To kick off a two week family roadtrip in England and Scotland, C and I traveled from Italy, where we had spent the summer of 2024 in the Dolomites. In September, we met my mom at Heathrow airport after her brave solo flight from Pittsburgh. She took her first airplane ride at the age of 57 on a trip to Mexico, clutching my hand so hard at take-off that fingernail marks dented my palm! Since then, she’s traveled all over this beautiful blue sphere - and is now even navigating solo! I’m so proud of her for overcoming her fears.

We spent a few days site-seeing London on foot, bike and tube, hitting all the major spots and events at an aggressive pace: Fat Tire Tour, Big Ben, London Eye, Southwark, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral choral practice, Buckingham Palace guard change, Hyde and Kensington Parks, and Windsor. My mom was a good sport about doing and trying “all the things”, including Uzbekistani, Syrian, Thai, and Malaysian food!

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Then we squeezed in a day trip to Stonehenge by bus. The night before, we watched various YouTube videos that hypothesize when, why and by whom these fascinating monoliths were constructed. It’s mind-blowing to imagine hundreds or thousands of bronze age people investing time and effort into moving these massive stones from miles away to construct a place sacred and meaningful to the group. I feel the same sense of awe and wonder when visiting medieval cathedrals - thousands of laborers, engineers, masons, sculptors, woodworkers, and painters working with relatively rudimentary tools over centuries to build an enduring architectural and artistic legacy. It’s an astonishing level of vision, passion, and commitment!

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Scotland was at the top of my mom’s list of places to visit during our two week road trip in the United Kingdom, particularly since her father’s heritage was Scottish. Loving the sound of bagpipes is in her blood! We rode a train from London to Edinburgh to rendezvous with C’s sisters and brother-in-law…