Author Archives: Heidi Lee Dempsey

So the other major thing we did in Orkney was watch birds and walk around the coast (which is everywhere). On our first walk we went to the Brough of Birsay where there is a puffin colony. You can only get to the island during low tide. It was also the first day it was sunny and moderately warm! We only saw 3 or 4 puffins. People were so excited because it was the first time they’d seen puffins. I kinda thought it was funny/sad because we’d been on Staffa and seen hundreds. And they were so close there! These were way off a cliff edge. But, I love puffins so I was happy to see more!

The next day we went to Mull Head Nature Reserve. We walked the 5.7 mile hike all the way around the edge. No puffins here, but lots of Fulmars, Razorbills, and Shags. it was sunny but windy on the cliff edge.

The last day we went on a walk near where we were staying. There were several Neolithic sites just right along the cliff path and even a chambered tomb in the parking lot where we parked our car at the Airbnb. This walk was even colder and windier (probably 40 mph wind). And it was 9:30 pm so it was almost dusk.

Thursday was a driving day. We basically drove from Ullapool across the entire north coast of Scotland to the very end at John O’ Groats. This officially completed our End to Enders (Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’ Groats in Scotland). My selfie didn’t turn out that great but a helpful lady took our picture with the sign, but cut off the sign.

But to start back at the beginning of the day, it was SUNNY for the first time in Scotland and so I took a ton of pictures. First stop was a ruined mansion Calda House and Ardvreck Castle beside Loch Assynt.

Next we went over the Kylesku Bridge separating Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin and Loch Gleann Dubh. We spent most of the day driving around lochs or inlets.

After our long drive we got to take a ferry from Gills Bay to St. Margaret’s Hope on South Ronaldsay (Orkney Islands). This ferry was flatter than the others we’d taken. You drove on and drove your car around the edge so you were pointing back out front. We rocked a lot in the roughest part of the crossing and half of the car alarms were going off. It was funny. But the weather was beautiful and there was such a pretty sunset.

We started the day driving down to the lighthouse at the end of the road where we were staying in Lewis (Tiumpan Lighthouse). I was a bit surprised when we arrived to see that they were using the lighthouse buildings as a dog kennel and cattery. We walked around a bit but it was really windy.

Then we headed into Stornaway to visit the local museum and Lews Castle. They had the rest of the Lewis chessman that we’d seen in both the British Museum and National Museum of Scotland (since they were found on Lewis). We killed time there until it was time to load up for the ferry.

There were a lot more cars lined up for this ferry compared to the one we’d taken from Skye, so we wondered how they would fit them all. Surprise, surprise, they put the cars on an upper deck. You drive up a ramp like you would for one of those semi trucks that hauls cars. Some park on the top. Others like us at the very back park on the ramp. Then they close up the back of the ramp and slowly hoist the ramp into the air to make it a flat plane on the second story. Then they park trucks and campers under you. So weird! Our car is on the mezzanine level!

We arrived in Ullapool and immediately drove to our motel out of town. Tomorrow is a long drive along the West then North Coast of Scotland.

We are now starting our journey among the outer islands. Today we headed toward the outer Hebrides to the isle of Harris and Lewis (they are one island but narrowly connected so they count it as two?). First was boarding the ferry.

Next we arrived on Harris at Tarbet. First thing we say was the Isle of Harris Distillery. We signed up for the 12 pm tour and get a look around. They are currently selling gin but their whisky hasn’t matured enough for sale. However, they did let us taste the whisky they had made yesterday before it was casked. At 80% alcohol, I’m still not sure if I can feel the back of my throat! They jokingly claim it’s the untapped COVID cure because it can kill anything in your throat!

Then, because we were on Harris, we had to visit a Harris Tweed store. They sell Harris tweed all over Scotland, but it seems more authentic to buy it from the source. The distillery even runs a primary school competition for the kids to design the next tweed pattern and they actually produce the tweed of the winner. David bought a striking blue tweed jacket and I bought a purple tweed hat and computer bag for work.

Next we drove to the Calanais Standing Stones on Lewis. For Outlander fans, these are are the stones they used as the model for the ones on the show so look for similarities. This place was a hippie magnet. There was one couple getting married in the midst of the stones (rumored to bring happiness to the marriage), a guy chanting and beating a drum standing in the middle of the burial cairn, several people hugging/leaning against the stones, and dozens of campers with tents set up around the stones. We tried to take our pictures without getting any of these people in them, so forgive the awkward angles.

Next we headed to an old Blackhouse. Blackhouses were ones where they kept the animals in the house with the people. So they are long with a people part and an animal part. These mostly disappeared in the 20th century with the push to house animals separately from people for the sake of good hygiene. We didn’t arrive in time to go in the restored one, but we did tour around the ruined one next to it.

Then we saw a restored grist mill for oats and barley called a Norse Mill because that’s where the people thought the design had originated. Water turned the turbine below that rotated the top stone to crush the barley or oats.

Then we arrived in Stornaway and ate at a local restaurant.

After checking in at our B & B in Eagleton and talking to Erin, we decided to walk down to the local beach. It’s hard to believe it was 9:30 pm when I was taking these pictures. At 10:30 pm it’s dusk here and stays dusk until 4:30 am, then it’s daylight again. Fun to be this far north on the longest days of the year! And we may or may not have brought back a pocket full of pretty rocks to add to our collection! Tomorrow we will see a little more of Lewis and then catch the ferry back to the mainland in Ullapool.

We’ve been on Skye for 5 days now (still no WiFi so no pictures yet). PICTURES ADDED!

One day we drove around the northern scenic loop. We stopped at the Museum of Island Life which is a bunch of preserved crofters cottages showing how islanders would have lived. This is really interesting since where we are staying used to be a decent sized town Apparently on the 1841 census there were 79 people living here in Achnahanaid and it was listed as a town on the map; now there are about 10 and it’s not listed as a town on the map. It also has a chambered cairn on the property of our cottage owner next door and at least 7 abandoned ruins of crofters’ cottages are visible from our cottage. Our cottage owner says there was an early Christian community here.

After visiting the museum we stopped at Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls. It was scenic but there were quite a few people there. Then we went to Lealt Falls. We could only see part of the upper falls from a viewpoint. The lower falls weren’t visible unless you went way out of the edge of a cliff where it wasn’t safe or hiked down along a trail prone to landslides. So we skipped that part!

The next day I baked a loaf of bread and then we went to the Talisker Distillery which wasn’t open to the public due to a renovation, but David did get some sample bottles in the gift shop.

Then we went further down the tiny one-lanes road to the Fairy Pools in the Cuillin Hills. It was a pretty hike along some small waterfalls and pretty pools. Some crazy people were swimming in the pools even though it was ice cold water and windy. We did not! It rained as we walked back but overall it was a nice hike.

The next day we did the western scenic driving loop. First stop was Dunvegan Castle and gardens. It was a nice castle (home to Clan MacDonald) but the gardens were amazing! They had a walled garden, a water garden, a sculpted round garden, a rhododendron garden, and two woodland gardens. It was sunny and a great day to walk around.

Next we drove out to Neist Point and then hiked to the Neist Point Lighthouse. It was sunny and scenic. We even saw a seal down in the water below.

Today we decided to stay “at home” but take a short hike up the hill behind our cottage to the lake at the top. The cottage owner showed us where to go, but it was definitely steeper and longer than we thought. Plus, we thought the lake would be at the top of the hill behind the house. Oh no! When you get to the top of that you have to sludge across a bog and a creek at the top and go up another hill behind it. Then you can see the lake (Loch Fada – which means long lake). And it’s windy at the top! We didn’t stay long before we hiked back down trying to follow sheep and deer tracks. It’s really odd to hike in the Scottish moors. It’s like hiking on squishy moss or on thick wet sponges. Every step you squish down and can hear the water. But if you’ve chosen wisely your shoes don’t get wet. If you chose poorly then you sink and water covers your shoes. So you go from moss clump to moss clump through the bracken and heather and try to avoid the pokey gorse bushes. Pretty good fun, but also much more taxing then walking on solid land.

We also stopped on our way down the hillside to explore some of the abandoned crofters’ cottages I mentioned above.

Tomorrow morning we take the ferry over to Lewis and Harris for our one day exploration of those islands. According to our cottage owner the roads are much better over there than Skye even though Skye gets most of the tourists. David has definitely mastered the one-lane roads with pull-outs for passing, so I’m not worried now. He watches the road for cars and sheep (yes there are stray sheep on the roads everywhere) and I try to look far ahead to see distant oncoming vehicles so we can start to plan for where/how to pass. Then we don’t end up having to back up very often (which is a challenge on windy roads driving on the wrong side). Should be fun!

The views coming through the pass into Glen Coe (or Glencoe) were astounding.

We decided that it was too rainy the next day to hike in Glencoe (the hikers were trekking along the road looking miserable), so instead we decided to take a 3 Islands tour. We drove to Oban first thing in the morning and boarded a ferry for the island of Mull. We then took a tour bus (a big double decker one) across the island. It was over 30 miles of single track road with cars and other busses having to pass one another at small passing places. Made me glad we weren’t driving there! At two points there were old, narrow bridges on a corner that the bus had to maneuver very carefully through because they only had inches of leeway on each side.

After reaching the harbor at the far end of Mull we took another short ferry over to Iona. We saw the Iona Abbey started by St. Columba after he came over from Ireland in 563. It is where the Book of Kells was written. After the Reformation the abbey fell into ruin, but then the modern Iona community was started by Lorna and Reverend George MacLeod during the Great Depression. The members of the community and guests currently live and worship at the abbey. They have traditional worship experiences along with community-building and social-justice focused ones. It was a very interesting experience, although it was pretty rainy and cold when we were there.

The highlight of the trip was to the island of Staffa where we got to see Fingal’s cave. It is a basalt column cave reachable by holding on to a handrail anchored to the wall and stepping along the rocks on the edge of the basalt column cliffs. Then we climbed the cliffs and walked to the edge at the end of the island where there is a breeding colony of puffins. We got to see hundreds of puffins and get right up close to them! It was great!!!! And the weather there was perfect! I’ve loved puffins since I was a kid and it has totally made my trip to be able to see them up close and personal (as in they are curious about people and get within 6 ft of us standing there).

After taking the boat back to Mull we retraced our bus route across the island and saw a white-tailed eagle en route. Then we took the ferry back across to Oban and had a late dinner at a seafood restaurant on the pier.

The next day we drove to Skye after stopping at Ft. William for some groceries. Along the way we stopped in St. Augustus to see Loch Ness and the locks at the Caledonian Canal. We even got to see a small yacht moving through the locks.

Our cottage at Skye is an old crofter’s house complete with the super-thick walls and low doorways (which David is loving). But it’s cozy the the view across to the Island of Raasay is lovely. We are south of Portree down a single track road along the coast. It rained last night but looks to be clearing up now, so I think we will go explore the island some this afternoon.

Saturday we ate breakfast at our B & B then promptly headed out on a whiskey tour. Yes, 10:30 am is early for whisky tasting, but it was a full tour. Blair Athol is a small distillery and doesn’t sell a lot of their own whisky as single malt. Most is sent to be part of the Johnnie Walker whisky blends.

After the tour we walked around the Pitlochry Dam and fish ladder. Then we had lunch at Hettie’s Tea Room.

Next we did two of the walks around Pitlochry. First we went through the Black Spout Woods and up to the Black Spout Waterfall.

From there we continued on through the woods to the Edradour Whisky Distillery. They are one of the smallest in the country and have not yet reopened to the public since COVID.

Then we walked toward Moulin and walked past the ruins of the Black Castle.

The next day we took the train from Pitlochry to Inverness. Upon arrival in Inverness we decided we needed some quick food, so we went to our first McDonald’s on the trip. Then we did a walking tour around the city. Luckily the McDonald’s featured prominently on the tour, so we can count it as part of our historical experiences, rather than laziness (it used to be a YMCA with a faith, hope, and charity statue on top that got moved when they tore down the building and built the building that houses the McDonald’s). We did do better for supper and found a nice Indian restaurant.

It was quite a quick trip to Inverness, but I’m hoping we will go back in the future. Today we took the train back to Glasgow to pick up a rental car (tomorrow). It’s the last day of our train pass. Time for David to start navigating the roads around here!

We also found out that another of David’s International House friends is here in Scotland with her family. Anne (Evans) Marais met us in Edinburgh for a quick coffee and catch up.

Well, David and I have been taking it easy the last few days since we’ve been under the weather. We weren’t sick enough to stay in, but we definitely didn’t want to push our luck with hard days. So, we went on our planned excursions to Stirling and Glasgow but didn’t try to pack in as much as we might have. Plus, it was rainy and windy in Stirling some of the time which encouraged brevity at some locations.

Wednesday we went to Stirling to see the castle. We took a guided tour and then wandered around the castle afterwards. It didn’t rain during the tour but it was windy at times (about 55 degrees). Some of the tourists there were in t-shirts and shorts and they seemed pretty chilly to me! David and I had polar fleece under raincoats with scarves, so we were fine.

Our friends in Edinburgh said Stirling Castle was even nicer then Edinburgh Castle, and it’s true. A lot of research and work went into restoring the palace to look as it may have at the time of James V. Queen Elizabeth reopened it in 2011.

They had a guild of tapestry workers create these 7 tapestries by hand using methods of the times. Took them 13 years to finish all 7. They are beautiful!!!!

After the castle we wanted to see the church in town. The 900-year-old Church of the Holy Rude is the only church still in active use, other than Westminster, to have had a coronation (infant James VI, who became James I of England). They told us on the tour that at one point when a group was trying to storm the castle they put cannons on the roof of the church and shot at the castle from there. Sadly the church was closed, but we met a guy outside of it who was a volunteer guide. He told us what we would have seen in the church and the history of the church. Then he took us around the graveyard and showed us interesting headstones and told us stories until it started raining again. Then we headed back to the train station and back to Edinburgh.

Thursday we went to Glasgow. When they say Glasgow is more “industrial” than Edinburgh, what that means is run-down and less touristy. Like Birmingham (Alabama), they lost a lot of their industry when manufacturing started to move abroad and when shipbuilding became less popular. By the 1970s it was pretty run-down. They are trying to reinvent the city by bringing in sporting events, artists, etc. Around the universities it seems like they are pretty successful and there is growth. Other areas we walked by still seem pretty closed up and abandoned. They do seem to have a lot of murals up on buildings that make those parts seem a little more vibrant.

We walked to the Glasgow Cathedral but there really wasn’t much there to see. We normally would have stopped at the Victorian Necropolis next to the church that is a major tourist attraction but we really didn’t feel like staying outside that long when we weren’t 100% well. Instead we grabbed a brunch snack and took the train (almost like a tram) two stops to Partick.

I ended up stopping in a shop to buy a hat because I decided I wanted something for the highland winds. I was going to buy a Scottish fair isle one but I could find one with fit and color I liked. So, I ended up buying a super soft Aran patterned merino wool one (yes, I bought something from Ireland in Scotland!).

Next we went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We stayed there until they closed. Half the museum is an art gallery and half natural science and Scottish history. The even have organ concerts at 1 pm.

I had really wanted to try lawn bowling there (apparently a big activity here), but it was raining and we didn’t feel well so we skipped it and headed back to our flat in Edinburgh.

Today we left Edinburgh and headed for the Scottish highlands. But, before we left, we stopped to get David a haircut. They are quite serious about their men’s haircuts in Edinburgh. David is extremely happy with his cut! And I was able to stop and buy a gift for my mom on the way out of town.

The train to Pitlochry was crowded but fun. A group of teenagers were practicing giving speeches a couple of rows up from us. Fun to hear them say silly things like “thousands of hundreds” when they obviously meant it the other way. Scenery was nice and we made it to our B & B before the afternoon rain.

One thing you don’t have to worry about here is seeing things before it gets dark. Currently sunrise is at 4:24 am and sunset is at 10:05 pm. However, even then it is more like dusk than a true sunset. Either you get used to sleeping when it’s light or get a sleep mask!

We ate dinner tonight at the Old Mill Inn. David’s dinner was their special—Chicken Killiecrankie (baked chicken stuffed with haggis)—and it was quite good. I tried the butter chicken curry with basmati rice. My food was equivalent to me trying to make butter chicken curry at home when I don’t quite have all of the ingredients and am approximating it the best I can; however, I at least have basmati rice at home and didn’t try to pass off short-grain white rice as basmati.

After dinner we got some ice cream at the local shop. David had Edradour whiskey ice cream and I had Scottish tablet (which is like crumbly vanilla fudge). Mine was great and David said his wasn’t the best flavor for ice cream. (It was better before they put it in the ice cream, as we found out earlier at the restaurant. Edradour has the smallest historic distillery in Scotland, but unfortunately they’re closed for tours at the moment.)

After that it stopped raining and we went for a walk around town. They were out lawn bowling and we watched them for a while. It’s sort of like bocce ball, but the balls are weighted on one side so they can curve different ways. And you play it on a square grass field that is cut short. (A very nice local man came up and explained it to us.)

So many of the houses had pretty gardens and flowers in bloom. (It’s basically like early spring here.)

David and I were feeling a little under the weather so we took it easy today. First stop was the National Museum of Scotland

Next, we popped in quickly to Greyfriars Church and Graveyard. Next a quick lunch at a cafe on the Royal Mile and then St. Giles Church.

We finished our day with a trip up to the Edinburgh Castle.

Finally David went out to eat near where we are staying…

Today Malcolm and his mom Gillian took us sightseeing all over Edinburgh. We covered all of the Royal Mile (from the Castle to Holyrood Palace), including all of the neat little things off the mile (the Closes). Gillian is a tour guide during the Edinburgh festival so she knew all of the interesting history and neat tidbits. She even took us inside Parliament House, where all of high court cases are tried. It was really neat, but we couldn’t take pictures. After lunch Malcolm took us on a tour of Mary King’s Close (the hidden part of Edinburgh that is buried below some of the modern buildings) and then took us up Calton Hill for views of the city. All in all an excellent day with perfect weather! I got a whopping 21,345 steps in (nearly 8 miles).

Yesterday we traveled to Edinburgh. Along the way we passed many pretty farms and villages along the seaside.

We are staying in the Grassmarket area which is right below (read here: many, many steps up the hill) Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh is an exciting stop for us because it is only 1 of 2 stops where we are meeting anyone we know. In this case it is Malcolm Davidson who lived in the International House with David. As it happened, the day we arrived his wife Noriko was playing in a recorder concert. She plays with the Scottish Recorder Orchestra — see below for a description. It was really interesting to see a full orchestra made up of recorders. They sounded wonderful and it was a lovely way to spend an evening. We also had some excellent Scottish food afterwards with Malcolm and his family (David had his first Haggis meal).

On our way to the concert, we also took a quick tour through the Royal Botanical Gardens.

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Durham, but it was a nice town. The old town is on a craggy hill on the bend of the River Wear. At the top of the hill is Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle.

The Castle is now part of the dormitories for Durham University which is pretty cool. I’d love to live on the top of a hill in a castle! We did go through Durham Cathedral before the concert we attended. It is definitely a Norman Cathedral with the big huge pillars in the aisle with the decorative designs on them.

They also filmed some of the Harry Potter outdoor corridor scenes here and Professor McGonagall’s classroom was the chapter house (not open).

They also had a lot of modern stained glass windows that had been put in during the 21st century. And they also had some old glass as well.

One of the most interesting things we found was that Durham had been allowed to keep their shrine to St. Cuthbert behind the altar. There had been a similar shrine to a different saint at York and they removed it during the reformation. However Durham still had theirs.

Also we found the needlework done by their “broderers,” the women who do all of the embroidery work, was amazing. It was colorful with unique patterns.

We also had really good scones at the Cafedral cafe.

We stayed above a Bar which was an experience. The ladies who ran the bar also cleaned the rooms so I had no idea when they slept. They left us chocolate and earplugs on our pillows since we were sleeping right above the live music. Honestly, we were so tired we just went right to sleep despite the noise. They told us the next day it had been a rough night for them so they kicked the students out early so we (and they) could sleep. They were probably the nicest people we had met on the trip so far. They also had a very distinct accent that was somewhere between Scottish and English.

York is a nice town. The temperature here is a bit warmer than surrounding towns. We did a walking tour of the town in the morning (6/2) which was conducted by a local architect. It was quite enlightening because he talked about all sorts of architectural details that help you figure out the age of a building. Further, he showed us where repairs had been made with cement (which doesn’t have any give) and how they caused cracks, compared to those that had been repaired with lime mortar (which does have some give) that allows these old buildings to move.

After that we got tickets to enter York Minster and climb the tower—only 275 steps, so not nearly as much as St. Paul’s 567, but still a lot. We took the guided tour and learned all about how the cathedral is built on Roman barracks from the time of their occupation. Also, they have more medieval stained glass than any other cathedral. They have some from the original Norman cathedral and some from when they rebuilt it in the 1280s. It’s simply beautiful! And, they just had a major organ refurbishment which cost £2 million and took 4 years to do (5,379 pipes to dismantle and clean). This weekend was the debut of the organ so we were very excited!

This weekend has been one musical event after another for us. First, we went to a Durham University concert on Friday night. It was a showcase of all of the different university ensembles with some Platinum Jubilee music thrown it at the end with combined choirs and orchestras. It was in Durham Cathedral and quite nice (except 2.5 hrs on hard wooden benches was not so great). It was somewhat incongruous and mind-boggling for us to experience a college concert in an 850-year-old Norman cathedral. It’s hard for Americans to imagine that sort of history, but it’s commonplace here.

Then Saturday we went to the Durham University library to see their collection of books from the 1600s. Very much a “happy place” for book lovers like us.

Then we went back to York for the York Minster celebrations. First we went back and toured the undercroft (missed that when we toured the minster). Then we grabbed some tea and late lunch. Next came the Platinum Jubilee evensong service. The Archbishop of York gave the sermon (whole parade of dignitaries there). The sermon was great and he reminded me of Steve West. He was asking how many songs everyone in the UK would know. Then he started singing some and asked the audience to join in if they knew it. He even threw in Hey Jude to see who knew it. He was leading into the National anthem being one everyone would know. Then he talked about the words and how many people didn’t think about the text (very Steve West-ian sermon). It was pretty great! We talked to the archbishop after the sermon and he was super nice—even took selfies with the teenagers with “the big hat” on). This service had the boy choristers and lay clerks singing. They had several anthems that we knew so that was nice. It was interesting to be a part of British history—we were holding service booklets similar to the one from the Diamond Jubilee we had seen in the undercroft museum.

After quickly grabbing a snack, we got back in line at York Minster for the Platinum Jubilee Gala concert. It was apparently the first time two associate choirs (Chapter House Choir and the Ebor Singers) had performed together. Combined, they were quite powerful and blended well with the great organ. [As a side note, this concert was also highlighting their recently refurbished organ—simply magnificent at everything from quiet, ethereal sounds, to floor-shaking rumbles. To be fair, it takes a massive organ to fill such a massive space.] The concert included obvious favorites like Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” and “Hallelujah” (we found it odd that no one stood up for that), with a historical journey through a variety of British music. We heard Purcell and Gibbons (lively a cappella pieces); Britten (one solitary lady stood for his arrangement of the National Anthem—others eventually joined her) and Vaughan Williams (including “The Old Hundredth” that our church choir has done); pieces by former York Minster music directors Francis Jackson (who died this year at age 104) and Philip Moore (who still sings with the Ebor Singers); and much newer pieces by Judith Weir and Thomas Hewitt Jones (who wrote “In Our Service” especially for the Platinum Jubilee). The very fitting finale was Parry’s “I Was Glad.” It was all glorious, but we had to bolt immediately to catch our train back to Durham. We hope to attend the Matins service tomorrow morning before we head up to Edinburgh.

Today we took a guided tour of the Yorkshire Moors and the seaside town of Whitby.

Yesterday we took a Mad Max tour (recommended by Rick Steves) to Stonehenge, Avebury, and the Cotswolds. It was an all-day tour on a little mini-bus. First stop was Stonehenge (before all the big tour busses got there). It was interesting to see just how big the stones are compared to other stone circles.

Next we headed toward Avebury but stopped to see two of the white horses carved on the hillside. These horses are only several hundred years old, so somewhat modern. But still no one knows why they were carved in the hillside. Apparently there is chalk underlying the Salisbury plain which you can easily expose if you remove the topsoil layer. Same chalk as the cliffs of Dover. Apparently it makes very fertile soil. That plus quartz flint (to make arrowheads) is why early people settled here.

Next stop was Avebury. It’s so much larger than Stonehenge. It has a village in the middle of it. We only saw about 1/4 of the stones in our time there. There are still huge embankments all the way around that they dug by hand.

Next we traveled to the Cotswolds where lots of films are made. In the village of Lacock they filmed some Harry Potter scenes, some Downton Abbey, some of the original Dr Doolittle, and some 1917. The family who owned most of the town gave it over to the National Trust in 1944, so the houses (built from the 13th—17th centuries) can’t be modified, which makes it a perfect setting for period films.

Last village was Castle Combe. They filmed some of Warhorse there. It’s very picturesque. Apparently they tore down the Castle long ago but left the manor house which is now a swanky hotel. They have a 100+ year old giant sequoia planted in the lawn for some reason (Victorians and their specimen trees) and it’s thriving.

When we got back into town we went to eat at The Circus. David had rabbit and pancetta pie and he said the pastry crust was amazing. We both loved the tiny book for desserts (or puddings).

Today we took the train to York. Actually we took the train part way there and got off in Birmingham to switch trains to York. So, we can say we went to Birmingham on our vacation if only for 30 minutes or so! When we got to York we settled into our Airbnb, then decided to go watch Downton Abbey at the theater next door (literally across the street from where we are staying). Tiny theater (we had to reserve our couch) but fun to watch a British movie with British people! And they had a full menu of food you could order and they’d bring it to you during the previews. We had hamburgers and fries (their in-house restaurant is called Spielburgers).

We started our Bath experience (5/28) with a guided walking tour of Bath. This was fun because it was “mayor-making day” which is the day they install the new mayor at Bath Abbey. This led to lots of bell ringing at the abbey. Apparently they are going to try for a full peal of more than 5,000 changes of Cambridge Surprise Royal (3.5 hours of change ringing) next weekend for the platinum jubilee celebration.

We saw many sights in the city. It’s very unique in that the architecture is very uniform. They decided they wanted to be the new Rome of the north so they built all of the buildings with Limestone using Palladian architecture from the 1700s onward. So, the town has a very distinct vibe from that. However, as our guide pointed out, only the fronts of the buildings have to be uniform. The backs can vary. Kinda cool. Then we toured the Roman Baths.

After that we had dinner at Sally Lunn’s famous restaurant and then watched a play called Crimes at Centre Court. It was a hilarious play about murder at a famous tennis tournament (Whombledun) which had every tennis pun you could imagine. There were 4 actors who played all the parts which involved them doing tons of quick changes and set moving. It was great!

Today (5/29) we went to church at Bath Abbey. It was a wonderful service. It was a nice blend of 17th century music and modern music. It’s fun to see what parts are the same as our service (like the first paragraph of the Eucharist is the same as ours). I’m always impressed at how global the church is in their focus. They prayed for Christians on the right and left in America debating gun control and for the families in Texas. The sermon was all about how divided Christianity is into different viewpoints and denominations and how we need to come together as Christians and focus on what unifies us. We talked to the minister afterwards and told him how much it resonated with us given the issues confronting the United Methodist Church. He said the Church of England was dealing with similar issues.

We also talked some with the lady who was sitting in front of us in church. She complimented our singing. Turns out she’s an MP (Member of Parliament) representing Bath, although she’s originally from Germany and has family in the town Moritz is from.

Otherwise we had any easy day today. We walked to the botanical gardens and then came back to our apartment and read some. David did buy a couple of books yesterday since they looked fun to read.

Then we ate at Yak Yeti Yak — a Nepalese restaurant. Interesting food! Tomorrow we tour Stonehenge, so that will be fun!

The last two days we have been in Cornwall. It was an amazing experience! When we first got in we just walked around Penzance some to explore. We walked along the harbor to the next little town of Newlyn, Then we ate at a fancy restaurant.

Penzance

Driving in Cornwall was an experience. David had to quickly learn to drive on the left and do roundabout after roundabout. We’ve learned that the A roads consistently have 2 real lanes (like Church Ave). These are awesome! B roads sometimes have 2 real lanes, sometimes have 2 lanes that aren’t quite wide enough, have 2 lanes where parking is allowed on one side (usually randomly alternating sides), or sometimes go down to 1 lane around an old house, a narrow section in town, over a bridge, or around sharp corners. These are the okay roads that keep you on your toes but do generally allow you to pass people going the opposite direction as long as you are patient and take turns. The other lanes make our our driveway look wide and spacious. One lane, blind corners, and only a few sporadic places that you could pull over to let someone pass. Most of the time it involves one person backing up to the last lay to let someone pass. A bit harrowing! At least not many people drive those roads so you don’t come across many people. It’s just roads that go to centuries old farmhouses. But David did great and didn’t hit anything (other than lots of bushes that were sticking out). We drove 164 miles and it only cost us 25£ to fill up the gas tank (not quite 4 gallons of gas). Basically 4 gallons for $32 ($8/gal), but that’s about 40 mi/gal. So, not bad for a day’s adventure!

Legend of King Arthur at Tintagel Castle (Penawith Peninsula, Penzance, Arthur Pendragon, get it?) Site of his legendary birth

Ancient Sites

Next we headed off to see the ancient sites of Cornwall. They are littered with them all over farmer’s fields. The descriptions for finding them are things like, “The road goes past the turning to Lamora valley and then about a half mile further on, the stone circle can be found in a field on the south side of the road” (Merry Maidens). Or for Sancreed Well, “When you get to Sancreed Beacon there is a lay-by where cars can be parked. A few yards farther on, on the opposite side of the road, a permissive path leads to the well.” Or my favorite, “Lanyon Quoit is located on relatively low-lying land close to Lanyon Farm. A stile leads across a Cornish hedge and the Quoit is a few yards further on.” That one we drove by twice before we found it. These all date from 2500-1500 BC. They are super cool to see and explore. We saw 2 other people at Lanyon Quoit and 2 headed toward Carn Euny as we left, otherwise there was no one else! Of course this is good when you try to drive and the roads are barely wide enough for 1 car.

Cornish countryside from the train

We had a 4.5 hour train ride today, so lots of time to stare out the window! Next stop Bath!

Today was mainly a travel day going from the Southeast of England to the Southwest. Of course this meant going back through London to change trains (no trains run along the southern coast). But, this meant we could ride on the new Elizabeth (purple) subway line on the day it opened.

When we arrived in Exeter we had a little downtime to relax. Then we toured Exeter Cathedral, walked around town, and then went to evensong. They were very friendly at the cathedral and talked to us. The boy choristers were super fidgety, but otherwise it was a nice service. Unfortunately the organist didn’t play the big organ. (They used a small portable pipe organ near the choir.) David was sad because he wanted to hear the big pipes (their biggest is a 36 ft pipe). We also saw where the cathedral was bombed on one side during WWII but they had repaired it.

Nice town. More graffiti than I’ve seen elsewhere. Big community college right in the middle of town which is interesting. Not as nice as Canterbury in my book but the people are definitely very nice. Tomorrow on to Cornwall and Penzance.

Today was cold and wet. Our first attempt at trying out the rain gear. (1) Waterproof jacket? For a while, but eventually it got wet through. But not too bad. More like damp through. (2) Waterproofed backpack (2 layers of camp dry). Not a chance. Wet all they way through. Not a problem except that I thought it’d be a good idea to bring fudge in paper bags. What happened? Hint: paper disintegrates when wet. (3) Waterproof shoes? YES!!!! Even walking through puddles and muck all day. Traction with said shoes? Good on asphalt and gravel. Not great on brick, cobblestones, and algae-covered rocks. (4) Wet pants that are supposed to dry quickly? Yes! So, we are very happy with most of our clothing. I only wish the bag had stayed dryer. But at least we weren’t the crazy kids hiking in white tennis shoes! Or a mini skirt and black flats…. Where did we go? To Dover!

After conquering some of the trail along the cliff edge, we walked the 2 miles back along the cliffs, all the way to the bottom, and then hiked back up to the top of the hill in town to see Dover Castle. There were tunnels built when they were afraid Napoleon was going to invade that were expanded in WWI and WWII to protect England since Dover to Calais is the shortest channel crossing. We saw all about Dunkirk. We also learned a lot about Henry II’s medieval castle.

All told it was a long day of walking! Wet but not too bad. Hit a new high with the step count (more than 10 miles today). Definitely going to bed early! On to Exeter tomorrow.

P.S. Reason #14 why Canterbury is awesome… they have a creepy castle that is closed to the public because it’s falling down, but you can still get into it and look around.

We made our train to Canterbury with 2 minutes to spare. Time to ride Southeast out of town. No more crowded city streets, crammed underground (yes we wore masks on the subway), and tables in restaurants crammed right up next to your neighbor. I might or might not miss you…we will see!

So far I like Canterbury the best. There are several superficial and several non-superficial (couldn’t think of the word that means the opposite of superficial) reasons for this. (1) There is a high speed train that comes here so we zipped along today on the Southeastern line instead of plodded. (2a) Canterbury Cathedral is amazing!

(2b) The church service just felt right. Felt like home. We could live here. (3) The people sitting across from us in the quire stalls at evensong were actually participating in the service (instead of looking bored and ignoring the church service like at St. Paul’s). (4) Augustine was here! Can I count it as a work trip since we talk about him in my History of Psych class? (5) The organist practiced while we were in the cathedral touring it.

(6) The church bells ring for half an hour before evensong (continuously)!

(7) The regional accent here is much nicer and fun to listen to. (8) There are more medieval buildings here than Stratford-Upon-Avon.

(9) It’s a walled city. Super cool! (10) We have an actual hotel room in a cute medieval inn (e.g., the floor was vacuumed before our arrival). We are no longer camping/slumming it in our cheap London accommodations!

Today was our last day in London. First stop was Hampton Court Palace home of Henry VIII. This was a short train ride out of the city (our first visit to the Waterloo station and riding on the Southwestern Railways).

After that we came back into town and went back to the British Museum to “finish” (ha ha, 5 hours total isn’t enough to see everything there!)

Next we ate at a lovely French restaurant where I had the best beef bourguignon that I’d ever had. Then we attended the performance of Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap. Full theatre, even after it’s been showing for 70 years!

London is quite a nice city. Kensington (where we are at) reminds me of the DuPont Circle area of Washington DC (probably because we are surrounded by small embassies). The buildings aren’t so tall in London that you feel overwhelmed like in NYC. It’s more like Boston in that respect, but even more walkable than Boston. I am going to miss the Underground for transportation since it is so convenient. And we are missing the grand opening of the new Elizabeth line by 2 days (but we’ve seen the signs and entrances for it). Tomorrow we head to Canterbury!

Normally it is David who is clumsy, but thus far on the trip it’s been me. I’ve dropped my fork during brunch, then a few minutes later dropped bacon and syrup on it. I tried to steal a spoonful of ice cream from David and dropped it on my vest. Today I was eating a steak and ale pie and dropped a big piece on the floor at Hampton Court Palace…then I ate if off the floor because I was so hungry…. I worry that David might think I’m some sort of uncouth barbarian. David, on the other hand, has been graceful and helpful (we understand the underground system well enough now after a week that David is now guiding lost tourists). Such a good boy scout! He’s also been much better than me about being assertive and asking for the check.

Since it was rainy today, we decided to do a museum day. We started at the National Gallery. We spent many hours enjoying beautiful paintings by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Botticelli, Monet, Van Gogh, Canaletto, Degas, Van Dyck, Delacroix, Pissarro, Turner, etc.

Next we went to lunch at a wonderful Indian restaurant. David had the Pudina Ghosht (mint lamb curry) and I had chicken tikka masala. His was really good!

Next we saw the Sir John Soane Museum (archeology hoarder).

Finally we ended the day with the British Museum. The best part was seeing the treasures from Sutton Hoo since we had recently watched a Netflix movie about that. Also had a cool exhibit about the evolution of clocks. We ended up running out of time here and will try to come back tomorrow.

First stop today (5/19) was the Tower of London. We listened to the Yeomen Warden and learned all sorts of interesting facts. For example he does live on the premises but still has to pay rent because all members of the royal household, save the queen, have to pay a percentage of their income in rent. We also learned which queens were beheaded there and others who were imprisoned and/or tortured there (e.g., Sir Walter Raleigh). My mom said there was a good PBS program that talked about the Tower and the evidence as whether the two princes that were held there actually died there.

Next we walked along the Thames down to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We sprang for the cathedral tour before evensong. I somehow convinced David to climb the 520 steps up to the top of the dome. Amazing views, but it was a lot of circular steps (not to mention the 250+ steps at the Tower earlier in the day). Thus we climbed 1300+ steps that day! David thinks I’m trying to kill him!

Evensong was interesting again. The same but different from the others. Same format, but a little less formal with the seating. We got to sit in the Quire but it actually made the service a bit disjointed because the choir and organ were more directed toward the nave so we were behind them which distorted the sound dome. The choir was all male with counter-tenors. They were very strong voiced (only 12 but they filled the cathedral). We heard the organist practicing for Sunday during our earlier tour, so David was happy to hear more organ snippets. We still liked the format and inclusiveness of Westminster the best and the choir from King’s College obviously can’t really be topped. This is our last London evensong but we will be in Canterbury on Sunday. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain so that will be our museum day.

Today we visited Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s family home, and the site of the house William and Anne bought after he became successful. We also visited Trinity church where Shakespeare and Anne are buried. Beyond the history of the town, it’s just a nice community. We met a guy who talked to us for a while because he was admiring David’s shoes. We also walked along the river and took pictures of trees and walked various public footpaths through town. The only downside is that David appears to be slightly allergic to the countryside and small bugs bit his legs all over (but not me). Tomorrow is a bit shorter travel to Cambridge. [Bugs didn’t get Heidi, but a nettle did. But it was still a fun day! -D]

Our Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets were for 1:00 and 6:00, so we planned the day with brunch and early dinner. We took the Tube to Covent Garden and ate at Bill’s restaurant. David said the tea was excellent and I loved the pressed juice. We got to try the full British breakfast. We agreed that the baked beans were just okay but we both liked the black pudding. It was sort of like a sausage patty but sweeter. David liked the smoked sausage because he said it was milder than our breakfast sausages.

We stopped by the Agatha Christie memorial and then saw St. Martin’s theatre where her play Mousetrap has been playing for more than 70 years. Of course we stopped and bought tickets for Saturday’s performance!

Then we arrived for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 1. It was amazing! They used lots of magic tricks to make the special effects work so there were tons of quick changes for transformations. They had rolling staircases that moved all over the stage. They had cool fire effects when they were shooting spells at each other. They even had dementors flying over the audience. It was so well done with really captivating lighting and sound. I mean there were bunches of 8-10 kids in the audience and they were spellbound for 5 hours so you know it was captivating!

We had Thai food for our early supper between shows because we knew it would be quick. Then we shared some ice cream (scoop of Biscoff and scoop of Speculoos with chocolate shards) which was amazing. We still had a bit of time to kill so we went back to a bookstore we had found earlier and I bought a signed copy of the book below and some magnetic bookmarks of London Tube stations. Also, when we were walking along all of the fashionable shops I saw a Carhartt store and couldn’t stop laughing. Apparently what are considered rough and tumble work clothes from the tractor supply store in the USA are considered fashionable clothes here!

Scary Voldemort signs abound in the theatre before Part 2 started.

Overall a great day! Tomorrow we head to Stratford-Upon-Avon to get our Shakespeare fix!

Our flight was uneventful. We left on time and had no problems, other than the lady in the row in front of us being very needy. We had upgraded to the premium seats which means that we had a little more leg room and wider seats. Plus we got preflight champagne and real silverware with dinner. We circled over London a few times and I got some city pictures.

When we arrived we took the train into town and then killed a couple of hours in Kensington Park waiting for it to be late enough to check in. We met a nice couple from Oregon who had just gotten off a cruise. David got to identify many of the trees and birds in the park with his phone apps. It was sunny and warm so I think half of London was in the park. We saw kids playing soccer and rugby, a ballerina practicing her routine, and lots of sunbathers. One thing we noticed was that the dogs of London are well behaved. None were on a leash in the park, but they all trotted right behind their owners and didn’t run off, even with lots of other dogs around.

After check-in in our “not quite camping level” apartment (it’s tiny and old and not very clean, but cheap), we went to Kensington Palace then Westminster Abbey for evensong. Evensong was amazing. We sat between the choir/organ and altar and loved the service. It was a wonderfully moving experience.

After we walked to Buckingham Palace where they are preparing for the Platinum Jubilee.

Then ate dinner a Georgian restaurant. I had pear lemonade and David got a Georgian beer. Excellent food in a tiny hole in the wall restaurant.

Tomorrow we see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 & 2 (5 hrs of performances)!

Today was our last day before our trip. I had planned to do a deeper dive on the housekeeping, but David suggested that we do a little tree trimming before we left. Before the tornado we occasionally took walks on our property, but I wouldn’t say that we knew it intimately. Since the tornado, I can now say that we know every square inch of our land and we are deeply invested in the growth of every plant and tree. We check to see their growth progress. We pull vines out of their limbs (we can now name all of the vines that grow wild in our woods). We marvel at the shade that is covering areas that were bare last summer. Together we marvel at the regenerative powers of nature.

All of this reminds me (Heidi) of summers as a teenager. We lived on a cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon. My summer job was to do the flood irrigation for the hay fields. Thus, in the mornings I would go out, usually barefoot, to walk along the ditches. A flood irrigation dam is a 2×4 that is about 6 ft long with a piece of plastic tarp wrapped around it 5 or 6 times and then trailing out 6 ft or so. When I placed the dam in the ditch I would try to find the perfect spot where the water would flow out of the ditch until the area of the field that needed to be watered when I dammed it up. I’d place it in the ditch and then put medium sized rocks along the bottom to hold the plastic tarp down in the bottom so the water wouldn’t flow under the tarp. Then I would put rocks behind the 2×4 to keep it from getting knocked downstream by the force of the water. Then more rocks to fan the tarp out on the sides to direct the water where I wanted it. Then I would walk but upstream to the previous dam to remove it. I would have to wade out into the water that was knee to thigh deep in the ditch and remove the rocks on the bottom and sides to take out that dam. Then I would move that one further downstream to set up for the next release. Then I’d check on the dam I’d just set up to see if the dam was holding or leaking and if the water was going where it needed to go. If not I’d have to redo the dam which was always much harder with the full force of the water hindering my attempts to sink a piece of plastic tarp and dam up a fast moving stream. I’d keep working through the fields until I’d done all of my dams. Then I’d play in the creek (in the guise of checking on the main dam that diverted the water onto our fields) and ride my horse. Or I’d read a book under the trees. Then in the afternoon I’d do it all over again moving the dams down another dozen yards. So, I guess that’s why I love being outside in nature. Or at least sitting on the screened porch listening to our wind chimes and reading a good book…

We are packed and ready to go! Got our pre-trip haircuts yesterday. One day left for house cleaning and last minute items…

As you can tell from my previous posts, I enjoy the Rick Steves travel books. I also belong to the Rick Steves Facebook page. However, there is one thing that I just can’t wrap my head around — it’s the whole packing light thing. All of the people who follow Rick’s philosophy suggest to just pack a few things (a carry-on worth). They say to buy what you need (shampoo, toothpaste, etc.) when you get there. But, if you buy it there and you have a full carry-on, where are you supposed to put it all? And if you need another bag to carry the stuff you bought there, why don’t you just check your bag and bring what want? Then I can pick shampoo and toothpaste I know I like. And as far as rewearing clothes, I’m all for taking enough clothes for 7 days, but I don’t want to be like some of these people who only take 2 pairs of underwear and wash it in the sink each night. Who wants to be constantly washing things every night? And I’d rather have some variety. I honestly don’t want to wear the same 3 shirts for 3 months. And I also don’t want to have to go searching for the type of contact solution David needs. It’s just easier to take the 4 bottles with us. Then as we use it we gain room for souvenirs. End of rant…

I am apparently worried that we won’t have anywhere to eat while we travel, so I’ve been making lots of reservations…

So most of my calendar days look like this. I have places to visit along with dinner (and sometimes lunch) reservations.

Plus, I might be a bit worried about getting stranded there with COVID and no place to stay. So, I booked a hotel for the week AFTER we leave, just in case they don’t let us on the plane. I can cancel it up to our flight time…

Everyone asks me if we are doing a tour or going on our own. The answer is definitely on our own. I’m a bit of a control freak. I like to have things planned like a tour, but I want to be the one doing the planning. I also very carefully tread the line between totally planning everything and leaving a little room for spontaneity. That is, I want dinner reservations at trendy restaurants in London, tickets for main attractions, etc. He is our abbreviated itinerary.

England – May 14-June 4

London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cambridge, Oxford, Hampton Court, Canterbury, Dover, Exeter, Penzance, Bath, York, and Durham

Scotland – June 5-June 28

Edinburgh, Stirling, Glasgow, Pitlochry, Inverness, Glencoe, Isle of Skye, Isle of Harris, Isle of Lewis, Ullapool, Orkney Islands, St. Andrews

England Again – June 30-July 2

Hawes and Yorkshire Dales

Wales – July 2-July 7

Betws-y-Coed and Snowdonia National Park

Ireland – July 7-August 9

Dublin, Corrofin, Belfast (we will do lots of day trips here, but this is the least structured part of our trip).