Robin’s parents, Rob and Chris, arrived at the beginning of June, and during their first week, we got out of the city and took our first, and most extensive, of three road trips. As you can see from the map below, we covered a lot of ground in just three days:
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We started off by visiting the Uffington White Horse, a massive chalk outline that dates back to the Iron Age. No one is really sure why the native Britons carved this drawing into the mountain, but they sure did have style :-)
Our first B&B, just outside of Bath was a little more out of the way then we had expected. The roads were so narrow, that I was scratching both sides of my car with branches at the same time. And to add to the situation, it was not on a one-way road. You really become intimately connected with the width of your vehicle when driving in the English countryside. And to top it all off, Rob was almost attacked by a watch goose. We toured around Bath for the evening, and then again the following day. Without a doubt, Bath is my favourite spot outside of London, and next to Edinburgh, it is the most beautiful city in Britain. In fact, I often wonder why we didn’t move out here instead.
For the rest of the trip, we drove down to Cornwall, a rarely explored and often misunderstood part of the country. Relating more to the Welsh than the English, Cornwall has its own language and culture, and they are very proud of their unique distinctions. While there, we went to Tintagel Castle, the suspected birthplace of King Arthur; The Eden Project, a massive biodome built out of a quarry; St. Michael’s Mount, a castle built on a tidal island; and the coastal town of St. Ives. Fantastic all!
On the way home, we had lunch after winding our way through the narrow streets of Dartmoor National Park in Devon before standing before the megalithic stones of Stonehenge. And since no trip to Stonehenge is complete without visiting the awesome cathedral in Salisbury, we had dinner next to the Avon River and toured around the beautiful medieval town.
After a few days of sightseeing around London, including a fantastic performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, we went for our second trip out of the city. This time, we started off at Windsor Castle, the weekend home of the Queen, which is really just around the corner from where we live in Walton. After we were told that most of the Castle was closed, to prepare for Lizzy's birthday bash, we decided to drive down to the south coast and visit the Historical Dockyard of Plymouth. We stood on the decks of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's flag ship, HMS Victory, and took a moment of silence on the spot of where he was stuck down by a sniper's bullet during the Battle of Trafalgar.
And speaking of Nelson, the following day, we took our third, and most ironic, roadtrip from our meager flat to the City of Lights. First we had to drive to the channel tunnel, cross through customs, and drive our car onto the train. It took about 35 minutes before we arrived in France, and after we all shared a baguette and some French cheese in a small town, we drove right to our hotel. For two days, we wandered around Paris, climbed the Eiffel Tower and Arc d'Triumphe, and even took a river cruise down the Seine, courtesy of our new friend at Hotel Le Globe, Phillipe. On our way home, we made a short stop to pay tribute to the Canadian soldiers who fought at Vimy Ridge, one of whom was Robin's great-grandfather.
We ended our whirlwind tour in Canterbury; the spiritual home of the Church of England. We wandered around the old city, and stopped into a 500 year old tea house before heading back to real life.
So, in about a week and a half, we drove about 1500 miles (2500 km), ate Cornish pasties and drank Cafe au Lait. We walked through over 2000 years of European history and stood on the battlefield where our nation's identity was born. If anyone still questions why I wanted to move here, I sincerely hope that you now have your answer.
The full albums of our travels can be found by clicking here for England and here for France.
