In the Harry Potter movies, pieces of lots of different places (castles, cathedrals, universities — plus a good bit of CGI) were used to depict Hogwarts Castle. So, there isn’t really a single place you can go to visit.

Today, though, we went to Alnwick Castle, which was used for a lot of the exterior shots in the first two movies. Honestly, we went mostly because I wanted to see “Hogwarts”, but we ended up having a fantastic time for entirely other reasons, too.

We arrived just in time for B and I to take part in the daily broomstick flying lesson (an homage to a part of the movie filmed there). It was silly, but really fun, and B and I enjoyed doing it together (Liam joined in for small portions). After that, we wandered around for a bit before coming to the knights and dragons section, specifically for little kids. (They also have some kind of tour not appropriate for little ones, so we skipped it.)

Benjin and Liam used the foam swords we purchased in the gift shop to slay a dragon. (We gave them the titles Brave Sir Benjin and Liam the Wise for their relative tendencies to charge in or hang back.) We had sword practice, got dressed in appropriate attire, made shields, played chess and galloped around on horseback (not a real horse — Daddy was being equine). The boys had a great time, and so did we. (I would call it a not-to-be-missed attraction for kids in northeastern England.)

By the time we headed to our hotel for the night, the boys were tired and happy.

(Another highlight from our day was the drive down from Edinburgh. We came down along the coast and got to see some spectacular views on our journey.)

We had another great day at a beautiful castle (and no ER visit this time!). Although, in retrospect, buying them swords and then telling them not to use them on each other may not have been the wisest plan ever.

I love Scotland. I wish we were staying longer. And I’m really enjoying Edinburgh — I wish we’d gotten more of a chance to see more of it, in particular.

My number one destination in Edinburgh was the castle, though, and we got to go today, which was a nice surprise — I had heard it wasn’t open on Sundays, but it is!

Edinburgh Castle sits at the top of a
huge (apparently volcanic — I learned lots on the tour) rock formation overlooking Edinburgh. It’s massive, gray and forbidding — very appropriate for a castle. We looked all around, had lunch, took a brief, informative and funny tour (well, B and I did, while Dan and Liam followed along) from our Scottish guide named Fergus, and saw the crown jewels of Scotland.

I had a great time. The views of Edinburgh were fantastic, and the history was very interesting. The castle itself was everything I expected a castle to be (a lot of which is apparently decorative and non-functional Victorian-era additions). It was pretty cool.

The kids got bored pretty quickly, though, and Dan mostly chased Liam. When I asked B if he liked it, he replied, “It was ok. Why didn’t kings and queens have more toys?” I was impressed with how stroller friendly it was, but I kind of wish they’d had more activities or information geared towards the little ones.

And, at the end, we got a bit more excitement than we intended — Liam fell, bonked his head on a cobblestone, and got a nasty bump. We left the castle in a cab, headed to the ER to have him checked out (he’s fine) by way of a tunnel under the castle (which would have been cooler under different circumstances).

Our time in Scotland has been too short. In retrospect, I think we planned too much for this trip. We’re not getting to see enough of each place we visit, and we’re spending too much time packing and driving and thinking about our next destination. (We’re stopping in 9 different cities on this trip. I think 5-6 would have been better.) We’re seeing a lot, though, and we’re enjoying it a lot, too. Tomorrow, we head back to England — this time, on the east side. I’m hoping it’s less eventful than Scotland has been!

We left Lockerbie this morning, with two non-vomiting children, eager to see Edinburgh. About 5 miles after leaving our hotel, we were cruising along the motorway when we saw a sign: “Edinburgh, scenic route” and we took the exit.

The drive was only supposed to take an hour and a half — the scenic route added half an hour. It was worth it. This part of Scotland is really beautiful — it actually looks a lot like the Lake District that we loved so much in England, but with the addition of rows of towering pine tress and heather dotted across the fields (and a significantly higher ratio of cows to sheep). We knew we were going to arrive ahead of our original schedule (which was supposed to have the much longer drive from Oban today), so we didn’t have to watch the clock or worry about when we arrived.

Edinburgh itself so far seems really nice. It’s relatively small (having been in London earlier this week), packed with tourists (tons of Americans and Canadians), beautiful and generally pretty pleasant. We’re looking forward to walking around and checking out the castle. (And we’re very grateful for a day that contained neither vomiting nor flat tires.)

I’m also enjoying some of the city’s Harry Potter history. Tonight, we had dinner in the café where JK Rowling apparently wrote a significant part of the first book, and I’ve discovered several place names here that show up as portions of characters’ names in the books. (Not to mention that there is currently a stadium constructed outside of the castle which looks suspiciously like a quidditch stadium.)

In general, though, the pace of our trip is slowing by necessity. The kids are less enthusiastic, less patient, more sensitive, more frazzled and less resilient than they were a week ago (and it’s not just the kids). We’ve travelled a lot over the past week, we’ve been busy, and we’ve seen a lot. So, we’re taking that all into account and doing less on a more flexible schedule. I want to focus on us all having a good time rather than accomplishing a list of vacation to-dos. Tomorrow: Edinburgh and the castle await, but we can take our time. They’ve been there a long time. They’ll wait.

We were on our way from the beautiful Lake Distrct up to Oban in Scotland when B announced he was feeling sick. We pulled over at the first opportunity, but it was too late — he threw up in the car, all over himself. (My poor guy.)

We pulled in to the parking lot of an inn to get us all cleaned up, but after that, we weren’t sure how to proceed. We’d only been on the road for about 15 minutes of a 4 hour drive. We didn’t want to torture B with a long car drive, but maybe it was just a one time thing — we didn’t know if wanted to radically alter our travel plans for a single vomiting incident.

So, we continued on. Twice, he said he was going to be sick, we pulled over, but nothing happened. The third time, he was right, and we decided to rewrite our plan for the day. We pulled over at the next exit and looked for a hotel.

We made it to Scotland (but just barely — we’re 20 miles over the border, in Lockerbie) and we still would have had 3 hours ahead of us to reach our goal. After checking in to our hotel, B continued to be sick, and he was pretty miserable. We think we made the right choice. It’s a bummer to have to pay for two hotels for one night, and it’s even more of a bummer to miss out on an exciting part of our trip — we’ve decided to bypass our western Scotland portion of our trip and just head to Edinburgh tomorrow (assuming we’re all feeling ok).

One of the kids who lives at the farm where we were just staying was sick last night, and he got better in about 12 hours, so we’re hopeful that B will follow the same course.

I know this is the right choice as a mom, but I still can’t help being wistful about the day we had planned (and our day tomorrow, which also has to change). Mostly, though, I just want B to feel better (and I hope Liam doesn’t get sick, too).

For tonight, we’ll keep sitting by our window and looking at Lockerbie (which mostly means watching the sheep and trains go by). We’re happy and cozy all together, and B is resting. It isn’t the vacation day I envisioned, but it’s got all the important parts.

We love the part of the Newlands Valley where we’re staying, but we wanted to see more of the Lake District, too, so we set out on an “hour-long” driving tour of the area. (I knew we’d stop a lot along the way, so I was figuring on closer to 4 hours, rather than 1.)

The route we were following passed just by the end of the lane to our hotel, which was convenient, and the first stop was at the same pass where we stopped the other evening on our way to dinner. (I got the driving tour from Rick Steves’ Great Britain book.) We stopped again at the pass to look around a bit, and while being buffeted by the strong winds, we also got our feet completely soaked. I don’t know if it was rain, runoff, or springs, but almost every inch of the mountain pass was squishy and wet. Very wet. Our ankles got wet from sinking in to the spongy bracken. It was strange — with the elevation, the strong winds, and the fact that we hadn’t seen rain in days, I didn’t expect wet conditions at all. (I had rain boots in the car, and we didn’t even put them on.) We did get to see some spectacular views, though. And lots of sheep.

And then, with mushy socks, we drove down the other side of the pass to Buttermere. We continued on, past many sheep, and beyond our dinner destination from the other night, and found a place to stop and explore the shore of the lake.

We parked the car and strolled down the woodland path to the lake. It had a gravelly shore, beautiful views, and a lot of tranquility. Dan showed the boys how to skip stones on the water while I sat and took tons of pictures. We sat, and played, and relaxed, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The boys waded in until the water poured into their boots, and often we wouldn’t see another person pass by for 15 minutes or more. It was lovely.

Eventually, though, the kids got cold, and we headed back to the car and the rest of our journey. We drove along the lake (more sheep!) and up and over Honister Pass (stopping to pick up lunch at England’s last functioning slate mine) which was gorgeous. We headed down through Borrowdale and we were looking for our next landmark when — pop — flat tire!

We had no phone service, no Internet service, and our GPS couldn’t see enough satellites to plan a route. The kids were wet, tired and getting cranky. And . . . our rental didn’t come with a spare. So, we headed out again, very slowly, found a GPS signal and limped the 7 miles back to our bed & breakfast, past another beautiful lake. (Luckily, “limping home” and normal driving on these roads is almost indistinguishable.)

We made it back, and started on working on getting another tire for the car. While we got it sorted out (over the phone with roadside assistance) we had tea and scones, and our wonderful hosts offered to give us a ride if we needed one. (As it turns out, someone is going to come out in the morning and fix it here.)

We had to cut our driving tour short, and our schedule was completely off for the day, but we put the kids down for naps, because they were really worn out. By the time they laid down, though, it was almost 6, and by the time they got up, it was 8 — and we still had to figure out dinner. Our hosts saved the day with ham sandwiches, and we sat and visited with the other guests in the lounge until much too late in the evening (and we got to hear a lot about how much everyone loves our accents).

It was a great adventure, some fun exploration, and a great day, flat tire and all.

I’m pretty sure that we’re currently in the most beautiful place in the entire world. The valley is green, sheep dot the pastures and the bracken covered hills, the pastures are separated by hand-built stone walls (where they’re fenced at all), thick clusters of flowers overflow from hanging baskets and flower beds, roses twine up the sides of whitewashed houses and wooden old barns, and the steep hills above us look green or brown or red or purple depending on how the sunlight and clouds hit them. The sheep in this valley probably outnumber the people (tourists included) by at least 10 to 1. And everywhere there are public footpaths, wooden gates, stone bridges over rushing streams and trails that wind up to the ridges. It’s a place that is just begging to be explored.

Our goal for today was to hike around a bit. I’d done a little research and found a few likely paths, but mostly, I wanted to investigate right around our little hotel, so we asked the proprietor for a recommended route. He sent us on a 2 mile journey along the base of the big hill right behind our guest house. We borrowed a good off-road stroller and set off.

We went through a wooden gate and along a grassy track for a moment, and then turned the corner and headed straight uphill. The path was “paved” with stones and rocks, and it was pretty steep. We found sheep along both sides (some very close to where we walked) and were passed by several hikers (some going up, some coming down).

Liam wanted to walk every step of the way. B was happy to ride in the stroller, but Liam wanted to hike on his own. He got very upset when we tried to carry him. We climbed up, took breaks for rest and water, and he just kept on walking.

We crossed a quick-moving stream with a tiny bridge (the bridge was much too narrow for the stroller, so I walked across). As we climbed, the path leveled out a bit and we were treated to an excellent view of the valley. But, as we went further, the track got muddier. Liam screamed and kicked every time we had to carry him over some squishy ground, and the stroller kept getting stuck. We finally decided to turn around.

I think we covered about half a mile before we turned around — it wasn’t quite the hike we’d envisioned. But it was fun, beautiful and completely worth the effort. I’m really glad we went. I’m glad the boys got to hike and explore and be (relatively) free for a bit. We had a great time.

We enjoyed our time in London. We saw a lot for the time we were there, we started to get used to the buses and how to get around town. (We preferred the buses to the underground trains — like Paris, much easier with the stroller.) We really liked our hotel and even got to meet a few people — B is at that age where, at the slightest provocation, he will share his life story with any random stranger (he’s cute and articulate, and people are completely charmed, so well make some new friends).

But the hustle and bustle of the big city was also pretty intense, and now we’re on to quieter things.

We left London by train this morning, and travelled out to Oxford, where we rented a car, and then, we were off — except not quite. First, Dan had to practice driving on the wrong side of the road, on terribly narrow streets. We drove for a good 15 minutes in the wrong direction only because he would only make left hand turns and/or follow the car in front of us. (I shouldn’t laugh, though — he managed something I wouldn’t have even attempted.) And then, once we were ready to go, we couldn’t get out of town — they were having some kind of fair that closed all of the streets in the direction we wanted to go. After a long while, we made our way out of town . . . finally.

Our next stop was the tiny town of Sherborne, to see the place where my mom attended school. That trip took us well off the beaten path, onto teeny back roads and through beautiful, picturesque countryside. The building itself is now private property, and surrounded by enough “no trespassing” signs and video. cameras to keep us from exploring, but it was neat to go there anyway.

After that, our plan was to drive up through the Cotswolds, and maybe stop for tea. By the time we arrived in Stow on the Wold, though, B was sleeping, so Liam and I walked around for a bit while Dan sat with a sleeping Benjamin.

Then we drove up to Stratford upon Avon. By the time we got to the town, both boys were sleeping, and by the time we had checked in to the hotel, they were both completely fed up with the whole process. So, we rewrote the plan for the evening from strolling through another part of the Cotswolds to walking down to a park near here and running around for a while, followed by ice cream on the way home. We now have two very sleepy, very content, very worn out boys.

So far, this part of England is beautiful. (It reminds me very much of Middleburg in Virginia.) It is green and rolling, with fields full of cows and sheep, fenced in by stone or lovely post and rail fences. I love it. As much as I enjoyed it, I felt a giant sense of relief when we left London — I like the city, but I’m really a country girl.

Tomorrow, we have a long day in the car, followed by 2 peaceful days of staying in the same place. I’m hoping that tomorrow ends up being a restful day in the car — for all of us — and not a frazzled disaster.

We started off today (our second and final full day in London) with a trip to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. We arrived early — not early enough to get a great spot by the palace fence, but early enough to get a roadside spot on the Victoria Memorial across the square.

It ended up being just perfect. We didn’t have to wait too long, and when the first set of guards came down the road, they passed right in front of us. We got to see their stern faces, their furry hats, and their excellent red coats (B’s favorite part, since that’s his favorite color). When the second set of guards came through, they marched directly towards us, and we got an excellent view of them, also.

We missed whatever happened behind the palace fence, but we stuck around to watch them march back out again, too.

The kids were incredibly patient with (and even interested in) the whole process, but when we left the palace to walk along St. James Park, B immediately spied a playground, and we gave them a chance to run and play a bit.

The playground was very much like an Austrian one — with bricks, large rocks, and sharp edges. The boys had a great time playing “soldiers” (they were marching around like palace guards with some other kids who had been there), running, jumping, and being free.

After that, we had a quick lunch in the park (and an ice cream) and we walked along, enjoying a beautiful, tree-lined stroll, and ended up at Big Ben.

Walking in to Parliament Square was very cool. To be suddenly surrounded by so many iconic images of London — Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament — it was almost like suddenly visiting someplace mythical. My references for those places are mostly movies and tv, so it was odd and wonderful to see them in real life. It was also strange, too, because although I knew they were located close to each other, I didn’t realize HOW close. I loved seeing Big Ben, and I wish we’d had the chance to go into Westminster (whose facade looks so surprisingly like Notre Dame). It was all perfectly grand and elegant and wonderful.

But, we weren’t done yet! We trekked over to the Tower Bridge (which was also very lovely) before heading back for the day. We are worn out, but we had a great day. We all got to see and visit sights that made our stay in London just how we wanted it.

This is a strange trip, though — I can’t believe our time in London is nearly over. We usually stay longer wherever we go. But, tomorrow we’re off to the countryside, to see what that is like.

For the next time we’re in London, though, I’ve already started my list. I want to ride on the London Eye, take a bus tour, make faces at a Palace Guard and see the inside of Westminster Abbey — and that’s just the stuff I’ve thought of so far.

Tomorrow, on to the Cotswolds!

What a day we spent in London! We were busy from start to finish today, and only a very little bit of our day ended up looking like our plan.

We started by heading to King’s Cross Station. It is September 1, and we thought we might arrange to be there by 11:00 . . . just to see of the Hogwarts Express MIGHT be there. We actually managed to leave the hotel ahead of schedule, but after being confused by the trains and buses for a while, we were running late, so we jumped into one of the cute black London cabs (which are surprisingly roomy inside).

We still arrived at the station a few minutes behind schedule (oops), but judging by the huge number of Harry Potter fans milling about when we got there, the train must not have actually shown up. (There is a cute “Platform 9 3/4 sign with half of a luggage trolley sticking out.)

After checking out the station, we wandered across the street to look at the St. Pancras station, had some lunch, B played some ping pong and then played a piece of large, interactive, musical art, and then we boarded one of the red double decker city buses to head to our next destination: Hamleys, the biggest toy store in England.

Riding the buses was really fun. The view is pretty great, and, between driving down the wrong side of the road and being 8 feet or so in the air, the experience is a little surreal. B loved it. (I did too.)

We stopped at the toy store to replace a toy car of Liam’s (which we lost yesterday in a freak plane boarding accident — it actually fell out of the plane, through the tiny space between the plane and the jetway, while we were getting on). The toy store itself was 7 floors worth of loud, crazy, packed toy pandemonium, but they also had a Lego Queen (Corgi included), a Lego royal family and a Lego palace guard. So cool.

We shopped, took a bunch of pictures, had some ice cream, and hopped back on the big red bus to go back to our hotel for a quick recharge before dinner.

Later, we grabbed some fish & chips for dinner and headed over to Buckingham Palace (the real one — no Legos) to finish out our busy first day.

It was a great day (although we had to look a surprising number of places before we could find diapers of the right size for either of the boys). London is big, busy and confusing, but we got where we needed to go, we are starting to figure things out, and we are having a great adventure.