It’s pretty darn exciting to see your built-in best friend in the flesh after 7 months of being in different time zones. Getting to travel to new places together and make unforgettable memories – even more exciting! 

Next in our stream of guests, my sister, Lexi: the first born triplet. Yes, she is the oldest – therefore, she will say the wisest, but don’t let her fool you 😉. Our cherished Lexis finally made it to the UK after counting down the days since our “goodbye” in January. Her chosen city to explore together: Edinburgh, Scotland.

Jacob, Brindle, and I picked Lexi up from Manchester airport and headed straight to Lake District, a beautiful first stop on our journey to Scotland. Lexi’s travels from Wisconsin to England went smoothly, except for the fact that they lost her luggage…She did at least have her carry on and some essentials but was limited in her clothing/shoe choices for the hiking we planned to do in Lake District and our Scotland sightseeing. As we didn’t know how long it would take them to find her bags she had chosen our address back in Tarporley for delivery. She would unfortunately need to wait a few days until our return to be reunited with her luggage. Lexi, was of course a good sport, but I think the whole being reunited with her sister thing, might have helped a bit 😊. I know my heart was so very happy to be able to hug one of my favorite people again.

After a 1.5 hour scenic drive from Manchester, we arrived in Ambleside and had time to find some food and a beer before checking into our dog friendly hotel. We chose a nice outdoor spot to catch up while Brindle enjoyed the sun and being the greeter at the pub’s front door. She was way too cute.

Next on the agenda, hike in the beautiful Lake District. It did not disappoint – we will definitely be back to explore more. We ended up climbing a bit further and higher than we originally planned, but were rewarded with great views! It was so peaceful to look down from our vantage point and take it all in – the trees, lakes, and the tiny sheep that scattered the landscape. Lexi managed the whole 3.5 mile hike and the particularly more challenging accent/decent in her flimsy tennis shoes (hiking boots in lost luggage). The end of the trail had about 900 ft elevation gain with slippery rocks, mud/grass, and many many ferns. This was all after flying across the world without much sleep, what a “jungle trooper”😉!

After working up an appetite, we got cleaned up before setting out in search of dinner. We thought more places would be open later in a tourist town, but we struggled to find restaurants and pubs still serving food at 8 pm. We eventually found an Italian place (the Italians have saved us more than once now!). It was delicious and filled our hungry bellies. We quite enjoyed the wine and dessert too. While in search of food we met some local Englishmen and got chatting with them, we excused ourselves for dinner but ended up running into them again back at our hotel pub after we ate. They insisted on buying us Americans a pint as they enjoyed listening to our accents. So we had a night cap with our new “friends” before heading up to get some sleep.

The next day, after exploring Ambleside a bit more and finding Lexi a new raincoat we started our journey onward to Edinburgh. The drive was supposed to be around 3-4 hours but took a bit longer due to an overturned lorry (English word for semi-truck) on the motorway. We sat in standstill traffic for an hour as they closed the motorway and directed cars on an alternate route. We were thankful Brindle does so well in the car as we patiently waited to get moving again.

A few hours later we made it to Edinburgh and checked into our Airbnb, a beautiful apartment with large windows overlooking a green-space and park. Brindle enjoyed watching out the windows as much as we did. We went out for a walk and to get a few groceries and got quite wet – a rainy Scottish welcome. We all had raincoats at least – Brindle included. After getting dry, we headed to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Jacob and I had missed a good ole Margarita and tacos. We stopped to explore a bit more on our way back. Victoria street looked quite charming as the lights and colors reflected on the rain puddles that had gathered on the cobblestone, a picture perfect scene. We of course had a taste of gelato on the walk back – delicious!

The next morning, we went to tour Edinburgh Castle. This castle stands on Castle Rock, a volcanic plug in the middle of Edinburgh. As we walked up Castle Hill, we followed in the footsteps of former soldiers, kings, and queens – and of course many tourists. It was very cool to see the old castle buildings, view of the city, and the large canons. We appreciated learning more about Scotland’s history, the Crown Jewels, and the Stone of Destiny (a stone used for coronations which apparently England stole from Scotland – creating much controversy). Sounds of bagpipes filled our ears as we walked the Royal mile. It was quite a popular area and we enjoyed seeing all of the old buildings and hustle and bustle as we found a spot for lunch and coffees. On our walk back, we discovered a local art market and Lexi purchased a beautiful souvenir print of Edinburgh Castle. We went back to our place to grab Brindle to do some more exploring before dinner. We played in the green space which Brindle loved before heading into the city and walking to Calton Hill to check out the view. From our vantage point we noticed Arthur’s Seat, an ancient volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh. We made a plan to hike it before we left the next day and it was neat to see it from this angle. Brindle was a champ navigating the busy city streets and we were just happy to all be exploring together.

Lexi found the best dinner spot, Monteiths. It was a literal hidden gem tucked away with delicious cocktails and even better food. 10/10 stars. We enjoyed our great conversation, a fantastic meal, and even got to try haggis: a traditional Scottish dish consisting of sheep liver, heart, and lungs. It was surprisingly quite delicious the way the chef prepared it, minced and mixed with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. We ended our evening with a slightly drunken walk (those darn delicious cocktails) back through the city before putting our tired bodies to bed after our third day in a row of 20,000+ steps.

We spent our last morning in Edinburgh with a quick breakfast and coffee from a local stand before packing up and heading to Arthur’s Seat trail to hike. The views got better the further we hiked, but the wind got much stronger as well. Dust was flying around us as we were blown around, so we had a quick stop at the summit (800+ feet elevation gain) before heading down a longer route (~3 miles total) that let us see a bit more of the trails and nature around the city.  We started our drive back home to Tarporley once we made it back to our car. We had about a 4 hour drive home and made much better time in this direction. The drive was beautiful, taking in the rolling hills, stone walls; and sheep (which Lexi quite enjoyed). After a rest stop we made it back home and Lexi finally got to see our little place and pick up her missing luggage which had been delivered while we were traveling. She and Brindle played in the garden while we unpacked. We headed downtown for a quick walk and to show Lexi around our quaint little village and surrounding farm field walking paths. We decided on Indian takeaway for dinner before ending our day chatting and cozy together on the couch.

We slept in a bit the next morning and had a more of a relaxing day to recover from our travels. We picked up from bread from the bakery downtown and cooked a nice breakfast while enjoying coffee and each others company around the table. We took Lexi to an afternoon tea where she got to experience the traditional yummy sandwiches, scones, and cakes with a tea. Lexi even got to take a turn driving “on the wrong side of the road” as she drove us to our local Delamere forest for a 4.5 mile hike. We enjoyed the calm and quiet of the trees after a busy last few days.

The rest of the week while Jacob and I worked, Lexi got to explore Tarporley and some of the surrounding areas on her own. She took the bus to Chester. She walked the old Roman wall and loved seeing the gorgeous cathedral and charming city. Lexi and her “sweet baby angel face niece”, Brindle, went on lots of walks around town and also explored Beeston Castle together. Brindle was very photogenic! From grilling on the patio to a homecooked Italian dinner Lexi made for us, and a sister date at my favorite restaurant, Fishpool Inn – our evenings were spent together with good food and even better company. It was great to share quality sister time after months apart.

Friday, we got out of work a bit early and spent some time playing with Brindle in the garden before trying out a new place, Edgerton Arms, for burgers and beers. Brindle got to come too as we sat outside right next to the Cricket club. Jacob and I will have to go back when there is a match and learn the rules of Cricket – a sport first played in South East England in the 16th century. We ended the evening watching the tele with mules in hand.

Time went way too quickly, as we found ourselves at Lexi’s last day in England. We were, however, luckily going back with her to the States this time! So we spent some time getting the house cleaned up, grass mowed, and packed before enjoying another nice dinner with a glass of wine. We called family back in the States to let them know we would see them soon before heading to bed (a bit too late of course) as we had an early flight the next day. We got less than 4 hours of sleep but it was worth it to make the memories we did. Our travels with Lexi in the UK came to and end, but we had a blast and can’t wait for her to visit again. More to come on our time back in the States with her and the rest of our families!

Thanks for reading,

– Amber