uk roadtrip part 5: bath

On our way south from the Midlands, we spent an afternoon in Bath. I'd never been and it seemed like a beautiful place, so why not?


Hi! :)


We went to the Royal Crescent first, of course, a must-see for any Jane Austen fan. :) And it was delightful to see it.





I took various touristy photos of Liam.


And then we continued our stroll through town ...


... and ended up at the Raven (a recommendation from Carro who was here recently).



It's a lovely pub with a its own library!


This photo is called "a Portrait of Liam Poking Things" and is part of a collection of many.


They had real ale AND they had something dark on, in summer! FABULOUS



This stout was fantastic.


Such a happy traveller! :)


Then we continued walking through town, looking at pretty buildings ...


... and signs. It was such a good day for a stroll like this, pleasant weather, not too hot, not crowded, just lovely.



Thirsty Meeples! Yet another perfect board game café name!




Thie bookstore, Topping & Company Booksellers was also on Carro's list of recommendations, and I soon realised why.


It's one of the prettiest bookstores I've ever seen. Here, have many photos of it:






I was very happy to just be in the atmosphere of all these books.


And then we walked along the River Avon for a bit.



The Pulteney Bridge. Very pretty!


Then it was already early evening and time to get going to get to our bed and breakfast in Upton.



This lovely place is called The Bittescombe Inn and is SUCH gem. I can't recommend it enough. Their restaurant is closed on Mondays though so we brought some takeaway salads from Bath to have for dinner instead.


Here's our room - I loved the colours.


We ended this fabulous day in bed with Grand Designs and Percy Pigs, quite knackered but very happy.

Pneguin Cafe Orchestra | Perpetuum Mobile

uk roadtrip part 4: brownhills

After Leeds, we spent a few days in Brownhills with Liam's family, and it was a joy.


We saw all of Liam's sisters and their families, but most of them don't want to be in photos, so I didn't take many. But here's Joelle! Currently baking Liam's seventh nibling. (It's almost like you can tell from this photo that they're related, don't you think?)


One night we went into Lichfield to go for a stroll and hear Liam's dad Steven performing with his pop choir in the park. Fun!


But most of the time, we spent at the house, just hanging out, chatting and catching up with the family.



I love lounging in the kitchen while Liam's mum Anne is working.



Personally I can't imagine how a human can make something like this with their own hands? And I wouldn't believe they were edible had I not had the opportunity to sink my teeth into one or two myself ... quite literally. :)


One morning I went for a walk to Chasewater along the towpath.


Oh and there was some cuddling with Roxie, of course. Not the most cuddly dog maybe, but she will gracefully allow some pets every now and then. :)


It was such a lovely visit. <3

the Free Design | Love You

uk roadtrip part 3: the peak district

Good morning and goodbye! Time to leave Leeds, for now. We'll be back, of course. Raphael is the babest of babes after all.


Also! In the UK some people still get milk from the milk person, in the middle of the night! Even vegan milk! And then, like Rafi, put the empty bottles out to be collected! How cute? How British?

We drove south towards the Midlands. The Peak District is conveniently located in between. Liam pulls over so I can take photos whenever I ooh and aah, just like he has since the very beginning of this relationship. Here's some of what I saw:





Around lunchtime we stopped here. I'm responsible for googling food places (and hiking and viewpoint places) when we're on roadtrips, and this time, my googling led us to Monsal Head. "Beautiful view from the café", the reviews said.


The reviews were, it turns out, not wrong.



All this beauty from the same little viewpoint next to a café, it's almost not fair! Unbeknownst to me (at the time - I only realised when I came back home and looked at some photos), I'd been here before, but only passing through - only stopping to take photos from the other side of the valley, because Liam and I were out driving, six years ago. Time. <3



The signs were good too.


And the café was very cute. But they didn't have much in the way of vegetarian food, so we had lunch at the hotel next door.



And then my darling parked himself in the shade with a cappuccino and his laptop, living his best vacation life ...


... while I lived my best vacation life and went for a walk.


Bye then!


The walk took me all the way down into the valley ...


... across a river ...


... along the valley floor ...


... under the viaduct, which used to be part of a railway line between Manchester and London, but now is the Monsal trail between Buxton and Bakewell. (Would be so fun to cycle at some point!)


When I got back up the hill, it was ice cream time!



And then we drove to Brownhills and spent the evening having an Indian takeaway and catching up with Liam's parents, which was perfect. Such a delightful roadtrip day!

Kelly Moran | Moves in the Field