First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
The last two weeks were wonderful. I lounged in a car, snacked, and lazily watched the countryside out the window. I didn't have to worry about how or when we were getting where we were going. Of course, it being a D'Agostino trip, there was also a fair amount of last-minute scrambling for everything from dinner reservations to ghost tours to ticket scrounging for plays in London. Not to mention the natural tensions that arise when six people are crammed in a car for seven hours. It was fantastic. I say that without a grain of sarcasm. For one thing, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous weather. That's right, three gorgeous'. We also stayed in lovely lovely hotels (exponentially decadent by comparison to the hostels I've been surviving in) and we saw beautiful scenery and we hit all the major attractions everywhere we went. Megan might argue that we missed one: New Look, a cheap but fashionable superstore here.
A review:
Wednesday, April 13: Meet-up day
Early solo train Glasgow to London (finally got my picture of platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross! A very bemused guard showed me the way).
Portrait Gallery (which helped me finally get the correct sequence of the English monarchy in my head).
An inventive dinner at Heathrow while waiting for Nana and Papa to arrive (it consisted of a plain baked potato from a airport fast-food venue, and raw peppers and ready-to-eat chicken from the grocery store).
Thursday, 4/14: A stroll with Nana
Kensington Gardens
Kensington Palace (a fairytale of a palace, designed for kids and immature adults like me to enjoy).
The Victoria and Albert Museum (complete with a Rodin exhibit and a coffee break)
Harrods (a simultaneously terrifying and captivating experience)
Lovely pub dinner
Quick dip in the hotel pool (first swim I've had in five months!)
Friday, 4/15: A tour bus and three stops
Starbucks breakfast too early in the morning to have been properly awake
Warwick Castle (complete with costumed staff members and medieval food-carts)
Stratford upon Avon (the birthplace of shakespeare! and a very pleasant little town).
Pub Lunch the White Hart
Christ Church College in Oxford (I now know where I'd study if I could go anywhere in the world. Think of how many secret passageways!)
A repeated pub dinner (good once, good again!)
Saturday, 4/16: The rest of the clan arrives! Minus Kerry. (Who we missed very much throughout the trip).
A solo run to the British Museum (I'll be back there again, considering I saw...10 percent of it? 5?)
Mom, Dad, and Meg meet with us at the hotel
Starbucks lunch (gluten free sandwhiches and pastries! Yet another reason to love it.)
Hampton Court Palace (where I successfully intrigued Megan into listening to me lecture on the wives of Henry XIII!)
Resort outside London, down a backroad. I don't remember any of the hotel names, but this one had a pretty garden that we strolled in.)
Sunday, 4/17: The drive to Edinburgh
A stop for an introduction to Marks and Spencer and Costa, two of my favorite UK chain food places, for roadside picnic essentials.
Dinner at the Witchery next to Edinburgh Castle (gluten free veggie lasagna!)
Monday, 4/18: Edinburgh Exploration
The Castle (third times a charm!)
Mary Kings Close (third time there as well!)
A People's Story Museum
Dinner at Bella Italia (it's remarkable how much of our trip surrounded gluten free eateries...the pizza was delicious!)
Tuesday, 4/19: Glasgow!
Botanic Gardens
A Play, A Pie, and a Pint (just a tiny bit scandalous...and by that I mean I now actually hold the most-inappropriate-play-finder crown instead of my dad.)
Introduction to the Old Campus of the University
A tour of the Glasgow School of Art
Dinner at La Tasca (mmm)
A sprint for a late night ghost tour in Edinburgh (which I was relieved to find wasn't as scary as the one Kerry and Ariana and I did).
Wednesday, 4/20: to Inverness!
A quick stop in Edinburgh to simultaneously visit St. Giles Cathedral, win a parking ticket battle, and get a free juice smoothie. How is that for efficiency?
Drive to Inverness
Loch Ness Exhibition Center (does Nessie exist? After 11 display rooms, you get a nice big literal question mark.)
3 Island Walk on the River Ness (A big hit with Mom, Nana, and Meg! Mom and Nana for the scenery, Megan for the dozens of dogs frolicking in the gorgeous weather.)
Dinner at "The Mustard Seed" (funny how I remember restaurant names, but not hotel names. Or people's names, for the matter).
A sprint to catch the last 20 minutes at the pool. Mmhm jacuzzi.
Thursday, 4/21: To the Lake District!
Megan got her scenic horse gallop while the rest of us saw Urquhart Castle
A drive through Loch Lomond (so pretty! If I can muster the energy, that is a last day trip I want to make.)
A quick stop in Glasgow for me to unload some more excess crud I've acquired on my family
Dinner at "Three Fat Ladies" in Glasgow- fun place.
Late late arrival in the Lake District. One potential near catastrophe involved dark, windy, narrow roads and a poorly lit quarry).
Friday, 4/22: To London!
Scenic drive out of the Lake District (sailboats and sun and rapeseed fields- bright yellow flowers).
Lunch in York at "El Piano"- a wholly gluten free spanish/mexican restaurant!!! Complete with GF carrot cake desert!
Dropping off Nana and Papa
Racing the clock to get to London and find tickets to a play with twenty minutes until start time. But, since we are the D'Agostino's, success! Dirty Dancing. Really really enjoyable. As was the ice cream we got after.
Saturday, 4/23: A Partial Parting of the Ways
A quick walk along the river with Megan and Mom, with coffee in hand
I caught my train for York, and the other three headed for Heathrow
After some confusion on both ends, I found Nana and Papa and Mom, Dad, and Meg found New York.
Dinner at the "New York Grill" (I didn't even get the York-New York relation until Nana pointed it out)
Sunday, 4/24: Easter!
A dress up day! I love dress up days.
Mass at 11
Picnic lunch along the river Ouse
The Railway Museum
Evensong at Minster Cathedral
Dinner at the Old White Swan (pub dating back to 16th century, home to multiple ghosts and host to the world's tallest man- 8 feet- in the 1700s.)
Folk Music at the Anglican Parish Church (yes, that's three masses in one day!)
Monday, 4/25: York exploration day
The Castle Museum- completely recreated Victorian and Georgian rooms, streets, and newspapers. Very well done. Also a section on the 60s and a tour of the old castle jail. Well deserving of Rick Steves' three stars.
Lunch in the sun
Solo trip to the Yorkshire Museum (with a little added time for sun-basking and coffee-drinking).
Exploring the Shambles (and finding some very cool shops nestled into the haphazard winding cobbled ways)
Final dinner at the New York Grill
Tuesday, 4/26: Mom's birthday! And a final parting of the ways.
After a quick early-morning train-station breakfast, Nana and Papa headed to London and I to Glasgow.
I got in midafternoon, and I've kind of been futzing around since then. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself, but I'm thinking the finals glaring on the horizon should probably start factoring into my plans.
But I'll deal with that tomorrow. For now, a shower and some tv are sounding pretty good.
Pooh quote: "While you wonder what to do, sing a song."
Much love,
Erin
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