My sister and her family have been living on a military base near London, England, so several members of my family decided to meet up there. There were 16 of us once we all got together, a nice mixture of adults and kids. We went to Stonehenge to see some old rocks, still standing after all these years, and had a picnic in the grass outside the monument. Everyone fit into 3 cars as we then headed to our hotel in Swindon, England. I drove one of the cars, and became familiar with traffic on the left side of the road. And it was even more strange that the signal was on the right side of the steering wheel, such that up was a left turn and down was a right turn. It was a complicated puzzle to signal the correct direction and to avoid hitting the wipers instead.
I quickly found that getting anywhere with 16 people can be a challenge to decide where to go. Everyone had different ideas, and if we were going to eat together, then it would need to be a place large enough to fit all of us. It was recommended that we eat at an Italian restaurant called Davinci's. The restaurant was packed, and there would have been a long wait for several tables together, so we all walked to a different restaurant. This one was empty, yet they weren't willing to serve us, which may have been why they were empty. We settled on waiting for a few tables at Davinci's. It turned out to be amazing food. I tried some of everything that was ordered at my table, typical Campbell-style eating. The spaghetti Bolognese and pizza were especially tasty.
We visited Bath, which is a gorgeous English town with classic architecture. As we toured the city, we came across an old cathedral near a plaza, where a couple of guys were playing Hang drums (a rare instrument from Switzerland). It makes a strange and beautiful sound by tapping what looks like 2 woks fastened together like a UFO. I could see that they were making good money on donations and CD sales. We found some ice cream, and shared take-away indian food in a nearby courtyard until it started to rain. I found a fascinating modern art exhibit before we left town. My favorite piece was a collection of old keys hanging on strings from the ceiling.
We then saw a cathedral in Glaucester, England, where scenes from Harry Potter were filmed inside. It was an old eerie place with dark, empty hallways around a courtyard. Ornate stained glass colored the rooms before the sun started to set. Not a place that I would want to go to church, but it was ideal for taking pictures.
One car load of people needed to get back to work and school at the military base, but the rest of us spent another night in a hotel. The next day we visited the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, Windsor castle. It was the size of a village. As we headed back to my sister's house, we arrived at the entry gates of the military base about midnight. At that point the military guards found that the car I was driving had expired tags. It couldn't be driven back onto the base at that time, so we packed my sister's van even more full of stuff and people. A few of us walked behind the van as we entered the base, and eventually, everyone ended up where they wanted to be.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Roadtrip to Scotland
Some of my family took a road trip from England to Scotland for about 4 days. My brother-in-law, Tyler drove an SUV which included his daughter Ivey, my Dad and his wife Rose, and myself. My sister, Cindy, drove a van, carrying the rest of her kids, Mason, Calla, Hunter, and also my brother, Scott. Using mobile phones, GPS and old school maps we managed to caravan most of the time, getting lost only some, seeing most of what we wanted, and returning with all 10 people - which was perhaps the greatest success.
Most of our time was spent driving through the remarkable landscapes of Northern England and Southern Scotland. The rest of the time was spent eating, sleeping, and preparing to eat, sleep, and drive. Getting 10 people into 2 cars at the same time can be a challenging sociodynamic obstacle.
We stayed in Manchester, England our first night. We arrived late, and the kids slept while everyone else ordered food in the lobby and talked about religion and politics. There was a pool at our hotel, which the kids enjoyed in the morning before we started driving again. We stopped for lunch at a random restaurant on the way to Glasgow, Scotland, where we sat for two hours waiting for our food. We had planned to get to Glasgow in good time, so we didn't anticipate such a long stop. It may be a cultural difference for some people to want to spend longer at lunch, but we all felt like getting to Scotland.
We didn't see much of Glasgow. We arrived into town only to find that our hotel hadn't been booked. We used a third party booking company, and there was a miscommunication that resulted in a lost reservation. The hotel was full, and finding a hotel with vacancies took a couple hours, since it was a holiday weekend. We eventually found a place about an hour east of Glasgow, 1/2 way to Edinburgh. Since we planned to see Edinburgh next, it made sense to just continue on.
We followed directions on the GPS, and it dropped us off in several quaint towns that would have been wonderful places to tour, but it was getting late, and people were tired, so we kept driving in search of our hotel. Tyler and I were convinced that we could find it with road signs, so we led the caravan nearly all the way to the hotel, when all of sudden my dad jumped out of the car as we were stopped at a traffic light. We assumed his jimmy legs got the best of him as he was ran toward a sign for a guesthouse, but all he said before he left the car was "let me out". We couldn't stay in the road when the light turned green, and with nowhere to pull over, we kept driving until we saw a gas station. The van followed us as we drove back to find my dad. Then the van with GPS led us down a windy side road through some fields, and back to the same road just beyond the gas station, and there we found our hotel. After carrying sleepy kids to a room with beds and blankets on the floor, a few of us hung out in one of the rooms. We used an adapter to connect a laptop to the TV screen, so we could watch Arrested Development episodes.
The hotel had a wide selection of hot breakfast options including porridge (oatmeal), fish, potatoes, eggs, and sausage - until the power went out - then it was just sausage, and a buffet of cereal, fruit, and yogurt. The drive to Campbell Castle was beautiful, filled with grazing sheep on grassy hillsides. We stopped at a market for meat, cheese, and bread, to avoid a long wait at a restaurant. The castle looked ancient, and was undergoing some renovations. It's set on a hill, with a vast view overlooking a small town. Our family is as much Scottish as we are a mixture of other European heritage, but some of us felt a unique connection with Campbell Castle.
We made a quick tour of Edinburgh, visited a large museum and ate fish and chips and meat pies in an outdoor plaza. We then drove to a bed and breakfast south of Edinburgh, owned by a local family that gave us a taste of southern Scottish culture. In the morning we were served a large breakfast, and the kids happily fed milk to lambs in a stable nearby.
We headed to Alnwick, England to see a castle where part of Harry Potter was filmed. Our time was short, so we planned to see more the next day. We did some shopping at Morrison's market in Alnwick, and I discovered that they make excellent cookies. We bought a few packages and some milk. We drove to our hotel in New Castle, calling to confirm our reservation. The kids went to sleep, and the rest of us ate dessert in the lobby and played games.
Scott knew a friend that lived in New Castle, so I joined them for chinese food later, and walked around New Castle. Scott and I booked a hostel for us, then met up with the rest of the family in the morning. We got an early start for the Harry Potter castle, and toured the manicured gardens for a few hours. There was a lot to see, including several water fountains, a hedge maze, and poisonous plants collection. A few of the kids participated in broom stick training, which was entertaining for everyone else to watch. We ate a few more servings of fish and chips before we drove back to Tyler and Cindy's house. By that time I could tell that my body had reached it's limit of fried food for the month.
Most of our time was spent driving through the remarkable landscapes of Northern England and Southern Scotland. The rest of the time was spent eating, sleeping, and preparing to eat, sleep, and drive. Getting 10 people into 2 cars at the same time can be a challenging sociodynamic obstacle.
We stayed in Manchester, England our first night. We arrived late, and the kids slept while everyone else ordered food in the lobby and talked about religion and politics. There was a pool at our hotel, which the kids enjoyed in the morning before we started driving again. We stopped for lunch at a random restaurant on the way to Glasgow, Scotland, where we sat for two hours waiting for our food. We had planned to get to Glasgow in good time, so we didn't anticipate such a long stop. It may be a cultural difference for some people to want to spend longer at lunch, but we all felt like getting to Scotland.
We didn't see much of Glasgow. We arrived into town only to find that our hotel hadn't been booked. We used a third party booking company, and there was a miscommunication that resulted in a lost reservation. The hotel was full, and finding a hotel with vacancies took a couple hours, since it was a holiday weekend. We eventually found a place about an hour east of Glasgow, 1/2 way to Edinburgh. Since we planned to see Edinburgh next, it made sense to just continue on.
We followed directions on the GPS, and it dropped us off in several quaint towns that would have been wonderful places to tour, but it was getting late, and people were tired, so we kept driving in search of our hotel. Tyler and I were convinced that we could find it with road signs, so we led the caravan nearly all the way to the hotel, when all of sudden my dad jumped out of the car as we were stopped at a traffic light. We assumed his jimmy legs got the best of him as he was ran toward a sign for a guesthouse, but all he said before he left the car was "let me out". We couldn't stay in the road when the light turned green, and with nowhere to pull over, we kept driving until we saw a gas station. The van followed us as we drove back to find my dad. Then the van with GPS led us down a windy side road through some fields, and back to the same road just beyond the gas station, and there we found our hotel. After carrying sleepy kids to a room with beds and blankets on the floor, a few of us hung out in one of the rooms. We used an adapter to connect a laptop to the TV screen, so we could watch Arrested Development episodes.
The hotel had a wide selection of hot breakfast options including porridge (oatmeal), fish, potatoes, eggs, and sausage - until the power went out - then it was just sausage, and a buffet of cereal, fruit, and yogurt. The drive to Campbell Castle was beautiful, filled with grazing sheep on grassy hillsides. We stopped at a market for meat, cheese, and bread, to avoid a long wait at a restaurant. The castle looked ancient, and was undergoing some renovations. It's set on a hill, with a vast view overlooking a small town. Our family is as much Scottish as we are a mixture of other European heritage, but some of us felt a unique connection with Campbell Castle.
We made a quick tour of Edinburgh, visited a large museum and ate fish and chips and meat pies in an outdoor plaza. We then drove to a bed and breakfast south of Edinburgh, owned by a local family that gave us a taste of southern Scottish culture. In the morning we were served a large breakfast, and the kids happily fed milk to lambs in a stable nearby.
We headed to Alnwick, England to see a castle where part of Harry Potter was filmed. Our time was short, so we planned to see more the next day. We did some shopping at Morrison's market in Alnwick, and I discovered that they make excellent cookies. We bought a few packages and some milk. We drove to our hotel in New Castle, calling to confirm our reservation. The kids went to sleep, and the rest of us ate dessert in the lobby and played games.
Scott knew a friend that lived in New Castle, so I joined them for chinese food later, and walked around New Castle. Scott and I booked a hostel for us, then met up with the rest of the family in the morning. We got an early start for the Harry Potter castle, and toured the manicured gardens for a few hours. There was a lot to see, including several water fountains, a hedge maze, and poisonous plants collection. A few of the kids participated in broom stick training, which was entertaining for everyone else to watch. We ate a few more servings of fish and chips before we drove back to Tyler and Cindy's house. By that time I could tell that my body had reached it's limit of fried food for the month.
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