Last Monday my family's British road trip began. We first piled into a small rental wagon and then started to drive down to Stonehenge. Along the way we noticed the glory of British road signs.
Examples of some include: "Ecclefgechan," "Road Chef," and "Welcome Break." They all sound delightful and each had made us want to find out what it is. We loved the idea of pulling over and taking a break for someone to welcome us, wouldn't you?
We drove and drove...and drove. We took a brief break at Edinburgh Castle. Not bad for its size. Finally, we stopped in the town of Carlisle where we ate at a nice Indian restaurant called Teza. The waiter was a good man who told us a little bit about his hometown which we would pass through the next day. The day concluded at a fun little Travel Lodge outside of Warrington. There was "present" left by a dog on the front walkway. Not everything can be perfect :).
On Tuesday we continued our journey south. During our drive we discovered the beauty of British radio. On the station we were listening to was a special about Neil Sedaka. There was interview with him in which Neil told his story and told of how he became a famous musician. Later, Neil would be performing in a concert. As I said, we discovered the beauty of British radio. The beauty is that every 30 minutes a traffic and weather update is given even if you are mid song. Also, at random points, the radio will switch between songs.
Still, we made it to Stonehenge where we took a couple of minutes to view the massive stones. We then headed to London after a quick Starbucks break to relieve some stress that had been happening between family members.
Wednesday was our day in London. We had a day similar to the one I had written about in An American in England; however, there were additions. Instead of just walking over to the Globe, we stayed for an educational tour. It turns out the current standing globe was erected in 1997. It was funded via donations and fundraising. The story goes as follows... Shakespeare worked at the Globe in the early 1600s. In 1613 there was a fire that burnt down the Globe and a new one was erected shortly thereafter. Then, in 1642, the Puritans banned theaters and closed down the Globe. Since then, no Globe had existed until in 1942 a man named Sam decided it should be erected. Sam started a trust and eventually had the modern day structure built. The current building is an attempt at a replica but has some new installments such as a sprinkler system.
After the globe and the cool history lesson, we went to the Tate Modern to have lunch (not so vegan friendly) and to see the sunflower seed exhibit. Originally, this exhibit was made to be a walkable experience. However, peoples complained due to potential danger and just general probable problems and it has since then been restricted to a large area blocked off filled with hand crafted ceramic sunflower seeds.
Our day in London concluded with the Queen, Parliament and Supreme Court sweep. I was still amazed by the city even after a second taste.
We woke up in the Holiday Inn to a good free breakfast (chocolate crousants!) and a tv show presenting the life of Bob Monkhouse. An old English comedian, he was famous for the generation before me. One joke of his I particularly liked goes something liek this: I wish I could die quietly in my sleep like my father, not screaming and terrified liek his passengers.
We drove north and once again ate in Carlisle, but this time we ate at a thai restaurant. A Scotsman owned the place but his Thai wife did the cooking. She made delicious food including a Tom Yum soup (water, mushrooms, lemon grass, chilli, some veggies) that left you craving more.
We ended the day in a nice little Days Inn somewhere along the highway in a little town.
Our final day began with some cool natural observations and odd bird behaviour. First, a flock of geese walked across a frozen lake in a single file line. Then, a group of ducks started to, well, chill outside our window. At first they were all just sitting there chomping down on some grass, but then one male started chasing another male attempting to nip his tail. After that some segals began to attack the ducks and herd them as if they were dogs herding sheep. Later, some sheep were sitting by a fence facing each other with opposite ears touching. Sheep whispering? I think so.
We concluded our trip by shopping at a local grocery store and began to prepare for the Sabbath.
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