Category: 2018 Holiday Page 1 of 2

FOREWORD

We’re about to set off on one of those holidays (vacations) that happens in multiple parts. Any time that we head back to the UK, we try to visit as many friends and family members as we can. This can often make for a hectic trip, or multiple rushed, brief encounters with folks that really shouldn’t count as spending any kind of time with them. I remember, on one of my first trips home after moving to the Staates – April 1995, I think – over the course of 10 days, Mija and I met up with 17 distinct groups of people. The last was lunch at Heathrow airport just before our flight. We vowed never to go quite that crazy again.

This trip is looking like it might be quite nicely organized. Four distinct chapters, with an extended prologue. Let’s see how it works out…

(One definitely rates higher)

In which we travel by planes (9 hours), shoes (6 hours) and automobiles (2 ½ hours), with some quality time in airports (3 ½ hours).

In which I have a feeling of déjà vu. Sortof. At an airport. Largely self-explanatory, really.

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In which we fly a long way, then a longer way, then we drive a short-ish way, meet some old friends, and walk a ways. Hey, why not make the most of your first day, right?

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Thursday, June 14th – Monday, June 18th

In which I discover that standing on the deck of a ferry moving at 30 knots in the middle of the English Channel on a particularly windy day is categorically the best time to wear a trenchcoat for dramatic effect. Also, ferries have barf-bags, which was a really good thing.

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In which I learn how to distill… essential oils from herbs and plants and stuff, and that Lavendar actually tastes quite good. So might those cockerels if they’d stayed still long enough.

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In which we celebrate the sixth birthday of a couple of miracles, are awash in a sea of balloons, and marvel at one man’s ability to control nearly 30 kids (which may have had something to do with the baloons).

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In which we hang around the house,  chill and eat nice food. It really was a nice, simple day.

PENDING

In which I click up one more unit on the personal odometer, drink some gin, sample some wine, watch a young farmer hard at work, and then fall asleep on a ferry. Intentionally, just to be clear.

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Tuesday, June 19th – Saturday, June 23rd

In which we arrive back in London, buy a bed, admire many other beds, and walk very little distance at all.

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In which we pass our OWLs with flying colours, meet some old friends, a new friend, share pieces of cow, and experience The Cursed Child. I also meet a woefully confused bartender and a wonderfully skilled bartender, and take delivery of a lot of confectionery.

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In which we wake up ready for another afternoon at the theatre, and spend the morning touring the sites of Greenwich in the mean time.

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In which we start the day with a heist, visit a prominent museum, and finish the day with a heist at a prominent museum. We also wander a market and enjoy a moment of utter civility in the form of traditional afternoon tea.

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In which we drive north. That’s pretty much it, really.

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Sunday, June 24th – Thursday, June 28th

In which we have a lovely drive through Argyll and Bute to catch a FERRY! and I am not the first one to order a whisky.

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Friday, June 28th – Monday, July 1st

In which we have one last full Scottish breakfast, take one last walk, one last ferry ride, and head back to Glasgow where the temperature is quite appalling.

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In which we rest up before we hunt for sweets, eat some sweets, and buy a lot of sweets. We also get pally with the good folks at Glengoyne, and I get what is only my second fish supper of the trip.

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