Edinburgh

When we were done in the Lake District, we continued northward toward Edinburgh. We checked into our hotel just north of the city. The next morning we caught a train into town. Edinburgh is another place that everyone said we had to see and could describe it only as beautiful and nothing else. So once again, I had no idea what to expect. This complete ignorance of what Edinburgh would be like, led to my favorite moment of the entire week.

We arrived in an old underground train station. As we began walking up into the city I heard some soft, distant, bagpipe music. As we got closer to the upper level of the street the music gradually became more audible and slowly, the view of the most beautiful city I have ever seen unfolded before my eyes. I was in complete awe. Downtown Edinburgh completely caught me off guard. We all stood there a few moments just absorbing our exquisite surroundings. Brilliant examples Gothic, Renissance, Romanesque and who know how many other beautiful styles of architecture all blended together perfectly for the most striking of settings. I fell in LOVE!

We decided to take the city bus tour because we knew it would get us to all the places we wanted to go and save our feet some very long walks. I am really loving the city bus tours around here. It is probably the most tourist-y thing you can do, but it is so nice to have someone else drive you around a city (especially one you've never been to) and give you lots of fun and interesting little facts and stop at all the most interesting places. The tickets are good for 24 hours and you can get on and off as many times as you want to go see the things they are telling you about. We took the city tour for Manchester when we first got here to help ourselves get oriented. They are great.

So we just took the bus around all day and explored. I really did fall in love with Edinburgh. Not only is it beautiful, but all the people were so friendly and warm. I wouldn't mind living there at all.

Where I found this

The next day....

The Lake District

Have you ever heard of the Lake District? I certainly had. It seems like everyone I talk to around here has said "You have to see the Lake District". When I ask why, the simple reply comes "Oh, it's beautiful". Beautiful. That didn't tell me anything, but that seems to be all that people could say to describe it. The Lake District is the Area that Beatrix Potter spent her summers in and later settled and preserved many of the surrounding farms. I had also heard of the Lake District from Pride and Prejudice; Elizabeth is scheduled to go there with her aunt and uncle. The poet William Wordsworth also brought a lot of fame to the area. He lived and died there and was also instrumental in preserving much of the area. I think he deemed the town of Grasmere the fairest place on earth.

So on Tuesday the Lake District was our destination. It was just over an hour away to get to the start of the lakes. Once we hit the first lake, we wound our way up along side it on a teeny, tiny British road. Now something must be said about this road. It was small yes, but not much smaller than many roads I've encountered in the mountains at home. In fact I must say that I have seen smaller, but this road was quite small. I had been warned about small British roads, but as we began driving on this road I thought, "Aww, this is nothing". That is until we passed our first native whizzing past us 50+ mph. Now in the US, a road this small road would be given a speed limit of 20 mph. Most people would probably drive it at 30 mph with very few even coming close to 40 and considerate persons would still slow down when encountering a vehicle coming from the other direction to ensure safe passage without side-swiping each other. But nobody slowed down, even when we came to bridges that cinched the road even smaller, or when a giant I-don't-know-what-kind-of-Van passed us that was so big it encroached on our side of the teeny-tiny road, or when it started hail/snowing (it fell like hail, but stuck like snow). Many people who know me know that I don't panic or freak out easily in the car, no matter who's driving, but I must say this drive was a bit unnerving. I'm just glad Brent was handling the driving, and handle it he did despite the unsettling speed and close proximity cars were coming at him in the opposite direction in bad weather! Geez! Now I know what they were warning me about, it's not the road itself, it's how the British drive on the road. Lol, it finally clarifies a funny experience I had years ago in the Catskills with a British driver, but that's another story.

So we made it to Windermere, the most popular of the Lake District destinations. We explored a little and went to "The World of Beatrix Potter". Zariah had an wonderful time there. With all of Beatrix Potter's stories made into exhibits as close to real life as it gets. It was even fun for the grown ups to see such elaborate and detailed displays.

Afterward we drove up to Grasmere. Windermere was nice and probably more fun as far as lake activities go, but Grasmere was far more charming. The town was made up of beautiful old stone buildings in the middle of a gorgeous valley. We had also heard that you can find the best Gingerbread in the world in a little shop there, but we didn't know exactly where to go. We tried two places. Both were very nice, but we discovered it was the second one with the world renowned reputation. It was very tasty if I do say so myself and I discovered that they ship worldwide, so if you're curious check out their website.

We also went to see the grave of William Wordsworth in a beautiful graveyard next to a stone path that runs along the river, which winds out into the beautiful green valley just beyond the town. It was a beautiful, peaceful place.

When we were done in the Lake District, we continued northward toward Edinburgh....To Be Continued.

Chatsworth Sites

I don't know what's going on with the pictures and I'm dead tired, so I'm just going to link to other people's pictures.

This site has TONS of pictures of the house and grounds

This is a link to the official website and it has a 360 degree virtual tour of three of the rooms. It's very cool.

Another cool site.

I think my favorite room was the library. As amazing and ornate and beautiful as it all was, the library was the only room (that I actually saw) that I would want to own. Only a portion of the house is open for the tour. I was actually quite unsatisfied with the house tour because I knew there was so much more to see. I was so fascinated with the 24 rooms I was able to see, it really ended up being a teaser and just left me wanting more. Now I wanted to see EVERYTHING.

I also failed to mention that they did the filming for the new film "The Duchess" at Chatsworth because it was the Duchess's actual home.

Chatsworth

So for the past week Brent's parents have generously let us tag along with them through England and Scotland. Zariah was amazing, for a two year old that is. She has had such a fabulous time with double the size of her normal audience. Brent and I had a fabulous time with double the resources to keep her safe, happy, distracted, entertained, restrained, quieted, or whatever the occasion called for. There is so much to tell, I suppose it best to start at the beginning.

They arrived Sunday morning and came straight off the plane to church with us, jet-lagged and all! Afterwards, John and Avril invited us over for dinner where we had a wonderful British Roast Dinner. That evening we took a walk downtown specifically to see the Manchester Cathedral where Brent's great, great, great...grandfather was married before immigrating to the US. Although this picture isn't of the entire building, I love the detail it shows.


The next day we headed out to Chatsworth, the amazing estate has been the seat of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire for centuries. Whatever that means. I'm pretty sure it basically means it's their home as long as they are the duke. For example when the last Duke of Devonshire passed away, his wife, the Duchess had her title changed and moved out so that her son and daughter-in-law, the new Duke and Duchess of Devonshire could move in. It was also featured as Pemberly in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. The Drive out there was amazing with the most incredible views of untouched British countryside.

Here is a view of the first half of the house. Seriously doesn't that look like a painted backdrop?


The second half of the house.


This is a snip-it of the extensive rock garden blending into the rest of the gardens. The landscaper was knighted for the work he did on the estate.


They actually had a maze! I have always wanted to go through a REAL maze!






This is the staircase in the main hallway inside the house.


The dining room.


The library.


The statue gallery, of course with the bust of Mr. Darcy still intact.


There is also a large farm and playground we went to afterward. The weather was very on and off. One moment the sun was glaring in our eyes and maybe 10 minutes later we were being pelted with hail. After the hail we happened into a shop for some hot chocolate to go with our packed lunches. We were bombarded by the warm smell of Cornish Pastries and Sausage Rolls wafting through the air. They were wonderful.

I'm going to leave it here tonight. I'll post about the rest of the week later.

Contrast of Emotion

Brent's parents just left not 10 minutes ago. I am experiencing such a contrast of emotion. I am sad. Part of me wants to cry. However, I find that I am so happy and full of gratitude I simply can't. I am overwhelmed by their sacrifice and generosity. It has been an amazing, wonderful, whirl-wind, adventure of a week. We had such a wonderful time exploring the country. We had an equally wonderful time enjoying each other.

I am so grateful we are here. I am grateful for the friends we have made and all of our new experiences. I am grateful for our family and friends at home and for the technology that enables us to communicate with them so easily.

It is difficult sometimes to think on the possibility that Brent's career may lead us to spend a significant portion of our life away from the people we cherish most. But it is comforting knowing that our family is eternal. I am not afraid of where we will go and what we will do. I am not afraid of the uncertainty surrounding what will become of us in five months. I am not afraid. I know that every experience I have had, wonderful and wretched, has made me who I am and I am so grateful. I am grateful for a heavenly father who knows me, who is aware of all that I am and who loves me. I know he guides me. How could I know that and be afraid?

So yes, I'm back. We have had a wonderful time this past week and trust me, there will be much more about it to come.

Disappointed

Brent's parents were supposed to get here this morning. We were all very excited. Zoe had been practicing waving and saying "Hi Grandma, Hi Grandpa" from the window seat. We had plans for the whole day, but their departure was delayed which meant they missed their connection in Chicago and that airline only flies out once a day. So we missed out on a whole 24 hours with them:(.

One consolation is that when Michael and Sylvia found out that our evening was free, they invited us over for Michael's birthday dinner. Sylvia said she is making his favorite South African dish, so I am excited to try that. I had also helped Sylvia make a cake for him and I was curious how it would turn out, but now I can try a little piece and find out.

Speaking of cakes, that's another funny thing, I may have mentioned before, but they have no cake mixes here. Well a few, but hardly any. And I have two little recipe books entitled "101 things to do with a cake mix" and "101 more things to do with a cake mix" Nerdy right, but they have some really amazing recipes in there, that are so dang easy to make and get RAVE reviews every time. But I haven't been able to make any of them. I tried making a cake from scratch, and was supremely disappointed. Then Sylvia asked me to help her make a cake and I was determined to find a way to help her make a yummy cake. One of the few cake mixes they do have here is chocolate, but Michael hates chocolate, so that was out.

So I thought about it for a long time and decided that instead of looking for a recipe for a cake, I would look for a recipe for a cake mix so that I could use recipes in my little books. I ended up finding one and that's what we did. I tasted a little of it before the frosting went on and it seemed tasty. I'll have to see tonight when I get a real taste. If it's good, I'll post the recipe on here.

That's about all that's going on right now. We're pretty bummed about not seeing Grandma & Grandpa today. I won't be online much for the next week, but I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures when I come back.

The Nearest Book

Book Tag

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

Nearest Book: Uncle Tom's Cabin

5th sentence of the 123rd page:

"He was not a remarkably fluent reader, and was in the habit of reading in a sort of recitative half-aloud, by way of calling in his ears to verify the deductions of his eyes."

So I tag whoever reads this. If you feel like it.

By the way, I know most of you probably read Uncle Tom's Cabin when you were in school, but I was not so privileged. It has proven to be a very slow read for me; partially because I have been so busy lately and partially because I am relishing this literary masterpiece, and partially because I have to read aloud some of the conversations to understand what on earth they are saying.

Sentences like this have me reading them 3 or 4 times and then finally aloud 'by way of calling into my ears to verify the deductions of my eyes'(lol):

"La sakes!" she would say, "I can't see; one jis good as turry,- poetry suthin good, anyhow;" so poetry Chloe continued to call it.

The word that really stumped me and honestly continues to do so is "turry". Reading it in context brings me to believe it would be translated as "the other"; but how they get that out of "turry" is beyond me.

But reading slowly has it's advantages sometimes. Harriet Beecher Stowe has me in awe as I read how beautifully she details the lives of her characters and the destinies she has assigned them.

Oreos

We were in the store yesterday and I saw Oreo cookies! That was a bit of a shock; apparently they are newly introduced over here. They were on sale for 37p too. It was a small package, so we popped it in the basket.

On the way home, I thought I would stop by a pretty part of the canal so the missis could look at the water and we could sit and enjoy a few cookies. When we got there we saw a goose, which had little miss thrilled! The goose came right up to the edge of the water, even better. I took out the Oreos and stared to open them and the goose got anxious. It flew up onto the bank and started pecking it's neck and advancing toward little miss. It kinda freaked me out because it was just as tall as my daughter and apparently starving. I don't know what it would have done, if anything, but it was weird, so I tossed her into the stroller and left quickly.

I let her eat her oreos in the stroller on the way home. This is what she looked like when we got home.



She looked so cute in these pictures I couldn't decide which one to post, but it's my blog, so I decided on all. But seriously, how difficult is it to eat a cookie? You put it in your mouth and bite. I have no idea what sort of natural phenomena could occur to result in a ring like this around her mouth. This is also after I tried wiping it off several times. What's in there, glue?

I was also found the packaging mildly interesting, so here you are.

Chocolate flavored sandwich biscuits.