Ice Cubes, Salt, and Airflow

 

Yesterday we flew from Dublin to England. Landed in Birmingham (sadly missing Barb and Kev) and picked up a rental car. We got an automatic this time which I’m sure was a nice break for Brian. This time the navigation didn’t want to have any sound. Seems like there is always an issue with our navigation. When you’re dealing with traffic circle after traffic circle, knowing if it’s the first exit or the second exit is easier to know when that silly voice tells you. Missed a few and tensions were high but after a phone switch, we got it all working and made our way to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Found a cute little deli and had a good lunch before visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace and a little shopping. Mack dusted a big English breakfast and we were all impressed.

It was so hot in the restaurant. The UK has been having a heat spell and boy did we feel it. Fiona and I sat drinking the room temperature tap water and dreaming about the cold rose lemonade in the fridge. We talked about why haven’t had many ice cubes on this trip. Then why there were rarely fans, and then Mack added how food back home is saltier.

The Mack hand in the photo trick.

After sweating and eating, we found some cute shops and of course a charity shop. Visited Shakespeare, took the photo, got a cold drink, and headed out toward Stow-On-The-Wold. 

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

We arrived to our place in the afternoon and sadly I had developed a migraine through the day. We did a little wander to a restaurant nearby and then I went straight to bed after. No blog yesterday.

The pancakes were amazing. Fresh raspberries with yogurt and then drizzled with Cotswold honey. 

I couldn’t decide on my favorite shot of the girls. Mack is’t usually so smiley in photos!

After our morning wander, we took Mack home for her Harry Potter movie marathon and rest and we headed off to Bourton-On-The-Water. Sooo cute. I really love how adorable the cottages are here. 

This was so good! It was elderberry and clotted cream flavor. 

We decided that we would have a proper afternoon tea today with Fiona. It was another thing on our list. We headed to Lucy’s Tea House and had a very nice afternoon. 

Rachael had talked to us about the argument about whether cream or Jam should go first on a scone. Fi tried it both ways. We actually both preferred no jam and just cream. 

We had our afternoon tea a little late and it pushed our dinner late. In a small town like this, that means either restaurants are no longer open or you need a reservation. After doing the dinner search, we headed to the TESCO market and got some grocery store food to cook at home. Mack got a frozen pasta, I got frozen noodles and gyoza, Fiona got chicken goujons (which I will forever call nuggets now), and Brian got some ravioli. 

Tomorrow morning we will be heading to London for the final leg of our trip. Well, Fiona will be continuing on to Germany. We have a few nights in London because we came all this was and thought the girls should see it. “Look kids, Big Ben-Parliment” Tell me you’ve seen European Vacation…