Lovely London

“When a man tires of London, he is tired of life.” – Samuel Johnson

Our first day in London we travelled to the neighborhoods of Shoreditch and Spitalfields – east end of the city. Destination was this amazing restaurant to meet our friend, Alison. Her son is the executive chef at Sohaila (worth a google search) and our first stop was lunch together here.

*A new neighborhood and restaurant for us and it did not disappoint. Beautiful space and amazing food & staff!*

*Most importantly, time to catch up and chat with sweet Alison.* *We figured it had been six years since we’d last been together in London.*

*After lunch, Alison began our tour by taking us around the various interesting markets. Tempting to shop but, you know, traveling light etc…*

*A huge “draw” to this area is the street art – lots and lots of street art!*

*Stopped to watch this man work at his craft.*

There were approximately 20 statues of these baby (and one mom) elephants scattered around the streets. Each elephant corresponds to a real one that’s being protected and cared for by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Africa. Each elephant has a plaque to tell you their name and story.

*“After all, one can’t complain. I have my friends.” –* Eeyore

A big thank you to Alison for spending the afternoon with us. It was a great tour and a lovely time was had by all. Until next time…xoxo

On the road…

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai

*Heather, wheat and sheep, from the passenger window as we drive by.*

Never get tired of these canopy covered roads. Also, the excitement of never knowing if another car is heading our way, just around the curve. Add the fact that the driver is sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road and you have a recipe for a terrified passenger!

*When there’s not quite enough space, go up on the pavement (sidewalk).*

*Lots of tight squeezes – Murph doing a stellar job of driving!*

The Dales

“I hope there are days when your coffee tastes like magic, your playlist makes you dance, strangers make you smile and the night sky touches your soul. I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive.” – Brooke Hampton

*The purple heather was in full bloom and quite a sight!*

*We stayed in this little town of Pately Bridge in Nidderdale*.

*Hiked the panoramic trail which was a loop above town and along the River Nidd.*

*If you’ll notice the farmer’s fields are divided by hedgerows* (*More on that later).*

*This is* *an adorable primary school that was once a church – so idyllic*.

*These ancient rocks are a playground for locals and tourists.*

*Amazingly formations, tempting everyone to touch and climb them.*

*The following day we were in the village of Askrigg – in the Yorkshire Dales – our all time favorite place to be. This is Jam*es *Herriott, All Creatures Great and Small country!*

*and through stiles in the stone walls.*

*Gorgeous paths that sometimes took us through farmer’s fields and other times on paths above rushing waterfalls.*

Moments earlier there were about 15 local people swimming at the bottom of these falls. I asked them what the temperature of the water might be. “0h, it’s quite good – about 14°” They were talking Celsius so in Fehrenheit that would be about 57° – Ummm, *maybe next time…*

*Muddy path home – so glad to have worn our boots today.*

*Dry? Muddy? Makes them no nevermind*🤷🏾‍♀️

The next day we drove to Gunnerside, a village in the area of Swaledale – we would pronounce it exactly as it’s spelled. However, the locals? They call it Swaddle!!! It’s almost like we don’t know how to speak English!

*You may be tired of looking at these fields but us? Never!!!*

*Remember the hedgerows in Nidderdale that separated the fields? Well, it’s all stones here.*

*Miles and miles of old stone walls – dripping with charm* ❤️

*The sheep don’t mind sharing their fields with us.*

*Along with a few fun bridges to traverse.*

*The River Swale adds a bit of music to accompany us.*

Wanderings…

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” – George Harrison (paraphrase of Lewis Carroll)

*We stopped in, Burnsall, a village of which we have fond memories.*

*And went for tea – Amazing veg soup and of course, cream tea* (*comprised of scone, clotted cream, jam and tea)*.

*The village is most known for it’s picturesque bridge*.

*There were many tourists playing on the grass with a view of the bridge.*

*They’re in their swimsuits, acting like it’s warm outside!*

*Moving on – we went to Kettlewell – where the movie Calendar* *Girls was filmed. A “must see” movie!*

*They were having their scarecrow fete (pronounced fate).*

*Some pretty cute examples of what was there.*

All good fun.

Biking in the Peak District

“Don’t listen to what they say. Go see.” – Chinese proverb

Six months ago, Murph arranged bikes for us, through a cycle hire in the Peak District. We were there to bike the Monsal Trail. The car park was packed when we arrived. However, these lovely people said “We’ll be heading out just as soon as we have a spot of tea. Do you mind waiting?”

*“Oh, and we also need to make sure Moby here has some grass to eat!” Of course, we waited and had a very interesting chat with them, too!* *It was worth the wait to get the last spot in the lot.*

*We had a 10 minute walk on this gorgeous path along the River Wye to get to the bikes.*

*Look at this beautiful sunny day. Did I say Murph booked it* *months ago?*

*Lovely scenery along the way to see while the photographer documents our ride.* 😉

*This is a former railroad bed so there were many tunnels dug along the route. Our path alone had 6 tunnels.*

*Some of them were very long. I wasn’t a fan – dimly lit and damp. I found them to be a little scary…*

*We came across a group of young girls repelling off a bridge. (Of course, there was a coach there but still looked a bit terrifying to me)*

*Not all of the tunnels were scary – like this picturesque one.*

*“It’s more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’ “ – Winnie the Pooh*

*At one point we went over a tall viaduct. So, we jumped off our bikes and went down a path to see it from below.*

*These guys were cute. Way up in the hills they were snuggled against the rocks, presumably to get out of the sun.* 🤷🏾‍♀️

*It was nice to see so many people enjoying the day and this great old rail trail.*

*After turning the bikes in, we enjoyed the return walk to our car.*

Guiting Power – Cotswolds

Pronounced “guiding” but with a “t” instead of “d”

“Don’t wait for miracles, your whole life is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

“*The key to life is how you deal with plan B” – Stephen Dias. Well, rain wasn’t in our plan but…*

*we did bring rain gear with us. Looked like the day was going to be a wash out so – out we headed.*

*Hey, if these guys can take it, I guess we can*, *too!*

I thought this was pretty cute. Pimm’s in England is kind of the equivalent to Sangria. Pimm’s (a type of gin) mixed with lemonade and lots of fruit, mint & cucumbers. A very popular summer drink here in the pubs.

*There were flocks of pheasants, scurrying in the fields. Murph took a million pics of them – tough to get a decent shot but I think he did quite well.*

*Cool farmer’s field to traverse – a favorite thing to do for us.* 😊

Well, now – what the what? Since this was in a private garden we really couldn’t get too close. Maybe carved from stone? Maybe carved from wood? Either way it was a surprising sight as we walked through this tiny village. 🤷🏾‍♀️

*This pine forest was magnificent and serene to walk through.*

After 6 hours of hiking even our waterproof boots were wet. The B & B hosts put them into their drying cupboard for the night. We showered etc. and went for a lovely dinner in the lower part of town – The Hollow Bottom restaurant was quiet and a beautiful end to our soggy day. 🌧️

Cirencester & the Cotswolds

“All of the paths you take in life, make sure some of them are dirt.” – John Muir

*Spent one night in this gorgeous market town of Cirencester.*

*It was close to a hike that was on our radar — Coln St Aldwyns to Bibury.*

Along the way we stopped to admire the view when we saw a wiggly black spot out in the field. “Murph, I think that’s a new born calf!” Sure enough, we waited and watched for about 15 minutes until it found it legs.

*Arriving in Bibury we went to this 12th century row of weaver’s cottages. Now privately owned and protected by the National Trust.*

*Very quaint – if you can put up with the tourists during the warm months, I think it would be a lovely place to live.*

Stopped to watch these beauties preen for a LONG time. Very fastidious!

*following the sign posts along the way.*

*Often across farmer’s fields (public footpaths).*

*Have I mentioned flowers? July was very wet and cool and the flowers are the* *pay off* ❤️

British blooms – part II

“ I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.” – Isabelle Eberhardt

*While cutting down a lane in Hathersage, we happened on this amazing garden of dahlia.*

*When we were driving, we passed this place. I asked Murph to pull over so I could get a pic or two. No way to get closer so I guess we’ll have to just rely on our imagination.*

*This and the next six photos are the Queen’s Garden in Regent’s Park. (All roses!)*

*And this is just a small sample of the flowers in front of Buckingham Palace. They were absolutely vibrant in the sunshine!*

Lovely Clovelly

“The best education you will ever get is traveling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences.”

*Once integral to the daily lives of the villagers, donkeys have been some of Clovelly’s favorite residents.* *They have been a part of the village for centuries, with some estimates saying they have been plodding up and down the steep coastal community’s roads for almost a millennium.*

*The Slerra Hill B&B where we stayed for the two nights in Clovelly.*

Well, we weren’t exactly in the village, but we had an amazing walk every time we went there. Started out from our B&B, down a country back street, then turned at the Clovelly church (now a soap factory/shop) onto Wrinkleberry Lane.

*Where we went down through a dimly lit, moss covered forest*.

This village was owned by the British monarch until 1242. Since then it has only belonged to three families. The latest family has possessed it since 1738! The present owner rents out all of the homes & buildings to the residents. Tourists pay a fee to visit which contributes to it’s pristine appearance.

*We headed down, down, down to the harbor below on mostly cobbled “streets” – no cars allowed.*

*Met this kitty on the way and gave her a pet.*

*A quiet evening at the harbor where we enjoyed beautiful views.*

*We hiked a path above the village for a good view of the harbor with the tide out.*

*We passed this post box that was in the wall a few times before we even noticed it was there.*

*So cool how they replace the little brass plate to let people know the next pick up day.*

British blooms along the way…

“The earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson