Outnumbered & Abroad; Red Deer, the Harry Potter Train, & the Bonnie Prince Charlie (part 21)
It's Day 8 and we might have been getting delirious as we fought over the last playing card that was currently in play for our ultimate card-game challenge: The Red Stag. A stop at the Hogwarts Express' route and a visual of the Bonnie Prince Charlie, before we continued on our way through the Scottish highlands.
Outnumbered & Abroad: Ghyll Scrambling (Part 18)
Have you ever heard of Ghyll Scrambling? It’s like baby canyoneering or the equivalent of going down a hillside via a small creek wearing nothing but a wet suit, life jacket and helmet while you climb, jump and boulder your wa through cliffs, tree branches/roots and the terrain. A favorite of the regency era, we really enjoyed the opportunity to experience this with our guide John.
Outnumbered & Abroad: Liverpool & The Beatles (Part 17)
The first CD I ever got was the best Number 1 hits of The Beatles so getting the opportunity to stop in Liverpool to celebrate this iconic british invasion band was a must-do for me! Unfortunately, mostly everything was closed that early in the morning but we got to see some of the good stuff before heading to the next clue card!
Outnumbered & Abroad: Cardiff Castle (Part 14)
After a great British Pub meat pie, I was surprised that i didn’t get much sleep before we headed off to the next country in our adventure in Wales! Stopping for breakfast at a teahouse, we accidentally (or intentionally??) invaded a castle before heading out for our next clue!
Outnumbered & Abroad: Bath Abbey, Tea, & Meat Pies (Part 13)
Headaches can make a long travel day more the worse and frustrations between siblings seem to be rising … but that all changed when we finally had our first good British meal of the trip: British Pub Pies! A shoutout to a random stranger who taught us pub dining etiquette - would we have starved without you? Probably.
Outnumbered & Abroad: Bath & Austen (Part 12)
A rowdy set of caroling pub goers the night before (Part 11) might have left us a tad tire, thereby creating the road to be more terrifying and tempers to be short but that all changed upon getting to the Jane Austen centre in Bath. I quickly realized that despite P&P being my favorite book, I was the worst Jane Austen fan ever!
Outnumbered & Abroad; Stonehenge (Part 11)
After our rousing game of polo (part 10), we headed to Stonehenge where we explored like the tourists we were and then laughed about the tourists who were gawking over the local farm animal residents. Then it was off to a classic British pub where the longest running joke from our trip happened - “It’s half.”
Outnumbered & Abroad; South Bank Book Market (Part 8)
Just a set of booklovers at the forty plus year old South Hampton second-hand book market for our photo challenge portion of our Amazing Race style UK adventure. Plus a deep dive into how bad Jet Lag effected me!
Outnumbered & Abroad; The Abbey (Part 7)
After leaving Buckingham Palace, we went to find Westminster Abbey - something that I realized I had no idea what it looked like, what it was, nor what a monk or nun does for a living. It was a cultural experience for sure!
Outnumbered & Abroad: Buckingham Palace (Part 6)
Part 6: We headed to Buckingham Palace where my journal entries show that, surprisingly, I can rival even Mr. Collins in bragging about the extreme luxury of a single place and describe, with infinite detail, each of the drawing rooms.
Outnumbered & Abroad: King’s Cross Station & The Globe Theater (Part 5)
As if our days couldn’t become more crowded we hit two clues in one that included the nerdy sides of each part of the siblings: Harry Potter for the Schrock’s and Shakespeare for the Johnson’s - well, mainly Randi! Platform Nine & Three-Quarters and The Globe Theater.
Outnumbered & Abroad; Camden Market (Part 4)
A quick peruse through the Camden Locks - I was excited to learn the history and get my first taste of London’s culinary scene. Some was more than I expected and other expectations fell hopelessly short.
Outnumbered & Abroad: Making it through Customs (Part 3)
A custom’s agent that had a dark sense of humor prophesied misery on our trip, mocked our names, and left us laughing and confused.
Outnumbered & Abroad; Upon Landing (Part 2)
Traveling for twelve-hours in a plane doesn’t take as long as one would think… that is unless you get air sick or you’re sitting next to someone that does. Unfortunately, that did happen to us, but we finally landed in London for the first time ever!
Outnumbered & Abroad; T’was The Night Before Leaving
I had never been out of North America before and the thought of “backpacking” through the UK for two weeks with my sister and two other sibling friends seemed exciting, daunting, and a whole lot of unknown. These are the thoughts before we left.