10 Tidbits from my Summer in Scotland & the UK
London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Harrogate, and yes, Knaresborough
I promised details about my trip to the UK and Scotland last summer to the Theakston Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, so here are ten juicy, and not so juicy tidbits from my trip.
You can walk your feet off in Kew Gardens, especially if you forget your umbrella, and there’s a massive downpour, because there are few places to shelter. Luckily I’d just arrived at the enchanting Queen Charlotte’s Cottage where Charlotte and her husband King George III would escape to have picnics in the summer, when the skies opened up. As a Bridgerton super fan, if India Amarteifio as Queen Charlotte had come strolling up to the door, I would not have been surprised.
Edinburgh is a delight of a city. From the mix of old and new architecture, to the fabulous cafes and shops, to the welcoming Scots, I felt right at home in what is a fascinating and walkable town. And though I refused to try haggis, I did experiment with some delicious Vietnamese cuisine at Pho.
Cadbury chocolate in the UK is different than Cadbury chocolate in the US! To resupply my hotel room survival snack kit, I habitually scoured local supermarkets for flavored crisps and Cadbury chocolate. Well imagine my surprise when the UK Cadburys tasted creamier and less “tough” than those in the States. I suspect it’s because American Cadburys are produced by Hershey in the U.S. and the first ingredient is sugar. UK Cadburys are produced by the Cadbury company, and their first ingredient is milk. Do better, Hershey. Do better.
Loch Lomond is beautiful and impressive with its 30 islands and lovely landscapes. However with its summer boating, fishing and swimming activities, it was less the desolate wasteland I expected and much more like a Scottish Lake Placid.
Just because it’s a brand new tour bus, doesn’t mean there’s enough leg room. On my day long bus trip to Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle, I had to get bitchy and insist the man in front of me not recline into my lap. Neither one of us was thrilled I had to do it.
The Kelpies are touted as the “largest equine sculptures in the world,” and damned if I don’t believe them. However, there’s no way in hell I would have felt the need to see them if there hadn’t been a forecast of a deluge the next day for the tour I really wanted to Doune Castle. But I didn’t fancy tramping around in the rain on slippery cobblestones, so I chose the Stirling Castle tour which included the Kelpies. Sure enough the deluge came the next day, so I made the right choice, even if that meant getting up close and personal with the strange, massive metal horses.
Stirling Castle, the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots, is wonderful with its majestic battlements, views of the town of Stirling, and the battlegrounds of clan wars gone by. And if you’ve got more than a few quid to spend, you can rent the Great Hall for weddings and corporate events, and like generations of Scottish monarchs, party like it’s 1499.
Riding first class on National Rail trains was fun. From my solo reserved seat by the window, to the tasty boxed lunches and drinks, I had a blast.
Cambridge has a lot of students. I mean a LOT of students. Of course I knew there’d be students but I forgot it was the height of graduation season. All that youthful optimism and ambition was a bit overwhelming so I took refuge punting on the River Cam, and meandering through the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
The freedom to be spontaneous is one of the best parts of traveling solo. On the train from Edinburgh to Harrogate, we passed the picturesque town of Knaresborough. I had a day off before the crime writing festival and an extra trip on my rail pass, so I visited the town and discovered Mother Shipton’s Cave. Billed as the UK’s “oldest tourist attraction,” and opened in 1630, it’s a mile-long trail through meandering, mystical woodlands along the River Nidd. Past man-made fairy huts and a picnic area, there’s the petrifying well where over time, the highly mineralized water can petrify ordinary objects. Once at the cave where “England’s most famous prophetess,” Mother Shipton (Ursula Southeil) was born to a fifteen-year-old mother, I felt a strange connection to the long dead icon. That it was a cloudy weekday with hardly anyone around probably added to the sense of bucolic isolation, and I may just need to include a reference to Mother Shipton in my next book.