Backpacking it in England and Scotland

17 07, 2017

Travel Missteps: The Determined Thief of Edinburgh

By Lili|July 17th, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, bus, Edinburgh, Europe, hop on and off bus, police, Scotland, thief, UK, United Kingdom|0 Comments

Source I've written before before how my family used the "Hop on / Hop Off" busses in England to get around the cities a lot. But one of our last times on those sightseeing busses turned out to be the most eventful. As per usual, we got to the designated starting point early and claimed seats at the top. We had a wide choice of seats, the only other person on the top deck was two older women sitting together. I decided to sit halfway back, mainly because at this point in a 2 week trip I

5 06, 2017

Travel Missteps: Jorvik – “It’s just like Disneyland!”

By Lili|June 5th, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Coppergate, Disney, England, Jorvik, Jorvik Viking Center, UK, United Kingdom, Vikings, York, York Minster|0 Comments

"It's just like Disneyland!" my Mother said. "There are rides! And a museum!" That is how my mother (or her guidebook she was reading from) described York's Jorvik Viking Center. We were trying to find an activity that would fill up one of our days in York, and a theme park seemed like something great for my middle-school-aged sister and with me since I was still in high school. Plus, I did like museums, so that seemed like a win-win. A little background: Jorvik is the name given to the 9th and 10th century York when it was ruled by

21 11, 2016

Travel Missteps: Border Clans of Scotland

By Lili|November 21st, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Armstrong, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Border Clan, Clan, Edinburgh, Family, Scotland, Scottish Clan, Tartan, UK, United Kingdom|0 Comments

Our motto: "I remained Unvanquished". It is a rare privilege to be able to visit the homeland of your ancestors. I've been able to visit England, Ireland, and Scotland to see the countrysides of where they lived. I thought I new a lot about my Armstrong ancestors from going to the Scottish Military Tattoo Festival every year in Estes Park, CO. I knew our motto, what our crest and tartan looked like. I had learned the old story of how a warrior rescued his clan's King when he fell in battle, picking him up and getting him

24 10, 2016

Travel Missteps: The Dueling Grounds of Bath, England

By Lili|October 24th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Bath, druid, druid tree, duel, dueling grounds, duelist, England, Europe, Garrick's Head pub, ghost, Ghost Tour, holly, holly bush, holly tree, ley lines, poltergeist, roman, roman bath, royal crescent, Royal Victoria Park, skeptics, The Gravel Walk, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, United Kingdom|1 Comment

Source I always was a strange kid. I loved reading about magic and ghosts, so when my family was in England I begged to do a ghost tour. My parents figured the poltergeist tours of London and Edinburg might be a little too intense for my sister and I, so instead my mother found a walking ghost tour of Bath. It was a fairly tame tour, starting out right before dusk and telling us the history of the town, from Roman times up to Victorian times. He told us about druids and ley lines, and how the

9 05, 2016

Travel Missteps: Not the Hogwarts Express

By Lili|May 9th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, 2012, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Costa Rica & Orlando Adventure, Edinburgh, England, Family, Florida, Harry Potter, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts Express, Islands of Adventure, Kings Cross, Kings Cross Station, North America, Orlando, Orlando Adventure 2012, Platform 9 3/4, Scotland, Tain, UK, United Kingdom, Universal Studios, USA, Witches, Wizarding World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Wizards, York|0 Comments

England had some pretty disappointing train trips. I traveled there in the summer of 2002. I remember being a Senior in high school, and dashing through Kings Cross station late at night, to try to catch a glimpse of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Why? Because I wanted to act out and take a photo pretending to gain access to Platform 9 3/4! Imagine my surprise and disappointment to find that platform 9 and 10 are in separate areas! (Now they actually have a photo op elsewhere in the station, but it was dark times for early fans.) So,

11 04, 2016

Travel Missteps: Part of the Family

By Lili|April 11th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, England, Family, Punks, Restaurant, The Shambles, UK, United Kingdom, York, York Minster|1 Comment

As I mentioned perviously, my first trip abroad we didn’t have a watch, and so our eating schedules were off. We’d eat breakfast at noon, and then get hungry for dinner around midnight. On our second trip abroad, this time to England & Scotland we made sure to plan mealtimes better. After spending the day wandering York and taking in sights, like The Shambles and York Minster, we were hungry. So we happened upon a small homey restaurant near dinnertime we stepped in and took a seat. The owners, a cute old couple, were regaling friends with stories and laughter.

20 02, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Scottie Dog Plush

By Lili|February 20th, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, dog, Edinburgh, Europe, plush, Scotland, Scotland the Brave, stuffed animal, UK, United Kingdom|0 Comments

This little scottie dog is directly from Edinburgh, Scotland and plays "Scotland the Brave". I've had it for so long I don't even remember where I bought it. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.

4 04, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Bagpipe Practice Chanter

By Lili|April 4th, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Bagpipe, Bagpipe Practice Chanter, castle, Chanter, clarinet, drums, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Europe, guitar, instrument, music, piano, Practice Chanter, Scotland, UK|0 Comments

I grew up learning to play many instruments from piano, drums, guitar, and the clarinet. Which is probably why this Practice Chanter to help learn how to play Bagpipes caught my eye in Scotland. Scottish Bagpipe Practice Chanter I bought it right after seeing Edinburgh Military Tattoo right outside Edinburgh Castle. It is a double reed instrument that feels like a cross between a clarinet and a recorder. But the sound is much closer to a Bagpipe/recorder hybrid. This particular Chanter...is very cheap. It is hard to play the notes, and the reed isn't the best quality. But

8 03, 2015

The Sounds that Travel with Us

By Lili|March 8th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Asia, at the heart of it Ireland 2009, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Belize, BuzzFeed, California, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Christmas in Germany, christmas music, Costa Rica, drinking song, England, Europe, Germany, Good Food in San Francisco, Guatemala, House of Cards, Ireland, Italy, Japan, ke$ha, kesha, Las Vegas, Linkin Park, Mattafix, Mayan Encounter 2013, memories, Mexico, Nevada, North America, paradise, Robert Post, Sailor Moon, San Diego, San Francisco, Scotland, Sister Cities Japan 2004, song, songs, sound, sounds, St. John, St. John 2010, Toronto, USA, USVI, wild rover, Yea! Sports|0 Comments

BuzzFeed recently had an article about the sounds from Italy that will fill you with Wanderlust. And it reminded me of all the sounds I associate with certain trips. Here are some of my top highlights that will instantly take me back in time: Toronto: Theme from House of Cards Google Play and Amazon had the first episode of House of Cars for free. I figured, sure why not, lets see what the hype is all about. I watched the first episode on my flights out...and got hooked. At night I'd watch House of Card before falling asleep. San Diego:

3 02, 2014

Travel Missteps: Round and Round We Go

By Lili|February 3rd, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Bath, bed and breakfest, bus, druid tree, England, Europe, hop on and off bus, ley line, London, roman, roman baths, royal crescent, travel, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, United Kingdom|0 Comments

In 2002, my family and I went on our second overseas trip. This time backpacking it through England and Scotland. We had utilized the hop on and off again buses frequently throughout our trip. In London it helped to orientate us, and we learned a lot of the history. When we arrived early to Bath our bed and breakfast wouldn't let us in yet. So with all of our luggage we bought a day’s ticket for the hop on and off again bus. It was the slow season, so no one else was aboard, so we put our luggage on