Scotland, round 2

Old castle ruins

When we finished teaching, we headed off on an awesome three part holiday.  First, we went back up to Scotland to hike the Isle of Skye.  We loved it so much when we were there earlier in the year, and we had planned to come back on our own to do some hiking.  We were not disappointed.  We stayed with Disa and Derryk beforehand in Glasgow, and also spent another day in Edinburgh, one of the best cities in the world.

During the first day, we were able to do a hike along seaside cliffs.

We watched two seals playing and hunting in the ocean.

There was a wide variety of seabirds.

Day 2 - - -

 

We hiked up the Trotternish Ridge.  Unfortunately, it was quite foggy and rainy when we were there, but it was magical anyway.

We had the BEST campsite ever that night - right on the ridge, overlooking the ocean.  It was a really windy night

Day 3 - - -

We hiked up to the Old Man of Stor.  I found the rock formations and views to be just remarkable.  Scotland is a beautiful country.

 We chose to backpack, Canadian style.  So we brought our tent and set up camp each night.  People talk about backpacking in Europe all the time, but there aren`t usually tents involved.  If we had planned our trip just slightly differently, we could have stayed in a comfortable hostels each night.  Although it`s wild, it`s a much more tame kind of wild than the wilderness in Canada.  Sheep were our constant companions, even on the highest mountains (which also aren`t nearly as high or rough as the Rockies) and we passed by small villages often.  It was quite pleasant.



Day 4 - - -

 Back to Edinburgh!

 ...all of the UK was getting excited about the upcoming Olympics.

We had a great time in Scotland.  I am so glad we were able to visit twice during our year in Europe.  I hope we are able to visit again.  We felt at home here.

London - I love you

...shots around town...

Getting ready to welcome the world for the Olympics

Getting ready for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert

Well Wishes

While living in London, we really got to know the city of London.  There were a few people too, who we grew to really care about while we were here.   These are some farewell cards we received.

Cards from some of Dave's students

 Cards from Primary leaders and kids

Great kids, fun times in London Clapham Common Primary.
Jerome: "Christmas cards are for girls, Christmas presents are for boys!"

Harry Potter World

 When Devon visited in May, she and I went to the Warner Brother's Studios where they filmed the Harry Potter films.  Dave was unable to get that day off to come with, but he went when his school finished at the beginning of July.  Pretty crazy to see everything they used.  All the sets, costumes and props were there.  Here are some more photos of that crazy place.  It took a good three hours to see everything.

The Great Hall

Harry's first robes

There was an unparalleled amount of detail at this studio.  Here is a design on the wall in the Great Hall that was aged.

Gryffindor Common Room, with Harry, Ron and Hermione's costumes.

Gringott's

Walking down Diagon Alley was amazing.  They set up the entire street as it was in the movie, with all kinds of shops.  And here, again, amazing detail.  Every wand in Ollivander's was hand made.  The people who built these sets really created an entire other world.

Dobby

Hogwarts.  They used this model for all the shots of the castle.

We heart Harry Potter.

Shakespeare's Globe

After walking past the iconic Globe Theater countless times, we finally went to a play.  Their season is quite short, so we had to wait until the spring.  We went to Henry V, and of course loved it.

Afterwards, we went on another walk along the Thames.  It is so beautiful there, all the time.