Portia's Reflections Entry is going to State!

Portia wrote a song on her cello (called Hunting Birds) and is going to state for Reflections! So proud of this little composer! Sometimes it's okay when you're messing around on your cello instead of practicing!

England Day Ten: London

We woke up at 3 am and left Anstruther. I couldn't sleep anyway most of the night because the wind was shaking the house, so we drove on to London!

We arrived right before lunch and checked into our hotel, The Town Hall. We're only staying here one night but it's nice and comfortable. Eric dropped off the rental car and we took a taxi (I swear the drive looked exactly like Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey) to The New Globe Theatre. We stopped at TAS Pide for Turkish pides (boat-shaped bread filled with meat and egg). We loved it!

When we got to the Globe Theatre, we almost bought tickets to see Cymbeline in the candle-lit inside theatre, but the only two tickets they had left weren't near each other and we didn't want to split up. So instead, we took a tour of the outdoor theatre. Our tour guide was great and kept directing his comments to Portia, who was the youngest person in the tour.

Afterward, Portia and I took the underground back to our hotel to swim, while Eric and Bianca went shopping at Picadilly Circus.

In the morning, we took a taxi to Gatwick Airport and flew home. We arrived home on New Year's Eve.

Scotland Day Nine: St. Andrews

Today is our last day in Scotland. We have absolutely loved it here and wished we had arranged to spend more time in Scotland. We'll have to come back someday. After breakfast, we went to the water again. The wind had died down a bit and the sun was out. It was gorgeous!

We were going to visit Kellie's Castle but we kept missing the turn—the signs weren't so helpful—on our 10-minute drive to St. Andrew's. Another beautiful city! The waves were crazy, like 20 of them curling to the beach at once, and the ruins overlooked the sea. Portia wanted to stay near the water, so I stayed with her while Eric and Bianca explored the castle. We met back up after we explored the cathedral ruins and the historic harbour. We stopped at a bookstore (of course!) and then headed back to Anstruther for lunch.

We took the girls to our fish & chips place we loved so much. I got the hot smoked salmon & prawn salad with chips & curry sauce. That places is truly amazing!

After lunch, Eric and I walked into town and it turned windy & cold again. The waves were crashing so violently against the stone walls, it was spraying the people on the street. We stopped into a couple gift shops and ended our evening by playing Monopoly, then packing up as we leave again in the morning.

Scotland Day Eight: Anstruther & Edinburgh

We love Anstruther! It's windy—really windy—but so charming and quaint and beautiful! We walked down to the rocky beach first thing after breakfast. Then drove to Cowdenbeath, where Eric's grandma Peggy grew up before she came over to the US when she was 16. We walked around the cemetery looking for family names but didn't really find anything interesting.

Next we drove on the Edinburgh. We were starved by the time we got there, so we had lunch at a restaurant called The Wedgewood. It was so good! I had the potato & leek soup, gnocchi and for dessert: parsnip brulet with thyme ice cream! Sounds weird but tastes divine!

We walked all over Edinburgh—to the royal mile, up to the castle, and then did some shopping.

We went into the most amazing bookshop called Armchair Books!!! And we walked by a Cat Cafe but couldn't go in because it was all booked. Portia thinks we should start a Cat Cafe of our own and call it The Cat & Cocoa Cafe and serve gourmet hot chocolates. Bianca says Edinburgh is here favorite city she's even been to.

When we returned to Anstruther, Eric and I went to a Fish & Chips place near our place, where we walked along the ocean to get there. Still windy, but lovely. I had some salmon & dill fish cakes. What a lovely time we had!

England Day Seven: Warwick, then on to Scotland

This morning, we left Stratford and went to church in Warwick. After sacrament meeting, several people told us we must stop at Warwick Castle before we head out of England. They said it's the best castle in England, so we did! It was still completely furnished and all the ceilings were simply amazing! I'm obsessed with cool ceilings and doors and there were plenty to see!  The library was full of antique books and the whole castle was decorating for Christmas with beautiful trees and lights everywhere. Very beautiful!

Then we began driving to Scotland. There was tons of traffic and it ended up taking a lot longer than we hoped. Ugh! We ate at McDonald's on the way (how is it we always end up at McDonald's while we're in Europe?!?).

We finally arrived in Anstruther, Scotland, around nine o'clock at night. But we LOVE our little place here. The girls each get their own rooms; Eric and I have our own suite in the attic. And it's clean and big and decorated like a beach house. I can hear the ocean out there but haven't yet seen it.

England Day Six: Hay-on-Wye

Today we actually got up early and drove to Wales. On the way, because we were on a lot of backroads, we actually ran right into Elgar's (the famous composer) birthplace. It wasn't open because it's Christmas break (in fact, today is Boxing Day), but we stopped for a bit, then drove on.

When we arrived at Hay-on-Wye (the book capital of the world), the town was congregating to leave for a big hunt. They were in their hunting outfits, sitting on their horses, and all the town was gathered. Someone made a speech about the government trying to take away their right to hunt before they left.  

Sadly, because it was boxing day, many of the bookstores (the reason we traveled there) were closed. There were a few, however, so I did spend a couple hours in a bookstore, then we ate at a pub called The Blue Boar, which was wonderful! So I bought some books, we walked around a bit, then drove back. The early morning took a lot out of me because I slept on the way home. Eric's so good to stay awake and drive on the left side of the road!

Tonight was our last night in Stratford, so we did a little laundry and packed our bags.

England Day Five: Christmas Day

I've definitely never had a Christmas like today. We all slept in until 11. We had no presents to open, but the souvenirs we placed under the tree (to remind us that we were actually getting presents). Instead of buying presents, we gave the girls a set amount of money they're allowed to spend while we're here.

We lit another fire and the girls opened their Christmas Crackers Eric had bought. After they "popped," there were little toys and jokes in each one. We played with the mini cards (that was one of the gifts in the crackers).

We decided at the last minute to drive to the closest beach, which was a two-hour drive to Weston-Suer-Mare. At least the beach can't be closed on Christmas Day! We stopped by some interesting castles on the way, then arrived while it was still light outside. It was rainy and windy, but we walked along the beach anyway and watched the lighthouse blinking from Cardiff.

We drove back to Stratford where we had dinner reservations at Bamboodle (a Thai restaurant) only to find out they had no chef and decided not to open. Lovely. We had nowhere to to go and I was frustrated that we didn't take that last available table they had at The Swan. Thank heavens for Indian restaurants! We ended up at Avon Spice and made the best of our situation. We all love Indian food so it worked out, although that's definitely not a typical Christmas meal. We went back to the park near the Avon River and fed our leftover naan to the swans and geese and ducks.

I don't think we'll ever forget this Christmas!