Fancy in London

Yesterday we made our way to London.  Of course all fancy people must do needlework while on the train.

And while waiting to get the key to the flat...

We settled in and Larisa kindly gave us a nice orientation including Buckingham Palace and the big fountain. 

We also walked by Westminster and caught a glimpse of Big Ben.  We also spent quite some time in a sand pit in the park.  Maggie did a lot of jumping off of a rock into the sand.  

We had a nice bit of food (and a nice large glass of wine) in a very busy restaurant down by the river.  The waitstaff seemed a bit overwhelmed and sort of forgot about us, but we emerged well fed.  We made our way back to the flat successfully, so bonus points for navigating the public transportation system.  Actually no bonus points - it is incredibly easy to get around. 

Today we woke up far too late and dorked around all morning.  Clearly we both needed a bit of downtime after a couple of weeks of going from place to place.  Also Maggie needed some more time for cross stitching. We then headed to tea at the Orangery.

We did a nice wander of Kensington gardens as well.  It was a lovely day for a walk and everyone was out and about.  Of course we spent some time sitting on a small hill so Maggie could do some more cross stitch. Are your sensing a theme?

They have the most amazing playground.

It is the Princess Diana memorial playground. It was a madhouse of children.  The adults took a hands off approach which was quite fortunate.

Maggie also dug a very large hole because that is what happens. 

We then knocked the sand off of her and went to see Matilda.  It was terrific. Maggie did that thing that kids sometimes do where they forget to blink because they are concentrating so hard on watching something.  Then back to the flat.  We are about a block away from Harrods so I stopped to snap a picture on the way home.

We watched the video of the Matilda performance from the Tony Awards, then did some reading.  Maggie has started calling me her audiobook. We finished Eight Cousins and are now half way through Rose in Bloom.  Maggie dislikes Charlie and is a big fan of Mac. I refuse to give away any of the plot. Alas.

Olde York

The York is a pretty city that can be walked or biked quite easily.  We spent two days wandering arround. 

They still have great city walls.  They also have tricky games.

The city is preparing for the Tour du Frrance so it is quite bike mad.

We went to the Jorvik museum, the York Castle museum, and the Ghost Walk.  

We also went to the top of Yorkminster.  It is a zillion steps.  Mostly we wandered about.  It is a good city for a wander.

We watched someone make fudge and learned a great deal about candy making in York.

Leaving it there.  Now we are in London.

Goofy pictures and Alnwick Castle

Our Hostel on Skye was very fun. The Skywalker was decorated accordingly. 

They had a playful approach to the house rules. 

Also a dome in the back. 

And a giant cress set. 

I also wanted to add some pictures from Alnwick. 

I have permission from Maggie to post this even though she is dressed like a princesses. 

The gardens were a highlight. 

And I shall leave you with a walk down a lane. 

The Wall

And now the catch up post.  I will add some goofy pictures from my phone as well, particularly from the hostel in Skye, but here are some pictures from Northumberland.  The landscape is very well behaved.

We stayed at a place with chickens, sheep, and a tiny pig named William.  

We did a bit of a hike on Hardian's Wall.

Well, technically next to the wall.  We did one quick on-the-wall photo op though.

We saw a roman fort archeological dig site.

We also went to Alnwick Castle and Gardens.  

For some reason all my Castle pictures are on the phone so more to come.  Now we are winging across on the train to York.

Skye!

Here are some pictures from Skye.  I am posting from the bus so will be brief with the words.

We did a lot of hiking.

It rained but we were prepared.

You could probably spend weeks hiking around and not even scratch the surface.

There were parts that required some scrambling over rocks and crossing streams.  We got a bit muddy, but it was fun.

We visited the fairy pools.

And after a couple of days said goodby to Skye.

Technology!

With limited commentary, here are some pictures from the past few days.  Bus Wifi. I will post things in order, probably using a couple posts to keep them smaller.

Driving from Edinburgh to Inverness.

Inverness was pretty.

It had a fun park.

Our B and B had very comfortable beds.  The next morning we headed off to Skye with a couple of Castle stops along the way and a stop at Loch Ness.

Here is a castle that was blown up to prevent the Jacobites from taking it.

And some driving scenery. 

And another castle that had been restored. Unfortunately no pictures allowed inside.

Next post is Skye!

Good golly

So, still no wifi. 

Today was a day of much driving. We packed up and headed from our hostel on Syke to the Fairy Pools for a bit of a hike. 

Try tearing away a 10 year old away from anything that is fairy related. 

I promise to upload the camera pictures as soon as I can. We then drove and drove. All twisty mountain roads till be hot the lowlands. 

You can see our healthy road snacks. 

Now we are nestled down in Northumberland. The sheep are grazing on the hill out the back window and Hadrian's wall is just down the way.