Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: The Highlands

Inverness.

Loch Ness.

watching for Nessie.

 ruins of Urquhart.

highland cows.

curious sheep.

majestic mountains and vistas.

vegetarian haggis.

Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Stirling

the views.

the architecture.

the company.

 the charming little village.

Oh, and Jon's adoring public found him all the way in Scotland... and of course they needed a picture of him with their children. It didn't even phase him.

Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Glasgow

Glasgow is a funky industrial town with a hipster strain running through.

Fabio was presenting at a conference here, which bankrolled his flight to the UK and was the event responsible for our trip. So for four days we were sans-Daddy, but the boys and I weren't ready to slow down, although not surprisingly I don't have very many pictures from this segment of the trip. My hands were literally full.

We hit up the science museum, complete with a child-size full-functioning crane, and that basically filled a day. In fact, it could have filled all five if I'd wanted.

Another day we rode a taxi to the train station. Then we rode a train to the boat pier. Then we rode a boat around Loch Lomond. Then we rode the train back to the taxi queue and a taxi back to our hotel. It was a day for children that love things that go--which mine happen to very much!

Boys and trains

The "bonnie bonnie banks..."

We also circumnavigated the city on the hopper bus, swam in the hotel pool, got lost, made friends with a window-washer, had an EPIC spill at the hotel bar, got caught in the torrential rain, and lest anyone think of me as completely adventurous, watched our share of Octonauts.

I sure love adventures with these two.

The Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Edinburgh

We crossed the Scottish border in the middle of the night, so we pulled into Edinburg in complete darkness and tucked our sleeping puppies into bed. The next morning, everyone was starving and breakfast was the first priority.

As we turned into the alley behind our hotel, there was a little old lady with purple-white hair unlocking the smallest tea room a person could imagine:

As we walked in, she exclaimed, "Come in! Come in! I'll put a pot on forya." And before we knew it our table was covered with peppermint tea, delicious scones, cream, butter, the very best shortbread, and jam. When Jon thanked her as she brought out his food she laughed, patted his head, and said, "Well aren't you a fine wee lad? A little American gentleman, I'd say!"

At one point a couple came in and asked if they could get some coffee to go. She rolled her shoulders back and told them that if they were in such a hurry they should "go to McDonald's. But good food takes time."

It was a very Scottish welcome to Edinburgh. And we loved it.

After breakfast we walked to our first of many castles: Edinburgh Castle.

We explored everything from the queen's bedchamber to the battle look-outs to the dungeons. Jon loved standing where the knights and soldiers stood years ago.

As we walked to our car, we stopped to applaud a street performer with a red beard juggling fire and making jokes at the expense of the Irish.

It was a very Scottish 36 hours.

The Great Gaertner UK Road Trip: Eastern England

Fabio was invited to discuss a paper in Glasgow, Scotland. I've always wanted to visit the UK, so we decided I'd go with him. Then we made a list of everything we wanted to see in the UK, realized we had three weeks worth of stuff, and rather than narrowing down the list we shrugged and booked a 20-day trip for four covering England, Scotland, and Wales.

We hired a car for the trip, since it was so long and there was so much we wanted to see. And, we're American so we think we should drive everywhere and that a two-hour drive is nothing. Thus, the Great Gaertner UK Road Trip was born!

It didn't take long for England to win me over as one of my favorite places. Our first stop was Cambridge, where everything was beautiful and fancy: the food, the architecture, the River, and the privileged and brilliant university students. We felt like we'd walked straight into a Ralph Lauren catalog. We punted the Cam, ate "shepherdess pie," and watched little ducklings while enjoying herbal tea on the river. It was a perfect beginning. 

The next day we took in the stately grandeur of Chatsworth House--known to Jane Austen lovers everywhere as the inspiration for Mr. Darcy's "Pemberly."

The lambs had just been born,

the views were breathtaking,

and while the fancy house was fun, we enjoyed the more natural and pastoral charm of the sweeping grounds most of all--with herds of deer galloping across, sheep grazing in the meadows, and plenty of room to run and explore. It was like something from a dream.

We hiked the rocky hills of the Peak District.

We walked the wall in York, 

ate one of the best sandwiches ever at a cafe inside a medieval toll bridge,

and played Dragons and Knights on ancient church ruins with a little boy named Harry.

On the drive from York to Scotland, Fabio suddenly said, "Look! I saw a cool castle. Let's go find it." Then we got a little lost, stumbled on daffodil fields,

ate in a treehouse with a dress code, that graciously let us in with our small children and jeans without a word or look of judgement because it was dinner time and we were in the middle of nowhere,

and then we found the castle after all!

I love to get lost with my little crew. They make everything fun--including and especially crazy road trips to foreign countries.

Myrtle Beach

Post conference, we jumped in our rental and drove south to Myrtle Beach. It was unseasonably wet and cold most of the time we were there, but it's a good thing the Gaertners don't need sunshine to have fun.

First item on the agenda was to stop at a battleship. Because it was on the way and Jon loves this kind of stuff.

Check.

Next, go to Walmart for a kite.

Check.

Then turn into pirates and hunt for treasure (seashells) on the beach, make a fort out of your treasure, bury the fort so no one else will find it, laugh until it hurts, and get insanely sandy.

Then take a nap on the beach.

Then, when the rain really comes down find random indoor activities in Myrtle Beach. Such as:

An interactive aquarium where you can pet a stingray;

A pirate dinner theater owned by Dolly Parton;

And a place that let's you hold baby animals like chimpanzees, wolf pups, and tiger cubs, for a nominal fee.

Jon: "I held a baby monkey wearing UNDIES!"

Like I said, who needs sunshine to have fun on the beach?

But possibly the best part for me was at the end of the day, when we'd put these two tuckered-out puppies in the bed and watch them sleep.