we spent a week in southern scotland at the end of april. we searched all of the uk for an airbnb that would be a good place to get out of the city for a while (and give our friend lizzy, who had come to live with us, some space during her required quarantine coming to the uk from the usa). we figured if ian could work from anywhere, we might as well go explore a little bit. so many places were either not open for rentals or were already rented out, but we found a random place just over the border in scotland and decided to try it out.

we made a few stops on our way there: first, a darling little seaside town called wells-next-the-sea; then sandringham, the queen’s country home where the royals always spend christmas; and finally along a segment of hadrian’s wall (fun to experience a bit of ian’s big trek from a week or so before!).

after record-high temps in london, it was ironic that the weather turned just before we went to the beach. it was chilly and drizzly in wells-next-the-sea, but the boys didn’t let that keep them from digging in the sand and having a great time! i loved the colourful beach huts along the shore.

ian had been wanting to go to sandringham for a long time. i was kind of “meh” about it, not super fussed to put in the effort to go there. but i have to say, it was very cool! the grounds were gorgeous and it was really neat to go inside and see so many intimate spaces where the royal family spends special time together (the tour includes going right in the rooms where they eat, exchange gifts, and make merry at christmastime).

here’s the church where the royals attend a service each christmas morning. we walked right down the path they traditionally parade down en route to church and then peaked at the building (which was closed to visitors) from the steps where the queen and duke and duchess etc often take photos.

ian and i took turns going inside the building and playing with the boys around the grounds.

we made another stop at a beach area on the norfolk coast at the end of the day, and popped by to see these unique red and white banded cliffs at hunstanton.

and the next morning headed north towards scotland! this spot along hadrian’s wall provided a gorgeous walk to stretch our legs and enjoy natural beauty. we love this green isle we live on soooo much.