When Rob’s brother and his wife travelled around Europe a few years ago, they said their favourite city was Prague. So when our friend Ali invited us to a weekend in Prague. we said yes straight away! Capital of the Czech Republic, Prague was founded back in 1306BC, though it was called Bohemia then. It flourished during the 14th century and much of the gothic city was built then. And a beautiful city it is. The big sight to see in Prague […]

This was our second visit to Wales – last time we saw a bunch of castles in North Wales, so we thought we should see some in the south too. The first castle we went to was Pembroke Castle, birthplace of Henry VII. In its history it had seen a few battles. The original earth and timber castle was built in 1093, and withheld a Norman invasion. The impressive stone castle that currently stands was built in 1189.  The outer wall […]

After our busy walking day at Hadrian’s Wall, we drove away through the farmlands of Northumberland all lined with their pilfered Hadrian’s Wall stone. We wound our way up to Alnwick to visit a beautiful 700 year old castle – Alnwick Castle. And yes – I convinced Rob’s parents to leap into the air for a photo. Choice! Alnwick Castle is the ancestral home of the 12th Duke of Northumberland (55 year old Ralph Percy) though the family only live […]

On our Scottish adventure we decided to see a bit of Davidson family history. So we headed north er, just past Inverness, to a town called Dingwall. Here, situated at the top of the hill, is Tulloch Castle, the ancestral home of the Davidson clan. Tulloch Castle was bought by Henery Davidson in 1762 and stayed in the family until the 20th century. The castle is decorated inside and out with Davidson crests, tartan, and memorabilia. They even have Davidson tartan […]

Recently, Rob and I took a week long roadtrip up to the Scottish Highlands and back again. I wanted to get out the city for a bit and get some space. There was plenty of that. I loved the mountains! The Highlands are amazing. A different kind of beauty to the mountains and lakes in NZ, but beautiful all the same. Below are 2 of the Three Sisters of Glen Coe. The main road runs past them and they seem […]

On our last full day in Wales, we had to go see Conwy castle. Conwy is all about the castle – Lonely Planet said so and it was right. The castle is another great fortress in Edward I’s Welsh defences – a dramatic one too. It was built in just 5 years (1282 – 87) on an elongated rock, with eight huge drum towers punctuating the soaring walls. Very cool. Unike Caernarfon and Beaumaris castles, this spectacular castle didn’t need the […]

During our trip in north Wales, it’s hard not to see castles. They are everywhere and it was the main reason we were in Wales! In the 13th century, King Edward I built castles in Wales as he conquered different towns and regions. That means there are plenty to see! Caernarfon Castle was our first port of call. Built in 1283 by King Edward I, it is surrounded by water on three sides. It is famous for withstanding a 1404 […]

For easter weekend, we decided to go for a roadtrip to North Wales. We had been told to expect castles, mountains and rain. We didn’t climb any mountains but weren’t disappointed on the other points. The castles were amazing and it rained most of the time we were there. But first we had to get to Wales. We convinced a couple of Rob’s friends from NZ (M&M) to join us on our wee adventure. First adventure stop was the town […]

While Barry and Helen were visiting, we wanted to do some touring around to see the sights. One of these sights was to visit Windsor Castle – the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world! We joined one of the free walking tours on offer at the castle (entry price includes an audio guide as well – bonus!) But first, we got to there in time to see the end of the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Because the […]

We still haven’t managed to leave Britain yet for any of our trips. Darn it! But still, there are many beautiful things still to see in the UK. We decided to head out for a daytrip to one of them for a special treat. Norfolk is one of the neighbouring regions to Cambrigdeshire here and it’s coast bends from the north side of Norfolk round to the East. We wanted to go up to the North to visit some sights […]

From Dover we headed towards Leeds Castle ( and home ). It started off rather snowy. However when we got to the castle it was a beautiful day. Even though the sun was out it was still a bit cold. Leeds castle is surrounded by a lake. It has a gatehouse to stop nasty invaders which has a flood gate which can flood the moat. The gatehouse originally had a drawbridge to the castle, however it was replaced when the […]

After we visited Canterbury we drove over to Dover where the plan was, we would stay a couple of nights and see the sights. The first night we saw the sights of the hotel pub, which I can happily say was the first success of Dover, would our luck hold out? The next morning we woke up to snow, which both of us thought was GREAT (probably the only people in England). We went for a walk along the seaside […]

So, after too short a time in York, we were on another train to Edinburgh! Our train trip from York to Edinburgh was stunning. The trainline followed up the east coast, sometime running along and coast line so we could see the cliffs, beaches and ocean. We *loved* Edinburgh. What an amazing city! That castle was spectacular. Like the skytower of the city, you could see it from almost anywhere. So awesome. We were reading the tour book, which was […]

Nottingham has great shops and restaurants, lively nightlife and a couple of nice attractions, but we weren’t totally impressed, which was sad. Most of the city’s original and old buildings have either been destroyed or built on top of. Still, we were only there for a day and the hotel had free wifi, so bonus. First on the agenda was heading over to Nottingham Castle. Aside from being surrounded by skyrise car parks and tall 70s office buildings, the castle […]