Making Our Way Through the UK!

Walking along the River Thames and admiring the Tower Bridge.

The next stop on our adventure was the United Kingdom! We packed in as many sights and museums as our feet could handle. Though we came back to London multiple times we took the opportunity to explore as much of the out-of-the-way sites as we could. It was nice to see a bit of the UK that wasn't bustling with cars, double-decker buses, and a constantly rising skyline. London has lots to offer but for us it just felt a little too similar to what we are used to and didn't have much of the charm of the old picturesque European city we both had hoped for.

Two iconic London sites: Big Ben and the classic red telephone booth.

One of my favorites at the Tate Modern - Pete Mondrian's Composition C (No.III) with Red,Yellow and Blue.
Best thing in the whole museum in my opinion!

Tower of London where we got to see the Crown Jewels, the Royal Guard and plenty of armor (including a big sword!)

    

Some of the amazing things from the British Museum. Other highlights included: The Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra (as in her actual mummy) and Bog Man. Matt underestimated the size of this one and we packed the whole thing in one day (future planners...one day is not enough!)

We then took the next couple days and headed off to meet Matt's friend Tom, who Matt worked with in Japan, and his girlfriend Kate to visit their college stomping grounds of Oxford. 

An Oxford periodic cab...it only comes periodically!

Tom and Kate enjoying the flowers.

We got a behind-the-scenes insider tour of the town and even got to go inside of both of the colleges they attended.

They showed us all the fun pubs, bookstores, and sites of the filming of Harry Potter too.

One of the best places by far was the botanical garden. We ate a picnic lunch and watched the gondolas on the river. We were hoping for one of the tourists who didn't have a clue what they were doing to fall in...but unfortunately for us they all remained dry and standing within their boats. We followed that with  a scoop of homemade Oxford ice cream.

For all you Philip Pullman fans, we also found Lyra's Bench. 

Tom and Kate helped us to experience our first crumpet.
Both Matt and I agree that it tasted very much like an English muffin (since that is really what it was) but don't say that to the English. We had a long heated conversation about the difference between a crumpet and an English muffin as they both wholeheartedly insisted that they are very different.

Then all four of us headed off to explore the beautiful city of Bath.

 

The Roman Baths

It was neat to see the ancient Roman architecture and engineering in the middle of Britain.

We then said goodbye to Tom and Kate and headed off to the British countryside to see Stonehenge and Salisbury.

Marveling at the ancient site that is Stonehenge. Everyone told us that it wouldn't be worth the trip out to it but in fact it was one of our favorite things we saw in the UK!

I didn't make it up Salisbuy Hill but instead went to the breathtaking Salisbury Cathedral where we got to see the best preserved copy of the Magna Carta. I'll count that as crossing off #54 on the bucket list!

The oldest still functioning clock in the world is inside the cathedral (this one is for you, Bill and Bob!)

We then headed off to stay with Philip, a coworker of Matt's, and his family at their lovely home in the small town of Penrith, nested in Britain's beautiful Lake District.

When we first arrived in Penrith, Philip and his family took us on a senic tour of the area, stopped by Lowther Castle (above) and even made us a lovely home-cooked dinner.

We took the Ulls-Water Steamer boat, the Lady of the Lake
built in 1877, across Ulls-Water Lake.

Philip and his family made sure to show us all the local tasty sites, including "The Toffee Shop" - approved by the Royal Family, the #4 ranked fish and chip shop in the UK, and we even hit the Lounge Bar where we had Mese and Sticky Toffee Pudding (which Philip wasn't allowed to have much to his disappointment).

We climbed up 1100ft to the top of Hallien Fell overlooking Ulls-Water Lake. Beautiful! What a view! 

And we finished the hike with tea and sandwiches! 

The next day they took us to Keswick where I got to see a jellybean mosaic of the Beatles!

We made sure to eat a few Scott pies as well.

We then said goodbye to Philip and his family and headed off for a few days in Edinburgh. Little did I know how absolutely amazing Scotland would be. It is defiantly on my list of places I want to go back to and explore more. We did not spend nearly enough time there.

We were also surprised to find that Edinburgh has a month long festival every August called the Fringe Festival where the city is overrun by street performers, comedians, theater and happenings all throughout the town at all hours of the day. 

We walked up and down the Royal Mile, saw the Edinburgh Castle (from the outside...I was a little burnt-out on museums at that point to go inside), saw some tweed shops, and even had a very spirited conversation with a feisty old Scott in an antique store. 

At one point Matt and I stopped to watch a street clown and he even pulled me out of the audience to participate in his show.  During the evening we saw some locally produced theater and even got to talk one-on-one with the actors.  We even saw a magic show that night as well. 

The Strange and Young magic show finale.

Making sure to appreciate to local music!

This one is for Brian.
We even found Snoopy's long lost Scottish brother!

Sleeping away on the porch!

We then took a dreadful overnight bus from Edinburgh back to London. At the time we booked it we though it would be a good cheap way to back to the city without missing out on a full day by being on the train. Needless to say that didn't work out! We didn't sleep a wink. So when we got to Alice and Anton's place, our next couchsurfing hosts, I was in great need of a nap. I have to say I have never slept better in a yard chair with a snuggie mid-day in all my life! Best nap ever!

Alice and Anton were great hosts and made the second half of our stay in London even better than the first! During the day Matt and I hit up some more of Britian's amazing museums including the National Gallery, the V&A, and the Natural History Museum. In the evening we enjoyed dinner at the Dove Pub, walks along the River Themes, and tried Pimm's with our hosts!

One of the best things we did was to see Shakespeare's The Tempest at the Globe Theater. It was by far the best play I have ever seen, and that is no lie! We had standing tickets and I never even noticed my feet hurting at all (It was a three hour play by the way). Standing in the Globe was the way Shakespeare's plays were made to be seen. It was spectacular!

Seeing The Tempest at Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

Heading off to Hogwarts at Kings Cross Station

Then before we left London for good we made sure to stop by Kings Cross Station to get a glimpse of the ever so famous Platform 9 3/4. 

Thanks for the fun times England...next stop Paris!