Our nine-month trip began with a visit to the best of the UK, meeting Harry’s relatives. We started in Oxfordshire, enjoying the lush English countryside. It was conveniently located just an hour away from London and 30 minutes from Oxford. We spent a lovely couple of days with family, exploring the country lanes lined with quaint cottages with thatched roofs. We tried out some of the local pubs and savoured English delicacies like scotted eggs, pork pies, and curries. To balance it all out, we took forest walks nearby.

During our stay we added in two day trips to London and one to Oxford.

London

With this being my second visit to the UK and London, we missed out on many typical London sites. Instead, we headed straight to Borough Market to meet friends and explore the food scene. Despite the high expectations, the market didn’t disappoint. With so much to try, we even went back another time to sample more of the delicious food. During both trips, we tried the following:

• The black pig: pork belly sandwich: 9/10
• Maria’s Market Café: Breakfast bap: 5/10 – but in a good way
• Humble Crumble:7/10
• Kappacasein Dairy : 8/10
• Pork Sausage roll: 8.5/10

Following the markets, we headed to London Bridge, walking along the Thames and ticking off one of the sites before heading to Hammersmith. There, we met an old school friend who was enjoying some rare sunshine. We had a Pimm’s along the river outside the pub, as we soon discovered it was more uncommon to sit in a pub than to be outside with a pint nearby.

London day 2:

For our second day in London, we headed into Notting Hill bright and early, starting with coffee and people watching—my favourite pastime. We went to the market, saw the cute shops, and got a meal deal for lunch! Then, splitting ways, I went to watch Burlesque, the musical, which was pure genius! The dancing was phenomenal, along with the character Sean played by Todrick Hall. Absolutely stole the show! I don’t think anything can top seeing Express and Show Me How You BURLESQUE live. Being in the audience for those numbers was truly magical!

The show was followed by drinks with friends who live in London, staying outside again… with pints in hand, catching up. Then, after running late in true fashion, I met up with Harry, Adam, and Paula, and we had chicken and chips from a chicken shop and crashed on their couch.

Oxford, Cambridge and North Wales

Along with our days in London, we also did a day trip to Oxford. With its rich history and architecture, walking around Oxford was the main activity. The only downside is we left it too late to book into the Bodleian Library, but otherwise, 10/10 would recommend Oxford as a day trip along with a stop by the oldest pub in Oxford, ‘The Bear Inn’, which has been a site since the 1250s, with the turf also being a great choice too.

Stamford

After a wonderful week with Aunty Heather and Uncle Rob, we decided to rent a car. We had calculated that buying one would be more expensive than we had anticipated, thanks to insurance. We headed out to Aunty Mo’s place near Stamford in the countryside. Now in another beautiful part of the UK with sandstone-built houses that could have been seen in Pride and Prejudice. Oh wait, that’s where they did some filming…. With our first stop being another pub, we walked to the most wonderful pub, which is a bit of a must-go called Six Bells, that offers woodfire pizza and all the pub classics you can’t go wrong. The following day, we headed into Cambridge, an hour away, to meet with Penny, who had been studying there for the past year. We were able to see into the colleges, explore the town, and just happened to be there when everyone was graduating. Minus the big crowds, Cambridge was beautiful, with the university having a slightly different feel to Oxford; it still had the rich charm and history that we loved. One of my favourite parts was finding a small, little eatery and sitting on the bay window, watching everyone punt by, hiding from the crowds and wet weather.

We ended the night back with Mo watching Pride and Prejudice, taking turns saying all the best lines. Along with seeing other family members, recovering from a cold, and going for walks around the incredible countryside, we also ventured out to Burghley House—aka Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s estate, Rosings Park.

North Wales

Last on the family route was Wales. With the most exquisite views on the way, taking the more scenic route through the mountains. The next morning we went to climb Snowdon with the family. Early start, barely any visibility, we started to make the climb. Unfortunately for us, 2 and a half hours later we made it to the summit with no views at all. However, on the way down we were able to get some great views and take it all in! The following day we whipped around all the north Wales sights, visiting Caernarfon Castle, Llyn Idwal lake and South Stack, taking in the most spectacular view at dusk, finishing off a marvellous visit seeing/meeting the family.

Until next time: Scotland NC500 up next.

Warm regards,

Tamsyn