Our final day in Edinburgh consisted of visits to Edinburgh Castle (and the one o’clock gun), The Royal Mile, St. Giles’ Cathedral, Calton Hill, Grassmarket, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Victoria Street, and The Real Mary King’s Close.

We had a very lazy morning, so our first goal was to be at Edinburgh Castle in time for the one o’clock gun. We made it! (Gosh, I would hope so!!)

This is – once again – a post with a lot of back story. Feel free to skip what doesn’t interest you!

We passed by St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh (I no longer remember where, but it was shortly before we visited the castle) but only from the outside. It is a beautiful building! It opened in 1879. The cathedral is one of only three in the United Kingdom that feature three spires, the other two being Lichfield and Truro cathedrals.

Fun facts: St Mary’s Cathedral was the first cathedral in Great Britain to employ girls in the treble line as well as boys, in 1978. In 2005, St Mary’s Cathedral became the first cathedral in the Anglican tradition to have a female alto singing in daily services. (I am just going to say what you are already thinking: it took long enough!)

The One O’clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle is a tradition that dates back to 1861. Every day (except Sundays) at precisely 1:00 pm, a gun is fired from the Castle grounds. So precisely and so loud that the ships in the Firth of Forth and Leith Harbor two miles away used to set their clocks by it. Locals say that you can always tell visitors from the Edinburgh natives when the gun goes off. Whereas locals tend to check their watches, visitors jump out of their skins!

It was fired at precisely one o’clock and I confirmed that the time on my phone was correct. Here is Edinburgh Castle. As per usual, it is located on a hill.

We were surprised to see massive bleachers right outside of the castle. We learned that they are there about four months in the summer: The bleachers, or grandstand, are set up each year for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August. The grandstand is a modern engineering feat that takes about seven weeks to construct. The grandstand is also used for concerts, and has hosted performances by The Who, Rod Stewart, and The Lumineers. 

Although we were absolutely smitten with England and Wales, we were also eager to visit Scotland! Here is our Scotland itinerary:

We had tentatively planned to spend two nights in Edinburgh, but extended it to three. We spent our first day in Edinburgh in a pub. Okay, that sounds worse than it is. We didn’t arrive until the afternoon (it is four hours from York), so it wasn’t actually a full day in the pub. Anyway, we found this cute little pub near our hotel and decided to have a beer. One beer led to another, which then led to our eating dinner there. The bartender and clientele were so very friendly, we simply didn’t want to leave. So we didn’t!

We did get out and about on the second day, however. We visited The Royal Yacht Britannia, Princes Street Gardens and the Ross Fountain, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Tolbooth Tavern (the last for food).

We hadn’t even known about The Royal Yacht Britannia, but the bartender from the pub recommended it, so we decided to go. It was our first stop of the day.

A Royal residence for 44 years, The Royal Yacht Britannia sailed over 1,000,000 nautical miles on 968 state visits with the Royal Family where they entertained prime ministers and presidents. She has been berthed permanently at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh since 1998 and is now a five-star visitor attraction, welcoming over 390,000 visitors a year from all over the world.

If you like Viking history, York is a good place to visit. This is primarily a (very long!) “history post.” Grab a cup of coffee before you start reading.

We had another full day in Wales before heading to Liverpool and York, England. Our last day in Wales proved to be a magical day of beauty and whimsy.

Let’s talk about Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) in north Wales. Covering a total of 823 square miles, Eryri is Wales’ largest National Park. Globally renowned geology, species of international importance and a rich history and heritage are just some of the things that make Eryri so special. Eryri is dotted with communities across the landscape where culture, language and history intertwine to create a unique and lively identity.

Fun facts about Eyrie National Park:
— 9 mountain ranges
— 74 miles of coastline
— 11,000 hectares of native woodland
— 1497 miles of route to explore
— As well as being the largest National Park in Wales, Eryri (Snowdonia) boasts the highest mountain in England and Wales.

And we only had part of one day! Ideally, we would have had several days, but we had planned for this UK/Ireland trip to be a total of 30ish days, and we weren’t spending a lot of time in any one place. If we ever return, we will spend more time in this beautiful park!

Since we were clearly going to see very little of the park, we decided to go to the top of Snowdon, the tallest peak. The Welsh name of this mountain is Yr Wyddfa. Although there are several mountains over 3,000 feet in the National Park, the popularity of this famous mountain is far and above the rest.

Here is a guide on how to pronounce Yr Wyddfa:

• “Yr” is pronounced “Uhr
• “Wydd” is pronounced “With”
• “Fa” is pronounced, “Va.”

Legend has it that Yr Wyddfa is the final resting place of Rhita Gawr. Rhita Gawr was a fearsome giant who wore a cloak made of men’s beards. He challenged King Arthur to combat, but Arthur defeated him and cut off his head. According to legend, the cairn on the summit of Yr Wyddfa marks the final resting place of Rhita Gawr’s head. Yr Wyddfa roughly translates to ‘tomb’ or ‘cairn.’

Robin Hood is one of the world’s best loved folk heroes and Nottinghamshire is proud to be his home. The legend of Robin Hood dates back to medieval times, when he was said to have lived in Sherwood Forest with his band of loyal followers, fighting against the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John. But was he real? Yep! Although it seems that Maid Marion wasn’t. Feel fee to read a bit more here: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Robin-Hood/

Despite the name “Nottingham Castle,” there is no castle. There was one at one time, but it was demolished in 1651. For six hundred years Nottingham Castle was one of the most important royal castles in England. Its position guarding the bridge on the River Trent made it both a convenient, and an important, base for royal power in the midlands used by monarchs regularly until the early sixteenth century. It is now a museum and art gallery.

From https://citydays.com/places/nottingham-castle/:

“In its infancy, Nottingham Castle was a classic Norman wooden motte and bailey fortification, strategically overlooking the bustling town of Nottingham. The 12th century ushered in a transformation under Henry II, who replaced the wooden structure with a formidable stone castle, enhancing its strategic and political significance.

The castle’s narrative is intertwined with iconic figures of English history. During the reign of King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), his brother Prince John, later King John, held the castle. This period is famously linked with the tales of Robin Hood, where the Sheriff of Nottingham, operating from this very castle, became Robin Hood’s arch-nemesis in folklore.

The English Civil War in the 17th century marked one of the castle’s most dramatic episodes. As a pivotal Royalist stronghold, it witnessed fierce battles before falling into Parliamentarian hands in 1642. The war left the castle in ruins, leading to its eventual demolition.

The late 19th century breathed new life into the ruins. Reimagined as a museum and art gallery in 1878, Nottingham Castle became one of the United Kingdom’s first municipal museums, marking a shift from a symbol of power to a beacon of culture and history.

The Ducal Mansion, rising from the ashes of the medieval castle, adds a touch of 19th-century grandeur to the historic landscape. According to one newspaper report from 1831, a former dweller at the mansion included an ‘ancient lady of rank’ who had a ‘fondness for lap dogs and a large ape – her constant companion.’ “

We spent the next three days visiting several towns in the Cotswolds. I have personal favorites, and those might just be the ones with the most pictures in this post. 😉 By the way, this is primarily a pictorial post.

I spent a fair amount of time reading about various villages to decide which ones to visit. I ended up being happy with the choices, although we skipped two due to timing (spending more time in the previous town, which was just fine!) and arrived in one too late because everything was closed.

We visited Castle Combe, Bibury, and Burford on the first day.

Castle Combe is one of the most photographed places in the Cotswolds. There have been no new buildings built in Castle Combe since the 17th century in a bid to keep its idyllic appearance. Notable TV and film productions have taken place in this village, including Downton Abbey, Stardust, Wolf Man, War Horse, and Doctor Doolittle. Honey-colored cottages surround a 14th Century market square and its church of St Andrews hosts a faceless clock – possibly the oldest clock in England.

It was time to leave London and start seeing more of England. There are SO many places to visit! I’d originally decided to skip Wales and split our time between England, Scotland and Ireland, but then I read about how beautiful parts of Wales are, so I combined England and Wales and spent a bit more time there than each of Scotland and Ireland. But that meant that we only had seven days in England.

We used public transportation to and throughout London. We then took the train to Bath. We wanted to go to Stonehenge as well, but we couldn’t find a train to it. So, we went to Bath, rented a car and drove to Stonehenge and back to Bath.

We got to Bath and I walked to the car rental place. I used Google maps, which took me to a residence. Ha! But I’d passed a Europcar Rental Office on the way, so I went back to it and they had our reservation. After dealing with them for about 30 minutes because they were trying to overcharge us by many hundreds of dollars, I drove to pick up Michael and we made our first stop: Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein in Bath. Yep, just what every tourist does!

I thought it might be a bit scary. It wasn’t. But that was fine! We ended up learning a LOT about Mary Shelley.

Let’s just start with this: Written over 200 years ago, Frankenstein is one of the most influential books in literature.

We learn this about Mary in the first room:

Mary had a complex and unconventional childhood. Keenly interested in science, she was especially fascinated by galvanism, the theory that electricity could be used to bring a dead body back to life.

This explains why the first room you enter also has a fake electricity-generating machine. You put one hand on each of the vertical bars and hold on. The sound builds then it makes a loud noise and lights up.

Day two in London started at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. We got there about a half hour early. We waited. It was time for the changing of the guards. Nothing. After a few more minutes, two police officers came around and told the crowd that the changing of the guards had been canceled for that day.

So we just took some pictures of other stuff.

Outside of the gates to Buckingham Palace is the Victoria Memorial, a monument to Queen Victoria, by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock. Designed in 1901, it was unveiled 6 May 16, 1911, though it was not completed until 1924. 

We began our 33-day long UK/Ireland trip on June 7th, taking a plane from Malaga, Spain to Bournemouth, England, then a train to London. This was the cheapest way to get there.

Here is our England/Wales itinerary from 30,000 feet:

We had two full days in London, and a total of 11 days in England and Wales. This post is about London.

I’d been to London when I was in college and was eager to return. Michael had never been there. I was excited to see it with him this time!

Our first sight when getting off the train at Paddington station, other than Paddington station, was of a modern artwork of animals sitting around a table. We each sat to visit with them for a bit. They had British accents. 🙂

We left Cartagena on June 3. It was a two-day trip (240 nm) to Gibraltar, so we anchored overnight at Almeria. We saw a few dolphins along the way, but they didn’t visit for long so I only have a few not-so-great pictures.

We expected to have an entirely uneventful trip to Gibraltar. We did, for the most part. But then this happened in Almeria.

‘Twas the night of our passage, and all through Seahike
Not a creature was stirring on this anchorage site;
The wind was blowing outside o’er the sea
And the waves were rolling, though we were alee;
And Michael on his side and I on my back,
Had just settled down for a long summer’s nap,
When out on the water there arose such a noise,
I threw off my sheet and lost all of my poise.
I gave Michael a nudge and said, “Someone is here,
And I don’t think it’s Santa or his tiny reindeer.”
We donned all our clothes, threw open the door,
And said to the darkness, “We’re coming, wait more.”
The moon in the sky gave sort of a clue,
But the flashlights they held gave us the full view.
When what to our wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature boat and three Spanish señores.
Their uniforms and papers, no need for credentials,
We knew at that moment they were Customs officials.
They came on Seahike, the sugar scoop, with care,
With hopes that our documents would all be there.
Our boat cert, our passports, our address and more,
Our length and our beam, and our draft and last shore;
To the officials we gave them, all wrapped in a bow,
While our pillows and bedsheets called us from below.
When the info was entered and we’d signed both the forms,
They went to their dinghy to find other moors.
But we heard one exclaim as he tugged on his vest,
“Go back to bed and continue your rest.”

Yes, that is exactly how it happened. It was 11:30 p.m. when they arrived.

We weren’t able to sail the entire trip, but it was enough to make us happy.