I’m going to the UK! Really soon! The summer flew by, as it often does, and now September is just about here and I’m getting on a plane in one week!
We’ve been preparing all summer – we bought raincoats and backpacks, lined up a house sitter, I’ve been working ahead like crazy in order to take the time off, etc – but it hadn’t really actually hit me until last night that we are really going.
Pete’s parents are taking us on a 3 week long adventure throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland; last night they sent us the official itinerary and all of the sudden it was real! It’s really happening, whoa! So, the main point of this email is to ask you, my dear readers…
Where should we go?? I mean, the cities are planned out, but I need yarn shops, record stores, vegetarian-friendly restaurants, smaller museums that we might not know about, other sights off the beaten path, etc…
The places where I know we will be spending a day or more are: London, Bristol, Criccieth, Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and York. I know there will be day trips to Bath, Brighton, and lots of other in-between places… we don’t know specific plans, which is making it more exciting for us! We’re just along for the ride, ready for amazingness!
These photos here were all taken by me 10 years ago when I studied abroad for the summer of 2002 at the University of Sussex in Brighton, and took lots of day trips to London and other nearby spots, and long weekend trips to Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh), Paris, Amsterdam, and Spain (Madrid and Barcelona).
Although I did spend that time in the UK, I was a pretty different person then – I wasn’t even a knitter!! – and I don’t remember tons of specifics, as my memory fades over the years… so my experiences back then aren’t going to factor into our plans for this trip a ton. My #1 favorite place I visited back then was Scotland, so I am extremely excited to go back there!
If you want to see more photos from that time, I’ve just put a bunch of the best shots on flickr, from all the countries I visited. As for photos this time, I’m hoping to be able to tweet/tumbl/instagram photos throughout the trip, but I don’t know how connected we’ll be most of the time… Oh, and that reminds me – blog comments are a fine way to tell me recommendations right now, but if you want to recommend anything after next Monday the 3rd, I might not be checking blog comments as much as email or twitter – so tweeting place recommendations @leethal is probably the best way to get them to me 🙂
Thanks for any knowledge you can pass on, and I will surely share tons of photos, stories, etc, with you when we return! I even have some crafty projects planned for the skies and roads!
Lee Does Stuff 
I studied in Dublin in 2006, and one of my favorite day trips was down to the Avoca Handmill (about 2 hours south, and I’m quite sure the tourism office has bus trips there and back daily). http://www.avoca.ie/home/explore/our-company/weavers/ We got to tour the mill and, see all the raw spools of yarn and watch them demonstrate how they make their throws. I’m not sure if they still do that, but even just the shop and cafe makes for a good excursion for fiber-lovers! The town may also look familiar, as I believe it was the location for filming PBS’s Ballykissangel.
LikeLike
Sounds like an awesome trip! I’ve never been so I’m just going to wish everyone a great time.
LikeLike
London yarn stores! My favourite was I Knit London at 106 Lower Marsh (near Waterloo train station) is a fabulous yarn store, run by two very friendly guys who really know their stuff. If you are feeling adventurous- it involves heading out of central London to Bethnal Green in East London- then you should visit Prick Your Finger at 260 Globe Road- it’s run by a textile artist called Rachael Matthews, who also wrote a book called ‘Knitorama’, and sells a lot of yarn spun from wool from UK breeds of sheep.
There’s a small chain of restaurants called Giraffe in the UK who do truly awesome brunches and great smoothies, there are at least a couple of them in London, one again near Waterloo. The South Bank (along the river again near Waterloo) is worth a stroll along, there are often second hand bookstalls out under bridges on the banks of the Thames.
LikeLike
Big second on Avoca in Dublin…not necessarily made by hand, but their woolen scarves and blankets made me moan out loud (and I can’t touch wool, remember).
Nearby Avoca is This Is Knit, which is adorable and they have stocked local Irish hand dyes as well as the usual big names.
In Glasgow, take the whole family and let them have tea and cake at The Yarn Cake while you peek at the rest of the tiny, perfect little shop. Again, some nice local hand dyes there. Also while in Glasgow, try to see as much Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture (etc) as you can. There’s a lovely church that he designed, and lots more. The Ubiquitous Chip is awesome for every sort of beverage, great upscale food (but not too posh) and their sticky toffee pudding is amazing.
I haven’t been yet, but will be this October — Ramshambles is in York, and I’m sure it’s worth a visit!
In London, you must see the V&A museum, if only for the gift shop. The textile collection has, I heard, been moved elsewhere but worth seeing too. Also, Old Spitalfields Market – I think the weekends are when all the vendors are there, but google that one. It’s like Etsy, live (without the cheap imports) — everything handmade by the vendors. And of course Liberty’s haberdashery department. The yarn department is lovely, but unexceptional. It’s the building itself (take the stairs! the stairwells are just gorgeous) and the haberdashery dept that makes my heart beat faster.
Have a wonderful time!
LikeLike
p.s. I’ve been to 2 Avoca locations – the one in downtown Dublin and one on the outskirts, and unfortunately, neither had any sort of tour as Danielle described. Still, worth a visit, though.
Ah, I think this is the one she means: http://www.avoca.ie/home/explore/stores/?id=2
Fabulous.
LikeLike
What a wonderful post. I’ve been wondering about the same questions myself and have really enjoyed reading the comments. This is Knit is a wonderful blog- hope you get the chance to visit her shop. Happy and safe travels!
LikeLike