E is for Exeter and Edinburgh
It’s Day 4 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge, in which I’m focusing on overseas destinations I’ve visited. This one will be a quickie in comparison to my D post yesterday.
Exeter, England, November 1997
When Chris was just a bit over a year old, we took him to the UK for the first time. We drove to visit our friend Cath in Torquay (see T for more info), and on the way we drove through Exeter, which is where Mike went to university. We didn’t really stay long, but we drove through the town, which seemed like it would be a nice place to attend university.
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1998 (I think!)
I have been through all my boxes of photos, but nowhere can I find our photos of Scotland! Maybe the Loch Ness Monster nabbed them.
When we were first married and would visit the UK, I asked that we always visit one new place. Over the years we’ve taken side trips to Yorkshire, Bath, Oxford, London, Paris, Torquay, the Cotswolds, Derby/Nottingham, etc. And one year we went up to Scotland with Mike’s mum. We stayed in a rental near Loch Tay, and one day we took a day trip into Edinburgh. I remember before our trip that we quizzed Mike’s Aunty Helen about the place where she, her sisters, and Mike’s dad grew up in Edinburgh, but she didn’t seem to want to talk about their upbringing. Mike was guessing that it wasn’t a very salubrious area and that’s why she was being cagey. Even though they were Irish, Mike’s dad and all his sisters have/had strong Scottish accents. Sadly, only two of Mike’s aunties are still alive.
 |
| Aunty Helen with my mother-in-law, Olga (I can almost hear the lovely Scottish accent now!) |
 |
| Edinburgh Castle |
We met up with some Exeter friends of Mike’s who live in Edinburgh–Richard and Maggie–who have three sons. At the time, Chris was only 2 or 3, and the thought of having three sons seemed preposterous to me!! Such is life. We went to Edinburgh Castle and walked around the town, but didn’t stay long before heading back to Loch Tay.
Tomorrow, back to Japan!
Every Day Is a Miracle 