Home Again

The London Eye

The London Eye

 We saved the London Eye for our last adventure in London. The evening of July 14 we boarded a pod on the London Eye for a half-hour ride. The London Eye is like a giant Ferris wheel, but instead of a seat for a couple people, you ride inside a egg-shaped glass pod with up to 20 other people. Because of the immense size of the ride they aren’t able to stop and start it, so it keeps moving as people step out, safety inspections are done, and new riders board.

One of the glass pods

"Afraid" of heights!

Erika’s not a fan of heights, but she loved the views of the city and she became the resident expert of London for the tourists in the pod; able to name and point out many local landmarks. Jason enjoyed the amazing views (especially being able to go up higher than Big Ben), but he was also fascinated with how this big contraption worked

Amazing view of Big Ben, Parliment, and Westminster Abbey

After the ride, we enjoyed a hand-in-hand walk back to our hotel near the London Eye for a final night’s sleep in London before heading home the next morning.

Our Last Day in the UK

A comment on Jason's driving throughout the UK:

Jason, thank you! Driving 2,000 of the 2,200 miles we put on our rental car is impressive.  Your patience during the round-abouts, and my trying to figure out just where we were was unbelievable.  You drove in super heavy traffic and on muddy roads that hadn’t seen a car in weeks…we truly traveled all over the isle of Britannia and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world…you are the most amazing husband! I love you!-e

Westminster Abbey, London (Westminster)

Since Westminster Abbey was on the must-see list for both of us and it happens to be open later on Wednesdays we decided to save it for out last day in the UK. When we returned to London and dropped our luggage at the hotel, we made our way over to Westminster Abbey. It is a truly breathtaking structure and unfortunate photography was not allowed inside so we don’t have many photos to share.

Allie (magnet) came along!

 We arrived a half-hour before the last entrance and 1 ½ hours before closing time for the evening. As we arrived we entered to the sounds of Evensong and the beautiful organ playing. We slowly made our way around some of the Abbey taking in many of the over 3000 graves in the Abbey. We saw kings and queens, prime ministers, poets, authors, and scientists along with many names we did not recognize. At this point in the trip Erika was not feeling well at all. Since she’s been to Westminster before, she decided to sit down and rest while Jason did some more exploring on his own. He made his way back toward some of the chapels only to find that as the last people had entered and worked their way through, security was blocking off areas. This unfortunately the whole quire area which we had skipped thinking that Jason would be able to go back and explore it more after the worship service was over. 

Notice size of people.

After Jason explored what he could we decided to leave since the Abbey was only open about 30 more minutes and we wanted plenty of time to spend in the gift shop. We had big hopes from the items we’d seen through the windows about what we might purchase. We’d wanted to purchase a significant piece of art and were really hoping to find a nativity set, as we collect those. We made our way out the door and went to the adjacent door to the gift shop and found it locked. The guard told us to use the other door just outside the gate. When we got to the door a store employee blocked our way telling us that the gift shop was closed. 

We explained our situation and he agreed to let us in only for 2 specific items. We were barely given enough time to choose a Christmas ornament and a CD before being told by another employee that we had to leave. We were extremely frustrated with the way we were treated at the gift shop and at Westminster. We didn’t understand why we were blocked from areas of the Abbey during “business hours” or why the gift shop was closing before the Abbey. Shouldn’t they have stayed open later to allow those last few out the door to come in and spend some money? 

Getting Lost in Scotland

We should maybe preface this blog entry with an explanation of comments made in previous entries about the family tartan. Jason has a family line that traces back to Scotland. His paternal grandmother was a Wright and the Wright family roots trace to Scotland. So we decided to spend a day "getting lost in Scotland" trying to find some important family sites.

As we left Inverness we drove toward the first of the towns on our list--Daviot. We knew that Jason's great-great grandmother was baptized in the church in Daviot. It was so fun to find the little Daviot church near Inverness, but something just wasn't feeling right--you know the feeling... We took a few photos and walked through the cemetery looking for any family names with no luck.

Old Marnoch Church Cemetery

Old Marnoch Church

Inside Old Marnoch Church

We drove on toward our next stop--Marnoch, Banff (county). We followed the very narrow and curvy country roads past thousands of sheep in the fields and followed the signs toward Old Marnoch Church. As we came around a curve and grove of trees we could see the little church sitting up on a hill and the cemetery down below along the river. We decided to start at the cemetery. It had some amazing old memorials, crypts, and grave stones as well as some modern ones. It was truly a beautiful and peaceful place for a cemetery. The views of the church from the cemetery were amazing as we gazed uphill toward the little church surrounded by trees, fields and hills stretching as far as you could see. We then made our way up toward the church and spent some time wandering around the outside of the church and peeking in the windows. Jason was even able to get some shots of the inside by holding the camera up to the stained glass windows. This felt much more "right" than the previous church. We heard some noise coming from an outbuilding down the hill behind the church so we decided to investigate. We found a local who assured us that this was Marnoch. It was never more than a rural area with a church. Old Marnoch Church WAS and IS Marnoch. That confirmed for us that this was the birthplace of Jason's great-great grandfather!

After taking a few more photos, we continued our journey thinking we were heading back toward London to return our car the next day. As we were driving and Erika was reading the map she suddenly exclaimed, "There's another Daviot!" As she looked more closely she found that there was a Daviot in the county of Aberdeen (the county the family history book told us). In our searches before leaving home and the maps we had available, we only saw the Daviot closer to Inverness. On this Scottish road map we now understood that this would be the correct Daviot. We changed course and headed in that direction.

Stone Cremation Circle near Daviot

We arrived in the village of Daviot, Aberdeen in the early evening. Some of the old village is still there along with some townhomes which gave us the feeling that this was a bedroom community for the larger city of Aberdeen. As we drove into town Erika noticed that the map mentioned a stone circle near town so we followed the sign when we saw it. We found that this stone circle was in a park. We went past the boyscout building and parked the car. Then walked up the path through the grove of trees and through the gate and there it was. Actually, there they were--there were two stone circles. We took some time to read the informational signs and take some photos as well as enjoy the breathtaking views of the landscape. These circles were very different form Stonehenge--these had much smaller stones and were circles made on the ground, not with tall stones. The one circle was actually used as a cremation site. It was a great experience being able to actually walk on these stone circles and again imagine and question--who made these and where did they go?

Erika making friend with the cows

As we returned to the car, Erika decided that she'd try out her new-found ability to communicate with the animals. Earlier in the day she'd had quite the "baa-ing" conversation with some sheep in a field. Across the road from this park was a stone wall with a pasture filled with cows. She walked across the road and "moo-ed" at a cow. It responded with a confused look and then replied. This got the attention of the rest of the herd and soon Erika had about 30 cows walking, then running, toward her. She decided to get a little closer to them so she walked up to the wall and leaned against it to continue her conversation. After some of the cows started pushing to get closer to her, she pushed off the wall knocking a stone loose and onto the group. This, of course, spooked the cattle and they jumped back (as much as cows can jump) and as she backed away they started pawing the ground and snorting--not a good sign. Sorry to say, that's the end of the story. Erika made the wise choice not to talk to the cows anymore. :-)

Daviot, Aberdeen Church

Inside Daviot Church

After the cow adventure we made our way into town and right to the small Daviot church. It was a cute little church with a small cemetery surrounding it. Immediately Jason said that this place felt right. We took some more photos and found that the inside of this church had been modernized unlike Old Marnoch Church. It was a good feeling to know that we'd now found the church where Jason's great-great grandmother had been baptized!

Chapel of Garioch Church

As we left town and pulled onto the highway Erika was examining the map and the copied pages from the Wright family history book. She suddenly started reading aloud to Jason. The passage she read was about how the families had to go "to be registered for the census"--yes, just like in the Bible times! Sure enough--it said that they were registered at Chapel of Garioch and we remembered passing signs for that on the way to Daviot so we decided to backtrack. The rural roads up and down hills and around crazy curves made this quite a drive, but soon we arrived in Chapel of Garioch found it was again a very tiny village with the church in the center. This was quite a day for Jason feeling a connection to his Scottish roots!

Erika at the wheel!

After all this adventure, we finally began our journey toward London knowing our car was due at the rental place at Heathrow in about 12 hours and we had a 10-hour drive ahead of us! We drove until about 1:30 am and stopped at a rest stop. We decided that we needed a break so we took a nap in the car and then hit the road again. At about 3:30 Jason really needed more sleep so Erika decided to attempt her first real driving experience in the UK. After a couple stalls trying to get into 1st gear (luckily traffic is light at 3am), Erika was finally able to get the car into and out of 1st gear, navigate the roundabouts, and we were back on the motorway going 80mph. Jason was able to get a couple hours of sleep as Erika drove through the early morning hours bringing us closer and closer to London. On of the very interesting things we experienced as we traveled down the motorway was cow crossings. Yes, they have pedestrian-type bridges that span the 6 lanes of traffic and you can see cows crossing from one pasture to another over the highway!

Cow Crossing!

Yes, we arrived back in time to return our car on schedule. And we were very happy to find that our brand new car was returned "without a scratch." It may not have shown any wear, but the odometer which started at 10 miles as we drove through the parking lot as we picked it up, now said over 2400 miles!

Loch Ness and Inverness, Scotland

Beautiful sights around Loch Ness

We arose on Tuesday morning and had a wonderful breakfast cooked by our hosts at The Pottery House. We then completely repacked our luggage as it had been a while. Then we headed back for a drive around much of Loch Ness. The views were truly breathtaking!

The closest we got to seeing Nessie

We spent a couple hours being cheesy tourists at the Loch Ness Centre. It was built into an old mansion that faced toward the Loch (Lake). They had us move from room to room as a tour group and each room was a different part of the history of the search for the Loch Ness Monster. The rooms were quite well done with submarines, rock walls, and other props. They used video and lighting to add to the "adventure" of the tour.  Several claim to have seen Nessie over the years and this exhibit did a great job of trying to scientifically explain why is it possible and impossible for Nessie to exist. The closest we came to seeing Nessie was having our photo taken with the monster swimming in the pond outside the center. We of course couldn't leave Loch Ness without a couple souvenirs and now Nessie is swimming on top of a cabinet in Jason's computer lab at school.

Wright Family (modern) Tartan

A favorite sign--as we left Loch Ness Centre

We stopped and did some shopping in Inverness, and even though the largest tartan and kilt maker is located in Inverness, we struggled to find a good place to purchase a kilt. We found a place that was extremely expensive and at other places were unable to find the family tartan pattern.

Inverness, UK

After breakfast we took a walk down to the water. The Firth of Forth was less than a block away from our B&B. The water was COLD and our host at the B&B said that he thought we were crazy for wanting to go down by the water that breezy morning. He assured us that he'd send an ambulance if we weren't back in 10 minutes! ;-) 

After walking in and out of the water a few times the tingling sensations subsided and we enjoyed walking together on the beach. The tide had just gone out so there were lots of interesting shells scattered across the beach and Jason even found a hermit crab (as seen in the photo) and Erika found a jellyfish.

Pottery House B&B

 After getting cleaned up, we headed north toward Inverness. The views on the drive up through the mountains were amazing, but somewhat hindered by the rain showers passing through. We didn't mind as most of our trip to Britain was beautiful weather!

View of Loch Ness from B&B window

We arrived in Inverness and worked our way toward our B&B. We stayed at a lovely place called the Pottery House. It was situated on a hill with a beautiful view of Loch Ness out our window.

Pitlochery, Scotland

As we drove from Edinburgh north toward Inverness we stopped for the afternoon in Pitlochery. This was a very charming little town where we walked the streets and checked out the little shops. We stopped at a cute little shop called The Sheep Shop and that's where be bought the cutest little sheep for our niece Briana. Jason also considered buying a kilt, but decided to wait for Inverness where the largest tartan and kilt manufacturer was located.

Heathergems creation process

We had lunch at a very interesting little cafe and took the opportunity to embrace our inner-Scottishness--we tried haggis. For those unfamiliar with haggis, it's a bunch of stuff you don't want to know about from sheep and goats ground up with some oatmeal and cooked inside a sheep's lung. Check out this link for a recipe, if you dare! We tried haggis balls which were rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried. They were served with salsa. After each taking a bite we each admitted that they really weren't bad--not a favorite, but something we'd try again when back in Scotland.

Near the cafe was a factory called Heathergems. We decided to pop in and check it out. We found that this company cleans the steams from the heather plan, dies them different colors, compresses them to make them as hard as stone, and makes jewelery from them. It's an interesting process which we watched through the windows of the small workshop, and the showroom of jewelery for sale was breathtaking. It's amazing to think that the beautiful stones were once plants. Erika treated herself to a beautiful necklace with a Heathergem heart.

York, England

 

Our dear friend Paul Otte had told us about the "change ringers" at York Minister. This is a group of people who practice ringing the big bells in the towers of the Minister on Tuesday nights.  Now, most musical groups rehearse in private....learning new stuff can need a lot of rehearsal....but when the instruments in question weigh more than a car and are mounted in a medieval tower, its hard to practice in private. The change ringers don't really play songs, but rather they play a series of patterns. Watch the video and you'll see the ropes going up and down. Some of the people actually have to jump and use their whole body weight to ring the bell. Its pretty incredible. We sat in a park across from the Minister and listened for quite a while.  This was definitely not on the regular tourist agenda...but we highly recommend it!

York, England

Have you ever been to a place and then when you go back its totally different than what you remembered?  My memories of York were that it was such a medieval city with tons of different nooks and crannies that held such historical stories. That part is still true. I remember York as being so quaint and fun, and I’ve always regarded it as one of my favorite places…especially the Minister, I remember it as being so white you wondered how they kept it so pristine. This visit, I still enjoyed our time…but it wasn’t exactly as I remembered.  

For example, when my mom and I visited York we went to the Vikings exhibit, Jorvik – the Viking name for the city of York, and we LOVED it. We remember this cool automated ride through the excavated streets of York where they found all kinds of really cool stuff about the lives the Vikings lived.  So I was excited to take Jason and re-live the fun. Not so much.  We did go while we were in York, and it was still interesting, but not as powerful as my memories would have led me to believe.  Jason was a good sport, it was a tourist trap we could have avoided…but we didn’t have too many of those, so it was still fine. Anyway, on to our story about our whole visit to York.

Medieval City Gate into York

We arrived to York early afternoon, and we had a driving….challenge.  Jason deserves a ton of credit.  I was trying to navigate with not too great of a map and I said, “yeah turn left here….” well that took us through this medieval gate to the city. (Pictured on the right) Originally made for horses, our car barely fit and once on the other side we wound up on a restricted access dead end street at the base of the Minister.  Jason had to y-turn in a crazy tiny tight space (with the manual car!) and then go back through that crazy gate. Whoa. York is a walking town; don’t try to drive it…after navigating and driving around for a really long time (very frustrating) we finally found our B&B and checked into our second smallest room on the 3^rd floor.  It was comfortable, but nothing to spectacular. 

Clifford's Tower

We walked into the city and went to the Jorvik exhibit (see my comments about this above), and then we headed over to Clifford’s Tower.  A remnant of a larger castle that once was on the site, the tower has a gruesome history and gives some pretty amazing views as well. 

View of the chocolate factory-KitKats, yum!

The guards, ticket takers and hosts are pretty amazing throughout England, but the one at Clifford’s Tower went above and beyond telling us one of our favorite stories about the chocolate factory (pictured to the right) that makes 6 million Kit-Kat bars a day! It supplies all of the UK from this one factory.  We thought this was really fun, so we brought a bunch of York Kit-Kats back for our friends and family to enjoy. Yummy chocolate!    

Waiting in front of city art museum for our walking tour of York 

Years of York history revealed in the layers of this wall

On the walls around the city of York

And you think your house has foundation issues?!?

York Minister

Beverly, England

Jason outside Beverly Minster

A look down the Nave toward the Chancel

On the recommendation of Paul Otte, Minister of Music at Peace Lutheran Church in Hutchinson and friend of Jason’s (for those who attended the wedding, Paul carried the cross, directed the handbell choir, and played guitar for one song) we took the long way to York via Beverly. Paul told us that it was worth the drive as it was the most beautiful church he’d ever seen.

As we drove into Beverly we drove toward the church and got very familiar with all the dead-end streets in the area. We’d had plenty of practice with that the previous day in Lincoln. Once we were finally able to find a parking spot.

Beverly Minster was one of the few churches we visited that had free entrance. We were invited by the sign near the door to spend as much time as we wanted and to enjoy the beautiful space. We took a walking-tour pamphlet and worked our way down the side wall of the sanctuary admiring all the amazing stone carvings along the wall—each figure was playing a different musical instrument—fife and drum, bell, cymbals, portative organ, bagpipes, etc. (See the photos)

Beverly Minster Baptismal Font

As we crossed to the opposite wall of the building we saw the beautiful baptismal font. The cover on it was hand-carved wood and beyond comprehension in size and weight. We later learned from the two lovely older ladies in the gift shop that there is a giant “hamster wheel” in the attic of the church and when they want to lift the lid off the font, a person walks inside the wheel to life it!

Beverly Minster Pipe Organ

As we made our way toward the division between the congregation and the quire and high altar we found the floor grave marker for St. John of Beverly who founded the church and died in A.D. 721—obviously the church has been around for a while!

Beyond the Quire Screen

The organ was beautiful and Jason enjoyed taking some time to admire the decoratively painted pipes. He purchased a CD of most organs we saw and we enjoyed listening to the instruments on our long drives as well as since we’ve been back home.

Misericord

Once we passed through the screen and into the quire area we saw more amazing wood carvings on the seats. Beverly Minster’s choir stall seats had a unique feature that not many churches had—misericords. Misericords are small shelves on the underside of the seats so when they are folded up it creates a small perch for choir members to lean on as they were not allowed to sit down for long periods of time during services. The Misericords at Beverly had amazing carvings on them!

Modern Stained Glass

Pilgrim Sculpture

As we passed by the high altar area and behind the altar screen we were met by a friendly local gentleman. He introduced himself as a member of the Minster and explained that he often volunteers to give tours, but on his days off he often comes to wander the Minster and have some quiet time in the beautiful surroundings. We had a great conversation and he explained many things about Beverly Minster. For example, he explained that the sculptures and very modern stained glass window (see photos) are of pilgrims who would come quietly in a side door of the Minster, walk through this area beyond the altar to pay respects to the body of St. John of Beverly, and then they would continue out the door on the other side.  The pilgrim sculpture forms are supposed to be found in the glass. Do you see them?

Carved Stone Ceiling

Beverly Minster was definitely another example of a “living cathedral”—an ancient facility filled filled with modern pieces that show how active this church still is.