Wow! Where do I start? I'm excited to report that I have now officially completed my tour of the United Kingdom and with this visit to Cardiff, Wales, I have now visited all 4 countries that comprise it: England (2001, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023), Scotland (2007, 2020), Northern Ireland (2019), & Wales (2023). And, Sophie got her first use of her passport, although, devastatingly, no one got stamps! So, no legal proof she was ever there ha. One big shout-out to Heathrow: immigration on arrival included a specific line for those with children under 12 which mean we had an expedited line that only included those who also have kids and therefore were very understanding of any craziness or crankiness.
I was shaking in my boots from the time we booked this trip every time I thought about traveling with a toddler... from the long flight, to jetlag, to her general adjustment to a totally new place, and anything else unforeseen that could crop up in a foreign country. And maybe it was because I was so paranoid and thinking the worst, but Sophie did amazing! I was so impressed with how well our flight went, it really helped me relax for the rest of the time. Probably helped that we had an evening flight (specifically chosen in the hopes she would sleep a lot - which she did) and that they had Cocomelon, and she watched it endlessly and happily.
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Sophie and I were actually able to share
our row of seats for some sleep - doesn't
it look like I have a tiny arm/hand here? LOL |
Our first stop after landing around noon was to go to Windsor, where we would be spending the night. The thought of all the traveling and then dealing with a train to Bath on arrival was way too much for me, and I had always wanted to see Windsor, which was in the general direction and not too far from Heathrow, so we decided to stay there on landing, and I'm glad we did - it was so darling!
We were all struggling once we checked in, taking cat naps, and we realized we'd be sleeping until midnight and then wide awake, so we decided to force ourselves awake (around 5p) and go walk around and get dinner and woof - Sophie was NOT happy. This was one of her two huge meltdowns on the trip and I don't blame her - she was exhausted and screaming that she wanted to keep sleeping but alas, for the greater good, we had to rile her awake. She was pretty good once we went walking about.
We were right next to the castle, right next to the station, and walked around the cute little streets, next to the river with the swans and geese and ducks, and AJ humored me by agreeing to have dinner at the Duchess of Cambridge pub!
The next morning we had breakfast in our hotel and then AJ went to get his haircut and Sophie and I walked back to the river to feed the birds - and omg they actually ended up scaring me. They were certainly used to humans feeding us and they were closing in on us - swans, geese, ducks, pigeons... I had to pick up Sophie and basically run away at the end haha!
We traveled that dreary afternoon to Bath via train, Sophie's first time on a real train that I can recall, and she was really into it. It was quite the trek (three trains! sheesh!) but it ended up with us in our rental (with dangerously steep stairs) with Shannon and Luke - the first time seeing them in over three years!
Sophie was very shy at first, but it really didn't take her long to warm up to them and insist that Auntie Shanni push her stroller everywhere. We stayed chill that first night (maybe because I fell asleep?) and got up bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning to go see the city!
Bath is actually named for the Roman bath houses there, built around the year 70 (!) which pulled from natural hot springs. It's right next to the Bath Cathedral founded in the 7th century. It was our last day of rain (thank goodness) and while it wasn't ideal, Sophie loves wearing her butterfly rain jacket, so that made her happy, which makes for all of us being happy.
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On the bus to city center (first and only
time we took it once we realized how
short the walk actually was LOL) |
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I was calling her and she knew it,
she was being cheeky |
After our time there, we walked through the city to see the Royal Crescent, which is one of the sites and probably made more popular recently from Bridgerton!
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Someone was getting cranky and ready
for a nap by this point |
Bath was the most adorable, perfect little city. I think the whole thing is a World Heritage Site, it's a nice little size so it's not at all large or overwhelming but plenty to do and see and enjoy. Honestly, it reminds me so much of Bordeaux, it's like the English Bordeaux.
We then walked back to the river to the Pulteney Bridge, and then got afternoon tea in town.
We spent our evenings playing around at the rental, making or ordering dinner, Shannon making us tea or cocoa, entertaining Sophie, and then lots of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Cards Against Humanity. It was a good balance of fun and relaxing (as much as parents of a toddler can).
The next day we went to go mini golfing (ha!) which was basically on the lawn of the Royal Crescent and Sophie really struggled with the concepts of getting out of the way and leaving the ball until it was our turn, so I ended up having to pull out of the competition, but we can fun hitting and collecting the yellow ball together, so that was something.
We went into the city more and actually had fun shopping at TK Maxx LOL
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| The plaque reads: "Part of the medieval wall of the city of Bath" |
The next day was our big adventure day. We decided to take the train to Wales and Bristol for the day and boy are we old cause it didn't seem like much but we were all exhausted once we were in Bristol.
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At the Bath train station. Found these
bird feet and silhouettes to be funny |
Sophie absolutely loved the train, and it helped that we were able to tell her to keep an eye out for farm animals on the land as we were passing (and we did see plenty of sheep, horses, and a few cows I think), and remember this because it comes up later.
Our first stop was Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was colder than we bargained for, so AJ took the opportunity to get a new coat while we were in town. The main attraction is Cardiff Castle and it was such a delight! We walked through the city from the train station to the castle and the castle was really cool to see! Huge walled ramparts, it seemed so quintessential medieval, there was a moat, and the grounds were so beautiful (helped that it was such a beautiful day, even if it was chilly).
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| Walls of Cardiff Castle |
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| Our only group shot the whole trip! |
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| "The Arab Room" which was hypnotizing |
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AJ carried Sophie up these stairs and then
the insanely narrow, twisting staircase inside
to get to the top. It was just as scary as it sounds,
especially coming down! |
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Cardiff Castle was utilized during the World Wars,
so there was a whole exhibit in these walls about their
time in here |
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| Mr Welsh Duck judges you |
After our time at the castle (and then buying lots of dumb things we didn't need) (me and AJ, not Shannon and Luke haha), we had a nice outdoor lunch back in the city center, before catching a train to Bristol, which was on our way back to Bath.
Bristol actually seemed like a really great city. They have some canals and it's a really good, fun size with lots going on. Our problem was that we were already exhausted, and it was pretty hilly, so we didn't spend tooooo much time there, but it was as beautiful day and looked like a fun place to spend more time.
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We came out of the train station and turned around
and saw how beautiful the building is! |
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| Banksy! (He's from Bristol) |
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| Bristol Cathedral |
We were exhausted by the time we got back and if I remember right, we ordered in, put on Cocomelon for Sophie, played games and finished off our giant Cadbury bar. We had a bit of an early morning to check out, and Shannon and Luke had something like a 6-hour drive ahead of them the next day. It was so sad to have to say goodbye after having such a fun time together and also, not knowing when we'd see them again. It was a bit melancholy traveling to London that morning, but we still had lots of fun ahead of us.
Our train went from Bath to London's Paddington Station. Sophie did so good on the train, she was even complimented by some other passengers. We got a taxi from the train station to our hotel, which was literally across the street from Hyde Park, and it was such a beautiful day, we took a minute to settle in, and then went out, going through Hyde Park and past Kensington Palace, taking the underground to Southbank, where we got to check out Westminster and Big Ben, meandered across the Thames and found a great, active little park for Sophie to play at, with a beautiful view of the London Eye and Big Ben.
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We told Sophie we were getting on
the train and she kept asking if we could
look for animals out the windows LOL
Girl, on this train, the animals are on OUR side
of the windows! |
Me and Sophie were pretty exhausted in the evening, so while we crashed, AJ went out to watch the Chelsea Liverpool game. (Peace and quiet! LOL)
We had a great breakfast the next morning and then were making our way to the underground to go by Buckingham Palace and then the London Zoo. (We love the zoo!) and she was insisting on holding our umbrella and watching this little umbrella wander down the street made me laugh.
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| We got a lot of great Polaroids on this trip |
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| We got to get so close to the penguins! |
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Couldn't get Sophie to do the little
wings next to mine, womp womp |
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| We got to see and hear the lion roar! |
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A family of tigers, and the little baby was so cute
playing with toys! They really are just big kitties |
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| Kangaroos were resting |
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| Giraffes! |
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The lemur enclosure was like an aviary, where you got
to go inside and walk through and see them all around - pretty neat! |
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So, every postbox in the UK has the
cypher of the reigning monarch from the
time that it was erected. You're hard pressed
to find anything that isn't from Queen Elizabeth,
but I saw this one from Queen Victoria at the zoo! |
We hit up Platform 9 3/4 on the way home since we weren't too far from King's Cross but ugh, that line! No thank you!
Who can remember what we did that night. We ate at a lot of pubs (endless pies and fish and chips mmm) and made sure to try some Indian while we were there, got lots of snacks and Cadbury from the grocery stores, and even a night of room service. So that night was one of those.
The next day was our last full day there, and we had tickets to the Tower of London, which was one thing I had never done there that I really wanted to do. I was so fascinated and super glad to be there, but MY GOD the crowds - it was brimming full of people (and makes me wonder why they sell tickets if they clearly just let the entire population of the city in at once??) and that was a bummer and pretty frustrating, but I was still glad to finally be able to do it.
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Beautiful view of Tower Bridge from inside the
Tower of London |
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Did you know, the first building here was this,
the White Tower, that was built by William
the Conqueror?? |
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| Astrological chart etched iside |
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Chapel inside the White Tower from
William the Conqueror days |
Leaving was one of Sophie's most epic meltdowns, mostly because she was tired and it's hard for her to sleep in her travel stroller, and it was to be expected - we'd be traveling over a week at that time, and AJ and I realized that her max was probably a week or just under. Noted for next time!
We had a rough dinner at a pub that night but I refused to give up because I needed one last serving of fish and chips LOL. We got Sophie to calm down a bit more once we got some French fries in her.
The next day was our flight home, but it also wasn't until the evening, so we still had a lot of day ahead of us. We had a great breakfast at the hotel and then AJ went off to check out the Chelsea stadium and buy some Chelsea swag, and I took Sophie across the street to the Diana Memorial Playground in Hyde Park to get some zoomies out of her before we braved our 11-hour flight that evening.
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| Modeling her new shirt |
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She was happier about the vest AJ
got her from the Chelsea stadium |
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| One last tourist picture! |
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| Wasn't this park so dreamily English? |
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She was OBSESSED with this tunnel.
She spent most of her time here once she
discovered it and then I had to find a
way to cleverly drag her away from it |
We got a cab to Heathrow and by this point it was naptime, and Sophie completely passed out in the cab. When we got there, I had to pick her up, move her over, and start unloading stuff, and she still didn't wake up!
She settled into the flight pretty easy though. She's a pro now!
We also flew like exactly over Shannon and Luke en route home. Bye beezies!
We landed about 7p and Kathleen was able to pick us and loot up from the airport and drive us home. We all crashed hardcore and then spent the next morning lazing around in bed à la this...
We've worked through the jetlag (mainly Sophie's) and we're pretty much back onto our normal routine now, with only the memories of our great trip to console us with getting back into normal life!
Sophie did so great though, I am so energized about future travel. Where will we go next...?
