Ok then...in response to the requests, here are some selected photos - but not as many words as Penni's travelogue...
Our Trip
We arrived in England on August 15, for two weeks. The first week we spent with my parents-in-law who live near Warrington (which is near Manchester).
Monday Aug 16: Manchester area
In the morning we went to the science museum in Manchester, which is pretty good - has some big steam machines which they had steamed up and working.
After that we went to Salford, where there is a cool new footbridge.
Tuesday Aug 17: Conwy, Wales
Conwy Castle - one of my favorite castles!
My son and I (!) on top of a tower at Conwy Castle
The C13th town wall, built at the same time as the castle, still complete enough to walk around the top of most of it.
Wednesday Aug 18: Tatton Park/Knutsford
Cool tree (ok, so I like trees) in the parkland belonging to Tatton Hall.
Notice how green the grass is. It always is in England, but we happened to go in the wettest August for 100 years *sigh* so it especially was this year...
Courtyard in Knutsford (the village bordering Tatton Park) which I thought was pretty.
Thursday Aug 19: Centerparcs, Nottingham
We spent a day at Centerparcs with cousins - it's a holiday center with an awesome swimming area.
Friday Aug 20
It poured with rain until it was too late to go anywhere significant. Hopefully you know what rain looks like...because I have no photo of it...
We did pick up our rental car.
Saturday Aug 21: driving day
We drove from Warrington to Northumberland to spend the second week with my extended family (my parents and my brothers' families). On the way we stopped briefly at Durham, which has a beautiful cathedral.
(Evidently the Harry Potter movie cloister scenes were filmed at Durham Cathedral cloisters)
We continued and took a short detour along Hadrian's Wall (remains of wall built by the Romans all the way across England), stopping at Chesters Roman Fort.
There was a one room museum there stuffed full of bits of Roman altars that had been found near/at the wall.
The countryside where the wall remains were was beautiful.
My children exploring the remains of the barracks building at the fort. Chesters is the most complete Roman fort remains in the UK.
There was an awesome sunset from our rented house on our first evening there.
Sunday Aug 22: Lindisfarne
Before we left the house, I took a photo of the view from upstairs - you can see the bay next to our house, going out to the open sea and the distant piece of land is the island of Lindisfarne.
To get to the Island of Lindisfarne you have to drive across a causeway which is only open at low tide.
The weather was beautiful that day and the island was very pretty. In the distance you can see the ruined priory.
Monday Aug 23: Alnwick ("Annick") Castle
Someone had the smart idea of lining up all the cousins (plus one parent, my brother) for a photo before we left. Our rented house is in the background and the children are standing in the garden.
This was an impressive castle which was used for various outdoor Hogwarts scenes, such as the first time Harry flies around on his broom.
Tuesday Aug 24: Bamburgh ("Bamborough") Castle
Bamburgh Castle is another impressive castle; it was just a couple of miles from where we were staying and right on the coast, with gorgeous sandy beaches right below it.
It was supposed to rain heavily on this day but we were pleased that somehow the rain didn't reach us - so after going round the castle, the children were delighted to have an afternoon on the beach.
Wednesday Aug 25
It was raining and my son had quite an upset stomach on this day; we went to a pottery painting place we'd found in the town of Alnwick then my husband and I took my son back to the house to rest because he wasn't feeling well enough to be out any more.
Thursday Aug 26
A beautiful morning; we went to Seahouses to take a boat trip out to the Farne Islands to see the birds on them.
Unfortunately the movement boat made almost all of us feel ill - and many other passengers too - there must have been quite a swell even though the sea looked quite calm to me before we left. We were very glad to get off when the ride was finally over!!!
(No photos of people throwing up - that would have been Too Much Information)
Fortunately we recovered enough after the boat ride to have fish and chips for lunch, after walking around Seahouses a little.
In the afternoon we went to a beach near Beadnell. Notice the ruined limekilns in the distance - a feature of the Northumbrian coast.
Friday Aug 26: the beach and back to Alnwick
We went to the beach one more time, but this morning there was a strong cold wind off the sea (English people familiar with the North East coast will know how cold it can be even in August!) and so even the children didn't want to stay long.
We went back to Alnwick, which has this awesome gateway into the town
and visited Alnwick gardens, which is mostly under construction but has an impressive cascading pools fountain.
The next day we drove back to Warrington, stayed one more night there and flew back to Chicago the following morning.
That's all, folks...
Re: Conwy Castle
Really great, clear photographs and looks like a wonderful time.
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