UK 2011 Part One

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to wake up on time Thursday morning, so I just decided to stay up all night, cleaning, packing, etc. I left my house around 3:45 AM and headed to the bus terminal. The airport is about two hours from here and the first bus leaves Cheonan at 4:30. So, I got there around 6:30 and got all through security etc. My flight from here to Japan left a little late and when I got to Japan they said I had to go to another terminal to catch my next flight. There was a bus waiting there to take people to the other terminal, but apparently he was waiting to fill the whole thing before he went, because I bet I waited almost 10 minutes. I was getting a bit nervous and the guy finally took off. I was cutting it close on time and when I got there people were boarding the plane. I can't image how upset I would have been to miss my first connection! HA! The flight to Copenhagen (although quite long) was a pleasant one and then I had just a short layover in Denmark before finally arriving in Manchester at just after 6 PM. Dad had booked a hotel very near the airport and I assumed "very near" meant like a 5 or 10 minute ride, but as the plane landed I could see the sign for "Bewleys" from the plane, so I decided just to hoof it over there. I couldn't believe how crisp and clean the air felt. It was probably around 60 degrees that evening. I finally made it across the road (after looking the wrong way both times...more on that later! HA) and upon my arrival into the lobby I spotted Mom and Dad!! I was soooo happy to see them, it had been two long years since I had last seen them and it was so nice to be able to give them a big hug and talk to them in person! The hotel was pretty nice and I got my stuff upstairs. We sat and talked for a while and it was around 10 PM before it got dark, which actually ended up being REALLY nice for the trip since it seemed to give us quite a bit more time to do things, and also it was nice because I don't think Dad or I see well at night either. After getting a good nights sleep we headed out pretty early the next morning. Here is a map I created from Google Maps that can kind of help you follow along and see where we went. Now, I have to give my dad some MAJOR credit for handling the driving for about 95% of the trip (I spared him a bit, even though my North Carolina license has since expired...HA) because driving a car with the steering wheel on the opposite side, cars on the opposite side, driving in a new country and shifting gears with your left hand is NOT EASY! Dad did a great job and I appreciate him doing that...I know it wasn't easy. So...we headed out and about 5 minutes down the road we accidently exited off the expressway...so, we kept our calm and made it back near the hotel and started off a second time. Our first destination was Scotland, so...the second time around we stayed on and headed north. The first decent sized town we came to was Lancaster and we stopped there for about an hour. There is a cool little castle called, interestingly enough, Lancaster Castle! HA! I knew we would see many castles along the way and so we decided to only enter a few of them since most of them were at least 5-10 pounds (between 10-17 dollars). So, we just checked out the outside of the castle and nearby church. The weather was great, nice and sunny and just cool enough that it was perfect. The little town of Lancaster was quite cool, and it felt good to be back in Europe after a few years.





We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed north again and exited the expressway headed for Keswick. Expressway driving wasn't bad, but now the fun was about to begin...for anyone who hasn't been to Europe most places use roundabouts instead of stoplights and looking the opposite way from what you're used to for the past thirty five years (or in Dad's case sixty eight) isn't easy. Driving through the countryside was amazingly beautiful seeing all the rock walls and greenery.









We made our way through the narrow streets of the little village of Windermere, which interestingly enough was the name of ship that my ancestors had travelled on to the US, and on up to Keswick. Near Keswick, up a very very very narrow road is a little stone circle called the Castlerigg Stone Circle. I knew going to Stonehenge was out of the question since it was so far south from where we were, so Castlerigg seemed like our second best option. The circle was built around 4,500 years ago and it is believed that this area might have been used for seasonal gatherings and community negotiations. They also believe that possibly goods were exchanged in this area as well.









I loved the area near Keswick, there was also a cool lake near there called Bassenthwaite Lake. I wish the photos could capture just how beautiful it really was there.





After a short hike on a little path near the lake we decided to continue on and started back towards the expressway and the town of Carlisle. Historically this area was well known for being a Roman settlement and was established to serve some of the forts along Hadrian's Wall (a defensive fortification built around AD 122 by the emperor Hadrian). The Carlisle area became an important military stronghold, due to it's proximity to Scotland. There was a castle there that I wanted to see, and we drove near it, but oddly we were on the backside of it, so we could see some big block walls, but couldn't see the castle part of the front, so we missed it the first time. We drove down some side streets and finally I kept thinking "that HAD to be it..." We stopped and I asked a lady in a store where the castle was, now...I don't know about most of my American friends, but I for one can only understand about 75% of British English. If I watch a British movie I always find myself asking someone "what did he say?" This was the case here as well, the woman, although very kind, sounded like a British version of Charlie Brown's school teacher. I nodded and "umm hmm'd" and walked out of the store thinking "what did she say?" Basically I just figured on my own that the huge stone wall had to have been the backside of the castle, and I was right. So, we made our way back, paid our parking and took a stroll around the castle. Near the castle was also a really cool cathedral and so we went in there as well. There was a bucket near the entrance of the church saying "We don't have an entry fee, but kindly request a five pound donation." Ummm, yeah, $9 to look around a church for 3 minutes, no thanks! HA!










Our goal was to get up near Glasgow, Scotland by Saturday night, so after an hour or two in Carlisle we started driving again. I was glad that they had a Scotland sign posted on the expressway, and so we took a quick break and got a few pictures near there as well.



The drive up the expressway in Scotland was very nice, there were many small towns along the way, along with Lockerbie which I remember being somewhat famous for the 1988 airplane bombing that occurred near there. Dad was getting a bit tired and even though I technically wasn't a legal driver, I decided to help and drive for a little while. I wouldn't have done so if my license had been revoked, or something like that, but since it just expired I figured of course my skills were still up to par, so I drove for a while until we got near Glasgow. We started to look for some places to stay for the evening, but couldn't find much. Going into the trip we had planned to just find places along the way, since we didn't want too much of a schedule if we decided we wanted to change things up a bit. For everything else other than this night, it was a great idea..BUT...we drove and drove and drove and drove and couldn't find anything. We were all over the place and I was starting to get quite tired and very hungry. Finally we found a hotel, but it was full. Found another, it was full. The lady there was cool and had printed a map to find a hotel she said had some rooms, but Glasgow roads were full of construction, confusion, etc. After a wrong turn (thanks construction) next thing I knew we had been driving for maybe 2.5 hours and we were finally just lost at some gas station on the outskirts of town. I was doing my best to stay cool, but was caving under the pressure of finding a room on an empty stomach, an eight hour time difference and somewhat jet lagged. I asked the guy in the store if he knew anywhere and he was about as helpful as someone in a local DMV branch. There was a woman in there buying some bread and I asked "Do you know how I can find this Travelodge?" She knew right where it was and told me if I'd wait for her to buy her stuff, her and her daughter would help us find it. I assumed helping would mean getting outside and pointing down the road, telling about roundabouts and "wee bits" of driving we needed to do. But, I must say this lady and her daughter truly were angels. She said if I would, just follow them and they would take us to the hotel. It had to have been a five to six mile drive from where we were (and at $8 a gallon) and I felt bad they went so far out of their way. Finally I saw the Travelodge sign and they pulled right into the parking lot. I couldn't believe we were FINALLY there...we offered to give her some money and she utterly refused saying "ahh, it's a nice night for a drive!" I didn't get her name, but I was really really thankful that night for such a sweet lady, I know I never would have found that place, and I couldn't take any more aimless driving. We finally got checked in and I was sooooooo hungry. There was a little restaurant right next to the hotel and after getting our luggage inside we went down to the restaurant, I walked in and the lady said only the bar was open after 10 PM. I said "that's fine, we can eat before then" and she said "Umm, it's 10:05" HA! It was still light outside so I just assumed it was maybe 9, 9:30. So, that option was out. Mom had quickly built a friendship with the lady at the front desk and was able to understand her Scottish accent (something I never did figure out the whole time we were there) and so the lady had drawn a map to a Chinese place near the hotel. I was just done driving and being in the car, so mom and dad made their way to the place...I just knew if I got lost again I couldn't keep my composure. Anyway, after a bit they came back and we chowed down on some Chinese food (our first night in Scotland! HA) I felt much better after eating, but by this time I was just done with Glasgow. I had previewed the city before the trip and it oddly didn't seem very interesting to me, a few parks and museums, but nothing much else I wanted to see. Now, if any Glasgow residents stumble across this blog, I'm not trashing your city, so please no negative posts back to me, I just didn't feel like dealing with that city anymore. Mom laughed and said "you better not leave a negative comment about Glasgow on your blog" so...I'll respect her wishes and just move on. HA! Needless to say when morning came I was ready to head on, away from Glasgow, my nemesis!
Sunday was a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning, and I was excited to move on and get up to Stirling. Originally I hadn't even planned to go there, but after Mom had asked if we could go to Glasgow I had penciled Stirling in for a short stop between Glasgow and Edinburgh, with it's monument to William Wallace (Braveheart) and castle, it looked like a fun place to spend the morning. I had no idea how much I would fall in love with this little city of 34,000. We found the Wallace Monument with relative ease, as it was so tall it was impossible not to see. From the parking lot the monument looked huge up on top of the hill. Construction was finished on the monument in 1869 commemorating Sir William Wallace who bravely fought against British tyranny in the 13th century. There are several artifacts inside believed to have belonged to Wallace including his 5 foot 6 inch Claymore (aka sword). Also included inside the monument in a "hall of heros" with busts of many of Scotland's finest over the years. They had a gentleman who portrayed himself as William Wallace and gave a 15-20 minute presentation about the life of Wallace. He seemed very funny and knowledgeable and I enjoyed hearing him. (In the picture those people behind us ARE dwarfs, pretty cool eh? HA! No, there's just a little hill there you can't see) We then climbed up the 246 steps all the way to the top and the view from there was nothing short of amazing! It was rather windy at the top, but the views from there were something to behold, including far off mountain ranges, the beautiful winding River Forth and sites where seven different battle have taken place over the years.











After spending the better part of the morning there, and now realizing how much we all loved the area, we decided to just spend the day in Stirling. So, we ate a nice lunch there in the afternoon sun and then made our way across town first to see the Stirling Bridge and then to the Stirling Castle, which rested on top of a hill overlooking the city. On September 11, 1297 the forces of England were defeated in Stirling on the River Forth. At that time there was a wooden bridge which was collapsed to basically drown all the British and of course cut them off from being able to cross. The site of the battle now has a very cool looking bridge and park (if you look close you can see the Wallace Monument in the background).






If my memory serves me correct the castle was built around the fifteenth and sixteenth century and was the place where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in 1543. Many battles were waged against the castle and the last was around 1746 when Bonnie Prince Charlie tried, unsuccessfully to take it. In front of the castle is a statue of Robert the Bruce and the view back on the city and to Wallace Monument was amazing. It was a little expensive to enter at 13 pounds (around $25) but this was the first castle we actually went to, and one that I really wanted to see. We meandered a bit when we first got in, and then there was a guy saying that they would be having a tour in about 15 minutes from a certain meeting spot. I'm usually not big on tour groups, but this guy seemed kind of funny, so I was hoping he would lead the group. He did, and he was very animated and funny. He made huge cannon sounds, made us make huge cannon sounds, and was very funny and informative through our tour of the castle. I have trouble remembering OLD dates and names, so suffice to say that the castle is very famous, had many historical events there and was very, very cool. It was cool, there was a part of the castle that had previously been closed, but had only been opened to the public in early July, so we basically had a chance to see the entire castle. The castle itself and the grounds inside were spectacular.
























After a lovely day in Stirling I thought maybe it was time to move on the Edinburgh, so I asked the lady at the castle the best way to get going towards there. She asked what our plans were and I said we were planning to go there the next day and do some sightseeing. She said that Edinburgh (from henceforth called Eburgh just to shorten it! HA) was MUCH more expensive than Stirling and suggested we should just stay around there and make the 35 mile drive the next day. I knew mom had really wanted to stay at the Bed & Breakfast, and I secretly didn't...but this trip was about all of us and I had seen a street near the bridge that had many B&Bs. So, we drove back down there, checked the first one and she was full. I asked her if she had any friends that had a B&B and could she just call them and ask if they had any openings. She did and told us to drive down to Ravenswood. Click on that link and you can see the website and see our room that we stayed in (the first bedroom on the video). The owner, Stuart was really cool and after we checked out the place we decided to stay there for the night. His prices were good at 80 pounds (around $130) for the three of us, since he had free WiFi (what a novel idea, most UK hotels wanted to charge 12 pounds for it!) and a nice breakfast included. Our room had a double bed and a single, including our own bathroom. One of the biggest reasons I didn't want to stay at the B&B was the thought of sharing a bathroom, but my fears were put aside after we checked in. If you find yourself in Stirling, I HIGHLY recommend the Ravenswood B&B, it was a great stay! One of my favorite things to do on trips is just to make non touristy stops and strolls, and so after we had dinner we decided just to walk around the neighborhood in Stirling. It's a charming little town, and just walking around made it seem even more so. The houses there all seemed so cute and the yards well kept and clean. After getting back to Ravenswood we talked and decided that we really loved the Stirling area and wanted to stay one more day. We tried to think about what to do and decided to drive over to Loch Lomond and take a boat ride. So, after a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, yogurt, haggis and black pudding we left for a nice country drive down the A811 to the little village of Bulloch, on the south side of Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond as some may know is well know from the song The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond which includes the lyrics:

Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

We boarded our vessel the "Silver Marlin" and enjoyed a two hour ride around the lake, the biggest in the UK, which had some beautiful views of Ben Lomond and many gorgeous homes and castles. On the ride we spotted a park area near the Bulloch Castle and so we decided to walk over to there and enjoy the afternoon. This actually turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. At the base of the castle hill there was grass and trees with some nice shade, so we took a short break there and just sat and talked, enjoying the beautiful weather and some ginger snaps and cream cookies. It was just one of those moments for me where I realized how much I've missed my parents the last few years, and how happy I was to have this week with them. We laughed and told some stories, one of how dad's grandma used to buy ginger snaps because she knew none of the kids liked them, so she could eat them all (what a great idea! HAHA) and also he told about a trip to the store once where he ate all of his grandma's celery before they got back home, and she didn't notice and thought she had misplaced it! Anyway, it was just a fun moment for me, not to mention how beautiful and surreal it was to be sitting along the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland. So, after eating for a bit we walked up to the castle and toured the rest of the grounds. It was so beautiful and fortunately for us the weather was very lovely too. After spending a few hours near there, we decided to head back to Stirling and spend one more night at Ravenswood before heading on to Eburgh. As we drove back into town, we had to stop one more time just to get a few more pictures of the amazing castle, I knew I'd be sad when we left in the morning!