A week with Mr John King and Mrs PDA King (Viv came too)

Viv at her childhood home in Stockton (John made her pose on the street to Vivs disgust)
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We were both really tired after our terrible Ryan air flight but seeing John poking his head around the security point lifted our spirits. It was wonderful to see some family after what seems like an eternity to us.

Our week was very busy. We had a car and planned on seeing the north of England, heaps of Scotland and if time permitted, some of Wales. We planned on staying in Travelodge hotels because of the cheap family rooms. Unfortunately they were only supposed to accommodate 3 adults so we got very good at sneaking the left over person in and out of the room.

Hogwarts (Alnwick castle)
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Our first trip was from London to York. The morning began with John announcing that it was 7.30 and then 10 minutes of PDA programming time. On the way we stopped off at Sherwood forest and drove through the Peak district national park. We finished the night with the best steak (according to John) in Davids pub in York.

Our next leg was from York to Edinburgh. We headed to the coast and saw Scarborough fair, Whitby abbey, Vivs old house in Stockton, Alnwick castle (feature in the Harry Potter movies but was closed), and Bamburgh castle.

Stop!! Someone call the police!! Bag snatcher!!!!
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We spent a full day in Edinburgh with some of the worst weather we have experienced. It was so bad that they didnt open Edinburgh castle because of the wind. The closure of the castle caused a huge overflow of tourists causing all other attractions to have hour long waits. Our first stop was the scotch tour which had a very exciting barrel ride at the end (and some free tastings of the god awful stuff). We went to the Edinburgh dungeon next (it was ok) and that night we went to Mary Kings close (It was fantastic).

The line up - the one in the middle looks a bit suss
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From Edinburgh we went to Inverness (home of the the great Nessie). On the way we saw the bridge over the firth of forth and stopped of at the Cairngorn national park. While there we took a train ride through the snow to the top of one of the mountians. Up there John shouted us a pretty good hot chocolate.

From Inverness we went to Fort William via the Isle of Skye. This was a fantastic drive through some amazing scenery. We wanted to stop and take photos along the way but John was convinced that the parking bays were hidden even though the rest of us could clearly see them. John thought he would be a real bushman and fill his water bottle from a waterfall next to the road. We are not sure if this was the cause, but later that night John and Viv gave us a wonderful audio show (Johns in particular was a sound that we have never heard from a human being and one that we never hope to hear again) which earnt them new nicknames (feel free to ask them what they are).

Very cold, blustery day on top of the mountain
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The next morning we woke up to snow blanketing everything and then began our massive journey to Wrexham (Wales). On the way we saw Glen Coe, a nice castle and some more amazing scenery. By the time we got to Wales it was dark but we still managed to find a pub that was serving food. The pub however wasnt really open for food as such, it was holding a 21st bday party, they were just nice enough to let us come in for a meal. It was the most bizarre pub we have been in but everyone was really friendly (the bday girl even invited us to join her party - we declined but had to hold Viv back) and we had some decent food.

The highlands
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Our last journey was through Wales back to London. We went to a nice little village called Llangollen which was the home of a horse drawn barge (it was the highlight of Johns journey). It was an adreneline filled ride through the canals and if we didnt scream at the ducks the boat may have brushed against them slowly. Afterwards we made our way down to the Severn bridge (built by Davids Grandad) and then we had a horrible, traffic filled drive back to London.

This marked the end of our time with John and Viv. We had a really great time with them and loved being able to see all the things that we couldnt in the UK. It was really great to see some family again and it made us very homesick. We had a really memorable time with the 3 of them (We know we havent mentioned the PDA, or babe as John calls it, much through this but believe us - it featured stongly throughout the week) and thank them for everything they did for us while over here.