Something New, Something Cherished - Part 2

Last week, I shared our "new" England experiences, this week I'll share some of our cherished England revisited!

As you know, we're foodies so of course we had to get all of our favorites!!

Ooops, someone got so excited to dig in they forgot to let me take a photo first.  This may or may not be MY plate! lol

Can't have the fish without the chips and mushy peas!

Steak and mushroom pie

Sticky toffee pudding - just one of many we had - and not the best - that honor belongs to those made by our cherished friend, Dani.

One simply must have tea and scones when in England. Yorkshire scones are huge and delicious but were missing and essential ingredient - clotted cream!  We remedied that - MANY - times during the second part of our trip - but the very best ones were at Vintage Blue Tea room in Lavenham. Which also served Eton Mess- another family favorite.

The Vintage Tea Room not only has delicious food, its adorable!

 More fish and chips - in Whitby.  We enjoyed eating them outside in a seaside town.  Our family did a taste test and decided we are a "haddock" family and preferred it over the cod.

When we lived near Cambridge, the girls were a little small for punting on their own so we made a trip back to let them give it a go.  Our smallest member was the best punter.  Our cherished friend Joe joined us and in addition, to providing us with this great photo, provided us our best adventure and a great day of memories!

London West End shows are definitely a family favorite.  On this trip, it mean rising at 5:00am and driving 5 hours in the rain to get to a tube station to make our way into the city but it was oh so worth it!!!!

As you can see my family and I are quite passionate about England and LOVE it. I would love to help you plan a trip there and experience all that is special about it!

Something New, Something Cherished -Part 1

My family had the privilege of returning to our beloved England this summer.  During our 3 years living there, we'd never made it to the North Yorkshire Moors so decided to spend the first part of our trip there and experience a "new to us" part of England.

It did not disappoint!!  A gorgeous drive across the moors with its fields of purple heather - not quite at their peak but still beautiful, brought us to our cottage at Church House Farm where we enjoyed spectacular views from our garden and from our walks.

Local Fairy house

While there we enjoyed a couple nice day trips - including a visit to Whitby Abbey and the town of Whitby.  Do you know the literary significance of Whitby Abbey?  Answer below...

199 Steps from Whitby Abbey to the town.  We started at the top and went down - and took the shuttle back UP!

Whitby was inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula.

What's a summer vacation without a beach day?  Apparently many others agreed because we began our day at one beach and had to abandon our plans when we couldn't find a single parking spot anywhere in town, and moved on to Runswick Bay which was stunning. The walk down was very steep but my chivalrous husband  played chauffeur and dropped us and picked us up at the bottom.

I want to live in that white house all the way on the end but I got vetoed!

On our way home from the beach, I wanted to catch the Hogwarts Express - but alas I missed it!

I did get to visit the station for a bit.




We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Moors and have a new "cherished" portion of England to love!  In Part 2, I'll share our cherished favorites revisited!

Food, Glorious Food

I have a little family secret to share - my adult children call us snobs.  They make fun of their poor parents and sometimes their younger sisters.  They claim that we make comments like, "I can't eat THAT pizza. Once you've had pizza in Italy its just not the same!" or "I just can't have American Chinese anymore, I've eaten that in China and its just not the same."  

I will neither confirm nor deny the truth of their statements, but I will say, during our recent discussions of our upcoming trip to England, the foods we want to eat did take precedence over the sights we want to see (but decidedly NOT over the people we want to see.)

England

At the top of our list is sticky toffee pudding and scones and clotted cream with jam!  Fish and chips (no photo), English ale, and the assorted desserts are also high on our list!

 England gets a bad rap for their food, but it really is delicious.  Italy on the other hand is known for its food and there's no wonder!!  Yum! Yum! Yum!!

Italy

What's not to love about a country that routinely serves up espresso, homemade pasta, Balsamic vinegar, tiramisu and gelato?!!

Aloha Hawaii!!  

While one may go to feast her eyes on its tropical beauty, a luau provides its own feast and a Dole Whip on a hot sunny day is quite the refreshing delight!!

China

Experiencing the food at any given destination is a part of the cultural experience.  In my opinion, this is more true in China than any place I've ever traveled.  When you enter a truly authentic local establishment where English is not spoken and you have to rely on photos, smiles, nods and pointing of fingers to get your meal, it only adds to the cultural adventure.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal with another family at a Hot Pot restaurant where plates of meats and vegetables were delivered to our table and we booked them in little pots in front of us.

My favorite cultural experience with food in China - enjoying my specially ordered bowl of longevity noodles in honor of my birthday.  DELICIOUS!

Jasmine tea in a local park as we chilled with the locals and had neck and ear massages.

Romania

And sometimes what you get is definitely not what you pictured when you ordered.  I present to you a "vegetarian pizza" and a "potato" in Romania.  Sometimes it works out in your favor, and well, sometimes, you're just hungry enough to laugh and eat up!