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An American Couple's England Adventure - Trip Report with Robbie Wright · UK Travel Planning

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracy Collins.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: In this podcast, tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to episode 51 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: In this week's episode I chat with guest Robbie Wright about her and husband Glenn's recent England adventure, which included Time in London, arundel, bath, yorke and the Cotswolds.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: I began by asking Robbie to introduce herself, tell us where she's from and who she went with on the trip.
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: Okay, i'm from Northern California.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: We live in a little town called Auburn and I went on the trip with my husband, glenn.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: You did.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: And how long were you in the UK?
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: for Three weeks.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: So when did you?
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: it was April and May, wasn't it that you were there?
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we got there April 18th actually, and then we left on May 12th.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: And, of course, when you were over, we got the opportunity to meet, which was lovely.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Yes, I know that was like one of the best parts.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Meeting you and Glenn was amazing and it was so cool to see you guys after.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Obviously you remember the Facebook group and sent emails and stuff, so it was really nice to meet up with you.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: So let's think about when you came to start planning your trip to the UK.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: How did you go about doing that, robbie?
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Okay, well, what happened was, first I looked for on YouTube how could I get cheap tickets?
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: And so, in the process of that, and then, having booked our tickets, i don't know how you popped up, if it was just like a little ad or something like that, you know, and it was UK travel planning and I was like, okay, so I got on that and that was the beginning of the whole thing.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: I got on the website and then I saw the Facebook group and then I saw the podcast and you know I listened to the podcast over and over and over.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, i'm going back and listening to them again now, you know.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's so lovely.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: you realise this is actually episode 51, i can't believe we're on episode 51.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I get crazy Yeah.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: Oh my.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: And also it's great that you agreed to come on and talk about your trip.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: We really appreciate it when you guys do that, because it's you know it can be a bit nerve wracking if you're not used to talking on a podcast.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: come on and then been interrogated by me all about your trip.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: So obviously you did the research, you found our website and you joined the Facebook group.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I know you have been really good in that.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: And one thing that you did which was really good as well is when I did live, for example, with Victoria from Cotswold Tea Cuisptors.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: you asked questions and came on, which is great.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: It's the best way to find out stuff, isn't it?
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Come on, ask questions, you know, get involved, Yep, Yep.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: So you had an idea of, did you have an idea of the sort of places you wanted to go in the UK before you started kind of really getting into planning, or did you kind of get ideas as you went along?
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: I didn't have any ideas other than we were going to go to London.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: We've never traveled with doing any kind of tours.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: We lived in Europe four and a half years.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: So even in the US when we travel we just go there and then whatever catches our fancy, and so I really I didn't.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: I got the ideas from the podcast.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about where you went, then give us a brief overview of your time in the UK.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Where did you go?
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Well, we went to London, then went down to Arendelle Castle, Then we went to the Cotswolds and then we went to work.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: So those are the regions, kind of that we went.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: And so when we went to the Cotswolds we stayed nine days And from there we branched out to see things.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: And the same with York.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: And how did you get around, Robin?
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Did you have a car or We drove?
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: we got a car.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: How did he find the drive-in?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: What was it?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Was it just?
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: it just feel weird driving on the other side of the road Because obviously I know you lived in Germany before, but obviously they drive on the same side as you do in the States.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Well, we had gone to Ireland about six years ago, so it wasn't the very, very first time, but you know it takes two or three days to get used to it.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: He had said that he owed me a trip back to Ireland because he wouldn't let me drive there because the roads were so narrow and Absolutely the bushes and it just was freaking him out like he needed to take a sedative So.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: So he's always said he needed to take me back so I could drive.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: So I did do some, but there was so much more traffic that it was.
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: You know, it was like okay, so I drove three days just for you know the fun of it, and then he did all the rest of it.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: I'll go say it hats off to you, though, doing the driving, because I know a lot of people.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: They Nominate one driver and that's the person that does all the driving.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm even even I'm used to driving on the left, but last year I was like it don't, i nominated Doug to do most of the driving and he, he did a lot of it, because you know Even somebody's used to it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Go into Scotland in some of those lanes, or Right and in Cornwall, that you and the Cotswolds are some very narrow little lanes that can be a little bit Hairy at times, can't they?
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: it's quite, but but driving, yeah, but Glenn found it pretty good He was, he was okay with it.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah he was.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: It was a lot of fun.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: He, we Team drove.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: I did all the you know.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: As we'd come to a traffic circle, i'd be going give way.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: You know, give way to the right, give way to the right.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good, that's given that I know, when I've done that with Doug, when we've been over in France, it's like you've got to give the direction.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: So when you, you know, go around the roundabout or like, state of this, stay this way instead.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Keep thinking about that.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: All those kind of tips that you give each other, don't you when you, when you're driving in, and that's really good, tracy, if it wasn't.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: I mean I thought Glenn might go, you know whatever about Trippiamo, but I had him watch the video and he repeatedly said I am so glad that you got that video Because it just set us up for success.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's brilliant.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: That's.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: That's good to know and I'll let John know who.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, launch Trippiamo.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: He'll be really happy to hear that and I know we've had some excellent reviews from people who've used it instead How much it prepares you to drive.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: You know, if you're from North America and you're not used to driving on the left and you don't know Kind of the rules of the road and, oh, just to prepare you, it's a really good way to do it.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: So that's really great to hear that from from Glenn, that you, you know you enjoyed that.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Then he actually enjoyed the drive because it can be stressful and it can cause I've.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: You know You can have arguments when you try to win when it gets so stressful, which isn't great on holiday, is it?
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: You say you don't you have a bit more of a kind of a, a looser kind of framework for your, for your travels, in that you can, and you knew the places that you wanted to go to.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: You'd listen to the podcast.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Obviously, we've got podcasts about the Cotswolds with Victoria and I know, i think you went on a tour with with our lovely Victoria, of course, or teacups, didn't?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: yes, how did?
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: that go.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, it was so wonderful, it was spending time with her.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: Meeting you and spending time with her were like major highlights of our trip, because I felt like I already had friends before I got, and so it was just like I was meeting friends.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: You know, at first when I would talk to the family, i'd say, you know, tracy of the website or whatever, and then, as time went on, i was saying, you know, tracy said this and Tracy said that, and everybody knew He's talking about, oh, but with Victoria, yeah, gosh, she's so lovely.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: And she picked us up in her little van The cutest thing I can't remember which the name of it is, but anyway it has a name and she brought some snacks and She just took us around and glenn and I were talking about it last night.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: It she the stories.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: She knew the places that she took us to.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: She had, you know, we had questions.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: She'd answer them, you know, um, she took us to the Tolkien Door of Duren place.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, i think so about that, you know.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: And so, um, yeah, it was.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: It was just so much fun and It was her knowledge.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, i would want to do it again both of us would.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: But, too, the test thing is, if we go back and go to all the same places, we won't see.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: But you know I do have because obviously I pick and choose the best Driver to guides and, and you know, and I love my entire, all my partners that I work with.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: They're the amazing John Victoria, marking Northumberland, doug Denning, cornwall, and I've just got um Ozz on board who who does private tours from out of London.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, i'm very lucky because I guess they pick and choose to to work with me as well.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: But we're very lucky that we have just created a wonderful, wonderful team, even right all up to far north scotland, you know, with, with salian and and Robert.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: So you know, we are lucky and we're constantly kind of adding To that team as well, so that we can offer you guys like the, the best people when you come.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, and all the people who work with come on the podcast, and I think that also helps because you hear the voices and you You can meet them in their facebook as well.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: So, as you say, it's like coming across and meeting up with friends, isn't it, by the time you come.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: So that's really good.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: Scavered because we did the tower of london walks tour Yes, yes, beef eater Welcome.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: and after we did that, we discovered that everything that we went to do later, like when we went to westminster abbey you're walking around but you don't know what you're looking at.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: Yep, so you know.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: here It's like, oh okay, here This person was buried, here this person, this person, but you don't know anything.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: and in the tower of london We learned all these things, and with victoria we learned all these things.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: and so the value of the tours is It.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: it made the trip.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know something.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I absolutely 100% agree with you about that, because you know we can all do this.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: We can all go to these places independently and buy ticket and have a look around, but, you're absolutely right, you don't learn as much.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: You don't clean the knowledge.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: You might look at something and you don't necessarily kind of know what it is, and so you you actually might walk around a building, but that's what you do.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: You walk around a building, you don't actually learn anything about the history of it.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: And I think, as well, when you go out with with the driver, tour guides as well, you know they know places that that Only locals know.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: You get stories, and we all want to know stories.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Don't worry about the place to really learn about it And and that's what they can share with you tell you those stories that that bring a place alive, right.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: And I think you know, and if you put, i don't want to do tours, i don't want to do tours And I'm like I would always do a tour everywhere I go, i do tours and you know Those are the most memorable things, those are things that you remember.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, those are the stories we can tell our family.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: Those are the things we talk about, and those are the things that we're talking about at the barbershop.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's perfect, it's brilliant.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Well, you can tell all your customers as well come over and And visit the uk, which would be great, that'd be brilliant.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: So, obviously You kind of had the places planned, you had the ideas, you did the research and listened to the podcast.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Did you book?
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Obviously, some of the tours you had to book in advance.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: That Victoria's gets very, very booked up.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, she's booked up pretty much solid, i think, for the next couple of months.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: So how far in advance did you start thinking about booking the tours and booking accommodation and that sort of thing?
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: Okay, so Victoria's podcast, jump on and book it, because I would go there.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: So, pretty much as I learned about him, i did Right.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: So I was with London.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: One of the things with London is everything starts at the same time pretty much.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: So it's hard to get more than one thing in a day, you know.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: So I would just book them and then, well, honestly, i booked more than one with Viator or Wax or whatever, and then we from there, because you can cancel it, yes, yes, and we looked at the calendar.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Is this something we really wanted to do?
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: What meshed with what?
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: what day would we have to go for that one?
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: You know, so, yeah, so, as far as how far in advance before?
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, i started in October planning and I had all the tours booked by end of November.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: And that's a good thing too, because you know, quite often and I read it in the Facebook group I was reading somebody yesterday saying I think they couldn't get tickets for Harry Potter Studios, they couldn't get tickets for the Jacobite, and you know, we say for those who really need to book, those are so popular you need to book well ahead of time for all of those sorts of things.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: And, and obviously you know, the private driver, tour guides as well get booked up, like Domi, my photographer in London.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: They get booked up.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: So I can't.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: I think it's right, as soon as you hear about something or you're interested in something is, reach out, get that book made, get it done.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: You know, and if you go through Vite or get your guide, you can always.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: You know most of the tours you can cancel up to 24 hours before.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: So it's a case of a kind of when you're working your logistics out is figuring out you know what's your most important things that you want to do and get them in.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: I think We did not get tickets for Bath, for the Roman Bath, until the day.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: We went there And how many.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Right, we were in Bath but we were staying in the Cotswolds.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: We were an hour and a half away from Bath And we had to go back the next day just to see the Roman Baths because we hadn't booked the ticket.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: But you know, we routed back through some of the villages, we made it work, but that's an example.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Right there, if we hadn't booked it.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: We'd have missed it.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Well, it's funny because I'm taking my mom next month to Bath because she's just had her 80th birthday.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm taking her there for three days.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: And I booked the Roman Baths about a week ago, got the tickets exactly for that, because, if it's an important thing, we're going for afternoon tea at the Jane Austen Centre as well, because my daughter's paying for that for my birthday, my mom's birthday.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: But I've booked that already.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: It's those important things There's like no, i really want to do that.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: So therefore, you know, i'm going to get that booked.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Right, that's important.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: So what about accommodation?
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Robbie?
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: How did you choose your accommodation?
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: What sort of accommodation did you stay in?
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: We we are Airbnb people, so even all everywhere we go, we do Airbnb, and we did a hotel in London and we did what you said about stay where it is that you want to, where where's most important on your.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: Another thing that you said was that you need to decide why you're coming.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: So, if you're coming for history, are you coming for World War II?
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: Are you coming for literature, are you coming for you know various things?
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: And so we talked about that and what was important to us And so we stayed in Westminster.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: Is that the area?
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it in Westminster, so we could just basically walk out the door and go to those places and not have to waste the time on the tube, which you said.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: And I think that's important If you can do that absolutely, because otherwise you're going to be traveling, you know, traveling in and out, And I just know for me personally and I've said this numerous times, but it's like you know, you've done 20, 25,000 steps or something a day.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: You don't want to then get back on the tube and have to travel a tube and walk, because there's a lot of steps between those, those tube stations, and then walk back to accommodation, because I'm like I'm over it by that point.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Yes, Yeah, My feet have had enough from the same note.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: So I like to to choose.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: So we're actually, because in a few weeks time we're going to, I'm going over to Paris for the day, So we're staying very close to to St Pancras International, because I just want to be able to walk across there, get on the train And when I come back after that, walk back to the hotel.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: It's really important for me.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: So, but your accommodation, you had good accommodation.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: You liked it.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: We did Airbnb's.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: We like to stay with families so that we can meet local people and be able to have conversations with them.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: We had wonderful conversations with the families we stayed with when we went to Airenduil.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: We had just our own, our own flat.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: It was a vacation home, so they weren't there, but we were straight across from the wall of the castle.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: I mean, we were on one side of the street.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: It was on the other side of the street and it was fabulous.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: And so, yeah, we've really enjoyed the time with the families And that's why we do Airbnb.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: And that's lovely and you know it's a.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: It's a really good reason.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Another reason I kind of say you know people like You know being bees or guest houses.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Another great way to to meet local families and to meet local travelers or whoever's traveling to the area.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: You know it's sit a breakfast, never chat about who's going where, and then you get all the tips, don't you about?
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: yeah, it's like we're off to Edinburgh next Monday and we're staying at Elder, the Elder House, elder York guest house, and we've stayed there for years because we absolutely Love Murray who and his dad who run it, the Edinburgh born of bread, we get a fantastic full Scottish breakfast, you know, and, and Murray knows all the best places and all the tips are wet about where to go and what to do.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: You know that's invaluable, isn't it?
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll do that.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about food, because, just because I've talked about breakfast, then, so how did you, how did you find the food?
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: I know one, i did.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Have I helped you find somewhere to eat.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: You find a Weatherspoons, didn't you?
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: yes, we did find weatherspoons, and from there on That's pretty much the pubs that we went to everywhere we went.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: I looked it up, you know.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: Is there a way?
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: yeah, cuz that was kind of easy you know, we went places like and what be.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: We went to magpie Yeah, so that was different, but yeah, it was wonderful.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: We went to Weatherspoons and their menu was really big, you know, yes, lots of choices.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, so, and good prices.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: It's a good price as well, exactly, and it's very popular.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: British people, as all you find, loads of Brits eat there because it's, you know, good prices.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, do you do any?
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: any meal deals?
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Did you go for the sandwiches, drinks and oh my gosh, every single day.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: We said we had a picnic sitting here and we had a picnic sitting there, but absolutely, i mean that they were fabulous.
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: You go in, you pick your sandwich, your chips, your, you know, your drink and, yes, we tried all the different sandwiches With.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: This trip was for our 50th anniversary, so our kids are giving us a party in June, so they have asked me to send them What we ate so that they could make it, and one of the things that I did was all the different sandwiches, you know.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: I was like we love meal deals, you know, and there was the one with the cheese and the chutney and the egg and the sweet corn and Brilliant.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah you have to show me some photos of that.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: You get it.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: That'll be so cool.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Need a little Union Jack sticking out with sandwiches.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: I have to tell him that and told me yesterday that she'd love to have a red phone booth in the venue.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: She said we can't do that, but we were talking about what to do.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: So they're gonna decorate it like an English garden.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, That's gonna be so lovely.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, that'll be, that'll be lovely.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: We're really, really lovely to see the pictures of that as well.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: And because you've got, you've got, you've got a lovely family I know you showed me pictures when, when, when I met you guys in in London and actually the day that we met, unfortunately, we went to I was really excited about going to the cafe in the crib, but there was a.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: There was actually something going on that day.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: But you did say to me you actually went back, you managed to go and have something to eat there.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, before we stayed in Windsor at a Tray, the Airbnb we stayed at in Windsor.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: You walked out on the balcony and Right there was Windsor Castle.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: You could just look at it.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: It was just so crazy.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: But that was our last two days, and That before going to the airport.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: So what we did is, when we got there, we jumped on the train and We went back to London to do anything that we hadn't got to do, and that's when we went to cafe in the crypt.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Okay, so you managed to.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: I'm glad that you managed to go.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: The food really nice there It's.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: It's somewhere that I always like to go and not everybody knows about it.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Tell me about your favorite things that you did what with it.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: What were the kind of standouts I know, meeting myself in Victoria, say it was lovely, yes, what.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: What are the things that the other Biden memories that you're gonna have your trip places or experiences?
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: Erin Dill Castle was Definitely a highlight, and it was just a quick add-on because we weren't gonna be able to do a part of our trip that we had Planned and we were actually gonna drive through there on the way to The next destination, which was Portsmouth.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: It's a whole another story.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: But anyway, i said, well, let's see if we could find an Airbnb there.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: And that castle Oh my gosh, it is so beautiful and the were blooming everywhere, there were tulips.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: And then we found out that and the and the castle was wonderful.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: And then we found out that We went to a little museum and the man told us that was the Duke of Norfolk's Castle and then he explained who he was and that he was the highest Duke in the country and that he would be on the podium or the stage or whatever, with the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Coronation.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: Ah, these are things you wouldn't know if you didn't talk to people and so But but I don't know.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: It's just.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: You know, walking around the castle It's a small village We found the tea and biscuit club.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: We spent a ton of money shipping tea back for everybody.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: That's funny.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: That's funny, the little girl, the girl that worked there.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: So that was definitely a highlight.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Doing the tour with Victoria was priceless.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: We loved that.
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: Let me see I wrote down Through here.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: Oh, we went to Blenheim Palace.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Ah yes, that was really really amazing and love that.
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: Oh, in Bath, we enjoyed a lot of what we saw there the, the crescent, that just really was so impressive.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: To Glen, you know, he really enjoyed that.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that was really for him.
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: But then I found that you know, i mean if I enjoyed it too?
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah but it was like, where do we go?
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: and so many of our customers said bath, and so we went there and And it was great and and of course, i mean the Roman baths were amazing.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: So they're fantastic, yeah, but, seeing all the little villages, we went through Casacum and we went to the library and we went to Morton on the water and, oh, and then Victoria had told Um, because I like to knit and on one of the lives she said she was no, i'm one of the podcast.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: She was talking about a place you could still get Cotswold wool.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and this is definitely a highlight for me.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: So She had given me the contact information for that shop and it was in Chipping Norton.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: So we went there, which was right by our Airbnb.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: So we went there and And I bought some Cotswold wool from the sheep that are you know the graze now, which was wonderful.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: But she also told me that she had.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: There was a lady, a young lady, who raised Cotswold lion sheep, he spins it and so.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: So, anyway, they only had one skein of it There.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Maybe they didn't have any.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Well, anyway, she, um, she said she could get it for me.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: So she went and she got some for me and she delivered it the next day To the ball we were staying because we weren't gonna be there.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: I mean, people are just so fabulous, you know.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: So that was really fun.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: I got to go to see that place and then she Um sent us on to where they used to actually weave the wool and we went there.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: They don't weave it now, but we went upstairs There was the looms and all of those things and talk to the owner and But I'm so excited that I got that wool, thank you.
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: So what is it?
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: Is it dyed wool or is it?
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: Nope, all of that wool is Natural.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, wow, oh, that's what.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: well, i'm seeing Victoria tomorrow.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: I will pass that on.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so was there anything?
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: obviously, i just actually asked you about York before I got the next question.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: What about York?
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Was any standouts about York?
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: I?
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: think the biggest standout for me was the how big the Minster is yeah.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: And I think it's because I mean I looked it up, square feet and size and it's just a little bit bigger than Westminster Abbey.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: But I think because York is smaller and the Minster is so big, yeah, just like you feel like it's, it's everywhere, you know, it's just its presence is just so big.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: And So we really enjoyed that.
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: We loved the tour that we did of the Walls.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: It was a private tour of of the walls and so we learned all these different things about, you know, the the.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: His focus was like from the Romans on to the present and he was that through Building structure, you know, and so that was fun to do that.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: But and then We on Sunday after the coronation, they rang the bells of the Minster the whole entire day.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: Wow it, they.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: It would stop for a little bit and Glenn was like maybe they're changing the guy that's bringing the bell.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: He's tired.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, i've given away.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: So, of course, because you were in the UK for the coronation time.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: So, top, tell us about that.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: That was really a lot of fun.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: We saw them Setting things up the bands or the bleachers over in Palace, and they were pulling out the Barriers that they would put along the roadway.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: One of my favorite that things was because they were doing all of that.
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: It was kind of jamming the traffic up, which Probably wasn't making anybody happy.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: But that particular day the rain came down like nothing, it just poured.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: It was really so hard and so the streets were really really wet and the reflection of the buses and all of that.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: I I loved it.
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: I was like I wanted to sing in the rain, you know.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: You had pretty good weather as well when you were over didn't.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: You did so.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: Then the family We were staying with, they had a family that their family They were gonna go see.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: You know they had this big coronation family thing, you.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: So I couldn't find a place To.
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: I think we could have gone to Harrogate They had some screenings there But I just wasn't prepared for all.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: Of that.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: Family set their TV up so we could watch it and Like, we saw that and we saw that, we saw that you know.
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: So that was a lot of fun.
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: And then the Little villages and they all had Like they were doing fairs for the kids, you know where they would have games they could play and they were selling you know, get stuff like that.
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: So I was really wanting to see how the country Celebrated the local people.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: How are you, you know, how do you celebrate your Well?
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: there's a hugely historic event and you, you were there to experience it.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: I Love, very excited.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: So, apart from, obviously, you bought the Cotswold wall back, was there any other silver souvenirs that you bought, any other things that you brought?
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: as I mean brought tea, because you sent Tea back and the wall was anything else that you bought, or oh.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to think.
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: Well, when I went to the woolen mill then I bought a glass chester, how do you?
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: would you say that, yeah, they had Plads from different and so I bought a scarf from there.
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: So that was one gosh.
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: I can't think of what we got in London.
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: I know we did.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: but did you ship stuff back?
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: I know you ship the tea back, i guess, yeah, we yeah, you got anything else.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: It was just little things that we were able to get into the suitcase, but Yeah, how did you get on with your packing?
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Did you?
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: did you find that you took too much or not enough?
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: Did you have to buy anything or Well, the only thing that we had to buy was a curling iron, because I got a converter For my curling iron, but it didn't like it anyway, so it died and so we had to buy that.
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: So I definitely recommend, if you need anything like that, you just go buy something there and You have shops to pop in and buy.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: They're not expensive.
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: Especially since the one I had was expensive.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: Now I've lost that I have to buy another one.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: Oh no, so there was that.
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: But you know, because I listened to the podcast and on your website you have articles for everything and you have some on luggage and packing and so, nope, we didn't take anything over there, we didn't need and we didn't have.
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: You know, we weren't sorry for anything we took and We didn't need anything.
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: When we got there, it was absolutely perfect.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: Brilliant.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: So was it anything that surprised you about the UK that you weren't expecting?
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: Well, one of the things is, you know, we love to listen to the accent, go away talking to people and we found that when we were on the bus That they were listening to us and then we would start talking and they're like we just love listening to your What, and so we had wonderful Experiences.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: But but them being as interested in our accent as we were theirs, that was a surprise.
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: But I, one of the, is there's no outlets you can't have there's.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: It's not allowed by building code to have an outlet in the bathroom.
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: We are so not used to that.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: So then you have to figure out where am I gonna plug in the hairdryer?
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: Where am I gonna plug in?
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: you know pretty much anything.
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: And then there aren't very many outlets in the rooms.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: And Glenn had thought ahead and brought a power strip, so it had lots of outlets on it and extension cords, and I don't know what made him think about doing that, but that was.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: So that's what I travel with a board And something.
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: I actually should put that into the packing list because for me obviously I'm bringing lots of things over from Australia, so different plugs, so I just bring my one that I plug in and then everything can go into that and charge my laptop up and charge my phone up and things like that.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: So yeah, so Glenn was thinking well ahead with that one And a lot of the places in the UK they're very old, so and it's something to say they don't necessarily have a lift or elevator, they don't have air conditioning, they don't have a lot of sockets, so yeah, so it's those sort of things I guess can catch you out a bit if you're not used to it.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: And it's kind of I'm gonna say it's like some of these places.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, i'm staying in a place tomorrow in still in the world And I think it's about four or 500 years old.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: Is there anything you would plan to do differently next time you visit the UK?
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: or we're totally happy with everything out went?
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: Glenn and I talked about that last night and we can't think of anything that we would do differently.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: And I tell you it's like I said at the beginning I feel like it's a commercial for your UK travel planning and the podcast and everything.
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: But and I encourage people even in the Facebook page really do the things that you have said.
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: it made everything so wonderful.
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: It's a model for going the next time, you know.
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: so, yeah, so there's, we don't feel like that, other than just not being able to stay there.
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: we actually considered not seriously, but we, when we were in Aarindul, we walked past a real estate office and they had a sign there and it was like, if you're over 60 years old, they were like you can buy stuff for 49% off or something like that.
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: And we were looking at one and we were like we can buy that and then we could use it as an Airbnb And oh, that would have been lovely, And you could spend a bit more time in the UK.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to finish with the last question that asked everybody, which is what is the one tip that you would give to anyone planning a trip to the UK for the very first time Booking.
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: It would be booking your tours, booking your pubs.
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: We kind of thought, oh, we're not really going to need to do that.
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: And then we found out, no, we really need to do that.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: So, and Betty's?
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: I didn't think we were going to be able to get into Betty's And when I looked we could not make a reservation at all.
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: No, no, you can't.
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: But our family that we were staying with said oh, you don't have to make a reservation, you can just queue up.
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: So we did, and it just happened to work out that we were like the fifth people in the queue And you can still have the high T doing it that way.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: You know, but sometimes that queue gets really long because it's such a popular place to go.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, i think that's an important point And a good thing to bring up.
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: Is, is, again, is, is not leaving it till the last minute, is once you know, is then getting things booked up.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: I think you know, avoid being disappointed and thinking or missing out on the things that you really want to do.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: I think it is, you know.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: However, however, an advance you feel is if something's open and is available, then yeah, absolutely book it.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: I mean I, i book my accommodation.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: I mean I use bookingcom because I like the fact that I can get the free cancellation I use get your guide for for my larger tours, and again, you've got that free cancellation.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: And you know people, as I say, people like Victoria and John and Mark, everybody gets booked up really fast.
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: You know there's a lot, a lot of post.
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: Covid tourism is getting very, very busy.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: London is just saying it's getting very, very busy, and so you know you just have to kind of think ahead and do it.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: So I think that's a that's an excellent bit of advice there, robbie, for sure, and it obviously worked out for you guys because you managed to get everything that you wanted to do.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: You saw everything that you'd planned to do and see.
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: So, that's excellent.
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: Glenn keeps saying that it was the best vacation that we've ever had.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's lovely.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: You need to say hello to Glenn.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: For me I will, but I guess for this episode of the podcast it just leaves me to say to Robbie I'm so happy to hear that.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: To Robbie, thanks so much for coming on and agreeing to talk us through your trip and give us your tips and your experiences from your visit.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: And I'm going to say thank you very much from myself and Doug as well, for just being amazing in the Facebook group and just being so lovely, just saying such lovely things.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: It just makes us feel really happy to hear that And it's kind of why we started everything, why we did the podcast, why we did the Facebook group and how we do it.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: And it's just amazing, just makes us feel really warm when we're here, this sort of feedback from yourself and Glenn about how much you enjoyed your trip.
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: Well, you're welcome.
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: It was really truly the best trip ever, and I hope that when we come again we can cross paths again and even meet Doug.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, hopefully.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: Well, you never know, we might be over in the States later in the year, so hopefully we can.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, you have to come.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're not next time in the UK, hopefully when we'll be there at the same time when we can organise it.
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: But that would be great.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: But thanks so much for coming on the podcast this week.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: It's been great talking to you.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Thanks, robbie.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Thank you Thanks again to Robbie for coming on to the podcast this week and chatting about her trip report.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: I really enjoyed talking to you, robbie.
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you again.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: You can find information about all the places and tours Robbie talked about in this episode at UKTravelPanincom.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: Forward slash, episode 51.
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: A huge thank you also to Robbie for sponsoring the UKTravelPanin podcast every month.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: If you enjoy in our weekly podcast and would like to show your support for our work, please pop over.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: There will be a link in their show notes to sponsor the show from as little as three US dollars a month.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: And I want to say a huge thanks to Tina Lang, hannah Waterman, veneta Thomas, deborah Harrison, donna Owen and, of course, robbie for your ongoing support and sponsorship.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: We really, really appreciate it.
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: That just leaves me to say for this week, as always, happy UK travel planning.