Whistle-stop tour
We had two days back in York after Durham which included Uncle John thrashing Darren in golf at Uncle's club, Sandburn Hall; wandering around the pretty streets of York, and a drive out towards the Yorkshire Dales to Brimham Rocks- as it turns out the only day of rain we've had on this trip so we got a little wet scrambling over the huge rock formations ( the weather on this trip has been incredible- the kids have got a false idea of what the English summer is like! Every day except the Brimham rocks day has been blue skies and late 20's or 30's. Driving back into London yesterday the temperature hit 37).
It was very hard saying goodbye to Uncle John, we picked up a rental car in York, and headed south for a whistle stop tour. Over the last few days we've stayed in an old English country hall nestled in the hills in the Cotswolds ( we were invited to join in a wedding celebration that was happening there), a steam punk tiny house on someone's back lawn in Brighton, and an old established hotel on the seaside in Eastbourne. And over the days we've visited Coventry cathedral- heavily bombed during World War Two and now a centre for peace and reconciliation initiatives globally; visited where Darren's grandparents used to live in Birmingham; watched birds of prey, and shot arrows at Warwick castle; visited a couple of chocolate box Cotswold villages, took chocolates to an old family friend, Aunty Stella, in Bristol; along with thousands, walked around the stones at Stonehenge wondering why they are there; marvelled at the beauty of Salisbury cathedral; felt slightly ill on one of the rides on the end of Brighton pier; swam in the English Channel and had a wonderful family dinner with almost 20 of Darren's relatives in Eastbourne - it's been a full few days.
On our way back into London yesterday we drove via Hersham near Walton on Thames, where Darren was born and went to school. We knocked on the door of Darren's old house and said "Hi, you don't know me but I was born in your front bedroom!"- They were lovely, invited us in, offered us drinks and we talked for about half an hour about the house, which they are in the middle of renovating- it was great to be able to see inside the house Darren spent the first eight years of his life in.
We have just two more days in the UK- we're going into London today with the family we're staying with to go to a museum of ice cream- who knew there was one! We'll catch up with Lou's cousin Shane at the British Museum. Tomorrow, we'll pack up, head to St Pancras station, have a last lunch with Darren's only first cousin in the world, James and his partner Shernaz, and then hop on the train to Paris- we have a very excited Karis who can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower!
It was very hard saying goodbye to Uncle John, we picked up a rental car in York, and headed south for a whistle stop tour. Over the last few days we've stayed in an old English country hall nestled in the hills in the Cotswolds ( we were invited to join in a wedding celebration that was happening there), a steam punk tiny house on someone's back lawn in Brighton, and an old established hotel on the seaside in Eastbourne. And over the days we've visited Coventry cathedral- heavily bombed during World War Two and now a centre for peace and reconciliation initiatives globally; visited where Darren's grandparents used to live in Birmingham; watched birds of prey, and shot arrows at Warwick castle; visited a couple of chocolate box Cotswold villages, took chocolates to an old family friend, Aunty Stella, in Bristol; along with thousands, walked around the stones at Stonehenge wondering why they are there; marvelled at the beauty of Salisbury cathedral; felt slightly ill on one of the rides on the end of Brighton pier; swam in the English Channel and had a wonderful family dinner with almost 20 of Darren's relatives in Eastbourne - it's been a full few days.
On our way back into London yesterday we drove via Hersham near Walton on Thames, where Darren was born and went to school. We knocked on the door of Darren's old house and said "Hi, you don't know me but I was born in your front bedroom!"- They were lovely, invited us in, offered us drinks and we talked for about half an hour about the house, which they are in the middle of renovating- it was great to be able to see inside the house Darren spent the first eight years of his life in.
We have just two more days in the UK- we're going into London today with the family we're staying with to go to a museum of ice cream- who knew there was one! We'll catch up with Lou's cousin Shane at the British Museum. Tomorrow, we'll pack up, head to St Pancras station, have a last lunch with Darren's only first cousin in the world, James and his partner Shernaz, and then hop on the train to Paris- we have a very excited Karis who can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower!
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