Against all odds: London and Edinburgh

I hesitate to write this. My impulse is to hide – to prevent anyone from seeing the hard reality of a household invaded by pancreatic cancer.

But as I have helped Ron navigate this worst-possible diagnosis, the painful and honest stories from other cancer families are the ones that have given me comfort and offered a kind of companionship. Cancer – for both the patient and the caregiver – is a continual and unpredictable loop of boredom, medical crisis terror, long chemo sessions, and varied insurance advocacy battles that keep stress levels high.

And so, despite these misgivings, I’ll blog this trip in the hope that it reaches people like us – sidelined by a devastating medical diagnosis but still determined to travel. We were told we’d never get to take this trip. But Ron has outlasted every prediction, every statistic…we flee a monster and so this trip is a victory and a celebration.

We’ve planned a simpler itinerary – only 14 days. Ron declares that this is the trip length he has preferred all along and that he was only acquiescing to the 35-day trips I planned, which makes me happy that I generally disregard his travel ideas.

We’re doing four nights in London, eight nights in Edinburgh, and then one more night in London. So where I usually paste a complicated map for you to follow, I only need to post this:

Highlights of the trip include:

A night in the London Zoo in a cabin near the lion enclosure, with private after-hours zoo tours and access. I’ve described this limited offer to many people and no one has ever heard of it. It was one of those extremely good ideas of mine that is often of doubtful interest to Ron – but he was sold on the zoo cabin idea immediately. Here’s our little corner of the zoo, with 9 cabins:

A trip to St. Andrews, birthplace of golf – Ron’s favorite hobby. Ron has requested a photo at the Swilcan Bridge, which is extremely, extremely famous, even though I have never heard of it. I do believe it must be important though – this is the first time in our 21 years that Ron has ever asked for a picture.

A private driver, who has agreed to drive us around to various manor houses outside of Edinburgh. In addition, since one manor house is unfortunately closed on our travel day, we have been offered a chance to go, instead, into a meat market on the grounds, which, as a vegetarian/architecture fan, is nearly as good as seeing the house, and so I’ve accepted.

Just so you can see the comparable touristic appeal of the two sites, here is the Gosford House, which we cannot get into:

And then here is the Gosford House meat market, where we are allowed to wander freely and purchase meat:

We’ve got a big list of historic castles and palaces: Hampton Court Palace, Stirling Castle, Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Edinburgh Castle. And we’ve dedicated an entire day to London’s Imperial War Museum – covering WWI and WWII – a favorite stop for Ron.

Because I have kindly included these historical sites on the itinerary, I feel comfortable adding in a few choices of my own. For example, in London, I’m hauling Ron back to see this digital art/video butterfly exhibit. He didn’t think much of it the first time, so I’m certain he’ll be happy to return:

And then in Edinburgh, Ron, who only likes lavish and large-scale musicals, is being treated to a dramatic retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

I’m also really hoping to get back into the Tate Modern in London. I like my art large and unequivocal. Ron, who gravitates towards the more pedestrian art of the Old Masters, is still trying to recover from our last Tate visit, when he was forced to admire this piece below called, for obvious reasons, Untitled. Ron is now flat-out refusing to enter the Tate – despite his apparent comfort in having me trespass at St. Andrews and risk getting whacked in the head with a golf ball to realize his photo dreams.

His stubborn refusal means that – unless I set off for the Tate alone – I will miss this other important bedding-related work below – Messy Bed. I’m pretty sure I like it better than Untitled because there is a sociological assortment of candy wrappers and garbage on the floor near the bed and it makes Untitled seem a little austere and predictable.

We are also having tea at the Savoy Hotel in London. I looked at a lot of hotels for tea. The stumbling block for most of them was dress code: no athletic shoes, some even wanted jackets for men, certainly none seemed to want to see my new polar fleece. But the Savoy? Five star hotel, ranked 36 of 1161 of hotels in London? The Savoy said, specifically, wear whatever makes you feel elegant, and won my heart. And so for the Savoy, I will be gracing their tea room with these sleek Hokas and my brand new LL Bean High-Plush jacket:

We’re traveling with our favorite travel buddies – Kris and Jim, who never say no to us, and are game to meet us anywhere. In a nod to Kris’s extraordinary travel loyalty, we are honoring her wish to see these large horse sculptures outside of Edinburgh called the Kelpies. I’m always mentioning these Kelpies to Ron and I think he’s concerned that we’re giving up an entire day of our trip to stand in front of some large metal, when our time is better spent at the St. Andrews’ golf course gift shop in search of another sweatshirt.

I remain undecided. One on hand, these are the Kelpies that Kris is excited about:

But here is just PART of Ron’s sweatshirt collection, with AT LEAST 20 sweatshirts missing, and I think the St. Andrews’ gift shop should be the least of his interests.

As always, I’m in it for the architecture, the stained glass, the snack food selection and, when certain mansions are not open for touring, the meat department offerings.

I’ll talk with you in a week or so.