England and Scotland Trip *Updated 12/6*

Scotland Part 5 Continued

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We walked to the opposite side of the town where the tour bus would be picking us up. The rain started to pick up again while we waited.

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I love this picture. That lady had no clue the seagull was standing right next to her. The seagull seemed pretty relaxed being next to a human.

One other couple decided to go to this pickup spot and we waited together in the rain for the bus. Then it was off to our next stop to a town called Falkland in the Kingdom of Fife.

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Our tour guide told us about the most popular soda in Scotland called Irn Bru. I was not a fan, I thought it tasted like bubble gum.

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This spot was used in the show Outlander.

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We walked with our tour guide to Falkland Palace. It was one of the smaller palaces we toured on this trip, but was filled with a lot of history. The Royal Stewart family resided here.

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I thought these looked like hidden Mickey's.

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One of the private schools near Edinburgh on our drive back to the city. Our tour guide told us they are actually called public schools, which is a little confusing to this American. This building is one of the inspirations for J.K. Rowling's Hogwarts.

It was a fun filled day, but I was happy to get back to our warm dry hotel.

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Luckily, the sunshine returned the next day when we had to head to the train station to head back to London. The train was a lot fuller than it was on the way up.

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My last sighting of sheep for the trip. We now had a fun filled week in the city of London.
 
The sign in the window says Where Kate Met Will. I


The Northpointe Cafe is where DD and I would have breakfast when I would drop her off at St Andrews for summer school (they host the International Summer School of Scotland and it is fabulous- for middle/high school students ages 13-18). The entire sign says "Where Kate Met Will...for coffee." It has the best hot chocolate according to DD (that could be due to the massive amount of whipped cream). Thanks for writing up your trip to my favorite place ever.:)
 
I've been extremely busy ever since we arrived back home from our 10/09/19 - 20/09/19 trip to Scotland. But I promise to eventually write up at least a short trip report and include a few of the awesome pictures I took while there. I can sum up our experience now in one very long sentence. We want to return as soon as possible -- hopefully in the Spring of 2021 -- because we were blown away by Edinburgh, the beauty of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye, the welcoming of the Scots, our tour guide/driver Caitlin with Highlands Explorer, and Scotland's fabulous history.
 
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I've been extremely busy ever since we arrived back home from our 10/09/19 - 20/09/19 trip to Scotland. But I promise to eventually write up at least a short trip report and include a few of the awesome pictures I took while there. I can sum up our experience now in one very long sentences. We want to return as soon as possible -- hopefully in the Spring of 2021 -- because we were blown away by Edinburgh; the beauty of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye; the welcoming of the Scots; our tour guide/driver Caitlin with Highlands Explorer and the fabulous history.
I can't wait to read about your trip. I also fell in love with Scotland and can't wait to go back one day.
 


I've been extremely busy ever since we arrived back home from our 10/09/19 - 20/09/19 trip to Scotland. But I promise to eventually write up at least a short trip report and include a few of the awesome pictures I took while there. I can sum up our experience now in one very long sentences. We want to return as soon as possible -- hopefully in the Spring of 2021 -- because we were blown away by Edinburgh; the beauty of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye; the welcoming of the Scots; our tour guide/driver Caitlin with Highlands Explorer and the fabulous history.
So nice to read your positive comments on Scotland. Even though I live near Edinburgh, I still gasp at the scenery - best view ever from a cafe must be from Waterstone’s bookshop. I think you must have got decent weather, otherwise you might have had a different perspective of the beauty of the Highlands. Looking forward to your trip report!
 
Here's my report:

Scotland's Historic City of Edinburgh, Highlands & the Isle of Skye

DW and I traveled to Scotland from 10/09/19 to 20/09/19. I found a direct flight from Chicago to Edinburgh with Lufthansa for approx. $1300 for the two of us through Kayak. Our flight, however, ended up being with their partner, United. I also booked a 3-day bus tour from Edinburgh to the Highlands & Isle of Skye with Highland Explorer info@highlandexplorertours.com, and 48-hr. Hop-On, Hop-Off, Royal Bus Tickets for the first, two full days we'd be in Edinburgh, 12/09/19 and 13/0919. Then I eventually had to reserve two different hotels in Edinburgh: The Crowne Plaza - Royal Terrace for the 3-nights before our bus tour and the Holiday Inn Express - Royal Mile for the 4-nights after our bus tour. Note: If you plan to spend any time in Edinburgh, reserve your accommodations well in advance of your trip, because the hotels there seemed to quickly fill up even during the middle of September. That's why we had to stay in two different hotels due to lack of vacancies. I've yet to try Air B&B for accommodations but have friends that use it all the time.

Our flight was scheduled to leave O'Hara at 6:15 PM on Wednesday (10/09/19) and to arrive at the Edinburgh Airport on Thursday morning (11/09/19) around 7:50. But we actually landed an hour early due to a very strong tailwind. We then took the Tram from the airport to the City's Center (York Place). Kiosks for tickets at the airport accept credit cards and attendants are stationed by them to help you out. You can also purchase Tram or Bus tickets on-line before you leave home. I assume if you do you get a bar code to print, and then use that at one of the airport kiosk's to get your actual ticket(s). A round trip ticket is available that includes an open-ended date for returning back to the airport, and the cost for two seniors is 17 pounds (approx. $21). Note: You must board the Tram within 30 minutes after getting your ticket(s). Otherwise they become invalid! A Tram official marked our tickets as soon as we boarded, and you also have to show your ticket to an attendant stationed at a gate after you depart the Tram on your return in order to enter the airport terminal. I mention this only because we're used to riding Copenhagen's Tram the past three years and we rarely had our 72-hr. transportation passes from there checked. Taxis were standing by at York Place to take people to their hotel/apartment or other final destination. Cost to get to the Crowne Plaza, which is near the Town Center in New Town is a little over 4 pounds (5 pounds rounded up for a tip). If you choose to go by bus from the airport that also takes about 30 minutes to get to the Bus Station located near the City Center. And, obviously a personal taxi from the airport directly to your hotel or apartment is a more expensive option.

The 48-hr. Hop-On, Hop-Off Royal Tickets for Edinburgh include the ability to ride the red, green, and blue Hop-On, Hop-Off bus lines. The tickets also provide admission to the Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyroodhouse (Queen's residence) and the Royal Yacht Britannica. Only the blue bus line goes to the yacht and to a stop at the National Botanical Garden, which is one of the largest in the world. The Britannica is docked at the Ocean Terminal located northeast of the City Center, adjacent to a 3-story shopping center with a theater and some nice restaurants that overlook the pier/water. You could easily spend an entire day just touring the yacht, taking in the shopping center, and exploring the huge botanical garden. We spent our first full day (Friday, 12/09/19) just walking around and riding the red and green buses to better familiarize ourselves with both Old Town and New Town. Then the following day we rode the red or green bus lines again to tour the Edinburgh Castle and the Queen's Palace/Grounds. When we finally decided late that afternoon to catch a blue bus to check out the Britannica, we arrived at the harbor too late to tour the retired yacht. We took the bus but, the last admission to tour the yacht is at 4:30. We, therefore, ended up just walking through the shopping center before catching the last blue bus heading back to a stop near our hotel. The last blue bus leaves in front of the shopping center at 5:30. Note: You need to validate your tickets when you first arrive to get on the Hop-ON, Hop-Off buses at the Waverley Bridge Bus Tours. A little hut-like structure is located near the Waverley Bridge and the huge, Scott Monument located on Princes Street. Princes Street is the main road that divides Old Town from New Town.

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Scott Monument & Old Town viewed from Princes Street

Both DW and I were very impressed with Highland Explorer -- especially with our Driver/Tour Guide, Caitlin. We were also very pleased with the 3-star, Skye Inn B&B where we stayed for two nights at Harbor Village of Portree on the Isle of Skye. In fact, we're now hoping to take Highland's 5-day Isle of Skye, Loch Ness & Inverness tour in late April or early May of 2021. We want to see snow on the mountain tops in the Highlands and there should be fewer tourists around -- especially if we go in April. By going on our trip this past September we avoided some of the crowds that are around during the summer, but we were still surprised by the number of tourists, especially in Edinburgh. Caitlin congratulated the 23 of us on her tour for not coming in August when the entire country is apparently overrun by tourists. She said you can hardly drive in the Highlands due to the traffic and that Edinburgh is jam-packed due to all of the festivals held then. If you're interested, you can order a free catalog from Highland Tours on-line.

Our first night in Portree most of us on the tour ate the wonderful home-cooked meal at the Skye Inn. The next night DW and I chose to eat seafood in the village. We saw a few midges (Gnat-like insects) while waiting to be seated in "The lower Deck" -- a small seafood restaurant located down at the harbor (Caitlin had told us it was the best place to go for fish & chips). Fortunately the midges weren't the biting kind, because we had to wait outside the small restaurant for an hour. But when it started to sprinkle we were rewarded with getting a view and pictures of a beautiful rainbow arching over the entire harbor.


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The "Lower Deck" Restaurant is located in the yellow building at the Portree Harbor.

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End of the rainbow over the Portree Harbor

The scenery in the Highlands and Isle of Skye just blew us away. The entire area is a photographer's dream due to its unique lighting, lush vegetation and ruggedness. We only had one really bad weather day during our entire 10-day trip when it poured for most of the first day we were on the 3-day bus tour. We were greeted with 40 - 50 mph winds and horizontal rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda at the stop for the Eilean Donan Castle. The castle, considered the most scenic one in Scotland, was closed due to the weather. A few of us brave ones used the facilities at the visitor center/store and I quickly snapped a couple of pictures of the iconic castle. When I got back on the bus Caitlin said, "Now you've experienced real Scottish weather". It was still raining some but less windy when we stopped for lunch in Fort Augustus, which is located on the western end of Loch Ness. Luckily the day mostly involved traveling in the bus to get all the way up to Portree.

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Eilean Donan Castle taken in real Scottish weather

Caitlin made sure nobody was bored as she was either passionately filling us in on the history of every place she drove by or played some great Scottish tunes. We also drove by the location where the next James Bond movie was currently being filmed. And in addition to the stops mentioned above, our first stop that day was at the quaint, village of Dunkeld. Stops while on the Isle Of Skye included a site built by the Pict's back in Roman Times; the impressive Dunvegan Castle/Gardens; the Black Houses; the Kilt Rock area/overlook where there is a huge, cascading waterfall that drops directly to the sea; and the Armadale Castle ruins/Gardens/Museum before taking the ferry ride over to Mallaig.

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On top of the 3-story, double-walled structure built by the Picts in B.C. & the cascading waterfall at Kilt Rock.

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Another shot looking away from the waterfall at the Kilt Rock area.

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Armadale Castle Ruins

Continued on next post.
 
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A couple pictures of the pond area within the Armadale Castle Garden

We had added the Jacobite Steam Train ride (featured in Harry Potter movies as the "Hogwarts Express") to the 3-day tour for an additional 42 pounds/adult. The train travels over 21-stone arches of the spectacular, Glenfinnan Viaduct. And, the ride between Mallaig and Fort William is considered by many to be the most scenic one in the entire World. Unfortunately for us, the steam engine had a mechanical breakdown that very afternoon. Caitlin, had to drive back up to Mallaig from Fort William to retrieve us, and did her very best to make it up to us for missing out on the ride by driving us to the Glenfinnan Visitor Center. From there a short hike took us to where we could get a picture of the famous viaduct and also of Loch Shiel and the Jacobite Monument. We then spent extra time at the scheduled Glencoe stop. It's the site where the Jacobite's under the poor leadership of Bonnie Prince Charlie met disaster, because he forced his forces to march in the dark through bogs and woods for 12 miles to take on a waiting English Army in the large, open valley. The clouds had lifted when we arrived there to give us a perfect view of the awesome valley. Highland Explorer refunded the 84 pounds we paid for the planned train ride after we arrived home.

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I shot this picture of a sun shaft through the bus window on our way to the Glenfinnan Visitor Center.

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Glenfinnan Viaduct

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Jacobite Monument & view of Loch Shiel

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Picture shows part of the Glencoe site.

We spent seven nights (3 before our tour and 4 afterwards) in Edinburgh, but you could easily spend two weeks there and not see everything you might want to. In addition to riding the Hop-On, Hop Off Buses, touring the Edinburgh Castle and the wonderful Holyroodhouse we spent a lot of time just walking around. We shopped of course, visited churches, both the National Museum of Scotland and the Grassmarket area twice, and the National Library. Note: The National Museum has 7-levels and would be exhausting to try to do in a day. A number of the museums in the city, including the National Museum are free. Down time was spent at different tea/coffee houses. We ate at the local Hard Rock twice and in a number of pubs instead of any fancy restaurants.

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View of Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket.

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Holyroodhouse (Queen's Palace).

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DW and I both loved this sign, which can be found in the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter Books.

Our stay at the Crowne Plaza - Royal Terrace the first 3-days while in Edinburgh was fine. Breakfast was extra and very good. The hotel is located right below Calton Hill (Monument Hill). Access to the monuments was closed, however, due to the new "Fast & Furious" movie being filmed there. In any case, when we return in 2021 we'll probably stay at the Holiday Inn Express - Royal Mile for the entire time we're in Edinburgh. It's conveniently located on Cow Gate Street just below the Royal Mile and they offer a great free breakfast -- much better than what you get at the Holiday Inn Expresses in the States. It's also only a short walk to Highland's Office, which is located just up the hill on the Royal Mile. Note: You have to meet your tour bus at their office at 7:45 AM, and you don't want to be late, because the buses leave from there at 8:00 sharp. You get dropped off there after your tour is finished. We also found a great Brew Pub (named "Brewdog") located on Cow Gate St., about five blocks west of the hotel, that has a big selection of craft beers on tap and very good personal-sized pizzas that have a very-thin sourdough crust.

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Calton Hill (Monument Hill) as seen from the North Bridge.

As far as packing we just took a travel bag (for all of the necessities/bathroom items) that fits under the seat on a jet and a standard carry-on suitcase for each of us. We both packed a down or synthetic-filled vest, a couple of flannel shirts and long-sleeve T-shirts, a pair of light-weight synthetic pants from Eddie Bauer, a small travel umbrella (hardly used due to wind), and a quality rain coat w/hood. We wore our raincoats or carried them with us on the tour and also while in Edinburgh. We saved some space in our carry-on luggage by wearing jeans, one of the flannel shirts, and a long-sleeve T-shirt on the plane. We also only took the comfortable tennis shoes we wore on the plane. Note: We spent an awful lot of time walking on uneven concrete squares and/or cobblestone in Edinburgh and both DW and I averaged about 15,000 - 17,000 steps/day on our fitbits. We had sore feet, calves and thighs every night while in the city.
 
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@FSU Girl - to improve the taste of Irn bru, some vodka doesn’t go a miss!! You have offended the entire nation of construction and road workers - it’s their breakfast drink of choice😂 😱
Vodka would probably improve the taste lol. Our tour guide did mention that it's the most popular soda in the country, but me not liking it allows more for those who do :)

Highland Explorer
I used this company for two days of my trip, it's nice to see you had a great time with them! I like that you did one of the multi-day tours. I had thought about doing one of them, but ended up opting for the one day tours instead. It looks like you had a fantastic trip! What a bummer that the train broke down. I loved Scotland I want to go back soon there is so much more I want to see and explore.

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Another shot looking away from the waterfall at the kilt Rock area.
I was just in Ireland and for a second I thought this was the Cliffs of Moher. How gorgeous!

We spent an awful lot of time walking on uneven concrete squares and/or cobblestone in Edinburgh and both DW and I averaged about 15,000 - 17,000 steps/day on our fitbits.
We did about the same, so much walking! And I climbed so many stairs. Thank you for sharing your trip :)
 
England Part 1

We took the train from Edinburgh back to London to spend a week there. It wasn't too difficult going from Kings Cross to the Tube and our new hotel The Mayfair Hotel. The was a great place to stay, but definitely not if you are on a budget. It's in a great location down the road from a Tube station, next to a park and a seven minute walk to Buckingham Palace. Our room was upgraded because of our honeymoon and ready upon arrival.

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We found champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us.

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Big Ben was unfortunately undergoing renovations while we were there.

For my birthday I booked a high speed boat ride down the Thames river with Thames Rockets. They were fantastic, highly recommend doing a boat ride with them. It was such a unique way to see the city. The way I actually found them was from looking at the Adventures By Disney itinerary for London and they go on a ride with them. They offer many different types of rides. I did the one that offered a tour of the city by water, followed by the high speed ride. It also included a voucher to ride the London Eye.

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First thing we did was get our voucher turned into a ticket. It gives you a time you are allowed to get in line and can any time after that. The line can get really long as the day goes on so we wanted to do this first so that we could go on it right after our boat ride.

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Our boat. This was such a fun experience, one of my highlights from London.

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Tower bridge from the water. This is often mistaken for London Bridge.

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Tower of London. Royalty used to travel by boat to get here to avoid the people of London. They used a different entrance than the Traitor's Gate, pictured above. This is where Anne Boleyn was brought.

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The London Eye was fun. You are with a large group of people, I didn't know that before hand. It was fun seeing the city by water and then by air.

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This sign reminds me of the monorail at Disney.

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Buckingham Palace off in the distance. We'd be walking over there later that day.

Continued next post...​
 
England Part 1

We went to Buckingham Palace twice. The day we arrived we popped by, the Union Jack flag was flying above the Palace, signifying that the Queen was not in residence.

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She was still in Scotland most likely since she was there during our visit.

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After the London Eye we walked around the city. This is where the Prime Minster lives. The gate was opened for a car going in.

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We went over to Trafalgar Square.

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Our second visit to Buckingham Palace was a lot more exciting. The gates were opened and the barricade was down. The flag was different now over the Palace, signifying the Queen was back.

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A delivery truck showed up and people were disappointed, but the officer turned the truck away.

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A Range Rover appeared soon after. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture above, but that's Princess Beatrice in the car. I was so excited to be next to a real Princess! I even confirmed it was here with the guard at the gate and he was very impressed that I knew it was her and told me "Spot on!"

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Shortly after two different Range Rovers left the palace. I couldn't see who was in the car this time.

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That night we went to a night club that was hosting the last episode of Game of Thrones. They did a trivia event before and then showed the second to last episode before airing the finale.

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It was a really fun way to watch, but was not happy with how the show ended.

 
Vodka would probably improve the taste lol. Our tour guide did mention that it's the most popular soda in the country, but me not liking it allows more for those who do :)


I used this company for two days of my trip, it's nice to see you had a great time with them! I like that you did one of the multi-day tours. I had thought about doing one of them, but ended up opting for the one day tours instead. It looks like you had a fantastic trip! What a bummer that the train broke down. I loved Scotland I want to go back soon there is so much more I want to see and explore.


I was just in Ireland and for a second I thought this was the Cliffs of Moher. How gorgeous!


We did about the same, so much walking! And I climbed so many stairs. Thank you for sharing your trip :)

You're welcome! I'm glad you let me post on your trip site. -- Hubie
 
England Part 2

I wanted to visit the famous Harrods and Selfridges, one of the first department stores. A TV show I highly recommend called Mr. Selfridge is about the creation of the first department store, created in London. The show follows the life of Mr. Selfridge, the creator. I had already watched all four seasons before going to England and wanted to visit the actual store. Just an FYI, these stores are very expensive and if you’re looking to do some casual shopping I don’t really recommend either. I did enjoy visiting both. They are also located in opposite directions, so it took some time hopping on and off the Tube to get to both.

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We looked around the different floors and bought some tea as a gift for my mom (which she said tasted great!)
We didn’t spend a lot of time here before heading back to the Tube to head off to Harrods.

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The entrance to the Tube station had these fun little sayings written each day.


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Harrods is a massive, expensive shopping mall. We spent a few hours here wandering the different floors window shopping. There are also a lot of different restaurants located throughout along with an entire grocery store on the first floor I highly recommend visiting.

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The middle escalators had gorgeous decorations.

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There are a lot of different restaurants located inside Harrods. We decided to eat at the Pizzeria.

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We each got a pizza, they were delicious.

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England Part 2 Continued

After pizza we went to an ice cream store located direct across from our restaurant.

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After ice cream we went down to the ground floor to look around their grocery store.

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There is a whole room full of chocolates and candies! This is also where you can buy tea. I bought some delicious peach tea.

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Continued next post...​
 
England Part 2 Continued

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Eggplants in the US are called Aubergine in England

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Arugula is called Rocket in England

It was fun exploring these department stores. You can easily get lost since they are so large and maze like. They have maps, I recommend picking up one as you wander around. It’s fun to see the stores and although I only walked away from both stores with tea, it was a fun day.

 
Scotland, Part 4 Continued

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I wish we had more time here, the gardens are quite extensive and we didn’t have enough time to see everything. One thing I wish we had done was see the poisonous garden. They have guided tours and every plant is highly toxic.

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The fountains had water spouts that went off randomly and did get a few people nearby wet since there is a walkway just beneath them. We decided to head off to the castle.

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These trees weren’t labeled, but I think they are cherry blossom trees and were really beautiful.

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I love Harry Potter and instantly recognized parts of the castle that were used in the first two movies. When you watch the scenes where Harry is at his first Quidditch class it was filmed here. They offer free guided tours of the castle and one option is a movie tour that takes you around telling you about all the famous scenes filmed there and the history around it. I found it fascinating.

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The space between those two buildings is where they CGI'd the Quidditch field off in the distance. They even offer broom riding classes here. It looked like a lot of fun for kids.

I do wish we had more time to spend here. It's really beautiful and so much to look at. If you are here, don't eat lunch in the castle. It was pretty awful and limited. There was a cafe by the gardens that looked nicer or a full tree house restaurant I'd recommend over it.

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This tree house is huge! A full restaurant is located inside it along with a little quick shop and lots of walking area. It was fun to explore and I wish I had discovered it sooner. We saw it as we were walking back to the bus.

Continued next post...

Alnwick Castle and the Poison Gardens are really something to see. I put together our own itinerary and that was our first stop on our adventure.
 

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