TR - Shuttergirl does Castles, Kilts, Craic and Croissants - Photos up to Day 10

[Minniemum]

Loved the recount of your kamikaze train boarding and I'm glad the bad service didn't overshadow your time in, to quote you, fabulous London.

I'm also guessing by the times of your posts that your still adjusting to the time difference.

 

[alicia1506]

love your review of the train seating debacle of 2013. while these are often horrible experiences at the time, i find that they become a highlight or at least a well remembered talking point about the trip later on.

my sis and i had a giant knock down, drag out fight in orlando (verbal, we're not the physical kind) and it was probably the worst fight we've ever had. but to this day, we both look back and laugh at the comedy of errors and misunderstandings that got us to that point, and some of the things we said and did. a bad memory became a good memory

hope your train seating debacle and all the anxiety and stress and adrenalin fueled omg-ness of it all turn out to be a memory you can laugh over later on

loving your TR. it's so detailed

oh and wow. that b&b in edinburgh is sooo pretty and classy and just what i expect from every b&b

 

[Caroline NZ]

Great updates Lisa. Gosh the train trip sounded just a tad stressful, what a shame they can't organise it better and that the whole debacle took the gloss off the journey up to Scotland for you. Yay for loving Edinburgh though

 

[cola]

Day 10 - heading to Scotland....
The owner recommended some lovely places to eat nearby and so we headed off to find the first place he suggested. It was a fancy pub called the Salisbury Arms, see it here:- http://www.thesalisburyarmsedinburgh.co.uk/.

It was about a 15 min walk from where we were staying

That was the place I suggested you try about 15min from where you were staying

I thought first class was worth the extra for the wifi, better food selections, and better legroom, though you got the extra legroom anyway

 

[Aussie Wendy]

So since we are boarding in Peterborough one third of the way up roughly, I will be prepared for a scrum and no seats!!! We're travelling on the last day of a long weekend too so it will probably be packed with Scots heading home!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

So since we are boarding in Peterborough one third of the way up roughly, I will be prepared for a scrum and no seats!!! We're travelling on the last day of a long weekend too so it will probably be packed with Scots heading home!

, yes, be ready to take some people out to get a seat

 

[PrincessInOz]

Another great update. Seems like London is as quaint as ever. Looking forward to Edinburgh.

 

[cola]

So since we are boarding in Peterborough one third of the way up roughly, I will be prepared for a scrum and no seats!!! We're travelling on the last day of a long weekend too so it will probably be packed with Scots heading home!

Pay the extra for first class, last day of a long weekend is not worth the stress. I got a couple of shorter trips without paying for first class and they were chaotic getting on mid journey.

 

[Frosted]

Keep going, keep going... I am checking in like I would my fave TV show!!! I am feeling desperate!!

 

[Travel Mum]

I know I'm also really looking forward to the next installment Ms Shuttergirl and am especially keen to read about your time in Paris

 

[PrincessInOz]

Yup. The natives are definitely getting restless.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Hey-I was hoping for more tips on Paris DLR and Edinburgh to add to Zanzibar and Colas etc-I'll be there before I can read about it and then too late probably go - doh- wish I'd known that !!
(only joking Miss Shuttergirl ). Hope all is OK with you and yours and you are just snowed under with babies.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hi ladies. I know I know - slacker alert.

The good news is though that I am about a day away from finishing editing 1600+ images from the trip - many of which will be now shared in this TR so I'm sure you can forgive me my slacker-ness.

Wendy - I'm sorry hon. I know it would've been so good to have written those parts of the trip before you went away but now you'll be able to write your own experiences and have us all enjoy them.

 

[Frosted]

My heart even raced a little! Looking forward to the fabulous photos as well.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Looking forward to seeing all the pics- will have to commandeer the netbook from DH (it's a "shared" resource) once we are settled in the UK to catch up!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I've had to move the remainder of Part 2 here because I couldn't fit all the photos in that I wanted to share so bear with me and this disjointed trip report.

Then we headed on to Stow on the Wold for lunch. Lots of cute little tea houses to have a bite to eat, it was almost impossible to choose because each place was sweeter than the next but eventually we settled on somewhere and had a cup of tea along with a baked potato and salad. A funny sort of a meal but very tasty. It was freezing cold this day and we did see snow on the fields in some areas which just made everything look even more gorgeous.







Our cute little lunch spot


After lunch we headed to Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeares birthplace. Talk about old buildings. We saw one that was dated 1592, a tudor style place, all wood framing. Unbelievable. It was really interesting walking through Shakespeares house and hearing all about him. I didnt know much about the man himself, more about his work so it was really great. Had a bit of a wander, found a Christmas decoration shop which made DH groan but to be fair I only bought 1 small thing, I was very restrained for me lol.







Shakespeare's House




Then it was time to drive home. The funny thing about the whole day was the tour guide and myself. I wanted to sit up the front of the bus so that I could take photos out the front window as we drove along. This meant that I sat just to the left of the driver on a single seat with DD and MIL across the aisle and the boys behind them. So as the driver was talking throughout the tour he would turn his head and it was like he was talking directly to me so I often felt obliged to reply with an oh right and a how interesting and a I didnt know that hahaha. DH ended up texting me to say Lisa, you arent the only one on the tour and hes not just talking to you. Hehehe.

Anyway the tour guide had noticed my camera with the big phallic symbol lens on the front and made a joke about hating Canon yadda yadda and I didnt say much but then MIL decided to pipe up on one such occasion and mention I was a photographer. Well.....he was my new best friend then and for the remainder of the day it seriously was like it was my own private tour. He yapped away to me only for much of the time and kept pulling over on the side of the road if he saw something he thought I should take a picture of hahaha. It must have been really annoying to everyone else on the tour but to me it just reinforced my theory about being near the tour guide to get the best experience out of a tour hehe. DH just shook his head at my new friendship hehe.

The Cotswolds were so beautiful, truly such a magical place. I was dreaming as we drove along that I was in an episode of Escape to the Country where they buy a 1 bedder for the husband to live in during the week in London and the kids and I would live in some quaint village in a manor house and DH would come home on the weekends. Wed be living within stumbling distance to the cutest English pub ever and would spend our afternoons wandering the fields with our dogs racing ahead of us and the kids playing chasy around our legs. Okay none of that sounds like something our family would actually do hahahaha but its nice to dream when you are visiting these places.

It was a long day but absolutely awesome. I loved everything about it. We got home and just had toasted sandwiches and fell into bed. Still so tired but hoping to get a decent sleep tonight.

Highs everything about today
Lows that I cant live in the Cotswolds hehe
Temperature high 5, low -1​

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks great Shuttergirl!

Thanks for posting again.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Okay, well I've now added photos to the first 10 days of the trip.

I promise to do some more updates within the week.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great pics, Shuttergirl. Love the ones of Bath and Westminster. That B&B in Edinburgh looks divine!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Great pics, Shuttergirl. Love the ones of Bath and Westminster. That B&B in Edinburgh looks divine!

Thanks PIO, loved Bath so much and yes indeed, the B&B was pretty special.