We continue our tour of the English countryside

Comments! I never get comments so I am eagerly responding to Alyssa's request for more things to do in England for her future trip there...

Amidst news of terror attacks in Glasgow and a failed terror attack in London, we continued along on our trip. Albert successfully mastered driving stick on the left side of the road:


while Abby sat in a contraption resembling an infant car seat with none of the safety benefits:


We took a pit stop in a small town called Durham where our visit coincided with a graduation. Durham was a cute college town with a beautiful minster. It was nice to stop somewhere before we continued on our journey to York which took another hour or so. York is one of the "must sees" according to Rick Steve. This is a town you could definitely spend a full day exploring but we wouldn't recommend the 2 nights Rick Steve does. In general, there are 2 highlights in this town.

York Minster
First is the York Minster - which in all honesty was the most spectacular church/cathedral we saw in England (including Westminster Abbey). We enjoyed Westminster for all of the famous buried inside the minster but it made it feel more like a spectacular cemetery and took away from the enjoyment of the building itself. The York Minster did not have those distractions and so you could truly enjoy the beauty of the building itself. We would have liked to stay for the evensong but we felt that Abby's screaming could potentially ruin the experience for the whole town of York so we chose to go home instead.

York Castle Museum
In the Rick Steve's guide, this is literally listed as one of the top museums in all of Europe. Now, with this description in mind, Albert and I envisioned a serious competition to the Louvre, Prado or British Museum. Indeed, this was perhaps one of the most entertaining family oriented museums we have ever been. However, do not go expecting art by the grand masters. This museum portrays life in Britain in various periods and does it incredibly well. There are fake storefronts with people who work as "storekeepers". It's incredibly interactive and fun to see with lots of educational value. We enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it highly for any families with kids.

Saffron Desi
105-107 Micklegate
York
YO1 6LB
Tel: 01904 659999

As far as restaurants go, this was a solid Indian restaurant we really enjoyed. Prices were reasonable and the naan was very good - even Abby agreed. We ordered far too much food but got the Rogan Josh, the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Saag Paneer. We enjoyed all of the dishes.

Betty's Tea Room
6 St Helen's Square
York YO1 2QP United Kingdom
+44 1904 659142

This Tea Room was the typical English tea house with amazing scones, clotted cream, and great tea sandwiches. We ate lunch here. The line was incredibly long to sit in the ground floor room (with pretty views of the square) so we headed downstairs which actually wasn't too bad.

In search of Braveheart (Edinburgh)

We continued our trip into the "nicer part of Scotland" by escaping the confines of Glasgow and moving on to Edinburgh. Since we rented a car, we headed north briefly to take a look at one of the famed Lochs of Scotland (Loch Lomond).


As you can see, it's a pretty lake but to be honest, the scale just doesn't compare to something like Lake Tahoe. We were a bit disappointed and decided to skip the full lake tour and head to something we don't have in the states... castles. Stirling Castle was very cool. Albert particularly enjoyed seeing the William Wallace monument which literally looks like another castle in the distance. After imagining having our faces painted in blue and white stripes, shouting "FREEEDOM!!!!" we explored the castle which was quite pretty from the outside but didn't have that much to offer on the inside. We still got to pretend that we were a queen and king observing our vassals:


We wanted to continue exploring the town of Stirling but Abby put her tiny little foot down with a loud and long scream. We made a hasty exit and continued on our trip out to Edinburgh. We got there early enough to take a walk around the city. We got to stay at the Sheraton which was a nice hotel with a beautiful view of the castle. Edinburgh really made Glasgow look like the industrial stretch of New Jersey. Edinburgh is a spectacular city with beautiful buildings that surround the castle.

After our walk down the Royal Mile, we decided to eat at a restaurant that came highly recommended in one of our guide books:
Howie's
10-14 Victoria Street
T: 0131 225 1721

This was by far the best meal we had in the UK. We were obviously limited by the weak dollar in going out to lots of fancy meals but this was just too good to avoid. Abby also appeared to be in good spirits so we wanted to take the opportunity to have a really nice meal. Everything was delicious and Abby loved the bread basket.

The next day we headed to the primary attraction in Edinburgh: the castle. It was full of tourists but we got a great view of the city from up high.


We walked down the Royal Mile where I got grumpy from lack of food. We ducked into a tea house on the left hand side which was perfect. We had tasty sandwiches for lunch and headed to the Queen's royal residence. It was closed off because she was coming the next day so we couldn't do the tour. We walked around for a while and appreciated the beauty of the city. All in all, if you get the chance to visit Edinburgh, we would rate it very highly.

A Tartan Greeting!

Hello from the Scotland. Home of the Highlander and William Wallace. The whole family made it out here safely without really driving anyone around us too crazy. We had a 10 hour flight from San Francisco to London, a 5 hour layover and an hour flight to Glasgow. Abby was so well behaved and slept for more than 6 hours on her flight to London. We had a bassinet which she barely fit. There was even a belt above her head which prevented her from lifting up her head too much - poor girl. It still helped her sleep for a long time and we were really happy. Other than that, there was a guy behind us who snored so loudly - I've never heard a guy snore more loudly sleeping upright.



We got to Glasgow pretty late and settled into our hotel which is very close to the conference center. It stays very light until quite late at night (10PM or so). Still, we were quite tired and went to sleep pretty quickly. The next day, we went to the city center where we explored some of the shopping district. We found a Marks & Spencer where we bought some desserts for later in the day. We also got some basics for Abby including baby food. One comment on British baby food - they feed their babies things Americans would never dream of feeding their baby at 4-6 months... like "Grandpa's Sunday Lunch" - a combination of carrots, peas, potatoes and chicken or "Shephard's Pie" - veggies and lamb or chocolate pudding or egg custard for that matter. We're embracing the British baby food and letting Abby go crazy with the meats.

In other news, Abby has not only mastered sitting up pretty completely, she is now rolling both from front to back and from back to front (the latter took a while). She has also finally discovered a consonant. After months of "AAAAAAAAAA!!!!", we now have "bababababababababa". It's quite cute (purely objectively speaking of course).

Food:

1. Random hole in the wall British eatery

Here I had fish and chips and Albert had a beef casserole. It was good but too salty and greasy for our taste. I think we've had enough British food for a few days.

2. Wagamama's

We went twice to make sure our assessment was correct. I went to Wagamama's many times in London many years back and loved it... so much so that I asked Albert to get me a T-shirt when he was there. We eagerly anticipated touching down in Glasgow to get our first taste of Wagamama's in a few years and was very very disappointed. The ramen was too salty. The rice was too sticky. The curry sauce was lacking. The rice noodles were al dente. To top it off, the price was nearly $20 a head! I still bought a T-shirt but that's because I love the name - in Japanese it means "spoiled brat". My parents used to call me this all of the time when I was a kid.


3. Mrs. Majhu's

41 Byres Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G11 5RG
T. 0141 339 1339
Lunch here was actually very good and fairly reasonable. For a prix fixe lunch, we were able to share 4 small plates plus some rice and naan all for 8 pounds per person. We had saag paneer, chicken curry and two lamb dishes. All were spiced very well without being too overwhelming. The restaurant was also clean and inviting. Abby slept through the entire meal so Albert and I were able to really relax.

Sights:
1. Kelvingrove Museum

This is one of the most eclectic museums I have ever been to! We loved the fact that over the stuffed elk and moose, you could view an old WWII Spitfire aircraft. In the same museum, there were Matisse paintings as well as a neon Elvis. There were some really pro-Scottish statements in some of the commentary on British history which we also enjoyed.



Beyond our general sightseeing, I am here for a more important purpose - the ICC 2007 conference where I am presenting a paper. I will be spending most of my time at this conference and am limited in my sightseeing for Glasgow. All in all, we thought Glasgow was a lot of fun but we're excited to be moving on!

Cowboys in Cali

We went to the rodeo this weekend. I never thought I'd say those words but what is truly unbelievable is that I had a great time. My roommate from my days in New York City has, through some fortuitous circumstances, ended up in Reedley, California. Dara, who my mother credits with giving me a grain of interest in fashion and having my room clean, is currently living an hour south of Fresno in the small town of Reedley with her husband Phil. I hadn't seen her since I got married so we decided it was certainly time to get together.

Albert happened to know another couple who also live in Central California from law school. Albert and I assumed that this meant that they lived fairly close to Dara and Phil so we set them up. Although they live an hour and half apart, they actually hit it off and became friends over the last month so a visit to Reedley and Springville meant that we got to see not only Dara and Phil but also Laurel and Jith. Laurel and Jith live in Springville where they held a rodeo this past weekend.

What is there to do near Reedley, you ask? There is, of course, the Sunmaid Raisin factory...

... and I think that's about it.

The rodeo in Springville was quite impressive. We were city slickers to the max with our Baby Bjorn in tow...


I was really impressed with the athleticism demonstrated by the cowboys who managed to stay more than 8 seconds on a bucking horse and those who tackled a young steer to the ground and tied their legs together in less than 5 seconds! We enjoyed this while eating the requisite barbecued beef ribs. Abby got too tired and we unfortunately missed the grand finale which was the bull riding. Alas, that gives us reason to return next year!

The things we do in the sun

Albert and I love Kauai not only for the food but also for the fantastic activities we've enjoyed there. Everything we do there leads to a deep and dark tan that leaves us looking... well, Polynesian. It generally takes us about 2 days before people ask us if we are locals. We love that. Getting back to the things we love to do in Hawaii, it boils down to a few things: snorkeling, golf, surfing, and hiking. Unfortunately, we didn't do much hiking on this last trip because I am more at a waddling stage of pregnancy which is not conducive to climbing down steep inclines. So what did we do?

Captain Andy's Sailing Adventure
Telephone: 335-6833
Cost: $130
Logistics: 5.5 hour trip leaving Port Allen around 6AM. Lunch and breakfast provided.

If there is one definitive guide to any of the islands in Hawaii, it appears to be the blue book you see most tourists lugging around. In general, we have loved this guide and have bought it for every island we have visited. But now that we are Kauai "experts" we feel that there are a few revisions we would seek to add. The first is the Smith Family Luau which we comment on in our restaurants posting below. This came highly recommended in the book.

Napali Coast aboard Captain Andy's
Originally uploaded by amiura.

The second was a negative review they had of Captain Andy's snorkeling trip. I've done three snorkeling trips in Kauai and this was actually a very well run trip. We had few complaints. Sure, the snorkeling left a lot to be desired but the other boat trips weren't that great for the snorkeling either. We got a great view of the Napali Coast, the boat was smooth since it was a catamaran and Albert got to jump off of the side of the boat. Not to mention, this was one of the few boats that would take a six month pregnant lady out to the Napali Coast.

This is where we ended up snorkeling towards the end of the trip. They were pretty strict about the boundaries where we could snorkel and the coral was too deep to really see a lot of fish. The aggressive fish that you see pouncing at the bread they threw into the water near me know that when the boats arrive, food is also nearby so they gather. Unfortunately, it's not the pretty fish that gather. Also, the turtles that were there in the morning were gone by the time we came back for snorkeling.

The real highlight of the snorkeling trip were all of the dolphins we got to see. They followed along the catamaran as we travelled up towards the Napali Coast. It was an incredible sight to see. We even saw baby dolphins that were trying to still get the hang of riding the waves.

Kukuiolono Golf Course
Where: On Papalina Road off of Highway 50 in Kalaheo
Cost: $8 per day and $7 for cart rentals and and another $7 for the most dinged up golf clubs you'll ever find
Logisitics: This place only has 9 holes but we thought that was plenty

We are complete hacks when it comes to golf. We started taking lessons 3 months ago. We both don't own our own clubs but we think it's fun. This golf course was the perfect place for us. It doesn't have quite the beautifully manicured lawns I'm sure you find elsewhere but the views are just as nice and the locals who come out to play are a lot of fun.

Ann goes for the winning shot
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Inevitably, you end up playing with a couple of other locals who you can chat with while you get in your golf game. Also, when you're talking $8 for golf fees and not $170 like at the Kiele Course, it leaves you with $162 of extra lava flows you can consume throughout the course of the trip. Here I am channeling my inner Michelle Wie except that I'm 7 inches shorter. We discovered that Albert has mad skills when it comes to putting and my strength is in chipping... which is why I look so nervous to putt. Golfing here was so relaxing and fun we ended up doing it 3 times!


Surfing
Now I did mention that we did some surfing. In truth, it was Albert doing the surfing this time since I have experienced a shift in my center of mass. Albert doesn't want me sharing these videos because they mostly consist of far away shots of someone paddling and then me making snide comments. However, I will mention that the area by the Sheraton Poipu is great for beginner surfers. It's where all of the schools are. If you don't want to pay money to have some surfer dude push you so you can easily catch a wave, you can always rent a surf board from one of these schools for around $10 and go at it by yourself.