Appendix 3—The Details
Blog Post 156—Truly My Final Post
“The difference between America and England is that Americans think 100 years is a long time, while the English think 100 miles is a long way.”
The Numbers
For those who are interested in some of the more mundane (but hopefully still interesting) details of our trip, here is a review by the numbers:
5 Countries Visited—Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, & France
293 Nights Outside the USA—36 Vrbo rentals, 4 Airbnb rentals, 13 hotel stays, 1 B&B stay, & 1 glamping experience
3 Airplane Flights—LAX to Heathrow, Heathrow to Edinburgh, & Heathrow to San Diego
6 Car Rentals—black Toyota Yaris hybrid FL68WXS (Pam), white MG HS LD21JBB (Will), white Hyundai Ionic hybrid EJ21FKA (D&N), black SEAT Arona FR KT21BYN, red Jeep Compass WR23BYJ (D&C), & red MG HS LB72EGE (who knows how many miles driven, but I’ll settle for “a whole lot”!)
5 Train Rides:
LNER—Waverly, Scotland to King’s Cross, London (Pam)
The Jacobite Steam Train—Fort William to Mallaig
The Jacobite Steam Train—Mallaig to Fort William
Eurostar—London to Paris
Eurostar—Paris to London
21 Ferries Crossings (19 ocean, 2 lake):
Irish Ferries—Holyhead, Wales to Dublin, Ireland
Doolin Ferry Co—Doolin to Inis Mór (Aran Islands)
Doolin Ferry Co—Inis Mór (Aran Islands) to Doolin
Irish Ferries—Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Wales
Caledonian MacBrayne (Cal Mac)—Kennacraig, Scotland to Port Askaig, Islay
Cal Mac—Port Askaig, Islay to Kennacraig, Scotland
Cal Mac—Oban, Scotland to Craignure, Mull
Staffa Tours—Fionnphort to Staffa
Staffa Tours—Staffa to Fionnphort
Cal Mac—Fionnphort to Iona
Cal Mac—Iona to Fionnphort
Cal Mac—Craignure, Mull to Oban, Scotland
Cal Mac—Armadale, Skye to Mallaig, Scotland (D&C)
Cal Mac—Mallaig, Scotland to Armadale, Skye (D&C)
Cal Mac—Uig, Skye to Tarbert, Harris & Lewis (D&C)
Cal Mac—Stornoway, Lewis to Ullapool, Scotland (D&C)
NorthLink Ferries—Scrabster, Scotland to Stromness, Orkney
NorthLink Ferries—Kirkwall, Orkney to Lerwick, Shetland
NorthLink Ferries—Lerwick, Shetland to Aberdeen, Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland—Kinross to Lochleven Castle
Historic Environment Scotland—Lochleven Castle to Kinross
2 Boat Rides:
Doolin Ferry Co—Cliffs of Moher Cruise
National Trust—Steam Yacht Gondola, Coniston Water
18 Cathedrals Visited:
St Giles, Scotland (Pam)
St Paul’s, London (Will)
Canterbury, England (Will)
Salisbury, England (Will)
Westminster, London (D&N)
Gloucester, England
Worcester, England
St Fin Barre's, Ireland
York Minster, England
Whitby Abbey, England
Rievaulx Abbey, England
Fountains Abbey, England
Bolton Priory, England
Ripon, England
St Magnus, Orkney
Durham, England
Ely, England
Notre Dame, Paris
34 Castles Visited:
Craigmillar, Near Edinburgh
Blackness, Near Edinburgh (Pam)
Edinburgh, Scotland (Pam)
Bodiam, England (Will)
Old Wardour, England (Will)
Windsor, England (Will)
St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall
Tintagel, Cornwall
Tower of London (D&N)
Sudeley, England (D&N)
Dunamase, Ireland
Ross, Killarney, Ireland
Blarney, Ireland
Harlech, Wales
Caernarfon, Wales
Castle Howard, England
Lowther, England
Inveraray, Scotland
Stonefield, Scotland
Doune, Scotland
Stirling, Scotland
Huntly, Scotland (J&M)
Urquhart, Scotland
Eilean Donan, Scotland (D&C)
Dunvegan, Scotland (D&C)
Dunrobin, Scotland
Balmoral, Scotland
Castle Fraser, Scotland
Dunnottar, Scotland
Glamis, Scotland
Lochleven, Scotland
Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England
Alnwick, Northumberland, England
Hever, Kent, England
9 Palaces Visited:
Palace of Holyroodhouse (Pam)
Linlithgow Palace
Palace of Westminster (Pam)
Kensington Palace
Richmond Palace
St James’s Palace
Blenheim Palace (D&N)
Scone Palace
Palace of Versailles
16 Islands Visited—Great Britain, Cramond, St Michael’s Mount, Ireland, Inis Mór (Aran), Islay, Mull, Staffa, Iona, Skye, Harris, Lewis, Orkney, Shetland, Lochleven, & Holy Island (Lindisfarne)
3 Tidal Causeways Crossed—Cramond Island, St Michael’s Mount, & Holy Island (Lindisfarne)
15 Celebratory Events:
0 Guy Fawkes Night (Nov 5)—Missed it by 7 days! 😞
1 St Andrew’s Day (Nov 30)—St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, joined by hundred of members of the Order of the Thistle
1 Christmas (Dec 25)—In Edinburgh
1 King’s Christmas Speech (Dec 25)—Watched live on the telly from Edinburgh
1 Boxing Day (aka St Stephen’s Day, aka Wren Day) (Dec 26)—Killed my dream of enjoying Bastard Barista one last time!
1 Hogmanay (Dec 31)—Concert in the Gardens: Pet Shop Boys, Ross Band Stand, West Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
1 Burns Night (Jan 25)—In Canterbury
1 St Valentine's Day (Feb 14)—At St Ives, Cornwall (only 156 miles as the crow flies from Ireland!)
0 St David’s Day (Mar 1)—Happens only in Wales, and we were still in Cornwall (oh so close!)
2 birthdays—53rd and 48th
1 St Patrick’s Day (Mar 17)—At The Salutation Inn pub near Castle Combe, England (only 183 miles as the crow flies from Ireland!)
1 anniversary—29th
0 St Magnus Day (Apr 16)—Happens only on Orkney, and we were still well south in Bath
1 St George’s Day (Apr 23)—Celebrated in England only; with D&N in Bath
1 King Charles III’s Coronation (May 6)—From afar in Wales
1 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Aug 18-21, 2023)
1 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (Aug 19)—73rd annual event.
4 Famous People Met—Ed Winters (author), Prince Edward (brother of King Charles), Billy Walker (master whisky distiller at The GlenAllachie), & Alice Loxton (aka History Alice) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
21 Manor Houses Visited—Dyrham Park, Hidcote, Snowshill, Hanbury Hall, Baddesley Clinton, Packwood, Coughton Court, Harvington Hall, Muckross House, Killruddery House, Powerscourt House, Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Hardwick Hall, Studley Royal, Dalemain House, Holker Hall, Levens Hall, Sizergh, Knebworth House, & Groombridge
3 World-Class Gardens—Versailles, Kew, & Powerscourt (Although perhaps not “world-class,” we absolutely loved both Fountains Abbey/Studley Royal Park and Blarney Castle & Gardens. On a smaller scale, the Gordon Castle Walled Garden (J&M) is most deserving of the Historic Houses’s Garden of the Year: 2021 award; we loved it too!)
14 Distilleries: Jameson, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Bunnahabhain, Ardnahoe, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Glenfiddich (J&M), Glenlivet (J&M), Glen Keith (J&M), GlenAllachie (J&M), Macallan (J&M), & Talisker (D&C)
7 Mountains Scaled—Arthur’s Peak (S&A), Snowden (S), Wansfell Pike (S), Helvellyn (S), Scafel Pike (S), Ben Nevis (S), & an unnamed pike on Skye (S&D)
19 Lighthouses: Newhaven (Leith, Scotland); South Foreland (Dover) (Will); Lizard, Penzance Harbor, & St Ives (Cornwall); North Bull Island & Poolbeg (Dublin); Inis Oirr (Aran Islands); Gorton & Lismore (Isle of Mull); Neist Point (Isle of Skye) (D&C); Tarbert, Arnish Point, & Butt of Lewis (Isle of Lewis) (D&C); Rhue (Ullapool, Scotland) (D&C); Sumburgh Head, Eshaness, & Bressay (Shetland); & Guile Point East (Holy Island/Lindisfarne)
6 Shows Watched: The Book of Mormon (The Prince of Wales Theatre, West End London), What’s Love Got To Do With It (Capitol Cinema Bodmin), The Little Mermaid (ODEON Harrogate), Skye Story (Las theater, Aros Center (The Isle of Skye Candle Company), Portree, Isle of Skye), Barbie (The New Phoenix Cinema, Kirkwall, Orkney), & Peatfire Tales of Orkney Evenings (Orkney Folklore and Storytelling Centre)
50+ Screen Tourism—All Creatures Great and Small, Bad Sisters, Braveheart, Brideshead Revisited, Bridgerton, Call the Midwife, Chariots of Fire, The Crown, Death Comes to Pemberly, Doc Martin, Dr Dolittle, Downton Abbey, The Duchess, Emily, Emily in Paris, Enigma, Eurovision, Far & Away, Fate: The Winx Saga, The Favourite, Firebrand, Fisherman’s Friends, The Road Dance, Gavin & Stacey, Harry Potter, The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, Jane Eyre, Leap Year, The Lost King, Men in Kilts, Midnight in Paris, Miss Potter, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Napoleon, Once, Outlander, Poldark, Pride & Prejudice, Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (😭 Sycamore Gap Tree felled on 28 Sep 2023), Scotch: A Golden Dream, Shetland, Skyfall, Star Wars, Stella, Stone of Destiny, Ted Lasso, The Turning, Vera, Victoria, War Horse, Welcome to Wrexham, Wuthering Heights, & certainly many others…
33+ Authors Associated with Sites Visited—Jane Austin, JM Barrie, Michael Bond, the Brontë Sisters, Robert Burns, Lewis Carroll, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jenny Colgan, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Eliot, Ian Fleming, William Goldman, Winston Graham, Daphne du Maurier, Peter May, AA Milne, John Muir, Beatrix Potter, Walter Raleigh, Ian Rankin, JK Rowling, Walter Scott, William Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, JRR Tolkien, Alfred Wainwright, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, William Wordsworth, & certainly many others…
The Highlights
We are continually asked what was our favorite thing about the trip. Were this a typical two-week holiday, it might be easy to pick a favorite. As it stands, we toured for 10 months, which makes it infinitely more difficult to distill a list of only a few favorites.
Instead, I’ve made a list of our favorites by category. Hopefully this will help us too as we look back and try to recall our favorite things.
Cathedral Favourites:
Ely—Overall favorite, especially the Octagon Tower Tour
Salisbury—Tower Tour & Magna Carta (Will)
Canterbury—Becket’s shrine & massive crypt (Will)
Gloucester—Whispering Gallery & cloisters from HP
Worcester—King John’s & Price Arthur’s tombs, most amazing ceilings, chapter house
St Giles—Thistle Chapel
St Paul’s—Geometric Staircase, the only dome on an English cathedral & the Dome’s upper Stone & Golden Galleries (Will)
Ripon—Best crypt & connection to Alice in Wonderland
Durham—Chapter House was Professor McGonagall’s classroom & massive baptismal font
Rievaulx Abbey—Favorite Ruin
Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling—Original timber roof, hewn by adze
Favourite Parish Churches—Built upon the site of a forest chapel, St Michael and All Angels Church in Hubberholme (Yorkshire Dales), was an easy choice for favorite. The stone and woodwork is exquisitely old world and the interior has a decidedly etherial air. The church retains a beautiful wooden Rood Loft, which is one of the last to survive Elizabeth I's edict to destroy all such objects. The interior was used for the wedding of James and Helen in All Creatures Great and Small. Honorable Mention must be made to St Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold, with its mystical doorway flanked by ancient yew trees.
Worst Museum—Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Best Museums (See Also Favourite Homes Below):
Large—Louve
Medium—Bletchley Park (Honorable Mention: National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh & Jorvik Viking Center in York)
Small—John Muir’s Birthplace, Dunbar (Honorable Mention: The Blacksmiths Shop, Gretna Green)
Favourite Homes:
Benjamin Franklin House, London
Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Stratford-upon-Avon
World of James Harriot, Thirsk—the home where Harriot lived, worked, and wrote his series of books based on his experiences as a young North Yorkshire vet
Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, England
Hill Top, Lake District—Beatrix Potter's farmhouse retreat & the inspiration for many of her little books
Dove Cottage, Lake District—Family home to William Wordsworth
Rydal Mount, Lake District—William Wordsworth’s favorite home
Wordsworth House, Cockermouth—Birth house of William and Dorthy Wordsworth
Moat Brae, Dumfries—Where the gardens inspired J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan & Neverland
Best Manor Houses—Harvington Hall and Baddesley Clinton
Favourite Bookstore—Shakespeare and Company in Paris was magical, so I gave it top honors (canvas bag ✅). Blackwell's Bookshop was massive and my absolute favorite bookstore in Edinburgh. However, we did spend a lot of time in nearly every Waterstones and Topping & Company Booksellers we came across. Our favorite Waterstones was in Bath (where we met Ed Winters) and our favorite Topping & Company Booksellers was right next to our house in Edinburgh, although I also loved their store in Bath. We learned too late of the Waterstones Bradford (near Leeds), which inhabits a gorgeous Victoria Gothic Wool Exchange building. Barter Books in Alnwick, with its Famous Writers mural, was another favorite. Sadly, we just missed the soft reopening of Much Ado Books in Alfriston (on our drive from Canterbury to Brighton). Similarly, we truly wanted to visit The Book Shop in Scotland—if only to purchase The Diary of a Bookseller from its home—but, alas, the commitment to reach Wigtown, Scotland seemed like too much effort; regrettably, we passed on the opportunity. Regardless of your feelings on the movie, it was magical to browse through The Notting Hill Bookshop (not the one shown in the movie but rather its true inspiration (canvas bag ✅). Other enjoyable stops included Hatchard’s Piccadilly booksellers (established in 1797, allegedly London’s oldest bookshop and booksellers to the Royal Household, and the oldest bookshop in the UK), High Peak Bookstore and Café just south of Buxton (Peak District), and the ever-so-quirky Scrivener's Books and Bookbinding in Buxton.
World renowned for its many bookshops—and often described as a "town of books”—a true regret was not visiting Hay-on-Wye, Wales. By the time we realized the oversight, we were simply too far away to make the visit practical. 😢
Favourite Libraries:
Old Library at Trinity College Dublin
John Rylands Library, Manchester
Alnwick Castle Library
Kendal Library (Lake District): only because I needed to download and print forms and the goofy Ryman Stationery (the only printing shop in the area) couldn’t open my files. 🤔 As a last resort I went to the Kendal Library and—miraculously—was granted a Cumbria County Council Libraries card, which allowed me to open and print the files. Who knew I would end up with a genuine UK library card!
Favourite Views:
Calton Hill overlooking Edinburgh (especially at night)
Symonds Yat Rock Viewpoint (Forest of Dean)
Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse overlooking Dublin
Spinc Trail, overlooking valley of Glendalough, Ireland
View from our back deck at Glenmalure Pines Estates, Wicklow Mountains, Ireland
Pepperpot Tower, Powerscourt House & Gardens, Ireland
View from Cae Canol Farmhouse, Wales (not sure it was worth it)
Heights of Abraham tram, Matlock Bath
Favourite Outdoor Spaces:
Columbia Road Flower Market, London
Puzzlewood, Wales
Blarney Castle Gardens, Ireland
Walled Garden, Gordon Castle, Scotland
Walled Garden, Castle Fraser, Scotland
Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor National Park was cool but less impressive than expected (perhaps best not to visit in winter)
Most Zen Place—St Nectan’s Glen & Waterfalls with St Nectan’s Kieve
Favourite Drives:
Gap of Dunloe, Ireland
A816 from Kennacraig Ferry Terminal to Oban
A82 through Glencoe, passed the Three Sisters
A859 loop at the southern tip of Isle of Harris, to include The Golden Road (D&C)
North Yorkshire Dales tour (see our blog Over Hill and Dale)
Favourite Streets—Royal Mile, Edinburgh and Rue Montorgueil, Paris
Favourite Lighthouse—Sumburgh Head, Shetland
Best Rentals:
Old Merchant’s House, Edinburgh
The Coach House, Tenbury Wells
Earlson’s Farmhouse, near Limerick
Railroad Cottage, Ring of Kerry
Ambleside Apartment
Stirling Apartment (except for road noise)
Stornoway Apartment, Isle of Lewis
59A King Harald Street, Lerwick
2 Royal Circus, Edinburgh
Worst Stays:
Ivy Cottage, Orkney—#1 worst: noise & in a fish bowl
Penzance—difficult parking, poor internet, bad shower (probably should have stayed in St Ives)
Gretna Green—Tiny room & bed
Hobbit Hole—Only because of extra-tiny bed & uncovered skylight
Aberdeen—Noise, stairs, distant parking
The Manor House Hotel, Holy Island—Old, run down, over-priced
Coolest Surprise Experiences:
Attending church at St Giles on St Andrews Day with full procession of Order of the Thistle
At Holyroodhouse Palace, being allowed up the narrow, private spiral stairwell that led from Darnley’s bedroom to Queen Mary’s room above, just as Darnley and his men did, before seizing Rizzio, dragging him out of the bedchamber into the ante-chamber, and brutally stabbing him to death
Realizing Ed Winters would be giving a talk at the Waterstones bookstore in Bath while we were in the area
Realizing a VIP was set to visit the Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester on the same day we visited—the VIP turned out to be Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh and we were lucky enough to speak with him
Driving along A685 in the northwestern part of Yorkshire Dales National Park and encountering thousands of Travelers
Most Startling Moments:
When Amanda found a US dime outside the Green Park Underground station on the day Will arrived in London
Blowing the left front tyre while driving up to Cae Canol Farmhouse, Wales
Being told our car was not booked on the ferry from Orkney to Shetland (or Shetland to Aberdeen for that matter)
19 Ways We Know We “Lived” in the UK:
We owned UK appliances (hair dryer, curling iron, electric toothbrushes, & milk frother)
We had UK phone numbers (Steve: 07831 806 764 & Amanda: 07879 727 097)
We used Amazon.co.uk to have plug adapters shipped to our house in Edinburgh
We had Lothian Buses Ridacards
We had London Underground Oysters cards
Steve was issued a Cumbria County Council Libraries card
We had to buy and refill windscreen washer fluid
We had 2 flat tyres repaired (in N. Wales & Ambleside)
We used AA in Ambleside (“Your 4th Emergency Service”)
We shopped at every grocery store chain: Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Co-Op, Waitrose, M&S, Morrisons, B&M, Asda, Aldi, and Iceland
We watched 4 movies in local theaters
We had haircuts and a styling appointment
Steve visited an eye doctor
We had documents scanned and printed at local MBE stores
We used two notary public barristers over three visits
We mailed a dozen or so letters by Royal Mail
We shipped two boxes from a York MBE to the USA
We shipped items domestically (frother)
We made donations to charity shops on multiple occasions
Best Tea Houses:
Bridge Tea Room, Bradford-on-Avon (Will)
The Pump Room, Bath (D&N)
Best in Pubs:
Exterior—Tolbooth Tavern, Edinburgh
Interior (Tie)—Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham & Waxy O’Connor’s, Glasgow
Best View—The Red Lion Inn pub, where you can look out the windows and see some of the many huge Avebury stones
Best Vibe—The Eagle, Cambridge
Best for a Cold Winter’s Day (Tie)—The Parrot, Canterbury & The New Inn, Salisbury
Best Historical Features—Haunch of Venison, Salisbury, with a severed hand skeleton in the old bread oven, & tiny “Horsebox” bar or "Ladies Snug" reputedly used by Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower while planning the D-Day landings
Most Authentic Old Pub Feel—The Green Dragon, Yorkshire Dales
Best Music—The Temple Bar, Dublin
Most Surreal Pub Experiences (tie)—Drinking a pint at The Princes Head in Richmond surrounded by Ted Lasso memorabilia (featured as “The Crown & Anchor”) & at The Golden Lion pub in Port Issac—featured as the “Crab & Lobster" in Doc Martin
Pubs on Pikes—The Warren House Inn, Dartmoor National Park, Tan Hill Inn, Yorkshire Dales
Pubs After A Pike—The Mortal Man Inn, Windermere (after hiking over Wansfell Pike) & Travelers Rest, Glenridding (after hiking Striding Edge and summiting Helvellyn)
Best Brewery & Distilleries:
The Whisky Experience, Edinburgh—Thought it would be a gimmicky, money grab, but turned out to be a great experience (get it?)
Guinness Factory Tour, Dublin—Guinness created a facility that is a very worthwhile destination, especially the Gravity Bar
Jameson Bow Street Distillery Tour, Dublin and Middletown Cork Distillery Tour—Both were very well done and great experiences
The Macallan—Overall best dram: 18 year old double cask, phenomenal tasting room and so cool seeing Easter Elchies House in person
Laphroaig—Best tour, amazing old-school malting operation, love the peat smell, & surreal standing on their malting floors
Bruichladdich—We simply love Bruichladdich
Ardnahoe Distillery—Amazing to simply visit the distillery where Jim McEwan now works
14 Local Brews We Enjoyed:
Innis and Gunn lager in Edinburgh (Pam)
London Pride amber ale at the Lamb & Flag in London (Will)
Whitstable Bay Blonde Lager at The Parrot in Canterbury (Will)
Korev lager in Cornwall
1843 Craft Lager at The Mount Inn Stanton, Cotswolds
Guinness stout at Guinness Storehouse in Dublin
Murphy's Irish Stout at Charlie’s Bar in Cork
Regret: missed having a Beamish stout in Cork
Wrexham lager at Anglesey Arms pub just outside Caernarfon Castle
Black Sheep real ale at Tan Hill Inn
Wainwright Gold ale at Mortal Man pub and at Travelers Rest in Glenridding at the base of Helvellyn pike in Lake District
Maltsmiths Pilsner Style Lager at the Atholl Arms Hotel, Dunkeld, Scotland (J&M)
Skye Blonde (made with Faerie Glen water) at Isle of Skye Brewing Company, The Pier, Uig Harbor (D&C)
60 Degree lager (referring to Lerwick’s latitude) at The Dowry in Lerwick
Loch Leven Brewery Shining Knight “real” Pale Ale at The Balgedie Toll Tavern
Best Breakfasts:
Seeds for the Soul, Edinburgh—Great breakfast, especially Vegan Benny
Leo’s Beanery, Edinburgh—Great breakfast & a close second with Bastard Barista for best coffee
Olive & Co, Siblyback Lake, Cornwall—Their breakfast burrito that included kimchi and beetroot ketchup was a questionable choice, but it turned out to be absolutely amazing
Best Vegan Cinnamon Rolls:
Handmade by Olive & Co, Siblyback Lake, Cornwall
Handmade by Bearded Baker, Edinburgh
VGN Bakery Co sold at Bastard Barista, Edinburgh
Best Breads:
Archipelago Bakery, Edinburgh
Reeve the Baker, Salisbury
Best Coffees:
Bastard Barista, Edinburgh
Leo’s Beanery, Edinburgh—Runner up
Society Café, Bath—Honorable mention
The Happy Pear, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland—Honorable mention
Lir Café, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland—Honorable mention
Gatehouse Coffee built into the York City Walls was hands down the most amazing location. Enjoy your coffee safely ensconced inside the thick stone walls of the upstairs keep, take the stone spiral staircase for rooftop seating, or pass through the tiny wooden door and imbibe alfresco relaxing around the fortified barbican. The coffee was good (not great), but this was simply the most unique establishment anywhere in all five countries we visited.
Best Lunches:
Harrods, London—Truffle and artichoke sandwich on olive bread
Clean Kitchen Club, Notting Hill—Katsu bowl
The Cornish Bakery—Vegetable pasty
Best Dinners:
Dishoom—9 Locations: Edinburgh, Manchester, & Covent Garden (London) were our favorites
Wood-fired pizza at Black Isle Brewing Co. in Fort William (Black Isle is a peninsula, not an island, just north of Inverness and Inverness is home base to Black Isle Brewing Co. Ironically, the pizza was stellar at the Fort William satellite restaurant and just average at the Inverness home restaurant.)
Pizza Posto, Edinburgh (exceptional authentic Italian pizza!)
Sagar Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurant, Leicester Square, London
The Happy Pear, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Stereo, Glasgow—Listed as a “live music bar,” their vegan café/bar above prepared the most amazing breaded tofu as part of Amanda’s ramen bowl. Their sister restaurant is named Mono, which is funny. Another funny aside: people from Glasgow are called Glaswegians; a restaurant we wanted to visit (but missed due to timing) was very cleverly named Glasvegan.
While we’re at it: our absolute worst dinner was at Aberlour Hotel in Speyside (so sorry Jeff & Madi!). In distant second place was Spice Tandoori in Fort William.
Best Desserts:
Unity Diner, London—Ice cream waffles, with fried chicken and bacon
Clean Kitchen Club, Notting Hill—Pain au chocolat and almond croissant with custard
The Apple Pie Café and Bakery, Ambleside, England—Spiced apple pie
Farm to Fork:
Edinburgh Farmers’ Market, Castle Terrace
Milk Market, Limerick
Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop
Gordon Castle Café
Best Bridges (Especially for Jeff):
Craigellachie Bridge across the River Spey (J&M)
Tintagel Castle suspension bridge
Two stone bridges near Scorhill Circle, Dartmoor
Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin
Daly’s Bridge, Cork
Brig o’ Doon, Scotland
Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scotland
Old Stirling Bridge
The Hermitage stone bridge, Perth (J&M)
Keith Old Bridge (J&M)
The Old Bridge of Livet
Old Packhorse Bridge over the River Dulain
New Bridge/”Bridge of Sighs,” St John’s College, Cambridge
Poohsticks Bridge, Ashdown Forest
Miscellany
Amanda’s 1 Hair Color & Cut—Artizan, Bath
Steve’s 8 Barbers:
Razor Sharp, Edinburgh—by a London transplant
Canterbury Barber—by a Turk
Selo Turkish Barbers, Penzance—by a Turk
AJ's Barber Lounge, Bath—by a local
First Class Turkish Barbers, Stratford Upon Avon—by a Turk
Ms Haircut, Leicester—by an Ethiopian
Caledonian Barbers, Glasgow—by an Iranian
Just Gents, Lerwick—by a local woman
Steve’s 23 Books Read:
Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
44 Scotland Street, by Alexander McCall Smith
The Falls (12th John Rebus novel), by Ian Rankin
Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt
Little Beach Street Bakery (1st in Series), by Jenny Colgan
Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery (3rd in Series), by Jenny Colgan
Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson
Ikigai, by Héctor Garcia & Francesc Miralles
Shakespeare, by Bill Bryson
Sunrise by the Sea (4th in Series), by Jenny Colgan
Longbourn, by Jo Baker
One Summer’s Night, by Mary Alice Kruesi
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith
The Island, by Victoria Hislop
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce
Educated, by Tara Westover
The Bookseller of Inverness, by SG MacLean
The Bookshop on the Shore (2nd in Series), by Jenny Colgan
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
The Blackhouse (Lewis Trilogy #1), by Peter May
The Rose Code, by Kate Quinn
Groceries We’ll Really Miss
Our favorite grocery store was Sainsbury’s, followed by Tesco. It took us a bit to figure out the naming conventions that corresponded to store size: Tesco Extra vs. Superstore vs. Express and Sainsbury’s vs Sainsbury’s Local. Tesco was in Ireland but, sadly, not Sainsbury’s.
We shopped at Waitrose but never found it to particularly fit our needs. We enjoyed certain items from Marks and Spencers (and sometimes sought them out specifically), but overall did not like that all their food was “branded,” meaning, for example, you could only buy M&S tea and they did not sell PG Tips.
Co-Op stores were typically found in smaller towns like Chipping Campden, Bourton-on-the-Water, and Portree. Overall, we were happy with these stores and their petrol stations often had the very lowest prices.
Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, and Iceland were crap—the Walmarts of the UK!
If you’ve read our blog, you’ll know that the UK (England in particular) is leaps and bounds ahead of the US when it comes to plant-based foods. Where in the US finding plant-based foods is often difficult, you just look for the gigantic banners is most UK stores (like the one above). In grocery stores and restaurants alike, you’ll find vastly more options.
Here are a few of the everyday foods we’ll sorely miss when home.
Oh how we loved our Plenish—organic, unsweetened oat milk with no oil (what?)! Probably our best grocery store discovery, it was absolutely delicious and perfect with cereal. You could not use it in the frother, however, because milk must contain oil in order to foam.
I enjoyed discovering the small tweaks make from one country to another: like Frosted Flakes becoming Frosties. I’d be really interested to know why “Frosted Flakes” didn't sound right to the UK ear. Amanda loved her vanilla Cheerios. Finding them could be really hit-and-miss, so we always stocked up when we found them on the shelf.
On the topic of breakfast, you’re looking at every morning here: crumpets with jam and tea. The potato scones are only available in Scotland—I mean literally, you cross the border and you won’t find them anywhere. So, when in Scotland, enjoy the potato scones! Now, when it comes to crumpets, there is one and only one brand: Warburtons. Every other one we tried paled in comparison. And yes, we did have the Trader Joes English-style crumpets once we returned home and they are average at best. Basically, it's Warburtons or nothing!
Warburtons also made a potato scone—available only in Scotland of course—that was delicious. Similarly, Fords The Bakers, an Edinburgh-based baker, sold a delicious 24-pack of potato scones at the Edinburgh Costco—I imagine those are available exclusively at the Edinburgh Costco store.
This was my favorite jam on crumpets—Scottish bramble berry preserve, whilst Amanda preferred blackberry. BTW, the English delineate between jam, marmalade, and preserves. However, “jelly” means Jell-O, and they would never refer to jam as jelly. Both terms are, of course, interchangeable in the US.
The good news is you can get Mackays at Cost Plus World Market, although I’ve never seen the Bramble preserve.
Speaking of tea, Amanda found that Tesco dark chocolate digestives are the only ones on the market to not include milk as an ingredient. So, these added to our waistlines over the course of 10 months—knowing we would never have them again once we returned home.
Quite some time ago McVitie’s removed milk from their original digestives, so we are able get these from Cost Plus World Market. Oddly, McVitie’s still adds milk to their dark chocolate digestives.
The ideal sweetener for your tea is Demerara sugar—something you’ll rarely find Stateside—and the best brand is Billington’s. In the smaller stores you typically found the store brand versions (Sainsbury’s or Tesco), but the larger stores sold Billington’s. We found the cubes a poor substitute for the granular.
The “This Isn’t” brand was brilliant! We loved their chicken pieces in our stir fries—a perfect substitute!
This became another favorite, an easy go-to for stir fries—just open and add; it’s already marinated and cubed.
Bacon is interesting in the UK. What we think of as “bacon” in the US, they call “streaky bacon.” If you order “bacon,” you’ll get a slab of fatty ham (just like “Canadian bacon”). Unlike their “streaky” brethren, bacon rashers are thicker, meatier slices. The This Isn’t bacon rashers were amazing! I loved them on sandwiches and cut them up for salads. I really wish this brand would go International—so good!
Another great UK brand was VFC. The crispy coating was the best and the “meaty” insides rivaled any actual chicken patty I ever ate. We had their nuggets for “chicken and French fries” and their fillets were perfect for “chicken parmigiana”—for which Tesco made a great plant based grated parmesan topping.
Squeaky Bean made some delicious products. Their sliced deli meat made excellent sandwiches and their chicken pieces were great in tacos (oddly enough, the BBQ flavor blended well with the taco seasoning).
Ah yes, potato crips! Every time we ordered French fries we had to remember to ask for “chips” and every time we were at a pub and wanted a quick snack we had to ask for “crisps.” Surprisingly, the haggis crisps were not only delicious, but they were also vegan—a double surprise.
Well, that about rounds out our accounting of our long journey. I hope it’s been at least a bit interesting. It will certainly be fun and helpful for us when looking back many years from now—our memories having faded somewhat—on the finer points of quite possibly our live’s greatest adventure.
