the shots of Jana drinking tea? It also really bothered me that they kept saying "the wrong side of the road" - it's not "wrong," it's "on the left." c'mon, guys!] Something must have happened that wasn't seen by the audience, because JimBob gives a speech about being grateful and don't act like they are kings and queens... they'll be back to Arkansas and reality soon enough. JimBob claims that they've been to almost every major city in the United States... [what? I'm TOTALLY SKEPTICAL of this. though maybe he has a different definition of "major city" than I do...] JimBob tries to get palace guards to laugh, talk, etc. [you know, setting a bad, uneducated example for the children.] The public restroom cost 50 pence per person, which threw the family for a loop. They went to a hat shop that rents hats for various occasions, including about ten for the Royal Wedding. [it's not specified, but I assume that they mean Kate & William's wedding. Amy kept trying to do a British accent, but it's not the most fitting for her.]

Jinger takes some pictures of the family. Apparently, she loves "style." [Anna photographs rather poorly.] They head to the London Eye to get a great view. Michelle, Jinger, Anna, and Johannah aren't big fans of heights, but they go on it, too. [I was wondering how Johannah was going to do on this... she's a bit more squeamish than many of the younger ones, I think.] It takes 30-45 minutes to complete a rotation on the London Eye. The Duggars needed two pods to fit the entire family. Afterward, they went for some traditional British food, including squash (juice), bangers and mash, fish and chips, chicken and leak pie, bubble and squeak, toad in the hole, and some puds - classic trifle, treacle tart, sticky toffee pudding, and summer pudding. Jana reads off the menu, and it's clear that she isn't accustomed to things like trifle. [Why was Anna's hair so messy in the interview?] Then, it's on to Stonehenge, their final stop in England. Nearly a million people visit Stonehenge each year. The Duggars originally keep quite a distance, but do get ten minutes to go up in them, but they can't touch or stand on rocks.
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