After leaving Oxford, we drove into London (a slightly terrifying experience) and dropped off the rental car.We then checked into the Parkwood at Marble Arch Hotel. Our luck had returned and it was a great hotel (that was kind of a B&B), although there's no elevator, so keep that in mind if you are on one of the upper level floors.
View from St. Paul's Cathedral of the Thames
Some tips for traveling around London
Public transportation is the best way around London. Whether it's the bus, tube, or tram, I'd recommend getting an Oyster card or a Travel Card.
If you have a smartphone, check overseas rates so you can use Google Maps to get around. It's so much easier to use the app to find route times for public transportation than paper maps.
We found Verizon too expensive to activate overseas, so we rented a WiFi hotspot from Tep Wireless. This way you can bring your smartphone and turn off cellular data but still use Google Maps to find route times. It worked great! They'll drop the hotspot device off to you at your hotel too.
It's worth checking out The London Pass if you're going to stay a few days. Many attractions are discounted or allow you to skip waiting in long lines. Check out their website for a list of the attractions and deals, and make sure you'll go to enough on the list to make it worth it before purchasing, as the pass isn't cheap!
Things to see and do
Where to start? We spent only three days in London, so we barely scratched the surface. Here are our Top Ten highlights though!
#10 - London Bridge/River Cruise
Largely intact and very underwhelming
London Bridge is just a bridge, much less exciting than the one often
confused for London Bridge: the Tower Bridge (next to the Tower of
London). Either way, you should definitely take a trip on the Thames and
see the sights along the river. Check out Thames River Cruises for information.
Always thought this was London Bridge... turns out it's actually Tower Bridge. All spruced up for the 2012 Olympics!
# 9 - The Globe
The Globe replica... it's not the original, but it's pretty close!
The Globe Theatre is not just a place to see a show, it's also a museum. It's worth checking out, even if you don't have time for a show.
#8 - Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is visited by over a million people each year and is the burial place of many famous Brits, including Shakespeare, Dickens, and Darwin. No trip is complete without a visit here.
#7 - The House of Commons (and Big Ben)
House of Commons and Big Ben
If you're a nerd like me, you have to go watch a debate in the House of Commons. Check out their website for information on how to visit. If you want to see the PM's Question Time you'll have to do a bit more planning.
#6 - Churchill War Museum
(No introduction needed)
The Churchill War Museum is worth a visit. This is the statue of Churchill across from Parliament, not outside the museum, but it's not a long walk to the War Rooms in Whitehall. It's also a stop that's paid for with the London Pass. Here, you can see the actual underground bunkers Churchill and his staff stayed in during the Blitz of London and throughout WWII. Very interesting history here about the war and Churchill himself, perhaps Britain's most famous politician ever.
#5 - The Tower of London
The Tower of London is a great place to see some of the Queen's Guards
The Tower of London is the home to the Crown Jewels. There, you will find many of the Queen's Guards, and you can even get a tour from the Beefeaters (and find out why they're called "Beefeaters"). The tours are great, and you will hear about all of the palace intrigue and the history of the Towers, which dates back to Roman times.
#4 - St. Paul's Cathedral
View from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral. It's worth the climb!
St. Paul's Cathedral
is a great stop, not only for the history, but also for the view. One
of the confusing things about London is that it's actually a number of
cities. Westminster Abbey is right next to Parliament, but it's
technically in Westminster. St. Paul's is actually the Cathedral for the
City of London. There's so much history to see here, and you can do a
self-guided audio tour to hear about the history of the Cathedral. You
should also definitely climb to the top of the Cathedral for the view
over London, but bring your walking shoes! You can also grab a great
(and reasonably-priced) lunch in the basement cafe. Don't forget to check out the crypt while you're down there!
#3 - Buckingham Palace
Amanda at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is actually open to tourists. Having finally realized that her real power is in her ability to attract millions of tourists to the UK each year, the Queen has been letting people walk through the palace for years now (for a "small" fee). Parliament appreciates the subsidy. Make sure they're open to tourists when you go, as they're only open for a couple months in the summer.
#2 - The Royal Parks
Careful, the chairs in St. James Park are rented out by the hour, and sitting in one is considered contractually binding.
We spent a lot of time just walking through parks, which are plenty big enough to stroll around in, but not so big that you feel lost. St. James Park is right next to Buckingham Palace. You can take a stroll, but be careful where you sit! We preferred Hyde Park, which was just a 30-second walk from our hotel and has a nice grill and outside eating area.
# 1 - The Narrow
View from The Narrow, the Gordon Ramsay restaurant where we ate
Last, but certainly not least, don't forget to go to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant! OK, this might not be on everyone's list, but as a huge Gordon fan I had to go to one of his restaurants while we were there. Some of the others were a bit pricey, but The Narrow was pretty reasonable (and delicious) and a nice casual eating experience. It's also right on the Thames, so you'll have a great view too. London obviously has no shortage of places to eat, so you're sure to find a great dining experience. One thing we wanted to do that we never got around to scheduling was afternoon tea, so if you find a good place leave it in the comments below!
We did more in London, but this is a snapshot of some of our favorite highlights. One thing we did while we were there, though, was take a day trip outside the city to see some famous sights. It's not worth a separate post, but we'd recommend the Stone Henge, Bath, and Salisbury tour by Evan Evans Bus Tours. Below are some pictures from our all-day excursion! Hope you enjoy your trip to the UK!
Bath was one of our favorite stops, definitely worth the trip
The Circus in Bath, great example of Georgian architecture
Poor picture of Salisbury Cathedral. Amanda recommends reading "Pillars of the Earth", a book about its construction
Throughout Ireland and most of this trip, we have always had great luck with B&Bs. Unfortunately, that luck ran out in Oxford. We checked into the All Seasons B&B for a couple nights, but we wish we hadn't. Without dwelling too much on it, the location and price was great, but the lodgings and breakfast were pretty bad. Still, we didn't let that get in the way of a good time, and gave us more of an excuse to get out and see the city. You might want to invest some time looking for a different place to stay when you visit.
View of the famous Oxford Canal than runs through the center of the city. There's lots to do along the canal.
Oxford is a beautiful city, and like Edinburgh, I'd recommend checking it out by bus first. You can pick up buses all over the city, hop on and off, and see the sights from a double-decker before venturing out on foot. Check out www.citysightseeingoxford.com/ for the rates. There's an audio tour that plays on a loop while you're on the bus and points out all the stops you'll want to see later. For a detailed listing of the stops on the trip, check out their tour stops on their website. You can also decide which walking tour you'd like to do. We didn't have time for one, but whether you're a C.S. Lewis/JRR Tolkien fan or a (British) Civil War fan, there's no shortage of history to see up close and personal on one of the city's walking tours.
View from the double-decker bus tour of some of the amazing architecture.
The Bird and Baby Pub, hangout of C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien
There's a ton of shopping to do in Oxford. If you're into indoor shops, check out the Templars Square Shopping Centre. The streetside shops downtown are more fun, though, and there are tons of shops to visit in the city centre and in the famous covered market.
After some shopping in the morning and the bus tour, we walked around the university. The University of Oxford is really many different colleges. According to their website, Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the architecture of the university buildings spans nearly a millennium, so there's much to see. For lunch, a great spot to stop is the University Church of St. Mary's, which is at the center of Oxford and the home of the international aid organization, Oxfam. It's also a (perhaps surprisingly) great place to get lunch at their Vaults and Gardens Cafe, where they serve local, sustainable produce and cater to meat-eaters and vegans alike. It's also a great experience to eat lunch in a building that's over twice as old as the United States, surrounded by Oxford students and professors!
Radcliffe Camera, right across from the Vaults and Gardens cafe.
Oxford University (NOT Miami!)
After some more sight-seeing, we decided to visit the famous Eagle and Child Pub. The locals call it "The Bird and Baby," and it was the hangout of famous authors (and friends) C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien. We happened to be there on a Tuesday night, which was trivia night. If you want a quick blow to your pride, play a round of trivia in a pub where literary giants hung out and where Oxford students and professors continue to frequent. That should do the trick!
Imagine sitting here talking about your next chapter of Lord of the Rings!
In hindsight I would have stayed here a bit longer and drove into London a little later, but you can see a lot here in a day and a half and we only had a couple days for Oxford before moving on to our next stop: London.
Edinburgh is a huge city, and we barely scratched the surface. There are tons of things to do and places to see, at least 464 according to Lonely Planet. In case you missed it, I mentioned that we flew into Edinburgh and stayed at the Fraoch House B&B while we were staying here in my first posting about our UK trip. Great accommodations and a good location for sight-seeing.
We started out in the morning with a bus tour to get a feel for the city. I'd recommend downloading some walking tour podcasts from Edinburgh Bus Tours. There are so many sights to see and famous people associated with the city that it can be a bit overwhelming. Whether you're into Calvinism, Harry Potter, or The Wealth of Nations, you'll find your hero here.
Adam Smith can be found along the Royal Mile. You won't even need the Invisible Hand to find him!
John Knox, founder of Presbyterianism and Protestant Reformation leader.
No trip to Edinburgh is complete without a stop at Edinburgh Castle. There's a tremendous amount of history at this volcanic outcropping of rock. From the 12th Century building, St. Margaret's Chapel, to the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI, the castle has continued to play an important role in British history. Today you can still visit the Crown Jewels there, and you'll always know when it's One O' Clock when you hear the canon fired every day.
This is not the One O' Clock gun, but it is a cool old cannon.
Be sure to visit St. Margaret's Chapel while you're there, the oldest building on the castle grounds.
After a tour of the castle we walked the Royal Mile, which is the strip of road that goes from Edinburgh Castle down the hill to Holyrood Castle, the Queen's residence when she's in Scotland. We just happened to arrive in Edinburgh the same day as the Queen, who was there for her Diamond Jubilee. We caught a glimpse of her as she came out to greet the dignitaries visiting Holyrood that day, which was a long wait, but well worth it. You can barely see her in the video I took, but she was there. More entertaining was the Queen's band, who entertained the audience with the Olympic Fanfare and the Death March while we were waiting!
Right across from the Castle is the Scottish Parliament, a very modern-looking capitol building where the Scottish Members of Parliament meet. While we were there the big topic of discussion was whether or not to break away from the UK, which (as of the time of this posting) is still being debated.
View of Holyrood from inside the Scottish Parliament building.
After checking out the Parliament building and Holyrood, we walked back up the Royal Mile and stopped at Canongate Kirk, where Adam Smith is buried. There are many famous people buried in Canongate Kirkyard, and it's worth taking the time to stop and stroll through the cemetery grounds outside the Kirk. If you're lucky you'll even see some Scottish thistle. You'll also want to visit St. Giles Cathedral, named after the 7th-century hermit and patron saint of Edinburgh.
Scottish thistle on the grave of Adam Smith.
The view inside St. Giles Cathedral.
If you're tired of being outside, take a walk down the hill from the Royal Mile and check out the Scottish National Gallery. There you will find artwork from many great artists, including El Greco, Van Gogh, and Monet. There are also many shops to check out in Edinburgh, and one of our favorite stops was an old antique shop where we found some communion tokens for my dad. A Presbyterian practice, communion tokens were used as a way to limit who could partake in the Lord's Supper and were made popular by John Calvin during the Reformation. We also walked around the Edinburgh Woolen Mill for close to an hour, checking out all of the kilts and other wool items we could buy. Eventually I ended up with a wool hat, and it's one of my favorites to wear during the winter months.
Example of a communion token.
We ended the evening by eating at the Cafe Royal Circle Bar, a very nice oyster bar in town. I had the mussels, which were delicious, and we enjoyed going back over the sights we visited that day. After a quick stop at Robbie's for one last pint, we were done for our all-too-short visit to Edinburgh. Next time will definitely need to be a longer visit.
Whether you're into literary history, philosophy, royalty, whisky, antiquing, shopping, fine dining, or just fish and chips, Edinburgh has something for you. It's a truly unique city and deserves its special status as a World Heritage Site. For a change of pace, our next stop is Oxford!
My inspiration for wanting to go to Scotland came from the following biography:
"Robert S. Grieve was born on a pioneer farm within two miles
of the city of Xenia on July 27, 1831, a son of Archibald and Agnes
(Stephenson) Grieve, natives of Scotland, the former born in Selkirk in 1775
and the latter, in Roxboroughshire, who became residents of Ohio in 1814 and
here spent their last days. Archibald Grieve grew to manhood in his native
Scotland and on March 11, 1811, was there united in marriage to Agnes Stephenson,
daughter of John and Isabella Stephenson. A year later, in 1812, he and his
wife came to the United States, landing at the port of New York, and in 1814
left that city and came to Ohio, presently settling in this county and buying a
tract of one hundred acres in the vicinity of Xenia, where they established
their home and where the spent the remainder of their lives. They were members
of the old Seceder (Associate Presbyterian) church and their children were
reared in that faith. They were [sic] nine of these children, of whom five
lived to rear families of their own, hence the Grieve connection in this
generation is a [of] no inconsiderable one hereabout."
My mom has always been into genealogy, and I felt I had little to contribute in the way of research and was sometimes bored with it. After looking through her records, though, I discovered this brief bio about Robert S. Grieve, my great-great-great-grandpa. This excerpt is from the "History of Greene County Ohio: Its People, Industries and
Institutions Volume II." This article about him contained a great deal about the original Archibald Grieve, his father, who came over from Scotland with his wife Agnes in 1814. We discovered through Ancestry.com's birth, marriage, and burial records that Archibald and Agnes were married in Yarrow Parish in 1811. Finding this little parish church became my primary goal for our visit.
The trip was made all the more meaningful because I discovered some of my family's heritage, but this was a great trip for many reasons. While this write-up has been long overdue, I'm excited to take you through the journey of Scotland and England that we took as we traveled through the United Kingdom, and I hope you'll be inspired to take your own journey there soon.
Starting out was a bit rough, as our trip was pushed back due to poor weather on our departure day and a flight cancellation. We did end up flying out of Dayton International Airport on June 29th, 2012, however, and after a few connections we landed in Edinburgh.
View of Edinburgh from Edinburgh Castle (this is what good weather days look like in our experience)
We immediately got our rental car and drove straight for the nearest golf course we could find. This was one of the items on my bucket list-golfing in Scotland. We found a beautiful course to play in Gullane at the Gullane Golf Course, where we played Course 1. Hole #7 yields a beautiful view along the North Sea, and Amanda didn't mind walking with me to get the experience of the tumultuous Scottish weather, which changed often. There are many courses in the area, though, and I would recommend finding one that will allow you to rent clubs and bring your own golf shoes. The shoes are easier to pack, plus you'll have golf shoes that have tread on Scottish turf!
On the course at Gullane Golf Club, with a beautiful view of the North Sea behind us
We only made it 16 holes before weather forced us to turn in early, but found a nice little restaurant on our way back named "Ducks Kilspindie House." I had the Bucclea Steak and Amanda got a chicken risotto, both of which were delicious. The great thing about the restaurant though is that the menu is seasonal, so go with the special while you're there and be sure to enjoy your first Scotch in Scotland after dinner. You should definitely try some single malts while you're in Scotland, although be sure to pace yourself! A good video on how to read the bottles to get what you want out of a Scotch can be found from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.
We finally turned in at the Philip Burns Best Western. This is a bit of a change from Ireland, where we stayed at B&Bs for most of our trip, but I'll have to say that this felt like a large B&B. Our room had two floors, with a loft above the living area. My only regret is that we didn't stay here longer, but the Scottish Breakfast they served in the morning was brilliant.
After breakfast we went out to find Yarrow Parish Kirk (the Church of Scotland spelling) and sat through a very nice service. I'll never forget how welcoming everyone was. We learned that the church was the same building that the original Grieves were married in back in 1811, but that had experienced a renovation and a fire in the interim. Still, it was a beautiful and quaint parish church (or "kirk") where we found many Grieves in the cemetery outside. Apparently many were still around, and we visited another parish kirk in Ettrick parish, not far away, and found many more Grieve headstones.
View inside Yarrow Kirk
View from behind our pew at Yarrow Kirk
Headstone found in the cemetery of Yarrow Kirk, along with many other Grieves
View of Ettrick Kirk, the other parish church in this dual parish containing a cemetery full of Grieves
More recent Grieve who passed away, taken at Ettrick Kirk
After leaving Ettrick, we drove around for a while enjoying the beautiful countryside of the Scottish Lowlands. We passed by a mill and decided to stop for lunch at Philiphaugh Estate and eating at the on-site cafe, the Waterwheel Restaurant, where you can get some amazing smoked salmon from the River Ettrick and stroll through some lovely gardens and local trails.
Beautiful countryside in Yarrow
Finally, we toured the Glenkinchie Distillery, the best part of which was the tasting room afterwards. In the words of one of the church-goers from the morning service, people in the lowlands aren't known for having the best distilleries, but they still "appreciate a drop of whisky every now and then." The nice thing about visiting Glenkinchie is that it's part of a group of distilleries that make the famous Johnny Walker Scotch blends, but each also makes their own single malts. Some of my favorites that we got to try were Oban, Cragganmore, and Lagavulin. Either way, you'll be glad you visited a distillery to see how what is arguably Scotland's most famous product of origin is made.
Me at Glenkinchie Distillery
We finally drove back into Edinburgh after our brief countryside excursion and checked into a B&B, the Fraoch House, after which we went out for some authentic, (British) Indian food at Assam's. We stopped at Robbie's bar later on for a pint and then walked back home, exhausted, but ready to take on Edinburgh the next morning. All in all it was a great first two days of travel. The only thing we didn't get to do (because of the poor weather on our original departure date) was visit Iona, the island where Christianity was first introduced to Scotland. If we had another day we would have driven up there and into the highlands a bit, but we'll be sure to do that first on our next trip to Scotland! Up next: Edinburgh.
