30 Days in 30 Clicks

So here is a bit more of a photo diary with just picking one picture from each day. A bit of a hard choice considering that there was about 2000 to pick from but also hard because some times it seemed like no one photo showed the essence of the day.
The first day.. Monday that turned to Tuesday when we got there, we flew to London and right away caught a train to Bath.

Wednesday we took the walking tour of the City. All gorgeous sandstone buildings, 1700's Crescent elegant row houses and the Roman Baths.

Friday we took a mini bus tour touring the Stonehenge, the Avery Stone Circle and two of the Cotswold villages including Lacock where they filmed the village scenes from Pride and Prejudice

Friday we left Bath and since it was raining rather than go directly to the Cotswolds we stopped off in Oxford and when to Blenheim Place. The home of the Duke of Marlborough. This is the familial home of Winston Churchill and it had a fabulous exhibit dedicated to him.

Saturday. We had stayed in a village called Stow on the Wold. And that morning we did a lovely country side walk through two more villages. We took the train that night to London.

Sunday. We took the tube to church and popped up right by Big Ben and Westminster Abby.  HELLO LONDON!!!. We went to a great little church there and then did some of the walk around sights of London and took in a modern (read cacophonic) organ concert at Westminster Abby

Monday we hit up the Camden Street Market for some shopping and then went to the Tower of London. A a great tour there, saw the Crown Jewels and the Beef Eaters. Then the rains descended as we walked across Tower Bridge and the South Side.

Tuesday. The Sun was shining for chilling on the Victoria Monument, the changing of the guard and Queen Spotting.

Then it was a walk down London's Fabulous South Side

And to St Paul's Cathedral for a heavenly evensong service.

We then spent the evening enjoying the parks, taking in the British Parliament and seeing sights at night.

Wednesday: we spent the morning at Hampton Court, the home of King Henry VII, Mary Queen of Scots and King Edward. A great mix of Medieval and Georgian Architecture.

That afternoon we took the train up to Keswick in the Northern Lake District. Mountains, Lakes and lots and lots and lots of sheep!!

Thursday: We did some hiking walking up the Cathills to distinct camel shaped hills and around Lake Derwentwater. Lush green scenery with great views of the surrounding hills. Lots of foxglove, sheep and even some waterfalls.

Friday: We walked out to the Castlerigg StoneCircle in the Morning and then did a bunch of shopping in the cute little town. also hitting up the weekly market in the town square. In the afternoon we had tea. Even though we had been in England for over a week .. this was the fist time we had even had a cup of tea!!. That evening we took a train up to Edinburgh.

Saturday: We woke up as we brought our stuff to our new hostel on the Royal Mile there was a defiant buzz in the air. It was National Armed Forces Day. We snuck in a visit to John Knox's church before the parades started. Hundreds of kilts and bagpipes!!

Then we headed up the hill to Edinburgh Castle.

Sunday: we went to the free church of Scotland in Edinburgh. The pastor and his family were lovely and had us to their home for lunch.  Yummy haggis!!

Monday: We took the train from Edinburgh to Stirling to Tour the castle that was in active use from the time of King Robert the Bruce up until 1960.  This is the Church yard and graveyard beside the castle. We took the train up to Inverses that afternoon arriving there about 830ish. Because Inverses is so north (about the same as Fort St John it was light nice and late so we explored the town and had great Thai food at a pub that had traditional Scottish music (probably the most odd combo restaurant I have been too!!)

Tuesday: We took the bus out to Loch Ness. The lake was long but narrow and no Nessie in sight.  We explored Urquhart Castle. A 1600's castle when was blown up by its last occupants.

We took the afternoon train in a very circular manner to get to Oban. The last three hours of the train ride from Glasgow to Oban was beautiful- lush emerald green, bright blue ocean, castles beside still ponds and steep cliffs to the ocean. We ended up in Oban just as the sun was setting.

The next day we took a water taxi to the island of Kerrera. We walked around this island which had only 4 houses and lots of sheep on it saw some hairy cows and had delicious seafood lunch. This is a place that I could nicely live the rest of my days!!!

That night we explored McDougal tower on the outskirts of town. This is the view from the windows on the second floor out towards Kerrera

Thusday: We took a ferry to the island of Mull and then bussed across to another ferry to take us to the island of Iona. Here in the monastery lived St Columba - the Father of Christianity in Scotland. The weather here was so variable.. absolute downpour one minute and sunshine on the white sand/Caribbean beach five minutes later. That evening we sprinted from ferry to hostel to train and then the scenic route down to Glasgow to spend the night.

Friday. We took the train down to the Southern tip of Scotland were we caught the ferry across to Ireland. A sister of a school friend lives in Belfast and she graciously hosted us for the weekend starting it off with fab indian food and competative Catan.

Saturday: We drove the stunning coastal road up the Eastern Coast of Ireland. Rock walls, cliffs sheep and more sheep, little fishing villages and lots of sunshine!!

The Giants Causeway was such an unreal experience hundreds completely natural of perfectly fit together octagonal rocks. All different swatches of colours and sizes but all flat and all jigsawed together

Sunday.. I didn't really take any pictures. We went to church with Jen in the morning and then to some friends of hers for lunch. We missed our afternoon train by about 2 mins so decided to take in the evening service and take the bus Dublin at 9pm.

Monday we met up with our Tour Group and set out across the Connemara Province of Ireland. It was a barren rocky landscape. we stopped off at some ruined abbeys and church and this castle way out tin the middle of nowhere. We ended up that evening in Galloway we we headed out so some traditional Irish restaurants and pubs with live music and  Irish dancers.

Tuesday was more Irish Country side and abbeys but the highlights was the Cliffs of Moher. Staggeringly high, crazy windy and every bit as awesome as I had hoped for.

Wednesday was a soggy soggy day as we went to the town and park in Kilarney and then off to Blarney Castle and Kissing the Blarney Stone before the long drive back to Dublin.

Thursday: We did a walking tour of the city of Dublin which was super informative regarding the history of Irish Independence as well as took in all the major sights in Dublin. Then along with a friend from the tour we had a picnic lunch on the lawn of St Patricks Church and did some shopping.

Friday was a super early start to head out the airport for our RyanAir Flight to Holland. Once landed there 1 bus and 4 trains later we arrived in Kampen and Corina's cousin.  It was super nice to just relax and be in a home once again.

Saturday.  We slept in and then went out to the Pannekoek House for lunch.

Sunday. Church in the am and then a birthday party for Corina's Aunt. B & E had a amazing outdoor living patio complete with chandelier and it was the perfect place to chill with a book.

Monday: Shopping Shopping Shopping

Tuesday: We went with Corina's brother for a senic drive all up through the reclaimed sealand. This was a 16th century port town which is now in the middle of the farms =), we ended up on the beach in Frieseland watching the sailboats come in.

Wednesday July 13th a full month, 5 countries, 5 planes, 5 ferries, 1 taxi ride and tons of bus, train and metro rides later we were on our way home.