Awaiting a visit 'home'

After an exciting July, I realized we still had the entire month of August to just wait for our trip back to St. Louis. I knew straight away this would not do!

There is an estate called "Burghley House" not too far from here. We had always talked of visiting so figured the first weekend of August would be the perfect time. It is located in Stamford outside of Peterborough, and ironically enough allowed me to continue with my obsession of Pride and Prejudice adaptations. This property was used in the 2003 film and represented Lady Catherine De Bourgh's property, Rosings. Besides being another amazing area to tour both inside and out, Burghley House is also home to some very friendly deer. Upon entering the property, I thought I noticed a couple of deer behind a fence in the distance. Only minutes later, we were parking the car mere feet from grazing deer. Much to my surprise Alexandria grabbed a leaf from a tree, approached a buck, and fed it straight to him!

The following weekend we headed toward London but away from central London which we have tired of seeing already! Instead, we visited Richmond, which is essentially where all the people who live in London actually live. Despite constant rain, we enjoyed ourselves with shopping and gelato. One of the things we hoped to do while there was walk along the river. Here is what we found when we made our way down to the river:

Yes, that is a pub in which people cannot get out due to the river flooding... every man's dream.

July travels

The summer has come and gone so quickly, but it did not pass without more adventuresome travels by the Herman family. During July we took 2 trips: One weekend to Scotland and another to Lyme Park and Liverpool.

July began with a long weekend for us Americans in England, and we refuse to let a long weekend pass at home. Being stuck on the island (due to Julia's lack of a passport), and having already visited Wales, there was little doubt in our minds that our next trip would be to Scotland. Between strollers and luggage, we decided it best to drive and stick to Southern Scotland. The drive was gorgeous! Although crossing from England to Scotland is no more difficult than crossing from Illinois to Missouri, we observed a distinct difference in the landscape and architecture. Architecturally speaking, stone is very popular in Scotland, as opposed to England's use of brick. To our surprise, we spotted even more sheep in Scotland than in England.

We spent the first part of the weekend in Edinburgh, traveling the Royal Mile and the surrounding area. While we enjoyed the sights, we found Edinburgh (like most other capital cities) to be very touristy. We joked that we heard more American accents there than in all of our time in England. Upon sighting Edinburgh Castle, we took the hard way up. With 2 kids and 2 strollers (we're still experimenting on the best 'transportation' for the kids), we traveled up and down about 5 flights of stairs and a very steep hill before arriving at the top. After getting to the castle, we discovered the whole 'mile' is at a slight elevation. We started at the highest point and worked our way down! Both a workout and a memory... I couldn't have planned that better.

Next we visited St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. Fortunately for me, the husband could neither afford nor play his way on to the courses there. Despite rain, wind, and cold we had a fabulous visit. We saw both St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral. We have all grown quite fond of historic sites such as these, because there is something for everyone, and they are 100% kid friendly. Between these attractions, and a few pubs before, during, and after the drive, I deemed this holiday a success.

Only 2 weeks later, we were all growing antsy waiting at home with our next planned trip not until late August. While watching the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, we wondered about the films locations. After a bit of research we discovered Lyme Park, which acted as Mr. Darcy's estate Pemberley in the film, was only a few hours from home. After a bit more research, we learned that Liverpool was only an hour from Lyme Park. Once the weekend arrived, we were off. Lyme Park is absolutely gorgeous inside and out as we toured both the gardens and the interior of the estate.

Feeling satisfied with our time at 'Pemberley,' we hopped back in the car and headed for Liverpool. I absolutley loved Liverpool. There were so many things to see and do all within walking distance of our hotel. While we visited a few different attractions, the highlight was the Beatles Story Exhibition.

They had 2 different locations full of facts, photos, videos, and memorabilia. My favorite aspect was the second exhibit made almost entirely by donations from Cynthia and Julian Lennon. It told many stories of John Lennon and the Beatles that I had not previously heard and had some really awesome artifacts including postcards sent between Julian and John and original notes on Hey Jude.

Alexandria in the 'yellow submarine.' At one point she started singing Yellow Submarine as we walked much to the amusement of passersby who were happy to listen and join in.

Though we planned this trip only days before it occurred, our visit to Lyme Park and Liverpool is arguably my favorite trip we have made thus far. The only downside to the trip is that Liverpool seemed to have an awesome nightlife in which we were unable to partake. Don't worry though, I will most definitely be going back one day sans kids and husband. Anybody interested in being my travel companion?

That is the end of this saga as I have another full month of travels to catch up on as well. It was difficult to narrow down the pictures to share here, so if you would like to see more, you can view the full album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2138476&id=48000029&l=8f59b8d4cb