London, England

The final day of the Anderson family bachelor party has come to a close,
and it has been a great trip. We began the day by exploring Bath Abbey, the
Roman baths (abbey pictured in reflection of water from baths), and the
Royal Crescent. We loaded up our "cute little car" (mom) and set out east
for Stonehenge with more beautiful weather joining us (pictured). We
circled the prehistoric monument with audio guides and got some great
pictures before driving a few miles south to Salisbury and its famed
cathedral (also pictured). Again, we were lucky enough to hear some great
live choral music, and we saw an original manuscript of the Magna Carta,
which excited all of the lawyers among us. A final ride carried us into our
hotel near Heathrow Airport. Since the rest of the family was weary, I made
my way via bus and tube into London alone. I had dinner looking out into
Leicester Square, then walked through Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square,
St. James Park and across the Westminster Bridge with views of the London
Eye, Houses of Parliament, and the Big Ben (pictured). I walked along the
Thames to Waterloo Bridge and past Covent Garden and the Royal Opera House
before returning to Piccadilly and taking the long night bus home. Whew!

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Cardiff, Wales - Wells, England - Bath, England

The morning began with a swift change in plans: a decision to change hotels
so that we could spend the night in Bath. We then headed west, across the
Severn River and into Wales. The scenery was beautiful and we were lucky to
have another sunny day- I don't know how we got so lucky with the weather
on this trip. We had a great time taking a self-guided walking tour around
Cardiff. I was of course, hoping to bump into Bryn. After seeing the sites
we made our way via an alternate scenic route across the river and into
Wells. We explored the old city and its renowned cathedral, enjoying
beautiful choral music as we sat for the evensong worship service. After
exploring the cathedral grounds we loaded up in our funny-looking Euro car
and arrived in Bath just before nightfall at our hotel on the Avon River.
We walked to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant nearby and I enjoyed Welsh
lamb. After dinner, we dumped the parents at the hotel and Walker and I
explored the surprisingly vibrant nightlife for a few hours.

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The Cotswolds, part deux

We had another great day in the Cotswolds covering a lot of ground. Our
first stop was at Sudeley Castle, where Henry VIII and his survived wife
Katherine Parr resided. The gardens and chapel were beautiful and the
castle impressive. We then stopped at the 13th century manor house if the
Earl of Wemyss in Stanway and had probably the most beautiful drive of the
trip passing by oak trees, stone walls, and grazing land with cows and
sheep on either side as we went into Stanton, where we visited the pagan
St. Michael church while the parents recalled having visited 23 years
earlier. We continued the drive and with each turn were presented with
another incredible vista and photo opportunity. We had lunch and browsed
the shops lined with horse chestnut trees in Broadway, "the jewel of the
Cotswolds" and saw the Broadway tower overlooking the town from the nearby
hill. Continuing northeast, Debbie finally made some antique purchases in
Chipping Campden, a 14th century town made quite wealthy by the wool trade.
The trading market building still stands in the middle of High Street, and
we also enjoyed seeing the town's 15th century Perpendicular Gothic "wool"
church. We did a quick drive-through in Snowshill, which is tiny but
beautifully set in the hillside, and then made our final stop in Bibury,
which is regarded by many as "the most beautiful village in England". We
walked along the water, photographed the line of famed cottages at
Arlington Row, and found a wedding rehearsal going on in the town's church.

Unfortunately, the darkness set in and a wrong turn outside of Bristol made
for a "dramatic" ride home. As we pulled into the Tortworth Castle hotel,
Walker pulled out his earphones and asked, "What did I miss?". This was
icing on the cake... We went straight for the bar.

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The Cotswolds, England

Mom spent the morning in the gardens of the hotel before we all caught a
train to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We rented a car for the remainder of our
trip, which dad claims is much easier to drive than the last one. We
explored the birthplace of William Shakespeare, saw his home and his
resting place within the Holy Trinity Church, and walked along the Avon
River, all of which were a little disappointing. We then drove about twenty
minutes southbound into the Cotswolds region of England, which is
incredibly picturesque on a day like we had. We took photos in
Moreton-on-Marsh, went antique shopping in Stow-on-the-Wold (pictured with
the only stocks), and had local beers in Bourton-on-the-Water (also
pictured on bridge), which is described as "the Venice of the Cotswolds"
and was everyone's favorite. We stayed the night in Cheltenham and enjoyed
local Indian cuisine, which is of course very popular in England. While
Walker and I stayed in a typical bedroom, the parents' room was lavishly
decorated in Asian art and called the "Out of Asia Suite". Needless to say,
Debbie no longer felt "at home"...

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The Cotswolds, England

Mom spent the morning in the gardens of the hotel before we all caught a
train to Stratford-Upon-Avon. We rented a car for the remainder of our
trip, which dad claims is much easier to drive than the last one. We
explored the birthplace of William Shakespeare, saw his home and his
resting place within the Holy Trinity Church, and walked along the Avon
River, all of which were a little disappointing. We then drove about twenty
minutes southbound into the Cotswolds region of England, which is
incredibly picturesque on a day like we had. We took photos in
Moreton-on-Marsh, went antique shopping in Stow-on-the-Wold (pictured with
the only stocks), and had local beers in Bourton-on-the-Water (also
pictured on bridge), which is described as "the Venice of the Cotswolds"
and was everyone's favorite. We stayed the night in Cheltenham and enjoyed
local Indian cuisine, which is of course very popular in England. While
Walker and I stayed in a typical bedroom, the parents' room was lavishly
decorated in Asian art and called the "Out of Asia Suite". Needless to say,
Debbie no longer felt "at home"...

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York, England

Happy birthday to Walker! After a quick shopping stroll around George and
Princes streets, we caught a morning train to York via Darlington,
Newcastle, and Durham. We had planned to drop our bags at the hotel
quickly, but when Debbie arrived at the Middlethorpe Hall Hotel she
declared "I'm home" and almost refused to leave (pictured). Built in 1699,
it is described as a "quintessential William and Mary house" and is
maintained by the National Trust with beautiful gardens, vast parklands,
and furnished with antiques and great paintings that mom went on to
describe as "major" (which happens to be one of her highest compliments).
In all honesty, I just thought it was a good deal on Trip Advisor, but I
was glad we could celebrate Walker's birthday in such a great setting. We
did finally make it into York, and first enjoyed a walk along the old city
walls, dating back to the Roman era before the vikings took over the city.
After a walk down the Shambles (a famous shopping/eating pedestrian
alleyway with a quaint feel), we made our way to the York Minster,
Britain's largest cathedral. Its medieval stained glass is as Chartres, and
below the ground floor can be seen several layers of excavation where other
churches had once stood. The Minster dominates the city and was truly the
highlight of our visit. After walking around to see more sites in York, we
took the birthday boy to a beer garden decorated with animal heads on the
wall overlooking Stonegate Street and sampled some local Yorkshire ales. We
then returned to the hotel (south of town beside the horse racetrack) and
walked around the property before dinner. I tried my first grouse and
Walker would not allow us to sing happy birthday, but we had a very nice
celebration.

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The Scottish Highlands

When I initially asked Walker what he had hoped to get out of this trip in
the early stages of planning, his only response was "to see the Loch Ness
monster". So we joined a 12.5 hour grand tour yesterday of the Scottish
Highlands to fulfill Walker's dreams. The rain finally caught us for the
morning portion of the tour, which gave the rolling glens and vast lochs an
eerie but serene appeal as we rode by. The Highlands landscape was
incredible and reminded me of several scenes from the Lord of the Rings
movies. By lunchtime, the weather had cleared and the sunshine and shadows
helped created some really impressive scenes. We saw countless Highland
cattle, sheep, and cows on our drive, along with plenty of heather growing
in the mountain sides. One notable stop was in Glencoe, at the site of the
1692 massacre. We particularly enjoyed a boat ride through Loch Ness (no
spotting of the monster) to Urquhart Castle, which gave us a great view of
the deepest portion of the loch (pictured). After getting as far north as
Inverness, we headed. back south for Edinburgh through the heart of the
Highlands Scotch whiskey distilleries and- of course- bought ourselves some
samples. We returned to Princes street around 9pm and enjoyed a final
Scottish meal and ale before heading to England tomorrow!

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Edinburgh, Scotland

A morning train from Turnberry via Glasgow brought us into the Edinburgh
Waverly station around 11am on another beautiful day. Castle Rock and the
surrounding cliffs really give Edinburgh a totally unique setting, and I do
believe it lives up to it's reputation as Europe's most handsome city.
After dropping bags at the Royal Scots Club off Princes Street, we enjoyed
a tour of the dungeons, chapels, memorials, and batteries of Edinburgh
Castle, perched well above the city for strategic position. I was
particularly impressed by the War Memorial and the Royal scepter and crown.
We made our way from the castle down the Royal Mile and into the impressive
St. Giles cathedral. Outside, Walker took my picture next to the statue of
Adam Smith. We continued down the Royal Mile, stopping to admire kilts and
whiskey collections before paying a visit to the royal residence at
Holyrood Palace, where the Queen stays and entertains during her annual
visit to Scotland and where Mary Queen of Scots resided. Dad and I then
spent nearly two hours walking around the Princes and Queens street areas
before we all gathered at a local Scottish restaurant and tried our first
Haggis (google it). I actually thought it was delicious! Finally, I went
walking with the bachelor on a haunted city tour that ended in one of
Edinburgh's graveyards. It was more interesting and informative than scary,
but we had a great time.

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Turnberry, Scotland

The Ayrshire region on the southwestern coast of Scotland has been a haven
for golfers since the game's beginnings, and on a day like the one we had
no trouble understanding why. Turnberry is one of Scotland's most
celebrated courses, and our family enjoyed hitting around on the practice
course set right on the beach (though we were all reminded why we picked
other sports to pursue). We arrived early to Turnberry via a two hour ferry
from Larne, Northern Ireland to Troon, Scotland. A twenty minute cab
through incredible Scottish landscape was enough to sell me on this
country, but it kept getting better. The smoked salmon served at breakfast
was definitely the best I've ever had. We then walked down from the hotel
to enjoy a huge regional horse show Turnberry was hosting. Hundreds of
horse trailers from all around the region had come for their horses to
compete, and we watched for quite some time as horses raced and jumped in
the course set against the backdrop of the Scottish hills. As we walked
away, we were approached by a team of representatives from Glenfiddich, who
pressured us to try their samplings of the well-known scotch whiskey. They
didn't have to twist my arm too hard for me to try the 12, 15, and 18 year
old single malts. We continued an incredible walk along the beach, through
the woods, over the cliffs and up to the Culzean Castle, the 18th century
product of Robert Adam (pictured above). Before dinner, we were able to
hear a bagpiper in full dress playing in the front lawn of Turnberry. We
enjoyed local lamb and salmon before retiring early in preparation for an
early morning train to the capital city of Edinburgh.

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Larne, Northern Ireland

We really enjoyed our stay at the Newforge House b&b. Walker loved the idea
of sharing a king size bed with me so much that he pulled his half of the
twin mattress set on the floor and slept there. We then made our second
attempt at driving the car on the left side of the road and had much
greater success. We hit the coast at Larne and made our way up the famed
Causeway Coastal Route, which was reminiscent of Route 1 in California with
cascading cliffs and quiet port towns every few miles. We enjoyed stops at
the picturesque Dunluce Castle, the coastal hike and suspended rope bridge
at Carrick-A-Rede, a sample of whiskey at Ireland's oldest, the Old
Bushmills Distillery, and the unusual six-sided basalt columns at The
Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO world Heritage site before returning the rented
car in Belfast. Our hotel tonight looks out over the port, where we will
sail for Scotland in the morning!

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Moira, Northern Ireland

After a full Irish breakfast in the heart of Dublin, the family loaded up
in a rental car bound for Northern Ireland. With only a few minor issues
and scares getting used to driving on the left side of the road, we made
our way to Malahide Castle and had a nice tour and lunch in the nearby
town. We also stopped to see the Newgrange megalithic passage tomb (dated
3000 BC) and the battlefield at Boyne before settling down with the local
Clanconnel beer at the Newforge House. We enjoyed drinks in the garden and
farm around this picturesque b&b (pictured) and had some local salmon in
the town of Moira nearby before bed.

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Dublin, Ireland

We arrived safely for the "Anderson family bachelor party" early Thursday
morning and had a great first day in Dublin. The weather was perfect, as
was the Guinness. After a full Irish breakfast we spent the day walking
throughout the city, with highlights including St. Patrick's cathedral, the
beautiful parks and greens filled with people enjoying the reputedly rare
sunshine, Trinity College, the National Concert Hall, the old city walls,
O'Connell Street, Christ Church and the viking area of town, and the
Jameson distillery. I was asked to taste American, Scotch, and Irish
(Jameson) whiskeys side-by-side, and after making a somewhat pressured
decision I was awarded a certificate (pictured above) for my tasting
"abilities". We enjoyed a great dinner at L'Ecrivain, featuring smoked eel,
quail, and monkfish. After the guys enjoyed a pint of Guinness at Temple
Bar, we all retired to th Westin Dublin.

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