This time around, it wasn’t just Steve who tagged along on an adventure. The younger nephew pointed out that Steve should take his sister Stella, so she’s getting introduced to the UK, too.
Day 1 – Traveling
Steve showed his sister Stella how to correctly stow away in a jacket sleeve pocket so that pesky TSA agents and British customs don’t stop them from making the trip.
Super excitedly waiting to start boarding.
It turns out Stella hates waiting in line almost as much as William does.
Very glad for noise cancelling headphones when the British version of brothers Ethan and Liam decided to start poking each other while not listening to their father who was traveling with them by himself.
Day 2 – York
Stella was impressed by her first sight of the Big Pond, but she did complain about all the clouds getting in the way of her trying to see if there were any whales in the ocean.
There is a stereotype about delayed British trains and none of us were impressed to find it true.
Steve did remark that autumn is pretty in England, even though his Florida blood was shivering in the 56* temperatures.
Bonus: He took a picture of sheep!
Once we made it to York, Stella thought it was fun and not creepy at all to hang out in the graveyard admiring a ruined abbey.
Steve thought he was funny and climbed the old abbey wall.
Stella was excited for supper. Steve really wanted the roasted potatoes cooked in duck fat.
Day 3 – York
After waking up early in York, Steve and Stella looked over the medieval walls to make sure no Vikings were attacking.
Steve was a little dismissive of Roman emperor Constantine because the statue showed him with a broken sword.
Both snakes were excited to see the inside and roof of York Minster.
Steve was distracted on the tours in the mason’s loft. He kept staring out the window instead of listening to the tour guide.
Steve did think the 800-year old wood holding up the roof of the Chapter House roof was impressive.
Stella was a bit of a daredevil and said they couldn’t stop her from hanging out on the safety wire at the top of the Minster roof.
Day 4 – Edinburgh
Stella did not like the 42* weather in York as she waited at the train station. “Don’t make me get out of this warm pocket to take pictures!”
Steve was very concerned about watching out the train window to Edinburgh as we traveled along the Northumbrian coast – he was still worried about Vikings.
Both snakes agreed that the train station in Edinburgh (Waverly) was very crowded but very nice.
Steve said, “Oh look, another big church! Can we go in?” And so we went to St. Giles Cathedral.
Steve saw the memorial to Robert Louis Steveson and got excited because Treasure Island is one of the best books ever. I had to tell him to stop yelling, “Don’t give me the Black Spot! We’ve got to save Jim Hawkins!” in the middle of the church!
It turns out Stella is more a fan of poetry and actually a huge fan of Robert Burns, so she loved his memorial window.
When they went to the garden, they kept staring at Castle Rock and asking when we’d get to go to the Castle. “Tomorrow afternoon,” I kept saying.
We went to the National Gallery (art museum) but instead of looking at all the cool paintings, all Stella cared about was the cappuccino and chocolate traybake (brownie).
When he accidentally snuck into a special exhibition without paying the £19 entry fee (because he got confused and just walked in like it was the rest of the National Gallery, which is free), Steve said this “sculpture” looked more like bonfire fuel.
Steve joined in the climb to the top of the Scott Memorial because he also loves the story of Ivanhoe.
Steve wanted to sit on top of the Calton Hill to look back at the Old Town in Edinburgh…
…and then Stella thought it would be a fun idea to try to shoot the cannon while Steve was hiding in it from the rain.
After joining in the climb to the top of the Nelson Monument, Steve almost blew away in the wind! It almost blew William’s phone away while taking Steve’s picture!
Almost at the end of the day, Steve realized he was staring at Holyrood Palace, the king’s palace in Edinburgh. So he spit at it like a good American.
Day 5 – Edinburgh
Stella started her day screaming, “What do you mean we have to climb that big rock at 8:30 in the morning and that’s not even the highest point?!”
At the top of Arthur’s Seat, Steve said, “Seriously, dude? This is the second day in a row you’ve taken me so high in the air I almost blew away in the wind.”
Steve said, “No really, dude, seriously?! That’s a heron! Why are you making me pose in front of this little lake if there is a snake eating bird there?”
After Steve scared off the heron (he claims he did, anyway), Stella posed for pictures in front of the pretty lake.
Today when we visited Edinburgh Castle and were looking down the Royal Mile from the battlements, Steve refused to let Stella be behind him on the cannon after yesterday.
Steve was SUPER into all the swords and armor in the castle. Maybe a little too excited, if you ask me…
When we visited the castle prisons, Stella kept getting distracted and wanted to play with dominoes. She kept saying, “But I want to win the chickenfoot game like at Grandma’s!”
Steve said that the prison beds seemed even more crowded and messy than the boys’ room does…
Once again, Stella’s biggest concern at a museum was what she could have to eat in the cafe, and it turned out to be a raspberry and orange traybake and a cappuccino.
Stella got WAY too excited about being in the room with the largest collection of unopened Scotch bottles in the world. She wanted to do all the smell tests.
Day 6 – Train delays getting to Carlisle
Stella was more than a little tired of standing on the platform at train stations early in the morning. “Why won’t they just open the door and let us in our carriage,” she whined. “That’s literally our seat right there.”
Then Stella got even more aggravated when after being on the train for almost 2 hours (the entire trip was supposed to be 75 minutes), it was turned around and sent back to where we started, only one stop/20 minutes away from where we were supposed to be. “We already saw all this stuff!” she yelled out the window.
Meanwhile, Steve just kept saying stuff like, “Look at all these sheep. Think how tasty they’d be.”
Stella did not want to come out of hiding because she said we’d all go to jail. But the moment Steve heard we were going to storm the barricades and mob first class, he jumped as fast as he could to grab a spot.
After I told Steve that the Scotsman who told us how to get seats said it “wasn’t quite piracy”, he wanted to make a “pirate face” looking out the window of the first class seats we seized from “the fat cat richie Brits,” as Steve called them.
Steve said that if he was going to be a train pirate, he deserved a Guinness to make up for all the energy he used.
Day 7 – Hiking in the Yorkshire Dales
Stella decided she is OK with the local trains that aren’t as crowded, especially after I told her we didn’t have to leave until 8:30 instead of 5:45 in the morning.
Stella started yelling that I told them we were going for a nice walk in the country. “That’s a MOUNTAIN!” Steve said it looked like an adventure.
“We’ve hiked for a mile already. How much further is it?” said Stella.
Steve wanted to pose on top of Pen-y-Ghent. Stella was not getting out in the cold wind, especially after she got worn out climbing up the steep slope.
They both agreed to pose for a family photo at the top of Plover Hill.
Steve was yelling, “WHEEEEEEE!” as we went downhill.
Stella was not amused that we ran downhill. “Are there Hobbits being taken to Isengard? Are you a man named Jim with a horse in the Snowy River country? WHY WOULD YOU RUN DOWN THE HILL?!” She did not understand that it was important to keep the retired couple from getting too far ahead.
Steve wanted to dangle his tail in the stream because it was getting sore from hiking but then he realized it was cold English stream water and not warm Florida water and he regretted many life decisions.
Steve was very annoyed because he thought I was saying we were going to “a whole pot” and thought it meant some lamb stew after all the sheep we walked past. Turned out it was to a big hole called Hull Pot.
Both Steve and Stella needed some cider after hiking over 10 miles around Pen-y-Ghent.
They were so tired after hiking they told me to go to the pub by myself.
Day 8 – London
Stella was not happy – not at all – about getting to the train station at 5:25 in the morning.
Steve was peeking through the fence at the British Museum thinking about stealing a mummy or three.
As much as she griped about train rides, Stella was super excited for her first subway ride. She kept yelling, “They call it the Tube!”
Steve was excited to go to 221B Baker Street to see where Sherlock Homes lived.
Steve had to go to Westminster so that he could spit at Parliament like a good American patriot. Stella kept saying he was going to get arrested.
Stella saw all the other tourists saying posed travel girl photos for Instagram and decided she wanted to be a travel influencer, too.
Steve is a big fan – BIG FAN – of steak and ale pie.
