7/6

On the plane to depart Heathrow for JFK. Everything went smoothly from the drive out of Cricklade to check-in and security. Emily got a random pat down at security, and I got a pat down and bag search in the gangway. They were very minor delays. We left the hotel at 8:30AM and were in the terminal, through security by 11AM, boarding time 11:45.

On-time departure from the gate @ 12:45PM. There are monitors in the headrests which the kids are loving.

1:10PM» There is evidently trash on the runway resulting in a 20 minute delay to remove it and clear the runway for use again.

1:35PM» Moving again, getting ready to take off.

1:40PM» Evidently there’s some sort of alarm going off in the flight deck–they’re checking it out with maintenance in Atlanta.

1:47PM» Cleared for take off–alarm was evidently related to GPS system.

4:00PM ET» Flying over Long Island, approved for landing.

4:35PM ET» Two different problems getting to the gate delayed us 15 minutes. Just now getting to gates. Also didn’t have gate staff ready.

8:53PM ET» It took a little bit longer than expected getting through customs (man with 3 wives and 3 kids in front of us) and security, but we got to our gate 5 minutes before scheduled departure. Had enough time to fill water bottles, use toilets, and buy a sandwich before we started boarding. We were boarded and ready for on-time departure, but evidently the runways were packed due to weather problems in other parts of the country. We waited a while at the gate (30-40 minutes?) then waited in a very long line of planes. Finally took off around 8PM, 90 minutes late. At this stage we should be touching down in Columbus at 9:20-9:30.

[That was my last entry in the journal that I carried through most of our vacation. I didn't write as frequently as I'd hoped, but there were some days that we came back to the hotel room and just crashed--too tired to think about writing. Fortunately we've got more pictures than we know what to do with, and a bunch of video thanks to Anne and her Flip. Three weeks in Europe. It really was the trip of a lifetime, and I'm glad we were able to do it. It was epic.]

7/1 continued

[Written 7/4] We ventured [i.e. drove for half a day] into North Wales on 7/1, and thus began our decent into vacation fatigue. We arrived at the Fairy Falls Hotel in Trefriw and were immediately worried by the squishy floors and the almost terrible dinner. We were really worried. We were also low on clean clothes [we hadn't done laundry since Germany] and were dismayed at what we found in nearby Llanrwst. [The "laundro-mat" was really another motel's laundry facility with sheets filling the dryers and no prices listed. We were resigned to take our laundry on the next day to a local dry cleaners who would do laundry by the pound. We were pretty stressed at this point.]

7/2

[Written 7/4]  At breakfast, we told Debbie [one of the owners of Fairy Falls] of our plan to take our clothes to the drycleaners and pay them by the pound to do our laundry. She insisted on doing a bag (we gave her two plus detergent), then hung it out to dry. When we got home, the clothes were clean and dry in our room. She made it possible for us to enjoy this day rather than waste it (or money) on laundry. Debbie saved this day for us.

We ventured up to Conwy, visiting the castle and exploring the town and water front. Tide was going out while we were there causing the river to go from very wide to little more than 50 feet across. Boats were all sitting on the muddy bottom. On they quay there was a “European” festival with some fun food vendors and other interesting crafts.

[it seems like I could have written a good bit more about this day, but that's a hazard of writing the entry a couple of days later. For example, we took a fun boat tour up the river, and could notice a difference in the tide from the time we went out to the time we returned. Also, we ate dinner at the Galleon, and I was getting a little tired of Fish & Chips. In fact, I didn't want chips (fries) at all. But just look at this menu--only one item doesn't come with chips.]

7/3

[Written 7/4] We started the day by taking the kids up the river by the hotel to the namesake Fairy Falls. While we were looking at the falls, Anne tried to pull some trash from the water, slipped, and fell in. She had a small cut on her finder, bruised her hip, and dropped the Flip into the water. It sat in the water for 3-4 minutes before we realized it. (We let the Flip dry out for a day and then it worked fine).

After Anne changed, we headed out, stopped by Dolbadarn Castle, then onto the Isle of Anglesey. After lunch, we went to Beaumaris, visited the castle, and hung out quay-side.

After Beaumaris, we went to the southern tip of Anglesey to a beach new Niwbwrch. Again, it was low tide and the beach sand was amazing–easily 1/4 mile of beach was exposed at low tide, and we could walk another 200 meters in the water before it got above our knees. The North Wales mountains were in the background, making for another incredibly scenic beach evening.

We headed home not knowing where to eat. We stopped at an inn close to the beach and all ordered Chicken Tikka Masala. It took forever for the food to arrive, but when it did, it was amazing.

7/4

Today we toured the woolen mill in Trefriw, then found a very old church nearby. We went to the Snowdon Mountain Railway hoping to pay them handsomely for a ride to the top (86£ [$144]) but were told upon entering the parking lot that if we didn’t have reserved tickets, we weren’t getting on. Bummer.

So we headed toward Caernarfon to visit the castle. Before the castle, we were eating lunch on some steps near a fountain in a public square [watching a dog and kids playing in the water]. Before I was 1/4 into my sandwich, a sea gull had swooped down on me and pulled on the sandwich–it ended up getting about half the meat! I watched the theif attempt the same trick with several others, none as successful as the attempt on me.

[After lunch, we went into the castle.] Even Nathan’s enthusiasm for castles was waning, such that he wanted to explore only about half of it. Just as we were about to leave, a Canadian choir started to practice in the middle of the castle–it was absolutely gorgeous, and having them echo offt he walls added an incredible quality. [Anne learned that the choir is Cantilon Choir, and that they were in Wales for a competition the next day, which they won. I spent a good bit of time taking video of them, with the intention of working the audio into my slideshow video of the trip. I really enjoyed hearing them at that point in our trip--travel weary though we were. They sang so beautifully, I got a little choked up at the time, and still feel incredibly lucky that we got to see them in Caernarfon Castle.]

After the castle, we found a beach a few miles away at Dinas Dinlle. It wasn’t as nice as Niwbwrch, but it was still fun to explore. Anne was really tickled to find hermit crabs in one pool.

We stopped for dinner at [the famous] Pete’s Eats (in Llanberis) which clearly catered to the hiking/rock climbing crowd. I felt just a little out of place wearing flip-flops while most other patrons were in hiking boots.

One note among the family–the trip has been so long that Edinburgh (for example) feels like a completely separate vacation. Looking back over those pictures, it really does feel like an age ago. I have pics from the vacation broken into eight different folders so far to keep them manageable: Travels, Edinburgh, Borders, London, Germany, England, South Wales and North Wales. Each of these alone would be an incredible trip. All together, it has become an epic journey. [To date, I've posted 242 pictures to Flickr and Facebook. I could probably post another 200.]

7/5

[Written 7/6] Travel day from Trefriw to Cricklade. Debbie, our host at Fairy Falls made us breakfast to order, then we headed toward Shrewsbury, birthplace of Charles Darwin and (we later learned) the film location for George C Scott version of A Christmas Carol. We ate lunch at the Cornwal Past Company. We explored a little bit of the ancient town and stopped in a book store where the kids and Anne picked out reading material [for the flight home].

Next we headed to Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds. The architecture was pretty cool but most of the shops closed at 5PM and most of the properties near the town center appeared to be holiday rentals. We did a Rick Steves walking tour despite being a bit worn out.

We drove toward Cricklade, but stopped for dinner at an Indian restaurant in Stowe-on-wold. Rick Steves had recommended it, and the food was very good. We arrived in Cricklade, dropped our bags in our room, and within minutes the kids and I headed to a local town playground [that we'd visited on our first trip through Cricklade]. Their favorite-a zip line that had a sudden stop at the end. I’m pretty sure nothing like that could ever exist in the states due to safety regulations. We played for 45 minutes then headed back to the room for a couple of showers and last minute planning for departure.

6/28 Continued

[Written 6/30] Punch House was our cheapest room-and the building was very cool. Our room over-looked a square and all seemed great until we felt the beds–no padding over the springs. Then in the middle of the night, some drunk dudes made a bunch of noise waking Anne and me.

6/29

[Written 6/30] We thought we had breakfast included with the room, so we headed down in the morning. It was a pathetic selection of cold cereal and juice-but we thought “Hey, its free!” On check out, we learned that it was 3£ each [$5]. Oh well, even at 52£ [$87] (including the price of the breakfast) it was still our cheapest room.

[My journal doesn't mention the bit of exploring we did in Monmouth, checking out the Monnow Bridge, where I took the picture of the ducks above.]

We left Punch House and Monmouth and went back to Tintern Abbey to explore it further. It was really gorgeous and further impressed upon me just how amazing that stone architecture really was–all the wood was gone and the stone walls and arches just stood there against the elements, seemingly precarious.

After Tintern, we went into Cardiff where we did the premium guided tour of the Cardiff Castle. It was absolutely gorgous and the guide was a real treat. The view from teh keep was phenomenal. One point of note: none of us wanted the audio guide for Cardiff Castle–we were audio-guide-ed out. So we explored at our own pace after the tour.

When we were wiped out, we headed toward our next destination, Blaen-nant-y-Groes Farm Cottages in Aberdare, an old coal mining community. This was my first “Oh Shit, I hate driving in Wales” experience because the city streets were 0.9 lanes wide and damn-near vertical.

When we arrived at the cottages, the view blew us away – looking over Aberdare in the valley, very pretty. Oh, and miniature horses in the field in front of the cottage. [Emily, of course, fell in love.]

6/30

Today we ventured a short hike into Brecon Beacons National Park. We went to the visitors center, were told about a 90 minute hike to the site of a Norman hill fort, and we set off. The views were amazing through nearly all of the hike, sheep getting spooked at every turn. We had lunch at the center over-looking a pair of peaks–very nice food and a killer view.

Next we ventured down to Gower peninsula and the town of Rhossili, which sits atop a cliff edge, probably 200 feet above the bay. More stunning views every step of the way.

First we played on the rocks near Worms Head island as the tide was coming in. [There is another tidal causeway out to Worms Head, passable by foot only, but tide was in so it was submerged.] Next we went to the beach side and hunted shells and played in the waves.

Nathan got especially wet, and felt miserable most of the way home. The wind and sun beat on us all afternoon, but the wind was cool so we didn’t feel the sun burns developing. Yet another amazing day.

7/1

[Written 7/4] Before we headed to Treffriw [in North Wales] we stopped in the Big Pit coal mine at Nathan’s request. Emily really didn’t want to go underground, but was not allowed to explore unattended above ground without a parent, so we convinced her to go with us. (She later said sardonically “I’ll never forgive you.”) Mike, our tour guide was a great ham [with a wonderful Welsh lilt to his voice] and always ended a sentence spoke to a woman with “m’love”.

6/27

Had some confusion getting  to the car rental log from the airport [the doors we were supposed to use were label only "Emergency Exit"] otherwise everything went smoothly after we landed in England. In fact border control was “no waiting” – walked right up, stamp, stamp.

Drove to Cricklade easily and found the hotel [White Hart] without too much trouble–its a very small town. Checked in, then explored the town which took 10 minutes on foot. Found a tiny little Thames river–barely more than a creek. Got take out Indian food and ate on a picnic bench behind the hotel-phenomenal.

Explored a little further by car, found Cotswold’s water park, and locals gave us some bread to feed the water fowl. After it was all gone, we saw the sign that said “don’t feed the wildlife.” Whoops.

6/28

[Written 6/30] We left Cricklade and explored Bath. As soon as we stepped out of the car, I realized that I had forgotten to turn in the room key at the White Hart. We called and they weren’t too worried about it, so we stayed in Bath to explore the Roman Baths. The site was very cool, but a good bit too long with too much audio guide.

After Bath, we went back to Cricklade to return the room key, then went to Avebury. It’s possible to walk right up to the stones (and sheep were grazing there too!) so we walked the complete circle.

After Avebury, we went to Stonehenge–couldn’t get close to the stones and the audio guide was a bit long, but it was all very cool nonetheless. By the time we were done, we were completely wiped out and wanted to head toward Monmouth (Punch House Inn).

On our way, we saw Tintern Abbey at sunset–the site wasn’t open, but the sunlight was coloring the clouds right behind it–very beautiful.

On the other hand, the details along the way were just fascinating. I shot a number of those details, as did my daughter. I’ve put them all in this set on flickr, or you can watch the slideshow below.

6/22 continued

[Written 6/23] The flight to Hamburg went very well and arrived on-time. We then went through immigration with only one question – “Here on holiday?” We then picked up our luggage then walked out the “Nothing to Declare” doors.

Anne was able to get train tickets from the airport all the way to Luneburg, transferring in the central station in Hamburg [Hamburg Hauptbahnhof]. However, we were told in Hamburg that our connection was canceled due to a strike. After 20 minutes of standing in line and talking to a police officer (for information) we made a connection to Luneburg where A and R were waiting for us. [We then hopped on a bus for the remainder of the journey to their house.]

 6/23

[Written 6/25] We relaxed much of the morning, then wandered into the center of Luneburg, Am Sande. After exploring a short time, we took buses to pick up A and R at school, then back to Am Sande to have ice cream for lunch [Related post, giving context of ice cream for lunch].

Explored the lovely town center a while longer, then went home for dinner. We picked up a one liter bottle of French Merlot for only 2€ (~ $3) and drank most of it with dinner.

While making dinner, Kristin turned on the wrong burner on the electric stove. There were two glass stove protectors over the hot empty burner. She realized the mistake and turned off the wrong burner, but a minute later, one of the glass protectors exploded, throwing glass all over the kitchen and into the hallway. I was barefoot and one piece burned my toe, and another poked a small hole in the sole of my foot. Some of the glass melted into the vinyl flooring. It took us 30+ minutes to clean up all the shattered pieces.

6/24

[Written 6/25] We headed toward a nearby town, Celle. We got moving a bit slowly and missed our bus by 1 minute (we saw it drive away). Waited 20 minutes for the next one. Then at the train station in Luneburg we missed our train connection while we tried to figure out which ticket we needed. So we waited another 40-60 minutes for another train. Connected in Ulezen (with some difficulty, I think) and arrived in Celle around 4PM. We then learned that the only train heading back toward Ulezen/Luneburg was at 9:06PM [later than we had planned to stay; another option would have been to have left Celle 10 minutes after we arrived].

Walked 20 minutes to a small museum about the history of Celle, but all the signs were in German. Fortunately, since it was Friday, it was free.

Went into Old Town Celle, exploring shops and eating dinner. with time to kill, we took the kids to a playground in an old french park.

We got to the train station and got on the 9:06 toward Ulezen. When we got there, we learned that our connection [to Luneburg] was cancelled ['Zug fallt aus' means the train was cancelled] and the next train would be 11:22PM. A taxi would have been ~ 60€ [$84 each, and we would have needed two] (I asked a driver who spoke no English). so we waited 90 minutes in the Ulezen station. The bathrooms were all closed, so the kids had to pee in the bushes. They were completely slap-happy goofy by the time the train arrived. We made it back to Luneburg around 11:45PM, after buses stopped running. So two taxis took our group home for ~20€ [$28] total. It was a pretty long boring day, but the kids handled it well.

6/25

[Written at 7PM] We traveled into Hamburg today–trains have been so screwed up I’m not even sure what happened anymore-maybe nothing. We got to Miniatur Wunderland where we were told (via info screens and in person) several times to expect a two hour wait [before getting in] and that we should buy tickets for a later time. We decided to wait it out in a waiting area–no queue, no way to know whose turn it was, and the woman behind the desk made no attempt to explain the process, even in German. Another visitor explained that you’ll get in when its your turn, but then said “She’ll recognize you” referring to the woman behind the desk [who was intently watching a computer screen, ignore everyone around her]. Since it seemed all the previous people in the waiting area had gone in, I waited standing in front of her. She let us in after only 20-25 minutes waiting. The queue process was chaos and a complete farce.

Once inside, the displays were magnificent, but I tired quickly of looking at all the detail, trying to find bawdy scenes (there were several). Instead, I stared shooting the crowd, looking for interesting, intent expressions.

We met up with Tom after we were done and toured a little bit [of Hamburg] seeing where the great fire of 1830-something  started, the Rathouse, and a great cathedral that was almost flattened during WWII. Then we went to Planten und Bloomen to visit a great playground.

On our way home we again dealt with multiple train cancellations.  We tried to get a connection in Hamburg-Harborg–two were canceled, then one showed up 25 minutes late. We’ll get to Luneburg after the buses stop so we’ll have to pay for more cab fare. The consensus now is that we’re staying in Luneburg tomorrow. Thank God. [this entry was written on the platform of a train station after spending several hours in the past two days waiting for trains--I was a bit tired and frustrated.]

Misc observations: Germany has lots of drinkers and smokers. Open container laws don’t exist and single beer is as cheap as pop. I’ve seen some folks walking around with half-consumed wine bottles.

6/26

[Written 6/27] We spent a lazy day relaxing at the Koontz home. Around 2PM the adults left some euros on the table for pizza, then headed into Luneburg. First we went up a hill which gave a decent view of Luneburg and surrounding area. Then we split up–women to the Salt Museum, men to the beer museum.

The beer museum was 2€ [$3]each, but the host couldn’t break a 20 because he’d had so few visitors. When I asked if I could take pictures, I was told that would be an extra 3€ [$4.50], so I declined. Tom and I looked around  for a bit–it was an old brewery that was cleaned up and signs added (many with English!). After looking around, Tom and I had 20 minutes to kill [before meeting with the wives] so we went to a neighborhood brew-pub [Malzer is evidently the only brew-pub left in Luneburg].

We met Anne and Kristen and headed toward the river. When we got to the ancient wooden, human-powered salt-crane, there was a tour guide explaining the crane’s history to a group. The guide invited us to join them inside the crane building. Fortunately, the guide was speaking entirely in English.

After the crane tour, the four of us went to a restaurant that had seating on the riverside. Anne had a very nice pork tenderloin dish with potato and hollondaise sauce, but she was very jealous of my pesto gnocchi with shrimp. It was rich and delicious. When Tom ordered a 0.3 liter (10 ounces) beer before dinner, the waiter asked “Are you sure? That size is normally for girls.” Tom persisted. I, on the other hand, got another 1/2 liter (17 ounces) and we had fun comparing the sizes of the glasses.

As it became clear that we were done with dinner our (new) waiter asked, in English “Are you finnish [sic]?” To which I replied “No, we’re Americans.” Big laughs all around.

After we paid, I asked the waiter what the customary tip was and he replied “typically 8%”. Our share of the bill was 42€ [$63] so I handed him a 5€ note [$7.50] (which felt like a bargain) saying something like “Is that fair?” He replied with a big grin “Oh yes, that’s very nice.”

6/27

Today we packed our bags, and cleaned up after ourselves as much as possible. We headed to the bus stop 40 minutes ahead of our original plan catching the 8:55 AM bus. We had planned to get an Intercity Express train [which hadn't been under strike] because of the Metronom strike, but we learned in the morning that the strike was over. So we got a “group card” on the bus that was good for our whole trip to the airport.

The first train that we took was delayed 25 minutes, causing a bit of nervous dega vu. We got on around 9:55AM and it was supposed to take us to the central station, Hauptbahnhof. However, it stopped on the tracks for 5 minutes, then we were told that the route was ending in Hamburg Harborg and that we should take the subway to Hauptbahnhof. We did that and the rest of the journey was fine.

The line to check bags was long but moved quickly. We stopped in a gift shop so that we could spend our last euros and a 1/2 liter of Coke was 2.75€ ($4.10) while the same quantity of beer was 1.40€ ($2). Absolutely insane pricing.

Border control checked our passports without any questions and we were soon at our gate. Now we’re on the flight back to London.

Germany was fun, with the exception of the train strike. The kids had a great time together playing with O, make a movie, etc. We really seemed to with in with their family dynamic pretty well. I felt like we were welcomed without it being a huge burden on them. At one point while eating dinner on the riverside, Kristin pointed out how wonderfully unique the experience was and how a year ago we never would have predicted that scene. It was a lovely culmination of that leg of our trip.

[Related: Kristin's post on our time there.]

When I checked last night, we’d spent $2200-2400 out of savings and available credit. We still have a lot of room in the finances for the remainder of the trip [which was just over half over]. I don’t want to get stupid about money, but if we spend 30£ on lunch rather than 20£, we’ll be OK. And Capital One has been as good as gold so far-no problem getting cash or charging anything and we’re getting bank rate conversion, no fee. That arrangement has saved us 5-7% on the trip, easily.

6/20

We got up at 6:30 today to catch a cab to Waverly Station to get our 8:30 train. Everything went smoothly, even if we were a bit tired. The train departed within 10 seconds of 8:30 (according to my watch that I synchronized in London). Now we’re on the train, traveling 80-90 [mph] it seems, back to London in a carriage full of teenagers.

10PM» Got into Kings Cross and had no problem getting to the hotel–very close, on a side street. Should be pretty quiet. Checked in and I showered. Ate lunch at Burger King (I was surprised Anne didn’t object) then went to the tube toward Buckingham.

Wandered a bit then went toward Westminster Abbey, but we were 15 minutes late [so we couldn't take a tour]. After family deliberation, we walked to the Eye of London.

Since I hadn’t ordered tickets ahead, that set us back 68£ [$112]–OUCH. Thirty minute trip, great views the whole way. [Related post.]

Next up was Harrods. Took the tube and immediately explored the food halls ’cause we were hungry. Anne and I both figured we were looking at a 100£ [$165] meal so decided to see what was available on Brompton. Went to a Lebanese restaurant and got the cheapest stuff on their menu: shwarma wraps, hummus, water. Total bill 17.50£ [$29].

With more energy we went back to Harrods where the kids explored the ‘Toy Kingdom.’ Big, fun, expensive.

Rode a double-decker bus back home. Kids are crashed in bed. We’ve had another great day. They were flexible, adaptable, and ready to explore. By the end of the day, they didn’t seem quite as intimidated by all the traffic and new stuff.

6/21

[Written 6/24] On day two in London we headed toward the Tower of London. We hopped (or tried) on the tube during rush hour. Anne and I split responsibility for the kids, agreeing where to meet if we were split up. Nathan was following me onto the train when the doors closed on his out-stretched arms (holding my backpack). I turned around, muscled open the doors and pulled him on the train as the conductor announced “Please stand clear of the doors” (or something like that) evidently scolding us.

We eventually made it to the Tower, picked up our pre-purchased tickets, entered and joined a free Yoeman Warder tour. Our guide was a real treat and clearly enjoyed what he was doing. After completing the tour we found the crown jewels (and very little line) and did a bit more exploring. We left around 2PM, tired and hungry. Lunch was sandwiches from EAT which were very nice and reasonably priced. [The second picture in this post was taken just after lunch.]

Next we went to Westminster Abbey just in time to enter before they stopped admitting tourists. Of course no photography was allowed. There were tons of highly elaborate crypts all over the church, consuming probably 30% of the publicly available space. Many of the crypts were just as elaborate as the chancel and altar spaces. I can understand highly decorated worship spaces as “giving glory to god” but the ornate tombs seemed a little odd.

After Westminster, we walked to Trafalgar Square. I was immediately impressed by the wide variety of tourists just hanging out, enjoying the crush of humanity all around.
After exploring for a bit, we found a Yo Sushi on the GPS and went for dinner. Thirty two plates [and $194] later we were full. Best line of the day came from Nathan after he had pulled a plate from the conveyor. He popped a sushi roll in his mouth, then said “I don’t know what it is, but it’s yummy!”

6/22

[Written 6/23] Day three in London started with packing to leave. Then we checked out of the hotel, left our bags behind the desk, and walked to the National Museum. We spent an hour and a half exploring the Egyptian and Grecian exhibits, hit the gift shop and dashed back to the hotel. After picking up our bags we hopped on the Picadilly line for the hour long trip to Heathrow [headed for Hamburg].

Once in Heathrow, it was pretty easy to get to the gate. Even security was a breeze. Our timing was just about perfect – we had about 15 minutes to grab some food before the start of boarding (which was delayed another 10 minutes).

6/19

[Written 6/20] Sunday we took a bus to the airport to pick up a rental car. I was very glad to have a GPS helping to navigate. But it tended to take us on back roads that technically have a speed limit of 60 [mph] but I was probably averaging 30-40.

We explored Alnwick Castle (Harry Potter Fame) which was well taken care of and very nice. The state rooms were completely over-the-top. They screamed “LOOK! WE”RE RICH ROYALTY!”. No pictures allowed.

We drove back roads to Hadrians Wall, Housesteads fort. Very cool view from the top of a ridge, sheep dotting the hillside. Then the rain came in. I was very glad we had real raincoats. We headed back to the gift shop, then the car, wet and tired. Dinner was a treat at McDonald’s.

While driving a stick shift (backwards) on the left, I managed to do pretty well–stalled a time or two, hit the edge of the road once, but otherwise not too bad. The national speed limit sign looks like this. That means 60 mph [except on motorways and highways; except if you're a truck; except if your towing something--then it means something else entirely!] And if you break the speed limit, the cameras will nail you. There were no mile markers so I couldn’t time a mile to see how accurate the speedometer or GPS were.

I’ve come down with a bit of a cold–hopefully it won’t get too bad. Sudafed helps.

[Not mentioned in the journal was a brief side trip to Holy Island, the home of Lindisfarne, and a tidal causeway. We were absolutely intrigued by the idea of tides much of the trip, and amazed how they changed the landscape and roads.]

6/17

We all crashed pretty hard last night, having no trouble sleeping in the 9PM daylight. Dinner last night was at a “Scottish” restaurant run by middle-eastern immigrants. I had a pint of Edinburgh Gold. Anne had a glass of [Crabbies] Ginger Beer which she liked very much.

Today we woke up without an alarm, around 8AM, with tons of sun hitting the windows. We ate, showered, and headed out. Primary goal was to get a cell phone, then head toward the castle. We got diverted by St Cuthberts cemetery–it was such fun to explore the ancient headstones, many with skulls carved in relief.

We got to the very crowded castle around 11:30AM, very glad to already have tickets in hand (from the bus tour company) as the lines were quite long. We took the 30 minute guided overview tour, then explored a good bit longer. The views were spectacular, despite the nearly constant rain/drizzle. In the gift shop at the end, Nathan discovered he’d lost the 20£ [$33!] note I’d given him earlier.

We took a couple of bus tours, then grabbed take-out fish&chips. Not really a good choice, but we were tired and getting grumpy.

6/18

[Written 6/20] We had very busy days in Edinburgh. Saturday was spent touring Britannia and Holyrood House. Britannia was very nice, but completely over the top (200 crew!) for royal family. Nicely appointed in the royal living space and cramped utilitarian in the crew space. The officers clubs looked like nice pubs. Holyrood was more interesting to Anne than me since I’m not a big history buff.


It became obvious that tourists bundled up with raincoats and umbrellas [while] locals, seemingly mostly hale young men, wore plaid long sleeve shirts and endured the drizzle/rain. One taunted us on Grassmarket with “It Always Rains In Edinburgh.” [to which I replied "We Love Edinburgh"]. His comment “Edward” made us think he mistook us for English.

6/15

10:30 AM» Kids very excited. We made it through baggage check and security without any issues. At gate two hours prior to departure. Only concern is that previous flight to Atlanta was canceled. Now ours is full with people on standby. Kids managed to get past the first gift shop without spending money.

3:30 PM» Flight to Atlanta was very smooth. Had opportunity to meet the pilots in the gate area prior to departure, Mark. Was very nice and talked with kids. At end of flight kids sat in cockpit.

Kids really loved acceleration during take off–huge grins when wheels lifted off. Flight was smooth and uneventful. Arrived at international terminal with tons of time.

7:05 PM» Flight took off on-time ~ 5:45PM. We were able to trade seats so that we were all together. Flight so far has been pretty bumpy…

8:00 PM»  Airplane dinner was very decent. Kids ate almost all of theirs. Wish I had taken a pic. While in airport, I checked retail exchange rate: $38 for 20£. Bank rate is $33. Glad we’re not doing that! [Note: we used Capital One for both ATM and Credit Card transactions--got the bank rate every time with no fees the entire trip--a huge savings.]

6/16

5:30 AM London Time» Sunrise over the Atlantic was around 5AM. None of us got more than two hours slept–mostly because of two women talking to a guy all night long. [Note: I had earplugs in and could still hear them over the engine noise.] They finally shut up around 2AM London time. I feel surprisingly refreshed right now. Watching sunrise really seemed to help. Emily slept on my shoulder with teddy. Nathan is still snoozing on Anne’s shoulder. At 5:35 AM, the sun is beaming in through open airplane windows. I’m very much looking forward to coffee.

11:35 AM We made it from Gatwick to Kings Cross. We missed the first possible connection, but learned quickly to push ourselves on. Walked a good bit from St Pancreas to Kings Cross. We noticed that bathrooms and trash cans are very rare and precious when encountered. Getting through UK customs was pretty easy–15 minutes in line and very few questions.

[Note: The rest of that day was spent on a train going from London to Edinburgh. Didn't write anything else as I was pretty much in a daze the whole time from lack of sleep. We made it to Edinburgh, ate dinner, and crashed for the night.]