I met up with them at the end of the day for the Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. The service itself was mostly singing – hence Evensong – but the voices of the choir were absolutely beautiful, resounding off the cathedral walls in a way that made the moment timeless. Stepping outside of the cathedral, we took a little walk over to the Globe Theatre. I snapped a few pics of very important images in London such as...
Some tulips:
A brown pigeon! I was highly amused by it:
Seth's fam, tired but happy:
St. Paul's:
McKelvey discussing game plans...basically a huge part of our trip, so it's important that I document it:
London being London:
Then we made a stop at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese....yummy yummy British food! I think everyone really enjoyed it...just the oldness of it, plus the food was great!
Some random old clock...maybe it's called “Big Ben”?
Chiming of Big Ben (yes, I'm holding the camera sideways...that's why I'm in grad school – learn me not to do that!):
So that's about it for shots of London, although Rick, Cherie, and Isaac were worked to the bone by Seth's intense walking tour(s). All in all, I think they enjoyed it, but were glad to get out of the craziness of the city.
We left late on their second day in the city, heading towards Prestbury. Prestbury? Wait, haven't you heard of that before?? Yeah, you have! It's where the Austins – the lovely American family – live here in the UK. On our first day there, all the Austins were busy with work and play, so we took a little trip to Tatton Park, one of many fancy estates in the UK, with over 400 deer and a natural mere (look that one up on your own). We spent the majority of our time just roaming the grounds, all 1,000 acres of it. Here's a few (ahem, maybe more than a few) pics of it the grounds on the estate:
He wanted to see how cold the water was; apparently really cold:
Seth got lemonade from the Victorian period...it was really sour...I guess it would be since it's so old:
We went to stay with the Austins not only to spend some much needed American time with them, but also because they had scored two tickets to the Manchester United vs. Chelsea football match (remember, football=soccer). Isaac LOVES football. LOVES. So he was super pumped about this huge match. While he and Rick went to the match, Cherie and Sunday took off to have a Mother's Day to themselves, and Seth and I went to Lyme Park, another great estate. Lyme Park is best known for being the setting of the home for Mr.Darcy in BBC's Pride and Prejudice, a miniseries based on the novel.
Also, there was an amazingly beautiful 18th century piano in the house...that I totally got to play:
After Lyme Park, we all had to head towards Edinburgh - through the darkness of the highways. By the way, road signs here - not helpful! We were looking for the M6 for about an hour before Isaac saw the sign in the rear window in the grass. There was much anger at this point.
Somehow, we made it to Edinburgh around two in the morning and after a short nap we hit the streets for more sightseeing and tourist behavior.
I know I've put pictures of Edinburgh on here before, but it was the most beautiful day I've ever experienced in the UK. Seriously. Sunny and about 75 degrees, with a light breeze (okay, so it rained a few times, but still). So you're getting pictures because I can't believe I experienced it.
Calton Hill:
The kitty who lives on Calton Hill:
A random cage:
Scott Monument:
Isaac (no, he is not part of Edinburgh, he is a part of the McKelvey clan):
Seth and Isaac climbed up a hill to Edinburgh Castle and took some pictures from the top:
Arthur's Seat...Seth and I were prepared:
Some people...not so much. There was much discussion on what should be brought to the top:
<A picture of us together:
More Arthur seat pics:
After Arthur's Seat and some pub dinner, we were off again - no time to rest! We headed on a puddle jumper airplane over to Northern Ireland. We had rented a cottage for a few days there on the coast - I was most excited about this part! We stayed in the little village of Cushendin, which is near Ballymena (a bigger city), where Seth's ancestors are from.
I saw this in the airport and think it's important that you know it exists:
This was our cottage: (I'm already missing it!)
And this was right outside the front door:
This was outside our back door - lambs! They were so cute, but they were afraid of me:
A little documentation of driving in Ireland:
Some random stuff we saw while driving:
Some tourists:
Our first day there we went to the Giant's Causeway, a natural wonder of over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. Apparently they are a result of a volcanic eruption...but I kind of think God just wanted to have a good time:
Giant's Causeway= freezing winds!
And a little bit of red GA clay!
That night, Rick decided to BBQ...I think that's the most meat I've ever consumed in one sitting:
The next day, we headed to Glenariff Forest, which is lots of woodlands as well as some waterfalls that were really pretty:
And here's a random llama that was in a field beside our cottage. Yeah, you're welcome:
So that was our trip in short form. It was a huge amount of stuff in a very short time, but I had a wonderful time with everyone. We had some stress and some laughs, but all in all it was a great adventure.
