UK Trip Report: How Laura Planned a Solo, Accessible Journey at 60

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Dreaming of taking your own UK adventure, in this
episode you'll hear how listenerLaura turned her 60th birthday
trip into a 15-day journeythrough England and Scotland,
coupled with afternoon teas,train rides, and howl of cows.

SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK travel planning website,
Tracy Collins.
Each week, Tracy sharesdestination guides, travel tips
and itinerary ideas, as well asinterviews with a variety of
guests who share their knowledgeand experience of UK travel to
help you plan your perfect UKvacation.
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to

(00:35):
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
from the picturesque countrysideto seaside towns.

SPEAKER_01 (00:46):
Hi, I've got Laura here this week to talk all about
her trip report.
Now, um, Laura has been on theGlobal Travel Planning Podcast.
Actually, I think, Laura, thisepisode and your episode of
Stamped on the Global TravelPlanner Podcast are coming out
the same week.
So it's like a double Lauraweek, which is really exciting.
So if you enjoy this episodewith Laura talking about a UK

(01:08):
trip report, do pop over to theGlobal Travel Planner Podcast
and listen to Laura's episodetalking about uh travel there as
well.
But anyway, this episode, let'sgo back to it, is all about your
recent trip to the UK.
So I'm gonna stop gabbling onand let you introduce yourself,
Laura.
Tell us um where about you from,where you went in the UK, just

(01:29):
kind of a brief overview and howlong you were there for.

SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
Sure.
So I'm Laura Sternheim Diltzfrom Massachusetts near
Worcester, Massachusetts.
And I went on this trip in honorof my 60th birthday, and both my
children are away at school.
So I'm a semi-empty nester andarranged for dog care so I could
easily go.
And I had researched to go whenit's less uh crowded but still

(01:58):
nice, and so you know I choseSeptember, and I went September
7th through the 22nd.
It was 15 days.
I would have liked to havestayed a few more days in
Edinburgh than I did, but Iwanted to be home in time for
the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.
So I had planned it accordinglyand was home a day early for the

(02:19):
Eva Rosh Hashanah, jet lagged,but I was home continuing to
spend Rosh Hashanah with my oneof my best friends.

SPEAKER_01 (02:27):
So okay, so you kind of chose the September, you kind
of knew when you're gonna go,you knew when you had to be back
in the States.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour itinerary because you
mentioned Edinburgh.
Where where else did you go?

SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Yeah, so I started in London, then I went to only,
which is near Ravenstone, to seea friend, a lifelong friend, and
then I took the train toGlasgow, and then I joined a
Colette coach tour and did allof Scotland all the way up to
the Oakneys, back around andended in Edinburgh, and it was

(03:04):
so magical.
And if you're gonna go toScotland, you definitely need to
go outside the cities.
And I feel that way about the UKin general, even though I love
London, always want to spendsome time in London.
I truly enjoyed my times outsidethe cities and being around the

(03:25):
people and and the differentlandscapes and all that kind of
stuff.
I truly, really loved that andthe trains.
Thanks to Doug, I was braveenough to do trains.
I loved my five hours, five anda half hours going to Glasgow on
the train.

SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
Oh, so you um I I love the fact that you're
already saying don't just go toLondon.
And I I understand if people aregoing to go to the UK for the
first time and they've got alimited time and they think,
right, okay, everybody wants togo to London.
I know it's one of the mostpopular cities in the world for
people to visit.
Um, hence the fact we've got awhole London travel planning
website, which is dedicated toLondon alone.

(04:03):
But there is so much more to theUK than London.
And as you say, getting out andexploring out of the cities,
whether that's in Scotland,whether that's in Wales, whether
that's in England, whether it'sin Northern Ireland, any of the
cities, just getting out of thecities and going and exploring
the landscapes.
Because we have such diverselandscapes.

(04:24):
Um, you also got to the islands.
I was so excited you went toOrkney because it's just
amazing.
But just the variety and alsogetting to meet lots of
different people in the UK aswell, which is really great
because we're all, you know,there's English, there's
Scottish, there's Welsh, there'sNorthern Irish, that we're we've
all got our own accents, we allhave our own um, you know,
regional histories and our ownum, you know, just our own

(04:47):
quirks in idiosyncrasiesdepending on where we come from.
Um, you know, I'm Northern,proudly Northern, I'm from
Northumberland.
So I just love the fact that youyou you got out and you did
that.
Um, and you you planned part ofthe chip was independently and
you were traveling um solo.
So I'm gonna say as well.
So, you know, solo travel,fantastic.
You know, being able to do thatat any stage of life is

(05:08):
fantastic.
Going out in there and justdoing it.
And also, I am gonna mention,I'm sure you won't mind me
saying that you have got somemobility issues as well.
So you've had to kind of planabout uh uh those sort of um,
you know, those those needs andthings that was on the train
challenges, that's a good word,yeah.
So let's talk a little bit aboutkind of how you put it together

(05:29):
because you have that kind ofsolo bit where I know you're
taking the trains and and um Iknow Doug's Doug helps you with
that, and then you picked upthis tour um around Scotland.
So kind of how did you how didyou put it together?

SPEAKER_02 (05:41):
Well, I started two years ago.
So what I had on my itinerary,plus I've listened to every one
of your podcasts at least threeor four times, and that's how I
found you originally because I'mdyslexic and I hate to read.
So, I mean, I can read, I have amaster's degree, but I much
rather listen and I have an oralmemory, so I can remember chunks

(06:02):
of your podcasts, like I couldregurgitate them to you.
Um so you would talk aboutsomething and I would look at it
and I'd put it on the list, andthen I take it off the list, and
I have a whole bucket list ofmore places I want to go in the
UK, and I always want to go tothe UK, so I have a whole nother
trip I want to already do, butit probably won't be till at
least 2007 because but becauseI'm I've got a whole bucket list

(06:27):
of places at some point.
So I made lists, I listened, Iresearched, I re-evaluated.
To be honest, I tried to find afriend to go with.
Talked to eight differentpeople, some local, some in
other parts of the UnitedStates.
I I'm a networker and I havefriends from all parts of my

(06:48):
life, and many people wereinterested, but for various
reasons, it wasn't working out.
And because I had a friend dropdead at age 56, uh, who I was
originally going to go toScotland with, I told my mother
I wasn't waiting anymore and Iwas doing this either alone or
uh no matter what, I was doingit because life's too short and

(07:09):
I'm doing this.
And I I mean I saved two years'tax returns to pay for most of
it.
And uh like originally I addedgoing to Greenwich because you
talk so fondly about Greenwich.
But in the end, I said I wouldneed more time in London if I
was going to do Greenwichbecause I really wanted to see
my friend that lives inRavingstone near only

(07:34):
Buckinghamshire.
So and originally I was lookingat hotels, but I reached out to
my friends that live in Britainand they offered to put me up.
So I changed my itineraryslightly because of that.
And to me, I'm prioritizing myfriends in the world.
So almost all my trips thisyear, I'm connecting with

(07:55):
friends from different parts ofmy life.
So in London, out on the Jubileeline in zone three, I stayed
with my friend Chris.
Our fathers worked together atthe University of Massachusetts,
they both were physicists.
And Chris and his family movedback to Australia when he was
nine and I was 12.
But our families went campingtogether, hiking together.

(08:16):
So we've stayed in touch ourwhole lives.
So he and his brother live inthe UK and have married Brits.
So their mom still lives inMelbourne.
And I reached out and said, I'mcoming to England.
And he says, Well, just let meknow.
And I said, Well, I'm looking atfall or Christmas, because this
is when I was still planning,and then I nailed it down more

(08:39):
to September.
And he says, Well, stay with us.
I said, Are you sure?
Because I was about to pay foran add-on pre-trip to London,
not because I wanted the add-onactivities, but because it made
the hotel package was anincredibly good price, and it
was really good hotels in thecenter of London.
So I was planning to skip mostof the touring they were doing

(09:01):
because this is my fourth trip,it was my fourth trip to the UK,
and I've done a lot of stuff,and I didn't really want to do
some of it, but I wanted to bein London and do my own thing.
You know, so but he said, no,stay with me.
I'm like, well, that's ano-brainer.
I wanted to see him anyway.
So I stayed with Chris and hisfamily, got to meet his
children, his wife, spent moretime with them because he had

(09:22):
started a new job.
Originally, one of the things Iadded to my itinerary, because
he wanted to do it, and he'slived in London for 20 years and
never been to the Tower ofLondon.
Now I've been to the Tower ofLondon, but it was in my 20s.
So I said, okay, I'll do theTower of London.
Now I hadn't bought the ticketthat I really wanted to that you
recommend with walks, because bythe time he said, I can't do it,

(09:45):
go ahead and buy one on yourown.
I couldn't do the VIP earlyentry one, but I did a regular
two and a half hour early entryone, and I'm glad I did.
But that was one tour that Iwasn't originally doing, but he
had wanted to.
So glad I went, totally enjoyedit.
But again, that wasn'toriginally on my list.

(10:06):
So my itinerary changed based onwhat I was doing.
I knew I wanted to do afternoonteas.
I knew I wanted to go to Libertyof Lemon to buy fabric.
Oh, yes.
I knew I wanted to do the LondonEye, and I originally wanted to
do the hop on, hop off bus,which when we get into the more
details, I'll tell you.

(10:27):
And then I knew I wanted to seemy friend Mary, who is my
exchange friend.
Now I'm in 4-H, which is theequivalent of young farmers in
the UK.
As a teenager, my family hostedmany equivalent farmers from
around the world in our home fora few weeks.
From the UK, Costa Rica,Germany, lots of places.

(10:49):
So Mary and another girl stayedin our home.
And every time I've been to theUK since, Mary has come to meet
me wherever I was.
And then, well, we went toafternoon tea in
Northamptonshire, and I sent youthe link to it.
And then we went to an Indianrestaurant in the town next to
hers.

(11:09):
And my favorite part of besidescatching up with her, was she
took me for a drive in thecountryside, which was gorgeous,
but we happened to go throughthatched roofs, houses with
thatched roofs, and telephonebooths in the middle of nowhere,
but it was like for thatneighborhood.
And I took pictures of mailboxesand phone booths throughout the

(11:34):
UK because they're iconic.
And it just made me smilebecause they seem to be like
sometimes in the middle ofnowhere.
It just cracked me up wherethese phone booths were.
There were some that were nowlending libraries.
It was just it's just a funthing that's unique to the UK,
and it just made me smile when Isaw these different phone booths

(11:57):
and stuff.
And it also meant I was alreadyon the train uh same train route
I needed to go.
So that kind of affected my DIYpart of my um a tour.
And then because of logistics todo Scotland on my own, first of
all, I don't want to drive.
The amount of energy it wouldtake to plan all that, I started

(12:19):
looking at different tours andpicked one that would work for
me that was considered easypace.
I did work with a travel agentto help with that.
I looked for a f at a fewseparate from that and chose
that one because every day wehad free time in the tour.
So it always took us places, butthen I had time on my own
because I like to be able to domy own thing.

(12:42):
But it meant I didn't have tofigure out how to get to point A
to point B.
The transportation was figuredout.
I didn't have to figure out didI need to buy an early ticket to
do XYZ to get in to see thiscastle, that castle.
I didn't have to figure outbreakfast and dinner because
most of the breakfasts anddinners were included, and that

(13:02):
way it was all paid for.
So that's why, and I do allkinds of travel.
So it was a way to do like ahybrid approach for myself.
Is that the dog?
Yes, I'm sorry.
He's running something outside,and I don't have much.
Oh, well, he's a little um JackRussell.

SPEAKER_01 (13:26):
Well, we're not gonna cut that out because this
is real life.
So Ryan, this is Ryan's myeditor, so everybody listen to
the podcast, we'll even in well,even in Matza, because then he
has a guest slot on the on thepodcast.

SPEAKER_02 (13:37):
Yeah, so I also took pictures everywhere I went of
all Brits love their dogs.
I have pictures of all thesedogs, and I asked every time may
I take a picture of a dog andthey're like, sure.
And I'd learn the name and I'dget to love them up.
So because I like as my motheryells at me for talking to
strangers, I love talking tostrangers.

SPEAKER_01 (13:55):
So well, you know, talking to strangers and talking
to a stranger with a dog aswell.
I mean, there's a there's agreat reason to start a
conversation.
I think that's always the thingwhen you you see a cute dog
walking past.
Exactly.
So I know you used a lot of ourresources to to help plan the
itinerary, which is greatbecause you're a member of our
obviously you've mentioned thepodcast, which is great.
You know, I am I was a a teacherand I'm I'm kind of aware that

(14:17):
everybody has different learningstyles.
So the kind of listening thingwith a podcast, I know it
appeals to so many people, andit's just you know, you can
listen to me when you go for awalk, you can listen to me when
you drive your kids to school,which I've heard drives kids
bomb me saying, Oh not Tracyagain.
Um you can listen to me at thegym.
You can listen all the time,it's great.
Um, and those of you who enjoythe reading, and actually I met

(14:39):
a lovely lady today who's a bigfan of the website.
She loves reading through thewebsite.

SPEAKER_02 (14:43):
Well, I did go to the I did also go to your
website to get more details ofthings.
You know, it's a wealth ofinformation.
People need to go to yourdifferent websites.
They're they're excellent.

SPEAKER_01 (14:54):
Well, I will I will actually just gonna be give a
big shout out there.
So is that um, and I'm gonna I'mactually gonna appeal to
everybody who's listening tothis podcast to really do me a
massive, massive favor becausewe have been we are being hit
constantly by the developmentsin AI.
We are being hit constantly bythe the AI overviews that that

(15:16):
that search engines like Googleare now using, um, and it's
having a massive impact.
Now we provide a huge amount ofresources out there, the
podcast, the website, uh we'vegot the Facebook group for for
everybody to use, but we needyou to use them.
We need you to go on ourwebsite.
And if you enjoy the podcast, goand check out the website, go
and look at our articles becauseit helps us to survive.

(15:39):
Because I'm I'm not I'm seriouswhen I say this, and I'm not
joking that um withouteverybody's support and help,
we're not gonna be around in thenext couple of years.
We're just not gonna be able todo it because it's like a brick
wall is being built between ourresources and what we do and and
you guys.
Um, and that brick wall, youwon't even be able to see us.
People won't even, you know, youguys have found us, but

(16:01):
eventually people aren't aren'teven gonna see us because it's
gonna be a brick wall dividingwhat we have got and and you
guys wanting that stuff.
Um, and it's just all and if youknow, you all you're gonna get
is AI and and not the genuine,you know, Doug and I love the
UK, we know the UK like the backof our hands.
Um, and if you want that kind ofcommunity as well, come and join
the UK travel plan and family umand connection, you we're gonna

(16:26):
lose that.
So, so and uh that's a bit of animpassioned plea from me there,
Laura, but I I think that's agood time to put it in.

SPEAKER_02 (16:32):
But it's it's really worth it, and you have you
update your newsletters and umlike I love that you have one on
the best places to take picturesof the phone booths, for
example.
I just um, or your you know,your favorite pubs or the
history of pubs, or I love thatyou have the links for the

(16:53):
afternoon teas that you vettedthat you say are excellent, you
know.
So I listened to your podcast,but then I would look at the
materials to be able to planaccordingly.
And then obviously I purchasedsome of your some of your
resources, your planning map,Doug's ebook on train travel,
which gave me the confidence todo the train travel, and your uh

(17:16):
introductory planning guide toLondon.
I I think those are the threethat I I purchased.
Um, and I wouldn't hesitaterecommending or purchasing them.
They're high quality, easy touse, and make it very helpful.
And if I was doing a morecomplex DIY trip, I would have
definitely paid for a consultwith you.

(17:38):
But I felt I could handle Londonon my own.
But if I had really wanted to doScotland on my own, there's no
way I would do it withouttalking to you and Doug to make
sure I got it right.
Because I am a planner and Ilike to leave things a little
bit flexible, but I want all thethings I worry about planned
out.

SPEAKER_01 (17:57):
Yeah, well, I I and I I mean that's what we do.
I guess when whatever the videoone, if we do a video, kind of
somebody's got a uh an itineraryalready and they they they send
us to go over, we do that byvideo, and then obviously we'll
offer the one-to-one so we wecan chat through which really
works.
But but also, and I think it'sreally key, um, you you were
traveling by train, and we'regonna talk a little bit about
the transportation because youum you were traveling by train,

(18:20):
um, and I know you were veryincredibly nervous about the
train and um taking the train,but I know that Doug Doug also,
I know there was a messaginggoing on with Doug trying to
reassure you as well about kindof booking assistance and stuff
like that, um, and you boughtthe book.
But um, how did you find yourexperiences?
Did you feel I know that thatyou were you felt prepared for

(18:40):
it and the fact that youactually did it as well before
you had that kind of confidencefrom the resources, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (18:46):
Yeah, and and you had told me to mention about the
tube strike.
So, right before I left, aftertwo years of planning, there was
all these news alerts about thetube strike, and you guys also
give an alert on your Facebookpages.
So that's another reason forpeople to sign up for that
because if you're if it's not onyour radar, you guys always talk
about that stuff and givesuggestions for plan B's and

(19:09):
that kind of thing.
So about a week before, Ireached out to I had already
arranged for XFA cars fortransport from the airport and
then from my friend's house tothe Houston station because I
knew I cannot handle twocarry-on suitcases and a
medium-sized suitcase and mycane, and I don't want to injure

(19:30):
myself.
And to be honest, Riz's pricesare excellent, and I told him he
was more affordable than gettingto Boston, and I meant it.
I, for a shared, I have to do ashared van from where I live.
It's more expensive than aprivate vehicle with Riz.
So if people are questioning,I'm telling you, you know, city
to city, his services areexcellent.

(19:51):
So I reached out to him.
We actually had a phone call onthe WhatsApp.
We we agreed on what he madeseveral suggestions, one of
which I wish I could haveafforded, where I would just
have a car like private uh,well, I don't know if it's on
call, but mine, you know, forthe whole day.
Couldn't afford that.
I would love to, but that waslike way out of mine.
So we ended up doing a ride inand a ride out of the city, and

(20:15):
I walked in between.
I urge people, even if they'renot mobile challenged, to make
sure they get in shape.
I walked one to two miles, twoto three times a week and did
chair yoga for over a year, andI've lost over 30 pounds.
So I would never have been ableto make it in this trip without
doing that, because once I gotinto the city every day, I was

(20:38):
walking like seven to ten miles,easy, probably more, because
when I go to New York City, Iwalk that, and that's with using
the subway system and taxis.
So the day I went to the Towerof London and did the London
Iron stuff, I got there about 45minutes early.
Um, I had to be there for 8 45.

(21:00):
So many people were havingtrouble getting there.
For the walks tour I had signedup for, which was the the
gentleman I was talking to saidthey had seven people, 17
people.
Only three of us showed up.
Wow.
Uh so we had a private tour.
I'm telling you, the Tower ofLondon was like empty.
Like empty.
Like I could have talked to abeef eater for an hour.

(21:22):
You know, by the time I left,okay, there were a few more
people, but everything, thejewels, I went around it six
times.
I could have gone around, Icould have looked at them for an
hour.
I remember waiting in line in my20s.
Yeah.
Now in my 20s, they didn't havethe moving sidewalk thing.
It was empty, Tracy.

(21:43):
I mean, empty.
I mean, maybe a hundred peoplein there.

SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
It was not see that this the there's advantages and
disadvantages of tube site.
Disadvantages, obviously, tryingto get around was really, really
difficult, and uh that threw alot of people out.
Um, hopefully that don't do itagain because it's the worst.
But obviously, then it alsomeant that because you had
booked with Riz and you weregetting all this transport, you
got all these places and nobodyin them.

(22:08):
Right, but then I also walkedmiles.

SPEAKER_02 (22:10):
I mean, I couldn't use an Uber.
So I ended up just right afterthe tour getting on the boat um
and taking it down toWestminster.
And um highly recommend it.
It's lovely, it's another way tosee parts of the city, the shard
and the and the bridge and allthe different architecture, and

(22:31):
they actually do a littlenarrative while you're on it, so
they're telling you littletidbits.
And then I had done a flexticket for the London Eye
because um on one of yourpodcasts, the grandmother with
the two granddaughters that lovethe um cats talked about the
flex ticket.

(22:53):
So I said, okay, I'm gonna dothe flex ticket.
Um, and then walked across fromBig Ben and uh Param Lint across
the bridge to the London Eyeside, and I went up to where you
you know you do your ticket.
There was no line, Tracy.
Again, nothing.
Nobody there too.
I said, I have a flex ticket andI had reserved 315, but I'm

(23:17):
early.
Can I go?
He's like, no problem.
I think he would have let me goeven if I didn't have the flex
ticket.
I'm telling you, there wasnobody.
I walked the ramp up to it.
We're talking like two minutes.
I was on a in a pod with twoother people, a mother and
daughter that were in that werefrom oh god, it starts with an
M.
I can't think of the name of thetown.

(23:37):
But they were in the city forthe day and they decided to do a
touristy thing after they didwhatever business thing they
needed to do.

SPEAKER_01 (23:45):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (23:46):
I couldn't believe the pod was empty.

SPEAKER_01 (23:48):
I was like, Well, you're you know, do you know how
many times I've been on theLondon Eye?
I can't count how many timesI've been in the London Eye.
I've never been on it withoutlike being quite a few people in
the pod.
So you were you were reallylucky.
See, so I say there was somethere was some upsides to this
then.

SPEAKER_02 (24:02):
Yeah, oh I mean it was amazing, and they took my
picture, I took their picture.
So, you know, yes, it was a30-minute circle thing.
I love it.
I love the London, it was justamazing, and so I you have to
appreciate moments.
I understood the magnitude ofthe blessing of the tube strike
that day numerous times andsaid, hot dang, I'm really

(24:26):
lucky.
You certainly were.
And then afterwards I got an icecream from an ice cream truck,
and then I messaged for my rideto go back to my friend's house
because I was exhausted by thatpoint.
My ice cream was my lunch thatday.

SPEAKER_01 (24:43):
Can I can I can I briefly interject as well?
Because um, because I have Ihave heard I have heard other
people who who um do stuff aboutLondon um really being quite um
oh, what's the word?
Complimentary complimentary,thank you, Laura.
I should just say to everybody,it is quite late at night at the
moment, so when I'm recording,so I think my brain's uh it

(25:04):
caught yeah, so not verycomplimentary about the London
Eye.
I love the London Eye.
Now I can remember going toLondon when I was about the
first time I went, I was aboutseven, and the tallest thing in
London at that point was the BTTower, which is tiny now.
It's and I remember my dadpointing it out it was like a
big thing, BT Tower, whichhonestly you you wouldn't even
see it, it's so small thesedays.

(25:25):
And to me, um, you know, Londonis about changes, it's not, it's
the this the the history ofLondon is in the buildings, and
it doesn't matter if it's a newbuilding where in in London,
because that is London.
London is about over thecenturies, you know, when when
places were bombed in World WarII, then then new buildings have

(25:46):
gone in the place, all that sortof stuff.
And the London Eye to me isexactly that, it is London.
So this, oh, it's an eyesore.
No, to me, it's not an eyesore.
So that's my first point.
I'm gonna say to me, it's not aneyesore, it belongs there.
And also, you just get the bestview from the London Eye of the
Thames.
You can see the Thames, you seehow it kind of winds around, and

(26:09):
the Parliament building is socool.

SPEAKER_02 (26:11):
You see the whole thing, the you know, you see the
whole layout of it.

SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
Yeah, you get you see the House of Parliament, you
see you see the Elizabeth Towerbefore anybody tells me because
I always get tall.
Big Bent, Elizabeth Tower,whatever.
You see that, you see the thethe red buses going across
Westminster, uh WestminsterBridge.
Um, you see the Uber boats goingdown the Thames, you just get
this fantastic bird's eye viewof London, and I'm gonna see the

(26:38):
massive how big it really is.

SPEAKER_02 (26:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, to be honest, it'sbecause of your passion for the
London Eye and other people'sraving about it that I decided
to do it.
Now, I do have to preface one ofthe things I asked in the
Facebook group, because I wasvery worried, because I can't
stand still because of my backinjury for very long.

(27:02):
So I said, Is there seats in theLondon Eye?
And when you said yes, there's abench, that's when I decided I
could do it.
Otherwise, 30 minutes in thatkind of thing, I couldn't have
done standing.
And I know you said, Oh, butthey're often, you know, people
are sitting in them.
Well, I have a cane and I haveno problem saying, excuse me,
but I need a seat.
Now I have to say the Brits arevery accommodating and everybody

(27:25):
always said, Oh, please takethis seat.
Can I help you?
Always.
But I have no qualms of politelyspeaking for my need, but I
didn't have to worry about itbecause again, I was in the pod
with two other people.
I could have laid down on it.

SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
Plenty of places to sit, Laura.
Plenty of places to sit.

SPEAKER_02 (27:46):
The three of us could have laid down on the
seat.

SPEAKER_01 (27:50):
Oh dear.
I'm supposed to let you goaround.
You could have done by thesounds of it.
It's hardly anybody on it.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I really am.
And look, I mean, I sometimesfeel on the podcast I do talk
with passion about the thingsthat I love because I can talk
about the things that I love.
So I share them, like the VA,you know, like the the ceremony
of the keys, like all the thingsthat I I really a lot of those

(28:14):
items I originally wanted to do,but for various reasons I had to
pick and choose.

SPEAKER_02 (28:18):
Like I really would have liked to have gone to the
VA, but I knew that was morewalking.
And I'm like, oh, I gotta therelike that was a backup plan.
If the weather was bad, I wouldchange what I was doing and go
there.
Because I love Art Deco.
I love Art Deco, and I knowarchitecture there's Art Deco.

SPEAKER_01 (28:37):
So Right, well, I'm gonna say next time, next time
you're in London, if I'm inLondon, we are gonna go the VA
for the day.
We'll go, we'll sit in the castcourts because I always want to
go in the cast period.

SPEAKER_02 (28:49):
I want to go in the cast period.
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (28:50):
Well, we'll go in the cast courts, and then I can
have my kind of hour in the castcourts absorbing all of the
history.
I just love everybody knows Ilove the cast courts, and then
we'll go and have lunch andenjoy the cafe and the art deco.
So we'll do that.

SPEAKER_02 (29:03):
And I also wanted to do the um the fashion, the the
one exhibit I wanted to do wasall the fashion.

SPEAKER_01 (29:10):
And the jewelry.
You've got to do the fashion andthe jewelry.

SPEAKER_02 (29:12):
So and then the other thing that I really wanted
to do when I was in London wasafternoon teas.
So I researched not only whatyou said, but I watched YouTube
reviews on on afternoon teas.
And so I chose the famoustraditional one at Fortnite
Mason at the Diamond Jubilee teasalon.

(29:34):
Oh my god, this gentleman wasplaying the grand piano.
It was so beautiful.
The sandwiches and the sconeswere good.
The top tier of the pastriesthey need to improve, and I did
say that in an evaluation tothem.
The chocolate pastry, the moussepastry was good, but the arrests
were eh.
Their sandwiches were amazing.
The atmosphere was amazing, andof course, their tea is amazing.

(29:57):
And the service, it's lovely.
Highly recommend going.
They just need to improve thetop tier of the of the afternoon
tea there.
And then the other afternoontea, which you have to go to if
you haven't, the best amazingfood was at Peggy Portions.
Now, the day that I went toPeggy Portions, I also had us um

(30:18):
a photo shoot from um yourfavorite uh Scallion studio scal
Scalion Scallion Scalin' ScalinStudios.
And I didn't have Dommy, but Ihad her employee Jean.
And poor Jean was late gettingto me because she ended up
having to take use three ofthose bicycles to get to me
because three of them broke.

(30:40):
I said, I hope you're gonnacomplain.
She says, Yep, the chain broke.
This the tire went flat.
And she's texting me, she says,I'm sorry I'm late.
I said, I'm here when you gethere.
Please do not panic on myaccount.
Just take the time you need.
It took her instead of whatever,you know, normally in the tube,
it would take a few minutes.
She had planned ahead, but threebicycles had broken.

(31:01):
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
And then part of what we wantedto do, she said, I can't really
do all the spots you wantbecause the tube's down and we
can't get to part of it.
I said, That's fine.
We'll do something else.
So that's how, besides theiconic with um Elizabeth Tower
and Big Ben and the phone booth,which she did manage to get, and

(31:26):
I sent you the picture.
Big Ben, the phone booth, and abus all in the same picture.
I was so excited because that'stotally iconic, and she managed
to catch me in it.
And we did all I had so much fundoing the photo shoot.
That was a splurge to myself formy 60th birthday.
I had paid for my daughter tohave her senior photo shoot.

(31:47):
It's a thing in the UnitedStates.
I said, Well, I paid one forher.
I'm doing this.
I had so much fun, and I havelovely pictures, definitely
worth doing.
I don't know if I would do itagain next time because it was a
lot of money, but I had so muchfun and the pictures are
amazing.
I get compliments on all thepictures.
So I might budget to do it againand do a different area.

SPEAKER_01 (32:08):
It was just so and also travel and solo, Laura.
I was gonna say, like travel andsolo, how do you get how do you
get those photos?
Because you have to stopsomebody in the street and hope
they're gonna not gonna run offvia phone um to take the
pictures, but you have themprofessionally taken, so I think
it's uh I just do a lot ofselfies.

SPEAKER_02 (32:25):
Oh, I'm glad it was with the money.
Do you not dealt well worthevery cent.
And I had so much fun doing it.
And um, so we ended up walkingover to Buckingham Palace, and I
didn't realize I didn't rememberall the gardens there.
You know, it's funny what youremember, your brain remembers.
So I got to see BuckinghamPalace from further away in a

(32:47):
view that I don't remember.
And I've been to BuckinghamPalace every time I've been to
the UK, but it just wasdifferent.
Now it was crowded, and therewas a lot of um press because
Harry had come to visit toreconcile with his brother and
his father.
So there was this all this buzz.
And I didn't know that, but Isaid to the reporter, because

(33:08):
there were cameras, I said,What's going on?
He says, Well, nothing at themoment.
He was so funny with his accentand probably some British swear.
He says, But this is what we'rewaiting for.
I said, Oh, thank you.
Okay, yeah.
But I laughed.
Yeah, I don't remember exactlywhat he said, but he he it was
definitely a British, likesarcastic swear kind of comment.

(33:31):
And um have beautiful pictureswith the flowers in the gardens.
And then we walked to the parkthat's between where the palace
is and it's the other, I can'tthink of what's at the other
end.
That park that's in between theother St.

SPEAKER_01 (33:48):
James's Park or Green Park?
Well St.
James's Park.
Well, you walk in between to getfrom one end to the other.
It'll be St.
James's Park.
Yeah.
Did they have the Pelicans andyou can yeah, you've got the
bridge and the you've got thegreat views of London Line.
St.
James's Park.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 (34:03):
So originally I wasn't going there, so we took
some pictures in that park, andthen we went to walk back.
Now there's a lot of crowds andthere's barricades, but people
are walking back and forth.
When we got back, the policemansaid, I'm sorry, you're nobody's
allowed to cross.
And I said, Oh, why?
He says, Well, the crossing ofthe guard is about to happen.
I'm literally at the barricade,the police officer.

(34:25):
And I said, Well, how long willwe be here?
Oh, I don't know.
It might be 15 minutes until ithappens.
I said, Well, how long is it?
Oh, okay.
So I said to Gene, I guess we'rewatching the changing of the
car.
Right in front of me.
Like if I had planned it, andthe reason I skipped it, because
I don't like crowds, I don'twant to have to stand still.
I could lean on the barricaderight in front of me, have great

(34:48):
pictures, got to hear the music,got to see the horses.
I'm like, okay, embrace thisamazing moment.
You know, and I was therebecause again, the tube strike
and I had to change what I wasdoing.
And we had decided to go thatway because then I'd be walked
half the way to um theneighborhood in Belgravia where

(35:12):
Peggy Portions is, and I wasgonna have to walk there
anyways.
So by doing the photo shoot thatway, I was half where I needed
to go.
And originally I was gonna tryto get on a bus, but none ever
came.
So Jean, this is after her a lotof time.
She's like, I'm not letting youwalk another mile or two alone.

(35:33):
I'm walking with you.
So she walked me all the way toPeggy Portions to make sure I
got there.
I mean, this young lady did notneed to do that.
She's from the Ukraine, she's animmigrant.
It's her second career.
She was a dancer and then wentto photography school because
she wasn't going to be able todance.
She's 28.
She wasn't knew she physicallywasn't going to be able to dance

(35:54):
anymore.
Lovely, enjoyed getting to knowher.
And I made it to Peggy Portions.
But I highly recommend you'vegot to go to Peggy Portions, the
most amazing food.
And I was early.
So I said, Well, I have areservation, but I had to walk
because of the tube.
Is it possible?
Can you see me early?
And they're like, Are you Laura?

(36:14):
I'm like, yes.
She says, Well, as long as youdon't mind being in the back
room.
So they put me in the back room.
Well, Peggy's husband wasworking on his computer in the
back room.
It was a dining room, but it'snot the prime location.
To be honest, I loved it becauseI had the whole space to myself.
So talk to him for an hour.
He clearly didn't really want towork that hard.
So I learned that he's also achef, and he's in charge of all

(36:36):
the savory parts of the menu.
Every bite of that, I chose thevegan menu because I I remember
I was going to do several teas,and I'd already done the
traditional menu at Fort NewMason, and I was doing another
traditional afternoon tea withmy friend Mary.
So I wanted something different.
And the vegetable sandwiches,there was um a beetroot with

(36:59):
avocado, a hummus one, amazing.
And the scones, they were hot,and then she's a pastry sift, so
the pastries were amazing.
I ate one of them there and tookthe rest home to my friend's
house.
They were actually gluten-freeand part of his family's celiac,
so I shared them with him.

(37:20):
Amazing.
And I also bought the cookbook.
I collect cookbooks because andbecause I like reading them for
fun.
I I would definitely go backthere again.
Like that was one of the bestmeals.
I know you asked later aboutfood.
That was some of the best foodof my trip.

SPEAKER_01 (37:37):
Can it can I tell you that I've actually not been
to I have not been to PeggyPortion, right?
Now I really want to get toPeggy Portion, and I think I've
emailed them a few times becausethere's the thing that you can
do, like to the PR saying, I'dlike to come and you know, like
take some photos and and have itsome food or whatever.
And they they kind of from whatI gather, they pick who they who
they feel is the best people torespond to.

(37:59):
Or I guess we're talking thekind of influencers, maybe the
people on Instagram who have 25million followers.
Clearly, I'm not an influencerenough.

SPEAKER_02 (38:08):
But you definitely need to, you know, they now have
they have a thing, they have abreakfast tea with you.
Like, um, I don't know if youlike breakfast, but like you can
pick a breakfast food item to gowith.
It's like an afternoonbreakfast.

SPEAKER_01 (38:22):
I'm I'm waiting for the invite from Peggy Portion
because I'm actually gonna sayto Peggy Portion, like I I it's
like nearly 600,000 people don'tlisten on our podcast.
Not enough of an influence.

SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
So I'm just I'm waiting for the invite.
I mean, and for people to know,if you don't make a reservation,
you can walk in to buy theirpastries and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 (38:44):
Well, I need to.
I need to.
I need I really need to.

SPEAKER_02 (38:47):
It's just of of the afternoon teas, and I I toyed
with the other one I would liketo go back is the one at the
shard, because one for the view,but I love I've seen where they
the ship and they make the um,I'm assuming it's dry ice where
they pour the dry ice.

SPEAKER_01 (39:05):
Yeah, that Doug and I've done that one.
We loved that one because notonly do you get a good afternoon
tea, you get a great view, likeyou say, from the shard.
I'll I'll look at the phone.

SPEAKER_02 (39:12):
But there's also an Asian-themed one, something uh
at the shard in the Asian, yeah.
There's another restaurantthat's like that one appeals to
me because I love Asian food.
I don't know what that one is,but I I saw that there is an
afternoon tea at an Asianrestaurant in the shard.

SPEAKER_01 (39:29):
There are there are there are so many afternoon
teas.
I'll try to keep up with them.
I think there's a wholededicated website just for
afternoon teas.
Um I I I much as and I do getinvited quite often to afternoon
teas.
I did do um a couple when I wasback last time.
Um, but but again, it's it's oneof those things like you there's
only so many afternoon teas youcan do.
Well, one a day, preferably, ifI'd actually had a choice.

(39:49):
Um You better bring stretchypants.
I know.
That that's another problem aswell.
It's like I have to be carefulhow many afternoon teas I do
have.
Um because but I don't likescones, which is always a big
thing for everybody.
I'm not a big scon fan.
Uh I I like a cheese scon, but Idon't like a sweet scon.
So I can judge it based on thesavory stuff, is my favorite.

(40:09):
The savory is is definitely mytop thing on afternoon tea, and
a good cup of tea.

SPEAKER_02 (40:13):
Well, I don't know, I know you've been to the
Diamond Jubilee tea.
You know, they have a savoryafternoon tea menu.

SPEAKER_01 (40:19):
Yeah, savory afternoon tea is all the way is
my thing.
Absolutely.
Yeah, okay, so so to just do akind of quick overview of
everything in terms of yourfavorite things that you did,
because we've talked quite a lotabout about London, but
obviously you did quite a bit inScotland too.
And I know you went you were inGlasgow um for a couple of days.
You you did some stuff solobecause I know you you kind of

(40:41):
talked to us a little bit aboutdifferent places to eat.
Um, but talk about kind of yourfavorite experiences in and
places that you were we went toin Scotland.

SPEAKER_02 (40:51):
Yeah, I apologize, but we started with the
beginning in Richard.
So my favorite, well, Doug wouldbe on this totally the ride to
Scotland.
Definitely part of my favoritepiece, just seeing the
countryside.
The street art in Glasgow andGlencoe, the breathtaking
landscapes.
Just just be it's so beautifuland magical.

(41:14):
The Highlands.
You have to go to the Highlands.
Um my favorite castle that Iwent to was Ukart.
Ukhart?
Urkit.
Erkit.
Inverness, the town of Bora.
Getting to see Highland HighlandKoo.

SPEAKER_01 (41:31):
Yeah, Highland Koos.

SPEAKER_02 (41:32):
Oh, the Highland Koo, which is not really the
most popular cows for raising,and most of them are a tourist
um attraction.
So one place our coach stopped,we could buy vegetables to feed
them to take pictures with them,and they were they told us they
could eat their weight invegetables.

(41:54):
And I I did farming, so inAustralia and the UK, Highland
cows are huge compared to othercows.
I mean, they're just huge, butso adorable.
We ran into more Highland cowsat this historic site from World

(42:17):
War II of Italian prisoners.
They bought brought they built achapel.

SPEAKER_01 (42:22):
Oh, it's on Orkney.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (42:24):
Yeah, it's on Oakney.
And um, there was more Highlandcows there.

SPEAKER_01 (42:29):
And there was that's the Italian chapel on Orkney,
yeah.
Right next to the chapel.

SPEAKER_02 (42:33):
Yeah, but they were actually, those weren't tourist
ones, that was like somefarmers.
So there was um a mom and a dadand a baby.
Now the baby was huge, but thebaby came over to the water
trough that was near the fence.
He wanted people to pet him andrub his ears.
It was so darn cute.

(42:56):
That was when he did the otherthing that I, you know, that was
part of the tour, and I did lookup where we went was the
sheepdog demonstration.
And I sent you a picture becausethe gentleman who did the
demonstration, and I'm familiarwith sheepdogs because I worked
with them.
It was fun seeing thedemonstration, but he brought he
went to get puppies, he broughtthem out in a bucket, a bucket

(43:20):
full of puppies.
So darn cute.
And I was at that point, I wassitting on a tree stump because
I can't stand that long, and heknew I was off to the side.
He came over to me first andhanded me a puppy, and the whole
rest of our tour group, therewas 40 of us that I traveled
with, went aww.
And so then he passed them out.
Well, there was another puppythat walked over to me.

(43:41):
So I I have this one puppy who'slicking me and getting loved up,
and another fellow traveler wastaking a picture, was whining,
so I ended up holding twopuppies.
Aww.
It was lovely, and then I reallyloved the ferry ride to the oak
knees.
Now you definitely need yourmotion sick patch behind the ear

(44:03):
and the acupuncture bracelets.
If you I get every kind ofmotion sick, so I totally
empathize with your husband, andI made sure I was out in the air
and not underneath, and I wasfine with the patch, and you
have to put the patch on severaldays before.
It was really choppy, and I'vedone a lot of boats and stuff.
At one point, I held on to oneof my fellow companions because

(44:24):
I swear I thought I was gonnafall off the bench.
It was that choppy, and we wentto Kirkwall, St.
Ola, and we had another localguide there, and we went got off
the coach and walked around thechurch 70 mile an hour winds.
I almost fell.

(44:44):
Another traveler helped me notfall.
I could not believe the wind.
And I'm like, are we gonna beable to get back to our hotel?
We got to take a ferry back.
And some of the coaches fromother companies that day didn't
make it back because our tourguide said what they had to do.
Other companies they had to tryto find lodging for people

(45:05):
overnight.
And I thought, without luggage,medicine, all this, but we
managed to get back.
But so highly recommend theoakneys plan accordingly worth
worth it for the choppiness, andI definitely would want to go
back.
It was just everything there wasso amazing, and I'm glad I went

(45:28):
to the Isle of Sky, but theOakneys, I would say top down
more than the Isle of Sky.
Loch Ness, okay.
I went to Loch Ness, eh, take itor leave it.
I mean, the water was lovely.
I did take my picture with this,you know, the statue Loch Ness.
But I'm telling you, theOakneys, people have to go all

(45:49):
the way up there.
They plan, take a tour, go.

SPEAKER_01 (45:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Go to the Highlands, go to thefar north.

SPEAKER_02 (45:56):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (45:57):
Um, go over to the Orkney Islands.
Um, I'd like to go to Shetland.
I haven't been up to Shetlandeven further.
Um, the Scottish Islands arefantastic, you know, and and I
know everybody heads toEdinburgh and and Edinburgh and
Edinburgh.
Um, it's like in sky, sky, wealways hear about sky, but
there's just so much more.
It's a bit like you know,heading to London and and just
go to London and maybe theCottswalds and maybe Bath is so
much more.

SPEAKER_02 (46:17):
Do you know what I'm saying?
I loved every minute of thewhole trip.
I'm just saying, go to someother places that aren't as
popular.
No, yeah, yeah, no, I agree.
I agree.
Um I wish I had more time inEdinburgh.
And I did do, I want to makesure I mention, and I know you
have a link for it, is to do theIcelander bag workshop.

SPEAKER_01 (46:38):
Oh, yes, yeah, the Islander bag, yep.

SPEAKER_02 (46:41):
Now, I mean I I made a bag, it's a gift for somebody,
so I don't want to say more thanthat, but it was so much fun.
Highly recommend it if you likebags, if you like doing
workshops, it's worth it's worthit.
So I did that on my own becauseI had free time in Edinburgh.

SPEAKER_01 (46:58):
Yeah, yeah, I did I did that in January this year as
well on my own because Dougdidn't want to go and make a
bag, so I went off a mate and itwas good fun.
I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02 (47:05):
Yeah, yeah, so highly recommend that.
But I don't think there's awrong thing to do in the
Highlands.
I mean, even though I'm uh I wason a coach or but I love just
sitting and watching thescenery.
And I'm glad I didn't have todrive.
I mean, as a solo traveler, I'mnot driving.
Yeah, logistics-wise, I'm notgonna do it.

SPEAKER_01 (47:27):
Oh, hey, when I go back, I go with Doug, and he
drove, he does the driving.
I I get to see the scenery, hegets to do the driving.
That's the agreement.

SPEAKER_02 (47:34):
Yeah, um, I mean, and I love seeing all the
animals.
I did list for you in my notes,all the hotels we stayed at were
lovely.
So even though I didn't pickthem, they were all lovely for
different reasons.
So I gave you the list of that,and then I gave you a list of
restaurants because um myfavorite meals were the two pub
meals.
Pubs have excellent food.

(47:55):
So even if you don't drink, andI'm not a big drinker.
I had one pint of lager with myfriends outside of London at
their pub, which I gave you.
It's in Kilborne, the Black Lionin Kilbourne.
It's an Indian fusion pub, soit's think of pub food with
Indian spices.
The most amazing lamb chopappetizer.

(48:16):
I'm dreaming about that lambchop.
You know, I was with, and whatwas lovely is people had their
dogs inside the pub.
I was uh I was just so I Iobviously I'm a dog lover.
I just thought it was wonderfulthat the dogs were allowed in.
Yeah, and in Glasgow, our firstnight we were at um a pub, um

(48:40):
the Gale and Grain or Gale GaleG-A-E-L and Grain.
Gale pub.
Yeah, Gale and Grain.
Yeah, and I had Haggis, theturnip and potatoes.
I always remember can't rememberthe names of it.

SPEAKER_01 (48:53):
Yeah, Haggis, nips, and teddies.

SPEAKER_02 (48:55):
Yeah, amazing.
And because your husband alwaysraves about iron brew, I had the
sugar zero, because I'mdiabetic.
I am brew.
Loved it, wish we had it here.
The way I would describe it toAmericans is think of cream soda
with a tropical twist.
That's how I would describe theflavor.
So I had I am brew many timeswhile I was in Scotland, and my

(49:20):
dog walker's son is a bagpiperand they go to Scotland, she's
Scottish, and she's planninganother trip with their
bagpiping, like she's helpingcoordinate it.
And one of the games herelocally in uh New Hampshire,
they're getting IM Brew in forthe high.
I said, Oh, can you bring, canyou smuggle one can for me,

(49:42):
please?
She says, I'll bring you one.
But they're having it shippedspecifically for the event.
Well, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 (49:52):
At least you can get some.

SPEAKER_02 (49:54):
Yeah, but she can't you can't buy it regularly here.
And I'm like, it's so muchbetter than Diet Coke.
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 (50:01):
Well, it's different.
Yeah, and another drink that Ireally like in the UK that you
don't get anywhere else, Ithink, is dandelion and burdock,
which is worth trying.
Oh, I do.

SPEAKER_02 (50:11):
I do want to take a shout out for supermarkets or
the groceries, Mark and Spencer,and Sainsbury.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (50:20):
Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer's.

SPEAKER_02 (50:22):
And there's another one I can't think of it.
But I love going to grocerystores wherever, whatever
countries I'm in.
So because of you, I had to tryyour favorite snack cake and and
Doug's.
Had to compare them.
I like your cherry, your cherryone better.
Sorry, Doug.

(50:43):
And I bought candies, pega pigcandies.
Yeah.
If your kids like gummies,highly recommend you bring some
of those back.
The chocolates, but I likebuying food.
And I've I always bought snacksand things because I'm diabetic,
so I don't ever not travel withfood.
And breakfast every day, therewas always fruit available, so I

(51:05):
took it with me.
So even though there's meals, Ialways have emergency foods, and
I truly loved having tea everynight.
I mean, I always have had tea,I'm always a tea and coffee, but
because of the trip, I'm nowlike, oh, time for my evening
tea.

SPEAKER_01 (51:22):
Yeah, I like my cup of tea in my uh shortbread,
Scott, Scottish shortbread.

SPEAKER_02 (51:27):
That's my yeah, and then I did go to a distillery.
I'm not really a whiskey fan,but I did like whiskey in
things.
I loved it in the differentsauces for different flavoring
meals.
And our tour guide would dodifferent surprises.
I mean, I'm sure it was in hisitinerary, but we were
surprised.
He bought whiskey fudge.

(51:49):
Oh my god, you gotta have somewhiskey fudge.
That's all I'm saying.
It's delicious.

SPEAKER_01 (51:56):
Oh my goodness.
Oh, well, it sounds like youtried some.
Did you have any um stickytoffee put in?
Because that's always the thingthat you have for Americans.

SPEAKER_02 (52:03):
Um, our dinners always had um a choice of three
starters, three manes, and threedesserts.
So one of the times I did pickthe sticky toffee pudding,
however, as a diabetic, that'snot a smart choice.
So I took two bites, I tastedit, but there's no way I could
really eat that.
That would have been my carbsfor the whole meal.

(52:24):
I understand why people love it,it's delicious, but I knew I
couldn't enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 (52:29):
See, I find it it's a bit too sweet for me, to be
honest.
It's very, very sweet.

SPEAKER_02 (52:33):
I'm glad I tasted it.
My favorite is is it the is itkraken, the whipped cream with
the berries, raspberries, theraspberries soaked, yeah, and
the whiskey with the oats.
That's highly recommended.
Yeah, so I definitely likewhiskey in things, but not so
much as the um drink.

(52:53):
But I'm really glad I went to adistillery with a tasting, and I
did give you the website for theone that was included on our
tour.
It's definitely part of theScottish experience, and if
you're able to have alcohol, Iwould encourage you to taste it.
Otherwise, at least go to learnhow it's made.
It's very interesting, and thehistory and how different

(53:13):
regions taste different and why.
So it was very interesting.
I'm glad I learned about it.
And your cheese is.
I wish I wasn't lactose andchallenge.
I wish I could have eaten morecheese.
Amazing.
The a little bit of cheese thatI did eat was delicious, but I
had to eat it sparingly.
I don't know.
I I enjoyed every meal.

(53:34):
Every meal.
There wasn't, you know, the UKgets a poor rap for food.

SPEAKER_01 (53:38):
It does, it does.
I did a food show at BoroughMarket a few years ago, and um
the the the guide kind of askedwhat do you think of when you
think of um British food?
And it was all all bland, um,you know, beige, bland, bland,
beige.
And then at the end of the tour,they were like, no, completely
wrong.
And I I I don't know because itI I find British food tasty,

(54:00):
hearty.
Um, I love potatoes, and there'sa lot of potatoes and things.
I love like things like gammonsteak, I like my scampi, um, I
like the traditional.

SPEAKER_02 (54:09):
I did not end up having gammon steak.
I would have tried it, but andthe fish and chips.
Oh, I forgot to give you thefish and chip place.
I'll have to send it to you.
And um, that was amazing.
The fish and chips was amazing.
And in New England, we havereally good fish and chips, and
it's called fish and chips inNew England for a reason,
because we're New England.
So, you know, we have a lot ofBritish related food here.

(54:35):
Um, so I mean I grew up withfish and chips, um, and of
course you have to have it withthe malt vinegar.

SPEAKER_01 (54:41):
Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 (54:42):
Amazing.
Mushy peas.
I really don't like mushy peas.

SPEAKER_01 (54:47):
I didn't know I don't either.

SPEAKER_02 (54:49):
I did really I did eat it, you know, I did taste.
I'm always willing, as a worldtraveler, unless it's something
I'm allergic to, I'm alwayswilling to try something once.
You know, I'm willing to try it.
You know, I I love in the UK toask about your allergies and
stuff.
If someone has a food issue,you're not gonna have an issue
in the UK.
Even now, most of the menus hadit, some of the more rural

(55:12):
places it didn't, but if youtold them, they would make sure
that whatever you were eatingwas safe for you to eat.

SPEAKER_01 (55:17):
Um and and a lot most of the time they that they
should technically ask as well.
They they generally will ask.
They do, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (55:24):
Um it must be the law or whatever, but it's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (55:28):
I know they're really good, and uh a lot of
people have have mentioned that.
So you you had a good trip.
You really did have a trip.

SPEAKER_02 (55:33):
But I already want to go back.
So I told Lisa of Go Coswell's,that's on my list.
Yeah, and my my friend Mary thatI visited, she said, Well, I'd
go to Codswell's with you.
So I will be back.
I really would like to also doYork.
I want to go to your home areabecause it's because I feel like
we've gotten to know each other,so I I would enjoy doing that.

(55:55):
Definitely, any friend asks me,I will go back, no matter no
qualms.
Definitely would go back toScotland.
I went to Wales when I was 18,but I don't remember a lot of
it, so I wouldn't mind goingback to Wales because I really I
remember the bed and breakfast.
Isn't that funny?
I mean it's 40 some odd yearslater.
I don't remember most of our Iwas only in Wales for three days

(56:16):
and I can't remember what I didthere.

SPEAKER_01 (56:18):
Uh well it's a long time ago, so you just have to go
back.
And also we're gonna we're gonnawe're gonna go to the VNA and
and have afternoon tea.
Definitely.
I think that'll be really good.
Now I'm gonna wind up, Laura,because we've been talking for
for a long time.
It's great.
It's been really interesting.
And no, no, don't apologize.
It's been really interesting.
I enjoy talking to you, and I'msure that um people listening

(56:39):
and you're listening are gonnabe like interested with what
Laura, how Laura's trip went.
Um, I always end the podcast, asyou know, with this the same
question.
Everybody anticipates it.
Um so what would be your one tipfor anybody visiting the UK?
Uh I know it wasn't the firsttime that you went, but for
somebody who would be gone forthe first time, what would you
advise?

SPEAKER_02 (56:58):
Yeah, so if you're a solo traveler, just go and do
it.
And if you have a mobilityissue, it is possible you just
have to plan accordingly.
And passenger assistance in theairports, the train, people are
extremely helpful offering youhey, do you need a seat?
In the Edinburgh Castle, I usedthe passenger assistance to take

(57:23):
the ride up to the top of thecastle.
I chose to walk back down at myown pace.
Walking up it would have beenreally hard, and it exists and
is available.
Anywhere they have visitorassistance, utilize it.
That's what it's there for, andit will make your trip enjoyable
and make it doable for you.
That's my advice for first-timetravelers who have a challenge.

(57:46):
If you want to do something intraveling the world, you can do
it.
You just have to do it your way.
It's okay that you don't do allthe things.
I acknowledge my physicallimitations when I'm tired.
I'm perfectly happy sitting at acafe and watching the world or
at a park.
Even on my coach tour, I sat atthe park waiting for the coach

(58:08):
to come back.
I talked to Brits.
Of course, anybody who had adog, that was an excuse to say
no.
I am definitely not a shopper.
I've conf confirmed that.
I went in and out.
I'm wearing my one of mypurchases so you could see it.
Um, it's a scarf.
Um, the food markets, yes.
The regular shopping, I couldtake it or leave it.

(58:28):
I go in, look, go, sit.
I I definitely am not a bornshopper.
My daughter, on the other hand,loves to shop.
So when I travel with her, I gofind a place to sit.
And I say, if you see somethingI need to see, or you know I'll
like, then I'll come over andlook at.

SPEAKER_01 (58:44):
I think that's a good plan.
I think that's a good plan.
Um, I and I think I think youmade the trip work for you.
You did the research, youplanned all, you got the
assistance when you needed it.
Um it didn't stop you doing thetrip.
Um, and you know, hats off.
I think you had a great, you hada great trip, you had a great
time.
You were very flexible whenthings changed.
Like the example, the the thetube strike threw a bit of a

(59:06):
spanner in the work um justbefore you went, but you you
know, you worked with that aswell and and were were really
flexible.
And and I think having thatattitude is the is the right way
wherever you travel in theworld.
You go with that flexibleattitude.
Sometimes things change, but youmake the best of it, um, and you
adapt when you need to.

SPEAKER_02 (59:23):
Right.
My also my feeling is if youmiss something, it means you're
meant to go back to thatcountry.
So there are things I didn't getto do, so I know it means I need
to go back.
Like the first time I went toGreece, the museums were on
strike.
This the workers were on strike.
So I knew it meant I was to goback, and I have been back.
And the museums were open.

SPEAKER_01 (59:44):
There you go.
There you go.
It's it's silver silver lining,absolutely silver lining.
Well, Laura, it's been so goodto chat with you this week.

SPEAKER_02 (59:51):
There is one other thing I do want to mention.
Go, go, go.
The ladies who travel, yeah, thenew Facebook group.
If you're a woman and you likeTo travel and if you want to do
solo and you're scared, highlyrecommend they join that
Facebook group because it's awonderful group of women and
people are giving such wonderfulsupport and advice.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:11):
Oh, yeah, we'll do yeah, thank you for that, Sha
Laura.
So that's um that's our uh newFacebook group, Ladies Who
Travel, that I do with Melissa,which is it basically it's a
series that's come out of myglobal travel plan and podcast.
So at the end of every month,Melissa and I um sit down and we
talk about um just just how wetravel and any kind of issues
for traveling, whether you'retraveling solo, but just

(01:00:33):
traveling as a woman.
Right.
And we talk about all sorts ofthings like packing and jet lag
and when things go wrong, whatdo we do?
And we've just doing it, we'lldo an episode next week about
traveling when it's you knowlike in the colder seasons and
how we plan for that and what wepack, especially because
Melissa's from Australia whereshe grew up where it was hot all
the time.
So it's a bit of a it's allright when you've we're used to
the seasons, but when you'reused to kind of living somewhere

(01:00:54):
where it's hot most of the year,it's a bit of a challenge, it
can be a bit more difficult thanyou would imagine.
Um, yeah, so so come and join.
So we that that that Facebookgroup started off.
Um we we've had it for a while,but but last month, some reason
the Facebook God smiled upon us,and we have grown to at this
point, I think we're nearly at16,000 members.

(01:01:15):
Um, we have we've had meetupswith people, we have virtual, we
have online um meetups, we haveum online uh virtual copper with
myself and Melissa, which isreally good to come and join.
So it doesn't matter where inthe world you can come and chat.
Um so that's been a lot of fun,and um, yeah, so we're we're
working on that at the minute.
So thanks for that, Laura.
And and you're you're in thatgroup as well, helping us

(01:01:36):
moderate, which is brilliant.
Um, yeah, so that's a fantasticcommunity as well.
Um, I will mention before wesign off, uh anyway, the thanks
for coming on the episode isthat you have given me the
details of um the places thatyou stayed and the restaurant,
so I will put those in the shownotes so you can check that out.
Um, but um yeah, this week Ijust want to say thanks so much,

(01:01:57):
Laura, for coming on.
And also, you're another um oneof our listeners who enjoys
leaving messages via SpeakPipeas well.
So we look forward to hearingfrom you every week because you
you go on, whether it's the UKpodcast or the global podcast,
uh, leaving us a message.
And we've been getting somefantastic messages coming
through, some requests and someepisodes that people are
enjoying, and um just saying hifrom wherever you are in the

(01:02:20):
world, which blows my mind whenI get a message from somebody in
in Texas or even somebody in NewZealand or somebody in in
Malaysia just saying we'lllisten to your podcast and love
it.
Um, because you know we recordthese episodes and they go out
into the ether.
And I just want to hear from youguys.
Um and Laura, you you were oneof our listeners who got in
touch and and you know, we'vebecome good friends, haven't we?

(01:02:41):
So it's been it's fabulous.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:43):
Yes, so hopefully they meet you either in the UK
and you made me want to go backto Australia.
I took um well it's been a longtime, but it's now back on my
list to put up with the longhaul flight and come.
So I definitely want to go backto Australia.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:57):
Come and visit, come and visit myself and Melissa.
We'll we'll very much lookforward to seeing you.
But I'm gonna sign off for thisepisode um so you can find all
of uh Laura's information thatshe shared in the show notes at
uktravelplanning.com.
Until next week, I'm gonna signoff.
Do you want to say bye, Laura?
Bye, everyone.
Happy travels and uh happy UKtravel planning from me.

(01:03:18):
Bye! Thank you for tuning in tothis week's episode of the UK
Travel Planning Podcast.
As always, show notes can befound at uktravelplanning.com.
If you've enjoyed the show, whynot leave us feedback via text
or a review on your favouritepodcast app?
We love to hear from you, andyou never know, you may receive
a shout out in a future episode.

(01:03:40):
But as always, that just leavesme to say until next week, happy
UK travel planning!

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