The Lake District (Day 1)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Keswick, Day 1

This morning we quickly ate breakfast at the B&B, packed up our bags and headed out the door for Keswick, England. I think if we knew the adventure that laid ahead of us we would not have been so eager to leave town. After leaving Edinburgh, we started driving down the country roads. These roads have curbs that make the narrowness of the roads even more define. I am used to wide shoulders on our roads that are forgiving for drivers who can’t stay within the lines. It seems like we were passing other cars with only inches to spare. Along the side of the road are drainage grates, which sit on the road. About an hour into the drive we hit a broken grate that was half sticking up in the air. It made a loud bump but we just kept driving. Three minutes later Tim felt the rattle of a flat tire. We pulled over on the shoulder that was designated for parking. The back passenger tire was flat. Tim started taking the tire off while I walked 15 yards back down the road to ask these Scotsmen (who were cutting down limbs along the road) where the nearest garage was. They had very thick accents; so I think I got about 50% of the directions. As I came back Tim realized one of the lug nuts was a different shape. While we were trying to solve the puzzle of how to take off the nut the two guys drove up to ask if we needed help. They showed us the lug wrench stored in the glove compartment that fit the nut. They gladly finished the job for us. We got headed down the road and stopped at the first auto repair shop we could find. They did not have the tires that would fit on our car so they directed us to the nearest BP station. On our way, we veered off onto another road and turned into the right lane. Fifty yards ahead we saw and other car heading straight towards us. We started to do the Home Alone scream with our mouths wide open, chins dropped to the floor, and hands plastered to our cheeks, before we realized we were in the wrong and could easily correct the problem by turning into the left or “right” lane. I know the guy mumbled something about a “crazy yank” under his breath. We pulled up to see cars jam packed at the filling station and sitting out in the middle of the road to turn in. The auto repair guy had to direct the cars for Tim to pull in the garage. After an hour and about $260 American dollars later we were on our way to Keswick. If we ever asked for an adventure we sure got one…one that is too expensive for my taste, not to mention my wallet. It looks like we will end up paying our $900 deductable as the frame was bent and paint got scratched off just in front of the back tire.

The drive on the interstate was much better. We stopped to fill up an 1/8 of a tank with diesel and spend about $32 American dollars. Wow, I thought we had it bad. I will never complain about gas again. However, the car calculated 38 miles to the gallon. We got to our next B&B around two. The Innkeeper was not there but she left us the key. Oh yeah, I need to mention that our bathroom smell like the innkeeper is growing mushrooms behind the walls. I know this house would not pass a mold inspection. We put our bags up and made a drive to grocery store. We thought we could save money by buying peanut butter and jelly at the grocery store but ended up with highway robbery. We bought PB&J, bread, Pringles, cracker, and cheese for about $20 dollars. I’m pretty sure that cost about $8 in the US…so much for saving money. We went back to our room to eat and watch tv from only three channels. We became so bored from the Tele that we decided to walk to a park we saw earlier. We walked through the park and the village, then we stumbled on a lake with rolling hills beside it covered with sheep. We kept walking down more paths that lead us back towards the village. As we were window-shopping we realized that Keswick is the Manitou Springs, CO of England. There were so many outdoor and camping shops and pricey restaurants. We figured out that we are in the middle of a tourist trap. We managed to find a decent coffee shop where we ordered panini sandwiches. They had lot of games there so we pulled out scrabble and filled the entire board with no remaining letters. We moseyed on over to a pub that was showing the Italy vs. France Euro Cup 2008 game. It wasn’t much of a match but Italy won. After the game we headed back for a good nights rest.

The flat tire. Notice the huge scratch between where the jack is and the tire.

Two nice Scotsmen helping us out.

Sitting on the shore of Derwent Water in Keswick.

The village of Keswick.

Enjoying Euro 2008 at an Irish Pub.

Edinburgh (Day 2)

Monday, June 16, 2008

Edinburgh, Day 2

First I would like to apologize for my writing. The Air Force has ruined my creative writing skills since I haven’t written anything but bullet and medal citation style in the past four years. This morning I tried the traditional British breakfast with eggs, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, potato cakes, toast and baked beans. Baked beans for breakfast is a whole new concept for me…I didn’t know it was allowed. It sounds like something I would eat for breakfast when I was a poor college student and there was nothing left to eat except a can of bean in the cabinet. Also tried haggis, a type of meat patty, which I’m sure is some type of sheep intestine or stomach. It was not bad, but the thought of not knowing what I ate reminded me of the day I had chitlens at a festival not knowing what it was. Mystery meat can never be a good thing even if it looks like meatloaf. The B&B we are at is somewhat different than we expected. There is no common area except for the dinning room. Even there they have individual tables set up for two or four. Bed and breakfasts are a fairly new industry in the US, but from our experiences from staying at inns and interviewing innkeepers around the US we seem to have gotten the whole hospitality of the B&B down. Tim and I enjoyed the one large dinning table at the bed and breakfast on our honeymoon. It forced us to talk with other couples about life and tours we went on the day before. I always look at the whole traveling experience as an opportunity to relax and learn from others. The house was set up so the dinning room was up front and the rooms in the hallway and up stairs. The innkeepers seemed to stay shut away in the much larger backside of the house. There was no access for us to walk around in the beautiful garden in the back yard. Also, the room was cramped and much smaller than the little 12x12 bedrooms builder are making now days, with no sense of décor. So this forced us to get out doors. We took the bus down the Royal Mile to look for the Edinburgh Castle. As we were walking up the hill to what we thought was a castle, we stopped and asked a lady on the road if we were going the right way. She said the castle was on the other side of town and this was just a watchtower with a great view of the city. I guess everything medieval looks like a castle to us. So we continued to hike up to the top of the hill and took some scenic pictures. Then we troughed through the far side of town to see the castle. By this time my feet were killing me. In attempt to not stand out like an American, I decided not to wear tennis shoe. I have worn these shoes all day long and they have time and time again proven to be comfortable except in Edinburgh. We finally made it to the castle to realize that not only was the hill getting up there steep but so was the cost of the ticket to get in. We decided not to burn a whole in the leather of our wallet like I did with the leather of my shoes. Instead we ate sandwiches at a pub for lunch. Then we went on a wild goose chase to find Avis to pick up our car rental. It seemed nearly impossible to find because it was hidden in a back alley. We opted for the automatic with GPS. This was the smartest choice we made since the roads are not easy to navigate and remembering what side of the road to drive on is hard enough. The driving is crazy here. The roads are narrow and everyone parks on the sides of the roads where there is not enough room left for driving. Also you have to move with the flow of traffic or you will get run over. Tim drove as I embraced myself and clutched the door of the car. With all the intensity I was feeling, the baby began doing flips inside my stomach. At least she didn’t see what I was seeing. I wished I was inside my mother's womb with amniotic fluid protecting me. But Tim did good driving as TomTom navigated us back to the B&B. I changed into my Nikes as comfort was priority over fashion at this point. No one here wears sneakers but it didn’t feel so bad after I saw the rest of their outfits. I thought Europe had all the fashion but I stand corrected. Don’t get me wrong they didn’t look like they were headed to the local Wal-mart, but it was still not anything I wanted to replicate with my wardrobe. Hollywood has the world beat on fashion. Did I say the weather was in the 60’s. I used Tim’s converter on his cell phone and it is 50F. So when it gets that cold I don’t care anymore. You may see me wear the same pair of jeans and 3 sweaters over and over again. I brought a lot of cute maternity skirts and shirts that will never get worn here.

After and hour of rest at the B&B we used our day pass and took the bus back into town. We were on a quest for to find an art shop that had a painting that we really liked. Tim and I started collecting artwork on our honeymoon. We got two pieces of art that reminded us of downtown Savannah and one of our honeymoon bed and breakfast. Here we got a modern art piece of a map of downtown Edinburgh. I was also able to find a jewelry store that had Scottish charms. I collect charms for my bracelet every time I go to a new country, live in a new state or make it through a life-changing event that I don’t want to forget. This time I got bagpipes. We decided to slow down on the food spending and ate at Subway for supper. Amazingly enough, when I asked for vinegar on my sandwich the guy looked at me like I was stupid. I was pretty sure the British put vinegar on everything including fries. So why would they not have vinegar at Subway? That is the only time I do eat vinegar on my food. We walked a few blocks down and found a wall to sit on while we ate, as there were no tables in Subway. After supper we went on a literary pub-crawl tour that Tim booked online. This was recommended on Rick Steve’s website. The tour guide took us from pub to pub and told us tales of famous Scottish writers who hung out at these specific pubs to do a lot of thinking and drinking for their next novel or poem. And of course at every pub time was given for everyone to buy and finish a beer. After that we called it a night and headed back to the inn before it got dark.

Malinda with a Bag Piper who like to carry on a conversation while he carried a tune.

Tim in front of the Gate House at Edinburgh Castle. For $50, we decided that this is a far as we'll go.

Tim enjoying the Literary Pub Tour.

Edinburgh (Day 1)

We arrived in Edinburgh yesterday at 1:00p.m. local time. We were two hours later than expected due to the delay in at Newark Airport, NJ. We caught a bus ride to Glenalmond House B&B were we are staying for two nights. The room is very small and the bathroom is almost motor home bathroom size. However, the food is great and it has a very quaint feel to it. After we settled in we walked to the down town district. We walked along the strip called Royal Mile and looked in the shops and stopped for supper. We ate at an Italian restaurant and had some of the best Italian food that we ever had. After that we went back to the room to catch up on sleep for the evening. The weather here is a cool 60 something. It feels like February or March in Georgia.

Tim after going through Customs.

Malinda in front of our Bed & Breakfast.

Glenalmond House

We have NO idea what this is or what it means. It just looks big and important in a historic way. They just don't make these in Oklahoma.

(The English Delegation has informed us that this is a memorial to Sir Walter Scott, the author of "Ivan Hoe" and other such novels)

This reminded us of those funny Chik-fil-A ads and commercials

Trip Over

Malinda getting ready for the Airport Express guy to pick us up.

"Prom" photo with our luggage

Malinda doing some Sodoku on our trip to New Jersey (which did smell)

UK Vacation

It's the night before our big trip to the United Kingdom. We are making this blog to keep our friends and families posted on our fun while in Scotland and England. We hope to post everyday, but who knows our internet availability. Enjoy!