A few weeks ago my parents were in London visiting me and Ryan. We did a ton of touristy stuff. We went to Borough Market, the British Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum. We went out to eat, went to the cinema, and hung out. We also did some things I’d never done before like visit Oxford. My parents had been there before but through Ryan and I would love it. There’s lots of stuff to do there but let me tell you about a few highlights. Spoiler: they are mainly Harry Potter and museum related. 

First, we went to the Great Hall at Christ Church College at Oxford University. Whew, that’s a mouthful and I’m not sure I even have the name correctly.This gorgeous hall was the inspiration for the Great Hall at Hogwarts in Harry Potter. Also, the stairway outside the hall was used in the first Harry Potter movie when the students were received by Professor McGonagall. The space is lovely and I think it is pretty cool that students still use it for meals. The room is dark and wood paneled with high vaulted ceilings and lots of portraits on the wall. The sheer number of portraits on the wall reminded me of the corridors in Harry Potter. My favorite portraits in the hall were of Henry VIII and William Penn.

Outside the hall is a door with the graffiti “no peel” written in nails hammered into the wooden door. This graffiti dates from the 17th century. There are lots of myths about the motives behind the graffiti, but the real reason is that it was done in protest of the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. Apparently it was because it was about his changing views on religious reformation. Mostly I like that they kept graffiti around for so long. Nowadays that stuff would get cleaned up pretty quickly I bet.

Generally though the buildings and land around Oxford are beautiful and ornate. It’s a nice place, and I’m sure as a student it must feel awesome to be a part of a long and illustrious history. However, I felt like it was sort of quiet insular place and didn’t have the excitement and bustle that I like about college campuses. But still, I think the opportunity to use and live in a space so beautiful and historic would be awesome. So often places that look like Oxford used to be used but are now just for looking at. I think it’s sort of refreshing that here the places are still active and alive.

After the Great Hall we went to the Cathedral. Again there was some beautiful architecture. The ceiling was pretty cool. It looked like a snowflake or an interlocking web of arches and ribs. What I enjoyed best was the stained glass. You can see an image of one large window in the bottom left picture below. You can also see my parents in the foreground looking at a tomb.

In that window above at the very top is a beautiful stained glass ship. I liked that a lot because it’s an unusual thing to see in a church window. In the photo below is another interesting window showing the beheading of Thomas Becket (center of photo). According to another blog about this window, I found out that Becket doesn’t have a face because Henry VIII found it too graphic. Apparently a plain piece of glass was used to censor it a bit.

After visiting these two places in Christ Church we walked around Oxford a bit more and then found our way over to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. I love natural history museums because I think they have such wow factor. It’s so amazing to see things I’m familiar with but never seen up close. I also like getting to see things I’ve never known about before. Also, I love seeing dinosaurs because they are just awesome.

There was a big exhibit on insects which my family loved but which gave me a bit of the heebie-jeebies. I got a little nervous by seeing the big hairy tarantulas. One of the things I loved the most was the scale model of the earth moon and sun. In the photo on the left, below, you can see my parents all the way across the museum waving. My father is the one on the right and you can kind of see a golden ball in front of him. This represents the sun and it was about the size of a basketball. Now, the photo below on the right was all the way across the room from my parents (so where I was standing when taking their picture). And this model shows the size of the Earth and Moon. So they are to scale in both size and distance relative to the sun. I knew the sun was big and far away but holy moly! We are tiny and peanut sized and I loved seeing it.

I also love natural history museums for the animals. We saw a gigantic taxidermied crab. I’m not sure crabs can be taxidermied, but it was a crab formerly alive but now in a case. It was gigantic, and about as big as me! I also love seeing animal skeletons. I liked seeing how they are similar, how they are different, and also how bodies can be unexpected. For example they had an elephant skeleton and it’s so crazy to see an elephant without a trunk.

Also inside the museum is the Pitt Rivers Museum. I love this museum because it is so quirky and full of fascinating objects. Accessed through the Natural History Museum the Pitt Rivers Museum was founded in 1884 by Lieutenant General Augustus Pitt Rivers who donated his collection to Oxford. It’s such a traditional cabinet of curiosity style of exhibit display which is fun any unusual today. Meaning, instead of displaying just a few things in a minimalist and orderly fashioned, a cabinet of curiosities has lots of things packed closely together. I enjoyed that style. I liked walking into the room and seeing it jammed full of objects. It’s like being in a museum while simultaneously being in an antique shop. You just never know what you’ll find.

The objects in the museum are arranged thematically rather than chronologically which I think is delightful and sometimes a bit random. So there are cases about religious objects, about musical instruments, and cases about writing. I saw a totem pole, a shrunken head, and a pipe. As I walked around it was fun, and surprising, to turn around and be face to face with all kinds of objects. I loved the small gorgeously handwritten object labels. And I loved the surprising collection of objects. The photo above in the bottom left is an ivory ball of many layers all carved from one piece of ivory. Amazing right?

Overall, I had a lovely day out with my family in Oxford. There are a number of things to see and it’s a nice place to stroll around and stop at the places that catch your fancy. I loved seeing the history at the University, I was charmed by the Harry Potter connections, and I really had fun at the Natural History Museum. It’s just a quick train ride outside of London so I recommend considering it if you want to get out of the city for the day!

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Ryan is the weather reporter in our household. In the morning he shares the weather report so we know how to dress and also how busy the museum will be. This week it’s going to be rain, lots of rain, until Thursday. (Which also means a busy museum)

But last week we had one glorious beautiful day. Ryan did the weather report Friday morning and said it was going to be 30°C/86°F on Saturday. He then suggested, “let’s go to Brighton.” Yesss. It rarely gets into the 30’s in London, let alone gets that warm on a day when neither of us has to work, we don’t have any plans, and we have the ability to just pick up and go somewhere. Also, we have been aching to go the beach all summer. It’s a staple of summer and it was imperative we get out feet into some water before autumn rolls around. 

We left early Saturday morning and took the Thameslink from St. Pancras to Brighton. Our tickets combined were about £40 round trip and the ride is about an hour and a half each way. Easy peasy. Once we arrived we immediately hit the beach. We spread out our beach towel and soaked up the sun. The beach is a pebble beach which can sometimes make walking difficult/painful but laying down on it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. You can also rent deck chairs from £2 each and sun bather chairs from £4, so both affordable options.

My favorite thing about going to the beach might be the breeze from the sea. It’s cool freshness makes me feel alive, happy and rejuvenated. I think I am happiest by the water. It erases all the stress and frustration from city life. Being by the ocean reminds me of family vacations, birthday and bachelorette celebrations, and traveling. I was feeling happy in Brighton. Happy simply sitting there people watching and enjoying the perfect weather.

But of course, we had to go in the water at least a bit. Ryan and I hobbled our way to the waters edge to splash our feet in the cold water. Hobbled is the best way to describe our descent to the beach because the slope is fairly steep given that the ground is made of wet rocks of varying sizes, some of which want to stab you in the foot (in both painful and ticklish ways). The water was chilly, but the kind of chilly that you can quickly get used to.

After a bit of playing on the beach it was time for lunch. Everything I read about Brighton says you have to eat fish and chips while you’re there. There are like a thousand fish and chip shops there ranging from dingy shacks, hole in the wall locations, and proper sit down restaurants. We had been interested in going to the Regency, but it was packed full of cyclists in yellow racing suits so we kept walking and chose Bankers. We both had cod and chips and it was tasty! The portions were generous, the fish was fresh and hearty, and the breading was perfectly crispy.

Next, it was time for some shopping. Brighton is a really fun place to go shopping. I was really taken with Bert’s Homestore which had all the cutest necessary and not-really-necessary-but-I-would-use-it items for home and kitchen. There were things like beautiful cake boxes, flower printed straws, and at-home coffee grinders. Currently I’m interested in fox patterns (random I know) and so I fell in love with all the fox stuff they had. There was a fox cuddly toy, a fox pattern on a white mixing bowl, and a fox lunch box (also a lot of other really cute lunch boxes). I let my willpower restrain me and I left fox-free and kitchen gadget free. 

We then moved on to more typical Brighton shopping areas: North Laine and the Lanes. North Laine was really cute, and I only have the photo above on the left to show for it. There are loads of cute cafes and lots of antique shops and flea markets. It has absolutely everything you could ever want and things you didn’t know you wanted. They had beautiful furniture, clothes, bicycles, and handbags. As to be expected, I wanted all kinds of antique kitchen things. If I had more space I would have gone for the heavy army-looking metal kettle or the tiny copper sauce pan or the tarnished but ornately engraved knife and fork sets. I even saw one girl buy an old hand-crank egg beater for £1. It was a shopper’s (and even window-shopper’s) paradise. The Lanes also has lots of lovely shops all around skinny winding streets. Go to Brighton willing to browse! There are such lovely things to see. 

In between shopping, there was snacking. We went to Roly’s fudge and saw staff mixing fudge in giant copper pots. Ryan and I tried the vanilla clotted cream and the banoffee pie flavors. I really liked the vanilla flavor but thought the banoffee pie tasted too strongly of fake banana flavor. The texture is also drier and crumblier than most fudge I’m used to, so be prepared for that if you decide to partake. We also go ice cream from Jolly Scoops for amazing ice cream. I had lemon curd and ginger cookie and Ryan had summer fruit sorbet. Both were incredible with whole ingredients and big flavor. We sat on the curb in the shade and people watched. Finally on the food front we stopped by Choccywoccydoodah to look at their incredible sweets. The cake decorations are like sculptures! Inside they had some pretty cool chocolate creations include a popcorn and chocolate lolly pop that was as big as my head. Our sweet tooth had already been sated though so we didn’t buy anything. 

After that we needed to walk off the calories. We went to see the Royal Pavilion (photos are well above this paragraph, next to the two images on the right of the North Laine picture). The building’s history if fairly old but it took on its current look in 1815 when Josh Nash was commissioned to turn a modest villa into the palace that it is today. Ryan and I sat in the pavilions’ park and watched the seagulls scavenger around people’s picnic. The day was hot and it was nice to rest a little bit more. 

Our last sight seeing trek was over to Brighton Pier and the Brighton Wheel. The pier was teaming with people (and also birds flying overhead) so we stayed away and just admired from afar. It reminded us of going to the boardwalk in New Jersey, which both of us did when we were kids (and also like 3 years ago). We felt a little homesick for our traditional beach vacations so we went back to the beach to take in just a bit more ocean and sea air. It was a beautiful day and also a easy, relaxing day trip from London. I highly recommend it – although next summer I think Ryan and I are resolved to get back to the Jersey Shore so we can have even more beach time.

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Ok everyone, this is my last post about my vacation to Scotland. If you missed the other two posts, feel free to go back and read about Edinburgh and Culloden Battlefield. I know I’ve been talking about Scotland a lot, but the thing is, it was such a wonderful experience!

Vacation is meant to be a break from regular life, to try something new, and to relax and recharge from the stresses of work. Unfortunately sometimes when you get back home life hits you like a ton of bricks and it feels like you never went away at all. But this trip has stuck with me. We’ve been back over a week and I still feel at ease. I feel better about work, about the hot sticky temperature of the tube, about our tiny flat, about chores, and about all the tiny things that bug the regular life version of myself. Scotland was so lush, green, sunny, and friendly. It was such a great holiday and I’m just not over it yet. 

The last bit of site seeing we did in Inverness before heading back to London via Edinburgh was to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. Urquhart Castle is situated in the valley between some very large rolling hills, but still sits somewhat high above the sparkling blue water of Loch Ness. As you can image, Loch Ness is the reason a lot of tourists go to visit this area of the Highlands. Who can pass up an opportunity to see Nessie?

In fact, Ryan and I may have seen Nessie. Here’s the story: In general I like the idea of fantastical creatures and wish they did exist (or that I believed they existed). Ryan is logical and realistic and does not believe in those kinds of things. However, as we stood at the top of the hill and leaned on the railing overlooking the water surrounding Urquhart Castle Ryan noticed some splashing in the water. There wasn’t a boat nearby or anything else that we could see, and the waves looked somewhat sizable. Was it the wind? A fish? An eel? It was Ryan who suggested it could be Nessie. And since we were on vacation and in good spirits, we said that yeah, probably it was Nessie. We don’t have any proof, but I think it’s fun to believe.

While we were by the Castle, I had also hoped to look around the town and check out one of the Nessie exhibits. My Rick Steves’ guidebook said there were two, with one being cheesy and one being slightly less cheesy. But, Ryan and I had been dropped off at Urquhart Castle by the bus, which only came a few times per day, and the walk back up to town was steep so we didn’t make it. If you’re in the area and you have a car you would definitely have enough time to do both the castle and the Nessie exhibits in one day.

Urquhart Castle though is a clear crowd pleaser. I mean, look at these pictures! It’s the most gorgeous place in the most gorgeous setting. Beautiful stone, rolling hills, lush greenery, and shimmering blue water?! Nature is obviously showing off. And it worked, I was impressed.

In the visitor’s center is a small exhibit about Urquhart Castle, who lived there, the work they did, and where they would have been. The name of the Castle comes from a mix of Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Additionally, there is a short film that goes over the history of the Castle. At the end of the film the projection screen rolls up and we got a panoramic view of the Castle and Loch. It’s a little heavy handed at making you feel wonder and awe, but it works because the view is breathtaking.

The ruins of the Castle date from the 13th-16 century. However this site may have been occupied much earlier as the introductory film says that St. Columba visited the site in about AD 600. Anyway from the 1200’s to its demise in about 1692 the castle served as a military stronghold and did see a lot of action. Apparently over it’s long history control of Urquhart passed back and forth between the hands of the English and the Scottish. Most notably, the Castle was in English hands after King Edward I of England invaded in 1296. Then in the 1300’s it was part of the Scottish struggle for independence and was under control of Robert the Bruce who became King of the Scots.

What I liked best about visiting the Castle is that we got to wander around on our own. We could get up close to the stones and peer through windows and really explore. Back in the visitors center there had been a model of the Castle in its heyday which marked how different areas would have been used. As we walked around in the Castle there were small signs that let you know what might have been a kitchen, bed room, or hall and built on what we had learned inside. I liked that I could stand in the place and imagine what it might have been like. I liked the minimal signage because it was enough to help me create a picture but not so much that it took away from the experience of being in the Castle, the place that witnessed the history. I think it’s a good museum practice that you can allow people to interact with very little text, but that the text that does exist is really evocative and informative.

For example, in the model I had seen a representation of the kitchen and learned a bit about food preparation. From what I had seen inside I knew that there would have been lots of people working with various roles, all with the aim of creating big feasts for the rich. Then outside in the Castle, there was just a small sign giving brief information about the kitchen and then they had a small info graphic showing how cooks could have used one cauldron to make 3-4 different dishes at a time. It was simple, informative, and brought the history to life. An empty building in ruins can potential be hard to connect with, but I thought the Historic Scotland (the branch of government that cares for the site) had done an excellent job of bringing the history alive without being invasive to the Castle structure.

We ended our visit by walking down the hill towards the waters edge. I put my fingers in the cold water just so I could touch just a little bit of Loch Ness. I love the water and want to get in it any chance I can. We walked up the hill to the cafe. Ryan and I had a pot of tea, shared a scone, and enjoy the perfect weather as we waited for our bus. It was a shining, beautiful way to end our Scottish vacation. I can’t recommend this experience enough.

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After visiting Edinburgh, Ryan and I took the train north to Inverness. We wanted the chance to get out of the city and see lush beautiful Scottish countryside. In addition to what we wanted to see, my friend Sarah-Jane who is from Inverness wrote me a list of foods, restaurants, pubs, and sites to take in while we were on holiday. We were prepared for a glorious Highland getaway.

I found Inverness really charming. Running practically through the middle of town is the River Ness. I’m always thrilled with being near the water, it just makes me feel happy and alive so Ryan and I sat on a bench and people watched and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We also looked at Inverness Castle, but only from the outside because sources told us it wasn’t worth going in. We listened to Scottish Music at Gellions Pub (have I mentioned that I truly love bag pipes?). And we had a steak dinner at McGongall’s, where I tried haggis again and a soup called cullen skink. Throughout our entire time in Inverness we found people to be so friendly, warm, and happy. It was a real pleasure all of it. Still, one of the things I really wanted to do was get out of town, walk out in nature, learn some history, and see a Highland cow.

On a Sunday Ryan and I decided to go see Culloden Battlefield, and thereby check off nature and history from the list. We were warned buses don’t run as well on Sunday, but we were going to try our luck. At the bus station the attendant even told us that we could not take the bus Google maps recommended as the remaining walk would be alongside busy roads with no sidewalks. Ryan is brave and said we should do it anyway, and thankfully we did because it was the best.

We took the bus as far as it would go towards Culloden and we were dropped off a little over a mile away. It’s true, there wasn’t a sidewalk but there was a dirt path and we did see about half a dozen other people walking along as well. As we walked to Culloden we passed a number of farms and we saw cows in the distance, but also some horses and goats up close. I have never been so excited to  be out of the city as I was when I stood 4 feet away from a goat and it looked at me and bleated. (As if it were saying, “hey girl what are you looking at?”) We also saw a box that said “eggs” and it was half full of duck and chicken eggs with a box to pay on the honor system. Did you know that sometimes duck eggs are blue? I didn’t, but that day I saw one.

As we got closer to Culloden, it got more beautiful. There were flowers and thistles, and finally, right before we arrived at the visitor center I saw it… a Highland cow! There were three in total and they were so gorgeous with their tawny shaggy hair. Giddy might be the only way to describe how I felt.

The battlefield itself is a really nice place to visit. You might think, it’s just a field. But the museum and audio guide do such an incredible job of bringing the events to life. Ok so here is the briefest history of the Battle of Culloden. It was the final battle of the Jacobite rising that started in 1745. The Jacobites were supporting Charles Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie, as he tried to regain the British throne. The Stuart side was also largely Catholic, whereas the Government side, supporting the Hanover king George I, was largely Protestant. A lot of Highlanders were on the Jacobite side but there were Scottish people also supporting the Government.

During this battle the Jacobites intended to surprise attach the government during the night, but things became disorderly and they lost the element of surprise. The whole battle lasted less than an hour, around 2,000 people were killed (mostly Jacobites about 1,500 people). Bonnie Prince Charlie’s hopes for the throne were over and he escaped, lived in France, and never returned to Scotland. Depending on how you look at it, to punish the Scottish or to integrate them further into British culture, the kilt and tartan were banned. That law was repealed in 1782.

In the visitor center there’s a museum that outlines what each side was doing in the build up to the war. The museum is basically a long corridor and one side outlines the Jacobites and the other the Government. Throughout the middle are objects and stories that apply to both sides. So, as you go through you get a full and clear picture of the motivations, preparations and struggles from each side and then how they interacted and dealt with each other. At the end, after viewing the battlefield the museum continues and there’s only the Government side and the opposite wall is black. It is a really well done museum with objects, stories to read, and oral histories to hear that make it a multi sensory experience accessible to everyone.

At the end of the museum there’s a short film that shows what the battle looked like. They warn you that it’s intense, and it really is. We walked into a room and were surrounded by screens that showed the battle. All around us were people screaming, wielding weapons, and killing each other. It was mayhem, and loud, and full of blood. It was hard to watch and brought to reality how intense and terrible the battle would have been.

Outside on the battlefield, it’s gorgeous and in stark juxtaposition to the graphic film we saw inside. There were rolling hills, flowers, and boggy scraggly plants. It was wonderful to be outside and take in the history of the place. The audio guide is connected to a GPS and as we walked around it pinged with new information about the battles. Together with the information in the museum, it really brought to life what happened there. We saw how far apart the arms started, we walked on the squishy uneven ground and felt how difficult it would have been to move around, and we marveled at the landscape.

A historic battlefield can seem like just an open piece of land, but this place made it so much more. It was exquisite to be outside in nature, see some things I had been hoping to see, and we leaned a little more about Scotland. I highly recommend a trip to Culloden Battlefield, and especially if you take the scenic walk from a bus stop one mile away.

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I’m writing this while in Edinburgh on our last day of vacation. When Ryan and I decided we wanted to take a week long summer vacation we talked about a lot of places. Mostly, we talked about sunny places and mostly we talked about Italy. But, we went to Italy last year and so we decided it was time to finally visit a place we kept dreaming of, but hadn’t yet made the time for: Scotland. We had visions of old castles and rolling hills, while I also had a desire to visit every part of the UK. So, Scotland it was. And it turns out, we had a lot of sun while we were here too. We chose to visit Edinburgh at the beginning and end of the trip with Inverness in the middle. 

There are lots of things to do in Edinburgh, but at the same time isn’t not a giant overwhelming city. Ryan and I spent a lot of time wandering the streets and closes (tiny alleyways). We laid in the grass at the University or Edinburgh, we sat outside the new Parliament building, we bought a bottle of whisky, and we went on a Mercat ghost tour that made another patron scream and made me hope I’d see a ghost.

On the first day we arrived we saw St. Giles Cathedral. The spire is pretty cool and is a Scottish crown steeple that dates from 1495. I found the interior of the church really beautiful. It feels both big and cavernous and somehow approachable and comforting. Apparently inside near the entrance is a statue of a bag-piping angel, which I missed, but Ryan saw. There’s also a stained glass window (photo below, top right) which celebrates the poet Robert Burns. He wrote a song with the famous line, “my love is like a red, red rose,” and that top of the window is supposed to remind people of those words. I love that song. Years ago Ryan and I went to a concert as part of a road trip and we heard this song. I remember listening to that song and in that moment thinking, maybe… maybe we might get married some day. There are some other cool parts to the interior of the church. There are 4 big pillars that date to 1120. And there’s a bronze statue of John Knox (which they apparently move around). He was a Reformer and he insisted everyone should be able to read the word of God and it’s in part thanks to him that Scotland had an educational systems centuries ahead of other parts of Europe. After the church we did some wandering and ended up by Arthur’s Seat. One of the things I wanted from vacation was the opportunity to walk, or hike, surrounded by beautiful countryside. We weren’t sure we should attempt the climb right away as we weren’t carrying sunscreen, water, food, or any rain gear. But we were there at the foot of it and my Rick Steve’s guidebook said it was a 45 minute walk, to wear comfortable shoes, and that you could just stroll. Needless to say we decided to go for it. By no means did we need special climbing gear, but from that description we thought it was going to be easy. It turns out Arthur’s Seat is the 822 foot remains of an extinct volcano and some of the walk is pretty steep. At times we were huffing and puffing up uneven stairs and were hopping among rocks like a billy goat. 

Although we might be out of shape, this was one of the best things we did during our whole time in Scotland. There’s something about living in London that makes me yearn for wide open spaces and the outdoors, and this experience satisfied that desire immensely. It was great to be surrounded by plants and rocks and feeling the wind and sun on my face. The scraggly cliffs you see behind Ryan in the photo below, are the Salisbury Crags. When we were at the top of Arthur’s Seat they just look like a smooth hill, but I love the way the reddish craggy stone looks from lower down. Best of all, were the views from the top of Arthur’s Seat. We saw the city of Edinburgh, golf courses, the sea, and more green space. It was day 1 and I was getting everything I wanted from Scotland.The next day we went to Edinburgh Castle. The castle looms large over the city and we saw it from the outside a few times while we wandered around. There is a lot to see at the castle. First, there are the crown jewels and some fun lore/history surrounding hiding them and rediscovering them years later. But more than the shiny gems, I liked seeing the Stone of Sconce, which is the coronation stone for kings and queens. It was taken by the English in 1296 and wasn’t returned until 1996. But, for future coronations the stone will be brought back to London.

There’s also the royal palace where you can see where the royalty actually lived. King James VI, who became King James I of England was born there. There’s also St. Margret’s Chapel, which is tiny but has some lovely stained glass windows including one picturing William Wallace. Honestly, beyond William Wallace, I knew so little about Scottish culture before this trip. It was nice to have the opportunity to learn a lot more and to add to what little I knew about William Wallace.

Inside the castle grounds there is also the National War Museum of Scotland. It’s a well done museum that tells not only about wars fought by the Scottish, but also shows the evolution of their fighting and contributions, and the experiences and effects that war had on Scottish soldiers and families. I really love bagpipes, kilts, and tartan and this museum helped me learn more about their practical uses to identify, instill pride, and organize people. It was really so fascinating. Finally, here too the views of the city were incredible. It felt like everywhere we went in Scotland there was something beautiful to see.

In our first few days in Scotland we found people to be really warm and friendly (at the hotel the concierge talked our ear off by London standards!) We tried Scottish breakfast and I even ate haggis (which I was a little nervous about). The verdict on haggis: I thought it was fine, I wasn’t in love, but I would (and did) try it again, and that it gets an unnecessarily bad wrap. We heard bagpipe music and I got a sweet picture of the piper blowing fire. So far, the first few days of vacation were pretty fun and beautiful – and I was excited to travel north to Inverness. Curious about the Highlands? Stay tuned! Next week’s Tourist Tuesday is all about Culloden Battle field in Inverness.

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When it comes to travel, I can sometimes cling to an idea and get obsessed with. Since moving to London I decided I wanted to visit all the countries in the UK. The order didn’t matter as long as it got done. That is until I read a Buzzfeed list of 25 places to visit from London and I got  fixated on Wales. Specifically Cardiff, which the list said I could get to in 2 hours (although more like 3.5). So Ryan and I had a long weekend and we decided it was the perfect time to take a trip to Cardiff and the Mumbles (which is outside Swansea). 

Now even though I was stuck on Wales, I didn’t do a ton of research before we left. We had a more urban holiday to Wales, but I’m told lots of people go to Wales for rolling hills, hikes, and sheep. Did you know that sheep out number people 4 to 1? It’s true, the internet told me. Anyway, you can go to Wales for a scenic vacation but we stuck largely to castles and food – and still we saw some pretty beautiful sites.

In Cardiff we walked around and browsed in the many shopping arcades. We went to the indoor market and bought far too many pastries. We bought four Welsh cakes, a hot cross bun, a Chelsea bun, and a jam donut (which was divine). It was glorious and really inexpensive. We got all of that for about £3!

But the main thing we did in Cardiff was visit Cardiff Castle. It’s lovely and right in the center of the city surrounded by pubs, shopping, and a really lovely park. The castle is awesome because it dates back to the Romans. In the large picture above (on the left) you can see the Roman foundation, which are the lighter colored stones. The motte and bailey (pictured in the photo at the top) date to the 11th century and were commissioned by William the Conqueror. The best thing I learned was that in the 18th century a landscape architect designed the grounds and he was called Capability Brown. BEST NAME EVER! And in more recent history, part of the castle was used as an air raid shelter during WWII. I liked seeing the layers of history build on top and around each other.

Now, the castle passed through a number of families but in 1766 it was taken on by the Bute family. This family put Cardiff on the map as a place for coal export. They also, as you might expect, had a lot of money. In the mid 1800’s the 3rd Marquess of Bute commissioned a redesign of the interior of the house (in the left of the top picture right) and the home became as opulent as you see in the photos. I especially loved the library full of thick leather books. One day, I aspire to that kind of library – even though all my books are paperback.

The next day we took a train and a bus to the Mumbles, just outside of Swansea. We were in the mood for open sky and a little sea air. As well, Mumbles is a really charming town. It was a lovely sunny day and Ryan and I even got a hint of color in our skin, which was exciting. After a long gray winter, a little sun felt amazing.

We started our time in Mumbles by trudging up the hill to another castle. Outside the castle was some sort of event for children and a number of kids had been dressed up like a dragon and they were led in a parade across the grounds. We sat on a bench and look down at the town and enjoyed the fresh air. We then took a long walk down to the lighthouse, which is a tiny white blot in the background of the bottom left picture above. On the way we saw dogs frolicking in the water, we had a clotted cream and peach raspberry ice cream, and we stopped at a pub for a pint. That night we went back to Cardiff for another pint, pies, and Welsh rarebit (delicious cheese on bread). It was relaxing and refreshing overall. Truly a nice weekend jaunt to Wales. And now I’m eager for my next opportunity to be out in the open sky and by the water. Seems I’ll need to find a new location to replace my Wales obsession.

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Since Ryan and I have started on our second year here, we’re trying to renew our commitment to traveling more in and around London. Ya know, getting to know the UK a little better and all that. So this past weekend we took the train over to Canterbury. The weather was ugly, all gray and misty, but the sights were quite lovely.

It was Palm Sunday so the Cathedral, which is the main attraction, wasn’t open until later in the afternoon. So, we started at St. Augustine’s Abbey. This is one of those places that is astounding, beautiful, and older than America. The Abbey was found in 597 and marks the rebirth of Christianity in England.

It’s a fairly sizable complex and over the years buildings were added and expanded. There’s a nice video in the welcome center that shows blueprint models of how everything grew. Today, this site is an English Heritage site but it was used as a monastery all the way until 1538 when Henry VIII dismantled it. For hundreds of years it was in ruins, but since 1848 it has been preserved and used for education. How cool is that? Anyway, I really love the architecture of the buildings. Old stone, pointed arches… so gorgeous. 

After we walked around in the misty rain for awhile and once we got too cold we popped into Tiny Tim Tearoom for afternoon tea. It’s cozy and charming – and also apparently haunted. There’s a room by the bathrooms that has a plaque saying it’s the “ghost room.” Anyway, we felt a little touristy going for tea, but I really wanted to, and we overheard English people also having afternoon tea so we felt ok about it. Also when we were soaked and cold, hot tea was just what we needed.

On paper, tea with some sandwiches, a scone, and cakes seems like not a ton of food, but it really was. Ryan had Earl Gray tea and I had chai. We were impressed with all the teapot paraphernalia – a strainer and a little dish for it. We’re used to store bought teabags and a kettle. Everything was tasty, but we were especially smitten with the clotted cream. We slathered our scones with both the jam and the cream. It was decadent.

Full and happy, we walked around a bit more then finally went over to the Cathedral. Also founded in 597, that actual building was rebuilt in 1070. Side note, I can write these dates no problem, but when I think about who old these buildings are and that people were actually there building and worshiping and creating this awesome history my mind gets blown away. This church is the cathedral for the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the leader of the Church of England. One of the most noteworthy things to happen in the cathedral was the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170.He was later seen as a martyr and a shrine was built in the church. Today, the shrine is marked by a candle that always remains lit (top left in the photo below).

The details throughout were really lovely as well. I’m always impressed with high arches and stained glass, but one of my favorite things was this eagle-like lectern. It’s wonderful to see how much beauty and care went in to one building. That’s something I’m loving about traveling throughout country: there is so much rich history that is hundred, and nearly thousands of years old, and it’s also so present and relevant. It’s amazing. I went home excited about what we saw and looking forward to planning another trip elsewhere in the UK.

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After working six days in a row during half-term when it was crazy busy at the museum, I was exhausted and ready for a little break. To get some much needed relaxation, I escaped the city and had a little vacation visiting my friend Sarah in Dorset. On Saturday straight after work I went to the coach station and waited for my bus… which turned out to be delayed. What was worse is that all around my fellow passengers and I were other buses going to the same destination. Those buses kept loading and we were kept waiting. After an hour, when another bus was loading, at our gate, to go to the same place – and we still weren’t going anywhere the people started to go crazy. There was yelling, a manager was called, people started throwing insults, we were told it was going to be another hour, and it got ugly. One lady start yelling about her dog, and race, and how English people don’t stand up for themselves. I decided to get out of there. I got a voucher for a free future bus ride and I had them change my ticket to the next morning. I went home and would start again in the morning.

Sunday morning was smooth sailing and I got to Sarah no problem. Sarah is my friend from work. I actually met her at the interview for the job and we kept in touch a little between the interview and the first day of work. I was so excited when I heard that she got the job. Sarah is smart, passionate, warm and honest. She’s traveled a ton, she’s knowledgeable about all kinds of interesting topics, and she has strong opinions but is open to chatting and learning about other points of view. After I first met her, I hoped that we would get to be real friends, but I didn’t want to come off needy. Lucky for me, it all worked out. And now, here I was in Dorset with my friend and she was going to take me to walk on the beach in February. 

And how cool is that, the beach in February?! Yes, it was cold and windy, but the blue water and open sky was glorious. Also there were tons of dogs frolicking around too and that was really adorable. I know this sounds stupid, but I didn’t know places like this existed in England. Obviously, there’s tons of coast, why wouldn’t there be beaches? But all I ever thought about before was London and then countrysides with beautiful brick buildings and rolling hills. Sarah and I walked along the beach and breathed in lots of fresh ocean air. She pointed out the Purbecks and Old Harry Rock, which in the photo above is all the way to the left and just above the man’s head. More on that later. She drove me around a little to show me the area and the harbor with boats, and all the stress and crime of the city seemed to melt away.

Sarah then took me to her house for Sunday lunch with her family. I got to meet her parents, her sister, her brother, her sister-in-law, and most importantly her adorable baby niece.  I was kind of nervous being the new person, but mostly I didn’t want to embarrass myself by being so excited and touristy about lunch. Her family was so warm and welcoming, and I had no reason to be nervous. Her mom was especially kind and a great cook. I’m also kind of jealous of her spacious kitchen with a lovely big window and thick wooden counter tops.

Anyway, back to lunch. When Ryan and I first had Sunday lunch at a pub, his coworkers told him it didn’t really count unless you had it at someone’s home. That felt kind of deflating, because when would ever get that chance? But now, I was having my moment and I didn’t want to stick out by taking pictures and being a weirdo. The food was really delicious and there was so much of it: roast beef, potatoes, vegetables, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire pudding, and lots of crazy. It was delicious. I would love to learn how to make potatoes like that with a crispy outer crust and a creamy inside.

After lunch we played with the baby and watched her be crawl around, play, and make adorable faces. Finally after lots of relaxing and digesting, Sarah and I went to Wimborne (which is a town in Dorset) to walk around and go to the pub. Here is where I’m lacking on pictures. While we were out, I used my phone and since then my phone had decided it no longer wishes to hold a charge and/or my charger no longer wishes to work. So my photos of this night are in limbo. Anyway, when we arrived in Wimborne, the bells at the Minster were sounding. The church is a beautiful stone building, that’s large enough to feel significant but not so large that it feels intimidating and cold. The bells themselves, were so lovely. They were melodious and went on long enough to fill the whole town with music.  We then did a mini pub crawl and I got to see large and small places – all very cozy and charming. At the second pub I found Devil’s Backbone IPA! This is the second time I’ve found this beer in the UK. I’ve gotten so excited because Devil’s Backbone is an independent brewer located in rural Virginia. Ryan and I have visited the brewery with friends, and I’m not sure you can find this beer everywhere in the US, so it is especially exciting to find a piece of home abroad.

The next day Sarah made me breakfast. She made me fresh squeezed orange juice and a bacon sandwich. Again, I tried to play it cool – but I did text Ryan something like, “I’m eating a bacon sandwich with butter and brown sauce on it!” And he wrote back, “going native!” It was really tasty and it’s trying different food combinations that is something I love about living in the UK. If she came for a bacon sandwich at my house, I’d add an egg and cheese. Both good, just different, and I love that.

We then drove over to the Purbecks where Sarah knocked my socks off with Dorset’s beauty. It was windy, but we were lucky to have blue skies and sun. We walked around muddy paths, stopping every so often so I could take pictures and be in awe. As we walked we talked about everything, work, relationships, Tudor history. It was perfection. At the end of the path we reached Old Harry Rock, and his wife which is apparently the smaller rock that sticks out. Here’s what I know about this rock: I don’t know why he’s called Harry, he’s a chalk formation, he’s on the Isle of Purbeck, and is the easterly point of the Jurassic Coast. I also know, the view is breathtaking. The blue sky, white rocks, and green grass filled my heart up with beauty and gratitude. Looking out over the ocean, I felt that the world is beautiful, that I’m lucky to be alive, and lucky to have this opportunity to live abroad and get to breathe in new places. 

Sarah and I walked up hill a little, and apparently if you go further up, you can see over into the town of Swanage. It was as we walked up the hill that I took the picture above. I’m sort of in love with this photo. The people look so small and it makes me feel like the world is large and glorious and we are fortunate to be a small part of it. But anyway, it was so windy that my eyes were watering and the weather seemed to be shifting, so we decided to turn back and go home. It was at this point in our trip that we started unpacking Tudor history and I felt thankful for my friend. I have lots of people who let me talk at them about my interest, but Sarah is the first friend I have who was willing to dissect it with me.

We turned around at the right time. We were not ten feet from the car, when it start to hail and snow. Over the course of this weekend, I think we had every kind of weather: sun, rain, wind, snow, hail. Weird. Luckily it didn’t last long. On the drive home we stopped at a farm store – which was mostly a convenience store. But it’s worth noting because when we parked we saw tons of birds, including peacocks. Sarah was not a fan and wanted to get out of there. I stopped to take pictures. That’s the second time I’d seen peacocks in about a week! I also bought this sugar jar. It’s a little more country chic than I usually like, but I love pigs so I couldn’t resist.

We ended with lunch at a pub where we had deliciously thick roasted root vegetable soup with warm brown bread. The pub was cozy with wood paneling and a roaring fire. It was decorated with maps, photos of cricket players, and old looking paintings. It felt very English, and then Michael Buble’s version of Georgia came over the radio. It made me chuckle, the juxtaposition of these two countries – my two homes. It felt funny and also perfect. Before going to the bus Sarah drove me to catch a glimpse of Corfe Castle, which is over a thousand years old. A thousand years old…all that history is a reason to be smitten with England. I didn’t get to go in and explore closer, so I’ll save that for my next trip to Dorset. And that’s the perfect way to end a vacation – leaving it wanting more.

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