Our Favorites -- From England!

Favorite road sign:

Mom: It has to be "Sheep Lying Down in Road." I think it was in Dartmoor National Park. My least favorite was the roundabout sign. Or hearing Siri proclaim. "At the roundabout....". 

Erica: I totally forgot about that sheep sign! Hilarious, and true. Not only that, we saw the phenomenon. I also enjoyed that the road signs were made at Ikea - no words, just unknowable symbols. 

Favorite Hamilton song

Mom: I think, "You'll Be Back".

Erica: That's mine too. It's easy to sing, and hilarious. I loved watching that performed in London. The English patrons thought King George was too funny.  

Favorite store:

Mom: It has to be Seasalt in St. Ives. The patterns and the fabrics and the details on the clothes were so unique. 

Erica: Seasalt - yes! All the shops in St. Ives were so cute. 

Favorite food:

Mom: I think my favorite were the scones and clotted cream at Snappers.

Erica: Clotted cream. Yum. I fantasized about making it at home, and it's a no! It takes forever, and sounds iffy at best. We'll just have to go back to Cornwall!

Weirdest food:

Mom: Scallops at the pub near Snappers. [We don't know where this was!].  They don't clean the frill off (look it up -- ew). 

Erica: To be fair, there was a lot of weird food. The English are known for high tea, and that's about it! The bacon really got me. I'm not sure what I was looking at, but it was fish shaped. And limpish.  Everywhere. 

Favorite navigation moment:

Mom: I don't know if it's my "favorite", but getting back to Snappers each night was hard!

Erica: As the navigator, I take this question rather personally. My "favorite" was the night we were trying to get back to Snappers, and we were looking for the BP Station to take the 30 or whatever back home. I was sure the BP station in question was old, and so we drove by this new one several times until frustration took over, and we just rolled the dice. And home we found!

Favorite tube experience:

Mom: I was really pleased with how well we were able to navigate wherever we were going.  Double edged sword, I was often offered a seat by other passengers. How nice. But am I of that age? Insert wide eyed emoji. ;)

Erica: The tube and I have a love-hate relationship. I will say, that while I hated going on it, it was very easy, efficient and safe. There. 

Favorite natural wonder:

Mom: The coastal path in Exmoor National Park. It was the rugged English coast I had hoped to experience. 

Erica:  I loved that we went to National Parks! I mean, woohoo!! Last year when we were in Canada we managed to find ourselves in one of their national parks, and this year we found two in England. I love that there is a world out there protecting natural wonders. 

Favorite man made wonder:

Mom:  Going through the ruins of Glastonbury, feeling the history. [She's shaking her hands like the Godfather as she says this.]

Erica: Glastonbury, hands down. I just ran across a picture on my phone, and gasped. What is that? Glastonbury.  Happy sigh. It was everything I had hoped for, and a little more. All the magic that I had dreamed about all these years, rested soundly in those grounds. 

Favorite experience:

Mom: My favorite experience was actually driving through the English countryside, seeing the hedgerows and the sheep, and wondering where Granny and Grandpa had visited. Had they walked in the same places that I had? Had they seen the same rugged coasts?  I like to think that they had.

Erica:  I've bifurcated the categories so there could be so many favorites. The whole trip was my favorite. But my favorite experience might have been Evensong at Westminster. It wasn't a tourist activity, but a normal church service.  The men's/boy's choir was phenomenal, and the entire experience so spiritual. There is a power in that building that is unmatched. I wasn't able to finish reciting the Apostle's Creed because I was so choked up, but what an amazing place to be able to say those words. Think of the generations of people that have said that before me in the very same spot!

Favorite mode of transportation:

Mom: I think it has to be the boat tour on the Thames. Seeing London from a different experience was awesome. And what a beautiful day!

Erica: Well, that Volvo was everything, but I also liked our big city learning from John. He taught us how to use Uber! And we did it on our own too!

Favorite Harry Potter moment:

Mom: The Forbidden Forest. That was very well done. The forest floor was bouncy, just like a real forest. The trees were huge, although they weren't as big as those spiders!

Erica:  The Great Hall. I was so surprised that it existed in that scale. It was huge! I also liked being able to walk into the house on Privet Drive. I know there are a lot of green screen effects, but the amount of things that were "real" was impressive. 

Favorite movie from plane ride:

Mom: It wasn't on the plane, but I liked the Highwaymen.

Erica:  Oh! Me too; we had time for so many flicks on the plane! All were good, but I especially enjoyed "On the Basis of Sex". Is it wrong to fist pump in a public area? Too late! It's a great film, even if you know the history forwards and backwards. See it and fist pump!

Place you want to go back to:

Mom: I think St. Ives. We didn't spend enough time there. It was right on the ocean, and so incredibly beautiful. 

Erica: I'd go back to any of it, but I especially want to see the rest of the Jurassic Coast. We only saw Charmouth Beach, and each beach on the coast has a different geological wonder. We just didn't have time! 

And so, that is finally a wrap. We had wanted something so special for our 25th trip, and we sure got it. T&L don't expect to travel internationally for #26, but they do expect to have another amazing trip. Oh the places we'll go!