Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

No, I didn't just fall asleep on the keyboard. I'll get to that in just a minute.

After a huge Welsh breakfast, Jessica and I headed for the Isle of Anglesey just off the northern Welsh coast line. After a couple of wrong turns, we crossed the bridge onto the island and headed to Beaumaris, a quiet little harbor town on the south eastern coast of the island. We had signed up for a Puffin Cruise, but upon arrival, we learned that it was too windy for the trip out. The boats next door, offering more of a speed boat were still debating about their afternoon trips, so we put our name down on a list and took to exploring the town and castle.

After visiting Conwy Castle yesterday, I was quite certain that nothing could top that castle. I was wrong. Beaumaris Castle, started in the late 13th century at the same time Conwy Castle started, was never finished because King Edward basically ran out of money. This castle, despite being unfinished, is still a place I'd happily call home, although I'd have to share it with the current residents. As we crossed over the moat into the castle (yes, there was an actual moat), we ooed and awed at the swan and her six little ones. Once inside, like children, we eagerly explored the hidden hallways, spiral staircases, tiny rooms, and walks along the walls several flights up. The small chapel room, the most in tact of ones we saw echoed just perfectly; the acoustics were remarkable. Like Conwy Castle, the empty towers hummed with the gentle cooing of pigeons, echoing to hide their exact position. They, too, appreciated every nook and cranny of the castle, making it quite their own and not seeming to appreciate our curiosity in their home. We watched young seagulls hopping around after their mother on the high walls, looked down and watched the young swans swimming through the moat and looked in the distance to beautiful hillsides. I believe I have a new favorite castle.

We wandered around the cute little port town, perfectly painted with bright colors and full of shops and cafes. A local bakery supplied us with homemade pies for lunch before we wandered back to see if our boat trip was a possibility. The water in the harbor looked fairly rough due to the strong winds, but a blue sky had appeared. The young girl, knowing how excited we were told us the trip was on and that four others had signed up to join us. Yay! She warned us that we would have two young drivers for the outing. Unsure of why, or really what we were getting into, we walked on to the end of the pier.

Our drivers greeted us and although we never asked their ages, Jessica and I determined that they were in fact very young, possibly not even the age of a college student. We had our cameras out, ready to see the puffins, to which they just told us, "You're going to get really wet." Believing they just meant we'd get damp, we agreed to put our bags in their locker, but we hid our cameras safely inside our raincoats under our fashionable life jackets. We boarded the boat, straddling a seat like one would a jet ski and quickly found handle bars to grip in case it was needed. I don't think it took but a minute to realize that when he said we'd get really wet, he meant soaking. Bouncing over huge cresting waves and pounding back onto the rough water was just part of the adventure. Sometimes we seemed to be airborn for much longer than should be expected and sometimes it seemed that we were more cutting through the waves based on the amount of spray that soaked us from head to toe. We did reach our destination though of Puffin Island, seeing a huge variety of migrating birds that call this island home. The Puffins were what we had truly come to see though. They were not on the sides of the rocks sitting in large groups as we had expected, but we did see a number of them in the water. They were easy to distinguish amongst all the other birds due to their beautifully colored bright beaks. Mission complete, and thanks to digital photography, I was able to snap happily away and get at least a couple in focus photos of the little ones.

Our return trip to the pier was no calmer than our ride out. In fact, our young driver, seeing that we were all a bit terrified, yet still enjoying ourselves decided to have fun with it, really showing off what the boat could do with doughnuts, bursts of full speed and quick turns which ensured every inch of us soaked to the bone. Jessica and I have had a tendency to do things on this trip without having a full understanding of exactly what we were signing up for. Although sometimes terribly frightening, so far, it's worked out really well for us and made phenomenal memories.

Cleaning ourselves up just a bit, thankful to have our complete suitcases in the car, we headed toward Conwy, home for another night, knowing we wanted to make one more stop. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a small town also on the Isle of Anglesey that boasts the second longest name in the world. It has 58 letters while a town in New Zealand which takes home the prize for the longest town name has 85. The small town has fully embraced its claim to fame, putting its name on every sign, welcoming tourists to come and take photos. The name, in Welsh, actually means something and appears to we tourists just to be a lot of words stuck together. It means: "The church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave." We asked our young local waitress this evening to pronounce the town name, which she happily did and even offered to spell it for us, realizing this must be a common request of the tourists. Her beautiful, perfect Welsh accent easily brushed through the long word, making the double ls sound more like a throaty cat hiss. She told us that Welsh is widely spoken throughout the country, more exclusively spoken in rural areas.

After showering away the salt that stuck to our skin, we wandered back in to Conwy for a meal and a drink at a pub. At the pub, the young bartender quickly realized that we were not from the area, so we enjoyed our conversations with he and the locals throughout the evening, especially when three of them broke out in traditional Welsh hymns. My favorite however was when the bartender discussed his trip to America with us. He had visited California and Nevada. But I was surprised when he said he had been a bit disappointed. "Why?" I asked. "Well," he said, "based on the films, I really thought everybody would be excited about my accent, but they weren't." "By films," I asked, " do you mean that one scene in Love Actually were he went to Wisconsin?" To which he just smirked and nodded. I'm confident our impression of Brits comes from films and it is so fun to see they do the same thing.

On the Road Again

Another day, another country.

When planning our journey into Wales this morning, we realized that we had two options: one through the big cities and one about 15 minutes longer that went through the borders of Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. That decision was fairly easy.  The first time Jessica and I traveled together was about a week into our year abroad when another Fulbrighter graciously opened her home up to the two of us and two more fellow Fulbrighters in this same area. I was immediately blown away by the remarkable countryside and eager to bring my parents back to this beautiful spot. Though we didn't go into either area, driving amongst the green rolling hills, separated into a quilt by stone walls was an excellent diversion. Crayola would struggle to create all the greens we saw today!

The weather, unfortunately, took a turn for the worse and much of our drive was in the rain, but it was not a difficult drive and we have now arrived into another country: the beautiful Wales.

The town of Conwy, built in the late 13th century, is one of the oldest, still in tact walled cities in Britain. The castle and walls took four years to build, starting in 1283 (as Jessica pointed out, 700 years older than us). Our adorable Bryn Derwen B&B is just outside the city walls, so we walked along the walls back into town to the castle. Conwy Castle is incredible, absolutely perfect for the kid in all of us who wants to climb steep spiral staircases, stand at the top of tall towers and imagine yourself in the ballroom. The castle is huge and although most ceilings and inner walls are missing, a large part of it is still in tact, along with the eight different towers that you can climb up and look out from. Views of the harbor and surrounding countryside were lovely from the top of the towers.

We strolled a bit around town tonight, to find dinner and then to wear off our dinner. The little bitty town reminds me of York with its wall surrounding the town, narrow roads throughout and beautifully old structures throughout. The water in the harbor obviously had a large tide, as when we went back after dinner, many of the boats we had seen were suddenly trapped on the sand out in the harbor.

We are only here in Wales for a few days, but we are excited to be back here for some more adventures!

Toes in the Sand and Sunday Dinner

This morning, we once again took advantage of a slow morning of catching up, thoroughly enjoying our time together. Then, we headed off to the beach. We southerners all have a specific picture in our mind of the beach, and no, this beach was not like that, but none the less, a lovely beach.

Today was not a particularly sunny day, but it was comfortable outside and it was not raining. The town of South Shields was all decked out with bunting, no doubt preparing for the approaching summer. The boardwalk, like many back home, had multiple food shops for ice cream and fish and chips as well as arcade and fair games.

We walked to the end of the pier where we found fishermen busy enjoying the day, and within the harbor people were practicing on small sail boats and sea kayaks. Deciding on our return to walk back along the beach and stick our toes in the water, our flip-flops were soon in our hands. The beaches are not the white sand that we are used to in the gulf, but they are still beautiful. The golden-yellow sand felt great on our feet, but the water was a wee bit chilly, and certainly not up to my standards of swimmable water.

After a delicious ice cream sandwich of sorts, we headed up to see a monument that provided excellent views. Although we are not totally confident in the purpose of the monument, it appears to have been built in the 1800s by the masons in honor of one of the earls that lived here. It provided for some lovely views and some much needed exercise.

This evening, Paul and Natalie treated us to a favorite English tradition: Sunday dinner. This is one of my favorite British traditions reminding me of our Thanksgiving meal with family, only this one happens nearly every Sunday. The meal is usually in the afternoon rather than being served as lunch or dinner. A Sunday dinner includes a roasted meat, roasted root vegetables, potatoes (often times in two different ways), and Yorkshire pudding (a bowl-shaped roll). They prepared a delicious meal for us and we loved being part of the Sunday traditions here.

Natalie and Paul have been very gracious hosts: opening their homes to us, showing us around, preparing lovely meals, but mostly sharing their time with us. What a joy it is to have friends in different places!

July 4th

One of my favorite experiences about living abroad for a year was celebrating holidays in new ways. In many ways, I may be considered a traditionalist as far as holidays go. When at home, I like to do the same things year after year, eating the same foods and celebrating with friends and family in our usual ways. But being away, celebrating in new ways, certainly has its perks and memory-making capabilities. In all honesty, it is often trying to celebrate how we do at home, but having to make local adjustments that make for the best memories.

The Thanksgiving I spent here was probably one of my favorites, despite how much I missed being with my entire family back home. The staff here at the school I was teaching at surprised me with an enormous feast and a phenomenal celebration. That evening, Gemma and her family prepared a Thanksgiving feast and a gorgeous family celebration. The following weekend, Natalie, Stephanie and I gathered at Jessica's house to have our own Thanksgiving meal. None of us had ever prepared the big meal, so figuring that out together was a hilarious adventure.

I was still teaching on the 4th of July the year I was here and the school allowed me to plan the entire day. Students wore red, white and blue clothing, learned some American history, learned line dances, played field-day games and had a blast celebrating America's birthday.

Today, we three Americans decided to make sure we celebrated our country's birthday, even though here that seems like a conflict considering, well, it is where we won our independence from. Getting dressed was a coordinated event. Jessica and I had little in the red, white and blue patriotic form, but we wanted to be appropriately dressed for the day. Natalie had a perfect red patriotic shirt, so Jessica went with a blue and white striped shirt, while I wore just a white t-shirt. I'm confident people laughed as they saw the three of us coming, but thankfully none seemed to laugh in our faces.

We caught a short train ride to the neighboring big city of Newcastle. As it is the big city around, it is a popular destination for a night out whether in celebration of a wedding or a birthday, and on the train we saw multiple large parties all dressed up. Upon arrival, there were even more groups of people celebrating: brides in sashes and grooms dressed in drag. I'm glad they had a lovely sunny day to celebrate.

Newcastle is set on the river, like so many old cities here with beautiful bridges, each one very different and unique from the last. We knew this would be a perfect place for our rebellious 4th of July act. We found a spot along the river away from the crowds and proceeded to rip open the tea bags we had brought with us. Yes, today, these American rebels threw tea into the river. No, it wasn't exactly a harbor, nor were the events of the Boston Tea Party even on the 4th, nor in this country, but hey, we had to celebrate somehow!

After our shenanigans, we found a great spot outside where we could sit and enjoy lunch in the sunshine, sort of like we would all be doing at home. Another group of Americans came by, flaunting their red, white and blue and somehow knew immediately that we, too, were Americans. It was nice getting to wish others a happy 4th, you know, without offending anyone! We noticed many people, most of which were British, flaunting American t-shirts either of a favorite city, team, or even the flag. So, even though there were no big celebrations here, it was still recognized.

We strolled through the city, admiring the facade and architecture of the beautiful buildings, finding markets to browse through and ice cream to devour before wandering back to the train station for the short ride back to Durham.

We continued our celebrations back at the house by watching Independence Day and adorning ourselves in American stick-on tattoos. I made some roasted okra for everyone to try, then we (mostly Paul) prepared burgers, French fries, and corn on the cob while listening to country music. We stacked our burgers high and quickly felt stuffed, just like we would at home. Lacking fireworks for the celebration, we went outside and watched a video of fireworks on the iPad, ooing and ahhing along with the video, just like we would do with a live show at home. S'mores were next in the celebrations, but those, too were a little different. There are not really graham crackers here, but there are type of biscuits (cookies) who's name is less than appealing, but they taste delightful: Digestives. The Digestives we bought were chocolate covered, so with a microwave and a plate, we created our very own s'mores: perfect combination of delicious and messy. 

This 4th of July, like mine two years ago, was very different from ones in the past, and yet it was, as Mary Poppins would claim: "practically perfect in every way." 

Happy Independence Day! I hope you pursued happiness today!

Durham

Jessica and I were thrilled to have a day where we had nothing planned. Despite absolutely loving going and seeing new places, it is truly exhausting, so we had been looking forward to this day for days. 

After a great night's sleep, I awoke to sunshine and decided to take advantage of it. Natalie had recommended a walking trail that would take me to town and after only a couple hundred yards, I could see the cathedral in the distance. Walking about two miles toward town, past cows awaiting their breakfast, sheep grazing, vibrant poppies, forget-me-nots, and enormous thistles, I was brought into town by the river. Accordion music played as I crossed the bridge and walked up the narrow cobble-stone streets to the grand cathedral, the center of this old town. Standing in its' presence is truly breathtaking. 

After the lovely morning walk, we spent time catching up on some things including the much needed washing of our mountain climbing clothes.

Jessica and I decided, since it was still sunny, to walk back into town and picnic by the cathedral. We stopped at a local bakery where I bought cheese straws, a sausage roll, and a pork and apple pie then camped out on the lawn by the cathedral. Once again we were enthralled with the people watching around us, including the wedding occurring at the castle across the lawn from the cathedral. 

The warm sunshine and the people-watching kept us entertained for quite sometime before we wandered back by the bakery for our sweet treat and made our way back to Natalie and Paul's home. We had a lovely afternoon of catching up and discussing differences in schools and cultures. It was a perfect day, just want we wanted and needed.

Edinburgh

Our evening out in Perth was a little longer than we had planned, but we had a fabulous time dancing the night away, so no need to worry about getting an early start to the day. We had discussed visiting Stirling Castle, one of Scotland's most well-known attractions, but we decided instead to spend a good part of our day in Edinburgh. I'm sure we missed out on a lovely castle, but then again, we have to leave something for our next adventure!

We had both spent a good deal of time in Edinburgh when we were here before. Both of us were here with family for their huge New Year's celebration and had been here a couple other times when friends came to visit. So, we had visited the major attractions in the city and were just looking forward to being in the city and enjoying the ambiance of the beautiful city.

I was a bit anxious about driving and parking in the city, so when we got closer to the center and began seeing signs for attractions, we pulled into the first parking garage we could find. Coming out of the garage, we had absolutely no clue as to where to go nor where we were. We looked around for familiar sites and finding none, we sought a cafe with wifi. Standing outside the cafe, I was able to use the GPS on the phone to show that we were not far away from the castle but that we had chosen our direction to travel poorly. After turning the corner and looking up, we were soon able to spot the castle atop the hill and use it as a guide. The closer we got, the more familiar things became, recognizing the square where so many people had been beheaded, the pubs where I had eaten with family and friends, and finally the staircase leading us up to the castle and the Royal Mile.

When I was here for New Years of 2013, I met William Wallace on the street, and after posting the photo, I received many comments that others who had visited the city had also met this same William Wallce. I was hoping to find him today, and sure enough, soon after passing the castle, there he was, putting on a show. He is a teacher and the money he raises goes to his favorite charity. He's easy to like and generous with his time with each and everyone of us that wanted our photo with him.

I love return visits to places. You're not rushed to see all the big attractions that tour books suggest, nor are you anxiously looking at maps deciding where to go, you can just wander and enjoy. It is an odd feeling of familiarity, comfort, and ease that invite you in. We must have done well looking at home there for three different people asked us for directions. 

The Royal Mile, the cobblestone road from Holyrood Palace (the royal residence) and the castle at the top of the hill, is a perfect pedestrian road full of street performers, intriguing people, restaurants and shops galore. We heard bagpipes, met an owl, saw an invisible man (yes, I realize the irony in that), saw a contortionist, watched people creating caricatures, purchased some Harry Potter necklaces, and enjoyed being amongst the tourists.

One of the big reasons we had chosen to spend our day here was for me to introduce Jessica to one of my favorite spots in town, a place I believe I visited five times over three visits here: the Elephant House. Jessica, a fellow teacher and Harry Potter fan had not yet been to this coffee shop. What has it to do with Harry Potter? Well, the brilliant author, J.K. Rowling, sat in this coffee shop writing much of the first novel. Although the cute coffee shop has not taken away any of its ambiance to become a Harry Potter attraction, there are signs of the beloved series everywhere. The sign outside boasts the claim to fame, as does the t-shirt, the photos and newspaper clippings hanging all around, but my favorite spot are the bathrooms. The walls in the bathrooms are so full of clever Harry Potter sayings and words of thanks for the author that you can barely see the white walls behind the writing. It's really lovely graffiti and it warms my heart to see so many people that have been so touched by a work of fiction. Our sandwiches of apple, mango and Brie with our shortbread cookies in the shape of an elephant, plus two trips to the bathroom were a perfect afternoon treat!

We wandered down to the park in between Princes' Street and the Royal Mile and found ourselves entranced just watching the people in the park enjoying the sunshine: a family kicking a ball around, a baby enjoying standing and bouncing, teenagers having a picnic and a young boy relentlessly chasing seagulls around. Everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the sunny day and we were thrilled to be amongst them. 

Getting out of Edinburgh was also an adventure. We knew the major road that we needed to find and we knew we needed to head south, but as far as getting that way from the city center, we knew very little. Out of our parking deck, there was one sign that pointed toward southern routes, but after that, for miles, there was no sign we were on the right track. Thankfully though, we had chosen wisely!

After a photo shoot at the country line, we were on to Durham where our next gracious host welcomed us. Natalie is a fellow Fulbrighter, one who found love here and chose to come back to this beautiful country. We are thrilled to see her and are thoroughly enjoying a proper catch-up with she and Paul.

Scones

This morning, we planned out our day in hopes of driving through a National 

Forest and stopping by to see the Queen's summer residence. But, working without s GPS, depending on signs meant that we somehow missed the palace. Even though there is a well-publicized website we decided they just really want the Queen to remain secret. Oh well, that meant that in the end, we got to spend more time at another truly remarkable place.

After the recommendation from a friend and Rick Steves, we decided to stop in the picturesque small town of Pitlochry. No wonder this town has been a vacation town for centuries. The beautifully placed, one-street town was a lovely little stop. Here, we went inside the John Muir Trust, a small museum about the Scottish born conservationist who is to thank for many of our own national parks. A small, free, lovely museum reminding us all to enjoy nature and all that needs to be done to preserve it. After some shopping, and some ice cream, we wandered down to the dam and the salmon ladder. Although a bit underwhelming, the lovely weather was worth a stroll.

Our next destination, Scone Palace, was once again sought after only through road signs. I had underestimated the size of the city of Perth, but once we arrived there, we were able to find signs to Scone Palace. I did not exactly know what to expect here, but my cousins Mack and Stephanie had recommended it as a place to visit, and I was excited to see the historical significance of the place. The long drive way perfectly sets up the impressiveness of the vast estate. There were Highland coos, peacocks and gardens galore. Knowing that the glorious weather can change at any point, we wandered through the grounds first.

The palace itself is only a couple hundred years old, an infant compared to many places around, but the area is of great significance. For hundreds of years, the kings of Scotland were crowned here, sitting atop the Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny. In 1296, the English king took over and took the stone to London. It was there, in Westminster Abbey that the rock sat under the coronation chair for centuries. In the 1950s, the stone was stolen by some college students and taken back to Scotland. They turned themselves in, but because of their actions, the stone is now on loan to Scotland sitting in the Castle of Edinburgh until the next royal is to be crowned. On the grounds of he estate sits a replica of the very stone, a fun place to sit and ponder.

As elementary teachers, our next stop was obvious: the playground where we had just about too much fun on a zip-line style swing. The gardens were lovely and the pine forest of trees from around the world quite impressive. The maize was challenging and entertaining, and thankfully not too terribly impossible.

Inside the palace, we were able to visit most rooms in the main floor where docents shred information with us in each of the rooms. Queen Victoria at one point visited this palace. She gave the current residents of the time a two year warning as much needed to be done to the house: change the driveway because her carriage couldn't fit under the entrance way, build a bedroom on the main floor for her and many other expensive repairs and changes. In the end, the Queen only stayed for one night, but the room she stayed in is just as it was then. The Queen even got to watch a curling demonstration while here but as it was only September, and so there wasn't much ice, the curling was done in the longest room of a privately-owned home in Scotland. 

Another reason I really wanted to visit this palace was because of a biography I recently read about Belle. Dido Elizabeth Belle was a mulatto girl (mixed race) raised by her father's aunt and uncle, the first Earl of Mansfield. Although they owned this home, she was raised closer to London because her adopted father was a judge in London. Her story is fascinating and heartbreaking, but there is no doubt she had a great influence on the laws of slavery that her father ruled on. Her portrait with her adopted sister hangs in this palace.

In the gift shop, the lovely lady behind the counter, whose husband was from Colorado, helped to get us directions to our hotel so we did not have to depend on GPS. Before we left, we of course had to have a scone considering the name of the place we were visiting. Man were they delicious!

We've checked into our nice hotel that has water running through it considering it was once an old mill and are soon to head out to find some dinner here in Perth.