Landing in England and happy to be back in temperate weather after a long and arduous travel day, we spent a week in Windsor, just west of London, exploring the town and getting acclimated to the new timezone.

Waterstones has now become our favorite bookstore chain after struggling to find good books in Asia; they also sell the loveliest cloth bags of which we bought a few. The Royals resided down the road at Windsor Castle due to massive ongoing renovations at Buckingham Palace, but we never rubbed shoulders with them, coming closest when King Charles hosted President Zelensky for lunch at the castle while we visited the State Apartments. Although Windsor is a lovely town and visiting the Castle was way more fascinating than I anticipated, we both looked forward to begin the road trip that would bring us from the Southwestern tip of England all the way to North Yorkshire and the Scottish Borders.

Winchester Cathedral, in the town of Winchester, is the longest medieval cathedral in the world and the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, a truly fascinating place to roam.

William the Conqueror insisted a cathedral be built on that swampy land so construction commenced in 1079. The hugeness of the Cathedral impressed us with its long high walls of Norman and Gothic architecture.

The cathedral needed renovation hundreds of years later due to the fact that it was built … on marshland. Fortunately, prosperity and changing fashion over time (Norman/Viking : out, Gothic : in), the cathedral as it stands today is an impressive edifice with stunning visuals and fascinating history. Along the left side of the Nave after entering the cathedral, we stumbled upon Jane Austin’s gravestone. As this year is her 250th anniversary, there is much ado about her happening all over England.

Onward to Stonehenge, which we had not planned to visit, but as it was on our way to Cornwall, we thought to make a go of it. I was surprisingly more impressed with the ancient stone ring than I thought I would be and thoroughly enjoyed walking around the enigmatic circle. One can’t help but feel a sense of awe upon first sighting Stonehenge from the road. Although we had quite the drive still to go, we lingered around the ancient monument partly because it was intriguingly attractive and partly due to the fact that during summertime, the sun doesn’t set until 10pm.

*We seem to cross paths with our dear friends Mick and Christine Brown, this time in the South Downs*

Our last stop before arriving in Cornwall, Dartmoor National Park (DNP) was a convenient way point for us. We learned about the small, wild Dartmoor horses and the true definition of a Commoner, which really clarified for us the Boston Commons, used back in the day for grazing cattle. A commoner is a citizen who tends a flock on the commons, land belonging to the whole community.

Much of DNP are moors, which inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write Hound of the Baskervilles. As fog rolled in during the full moon, braying animals can certainly evoke spine-tingling chills at night. But driving along pastures filled with sheep, cattle, and roaming herds of horses during the day, you get a much more cheerful sense of the national park. I look forward to returning to take advantage of the many hiking trails into the moors.

*Tintagel Old Post Office dating from around 1380 AD*

Cornwall, in the Southwest of England, is considered one of the most beautiful areas to visit. Known for its dramatic coastlines and fishing villages, for us the highlights of the area included visiting The Eden Project (a transformed former clay pit), now an ecological wonderland with two massive geodesic dome enclosures. Wandering through the Rainforest Biome, we were transported back to Southeast Asia, definitely evoking fond memories of our earlier travels.

We were fascinated by Tintagel Castle, a legendary ruin perched atop a cliff abutting the rugged Cornwall coast, and famous for its association to the King Arthur myths. Finally, we enjoyed a performance of “The Pirate Queen” at the Minack Theatre, an open air venue carved into the cliffs at the very southern tip of England with amazing views of the sun setting over the Atlantic while watching the performance.

*Watching the Pirate Queen at the Minack Theatre*

Overall though, we were happy to leave Cornwall with its many narrow and curvy, hedge-lined and often single-lane, roads behind, as Google Maps often misled us along ways I’d be hard pressed to call roads.

The Roman Baths after which the city of Bath was named were definitely an overall highlight. Amazingly preserved and presented, this attraction offered a glimpse into Roman life, architecture, and structural engineering.

*Bath Abbey rising above the Roman Baths*

Afterwards, we visited other city highlights including Bath Abbey and some architecturally interesting neighborhoods, but we opted not to enter the the Jane Austin Centre, which was packed with young women dressed up in 19th century clothes which reminded us that we really had no interest in her books or biography. Other than learning at a nearby restaurant that Jane Austen wasn’t a great fan of her time in Bath, our waitress did concede that the city of Bath is a great fan of hers as it now brings in major revenue.

*Pulteney Bridge in Bath, built in 1770, is one of only four bridges in the world lined with shops*

We visited the Cotswolds from bottom to top first taking a day trip from Bath and later staying at Stow-on-the-Wold in the northern corner. There are many picturesque towns including Lacock, a city used as a filming location for Downton Abbey and Harry Potter. We learned about the first photographic negative made at Lacock Abbey by William Talbot, who developed the process of photography at the same time as did Louis Daguerre in Le Gras, France. Our friend Keith Jones would love the photography museum at Lacock Abbey.

While driving through Castle Combe, we encountered a flash thunderstorm which flooded the streets already overcrowded with weekend tourists, so we drove to another small town for our Sunday roast. The next day, we returned to Castle Combe in sunnier weather. Considered one of the prettiest villages in England, one could better see its charms without crowded streets. We were even able to snag a spot for lunch before driving on.

The Cotswolds are famous for their stone houses sometimes with thatched roofs, flowers and other cutesy elements, all cramped together in small villages. Yet, we found that other areas of England also have similar nice features, but have no tourists.

We really liked Upper and Lower Slaughter, both quintessentially charming Cotswoldian villages. Upper Slaughter is quiet and picturesque and we wandered around searching for a place to sit and practice our sketching skills. Lower Slaughter is a bit more touristy having a flowing river with charming bridges leading to a famous water mill. Both towns benefit from narrow roads which keep out large tour buses.

Finally, we drove through Bourton-on-the-Water, one of the most famous and visited villages in the area. We definitely got a Stockbridge, Massachusetts vibe from Bourton, but with too many people and a lot of fabricated tourist attractions like Birdland Park and The Model Village, we had no desire to linger.

The longest drive of our trip brought us to Liverpool, home of the Beatles. Although we didn’t really plan to make our visit there a pilgrimage to the Fab Four, I was concerned my sister would disown me if we didn’t give it some effort. Although Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s childhood home tours and the Magical Mystery Tour Bus were booked out, we did enjoy a pint of Guinness at the Cavern Club listening to live performers who played on the famous stage where the Beatles performed their famous marathon music sets in the sweaty and smoke-filled narrow confines back in the early sixties.

The bar rocked with people of all ages dancing in front of guitarists playing Beatles tunes or songs from other famous performers who graced the stage throughout the years. Liverpool felt otherwise like a fresh wind, with lots of modern buildings and newly built pedestrian areas near and along the harbor. Comfortable to walk all over the place and yet not too big.

Leeds is a lively and friendly university city, located smack dab in the middle of Great Britain and the biggest city in the province of Yorkshire. We arrived there on our daughter Jyl’s birthday, being very excited to see her again after so long apart. Finally meeting her boyfriend Alex, of whom we had heard much about for a long time, we all went out to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants and stopped for drinks at one of her favorite bars. Luckily for us, we stayed in downtown Leeds for a few days in a hotel that had just opened after new ownership and finished renovation, which was great in itself, but the area was also preparing for the long Pride weekend all over with colorful decorations and cheerful music everywhere. Nice area, lots of restaurants, great city walking.

*Jillian brought us to a Ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee), a lively social gathering featuring traditional Scottish or Irish folk music and dancing*

We had booked first a week in a small, quaint cottage in Lofthouse at the end of a narrow road large enough for half a car, in the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales, a beautiful area just 20 minutes from Leeds. Finally having a kitchen and people to cook for (Jyl and Alex joined us), we definitely made good use of our time there. Enjoying the country life and hiking around the area, we also visited Saltaire (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) with a super cool museum at the Salts Mill where I learned more about the artist David Hockney, although Gitty was already very familiar with his work.

For a second week we stayed in a renovated, modern, but cozy and bright, barn apartment, in the village of Huby, close to the Yorkshire towns of Otley and Harrogate, which we found both very livable.

*Lost in the moors on a rocky dirt path*

A note more about Google Maps. We were warned early on by Christine Brown that Google will send you down any road no matter how remote if it believes you will eventually arrive at your destination. This led to some harrowing drives in Cornwall until I wised up and started ignoring the roads that displayed suspicious warning signs (or weren’t numbered). Well, here in Yorkshire, driving what should have been a fifteen minute ride home from a trip to some old druid ruins, Google Maps led me down a road which gradually worsened until 6 miles in, all that remained was a dirt path and many rocks jutting out of the ground. Not wanting to backtrack, I continued at a snail’s pace until we encountered a closed gate four miles further on warning that the road ahead was not suitable for motor vehicles. Thanks for the warning! As I did not cherish backtracking and hoped the road would soon again improve, Gitty opened the gate and we forged on through the moors at a crawl for the next 45 harrowing minutes. It was wild and beautiful and the area should have been enjoyed on foot. When we finally reached pavement again, we whooped and I gave thanks to the God of Tyres that mine were spared.

*Partridges blocked the road so Gitty had to leave the car to shoo them away*

Back at Jyl’s terraced house (that’s what they call rowhouses) we enjoyed helping with gardening: first shopping for lots of plants, then prepping the overgrown areas for planting and then, yes, the planting of a lot of flowerful bee-friendly plants. Including a bird feeder, which was immediately visited by English robins, chaffinches and several tits. We were not only missing the cooking, but also the gardening, so we were all happy about our involvement there.

For our final week in the UK, all four of us traveled together exploring first northward along the east coast of Yorkshire and then crossing west through the Scottish Border, a county that belongs to Scotland and is located South of Edinburgh. There we stayed a few days in Galashiels, in the center of the Borders, before we moved on to the west coast and stayed in Glasgow.

Some of the highlights included visiting Durham Cathedral where the last remaining Magna Carta document from 1225 is housed. Dr. Christopher Hunter, an avid coffee drinker known to imbibe over 20 cups a day, spilled ink over the precious scroll sometime in the 1740s. He was never allowed back into the library again.

We especially liked hiking the cliff-side walk at St. Abb’s Head Nature Reserve looking over beautiful scenery and the small and remote fishing village and just enjoying nature at its finest.

In Galashiels, we strolled around the house and gardens of Sir Walter Scott, a very influential writer who is credited with inventing the historical fiction genre.

In Glasgow, in an Escape Room (an entertainment that our family enjoys since many years), we found ourselves handcuffed to the walls of a mad doctor’s lab with at most one hour to free ourselves or suffer the consequences. We escaped unharmed to no one’s surprise and also unsurprisingly in record time with Jyl and Alex on our side. Also in Glasgow, we celebrated my birthday at an excellent restaurant and we visited the Kelvingrove Museum, which was highly fascinating for all of us, everyone heading into different sections of Scottish history. Gitty, for example, loved the exhibits and information about the painter group “The Glasgow Boys” from the early 20th century and the artists and furniture makers Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the MacDonald Sisters.

We spent our last few days in the Northern Lake District which some consider the most beautiful area in England. We found a wonderful hiking path from Watendlath Tarn (tarn: Scottish for small mountain lake) to Surprise View. After nearly six weeks, we were hard-pressed to leave the country. England enamored us with its rolling hills and lush green vistas. We absolutely enjoyed spending so much time with our daughter after such a long time apart.

There’s not much else that can compete, but we do have something exciting to look forward to next month, so off we go!

England from South to North

Pacific Peregrination

England from South to North

South Pacific: Final Thoughts

Pacific Peregrination