What a Memorable Thanksgiving in Wales & England!

When it came time to plan our final Thanksgiving in Spain, we knew we wanted to spend it traveling! After looking over flight prices and wanting to visit another new country, we landed on Wales and another trip to London.

Wednesday, November 26: Flight to London

Bryan worked on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and then hopped in the car with me to make our 8 pm flight to Gatwick Airport! We were pleasantly surprised to learn we were assigned the emergency exit row with extra footspace on this packed British Airways flight!

Elysee Hyde Park Hotel

For fellow travelers, you know London has six major airports, and none are near the city center, so it took us over an hour and a half to reach our hotel. We realized that with all our visits to London, this was our first double-decker red bus transit! Bryan would have preferred it had happened before 11 pm in the rain...but I told him just to pretend it was the Harry Potter Knight Bus and to hold on!

Thursday, November 27: Day Trip to the Cotswolds

Considering we had done everything necessary in the city center, it was time to get out to the countryside! Our first full day in the city was filled with a day trip to the Cotswolds.

The Cotswolds consist of a stretch of hilly countryside west of London that is known for sitting on top of a massive limestone slab. The homes in this region are traditionally built using this yellowish limestone and have turned into a tourist attraction since the 1950s.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Our first stop of the day was north of the Cotswolds region: Stratford-upon-Avon. This cute little town was the perfect stop for me! It's the home of Shakespeare! While the museum was closed this early in the morning, I was sure to have Bryan take my picture in front of Shakespeare's house (which Bryan said reminded him of Harry Potter's Godric's Hollow, lol!) This small town was packed with statues of Shakespeare and jesters with all kinds of quotes from his memorable plays.

Harvard House

Another cool sight in Stratford-upon-Avon was the Harvard House. Originally built by a local, successful butcher, the home has ornate wooden carvings decorating the exterior. Robert Harvard married the butcher's daughter, and eventually they moved into the home, and their famous son immigrated to the USA and founded the famous university!

Bardia's

With a little time to kill after walking around this early morning, we stopped in for a bite to eat at Bardia's, where Bryan and I split a killer bacon, onion, and brie breakfast sandwich along with a lovely cup of chai tea!

Chipping Campden, United Kingdom

Then it was time to enter the Cotswolds region, and our first stop was in Chipping Campden. This village was known for the 14th-century Market Hall, where traders and farmers would sell their merchandise to locals.

This town also had a cute little church, St James' Church, which we visited. It is also home to a few thatched-roof homes, similar to those we saw in Giethoorn, the Netherlands.

Broadway Tower

On our way towards our next stop of the day, we passed Broadway Tower. This tower was designed by a wealthy man for his bride, who requested that he build her a castle to live in. Thus, the Broadway Tower was built.

Think I can make the same request to Bryan?! My version would be to build me a beach house, with a yard for the dogs, but to each their own!

Cotswold Lavender

We also passed by the famous lavender fields of the Cotswolds. We had never heard of them before, but apparently, these fields are overrun with wannabe social media influencers in the summer months.

Snowshill, Broadway, UK

The next stop was only 20 minutes in the tiny town of Snowshill. This town is known as being the Christmas backdrop for the 2001 film, Bridget Jones's Diary.

Stow-on-the-Wold, United Kingdom

Next up was the town of Stow-on-the-Wold. This small town's claim to fame is for being the inspiration behind Tolkien's Doors of Durin, from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Apparently, Tolkien loved to visit this little town while he was a professor at Oxford University, and the back doors of St. Edward's Church inspired him with the giant trees and the unique wooden door.

Kingsbridge

We had about an hour in Kingsbridge for lunch, where it started to rain. Bryan and I sought refuge from the cold weather in one of the local pubs, where we shared a steak & ale pie and fries for lunch!

Bibury Cottages 

The last stop of the day was at, you guessed it, more cottages! By this point in the day, my sinus infection was hitting me extra hard, and I was ready to get back to London for a good night's sleep.

I'm not sure if it was the yucky weather or my feeling quite yucky, but this wasn't our favorite day trip from London. The Cotswolds may be famous, but I wouldn't make it a high priority to visit when in London.

Friday, November 28: Mikkeller & SIX the Musical

But you know, with a new day, we were ready to hit the city!

Mikkeller Brewpub London

We slept in extra long (thank you, sinus infection) before heading to our all-time favorite brewery for lunch! Mikkeller BrewPub London not only serves our favorite brews, but this location also serves chicken sandwiches and spicy chicken strips! THIS is how we love to spend an overcast day!

This was the first Mikkeller visit where we actively watched the brewmasters at work! While we enjoyed a drink alongside lunch, we got a "show," where we got to see the brewmasters working on a new batch of beer! Every time they measured or sampled their concoction, the entire place filled with the scent of malt and barley- it was a pretty cool experience!

Origin Coffee (Charlotte Road)

Up next, our first coffee break of the day!

Mikkeller Bar London

And then to another Mikkeller! This makes the 20th Mikkeller location we have visited, and probably the last one for quite a while. We have officially visited all their European locations except for the Faroe Islands and the Zurich, Switzerland locations. As of now, there are no Mikkellers in the USA! (What?! Crazy!)

At this location, we were lucky to spot another canvas tote bag that sports the Mikkeller Henry character dressed like a beefeater! For ₤10, I had to have it!

Bone Daddies Old Street

Of course, the perfect day had to continue with some of our favorite food: Ramen! Boy, was that ramen good! So good, in fact, that Bryan wasn't risking a single drip on his sweater!

Vaudeville Theatre

But the day wasn't over yet! Our final stop for the day was to the Vaudeville Theatre to see SIX: The Musical! Yes, we saw this exact show in this exact theater last March when we visited London to celebrate our anniversary, and we loved the show so much, I just had to see it in its OG location one more time!

And it was just as good the second time! The cast was all new, except for Anne Boleyn's actress, so it was a nice change from what we expected. The actress playing Jane Seymour was actually very pregnant, and we learned at the end of the show that this was her final performance before going on maternity leave! It was an emotional curtain call for the whole cast and was quite memorable.

Saturday, November 29: Wales & Rugby Match

After a fantastic chill day yesterday, we made up for it with a jam-packed final day in the UK by heading to Wales! That makes country #57 for the Johnsons! That's a heck of a lot of journeys!

Paddington Train Station to Cardiff Central Train Station

That's right, we boarded our train to Cardiff station at 7:30 am and enjoyed the two-hour train with naps, reading (me), and listening to music (Bryan).

Then we quickly found a luggage storage shop for our backpacks before meeting up with our bike tour of the city! Our guide, Mark, was the cutest old man who was a retired journalist for the BBC. Over our three-hour tour, he introduced the city and took us to the city's highlights!

Cardiff Castle

First up was the Cardiff Castle, which is currently under construction as one of the city's Christmas Market locations!

Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve

We also stopped by Cardiff Bay to see a stunning waterway in the capital city.

Bute Park & Cathays Park

As our bike tour continued around the city's top sites, we also drove through several cute parks that were great open green spaces with dogs out fetching ball and people out enjoying the day's good weather.

At the end of our bike tour, our guide bought us a Welsh cake to try. These small cookie-pancake treats were a lovely warm bite after three hours of riding in the cold!

Principality Stadium

After our bike tour, we grabbed a bite to eat at Pizza Pilgrims Cardiff! We have enjoyed Pizza Pilgrims in London on an earlier trip, and it was just as delicious this time around.

With food in our bellies, it was time for the day's most exciting adventure: the international rugby match between Wales and South Africa! After seeing the women's rugby matches at the Paris Olympics, I was really excited for another Rugby opportunity, so when I saw that this match was happening during our Thanksgiving trip, I knew we had to make it happen!

Bryan killed it with the seats- we were lower level and right at the center field line. The stands were packed with Welsh and South African fans alike- we were shocked to see such a good turnout by the opposing team!

While we enjoyed the game, the Welsh fans probably didn't enjoy it quite as much...with a final score of 0-73, South Africa took that win with ferocity! Either way, Bryan and I enjoyed this match and were just excited to be there!

We also came to the realization that rugby players are much more athletic and the sport is overall tougher than American football. That's right- I think I'm officially converted to being a rugby fan! The game is in constant motion, the hits are harder, and the athletes are in much better shape than American football players. Call me controversial!

Train to Gatwick Airport

After the game, it was time to make it back to London and all the way back to Gatwick airport for our early morning flight...so this part of the trip was by far our least favorite! We had booked a later train than necessary, not wanting to miss any of the rugby match, so we had to sit around and wait about an hour for our train back to Paddington Station. After a train change in Swindon, we reached Paddington Station, where we had to change trains two more times before reaching our final destination for the evening.

Bloc Hotel Gatwick

We did plan our hotel choice well, though, as Bloc Hotel Gatwick is located literally steps from passport control in Gatwick Airport! Once we checked in, it was quick showers to warm up before crashing at almost midnight.

Sunday, November 30: Home to Spain

With a few hours of rest at Bloc Hotel, we caught our flight back to Sevilla at 6:50 am. While early morning flights aren't the most fun, we never complain about getting home to Hugo and Reynolds at noon!

This was another great trip, but I'll be happy to get over this sinus infection and get back to full health before our next adventure in a few weeks!

Until then,

xoxo- Katie