1. Seeing the northern English and Scottish countryside makes me realize why so many from that area settled in the Appalachians. 2. When you see a wall built 2,000 years ago and a castle built in 1066, you get a different perspective on history. There were pubs in London older than our country.
3. Talking to cab drivers was an unexpected joy. The one that picked us up from the Chelsea game was with the fire service by day and a cab driver by night. He has two twin infant daughters. We talked about their futures and the futures of our two counties. People are people and we’re all trying to get by. Some just have a better attitude towards it than others. My son and I enjoyed our time with him.
4. If you see traffic moving quickly through London in a movie, that’s B.S.
5. We were near the Queen at Westminster Abbey (they had a celebration the Monday for Commonwealth Day) and at Windsor the day before. She did not invite us over for tea. I have respect for her though — her toughness and knowledge will be missed by Great Britain will miss her when she is gone.
6. Visiting the Churchill War Rooms made The Darkest Hour that much better. They captured it brilliantly in the film. I just got my masters in English and Scottish history this week.
7. Scotland is unbelievably gorgeous. We explored several castles in some of the nastiest weather I can remember (high wind, 33 degrees F and driving rain) and didn’t care. We saw the William Wallace monument from Stirling Castle and kept hearing, “FREEDOM!” Edinburgh Castle was magnificent and the Royal Mile (the city and shops around it) was too.
8. Stonehenge was awe inspiring. Yeah, it’s a pile of rocks — but what a backstory! And as a bonus, there is a secret RAF airfield nearby that does Area 51 kind of stuff.
9. I felt safe in London. We rode the Tube and walked around at night with no problem.
10. Transportation in London is expensive. The Tube ended up being our go-to mode of getting around. Getting and Oyster card (their pass) is a wise investment.
11. Yes, the food lives up to its reputation. But we did find some good restaurants in London and the “English Breakfast” we had every morning was pretty good. Beans and mushrooms aren’t my normal breakfast fare, but the pastries were the best I’ve had.
12. You learn to do Pounds to Dollars conversions in your head quickly. I bought a toboggan in Scotland for nine pounds, which was a rip-off, but it saved me from the howling wind and rain at Stirling Castle. Our driver Nick made fun of it, but you will see me wearing it around here. Nine pounds is cheaper than a hospital bill for pneumonia.
13. To stand at a castle used by knights, kings and Monty Python was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We also saw castles used in the TV shows Outlander and Frontier.
14. My son and I sat at a Chelsea v. Crystal Palace soccer match (football over there) right near the pitch (field). We kept saying to each other, “I can’t believe we are here.”
15. You could see Tower Bridge and the Tower of London from our hotel room. I’d wake up and think, “I can’t believe we are here.”
16. We met a couple of the people we tweet with who own Border Terriers (like Pip) and had tea with them in Hyde Park (like New York’s Central Park). They were so kind and friendly.
17. Big Ben is silent and the tower it’s in (Elizabeth Tower) is in scaffolding. Guard rails now protect pedestrians where the terror attack happened on the nearby bridge. Riding the London Eye was touristy but the view was brilliant — just not like the post cards you see.
18. Sitting in a fish restaurant on the coast of the North Sea with angry surf in front of us and a castle ruins to our left was a breathtaking experience.
19. Britain has embraced windmills and Scotland make enough electricity the day we were there to light half the planet! I did see solar panels and had to chuckle a bit. We didn’t see much sun when we were there. Gas is 1.22 pounds a liter there. Cars pay taxes to drive in London. Most of the cars were the small cars we see here. Lots of Mercedes and we saw dozens of exotic (Ferraris and Aston Martins for example) in London. I saw seven pickup trucks (like our small ones here) the whole week I was there. Seven.
20. We stayed in the Ramsay Castle (Dalhousie) while in Scotland. It was in the family for 800 years and is where the Ramsey/Ramsay family started.
21. We stood in the field where the Magna Carta was signed. The Magna freaking Carta.
22. The restoration of the fire damage in Windsor Castle was done really well. That fire changed how the Queen functioned (she pays taxes now and her castles are open for tourists to pay the freight). Windsor Castle is a must-trip. The little town that surrounds it is like a first-class Gatlinburg. We rode the train back that night.
23. We did an Evensong service in St. George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor. IT was the single-most beautiful church service I’ve been to. I think God Himself was in the choir that day.
24. I sat in the middle row going and coming in the plane. And while I appreciated all the free movies to watch, I felt trapped. Seeing first and business class travelers in their pods made me jealous. But with five people, we had invested enough in plane tickets. Customs was an interesting experience.
25. We rode the train to and from Scotland (and got on near Platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross). I really enjoyed train travel! The Tube was good too. I kept trying to get in on the driver’s side of our driver’s van in Scotland. He refused to let me drive. Riding as we drove on the “wrong” side took some getting used to.
26. The British have great words: Rubbish = Trash. Lift = elevator. Bugger and Prat were useful in rush hour traffic. They have so many things to admire. But I think we still have them on food and electric plugs.
27. British road signs are great. I loved the one for Elderly People ahead for some weird reason. 
28. Watching the BBC coverage of the Russian poisoning scandal made me realize how bad some of our broadcast and cable news can be.
29. I tried not to keep up with the news but I was drawn to their newspapers. Great reading!
30. The time change never bothered me. I had to be careful not to text anyone at three in the morning over here but otherwise, I got along fine. We saw and did so much we hit the bed exhausted everyday. I hope my kids appreciated the trip as much as I did.