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England 2023
  • Sarah McCabe
  • Sarah McCabe

England 2023

A 14-day adventure by Sarah Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 14, 2023
    Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Packed and Ready

    November 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    We are all packed and ready to go. Vinnie staged a silent protest this morning when I was trying to do the last bit of packing. He was not successful either in stopping me or in getting packed into the suitcase.

    Travel tip: take photos of your packed luggage. If they get lost, it is really helpful when you are filling out the paperwork. This is the first trip where I have also put Apple Airtags in our luggage. Belt AND suspenders is my motto!    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Last meal in America

    November 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    We arrived at the gate really early because we had zero delays getting to the airport, checked in and through security. Literally no lines anywhere. So we decided to get a snack and some beer.

    I'm trying to adjust to the time change gradually by convincing myself it is four hours later than CA time. So time for a beer! It helps that I got up at 8 am and was working non-stop until we left for the airport at 2. Those last minute things already take more time than you expect!Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Landed in London

    November 15, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    After a relatively uneventful night flight we landed in London at noon local time which is 4:00 a.m. for us. At one point I looked out the window and saw sunrise over Greenland.

    Then we navigated through London public transport to our hotel. Which is very hip and trendy, just like us. Russell remarked that he was one of very few people on the street in shorts. As a matter of fact, strangers on the train remarked on that as well.Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    CitizenM Hotel London (Bankside)

    November 15, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    It took us about 3 hours after landing to navigate the airport, clear customs, get a train in to central London, get a tube close (-ish) to our hotel and then walk to our hotel. We saw some interesting sites along the way, but jetlag is creeping up and we are feeling pretty wiped out.

    The hotel is kind of an interesting concept. The rooms are extremely tiny, but there are very expansive, and comfortable common areas. So you are expected to spend little time in your room and work or read down in the common areas.

    Although it was tiny, the room was surprisingly well equipped and even came with a tiny drawer refrigerator.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Borough Market and Dinner at Padella

    November 15, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌙 50 °F

    After we unpacked and settled in, we headed off to a nearby indoor food market. It was very impressive, which it should be since it has been running for about a thousand years (no exaggeration).

    Russell decided that it was too cold even for him in shorts, so he headed back to get long pants at the hotel while I wandered around the market and put our names in at a restaurant that looked really good (and rated Michelin Bib Gourmand).

    They had a cool way of queuing at this restaurant. At 4:30 they put out these signs with QR codes. Once you scanned them, they put you on the waiting list and started seating people at 5. We ended up getting seated around 5:10 and had 3 different delicious pasta dishes.

    Then we were back in the hotel and asleep by 7 pm. We both got very little sleep on the plane, so we were hoping that if we got a regular night's sleep tonight, we could adjust to England time in one night.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Early morning bike ride

    November 16, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 43 °F

    Even though we didn't have to get up until 12 hours after we went to bed, we still didn't get a great night's sleep. But we didn't have much trouble getting up in plenty of time for our early morning bike tour of London. This is something we like to do each time we visit a new city.

    This tour was a little bit gimmicky, in that we were riding old-timey bikes (modern construction but vintage aesthetic) and the guide dressed in tweed. But it was a fun gimmicky tour.

    Even though rain was forecast, it held off while we were riding. It drizzled enough at the start that Russell and I broke out our new raincoats, but then it stopped before we could give them a proper test.

    Funny enough, it did rain for a bit, but we were in a pub for that period, so we didn't get wet.

    One of the more striking sites we visited was the covid memorial wall where every painted heart represented a person lost to covid somewhere in Britain (not just London). The hearts seemed to stretch on forever.

    Our final stop on the bike tour was a spot where street art is both allowed and encouraged. The guide handed out spray paint cans and we went to town. I made a google map pin. Sort of a "you are here" statement. Russell added an infinity symbol so I guess the message is "you are infinite."    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Buckingham Palace

    November 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Just as we pulled up to Buckingham palace on our tour, a ceremonial carriage arrived, accompanied by a police escort. It had all the trappings of some official visiting head of state. Then, when we were about to leave, a second carriage arrived.

    It was all very pomp & circumstance, however, we couldn't see inside the carriages to determine who was in them. Afterwards, I looked it up and I am pretty sure this was a rehearsal for the state visit of the President of South Korea who will be arriving next week. We will be in Devon then, so we won't be able to see the real thing, so it was cool to see the dress rehearsal.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Lunch and steet scenes

    November 16, 2023 in England

    We skipped breakfast before our ride, so we were pretty hungry when we finished.  Our guide recommended a local cafe/diner so we headed over there.  It was very yummy, and pretty healthy as well.

    We saw some more street art on our way back to the hotel.  Then we had to use the facilities, so we stopped in a pub.  And then, of course, we had to order beers to be customers!

    By the time we left the pub, it was raining so we finally got to test our raincoats at least a little bit.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Modern Marvels

    November 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    One thing I have noticed about England that is different from 25 years ago: the sinks in the public bathrooms have been modernised.  As I recall, pretty much every public bathroom, even those in brand new construction (brand new at the time, that is) had separate hot and cold taps.  Often separated by quite a large physical distance.  So it was impossible to wash your hands with warm water.  Your choices were scalding or frigid.  Nowadays, many public bathrooms have a mixing faucet, like we would see at home.  Some still have the older configuration (hand is for scale in that photo).  Interestingly, all the mixing faucets look very similar.  I don't know if they all come from the same manufacturer, but they look like they do.Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Late dinner

    November 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    We had a very late dinner reservation so we went into our hotel to get out of the rain. We had enough time for both of us to get a refreshing nap.

    Dinner was at a Spanish restaurant where the food was very tasty and the wine selection was extensive. We may have indulged in wine a bit too much but it was a delightful meal.

    Then a quick walk back to the hotel and we were ready to hit the hay.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Slow morning

    November 17, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    I'm not sure if it was too much wine or jetlag or both, but we were both dragging the next morning.

    Russell headed off in search of an Asian grocery store while I packed our bags for the next journey. He was using the public bikes but that ended up being a very frustrating experience. He did manage to find some ingredients for the dinner he will be making next week.

    After packing, I went off in a different direction and found a really impressive whiskey shop. I bought a bottle of Welsh whiskey as a contribution to the manor house liquor stockpile.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Train delays

    Nov 17–19, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    After a quick lunch at the same place we ate yesterday, we headed to nearby Waterloo Station to catch our train.

    Unfortunately, when we checked the board, it listed our train as cancelled. Well that's never a good sign. We were told that we needed to board a different train to Basingstoke and then when we got there our original train would now be departing from Basingstoke.

    Soon we were on our (slow) way to Basingstoke. I took advantage of the delay to do some research on quaint English villages. Russell took the opportunity to have a nap.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Arrival at Cadhay

    November 17, 2023 in England

    We were two hours later than planned, but we finally arrived safe and sound.

    Then we had a lovely fish and chips dinner with old and new friends. And a lot of wine.

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Cadhay House

    November 18, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    The next morning was clear and mild.  We had a leisurely breakfast.  Then I decided to take a walk around the grounds, while most people went off on various errands.  I heard something about going to the hardware store.  I'm not sure what we are going to start building or repairing.  

    This house was built in the 1500s.  The outbuildings have been remodeled into cottages, most of which are available for rent.  The current owner of the house lives in one of those cottages, because nobody can afford to live in a house this grand full time anymore.  But it is great fun to have it for a week.

    There are two medieval ponds behind the house that actually pre-date the house.  There are a couple of swans in temporary residence right now.  The gardeners evidently try to discourage them from actually nesting here, because nesting swans are mean swans.  And messy swans.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Gin Distilling

    November 18, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌬 59 °F

    In the afternoon, Stuart, Doug, Russell and I drove off to Torquay to do a Gin Distilling Experience.  We had two stills between the four of us and we got to design our own recipe.  We had a lot of fun and came how with four little bottles of gin.  

    The place was a wine shop, with the gin experience set up in a back room. So Russell and Doug found some nice wines to buy as well.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Ha ha

    November 19, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌬 57 °F

    The next morning was quite a bit windier.  I took another walk around the grounds and explored the ha ha, which is just a confusing term to describe a retaining wall that separates the pasture (where grazing animals might be) and the lawn around the house (where grazing animals should not be.  So the lawn has a sharp dropoff of about 4 feet that keeps the animals out, but doesn't mess with the view.  It looks great, but I can imagine it would be quite dangerous if you came upon it unexpectedly.

    You can see the edge of haha in the first photo marked by a thin cord fence.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Shopping

    November 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    Then Stuart, Doug, Russell and I went off to do a bit of shopping.  Our first stop was a local farm shop that ended up being a major disappointment.  We thought there would be lovely vegetables and things like that, but instead there were just lots of doodads like candles and Christmas ornaments.  So off we went to the Tesco in the next town over.  

    Now *that* was a proper grocery store.  Russell even managed to stock up on some more wine.  Good thing because we are going through the bottles at a prodigious rate.      Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Birthday dinner for Rosie

    November 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

    Dinner was another amazing feast cooked by Mark in honor of Rosie's birthday.  Which was technically yesterday, but since she arrived today, we had the celebration today.  Jet lag hit me in the middle of dinner and I just crashed around 8 pm.  I got a great night's sleep.Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Silver safe

    November 20, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    It rained overnight, but the weather in the morning was clear and not too windy.

    The owner of the house stopped by and showed us what was behind this mysterious door in the dining room.  It looked like a door that just led to another room, but on the other side, there was a bookcase against that wall. I've been reading enough murder mysteries to expect a secret passage.

    It turns out it is the safe for the family silver, which they have managed to keep in the family for hundreds of years.  The door is both locked and alarmed, so good thing we weren't able to get it open last night after all.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Country walk

    November 20, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    I went off for a very long walk through several of the pastures that surround the house.  I am assuming that the land is still part of the estate.  It appears to be used as grazing land at times, but not right now.  The pastures I went through were sheep adjacent, but not sheep occupied.

    The walk was a bit longer (and wetter) than I had intended, because there weren't gates where I wanted them to be, forcing me to cross several pastures out of my way.  Russell joined me for part of the walk and we did find some mushrooms in a field.  Doug wisely rejected adding them to his cooking.

    When I got back, my "water resistant" shoes were soaked to the point that I was squishing as I walked.  But a quick change and I was soon warm. But the walk wore me out so much I needed a pre-dinner nap that extended into the beginning of dinner.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Toad in the hole

    November 20, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌙 52 °F

    I woke from my nap ready for another great dinner cooked by Mark. Tonight's main dish was sausage in pastry that goes by the oh-so-appetizing name of "Toad in the Hole". It tasted way better than it sounded.Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Wine shopping

    November 21, 2023 in England

    Rosie and Russell got up early to head to Exeter to do some wine shopping. Even though we only have 3 more nights, we need at least a couple more cases.

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Sidmouth fish market

    November 21, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

    A bunch of us headed down to Sidmouth (which is a town on the seaside at the mouth of the river Sid).  It was a cold and blustery day, but I can imagine that on a warm summer day it would be an ideal place to visit the seaside.  

    Russell got mussels and scallops at the fish market to.make for dinner tonight. The seagulls in Sidmouth were very bold. I didn't dare tempt them to a food challenge. I'm sure I would have lost.

    We saw quite a few Black Friday sale signs. Kind of odd, since they don't have Thanksgiving Thursday.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeEngland 2023Sarah McCabe

    Ottery St. Mary

    November 21, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    On the drive home, I had them drop me in the village of Ottery St. Mary. I did a little shopping and then walked back to the manor house. The village wasn't quite as picturesque as I had hoped. It was more actually a town rather than a village.

    On the way home there was a flock of migratory birds trying to find their roosting spot.    Read more

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