Final Day!

Last day! Today we visited Holyrood Palace, the Queen's home in Edinburgh. It wasn't as large and as grand as some of the other royal homes we have visited, but we thought it was the place we would most like to stay if we were royalty. Attached to the palace is the ruins of an abbey, which must have been beautiful before it was destroyed. Next to the palace is Holyrood park. the park is basically a mountain that overshadows the palace, it is the highest point in Edinburgh. We thought about walking to the top, but it was raining and the wind was blowing hard (no telling how hard the wind was blowing at the top of that thing). We spent the rest of the day shopping. Alicia finally found a pair of boots that she liked that fit (we have been looking since the first day in London). We are going to bed early tonight, so we can catch our 6 A.M. taxi to the airport. We are supposed to arrive in Nashville around 10 P.M.. We have a layover in Philidelphia and we we call and let you know exactly when we will be in. We can't wait to get home and see everyone(Alicia misses her Mattie).

Scotland day Two!

Today we decided that it would be a good day to go on an excursion and travel to see the birthplace of Golf (ball golf that is not disc golf). We traveled from Edinburgh to St. Andrews which is about and hour and a half drive directly through the countryside with tiny roads. While in St. Andrews we took a gander at the sea, wandered through the ruins of a cathedral and a castle, and the first golf course ever conceived. We had a good time because there was just us wandering about, other than the golf course tourist don't come to see much else so we were able to take our time and wander at our own pace to feeling rushed or slowed down.

After we wandered through St. Andrews we decided it was a good time to return the car a couple of days early and not have to pay parking anymore. Oh yeah renting a car is fun an all but not so much fun when you have to pay parking EVERYWHERE you go. So once we were car less we hopped a bus into town and ate some dinner.

I was a good day.

Scotland!!! Edinburgh to be exact.

Well we have arrived. Yesterday that is. So we now have one full day of Edinburgh, Scotland under our belts. Yesterday we had a beautiful ride through the countryside all the way from York, England to COLD Scotland. We were able to see the North Sea, the rock fence border (waist high that is) between England and Scotland and let’s don’t forget the sheep, lots and lots of sheep.

Today we slept a bit late and finally made it out on the town to hop the open top tour bus. Which we got off on the first stop at the Edinburgh Castle, shopped for anything related to the Hunter Clan for a few hours then finally took our tour of the Castle. Which was not as grand as let’s say Windsor Castle, but showed the defense measures taken, and according to the guided tour we were able to catch, very necessary.

By the time we were done with the Castle we caught our tour bus back into town and head off in search of something to eat. Which we found this lovely Pub that offered the Scottish specialty “Haggis and Tatties”. Which translates to “Lamb Intestines (sort of ground up) and Mashed Potatoes”, which Robert loved and ate every bit knowing full well what he was eating. I tried it and it didn’t taste bad it just had a very weird texture, which surprised me that Robert would eat it since he is so weird about food textures. Well that was our first day in Scotland.

We miss you all and are ready to come home Saturday. We really miss our bed and our routine.

Love you all,

Alicia Hunter

On the Road

We picked up the rental car and headed out to Bath. On the way to Bath we stopped at Windsor Castle and took the tour. It reminded me of the Biltmore, only for Kings and Queens. We didn't have much trouble getting to Bath, thanks to a map we bought at a gas station, but when we got into Bath we had problems. There are no street signs and lots of small streets and roundabouts. We drove around looking for our hotel for at least an hour. After much fighting and a few tears we finally found our hotel and a place to park. We then had the worst meal of the trip so far at a Pizza place, so we went to bed pretty miserable. The next day we got an early start and had one of the best days of the trip so far. We toured the Roman baths and then we wandered and shopped for the rest of the day. We stayed another night in Bath and today we have hit the road for York. Almost forgot, we bought a GPS navigator to help us find our way around. ( anyone need a GPS? I have 2 now).

Last full day In London

Got up early this morning to enjoy our last day in London. We had breakfast in a small french patisserie and then hopped on the tube to the British Museum. We saw lots of Egyptian artifacts including the Rosetta stone, mummies, and lots of sarcophagus (spelling?). There were also lots of Greek and Roman exhibits. After leaving the museum we ate at a hambuger restaurant to get a taste of home. Next, we went to Harrods department store. We walked in the door and Alicia's eyes got huge. We had walked into the designer purse department. I think I remember Alicia saying that they had every brand that had ever been mentioned on "Sex in the City". Unfortunately her excitement only lasted until she looked at some price tags (I could pay my mortgage for 6 months for what some of those bags cost). Once we had enough of looking at stuff we couldn't afford we went to a place we could afford some things; Covent Garden. Covent Garden is an open air mall like Indian Lake, but with a flea market and ares for public performance (see unicycle guy from first day). Alicia fond a reasonably priced coat and scarf, which made her feel like a Londoner. It was a good last day. We pick up the rental car tomorrow and head toward Bath. I don't know if we will have Internet access for a few days, so keep checking the site.

3rd day

We got a late start today. I don't think we made it out until noon. We hopped on the tube and went to Churchill's war cabinet bunker. The bunker was where all of the planning went on during WWII. Next we went to the Tate Modern, which is an art gallery. We saw several Picasso paintings, Monet's water lilies, some Salvador Dali, and some really weird stuff that we didn't think was art. The building was an old powerhouse and they had a very large exhibit in the former turbine room. It was very similar to the turbine room at work. We also walked past the London church of Scientology (weird). Tomorrow we may go shopping at Harrod's.

2nd full day

We started off the morning with a traditional English breakfast: bacon, eggs, sausage links, toast, a big mushroom, and baked beans. It wasn't too bad, but the beans and bean sauce got into everything and made it all taste like beans. We decided to take the tube (subway), which was pretty intimidating at first, but Alicia got to be pretty good at figuring out the routes and the transfer stations and we didn't have any trouble. The first place we went to was Madame Tussuad's (wax museum). It was neat, and we got some funny pictures, but was too expensive. Next, we went to St Paul's Cathedral. WOW, it was beautiful. It has the second largest free standing dome in the world and we climbed 500 plus steps to get to the top. It was exhausting, but worth the trip. The last place we went today was the Tower of London. We saw the crown jewels, lots of medieval weapons, and several implements of torture. That is the short of it, but we have many more pictures and stories to tell when we get back.