A Visit from Gary and Vickie!

Walking the wall in York

Dave and I have been very fortunate this year and have had quite a few visitors and it's always nice to have a little piece of "home" over here with us, even for only a short while! In September, my in-laws flew over to visit for a week! It was my mother-in-law, Vickie's very first time in Europe, so we wanted to make sure we showed her as much of England in seven days as possible! Quite the feat, but I think we managed to pull it off!

We took Gary and Vickie to the Peak District, York, London, Nottingham and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We basically covered the entire central portion of England, north and south! Dave did most of the driving and fortunately, Gary sprang for picking up the tab for train tickets to London - so we had a fun, stress-free ride!

After picking Vickie up at the Birmingham Airport (Gary arrived the night before because he had been traveling on business and was already in the country), I took Gary and Vickie to get some breakfast. There aren't a whole lot of options for breakfast places, and surprisingly, pubs are where you go! However, there is a great little cafe that opened up recently just outside our village called, Sal's! Dave and I have been there a couple times and I thought this would be a great place for some good 'ol English food! Vickie was so excited and surprisingly wide-awake after her long flight! And, I must mention, she now has a new love of mushy peas! =)

Chatsworth House is always a fun place to take people - and we knew Vickie would love it! The old manor is beautiful and amazing too look at, but the grounds/gardens are by far the best part of going there and fortunately, we had decent weather when we went. We of course had to do the labyrinth and, we of course got lost (even after doing it three times, we still can't get to the center on the first try!)!

York was our next stop on our adventure! We parked right outside the main walls and walked them for a good portion of the city! It's a great view and it's amazing that these old walls have survived after all these years! We showed Gary and Vickie York Minster Cathedral and walked around the city. The winding, narrow streets are so cute and quaint, filled with little shops and pubs. Then, we of course took them to Betty's Tea House for tea and little sandwiches!

Nottingham is very close to Derby - only about a 25 minute drive - and we took Gary and Vickie to see the old castle and the oldest pub in England, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. It's a really neat pub built into the side of the castle bottom! We also took them to our favorite French restaurant, Le Bistrot Pierre.

Next stop - LONDON! Dave and I wanted to make sure Vickie got to see London while she was here! The train ride down was great and fast! We arrived in St. Pancras station and then took the tube to our hotel to check in, change and get geared up for sight-seeing! We went to Buckingham Palace, walked the gardens, grabbed a pint at a barge pub on the Thames, saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye and the Tower of London/Tower Bridge. We also managed to fit in seeing 'Wicked'! Dave and I saw it back in May and loved it!

On the last day of Gary and Vickie's visit, we decided to venture over to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Shakespeare's home and visit the cute little town. The town was really neat - lots of very old buildings and shops. The River Avon was full of little houseboats - some homes, some restaurants. It was a perfect fall day and a great way to end the trip.

Our week with Gary and Vickie was full of fun, good food, amazing sites and great company! We definitely covered a lot of ground while they were here and I hope that they had a great time! We love when we have visitors and there's nothing better than just being around your loved one's, especially right now with us living so far away from home.