“The Rain is Different Here”

Our luck with weather ran out in northern England and Wales – we now know that per square inch of rainfall that hits you, there is more water falling from the sky here than at home; it drenches you in seconds. The Sharps braved the weather and found adventure: both indoors and outdoors. Luckily, the sun found us again further south.

Lake District

We found more homes for rent in England (than hotels), giving us more room to make meals at “home” and get a worldschooling routine happening. In the Lake District, we went to the seaside in Workington, explored the old town of Keswick and got drenched hiking to Aira Falls. The rolling, green hills and old stone built villages of England are stunning.

Rainy but beautiful vistas.

A very wet hike to Aira Falls.

Liverpool

We hit our first big city since Edinburgh with the birthplace of the Beatles. We lost no time getting to the Cavern Club to experience the history of the British Invasion: Bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks all made their names in this club buried in subterranean Liverpool. 

We found busy, walkable streets, great restaurants (with far more options than rural Scotland on the menu!) to be a welcome change. Liverpool showed us what a city with a troubled past can do when it sets its sights on revitalization. Once the most polluted port in the world (During the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s this port became a major economic engine; its population rose from 77,000 in the early 1800s to almost a million by 1930). This city has transformed itself into an interesting and dynamic place to visit despite having settled down to its modern level of ~half a million people. We spent time at the Museum of Liverpool, Albert Dock, Liverpool ONE pedestrian entertainment district (including a night of go-karting!!), the music district, Penny Lane, and also learned about the Titanic (the White Star Line was headquartered in Liverpool and the ship bore the city’s name, although we were disappointed the Marine Museum was closed for renovations).

Museum of Liverpool

Cavern Club

Conwy, Wales

We headed to the land of double consonants to explore the Welsh town of Conwy, one of the most intact walled cities still in existence. We rented a lovely cottage and enjoyed walking the walls and castle of the old town and the seaside promenade. Finlay and Ian went off for another rainy waterfall hike (see Finlay’s thoughts below). Our travel day from Wales to Bath allowed us to stop in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare to tour the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and hit a street food festival on a beautifully sunny day.

Bath & Area

We stayed at Laurel Farm outside of Bath, an eco-focused small farm with sheep, ducks, chickens and vegetable growing. Our place had lots of space to spread out, a fully equipped home and great walks around the nearby woodland. We were able to light a wood burning fire in the small stove (This helped us stay cozy and to dry our wet laundry - we are discovering that clothes dryers are less common than we know in Canada - what a luxury in hindsight!). 

We explored Bath and Bradford-on-Avon and had a proper English Sunday Roast at a pub. This part of England is stunning for its architecture and picturesque towns perched on hills. A canoe trip down a canal over an aqueduct that crossed a train line led to a very nice afternoon on the water; the boys and Ian even got to help operate some analog locks. Our science curriculum was able to discuss the difference between an aqueduct, viaduct and a bridge (for the record all aqueducts & viaducts are bridges but not all of the former are bridges). The mystery of the details will probably become a school project in the near future. The volunteers that operate the locks were very happy to have some eager young helpers.

Most days we found playgrounds in the afternoons where the boys were been able to find playmates. We met some Spanish friends where team Canada was able to eke out a victory 16-15 despite being out numbered 3-2 on the pitch. 

The locks, the chickens and a canoe ride near Bath.

London

We visited the mysterious and fascinating Stonehenge on our way to London, crazy to think that this stone structure in the middle of the English countryside is 5000 years old and predates the pyramids. We then found joy reuniting with old friends who call London home. What a blessing to see a city as locals do - we saw more and better of London thanks to Kim & Ben than we would have done alone - and were able to bask in the familiar faces of old friends. We explored the new Olympic Park and East London, Borough Market, the pubs of Islington. We caught a football (read soccer) match at Leyton Field with Kim and Ben. Watching a game between Leyton Orient and Stevanage. The football chants of Oy Oy Oy Orient! made for an amazingly authentic sports experience. We also hit the touristy highlights of Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Soho, theatre with Les Misérables, Tate Modern, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and Hamley’s. We left feeling excited by the big city, knowing there is still so much to see when we return someday. Thank you Kim & Ben for some amazing hospitality and memories. Good luck with your wily fox. 

Jasper - on highlights

My favourite place was Liverpool because of the go-karting at the Liverpool ONE. I also liked the farm in Bath, there were so many CHICKENS and fresh eggs. I liked learning about the Tower of London. And a shout out to Kim and Ben for some of the best tacos in my life!!!! 

Finlay - on waterfalls and tubes

We have been to a lot of waterfalls and we have realized how going in the rain makes it better. The first reason why is it makes the waterfalls bigger and better with all the water aiding the waterfall with its water. The waterfalls that we went to when it wasn’t raining weren’t quite as good. We didn’t do a proper test though so we can’t know for sure.

I find the London tubes really interesting because you can get to anywhere in the city through them. You can go to a football stadium, a theatre and many other things in London. My parents said the greater the city the better public transport it has. I learned that the Elizabeth line is the newest line and the Victoria Line is the oldest one.

Ian - on driving

Our blue Skoda (a Czech SUV) has been fun. We left Scotland airport without my driver's license feeling slightly naked, figuring out how to change gears, stay on the left, all while navigating the outskirts of a busy city. The learning curve has been steep but exciting. Thankfully, my early cars were manual transmission. I think I only stalled the car once in the middle of a traffic circle. Oh ya traffic circles! While I knew they were common, I underestimated their prevalence - appearing in virtually every intersection! Many have 5 or 6 entry/exit points and multiple lanes. Some are just some arrows painted in the middle of the intersection, while others are elaborate concrete structures with lights and lanes that seemingly just dissolve into the void. If you end up in the wrong lane it is sometimes better just to swallow your pride and go around for another spin to depart in the right direction. They often appear on what Canadians would consider a freeway with 3 major highways all intersecting (%$#*!!).

Driving manual can transform any car into a sports car: Feeling more attached to the hum of the engine, juggling the clutch, gear shift and gas pedals while merging through a traffic circle can make you feel like you're jockeying for position in an F1 race. However, my race car dreams were short lived once I realized the 51 horsepower Baltic SUV just wasn’t going to equal James Bond driving his Aston Martin. We’ve realized having a car is a blessing and a curse. The freedom of having a car has allowed us to see some sights and stay more remotely. The down side has been moving faster between stays and finding driving through the UK a more stressful experience than hoped although I’ve found the UK drivers overall be courteous and friendly, waving and smiling while giving way on narrow single lane roads - we are keen to slow down more than we have to date!

Erin – on finding our travel cadence

We are still learning about how to be on the road together! I am amazed at our family – particularly the boys’ flexibility and enthusiasm for what we are doing. No – we are not ALWAYS all getting along (not that we did at home either….LOL), but we are communicating well, learning a lot about each other and really leaning into the highs and lows of travel. For example…we ended up at a rather sketchy rental for the first night in Liverpool – enough so that we felt we needed to make a change – which we did with humour and cooperation despite the bit of stress. 

As we start to map out our November and December, the learnings of the past few weeks are helping us make decisions so we can continue to build the trip of our dreams -- it is an amazing gift to be able to just connect with “what do we - as a family - want to do: today, next week, next month….”

Happy Trails

xxx The Sharps