Winter Wonderland and Volcanoes

Last week Caitlin, Libby, Amy and I spent our first true day in London since September when we went to see the changing of the guard. We have spent a little time wandering around the city before our train left for other places, but it just is not the same.

We had three goals for the day: Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland, the Victoria & Albert Museum and a dessert lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

We took the train into London Paddington Station in order to use our last BritRail day. The ride was uneventful until we were walking off the train and Amy realized she did not have her phone. She had been using it on the train so it was not left at the flat accidentally.

We went back to the train, found our coach and looked around the table we had been sitting at, but it was not there. We were afraid to stay on the train much longer for fear that it would start moving, so we got off to look for a booth or something where there might be a "Lost and Found."

Just then, a rail station employee carrying a sweater asked if we had lost something. Amy told him she was missing her phone and that it was blue. The man pulled it out of his pocket, but in order to give it too her she had to prove it was hers. Libby offered to call it and it was a few tense seconds waiting for the call to connect.

That was a very fortuitous end to what could have been a terrible event, especially for Amy who had to deal with her computer breaking earlier in the week. I do not know how much more bad luck she could have taken without a breakdown, one she would be completely entitled to.

We got to Hyde Park by memory and just chose a random path inside the park to follow since there were no signs telling use where exactly the Winter Wonderland was located. Then we saw a ferris wheel in the distance and used that as our destination point.

The first section of the Christmas area was a bunch of carnival rides. There were small roller coasters, fun houses, a carousel and a circular swing ride that took riders up at least 100 feet into the air. There were decorations of toy soldiers, garlands, and strings of lights. There was even an electronic mounted moose head that sang songs in German since the Winter Wonderland was supposedly modeled after the traditional Christmas markets of Germany.

It was strangely deserted since it was about 11am on a Monday and most children were at school. There were a few very young children running around with their parents. It just seemed wrong to be at a carnival without tons of children yelling and getting underfoot.

After the ride section were a bunch of small, log cabin style buildings, each about the size of a shed and decorated with green garland and lights. They sold Christmas ornaments, candles, jewelry, scarves, hats, and much more. There were also tons of food stalls, many more than I think was necessary, especially since most sold the same basic things. The most common foods were crepes, burgers, bratwurst, mulled wine, beer, waffles, and churros. A few stalls were dedicated solely to selling mountains of sweets like candy floss, truffles, fudge, and gummy snacks.

We made a full loop of the park before we decided to head out the Winter Wonderland's main entrance which was actually on the complete opposite side from where we entered. We paused to look at a map of Hyde Park to orient ourselves (the Park covers 350 acres) and take some time taking pictures of the Serpentine River and its many types of waterfowl. Some people were feeding the birds so there were bunches of them ranging from ducks to swans to pigeons waddling around on the sidewalk.

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Exiting Hyde Park, we followed Libby's defective Google maps directions down a bunch of residential streets trying to get to the Victoria & Albert Museum. We found it eventually, though there had to have been a more direct route to get there.

The Victoria & Albert Museum, founded in 1852, is huge, covering 12.5 acres and containing clothing, sculpture, ironwork, furniture, jewelry, paintings, textiles, glass, and other artifacts. I wanted to go to the museum to see its fashion exhibits. The fashion exhibit displayed styles from different eras from the 17th century up to haute couture of modern fashion. It was amazing to see how complex and detailed women's clothing was in the past.

I have done several reports involving women's undergarments, corsets in particular, so I knew what most of them were in the displays. However, there was one undergarment I had never heard of before. This was a piece of fabric stuffed with feathers or something similar, then worn around the upper arm to support large, puffed sleeves.

We spent several hours wandering the museum looking at some paintings, ironwork and jewelry. In those hours we probably only covered a very small portion of the large building. It would be amazing to be able to go on a regular basis and see each of the 145 different galleries.

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Every since Libby learned that there was a Rainforest Cafe in London, she has really wanted to go. I guess there used to be one near her house and she would go there every year for her birthday party. According to my mom, I have been to a Rainforest Cafe in California before, but I do not remember it.

Walking into the building, you are inside of a gift shop with stuffed animals, books, and other trinkets. You have to go to the back of the store and downstairs to get to the restaurant. The eating facility is decorated just like the rainforest. The ceiling is covered in fake foliage extending from fake trees. There are rocks, small ponds, and animatronic animals that move every once in a while. 

We were sat at a table right next to two gorillas. About every ten minutes they would start making gorilla noises and beating their chests. The novelty of the experience wore off after the second round of movements and just became a little irritating.

The food was all really expensive (we were going there for the atmosphere, not the food) so we bought two desserts: Eaton Mess Cheesecake and a Volcano. Yes, we did have dessert for lunch. 

A Volcano is a large bowl of ice cream,  brownie, marshmallows, whipped cream and chocolate syrup. It is served with an actual sparkler, like the ones you get on the Forth of July. I felt it was overpriced, even though it was large, because there was barely any brownie and the strawberry ice cream used tasted like the really cheap kind that is made totally from artificial flavors. 

Photo by Libby

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We ended the day's trip to London with a stop off at Hope and Greenwood Sweet Shop. We all bought a mixture of the shop's homemade hard candies. All four of use got Cherry Bakewell flavor. Amy then got Lemon Meringue, Caitlin and Libby got Birthday Cake, and I got Ginger Beer. 

The young man working there was completely adorable. He had dark hair cut short on the sides and long on the top, and black, thick-framed glasses. We had a good conversation with him about all of the flavors and his personal favorites (He likes Ginger Beer best). He ended up giving us several free samples to take with us to try the flavors (Rose and Lychee, Sunshine Festival, Sugar Plum, and Treacle Tart).

So far I have tried Rose and Lychee, Sunshine Festival, Sugar Plum. Rose and Lychee was pink and tasted like eating pure sugar tinted with rose flavoring. Sunshine Festival was a pale yellow and fizzed a little on the tongue. It was more tropical flavored like mango. Sugar plum was a purplish maroon color and tasted pretty similar to a grape tootsie pop. It had a chocolate center and everything.      

Cadbury World and More Paintings

If you are an American and you hear the phrase, "The World of Chocolate," you probably think of Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. If you are British you probable think, "Cadbury World."

This attraction dedicated to chocolate is located in Bournville, outside of Birmingham. We took the long scenic route from the train station around a large brick building that turned out to be the factory. Despite being a relatively sunny day, there was barely anyone around. On the ten minute walk we probably saw about four people walking and passed a children's football (soccer) game.

I guess most of the people were just already inside the factory, as the lobby was full of families with young children. Some where buying sugary sweets from the gift shop while others waited for their tour time to be called. The lobby was decorated in shades of purple and grey. The employees wore button-down shirts with stripes of violet, lilac, and lavender which I thought looked very nice.

The first part of the tour took us through decorated rooms showing the history of chocolate and the Cadbury family. The first room was decorated like a jungle with trees, rocks, and even a small pool to resemble South America during the arrival of Cortez. Cacao was an important part of Aztec religion and daily life.

From there we moved throughout the centuries as chocolate was introduced to the Spanish monarchs and eventually became a delicacy of the aristocracy. In the early 1800s, John Cadbury began to sell drinking chocolate along with tea and coffee in his shop in Birmingham, England. His business grew and in 1861 his two sons, Richard and George, decided to establish a factory in a stretch of farmland outside of Birmingham. This land was named Bournville and the Cadbury brothers built a village around the factory to house their employees. There were cottages, bath houses, a church and recreation fields for both men and women.

Next up was a winding path through the actual factory. The factory was not in operation that day which  made looking at all of the equipment a little boring. Though, we did get another candy bar and a small cup of melted chocolate on the walk. The melted chocolate was smooth and very rich. It probably took me ten minutes to finish the little thing, but that is just because I like to savor sweets.

After buying a few treats in the gift shop we headed outside and around the factory building, past a massive playground with swings, twisty slides, and more, to the Essence of Cadbury. A small group crowded into a room and watched a humorous dramatization of how Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate was discovered. It definitely was not historically accurate. The real reason people went to it was to get more melted chocolate afterwards. This time you got about 1/8 of a cup of chocolate and one topping like marshmallows or shortbread crumbles. We sat outside in the sun, but none of us managed to eat that much chocolate even though we wanted to eat it all.

The factory was in a very large building, but it still didn't seem large enough to produce the amount of chocolate I feel like they must have too. I am not positive, but I think the factory in Bournville is the only one to produce Cadbury chocolates for Europe (Hershey's produces Cadbury branded chocolate in the United States).

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At this pointed it was only early afternoon so we took the train back into Birmingham for dinner. Since there was about 45 minutes until closing time, we hurried to the Birmingham Museum since it was not a far walk from the rail station. I knew nothing about what the museum was about. I just wrote down the directions in case we needed something extra to do.

It ended up being a great decision because the new exhibition was titled, "Love and Death: Victorian Paintings from Tate," which turned out to feature mostly Pre-Raphaelite artists. The main attraction was "The Lady of Shalott" by John William Waterhouse. The painting is probably one of England's most famous, and it is by my favorite artist.

"The Lady of Shalott" is a very large painting, five feet tall and six and a half feet wide. I never imagined that it was so large. It is strange to be standing in front of something real after seeing so many picture of it. Seeing famous paintings in person probably would have a greater effect of me than seeing a celebrity in person.

The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse

The gallery also exhibited a John William Waterhouse painting that I had never seen before, titled, "St. Eulalia." It is not one of the paintings that normally come up when you search the internet for Waterhouse's paintings. It is different than most of his other ones in that it depicts a more religious scene as he normally deals with characters from the tales of King Arthurs and Mediterranean mythology.

The painting shows the body Eulalia, a young Christian girl who was tortured and killed by the Roman rulers for her faith. When she died, it is said that a white dove flew from her mouth, often seen as a symbol of her soul, and it began to snow, the whiteness covering her naked body.

St. Eulalia by John William Waterhouse

All of the paintings were beautiful and pleasing to my personal aesthetic. It was really difficult to try to absorb all of the details while still rushing to see everything before the museum closed. It turned out to be a great day full of sunny weather, sweet treats, and beautiful art.

Christmas Markets and a Round Table

Considering the fact that Christmas lights have been up in Oxford since before Halloween, you would think that the holiday season in England would be magical, but so far I have just been a little disappointed and confused.

Friday night was a Christmas parade and festival in Oxford City Centre. We were planning on going to see a male a capella group at 6pm and then watch the parade. With Thanksgiving over, we were all excited to get in the Christmas spirit.

Our bus was supposed to get us into the city centre with just enough time to walk to the stage. Unfortunately, the bus was fifteen minutes late due to traffic and it was nearly 6:30pm by the time we made it even half way down the festival street because of the crowds.

We ended up pausing on a sidewalk to watch the parade. The parade was not very exciting, just grade school children holding paper mache lanterns following a small band that was playing carols. Some of the paper mache creatures were cool including a large polar bear, emperor penguins, and two birds that were rigged up to flap their wings when the person carrying it pulled on a string.

I understand that there were no floats since the streets are so narrow, but no one was even dressed up in silly things like reindeer antlers. There was also a disappointing lack of carol singing. I am wondering if that is they only Christmas parade they have or if there is a bigger one closer to Christmas.

Once the little parade of children passed us we followed behind them looking for the stage, even though the a capella group would have finished a while earlier. We had to avoid a carousel and a ferris wheel that rotated way to fast in my opinion, all while pushing through the tons of people squeezed together between two rows of tents. Some tents sold food like Spanish paella, roasted meat, brautwursts, and olives in bulk. There were also craft booths with jewelry, ornaments, and scarves.

I really dislike large crowds because I feel like I can't move freely. The fact that it was dark outside made it even more difficult to maneuver, forcing Caitlin, Amy and I to hold hands to avoid losing each other. By the time we forced our way to the stage we were ready to go home, but then a rock version of "What a Wonderful World" started playing as a giant paper mache sun attached to window cleaner machine rose up into the air. When the song was finished, flashing sparks shot out from behind the sun, illuminating much of the street.

This made no sense to any of us. Wasn't this supposed to be a Christmas festival? What does rock music and a giant sun have to do with a winter holiday? It was just really strange all around.

I don't feel like this festival and parade could be classified as Christmas themed, maybe just winter themed. Perhaps it is because people are not as religious here, plus there are many more people of different religions here who probably do not celebrate the Christian holiday. The only really exciting part about the night was seeing the lights strung up over the streets finally turned on. Some of them have been hanging up since before Halloween. I like the ones shaped like chandeliers best, but the one in the shape of a tandem bicycle is also pretty cute.

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Then on Saturday we went to the Winchester Christmas Market. Winchester is known as the "Christmas Capital of England," so we had pretty high expectations of it being a Christmas wonderland decked out in lights and garland.

The weather was absolutely miserable. It had been raining almost constantly for several days with flooding causing delays for the transportation systems. This wasn't just a sprinkling like usual. It was a steady rain that would get you soaked without an umbrella or rain jacket.

On our way from the rail station to the Christmas Market we stopped at the Great Hall of Winchester Castle to see King Arthur's Round table. I was surprised to find that the table was mounted on a wall. The 18 foot in diameter, 2,645 pound circle of oak has actually been hanging from the wall for at least 400 years. Around its outer edge are the names of Arthur's twenty-four knights.

I loved the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as a child. Though there is of course a lot of debate on whether or not he actually existed, to see what could have been the actual Round Table was amazing. Seeing places and things from stories makes them seem so much more real and vivid.      

Next we made our way through the rain to Winchester Cathedral where the booths for the Christmas Market were set up. Since the market lasts for over a month, the booths are not in tents, but instead in small wooden buildings about the size of a storage shed. They were decorated in green garland and lights. One stand near the entrance sold garlands made from dried citrus fruit and cinnamon sticks. It smelled delicious, like cookies and other goodies. There were candles, soaps, ornaments, clothing, and other items being sold. One section featured just food stalls selling hot chocolate, roasted peanuts and chestnuts, meat sandwiches and bratwurst.

The market was smaller than we were anticipating with only about thirty little booths arranged in a circle around the small ice skating rink. It was difficult to even see the items for sale because of the need to avoid hitting other people or their umbrellas with our own umbrellas. Our look around yielded nothing tempting enough to buy so we decided to wander down the main road until we found the River Itchen which was rushing swiftly, swollen with rainwater until it almost reached the path.

We took a stroll along the river looking for Wolvesey Castle which is really ruins. The walk was nice and we pause often to take pictures. When we found the entrance to the castle grounds the gate was closed, probably due to the rain. We settled for reading the sign outside the entrance telling use a bit about the castle's history. There is a house on the grounds where someone still lives.

We eat lunch at a small cafe, taking the time for our clothes and umbrellas to dry while sitting on a cozy couch which served as the chairs for a small table. Some more wandering yielded nothing more of interested so we headed to the rail station at about 4pm.

We were all ready to make our way back to Oxford and our warm flat but the train we were planning on taking was canceled due to "a shortage of train crew." We asked the man at the ticket window how we could get back to Oxford, the next train we had written down to take would not come for another hour, and we told use quickly to "take the 4:16pm, get off at Basingstoke and Reading."

Now, this was confusing to us so Amy asked him if he could repeat himself, and when he did, Amy repeated it back to him for clarification. He just said rudely, "That's what I just said," but the way he gave the directions was confusing. We just hoped we were correct in think that he meant take the 4:16 train to Basingstoke, get off and board another train to Reading, and then in Reading switch to a train headed for Oxford.

Our journey which would have been simple and straight to Oxford became one with three trains and two changes. Each of the legs of the trip were just long enough for you to finally relax when you would have to get off again. We ended up having to literally run to catch the train from Basingstoke to Reading and then wait half an hour for the train to Oxford to arrive. Then, of course, because this always seems to happen, the bus that would take to our flat arrived at the same time our train did. That was 30 more minutes of waiting in the Oxford train station for us.

I guess it was bound to happen some time since we have been so lucky with our transportation so far on our trips. The annoyance of it was just magnified by the fact that Winchester was a bit of a disappointment in the Christmas department and the three of use were a bit irritable from being wet and cold.        

Madman in a Box

I am going to preface this post with the warning that you probably need to know at least a little bit about Doctor Who to understand what I am going to be talking about. There is also a chance of spoilers for later seasons of the show, so you have been warned.

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Walking into the Doctor Who Experience, housed in a long grey and blue building resembling a giant tent, we were afraid we would not be allowed on our tour because we were ten minutes late. Our worries were unnecessary as the man scanning our tickets did not even check the assigned time.

I was surprised by the the number of children on the tour. I know that Doctor Who is considered as  family show (that is why it airs at 8pm instead of later), but all of the people I have known to watch it are all at least teenagers. Some of the aliens and situations could also frighten young children (i.e. the creepy Silence creatures and the Weeping Angels).

We queued in the lobby next to the small cafe until we were allowed in to the "adventure" portion of the tour, which would be followed by the exhibition. Our group of about twenty people filed into a dark room with a projection screen. A compilation of scenes from the episodes of the 11th Doctor were shown, ending on a final shot of the crack in the universe first shown at the introduction of Amy Pond, the Doctor's companion.

I thought, "It would be so cool if the crack in the screen opened up for us to move to the next section, sort of like at the Harry Potter Studio when the screen opened to show the doors to the Great Hall." And what do you know, that was exactly what happened. It was a great start to the tour.

The frist room was built to look like we were in the UK starship from the episode, "The Beast Below." The room was dark and lit with red lights. A Frowner, a creepy clown-like doll inside a glass case, was behind me and I kept waiting for it to move.

Inside the TARDIS

The story for the Adventure began here, with the Eleventh Doctor appearing on a screen and telling everyone that he was stuck in the Pandorica (a large stone box  that was thought to be only a fairytale). The Doctor was trying to call his companion Amy to help him but he just got us "shoppers" instead.

Moving to the next room, we were inside the TARDIS (the older version from the 9th and 10th Doctors). Joysticks were arranged around the center console labeled "navigation," "diagnostics," and "mechanical." When told by the Doctor on his screens, the kids in the group messed with the joysticks. Some caused smoke to filter from the console, others made the metal platform under our feet rock slightly.

Alerts began to sound, telling use that the TARDIS was being boarded by unknown creatures. We left the TARDIS console room quickly, and walking down a hallway. We ended up inside of a Dalek ship. Three Daleks moved out of their alcoves accompanied by a lot of smoke while yelling, "EXTERMINATE" in their robotic voices. Their rant about how they are the superior species and how they were going to eliminate the Doctor was cut short when their ship was attacked. The attackers were another group of Daleks who claimed that they were the Supreme Daleks. Of course, the two groups got into a fight about who was better and the ships starting firing their lasers at each other.

We took this opportunity to escape...right into a Weeping Angel graveyard. Now, the thing about Weeping Angels is that they are frozen whenever someone is looking at them. They can only move when they are unobserved, so the only way they can not get you is if you keep you eyes on them. Whatever you do, don't blink.

The graveyard was full of stone angels and the lights flashed off and on, tricking your eyes into thinking that they might have moved. Our group moved through this section quickly, urged forward by the voice of the Doctor telling us to hurry and not to blink.

The final room was decorated a bit like a jungle with a rock face in front of us. A 3D video was projected onto a screen in the rock face showing the swirling time vortex being put to rights, and the Doctor being released from his prison inside the Pandorica. Us "shoppers" had helped save the day.

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Weeping Angel

The exhibition portion of the tour was full of props and costumes from throughout the Doctor Who series. There were all of the different sonic screwdrivers used by the different incarnations, as well as a display showing the main outfits of all eleven doctors.

All of the creatures were represented from the Face of Boe, to Cybermen, the creepy Silence creatures, and Silurians. A very interesting display showed the evolution of the Daleks. They have gradually become larger over time and changed colors. The most recent versions are about five feet tall and are painted in solid colors like red, blue and yellow so as to be able to tell them apart. Older Daleks tended to be more metallic colors.  

Each companion of the Doctor had a poster and one of their main outfits on display. I was disappointed that the plaques only told the basics about each character instead of special, behind-the-sences knowledge. I would assume that most people at the Doctor Who Experience already know the basics behind each of the characters. 

I had a really great time on the tour. It was nice being with friends that you can geek out with and no one will judge you for your strange interests.

Caves and Italian Food

This past weekend was full of activities with a trip to Cardiff on Friday, Bonfire Night on Saturday, and  then a trip to Chislehurst Caves and London on Sunday.

Amy, Caitlin and I have several days left on our BritRail pass so we looked for day trips that take less than two hours to get to by train. Caitlin suggested Chislehurst Caves, a place she had visited on a previous trip to England. Caves are cool, and a nice change from museums so we agreed. Libby was sick from Bonfire Night so she stayed at the flat to rest.

Chislehurst is a suburb south-east of London. The little bit of the town we saw on the walk to the caves seemed quite and traditional with its brick houses and corner pub. We worried that the caves would be difficult to fin but we had no problems at all. You just walk down the road from the train station, turn right past the pub and then there are giant brown signs pointing the way. It was probably only a seven minute walk from the rail station to the caves.

The tours started on the hour so we had about fifteen minutes to wait around in the lobby which was a combination of wooden pew-like benches and a separate room with a small cafe.

At noon, our tour group, made up of about six parents, six children, and us three, ventured down to the caves entrance which was under the building we were in. Old fashioned oil lanterns were distributed among the adults to light the way. Only a few parts of the caves were fitted with electricity and lights from flashlights, cameras, and other technology would not be good for our eyes inside the caves (therefore I have not photographs from inside the caverns).

The Chislehurst Caves were formed completely by hand as the Druids, Saxons, and Romans mined for chalk. The maze of caverns would measure 22 miles if it could be stretched into a straight line. Over the centuries it has played host to sacrificial ceremonies of the Druids, music concerts, and murders hiding bodies.

During WWII, when London was being bombed by the Germans, 15,000 people used the caves as a bomb shelter. Families would pay a weekly fee and be assigned an "address" which would be painted on the cave wall. There were showers, a hospital and a chapel. People slept on narrow bunk beds, at least three beds high. Every night at 10:30 pm, all lights had to be extinguished because they could be seen through cracks in the ground by the German planes flying above. This would leave thousands of people in absolute darkness until morning. I have no idea what you would do if you needed the toilet in the middle of the night, but the rules worked. Not a single person died from bombings while sheltered inside the caves.

One child was born in the caves in the hospital. The baby girl was christened in the cave's chapel and named Cavena, though she preferred to go by Rose.

In the mid-20th century, musicians discovered the pleasing affects of the cave's echoes and began to hold concerts down in the caverns. David Bowie, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix all played there at one time or another.

Our group looked at the chapel before moving farther into the dark reaches of the cave with only out lanterns as light. We stopped at the alter of the Druids where women and children were sacrificed to the gods. Our group was told by the tour guide to gather in an alcove next to the alter and he would leave us in the dark for several seconds to experience the all consuming blackness. Caitlin was kind enough to hold my hand for this part. I was not frightened, but it is nice to know that you are not alone when you can not see anything.

The guide walked some ways away and began to bang on a metal drummer to show us how well sounds travel in the confined space. The drumming stopped and we waited for him to come back when, "Bang!," he hit the drum one more time incredibly hard. We all startled and jerked then began some nervous chuckles to ease the tension. I was trying to listen for the tour guide's footsteps coming towards us. Everyone screamed as his flashlight came on right before us. I guess he had used the time we were recovering from the loud bang to make his way back to us unheard for the express purpose of scaring us.

Next we moved on to the area that was considered most haunted. Before walking down the narrow corridor to this area, the tour guide said, "Now, before people report seeing a white mist, they usually feel a chill and sometimes the echoes in the cave are dampened. It is impossible to feel a chill because the caves are always at a constant temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit not matter the weather outside."

Right when he said that I felt a chill move down the back of my body until a tingle set up residence in the backs of my calves. Then when we walked through the tunnel to the cavern beyond I thought that the echoes were less pronounced. The tour guide remarked on that too. I decided to focus on looking straight at the tour guide instead of looking around for fear of actually seeing something possibly supernatural in origin.

He told us that the ghost is believed to be that of an 18 year-old woman who was murdered by her husband, a miner in the caves, in the late 1800s. He weighed down her body and dumped it into the pool in the cavern where we stood. Her skeletal remains were not discovered until the 1930s when workers were preparing the pool to be used for irrigation to grow mushrooms in the caves.

The tour ended soon after and we caught the train back into London. We walked around Covent Gardens and admired the Christmas decorations that were already put on. Suspended from the roof over the market were giant red ornaments and shiny disco balls. The varied slightly in size but most had to have been at least six feet in diameter.

We spent a long time wandering around looking for a candy shop that Caitlin had visited on her last trip to England. We were about to give up the search when we found the little shop with its red awning. Amy bought toffee bits to try to replicate the toffee and whipped cream combination we had on our Starbucks samples in Cardiff. Caitlin bought some pear drops and cherry bakewells.

Pear drops look just like gumdrops, but hard. Amy found out that out the hard way when she tried to bite into one. I really did not like those because they tasted too artificial. The cherry bakewells on the other hand were delicious. The hard candies are based on an English tart of the same name made from cream and cherries. They were amazing because they did not have the fake cherry flavoring. The candies tasted just like black cherry ice cream to me. If we ever find ourselves in that part of London again I will be buying some to take home with me.

Our lunch was eaten at Bella Italia, an Italian restaurant where Amy ate with her parents when they were visiting. I had Cannelloni Ricotta which was a rectangular noodle spread with ricotta cheese and spinach and rolled up. The tomato sauce was creamy, orange was delicious. It actually tasted quite similar to the tomato soup served in one of the eating places at my American university.

Before dark we walked down to Piccadilly Circus, just to say we have been there. Some post cards were bought and we popped into the M&M store to look around. As the sun went down we headed back to Oxford, not wanting to be wandering around London in the dark.

A Day Trip to Cardiff

This past Friday, November 2, Caitlin, Amy, Libby and I went on our first day trip outside of Oxford. Our destination was Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, our main goal to visit the Doctor Who Experience.

When we left for the train at 7:45 am, I was worried that the weather was going to be miserable. The forecast for Cardiff was a high temperature in the low 40s Fahrenheit and a 70% chance of rain. Looking out of the windows on the train ride, our spirits lifted as we saw white clouds with some bursts of blue sky. Since being in England I have learned to appreciate any little bit of blue that manages to peep through the almost constant cloud cover.

However, all of these hopes were dashed when we emerged from a long underground tunnel under the Severn River into Wales, to be greeted with a sky that was dark with an almost greenish tinge. All l could think was, "What have we gotten ourselves in to?" and "Don't worry. They do not get tornados here in England even if those clouds do look really ominous."

We had to transfer trains several times in Cardiff until we reached the stop for Cardiff Bay. By this time we were running late, it was 11:45 am and the entrance time on of Doctor Who Experience tickets was for between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm. We were planning to use Libby's iPhone for directions but neither the Apple version or the Google version were working properly, so we walked briskly towards the bay since we knew that it was somewhere in that area.

We were in such a rush that we had little time to appreciate the fact that it was actually very sunny with fluffy white clouds in the sky. Time ticked on until we found a tourist information centre and the woman working kindly gave us a map and the directions we needed. We just needed to walk right along the bay for about ten minutes to get to the Doctor Who Experience, and even though we arrived ten minutes after 12:00 pm, the employees did not even check our designated times on our tickets. We had been worried that they would not let us in.

(Full details on my time at the Doctor Who Experience are posted here)

After leaving the Doctor Who Experience, we strolled casually along the waterfront admiring the modern architecture of the surrounding buildings and the way the sun glistened on the water of the bay. The rays of sun made it feel unusually warm and we unbuttoned our coats and found little use for our scarves and gloves.

We were starving by this time and decided to take the recommendation of our British friend Beth's friend Daniel who studied in Cardiff, and eat at Eddie's American Diner. It might seem strange to want to eat American food while abroad, but sometimes it is just nice to be able to look at a menu and know every dish being offered.

Eddie's American Diner was a long, rectangular restaurant decorated like a 1950s diner. Red, vinyl booths lined the right-hand wall with the open kitchen on the left, separated by a counter with bar stools. All of the booths inside were taken so we had to sit at the tables outside, though it was colder now that we were in the shade. The tables outside were small and silver with two matching chairs on one side and a red and black bench seat designed to look like that of the seats in a 1950s car on the other. The place looked strangely familiar to us. We figured out why when Amy returned from the restroom to tell us that a scene in a Doctor Who episode had been filmed in the restaurant.

We all ordered various kinds of burgers and a side order of french fries to share. This diner at the little things that we had been missing since leaving America. Things like ice in your drinks, the square, orange cheese slices, and, for me personally, mustard for my burger. The only thing not typically American were the buns which tasted freshly baked with a crisp outside instead of the soft, full of preservative kind that we would have gotten in the States.

Sitting at our table deciding what to do next, we watched as an employee left the Starbucks Coffee Shop next door with a tray of free samples. All we could see in the cups was a bunch of whipped cream, we wanted to try some even though we had no idea what it was. We then walked by her post on the sidewalk, trying not look like we had taken that route for the express purpose of being offered the samples. The small red, Christmas themed cups were filled with a new toffee flavored coffee that was actually pretty good considering I do not typically enjoy anything coffee flavored. The best part though was the frothy whipped cream sprinkled with crunchy toffee bits.

Our coffee cups in hand, we walked back to Roald Dahl Plass to take pictures of the Millennium Centre and the Millennium Tower. The Millennium Centre is the setting for operas, plays and concerts. It is a newer building constructed in a modern architectural style, its most notable feature being the curved, copper frontage embellished with the phrase "In These Stones Horizons Sing," in both English and Welsh.

Millennium Centre

The Millennium Water Tower is a semi-circular sliver tower set directly across from the Millennium Centre. It is basically a tall water feature, with water cascading down its flat, metallic sides. This area of Cardiff Bay was also strange to be in because I had seen these sites before when watching Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood.

Millenium Water Tower

Knowing that it would be dark in several hours, we chose to leave Cardiff Bay and head into the city centre to visit The Cardiff Story, a free museum about the history of the city. I found it very interesting because it was more interactive than most museums and it focused more on the individuals who had lived in the city throughout the years.

All of the exhibits were found in one main room with alcoves dedicated to different subjects like the coal and steel industry, the docklands and the city's beginnings. One station held a dollhouse with each side showing the progression of family life over the past two hundred years. The little rooms were decorated for the time period with hand carved wooden people. With the press of a button some parts of the people would start moving. The little boys sitting at the dinner table holding knives and forks bang their fists on the table. The modern woman typed loudly on her laptop while her husband was in the kitchen cooking.

Caitlin, Amy and Libby had a fun time rolling a dice which was just light dots projected on a table which you touched to roll, and then moving their pieces along a game board designed to relfect the history of Cardiff. The person with the train piece invariably won because it was so much more useful to the development of the city than the horse piece.

We exited the Cardiff Story just before it closed at 5:00pm. Not wanting to wander around Cardiff in the dark, we decided to end our day trip and return to the Cardiff Central train station. Luckily, we only had to wait on the train platform for about twenty minutes as the temperature had dropped considerably with the setting of the sun.

The nearly two hour train ride was uneventful. I wrote notes for my day to aid it writing blog posts later (this post in fact) and then spent the rest of the ride listening to an audiobook version of Peter Pan on my iPod.

Our first day trip was deemed a success. Our main goal of visiting the Doctor Who Experience was attained, and it never rained more than a brief sprinkle.  

Expectations: Cardiff, Guy Fawkes Day and Chislehurst Caves

Cardiff, Wales

On Friday November 2, Caitlin, Libby, Amy and I are taking a day trip to Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. I know practically nothing about Cardiff or Wales. The little bit I do know comes from watching television shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood, and from talking to our British friend, Beth.

The Doctor Who Experience is the reason that we are going to Cardiff. I am really excited about it, probably more than I was about going to see the Harry Potter Studio. I am expecting the tour to be like the Harry Potter one, just on a smaller scale, and about Doctor Who, of course. It will probably be focused more on the most recent television episodes and the 11th Doctor, though there should be props and displays about all of the Doctors throughout the years.

Beth went to Cardiff for the first time last weekend to see the premier of Skyfall, the new James Bond movie. She described the city as a mixture of old classic buildings and ultra-modern ones. It will probably be really busy since it is the capital city and we are going on a Friday. I hope that the streets will be in better condition than those in Dublin, and the people more careful when crossing the roads.

It looks like the weather is going to be pretty bad. The high is in the low 40s Fahrenheit with a 70% chance of rain stretching throughout the day. The dampness from rain always makes it seem colder and I am not looking forward to having to walk around outside most of the day.

Guy Fawkes Day

Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night, is a UK holiday celebrated on November 5 every year. The holiday is in celebration of the capture of the Catholic terrorist, Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up Parliament in the 1600s.

There are parties and fireworks like Independence Day in the United States. The biggest part of the night are the large bonfires. Into the fire, people throw effigies that they have made themselves. These effigies are usually made by taking old clothing and stuffing them with newspaper, similar to a scarecrow. Beth has told us that sometimes you make the faux-person with a theme in mind. Last year her friends dressed their effigy as a gangster.

I am expecting it to be pretty similar to the 4th of July mixed with the county fair, except that it will be freezing outside. We are planning on going to see the fireworks in a nearby park where they have been setting up fair rides for the past week. There will probably be a lot of children out with their parents, along with the inevitable person who has had a little too much to drink. The big events will probably be over relatively early since they start before 7pm. Since the time change, the sun has been setting around 5pm so at 7 pm it will be plenty dark enough to start the fireworks.

Chislehurst Caves

Tomorrow, Sunday November 3, Caitlin, Amy and I are going to Chislehurst Caves. They are located in Kent, outside of London. All I know about them is that they are caves and I am not going to read anything on the website so that there is a little element of surprise about it.

I am expecting the tour to be about 45 minutes to an hour long. The caves will be dark and spooky but relatively safe since it is a tourist destination. I am hoping that the tour guide will tells us stories about people who lived or hid in the caves and its historical significance instead of a lecture on how the caves were formed. I've always found history to be more interesting than science. 

We are going by train via London so the trip should be relatively relaxing because we are now familiar with using the railway system. Some of the day will probably be spent in London, perhaps at Piccadilly Circus. 

Dublin Alphabet

Abraham House

Book of Kells

Comedy Crunch in the basement of a pub

Dead bog mummies at the Museum of Archeology

Elephant-footed residents in the hostel keep us awake

Flag of the United States hanging outside a building

Giant's Causeway was made by a giant fleeing to Scotland

Horns honking as pedestrians step out into traffic

Ice cream for free at the comedy show

Jarring seagull cries wake us up every morning

KC Peaches for lunch with Kaitlyn

Leprechaun Museum                     

Moving flats due to mold infestation

National Gallery closes after only 45 minutes

Oscar Wilde statues leers from his place on a boulder

Painting Alphonse Mucha's art nouveau pieces in the street

Queue for airplane seats because they are not assigned

Red O'Donnell, kidnapped and imprisoned in Dublin Castle

St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral for morning Mass

Trinity College

Use an ATM for the first time in my life

Vegetable samosas at O'Shea Pub

Walking tour around Dublin

taXis line up in an alley waiting for fares

Young girls in short skirts almost get hit by a car

Zigzag on crowded sidewalks with loose cobbelstones

A Weekend in Edinburgh: Day 2

Our first full day in Scotland, Libby, Amy, Caitlin, and I rose early and went to breakfast in the main common room. There was toast, fruit cocktail, yogurt, and whole fruit to eat, and coffee, hot tea, and Squash to drink. Squash is a concentrated orange drink (closer to Tang than orange juice) that you mix with water. When Libby bought a bottle of Squash when we first arrived in the UK we did not know about the watering down part and tried to drink the orange liquid plain from the bottle. It tastes like a liquid, super sugar orange flavored syrup, and not at all pleasant to drink.

There were many toast toppings to choose from including Marmite, chocolate hazelnut spread, apricot jam, blackcurrant jam, butter, and lemon curd. I decided to be adventurous and split my toast into fourths, each with a different topping. The four squares were spread with either blackcurrant jam, apricot jam, chocolate hazelnut spread, or lemon curd. The blackcurrant and lemon curd were new toppings to me. Blackcurrant is pretty close to blackberry jam in taste and appearance. It is a deep purple with small seeds that add a hint of crunch. The lemon curd tasted like I had scrapped out the filling of a lemon bar and spread it onto my toasted bread. It was a pale yellow and slightly gelatinous in texture. Personally, the name "lemon curd" is not very appealing because it brings to mind sour, curdled milk. I do not drink milk at all because it smells nasty when fresh, so soured milk is disgusting to an extreme.

Sanctuary of St. John's Episcopal Church
Photo by Amy

After eating we crossed the street to St. John's Episcopal Church, using our umbrellas to shield our bodies from the drizzle. Since it was Sunday we wanted to attend church to see how the service differed from ones we had been to in the United States. We plan to go attend a church service during all of our overnight trips. This particular service was a 9:30 am Choral Matins. Matins is a term normally by Protestant denominations to describe a morning prayer service.

The sanctuary was decorated with colored paper fish hanging from clear string. Each had writing or drawings by children on it. This was such a contrast to the rest of the church which was ornately detailed in the traditional style of churches. Since this was a Choral Matins, there was a lot of singing, both by the choir and by the attendees. The choir members of this church wore robes similar to those worn by the singers at Salisbury Cathedral. The robes were white with red under-robes peaking out from the sleeves, hem and neckline. They also wore a small ruffled collar encircling their necks.

There was also the recitation of the Apostle's Creed and I was proud that I remembered all of the words. At my Presbyterian church in the United States, we do not say the Apostle's Creed at every service like they seem to do here where churches are more traditional.

Near the end of the service collection was taken using small bags, instead of offering plates. The entire time there I noticed how nice it smelt. It was not floral but instead it was like the mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger from making gingerbread cookie. I am not sure if it was the lingering scent of incense, if the church even used it, or if it was the perfume of the elderly woman sitting in the pew behind me.

At the service's end we were invited to refreshments and asked to return the following week, but we explained that we were just visiting for the weekend. The man was quite insistent that we stayed for the 10:30 service but we managed to politely extricate ourselves to start our day of sightseeing.

Inside the National Museum of Scotland

Climbing the Mound, past the rail station, we made our way into Old Town, the more historic district of Edinburgh. First stop, the National Museum of Scotland for some cultural education. Learning about early humans in Scotland, animals of the world, and flatware design throughout the centuries made us all hungry and ready for lunch.

All of my companions are avid Harry Potter fans, so they were super excited to eat at the Elephant House Cafe. For those who don't know, the Elephant House is where J.K. Rowling penned the first words of a book that would grow to become an international sensation. She returned to the cafe many times in the course of writing the first book.

The small cafe is always crowded. The tables in the small eating area are pressed close together. The room is filled with elephant knickknacks and artwork. Our table was in the back corner next to a bookcase containing dozens of book, all about elephants, some factual, some novels, and some children's cartoons. The inside of the bathroom has become a shrine to The Boy Who Lived, with fans from all over the world writing quotes and good wishes on the walls.

At the cafe I had a very good baguette with a combination of some of my favorite toppings, mozzarella cheese, pesto, and olives. The bread in the UK always seems to taste better than the kind you get back home. We also ordered a pot of tea to share and I felt like I was truly embracing British culture, even though we were in Scotland at the time.

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The Scotch Whisky Tour began at 1 pm in a brick building neat the entrance to Edinburgh Castle. The first part was a short ride in carts shaped like large wooden barrels. Our ghostly tour guide (a projected image), lead us through the whisky making process from barely harvest to fermentation to aging in wooden barrels. From the ride we moved on to the whisky tasting.

All of our tour group arranged ourselves around a large, U-shaped glass table. Our guide, a real person this time, explained the four main types of Scottish whisky to us and we watched a short video on each kind. Each were supposed to have different undertones depending on the area in which the barely was grown and then made into alcohol. The lowlands were supposed to have undertones of citrus, highlands of spices, Speyside of bananas, and Islay of fire smoke. Since I do not drink, I chose lowlands to try because it is supposed to be the mildest in flavor.

The alcohol was served in glasses shaped specially so that you can stick your nose into the glass to smell the drinks aroma. I swirled the golden liquid and inhaled its scent with instructed. The smell was not unpleasant like garbage, nor was in pleasant like cooking food. To me it just smelt like rubbing alcohol, and not at all appealing. I very carefully tilted the glass back determined to get only the smallest taste. When the liquid slid across my tongue I could feel my face scrunching in a grimace. I tried desperately not to gag and start coughing as it burned a path down my throat. It did not want to look like an inexperienced child (though that is pretty much what I am in the area of drinking alcohol) in front of our fellow tour mates, all of whom were in their late twenties or older. My companions and I were the only ones in the group who were asked to show IDs to prove our ages. Libby was kind enough to finish my whisky for me so I did not have to drink more than a sip.

Oldest Bottles in the Whisky Collection
Photo by Amy

We moved on to the glass walled whisky collection room were hundreds of unopened whiskey bottles are on display. Even though none have ever been opened, some of the bottles were not completely full because their golden contents have evaporated over time. Eventually every single one will be empty. The two oldest bottles in the collection date from 1897 and 1904.

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We entered Camera Obscura: The World of Illusions, after meeting up with Libby's friend Cat. We spent nearly two hours exploring the narrow building several floors. There were optical illusions, a mirror maze and a giant rotating tube that make you fell like the floor is tilting even though it is actually still. My favorite part was the top floor where you could go out onto the roof and have an amazing view of Edinburgh. We were surrounded by domes, spires and other interesting architectural features. In the distance you could even see the ocean. For some reason I never thought about the fact the Edinburgh is situated on the coast, probably since coastal towns in the UK are much different from the costal towns on the East Coast of the United States. 

We finished the night at a Scottish pub called the Amber Rose. I ordered Chicken and Mushroom Pie which came with peas, chips (french fries) and gravy. The gravy was absolutely delicious. I was a little wary of it at first because I do not like the Southern gravy that is common at home. Instead of being thick and grey, this gravy was thin and brown. It was probably made out of chicken and/or mushrooms.  I poured it onto my pie and dipped my chips in it. I ate everything on my plate at that meal.

A Weekend in Edinburgh: Day 1

The four of us (Amy, Caitlin, Libby and myself), climbed the stairs out of the Edinburgh Waverley Rail Station, emerging onto bustling Princes Street. The sunlight pressed weakly through the overcast sky, the cool breeze sneaking its way passed the weave of my sweater and causing goosebumps.

My first impression of Edinburgh was that it was incredible busy. People streamed by in both directions, attempting to avoid collisions with other pedestrians though their efforts were not always effective. I even heard a girl remark to her friend that it was unusually crowded, even for a Saturday afternoon.

We turned left and began walking towards our hostel (Libby knew the way because she stayed in the same place this past summer). On our right there were large stores like Accessorize, Boots, H&M, and Marks and Spencers. Interspersed between these shops were many smaller souvenir shops with postcards out front and Scottish kilts displayed in the windows. I was so absorbed with trying to weave my way along the crowded sidewalk that I was not paying attention to any of the sights. It came has a huge surprise when I glanced to the left and saw...

Edinburgh Castle

and...

Old Town, Edinburgh

This sight of old stonework edifices proudly perched upon a hill overlooking a lush, green park was completely breathtaking to me. I wanted to stop to take photographs but I did not want to fall behind my companions and be lost in the crowd (these pictures were actually taken on our second day in Edinburgh). It is overwhelming to try to imagine how many thousands of people, over how many centuries must have enjoyed the same view that I did that day.

After about a fifteen minute walk we entered Caledonian Backpackers, our hostel for the weekend. Libby highly recommended it from her experiences staying there his summer. Though I have never stayed in a hostel before, and had no prior experiences to compare it to, I thought that the hostel was very nice. Wifi, linens and breakfast were included in the price.

Bar at Caledonian Backpackers

We entered from the ground floor (first floor in America) into the reception lobby. After paying and getting our navy blue key cards, we went up a flight of stairs and down a hallway past the common rooms. The largest common room featured a bar with a metal sheeting roof, two pool tables, and several seating areas.

But, our journey to our room was not yet complete. We still had to climb several more flights of stairs up to the third floor (fourth in the USA). Luckily, our designated room, Room O, was just at the top of the stairs. Our room was a mixed dormitory with ten bunks, sleeping twenty people. We were assigned beds 1 to 4. I had bed 1. Four men were already staying in the room when we arrived on Saturday. Three of them looked to be at least in their thirties, if not older. The fourth I only ever saw when we was buried in his sheets asleep so I have not idea what he even looked like. For some reason I had the impression that generally people who stay in hostels are in their twenties, but that is obviously not true.

Inside of Room O

The hostel provided each of use with a duvet and two pillows, each covered in a pattern of yellow rings and brown dots. The mattresses were definitely more comfortable than the ones in our flat. It was so nice not to feel the springs digging into my back all night long.

The bathroom was down the hall, a doe painted on the wall outside of the door. There were two toilets, three shower stalls and a sink. The walls inside were painted vibrant pink with a black and white floral wallpaper border.

After setting up our beds and putting our backpacks in the provided lockers we decided our itinerary for the trip. Since it was later in the day we chose to head for the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens and then find somewhere to eat dinner, saving the indoor activities for Sunday when it was forecasted to rain.

Following Google Maps on Libby's iPhone, we made the thirty minute hike to the Gardens, and it really was a hike because we had to go up and down several substantial hills to get there. Along the way we did get to seem some beautiful architecture including several curved buildings forming a large crescent, similar to the Royal Crescent in Bath. A crescent, sometimes also called a circus, is a building that is built in a curve to form a circle, though broken in some places for roads to enter. There is often a circular part in the center of the buildings that is used as a park with grass and trees.

The Royal Botanic Gardens has free admission so we walked in and randomly decided to turn right. Just a short stroll in, we sat on a bench to rest from the long walk there, as well as to take some photographs. Here I learned that Caitlin is mildly afraid of squirrels. From what I understand, as a child every time her mother saw a squirrel she would tell Caitlin that they could have rabies. One squirrel slowly made its way across the footpath, coming within about ten feet of us before scampering up a tree. During our rest we also had a lively conversation about a plump pigeon that strutted by us. Caitlin, Amy and Libby thought it would be hysterically funny to get a picture of it and then somehow photoshop it to have a monocle and top hat. I later learned that they had gotten the idea from the Jack Wills (British clothing store) logo, though that logo actually features a pheasant not a pigeon.

Photo by Libby Bean

We left the bench and ambled along the footpath, passing under a hedge that must have been over twenty feet tall and entering the Fairy Wood. Thin trees with pale bark grew closely together on both sides of the main path. Green underbrush grew around the trees, marking the edges of narrow dirt paths that ran off of the footpath and into the trees. Several small children and their parents were exploring these dirt paths, looking for fairies. Our group passed through the Wood quickly and quietly, not wanting to disturb their fun.

Next up were some gardening plots tended to by local grade schools, followed by the Queen Mother's Garden. The garden is in honor of Queen Elizabeth, wife to King George VI and mother of the current Queen, Elizabeth II. Her family held an Earldom in Scotland so it is appropriate that this memorial to her is in Edinburgh.

The outer edge of the garden was lined with slabs of stone carved with the names of charities and organizations that the Queen Mother supported during her long life (she lived to be 101 years old). The center of each stone was also decorated with a gold painted crown. Further into the garden the stone slabs of the pathway were inscribed, by decade, of important events in her life like the births of her children and her ascension to the role of queen consort.

A small, doorless building was set at the back of the garden. It was made of pale stone and rust colored shingles. The simple facade made a striking contrast to the decorations on the inside. The walls were covered in a complex pattern of scallop seashells, oyster shells, and painted tiles baring the initials "ER." The ceiling was not left out as it was also covered in intricate designs, this time in many different species of pine cones. The pine cones at the very peak of the ceiling formed the Scottish national flag.  It took an incredible amount of artistry to arrange the organic materials into such eye-catching patterns.

Next, we attempted to gain entry to the large, tropical glasshouses but there was an entry fee so we continued on. Making a quick detour at a duck pond (where I kept expecting to see crocodiles) and the Chinese garden, we left the same way we entered.

By the time we had walked thirty minutes back to the hotel, we were all starving. Luckily for us, several doors down from the hostel was a restaurant called Wannaburger, and yes, you guessed it, they sell burgers. The restaurant was decorated in a color scheme of white and red with both booths and tables. I believe that it is considered an American food restaurant. It sold burgers, french fries (it actually used the term french fries, not the English term of chips), veggie burgers, onion rings, giant pickles and more. The restaurant also followed the American practice of free refills (this is very unusual in the UK). What made my day was that they had lemonade which I had been craving. The typical American lemonade is known as cloudy lemonade in England and the term lemonade is used in reference to lemon soda like Sprite. I ordered a regular hamburger and french fries, which were delicious, especially because I was so hungry.

Back at the hostel we hung out in the common room for a while talking, and playing on our phones/iPod/tablet, taking advantage of the free wifi. I downloaded Skype to my iPod and I managed to get it working well enough to talk to my mom. She and my youngest sister were visiting my other sister at her university for parent's weekend. It was really nice to get to talk to all of them at once. I often find it hard to figure out a time for us to Skype because of the five hour time difference. When they are available later in the day around dinner time I am getting ready for bed so I have not been able to talk to them as much as I would like.

I went to bed early that night, soon after I finished my Skype date. We were all exhausted from getting up at 6 am and walking several miles. Snuggling in our duvets, we went to sleep, knowing we would be up early in the morning to start our second day in Edinburgh.