Day 22- Lounging in London

Not much to report today because after three full weeks of nonstop action it was time for a break. Chris was brewing a sore throat and Liz was tired and so we had a quiet day around London. We had our complementary brekkie in the hotel… very yummy and an extensive selection of things including potato pancakes and an omelet station. Then we headed back to Piccadilly Circus to collect our next 3 day London Pass.

We had hoped that we would catch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace... but what we didn’t know is that from August on they only do it every second day…. And today clearly was not the second day. So, we wandered around and took some shots of the Palace and then headed back to the hotel for lunch, a rest and every travelers favourite Sunday afternoon pastime…. You guessed it… washing! The good news is that, thanks to the local laundry, we have enough clothes to get us home… the bad news. Watch out laundry when we get there.

Tonight we planned out the coming days to maximize the use of our London pass before heading off to Westminster cathedral for evening Mass. Got the time wrong so grabbed a bite to eat in that exclusive Scottish restaurant before Mass and then went into the cathedral. It is a very interesting style of building… different in many ways to others of the large cathedrals we have visited. It is built in Early Christian Byzantine style with extensive use of mosaics. Although started in 1895, it is still not complete with much of the ceiling bare brick.


Then we decided to hop on a random double decker red London bus and go for a ride, hopping off at an equally random stop just outside the Burlington Arcade… now that is opulent shopping! We took a stroll down Piccadilly past the exotically decorated windows of Fortnum and Mason on our way to the Bakerloo line and home to blog and facebook. Busy few days ahead

Day 21 - London calling

It was the last morning of the tour and a special gift to us was an extra early rise and shine so that we could get on the road and beat the worst of the traffic into London. So we farewelled York and hit the motorway M1 south to London. The countryside had a certain sameness about it today but we did hear about many famous battlefields and the bloodshed on them during the Wars of the Roses! Jonathon is a wealth of historical information.

Our morning tea stop was Stamford.. where you may ask? Well it was certainly the question we were asking, but it turned out to be a real gem of the place. A small English village that largely escaped the impact of the industrial revolution, Stamford has quaint yellow stone cottages and shops and 5 churches in a one mile radius. Unfortunately morning tea was only 20 minutes and so it was only time for a trip to the loo and a coffee, so we only managed two churches, but they were small and old in their feel, both being built around the 1300’s and the were distinctively High Church Anglican. In the little café where we grabbed our coffee, we even caught up with the emerging mess that is the Australian federal election!!! It is about the first news from home that we have had in three weeks.
Back on the bus and we were heading down to Cambridge which was our lunch stop. University town is an interesting concept. The colleges are magnificent regal buildings oozing history. Kings College, Trinity College and St Catherine’s were among the most impressive. Because of the narrow streets in Cambridge we had to park a bit out of town and Jonathon led us up a winding path that we had to find our way back down. Just as well we have good geography skills. On the way we were warned that we would be accosted by students offering us punt rides on the River Cam… and we sure were accosted. I think about 20 or more students accosted us on our way uptown offering punt rides. Of course we didn’t have time, and we were also warned about the punt wars as different companies sabotage each other’s boats and some people end up in the drink as a result.. now that just isn’t cricket. There were heaps of people in Cambridge and so we made our lunch on a bench and then explored the churches and the market and snapped some pics before heading back to the bus. There is an interesting clock in Cambridge that has a large cricket or locust on it. The idea is that the insect is stealing time from you … and knowing students as well as Liz does, she was not surprised by the symbolism.

And so came the last leg back to London and the end of our tour. We had a dream run into London arriving 15 minutes earlier than planned which is unheard of apparently. We bade goodbye to our friends that we had made, especially our New Zealand buddies Tony and Pam and thanked Jonathon and Anto for their work.. and as we had heard at every stop for the last week, we heard the familiar phrase for the last time…. ALL RISE !
Our room at the Hilton Metropole was not ready by the 3pm check in time and so we scored a free breaky voucher for tomorrow!! Yeah! When we hit the room it was quite spacious and comfy and we have a king bed which is a pleasant change from the doubles of the last few nights. We needed to walk up to Paddington to pick up our Metro pass and it is only a kilometer or so from the hotel so we went back into walking mode and made a quick walk there. Once secured we hit the underground and made our way to Gloucester Road station… the only reason for this little detour was to take a photo at the sign!!! Then we went back to Knightsbridge… home of Harrods. What an amazing place that is. A whole floor of souvenirs of Harrods, a massive Egyptian escalator lobby and shrine to Diana and Dodi and the biggest Christmas shop I have ever seen. It is certainly some experience. We will go back... I just have to decide what to buy, but of course I had to buy something because every girl needs a green Harrod’s bag! We grabbed a bite to eat at Pret Manger, a fresh sandwich store that sells very yummy reasonably priced sandwiches, and we estimate that dinner cost about one fifth of what it would have had we eaten at Harrods!!!! Then we went to Leicester Square on the tube because I wanted to check out TKTS. It is nothing like Times Square. There are many booths supposedly selling reduced priced tickets but TKTS is right in the idle of Leicester Square. There was nothing we wanted to see but we did find a marked in the pavement that said that Canberra Australia was a mere 10883miles away. So we faced home and waved!!! Actually we were both really too tired and so we headed back to the hotel, again needing to plan the trip carefully due to underground track work again this weekend on the Jubilee and Circle lines.

Day 20 - Ease on down, ease on down to York!

Having had two terrific nights in Edinburgh savoring the festival it was time to head south again, destination York. The weather that had been so kind to us the night before for the Tattoo had deteriorated and by the time we hit our first stop at Abbotsford we were travelling in genuine Scottish mist.
Abbotsford is the home of the great Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott. It is located a couple of hours from Edinburgh in scenic rolling hills. The guide that showed us round the house was very very enthusiastic in his telling of every last detail of the life and death of Scott and what happened to his estate after he died and the like. Master of the rhetorical question, he was describing the extensive library, giving a blow by blow of every artwork and we discovered that Scott was quite a collector when we hit the final room of the house where there stood two full suits of armour, the keys to the castle of Mary Queen of Scotts and every imaginable gun and sword that you care to think of.Unfortunately no photos allowed inside so the best I can do is the small thistle from the garden and the outside of the house! It was an interesting stop on what proved to be a bit of an ordinary day.

Lunch was early and we stopped at another one of those woolen mill tourist rip off places. Apparently it was that or a burger king style service station on the motorway. So lunch was uneventful and we clambered back onto the coach for the rest of the trip into York, crossing the border back into England in the mist and the rain. By the time we arrived in York it was fine and sunny and that made exploring this fascinating ancient town much easier. As Chris had been to York before he was keen for us to head off to the Viking museum or Jorvik. This museum highlights the Viking occupation of the area from around the 8th century when it was actually called Jorvik. (It was as close as you’d get to barbarians Morry!) The Museum is brilliantly interactive and recreates Viking life in an underground ride, much like a Disney Epcot ride. It also has a lot of archaeological artifacts and information about this fascinating people and their impact on East Anglia as a trading people. Top stuff.

Leaving the museum we wandered up thru the Shambles, the old butchers’ row which has buildings dating back to the 11th century. It is a very whimsical place and then over to York Minister , the biggest Gothic Cathedral in Britain. Wow!. This one was not actually bombed during WWII but they took all the stained glass out and put it in a bunker to protect it. There was a singing group practising and the voices sounded absolutely angelic in the fantastic acoustics of the cathedral. WE then kept mooching around York, walking the city walls and stumbling across the ruins of an abbey and hospital, just sitting there off the main street. We never cease to be amazed by the history unfolding before our eyes. Then back on the bus for our trip out of town about 10 miles to the Ramada hotel. This used to be a stately home that has been extended and converted into a hotel and it was very nice indeed. Dinner was even silver service and there was a piano bar as well. Very shmick! And so to bed day 20.

Day 19 – Exploring Edinburgh… it’s the Tattoo

It was nice not to have to pack up and move this morning. So after a leisurely breakfast we headed off with our local guide Alan for a morning sojourn around Edinburgh. Having toured some of the streets and looked at the monuments such as the Gothic Rocket to Sir Walter Scott and the home of Robert Louis Stevenson, our first stop was Holyrood palace, the queen’s official residence when she is in Edinburgh. This palace has a chequered history; it was the home of Mary, Queen of Scots and site of the murder of her lover Rizzio. The section of the castle built by Mary has 6 foot thick walls and secret passageways. The remainder of the castle, built by Charles II only has 3 feet thick walls. The furnishings are not elaborate in the French palatial sense but are very beautiful and we heard some bloodthirsty tales about the too-ing and fro-ing of English Scottish relations from our guide, who I suspect had a particularly Scottish bent. On the site adjacent to the castle are the ruins of the Augustinian Abbey built in the early 12 century by King David and virtually destroyed completely by Cromwell. We have seen some real disasters in the name of religion in the last 3 weeks and this is a great example of the destruction in the name of god or godlessness in this case.

Then we headed up the Royal Mile, the road that links Holyrood with Edinburgh Castle up on the hill. It was awash with people and cars everywhere and because of the Edinburgh festival it is a mall for some distance. So we skirted around, hearing the story of the dog that the children of Edinburgh had buried in front of one of the churches that Disney made into a movie. Then it was destination castle.

The bus drove right onto the esplanade in front of the castle… this is the pavement where the tattoo would take place tonight. How exciting. We were told approx where our seats would be for this evening’s performance and then Alan took us off on the long hike up the cobblestones laid by French Prisoners after the Napoleonic wars to see the various parts of the castle. It is still an active military base and so there are soldiers on duty all day and there is a mess hall and the like up there. The castle dates way back to 12 century although Robert the Bruce actually dismantled much of it to prevent the English from laying claim to it. One part of the castle today is a war memorial to Scottish soldiers which is very moving. In another section there is a tiny chapel with only room for 16 people that was built for Queen (later Saint) Margaret of Scotland. But by far the most exciting exhibit was the “Honours of Scotland” the Crown Jewels which date back to the time of James IV and which have a coloured history. There is a sceptre and sword and crown and they are quite exquisite. The other thing that accompanies the honors is the “Stone of Destiny” or Scotland’s coronation stone of Scone on which Scottish kings and queens were crowned from the middle ages. It appears as though the English appropriated the stone to Westminster Abbey where it had also been used as a coronation stone and it was only returned to Edinburgh in the later 20th century. We also checked out the extraordinary view over Edinburgh to be had from the castle, saw the venue for the lone piper… wow it THAT up high,
before making the way back down all the cobblestones to meet Alan. It was a terrific morning.

Back at the hotel we grabbed lunch from Marks and Spencer’s and then headed out to do a little shopping. While out the brilliant sunshine gave way to a very heavy shower… Booooooo and hisssssss! This was not in the forecast and did not bode well for this evening and anyway Chris and Liz were SOAKED!!! Had to get changed before meeting for our optional tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia which is moored at Leith, the port of Edinburgh. Now that was an interesting insight into Royalty.

In some ways it is very plain and in other ways so amazingly opulent. Yacht is really a misnomer... it is actually a cruise ship and I imagine that Queen Bess is a little upset that she didn’t get given a new one when the Britannia had to be decommissioned. After the yacht tour we had dinner at Malmaison, a very ritzy hotel restaurant in the Port area and then headed back to collect the others for the tattoo. How exciting it was finally here.

The seats at the tattoo are totally and completely squishy. Sardines in a can springs readily to mind. We were very lucky and asked for the seat on the end of the row because of Liz’s dodgy knee. So glad we did as she could extend it into the aisle a little. The Tattoo commenced with the massed pipes and drums and ended with the massed bands, just like it always does. In between there were performances from the NZ and Scottish highland dancers, the Jordanian army, the south Carolina Citadel Band, the Imps motorcycles precision team and the Military calisthenics troupe to name a few. They were all just so good but our favorite was probably the New Zealand Army Band who were very entertaining in their style of performance and played Colonel Bogey and St Louis Blues in one set. Yeah!!!! The whole night was so fantastic… it was everything that we had hoped for and more and they even recorded for the BBC so watch out when it comes to OZ… there might be a couple of mad Aussies on the end of a row in the middle of the stands about half way up having a far too good time.

At the end of the tattoo it is utter chaos as people leave and so we just walked very carefully down the Royal Mile and the Mound and back down to our hotel, so grateful that we were staying within walking distance and didn’t have to fight the masses off to find a coach and then sit in traffic for ages to get back. You see Edinburgh has a population of less than 500,000 but during festival time that is augmented to the tune of 1.5 million tourists per day… any wonder it was squishy… But WOW. Soooooo good!

Day 18 - Scotland: are we brave?

What a day of contrasts. This morning we started out from our hotel on the outskirts of Chester, next to a wheat field. Tonight we are sitting in the bar of the Ramada Jarvis in Edinburgh and from our room we can look out towards the castle which is subtly flooded in washes of colour. But more about that in a minute. First off... the day that was.

It was a very long drive today... parts of it beautiful and interesting but nonetheless very long and one of the reasons why we really didn't want to do four weeks on a coach trip. Our first stop was the city of Chester and we got the chance to mooch around the town, walking the city walls, viewing the excavation of the Roman amphitheatre and the Roman gardens. On one of the city gates we saw a clock installed to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. The church in Chester is now the seat of the diocese.. apparently it made the transition from abbey to Anglican very easily during the English reformation. It dates back to the 10th century in part and they are doing an archeological dig in the grounds and have found Roman artifacts as well as medieval ones.. Just so old!!!! This was our only morning stop. it would be two and a half hours to our next stop so Chris satisfied his desire for a Cornish pastie from the west Cornwall pasty shop. After all we were only about 300 miles as the crow flies from Cornwall! It was yum:)

The dulcet tones of Johnathon's voice lulled most of the bus off to sleep as he recounted the history of the area in minute detail and we snoozed on the motorway. But then it was wakey time as we entered the Lakes district. Unfortunately it was misty and raining, but it didn't spoil the view. Lake Windemere, the largest of the lakes is really a glacier cirque and the scenery is breathtaking... verdant green hills, miles of dry wall fencing, sheep, small farmhouses built in slate style material. Lunch stop was at Grasmere, home and burial place of William Wordsworth and his family. He is said to have been a parishioner at the church of St Oswald in Grasmere and is buried in the church cemetery. It is also Coleridge country, but those of you who know Liz well would know that that is not a particularly strong selling point!!!!! Grasmere is a tiny little place and there were at least 3 tourist buses all trying to get fed so we found a little place on the far end of town and settled for a hearty chicken soup. On such a cold wet day it was good... and we reminded ourselves that this is indeed summer.

Back on the coach and our next stop was a very kitsch shopping complex at Gretna Green - tartan and cashmere laid on!!!! A bit over the top for our liking, but it was good to stretch the legs before the final two hour haul into Edinburgh.

The traffic and the people in the heart of Edinburgh was just overwhelming!!! We couldn't even stop outside our hotel, they had to unload us around the corner. But position, position, position!!! Some of the tour went to a Scottish night tonight but we decided to just take in life in Edinburgh. We had tea in a pub and then headed off towards the castle to walk the royal mile. It was too late for us to see Adam Hills at the Ed Fringe so we just wandered and enjoyed the street performers and mooched in the shops. Chris decided that he wanted to wait at the top of the Royal Mile to watch the massed bands come down from the castle at the end of the tattoo tonight and so we did. Watched the fireworks and then down came the performers.. great atmosphere and it made us so excited that we are actually going to the tattoo tomorrow night.. Yeah!!!!!!! So now at nearly midnight it is off to bed again... gosh. If only we didn't have to sleep:)

Day 17 - Today's Tuesday... this must be the Cotswolds

Headed off on Day 2 of the tour.. destination Chester. it was a chilly early morning in Bath as we went for a drive around the "Circus" and revisited the Georgian houses that we had walked to last night. It was cloudy and drizzly as we drive through farmland, separated by the characteristic dry stone fences and Cotswold style houses built in beautiful yellow stone. We also saw several more thatched roof houses on our journey out of Bath. Our morning tea stop was at Stow on Wold except that it wasn't really morning tea because there was nothing opened, expect for the public loo where it costs 20p to go!!! When we drove thru the next town it was market day! I guess that is why everything was closed in Stow on Wold.

A drive along county lanes revealed some famous accommodation. We even drove right past the home of Charles and Camilla. the house is well hidden from the street but we saw the gate LOL. Then it was into Stratford on Avon for a whiz thru the town on route to Anne Hathaway's cottage. this was only a photo op as the real business was back in Stratford, touring Shakespeare's birthplace. Very interesting, especially considering the esteemed company with whom we shared. History records that Mark Twain, William Wordsworth John Keats and a host of other literati had visited to pay their respects!!! Hallowed turf! Then we were free to explore Stratford for an hour. Lots of interesting sites especially the barges down at the river Avon.

This afternoon was a longish drive through Birmingham and into Wales to the little town of Llangollen. Located deep in the valley of the River Dee, it is a quaint little town with a steam railway operating beside a beautiful stream. The train tragic was in his element:) A quick walk and a coffee and it was back on the bus and off to Chester to our hotel, the Ramada Jarvis. We are about 1.5 miles out of town this time, in fact we are right next to a wheat field!!! Another nice dinner tonight in the hotel, sharing tonight with an American Mum Kate and her daughter Halley. Lots of laughter and exchanging of tales before blog updating and off to bed.

Day 16- Castle, Cathedrals, Rocks and Bath

We joined the madding crowd today on our Globus 6 day tour of Great Britain. It was not the morning to sleep through the alarm, but we managed to get our bags packed and outside our door in time for them to be picked up. Breakfast was included, and was not bad for a hotel buffet.

An interesting mix of nationalities - all English speakers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, USA and even England itself, which was surprising.

Jonathan our tour director is a bit of a wit, in a nice way. He does expect you to laugh at his jokes, like "a duck crossed the road and went into a pub and ordered a whiskey and water. The bar tender said 'that will be 4 pounds 10 pence'. The duck said 'put it on my bill'". boom boom.

Our first stop was to see the gardens at Hampton Court. Jonathan gave us a run down about the palace and its history, then escorted us into the formal gardens. Well tendered and laid out. The great grape vine is impressive, planted in 1758. the exterior of the castle is amazing in that its Tudor facade is how it was in Henry VIII's day. It is said that he was playing tennis on the tennis court at Hampden Court when Anne Boleyn was beheaded!. William of Orange had plans to completely demolish the Tudor facade and make the palace completely Georgian, and so the other side of the palace has a Georgian aspect. His plans did not come to fruition as his wife dies and money became scarce. Kind of glad that he didn't do it... so much of the Henry story would have been lost. We are hoping to return to Hampden Court and do the palace tour when we return to London next week.

We rested a short while in the wilderness, which looks like parkland, before getting back on our coach for the trip through typical English countryside to Salisbury and its very tall cathedral.

Two major highlights here - the baptismal font in the middle of the church - the photo says it all. And the Magna Carta - so much history everywhere. An interesting plaque was on a wall inside the cathedral grounds, which was a memorial for three protestant martyrs who were burned at the stake in 1556. Hmmm.

Jonathan wanted to know if we wanted to go the scenic route to Stonehenge and silly us said "oh yes please!". There are definitely some country roads that coaches should not go down.This was one of them, especially when we met a truck and a bunch of cyclists coming in the other direction. We saw thatched roofs and country pubs and Sting's mansion. It did cut the trip time down too as the main road was clogged with traffic.

To crest the hill and come upon Stonehenge is a goose bump moment. We were escorted through a relatively short queue and got to walk around the monument - lots of photos of course. You are not allowed to get any closer than 20 metres, but that's good because you don't have kids climbing all over the stones and ruining your photos. This in a really enigmatic place. How did it get there? who put it there? and when? And yet it has a feeling on the sacred, somewhat akin to stepping into a Gothic cathedral.... and we are smartly becoming expert on that subject.

Then onto Bath. A beautiful (can I overuse this word?) Georgian city with a Roman era bath right in the middle. The Romans established the baths on the only natural hot spring in England. The museum tells the story well based upon the archeological digs. Chris said that a lot had been done to improve the visitor experience since he was here in 1979.

We then wandered into the Bath Abbey. More vaulted ceilings and colourful stained glass. There is a memorial to Arthur Phillip who died in Bath. The abbey has many windows that allow a lot of light in. This version of the abbey was built in the 14 century on the ruins of a Norman Abbey which dates back to the 10th century where the "first' king of England was crowned.

Back at our hotel, we had a welcome dinner and sat with a couple from New Zealand. They are on a long holiday too, and are going to Oberammergau for the Passion Play. See, there are other people who have heard of it.

A lovely night, finished off with a walk about town. We got to see the famed Circus and Crescent,lined with identical Georgian apartments and some interesting art installations around town which were small lions - a "sea lion" painted blue and swirly, a marble lion, a lion of communication with writing all over it, amongst others.

And thus ended day 16.