Seriously… Scotland is amazing! Around every bend in the road is something else I want to stop to take pictures of. Today I drove along the shores of Caribbean blue Loch Torridon and the Inner Sound, drove across the third highest road in Scotland, and visited one of the most photographed castles in the world.
I finally made it to Scotland! My first impression is that I’m going to fall in love with Scotland as easily as I fell in love with Ireland. It’s that spectacular. But let’s rewind to last night. I went to bed at 7 (early even for me) and woke up wide awake at 11. After an hour of tossing and turning and watching some British television (which has a surprisingly large number of American shows; I watched Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives), I finally fell back to sleep until 6AM when my cell phone alarm went off. I never wake up to an alarm, but I’m thankful I set it last night!
First things first. I am not in Scotland (yet). I’m in London. After what has to have been my worst travel experience to date, I am spending the night at a mediocre airport hotel close to Heathrow. Oh, you want to hear the story? Don’t mind if I do…
Today’s the day. In a few short hours, I’ll be on my way across the pond again for a long-awaited two-week visit to northern Scotland. I wasn’t supposed to be going to Scotland this summer. I had long been planning on a trip to Germany and Austria for this year’s summer vacation. But upon the suggestion of a stranger on TripAdvisor last summer, I started looking at pictures of the Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides online. It was one of those times where my heart made the decision before my mind had a chance to catch up. I knew without a doubt I would be heading to Scotland after seeing those pictures and reading about this remote part of the world. And I never doubted my decision. After waiting until I was reasonably sure we wouldn’t be having any more snow days, I booked the trip. Then, of course, we had two more snow days. Good thing I left myself a few days’ cushion after the end of the school year! Continue reading
The final day in London. On the agenda for today were the Portobello Road Market and the Feast of St. George. I had my last hotel breakfast (I’m not a fan of British style scrambled eggs – too mushy for me) and checked out around 10AM. Repacking my suitcase took less time than I was expecting. And I managed to find the piece of fudge I bought in Cambridge! I left my luggage at the hotel and set out for Notting Hill to explore the market. I had plenty of company as I crept my way up Portobello Road. The market is roughly divided into sections covering antiques, new goods, food, etc. Plus, there are shops lining both sides of the road to stop into. My only purchase was a custard-filled donut from the same woman I bought one from last time I was there. One thing I will say about British sweets: none of them are overly sweet. The donut was good, but left me wishing I had stopped for a scone instead. Once I got to the end of the market, I wove my way back down Kensington Park Road to the tube. Along the way, I peeked into several of the neighborhood gardens, almost all of which require a resident key to enter. They were every bit as beautiful as the one Hugh Grant and Julia Robert’s climbed into in “Notting Hill”.
So… I saw the president this morning. Of course, that’s not what I set out to do today. But expected rain and colder temperatures put a bit of a damper on my original plans for the day (pun very much intended!). My original plan was to do a day trip to Rye. I was looking forward to wandering quiet streets, exploring the town, and enjoying afternoon tea. I knew a couple of days ago that the trip probably wouldn’t happen and was having trouble coming up with an alternate plan. Honestly, I would have been happy if I had been flying back to Boston today instead of tomorrow.
Rule Britannia! Today was the Queen’s 90th birthday, and while there weren’t many celebrations in London to mark the occasion, I did get to hear the 41-gun salute in Hyde Park while I was touring Kensington Palace. Today was also the day I decided I’m all set with the city and ready to go home. It’s not that I’m ready for vacation to be over, I’m just tired of the crowds of people everywhere and city life in general. I keep thinking back to last year’s April trip to the Cotswolds and wishing I had planned something similar this year…
“Do you hear the people sing?” I woke up this morning with absolutely no plans for the day and ended up taking a walk through Hampstead this morning before seeing Les Misérables this afternoon… it was a good day in London!
I spent the day in Cambridge today. I was looking forward to a fun day out of London, but I hate to admit I didn’t love Cambridge. What I did love was my afternoon tea in Grantchester (more about that later). I left my hotel around 8:30 AM and got to King’s Cross Station around 9:15. Plenty of time to buy my ticket and find the correct platform. I’m not a Harry Potter fan, but I did manage to snap a couple of photos at Platform 9 ¾. The train ride to Cambridge takes about 45 minutes on the fast train, and then it’s about a 20 minute walk into the city from the station. (You may be noticing a theme of a lot of walking in this trip!)
It was “freezing”, cloudy, and windy this morning, so I probably didn’t enjoy my walking tour of Greenwich as much as I otherwise would have. Greenwich is one of the parts of London I haven’t visited before, and was on my short list of must-dos this time. I decided to take another London Walks tour so I would be able to learn more about what I was seeing. The tour didn’t start until 10:30, so I had some time to walk around Westminster and the Tower Hill area before meeting up with the tour group.
Traveling with Laura 