Wednesday in London
We got up and going a little earlier today and made our way down to the Tower of London. We knew this was an important place to visit but not much about the place. The Tower of London is not very Tower like. It looks like it may have sunken some below street level so the first two stories are below the street level. This was one of the few places that were really crowded and that we had to stand in line to get in to things. Part of the Tower goes back to 100AD and the Romans but most of it was built starting about 1000 years ago, as a castle and royal palace, eventualy a storehouse for the crown jewels and a prison. There are still some people living in the tower, including the local sheriff, mayor, priest and doctor as well as guards known as the Beefeaters; they have some pretty crazy outfits to wear. We visited some of the medieval castle part, which was over the river so that people could come in and out by boat. This part took a lot of going up and down steps and very narrow circular staircases in tower turrets. After this part we went to lunch. They have great café’s in these places. Lydia and I went exploring on our own, visiting the torture tower and the prison tower. Sir Walter Raleigh was sent to the tower three times, and lived there with his wife and family 13 years. 2 of the times he was sent to the tower he was under a death penalty and the final time they did cut off his head. At lot of rooms had graffiti in them from the prisoners; we also learned to watch out for pie since one of the prisoners had been sent a poisoned pie, the senders of the pie spent 5 years in the tower for that. Marci and Granny sat in the sun and people watched. It is fun to catch snippits of different languages and a little girl of 2 chased pigeons all around for the hour they sat.
The next stop was the Temple. This is in the law district. Apparently you have to be a member of one of four different Inns in London in order to be a lawyer anywhere in the UK. The Temple was a very old church with effigies of Knights Templar’s on the floor. Interesting exhibit, even if we are not fans of Dan Brown and his books. (Divinci Code etc)
At this point Lydia had gotten info on summer reading books she needed for school and she and Marci went looking for them but the bookstores did not carry them. I guess “How To Read Literature Like a Professor” is not an international bestseller. Mom and I went on to take the Westminster Abbey tour, which was great. The Abbey is beautiful, very historic and tied in with many of the things we had been seeing and learning about during our trip. Plus, they have these great audio hand sets that you carry around and push the buttons at the display that you want to listen too. If you want more info or a sample of the Sunday music, or even want to watch a video of a room that may be closed at the moment, just type the number into the handset and presto! All at your own pace.
We all are getting tired. Marci and Lydia went to get some food for us all- bypassing all the expensive sit-down restaurants, and finally bought an entire meal of hot pannini, fruit, chips and desserts from Starbucks and brought it back and we just had a picnic in the room, Don’t know if we’ve mentioned that the prices at some of these places are different if you “take away” or “eat-in”. Guess if you take up table space, and they give you china plates for your muffin, it costs a little more. Hope the US doesn’t catch on to this program.
Last Day in London
We had to hurry this morning to get to the Globe Theatre (Shakespeare’s famous one) for a tour in the morning. We are finally getting the hang of the subway and busses, so it is less crazy, although we traveled during rush hour and obviously it is aptly named “rush”. No pushing though. We walked across the “Millennium Bridge” which was constructed in the last few years as a thoroughly modern pedestrian walkway over the Thames. It was open a few days and then started wiggling. SO they closed it and at another $7 million pounds or so, stabilized it and reopened it. Pretty cool. It takes you right to the Globe theatre and the Tate Museum of Modern Art.
The tour at the Globe was good, although our guide clearly wasn’t also an actor (they often are) and loved, absolutely loved, to use the phrase “At that time” There was Bear Baiting Fights at that time. The groundlings (peasants who paid 1 penny to stand on the dirt floor in the muck) at that time were also called ‘penny stinkers’ for lots of unhygienic reasons. The Paris Hilton person at that time would have sat in the box behind the stage and made a spectacle of herself coming in so the rest of the audience would stop paying attention to the play and look at her. Some things haven’t changed.
After the tour of the Globe Theatre itself we went back to the exhibit. The Globe Theatre is in reality a recent reconstruction. Apparently, Shakespeare monuments in the London area were limited to Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey, important versions of the Portfolios’ at the British Library and a small plaque on a brewery saying here stood the Globe theater. An American actor of the name Sam Wannamaker (?) apparently thought this was a tragedy and decided to rebuild the theater and so the current version is only about 20 years ago. The exhibits are very complete but have an American succinctness that was refreshing.
After this we went next door to the Tate Modern Art Museum, which is also new and in a very large 7 story open building converted from some industrial purpose. After light refreshment we went up to the one of the modern galleries. Although modern art can be hit and miss they seem to have gotten some of the better pieces and placed them interestingly together and not all of them in row but some up higher on the wall like you might in your home. After a ½ hour or so Lydia and Marci peeled off to go to Westminster Abbey which they had missed the day before. Granny and I stayed on for another 45 minutes or so and missed a torrential downpour. It is nice that the Tate, as many other museums in the city is free. This means that you can stay for shorter time without feeling that you have wasted your money. Art galleries are best enjoyed a little bit at a time with some time out of doors to clear the head before the next dose.
Granny asked for some gardens so we made our way to Kensington Garden although it took 3 tube line changes. Within a minute of walking into the garden the street noises and even the sights of buildings faded away. There are some nice planted areas but much is left more natural with longer grass and large trees. It is a nice break from the city. We walked across with a nice view of Kensington Palace and the elaborate Prince Albert Memorial and Albert Hall. It seems when you want to get something to eat nothing is available but we finally did get a snack at a university cafeteria. Finally we got our final underground trip to Victoria and back to the hotel.
Marci and Lydia came back and they and Granny went off to several second hand shops for trendy clothing. We packed up for the trip home tomorrow and then walked some to find food. This is always a little difficult. Lots of Pub Grub but the food has been indifferent, to uneatable with an occasional good meal. I think that most patrons, and there are a lot, have somewhat dulled the senses with ale which may make the food less objectionable. The several pubs we passed were packed and spilling onto the sidewalks. Don’t know if Thursday night is Pub night, but seemed to be very happening.
There were several ethnic restaurants, but Marci doesn’t care for spicy food and spicy food doesn’t like her either. Finally, we stopped at the Giraffe (we had eaten there before so knew it to be good) for trendy hip food which was pretty good. We paid in cash using almost all our pound Sterling and pence and pound coins and 2 pound coins – they have a multitude of coinage options- to use then up.
We all have decided that we have had a great time but the legs and feet could use a day off from all the walking and stairs.
This morning we easily made it to the Gatwick Express (train to the airport )–a 12 minute walk pulling our luggage, and jumped on board with just a minute to spare and are now over Ireland on our way home.
Over and Out; Cheerio, mate.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
2nd day in London
Last 3 days in London
We have not had time to keep up to date on the blog so I will work on the first of the last 3 days.
Greenwich
This is classified as a day trip out of London but it is on the Southeast side of the River Thames and it is a nice break from a very busy inner city. The subway takes us out to North Greenwich and then we took a local bus out to the Royal Observatory. The site is really a nice little village with the Royal Naval Academy, the Queens House that subsequently was a school for sailors and the Navel Museum. The whole Royal Observatory thing started out because of the Longitude Problem. The British had a big navy and they were always running aground and sinking and lots of people were dying so the people said “do something!” to the King and his advisors said the sailors needed better charts and clocks.
Later we will learn that the Royal Astronomer complained about the Ravens at the Tower of London and so rather than getting rid of the Ravens they sent him down river. The Prime Meridian that divides the eastern and western hemisphere goes through the observatory. So the house can open up a 5 foot section of wall and roof on a perfect north to south axis and the telescope can be moved north to south but not east to west. So the astronomer would just look at whatever stars were passing over the Prime Meridian, record the time and date and over many decades this resulted in better star maps. The Royal Astronomer did not get a lot of sleep, and was often ill from the cold nights, so he was grumpy. They still have a Royal Astronomer, but the job isn’t so hands on now.
The other problem was a clock, because pendulums don’t keep time with the rocking of a ship, and the King offer 20K pounds for one that would be accurate at sea. Hooker spent 50 years working on this and H1 through H3 are pretty large, impressive machines. H4, his final version, looks like an overgrown pocket watch. It was hard work trudging up the pretty steep hill to the observatory and walking from one hemisphere to the next (and back) so we were off to look for food.
We got waylaid going to the Queens House, since Rick Steves had recommended seeing this huge painting of Lord Alfred Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. Ironically, it was on tour in the US. We did get to see a little of the house which was the first Neo-classical building in England and it does look a lot like a Greek or Roman building from the outside.
The have a great Royal Naval Museum, and a great place for lunch. Refreshed, we went on to see parts of the some of the exhibits. They are crazy for Lord Nelson. So we got to see his uniform in which he got fatally shot; he had earlier lost an arm in battle. We saw pictures, paintings locks of hair and later in Trafalgar Square a very large column with him on the top. As I said the English are wacky for him. Some of us at different times overcome with the exertion and emotion of it all could take a nice nap on the front grass.
After this we stopped in South London for the Coffee and Tea Museum which has apparently closed and is now a very nice hardware store. We did get to see some nice (by which Papa means he thought it was sketchy but is wrong) industrial area, a pleasant but nearly closed farmers market on the way. The names of the street can change every few blocks so navigation might benefit from the star maps or the GPS we almost brought.
We got back in time to clean up, pick up tickets and go to supper and then see the musical Wicked.
This is a play that has gotten great reviews and it is a prequel and retelling of the Wizard of Oz and is about how the wicked witch really isn’t wicked but misunderstood. The story is “cute” but the lead actresses have some impressive pipes and the whole thing is a beautiful spectacle with flying monkeys, dragons, the great wizard and some cool special effects. It was a short walk back to the hotel for our third of the three rooms we will be staying in.
We have not had time to keep up to date on the blog so I will work on the first of the last 3 days.
Greenwich
This is classified as a day trip out of London but it is on the Southeast side of the River Thames and it is a nice break from a very busy inner city. The subway takes us out to North Greenwich and then we took a local bus out to the Royal Observatory. The site is really a nice little village with the Royal Naval Academy, the Queens House that subsequently was a school for sailors and the Navel Museum. The whole Royal Observatory thing started out because of the Longitude Problem. The British had a big navy and they were always running aground and sinking and lots of people were dying so the people said “do something!” to the King and his advisors said the sailors needed better charts and clocks.
Later we will learn that the Royal Astronomer complained about the Ravens at the Tower of London and so rather than getting rid of the Ravens they sent him down river. The Prime Meridian that divides the eastern and western hemisphere goes through the observatory. So the house can open up a 5 foot section of wall and roof on a perfect north to south axis and the telescope can be moved north to south but not east to west. So the astronomer would just look at whatever stars were passing over the Prime Meridian, record the time and date and over many decades this resulted in better star maps. The Royal Astronomer did not get a lot of sleep, and was often ill from the cold nights, so he was grumpy. They still have a Royal Astronomer, but the job isn’t so hands on now.
The other problem was a clock, because pendulums don’t keep time with the rocking of a ship, and the King offer 20K pounds for one that would be accurate at sea. Hooker spent 50 years working on this and H1 through H3 are pretty large, impressive machines. H4, his final version, looks like an overgrown pocket watch. It was hard work trudging up the pretty steep hill to the observatory and walking from one hemisphere to the next (and back) so we were off to look for food.
We got waylaid going to the Queens House, since Rick Steves had recommended seeing this huge painting of Lord Alfred Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. Ironically, it was on tour in the US. We did get to see a little of the house which was the first Neo-classical building in England and it does look a lot like a Greek or Roman building from the outside.
The have a great Royal Naval Museum, and a great place for lunch. Refreshed, we went on to see parts of the some of the exhibits. They are crazy for Lord Nelson. So we got to see his uniform in which he got fatally shot; he had earlier lost an arm in battle. We saw pictures, paintings locks of hair and later in Trafalgar Square a very large column with him on the top. As I said the English are wacky for him. Some of us at different times overcome with the exertion and emotion of it all could take a nice nap on the front grass.
After this we stopped in South London for the Coffee and Tea Museum which has apparently closed and is now a very nice hardware store. We did get to see some nice (by which Papa means he thought it was sketchy but is wrong) industrial area, a pleasant but nearly closed farmers market on the way. The names of the street can change every few blocks so navigation might benefit from the star maps or the GPS we almost brought.
We got back in time to clean up, pick up tickets and go to supper and then see the musical Wicked.
This is a play that has gotten great reviews and it is a prequel and retelling of the Wizard of Oz and is about how the wicked witch really isn’t wicked but misunderstood. The story is “cute” but the lead actresses have some impressive pipes and the whole thing is a beautiful spectacle with flying monkeys, dragons, the great wizard and some cool special effects. It was a short walk back to the hotel for our third of the three rooms we will be staying in.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
London Day 1
London
Day 1
Up and breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast is more than adequate but not the Full English Breakfast we have been offered up to now. The first thing to do was to decide if we should get an Oyster card. An Oyster is a pass that lets you on and off all forms of transport –subway, bus, light rail. It has reduced rates and thus it make “the world” and in this case London, “your Oyster”. I had scouted out the area the evening before, and we went down to Pimlico Underground Station, (subway) not quite as busy as Victoria Station, and the very helpful Underground Clerk explained the process and helped us buy our Oyster passes. A problem is that many of the older stations are not handicapped assessable and don’t even have escalators, so you can be faced with a really long set of stairs to get in and out.
First stop was the British Library, where they have exhibits of rare books and documents, like the Magna Charter, illuminated Bibles form over 1600 years ago, and one of the interesting thing was Beatles materials, where they have written songs on the backs on envelops, birthday cards and any bit of paper that might be available. One of the really interesting exhibits was about how they preserve and repair books, audio and other materials, so that they can be used without falling apart or degrading unnecessarily. This was very precise work and something both Marci and Lydia were interested in and thought they might like to try. Lydia especially loves those old leather bound books.
We had a great lunch here in the cafeteria at the British Library and then made our way over to the British Museum. This must be one of the largest museums in the world – free too, like the Smithsonian. Basically, when the UK expanded their empire if they saw some old stuff they might dig it up and cart it off to London. Two of the most famous exhibits are the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. The Rosetta stone has Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphics of the same text (some decree about a prince which they carved in 3 languages to make sure all the locals got the message) and although it took 25 years to crack the code of the Egyptian Heiroglyphs they could use one or other language to help decipher the meaning of the hieroglyphics. The Elgin Marbles are pieces of sculpture looted from the Parthenon in Athens that Lord Elgin gathered up and shipped over. Weirdly, Lydia was at the Parthenon last summer on her Greece school trip, and saw the shell of the building. Apparently, the locals at some point in history, had been using the building to store gunpowder (?) and there was an explosion that damaged the carved decorations (elgin marbles), so out of the goodness of his heart, Lord Elgin stole them for safekeeping. In the 1600’s I think. Now the Greeks want them back, but England has built this lovely room in the museum just for them, so you see it is quite impossible. As will all museums of this size, one needs time and a guide would be helpful to understand the exhibits.
After this Marci and Lydia wanted to get in a little shopping, so Amos and Granny rode on back to the hotel for some rest. Later, at 5 PM we all meet up at Westminster Abby. We then walked through St. James and Green Park, strolled by Buckingham Palace (the Queen was in town) (but we were too busy to stop in for tea) lazed around on the lawn of the palace people watching – lots of people jogging home from work (backpack of work clothes) and then used our Oyster to get back to the hotel for supper at a local Italian restaurant. Pretty authentic Italian- it was even a relief to be surrounded by Italian talking, as it becomes tiring to almost understand the various English accents surrounding us. Is it English or a foreign language? We can’t always tell… We spent the rest of the evening planning for our next day outings and finally getting tickets for the theatre to see the show Wicked on the next evening. We used a website a fellow traveler recommended at breakfast at the last B&B – www.lastminute.com.
Day 1
Up and breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast is more than adequate but not the Full English Breakfast we have been offered up to now. The first thing to do was to decide if we should get an Oyster card. An Oyster is a pass that lets you on and off all forms of transport –subway, bus, light rail. It has reduced rates and thus it make “the world” and in this case London, “your Oyster”. I had scouted out the area the evening before, and we went down to Pimlico Underground Station, (subway) not quite as busy as Victoria Station, and the very helpful Underground Clerk explained the process and helped us buy our Oyster passes. A problem is that many of the older stations are not handicapped assessable and don’t even have escalators, so you can be faced with a really long set of stairs to get in and out.
First stop was the British Library, where they have exhibits of rare books and documents, like the Magna Charter, illuminated Bibles form over 1600 years ago, and one of the interesting thing was Beatles materials, where they have written songs on the backs on envelops, birthday cards and any bit of paper that might be available. One of the really interesting exhibits was about how they preserve and repair books, audio and other materials, so that they can be used without falling apart or degrading unnecessarily. This was very precise work and something both Marci and Lydia were interested in and thought they might like to try. Lydia especially loves those old leather bound books.
We had a great lunch here in the cafeteria at the British Library and then made our way over to the British Museum. This must be one of the largest museums in the world – free too, like the Smithsonian. Basically, when the UK expanded their empire if they saw some old stuff they might dig it up and cart it off to London. Two of the most famous exhibits are the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. The Rosetta stone has Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphics of the same text (some decree about a prince which they carved in 3 languages to make sure all the locals got the message) and although it took 25 years to crack the code of the Egyptian Heiroglyphs they could use one or other language to help decipher the meaning of the hieroglyphics. The Elgin Marbles are pieces of sculpture looted from the Parthenon in Athens that Lord Elgin gathered up and shipped over. Weirdly, Lydia was at the Parthenon last summer on her Greece school trip, and saw the shell of the building. Apparently, the locals at some point in history, had been using the building to store gunpowder (?) and there was an explosion that damaged the carved decorations (elgin marbles), so out of the goodness of his heart, Lord Elgin stole them for safekeeping. In the 1600’s I think. Now the Greeks want them back, but England has built this lovely room in the museum just for them, so you see it is quite impossible. As will all museums of this size, one needs time and a guide would be helpful to understand the exhibits.
After this Marci and Lydia wanted to get in a little shopping, so Amos and Granny rode on back to the hotel for some rest. Later, at 5 PM we all meet up at Westminster Abby. We then walked through St. James and Green Park, strolled by Buckingham Palace (the Queen was in town) (but we were too busy to stop in for tea) lazed around on the lawn of the palace people watching – lots of people jogging home from work (backpack of work clothes) and then used our Oyster to get back to the hotel for supper at a local Italian restaurant. Pretty authentic Italian- it was even a relief to be surrounded by Italian talking, as it becomes tiring to almost understand the various English accents surrounding us. Is it English or a foreign language? We can’t always tell… We spent the rest of the evening planning for our next day outings and finally getting tickets for the theatre to see the show Wicked on the next evening. We used a website a fellow traveler recommended at breakfast at the last B&B – www.lastminute.com.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Traveling to London.
Amazingly, the rental car drop off was a snap. The people weren’t even there, so Mom and Papa just parked it an left the keys in a designated box. They walked back to the train station, where they had dropped me and granny and all of the luggage we were guarding, and we boarded the express train to London. We had a spot of trouble finding unreserved seats, but it all worked out in the end. Of course, the express didn’t take us directly to Victoria station, which is closest to our hotel, so we had to take the tube. That was a bit of a hassle. They seem to love putting oodles of steps between the train and the tube, up and down which we were dragging our luggage while the intercom told us the train line we had planned on using was shut down for maintenance and the ticket checkers told us our flexi-pass didn’t work on the tube. She let us barge through the subway anyways, at our own risk, and directed us to an alternative train. We did have to change subways just to get to Victoria, and from there drag our luggage up too many stairs and onto the street, and down the street to our hotel, and down the stairs to our room. Today was full of stairs.
We are staying in the same hotel for five nights. However, within those five nights we are staying in three separate rooms. This means we have to stow our luggage in the reception area, behind the desk, the days we change rooms. But at least we are conveniently located. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and grocery stores nearby, and it’s a reasonably short walk to the station. In fact, we have already walked there and back a second time, to get bus maps, and stopped along the way at a grocery store which was only open ten more minutes, but we managed to get supper, and a Starbucks for Granny and I. Granny stayed behind in the room, reading up on London and recuperating. Tonight’ll be another picnic dinner, we bought a newspaper just so we’d have something to eat off, and a lot of planning. Our list of things to do is 21 strong, but that’s really rather impossible. We’ll just see how much we can pack in.
We are staying in the same hotel for five nights. However, within those five nights we are staying in three separate rooms. This means we have to stow our luggage in the reception area, behind the desk, the days we change rooms. But at least we are conveniently located. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and grocery stores nearby, and it’s a reasonably short walk to the station. In fact, we have already walked there and back a second time, to get bus maps, and stopped along the way at a grocery store which was only open ten more minutes, but we managed to get supper, and a Starbucks for Granny and I. Granny stayed behind in the room, reading up on London and recuperating. Tonight’ll be another picnic dinner, we bought a newspaper just so we’d have something to eat off, and a lot of planning. Our list of things to do is 21 strong, but that’s really rather impossible. We’ll just see how much we can pack in.
Last Day in the Country
By Amos
Today was actually a little slower. After breakfast we had some down time, so Lydia went back to bed while Granny did some walking and Marci and I did the laundry. We went into Halfwistle, a nearby village. We found a small Laundromat of just 2 washers and 2 dryers, and one of the dryers was broken. We got the laundry started and took a walk in the village. They have a Conservative Club and a Working Man’s Club and several churches. We read the village report of the council meetings; the usually stuff but very polite language. We also went up by the hospital but I think that it was more like a nursing home. Then we went back and checked the clothes, took another walk and then got the clothes, and came back to the B&B. Lydia was getting up and I think the sleep really helped. When I went to look for Granny she had been for a long walk and was up at the ruined castle. Marci and I went to see it and we helped her down. We can see it out the window, at the breakfast table
Our big activity today was to go to Housestead, a Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall were they had some local people dressed up like Roman soldiers and they showed us all the different gear and how to march in formation and make a phalanx. The really seemed to enjoy the weapons demonstration. The weather was incredible with blue skies, warm but windy with great views of the surrounding areas. We had lunch on the grass and watched the cheerful British men pretend to be Roman soldiers. I think they should also have some Picts to do the attacking for a little more reality. Afterward we came back and we looked around the local area and got ready for our trip to London tomorrow.
Lydia and Marci took another walk and she finished reading The Catcher in the Rye, which she borrowed from the B&B bookcase. I was able to talk to Patrick via IM on the internet and make sure of the train connections. I really wanted to reserve seat on the train but could not figure out how to do so. Later we went out to supper and Lydia had a trout, all head and all intact, which I helped her get ready to eat. I had pheasant, actually a little tough and dry, and in the future they could keep it under glass, for all I care. The service can be slow. We really wanted to pay and it took some effort to get the attention of the staff. This put things later than I thought it would. The one thing I had thought we should do was see a ruined priory or abbey or some ruined religious house as we have seen castles, prehistoric and Roman ruins. These spooky places have inspired a lot of poetry and what could have been kind of sentiment, however, driving further just did not seem to be the thing to do so we went back to the B&B and to our beds.
Today was actually a little slower. After breakfast we had some down time, so Lydia went back to bed while Granny did some walking and Marci and I did the laundry. We went into Halfwistle, a nearby village. We found a small Laundromat of just 2 washers and 2 dryers, and one of the dryers was broken. We got the laundry started and took a walk in the village. They have a Conservative Club and a Working Man’s Club and several churches. We read the village report of the council meetings; the usually stuff but very polite language. We also went up by the hospital but I think that it was more like a nursing home. Then we went back and checked the clothes, took another walk and then got the clothes, and came back to the B&B. Lydia was getting up and I think the sleep really helped. When I went to look for Granny she had been for a long walk and was up at the ruined castle. Marci and I went to see it and we helped her down. We can see it out the window, at the breakfast table
Our big activity today was to go to Housestead, a Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall were they had some local people dressed up like Roman soldiers and they showed us all the different gear and how to march in formation and make a phalanx. The really seemed to enjoy the weapons demonstration. The weather was incredible with blue skies, warm but windy with great views of the surrounding areas. We had lunch on the grass and watched the cheerful British men pretend to be Roman soldiers. I think they should also have some Picts to do the attacking for a little more reality. Afterward we came back and we looked around the local area and got ready for our trip to London tomorrow.
Lydia and Marci took another walk and she finished reading The Catcher in the Rye, which she borrowed from the B&B bookcase. I was able to talk to Patrick via IM on the internet and make sure of the train connections. I really wanted to reserve seat on the train but could not figure out how to do so. Later we went out to supper and Lydia had a trout, all head and all intact, which I helped her get ready to eat. I had pheasant, actually a little tough and dry, and in the future they could keep it under glass, for all I care. The service can be slow. We really wanted to pay and it took some effort to get the attention of the staff. This put things later than I thought it would. The one thing I had thought we should do was see a ruined priory or abbey or some ruined religious house as we have seen castles, prehistoric and Roman ruins. These spooky places have inspired a lot of poetry and what could have been kind of sentiment, however, driving further just did not seem to be the thing to do so we went back to the B&B and to our beds.
Second Day at Holmeshead
Compiled by both Lydia and Amos
Today, we slept in. A little. We slept in in that we didn’t have breakfast until 8:30. We chatted with another, different, woman traveling alone. Apparently, she was going to a clan reunion, and was going to stop at Vinolanda on the way. As it happens, that was our stop of the day, so we remarked maybe we would see her there and got on our merry way.
Vinolanda is the remains of an ancient roman fort from the early AD’s. And they mean early. The earliest fort was built sometime around 85 AD, they think. And I mean, they think. I am rather skeptical of these people. Not in their artifacts, which are in fact amazing, but in their buildings. Because yes, they found some walls and that’s wonderful, but we could watch a man slapping walls together with cement and the various stones they’d pulled up from the area. How on earth do they even know where these buildings were, what they were for? I mean, sure they could figure it out to some extant but most of the walls seemed to be put together in the last few years. They could have put those walls anywhere, and we wouldn’t have known the difference. Ahh well, the museum was wonderful and it was a nice walk on a field. We had lunch in the associated café, because everything seems to have an associated café, and got back in the car for a drive over to an accessible part of Hadrian’s Wall. The parking lot was a pay-and-park, but we didn’t have the exact three pounds change, and it wouldn’t take our credit card, but someone rushed up and gave us their still good ticket. The Dutchman behind us didn’t have three pounds either, so we gave him our only coin and he managed to get one from a passing group.
Steel Rigg is one of the places you can get to Hadrian’s Wall from. It’s quite a nice wall. Square bricks. Thick. There’s grasses growing on top, and I was actually able to get up on top of the wall and walk directly upon it. It has, apparently, sunken down into the ground over the years, partly because of rabbits burrowing beneath it and partly because things are a little boggy. The walk was pretty easy at first and then, after a low place, you climb straight up a ridge cliff with nicely placed steps, but it was good to have a stick. This was clearly more than Granny could do so we found a place out of the wind, next to the wall, put the poncho down for a nice dry place to sit and let her rest there. I suggested that she could make a drawing and then Marci, Lydia and I went on up to the top and walked along the ridge. The edge of the ridge, a really impenetrable ridge, and it is unlikely the Scotts could have climbed it, but there was a wall anyways. When Hadrian says he wants a wall he gets one; even if it is completely unnecessary It’s had to be put back together, after such long periods of inattention, and in any case most of the stones seem to have either sunk or been stolen for buildings. In fact, our b&b was made from stones filched from the nearby castle that had filched them from the wall. The area is where we were hiking was used in the Kevin Costner film of Robin Hood, although it was not near the original Robin Hood area.
After this we bought a picnic supper and went to the B&B and ate it, played board games such as Kerpunk and a few more bizarre, if tedious, games, then off to bed.
Today, we slept in. A little. We slept in in that we didn’t have breakfast until 8:30. We chatted with another, different, woman traveling alone. Apparently, she was going to a clan reunion, and was going to stop at Vinolanda on the way. As it happens, that was our stop of the day, so we remarked maybe we would see her there and got on our merry way.
Vinolanda is the remains of an ancient roman fort from the early AD’s. And they mean early. The earliest fort was built sometime around 85 AD, they think. And I mean, they think. I am rather skeptical of these people. Not in their artifacts, which are in fact amazing, but in their buildings. Because yes, they found some walls and that’s wonderful, but we could watch a man slapping walls together with cement and the various stones they’d pulled up from the area. How on earth do they even know where these buildings were, what they were for? I mean, sure they could figure it out to some extant but most of the walls seemed to be put together in the last few years. They could have put those walls anywhere, and we wouldn’t have known the difference. Ahh well, the museum was wonderful and it was a nice walk on a field. We had lunch in the associated café, because everything seems to have an associated café, and got back in the car for a drive over to an accessible part of Hadrian’s Wall. The parking lot was a pay-and-park, but we didn’t have the exact three pounds change, and it wouldn’t take our credit card, but someone rushed up and gave us their still good ticket. The Dutchman behind us didn’t have three pounds either, so we gave him our only coin and he managed to get one from a passing group.
Steel Rigg is one of the places you can get to Hadrian’s Wall from. It’s quite a nice wall. Square bricks. Thick. There’s grasses growing on top, and I was actually able to get up on top of the wall and walk directly upon it. It has, apparently, sunken down into the ground over the years, partly because of rabbits burrowing beneath it and partly because things are a little boggy. The walk was pretty easy at first and then, after a low place, you climb straight up a ridge cliff with nicely placed steps, but it was good to have a stick. This was clearly more than Granny could do so we found a place out of the wind, next to the wall, put the poncho down for a nice dry place to sit and let her rest there. I suggested that she could make a drawing and then Marci, Lydia and I went on up to the top and walked along the ridge. The edge of the ridge, a really impenetrable ridge, and it is unlikely the Scotts could have climbed it, but there was a wall anyways. When Hadrian says he wants a wall he gets one; even if it is completely unnecessary It’s had to be put back together, after such long periods of inattention, and in any case most of the stones seem to have either sunk or been stolen for buildings. In fact, our b&b was made from stones filched from the nearby castle that had filched them from the wall. The area is where we were hiking was used in the Kevin Costner film of Robin Hood, although it was not near the original Robin Hood area.
After this we bought a picnic supper and went to the B&B and ate it, played board games such as Kerpunk and a few more bizarre, if tedious, games, then off to bed.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Traveling to Carslile
Missing a day out of order – traveling from Bath to Carlisle.
Our Taxi, train, train, train, rental car day was hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. The trains are wonderfully clean, quiet, efficient and fast – the only tricky part being negotiating from one to the other in the stations with luggage. The porters at the station are very helpful in directing us to the proper platform. The stations sell snack food, but the toilets at the larger stations are all pay 3O cents to get in, exact change. The seats on the train can be reserved in advance – little electronic message displays tell you for which leg of the journey the seat is reserved or if the seat is available for use by anyone. The seats with tables seem to be the desirable ones. Luggage goes behind the last row. When whole familys or a mom with lots of kids gets on, people help them with their luggage and often move to different seats to accommodate the kids. But you have to be quick getting on and off – it usually stops for just a minute or so – the signs advertising when the train is leaving the station countdown not only the minutes, but often even the seconds left. So if you catch the train, you can pretty much count on arriving on time. There are lots of bike racks, not so much parking for commuters and the local buses run to the train stations also. Our Rail Flexi-pass entitles the 4 of us to a day of travel on as many trains as we can fit in to get to our destination – for just one price. It is only available for purchase outside of the UK – so basically it is for tourists only –at quite a discount it turns out – about $80 per person per change of city for us on this trip – all of which are about a 3-4 hour journey on various trains with layovers.
All was well until we got to the Eurocar rental location (converted gas station). They had given our car away when we did not arrive at noon (when we had said 2 months earlier our arrival time) and although we had prepaid, they did not have any rental cars at 4:30pm, closing at 5pm. However, with little prodding from us, they decided that they would unofficially let us borrow the only car in the parking lot – a rental that had gone over the mileage limit and was already sold to a used car dealer in Scotland. Without actually putting it through on the computer, they hand wrote an old rental form and even though Marci kept trying to buy all available insurance (collision, theft, liability, deductible) they said it was all going to be lovely and not to worry about such things. The counter lady got her atlas out of her car (don’t generally have maps to give out) and sent us on our way. So we took a deep breath off we went! We knew we would be driving on the left, but didn’t count on a stick shift also on the left side, or a stick shift at all. Thank goodness for that green Ford Pinto in high school – because it all came back just one intersection stall later – the thrill of the rev, the grinding of jumping from 1st to 4th accidentally, the running over the left curb while swinging wildly into oncoming traffic turning right from the wrong side of the road… All I did was operate the vehicle, Amos navigated and deciphered signs, Lydia called out upon every turn and change of directions “get on the left side”, and Granny remained calm and refrained from talking about the scenery until we all got settled in and every moment wasn’t a bad amusement park ride full of thrills and disorienting danger. Thankfully, it doesn’t get dark here until after 10pm, so we made it to the B&B in daylight, with no mishaps.
The B&B is actually on a sheep farm – after being downtown for 2 cities, we thought it would be a relaxing change. The one lane bridge over the river is only a few years old, previously you had to ford the river, but only when it wasn’t running high. A very comfortable shabby chic abode only a few hundred years old, but with recently installed wi-fi (college daughter set it up for them) and owners of only 4 months in the process of upgrading things.
So we are here for 4 nights and for once have 2 rooms and free access to the living/breakfast room and barnyard animals to lull us to sleep. Should be grand fun.
Our Taxi, train, train, train, rental car day was hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. The trains are wonderfully clean, quiet, efficient and fast – the only tricky part being negotiating from one to the other in the stations with luggage. The porters at the station are very helpful in directing us to the proper platform. The stations sell snack food, but the toilets at the larger stations are all pay 3O cents to get in, exact change. The seats on the train can be reserved in advance – little electronic message displays tell you for which leg of the journey the seat is reserved or if the seat is available for use by anyone. The seats with tables seem to be the desirable ones. Luggage goes behind the last row. When whole familys or a mom with lots of kids gets on, people help them with their luggage and often move to different seats to accommodate the kids. But you have to be quick getting on and off – it usually stops for just a minute or so – the signs advertising when the train is leaving the station countdown not only the minutes, but often even the seconds left. So if you catch the train, you can pretty much count on arriving on time. There are lots of bike racks, not so much parking for commuters and the local buses run to the train stations also. Our Rail Flexi-pass entitles the 4 of us to a day of travel on as many trains as we can fit in to get to our destination – for just one price. It is only available for purchase outside of the UK – so basically it is for tourists only –at quite a discount it turns out – about $80 per person per change of city for us on this trip – all of which are about a 3-4 hour journey on various trains with layovers.
All was well until we got to the Eurocar rental location (converted gas station). They had given our car away when we did not arrive at noon (when we had said 2 months earlier our arrival time) and although we had prepaid, they did not have any rental cars at 4:30pm, closing at 5pm. However, with little prodding from us, they decided that they would unofficially let us borrow the only car in the parking lot – a rental that had gone over the mileage limit and was already sold to a used car dealer in Scotland. Without actually putting it through on the computer, they hand wrote an old rental form and even though Marci kept trying to buy all available insurance (collision, theft, liability, deductible) they said it was all going to be lovely and not to worry about such things. The counter lady got her atlas out of her car (don’t generally have maps to give out) and sent us on our way. So we took a deep breath off we went! We knew we would be driving on the left, but didn’t count on a stick shift also on the left side, or a stick shift at all. Thank goodness for that green Ford Pinto in high school – because it all came back just one intersection stall later – the thrill of the rev, the grinding of jumping from 1st to 4th accidentally, the running over the left curb while swinging wildly into oncoming traffic turning right from the wrong side of the road… All I did was operate the vehicle, Amos navigated and deciphered signs, Lydia called out upon every turn and change of directions “get on the left side”, and Granny remained calm and refrained from talking about the scenery until we all got settled in and every moment wasn’t a bad amusement park ride full of thrills and disorienting danger. Thankfully, it doesn’t get dark here until after 10pm, so we made it to the B&B in daylight, with no mishaps.
The B&B is actually on a sheep farm – after being downtown for 2 cities, we thought it would be a relaxing change. The one lane bridge over the river is only a few years old, previously you had to ford the river, but only when it wasn’t running high. A very comfortable shabby chic abode only a few hundred years old, but with recently installed wi-fi (college daughter set it up for them) and owners of only 4 months in the process of upgrading things.
So we are here for 4 nights and for once have 2 rooms and free access to the living/breakfast room and barnyard animals to lull us to sleep. Should be grand fun.
Wordsworth, the Lake District and Driving
By Amos, Posted under Marci's email
This day started with and early breakfast at 7:45 AM. Marci was I think still a little shell shocked because of the driving the day before and I suppose I was too. I think she would have rather had a shorter drive for a 2nd day but I had wanted to go to the Lake District not on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday due to the crowds. I am glad we did go because it was crowded enough. We are staying at Holmhead Guest house on Hadrian’s Wall. The owners are actually new, only 4 months, and the place seems pretty nice. There was another single woman named Linda staying. Well we saw a “Gatoronopoly” which is Monopoly with things from the University of Florida on it. We asked about and turns out the Allan and Judy, the owners, are good friends with people who live in Alachua, Florida only about 15 miles from Mom and they visit frequently, it sounds like annually.
This was followed by a lot of discussion of driving and where we should go and how to do it. Allan offered some maps and Linda chimed in because she drives all over the area. She later gave us her card and told us she was inspecting the Guest House since it was under new management and that was what she did for a living. We were surprised but she said we should call if there were any problems on the road.
We did drive a long way around to a place called Alston the highest market village in England. It is high in the Pennies Mountains I would say at about 2500 feet. This was pretty desolate up in the high country will coolness, few trees lots of wind and the clouds. We walked around the town got some bread and food for lunch and made a circuit. I have to say I found the place kind of spooky. I think that the atmosphere is what I might expect from a Bronte Sister’s novel and if you lived there long you could be infected with the gloom.
We then drove over the pass down into Eden valley and it was like night and day. Why would you live up there in Alston? Well if all the good land was taken up and you did have room for sheep or work I guess that might be one. Also in Alston which was tiny there was a Catholic, Methodist, Quaker and Presbyterian church. I wonder if religious dissenters from the Church of England had moved there centuries ago when this would have been more of a problem. Marci is driving really well and I am navigating the way. We then go on into the Lake District. The mountains and lakes are amazing and beautiful. Although I know that it will be busy we drive down to Dove Cottage and Grassemere. Twice we had to wait in a parking lot for people to leave to get a space. We walked around the village and found a place in the Wordsworth memorial park to eat lunch and then went over to Dove Cottage to see where he lived. There was a tour of the house and the museum. We learned that he had terrible handwriting and he would compose in this head and then dictate his poems to his sister and later his wife. They would write things down and he would correct sometimes pasting pieces of paper over places if the corrections got to messy. His famous poem The Prelude he worked on for nearly 50 years and it was published after he died. He was a connector and anyone who was a writer, artist or anyone that was important in that time would come to visit Wordsworth or he them. A funny storey the guide told us was the Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe) liked to visit but didn’t like the food which was one good meal and then two other meals of porridge. He would awaken early climb out his window and go to the pub for some proper breakfast and then come back climb back in the house and eat the porridge offered. Marci in the museum was quite patient and then both Lydia and I saw that she was listening to the Daffodils poem and got a little alarmed since this had gotten upset when I read it to her at home. Clearly my delivery is powerful bad.
After that we drove back up the other side of the lakes and then stopped at the Castle Rigg Stone Circle which was a lot like Stonehenge but much smaller and we could walk around and touch the stones and then climb around the stone walls and check on the stiles across the walls. Then we started driving back around the long new M6 which is the Interstate. Mom and Lydia and fell asleep and on the way back we stopped and bought some food for picnic supper.
Marci helped us all call and check on people back home and Lydia and I went out and did some more walking along the wall and she sheep and ruined castle. I think we will sleep well after all this walking and traveling.
This day started with and early breakfast at 7:45 AM. Marci was I think still a little shell shocked because of the driving the day before and I suppose I was too. I think she would have rather had a shorter drive for a 2nd day but I had wanted to go to the Lake District not on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday due to the crowds. I am glad we did go because it was crowded enough. We are staying at Holmhead Guest house on Hadrian’s Wall. The owners are actually new, only 4 months, and the place seems pretty nice. There was another single woman named Linda staying. Well we saw a “Gatoronopoly” which is Monopoly with things from the University of Florida on it. We asked about and turns out the Allan and Judy, the owners, are good friends with people who live in Alachua, Florida only about 15 miles from Mom and they visit frequently, it sounds like annually.
This was followed by a lot of discussion of driving and where we should go and how to do it. Allan offered some maps and Linda chimed in because she drives all over the area. She later gave us her card and told us she was inspecting the Guest House since it was under new management and that was what she did for a living. We were surprised but she said we should call if there were any problems on the road.
We did drive a long way around to a place called Alston the highest market village in England. It is high in the Pennies Mountains I would say at about 2500 feet. This was pretty desolate up in the high country will coolness, few trees lots of wind and the clouds. We walked around the town got some bread and food for lunch and made a circuit. I have to say I found the place kind of spooky. I think that the atmosphere is what I might expect from a Bronte Sister’s novel and if you lived there long you could be infected with the gloom.
We then drove over the pass down into Eden valley and it was like night and day. Why would you live up there in Alston? Well if all the good land was taken up and you did have room for sheep or work I guess that might be one. Also in Alston which was tiny there was a Catholic, Methodist, Quaker and Presbyterian church. I wonder if religious dissenters from the Church of England had moved there centuries ago when this would have been more of a problem. Marci is driving really well and I am navigating the way. We then go on into the Lake District. The mountains and lakes are amazing and beautiful. Although I know that it will be busy we drive down to Dove Cottage and Grassemere. Twice we had to wait in a parking lot for people to leave to get a space. We walked around the village and found a place in the Wordsworth memorial park to eat lunch and then went over to Dove Cottage to see where he lived. There was a tour of the house and the museum. We learned that he had terrible handwriting and he would compose in this head and then dictate his poems to his sister and later his wife. They would write things down and he would correct sometimes pasting pieces of paper over places if the corrections got to messy. His famous poem The Prelude he worked on for nearly 50 years and it was published after he died. He was a connector and anyone who was a writer, artist or anyone that was important in that time would come to visit Wordsworth or he them. A funny storey the guide told us was the Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe) liked to visit but didn’t like the food which was one good meal and then two other meals of porridge. He would awaken early climb out his window and go to the pub for some proper breakfast and then come back climb back in the house and eat the porridge offered. Marci in the museum was quite patient and then both Lydia and I saw that she was listening to the Daffodils poem and got a little alarmed since this had gotten upset when I read it to her at home. Clearly my delivery is powerful bad.
After that we drove back up the other side of the lakes and then stopped at the Castle Rigg Stone Circle which was a lot like Stonehenge but much smaller and we could walk around and touch the stones and then climb around the stone walls and check on the stiles across the walls. Then we started driving back around the long new M6 which is the Interstate. Mom and Lydia and fell asleep and on the way back we stopped and bought some food for picnic supper.
Marci helped us all call and check on people back home and Lydia and I went out and did some more walking along the wall and she sheep and ruined castle. I think we will sleep well after all this walking and traveling.
Last day at Bath
Last Day in Bath. A little less hectic today as we had prearranged and planned our dinner restaurant instead of wandering around the concrete wilderness like last night.
We started out with a tour bus ride on Mad Max tours to Stonehenge and a little village where parts of a Harry Potter movie were filmed. The tour guide/bus driver Gary was quite a character. He could have his own HBO special I think (less censors than network tv). In attempting to talk through his headset and make the tour memorable, he managed to insult the French, Older/women drivers, the Druids (smelly) and others. This was after he had interviewed various parties on the bus to find out where we were from. When he mentioned there was a beautiful Art Museum but he had never bothered to go and then later mentioned during an R rated commentary about pubs and tourism, that he hadn’t been able to find a good Lap Dancing venue since he had moved to Bath 3 years ago, I impulsively yelled out that that the Art Museum had a lovely Lap Dancing area, and why Didn’t he give it a go? (go see it). Well the bus ride had been rather dull up to then, because the people from Taiwan, Canary Islands , Israel and the back of the bus weren’t participating in the group dynamics, but from then on Gary mentioned Lap Dancing that Marcia (he thought Marci too American sounding) had recommended, every chance he got. At this point the people in the back perked up and paid attention to the rest of his tour guide patter, because there might be more info on how to get into the lap dancing exhibition. And I was Gary’s new best friend and he gave me a free bottle of water. However, at the quaint Harry Potter village, he cornered me and asked how I had found out about the Lap Dancing at the Art Museum, and I had to tell him I was just kidding. Well, then, on the bus ride back to Bath, he broke the bad news to the bus, and commented that he was looking for an ejector seat for Marci and her American ideas. It was all in good fun, but (I thought) but the lady from Israel asked me what Lap Dancing was and if she should go also. So we may have very well confused the tourists from Hungary and Australia as well.
After the tour bus, Amos’s radar kicked in and he directed us straight away to a great restaurant with reasonable food, where Lydia had Bangers and Mash (pork sausages and mashed potatoes) and Amos had a Shepherd’s Pie. Afterwards, we had an invigorating city hike uphill to see the Bath Museum of Works. Apparently, The Bowler Family had run a general fixit/make/it invent it shop for 3 generations and kept every invention, machinery , tool and spare part for all those years. They even bottled mineral water with carbonation from mixing the local lime stone (white cliffs of Dover chalk/lime) with an acid. The abruptly, the business was shuttered in 1969 and the family walked away from it all. When years later the city wanted to refurbish or knock down the building (I couldn’t figure out which) they unlocked the doors and discovered a treasure trove of museum quality artifacts. So they documented and took pictures and moved much of the stock, machines and work areas, lock stock and barrel (literally) (in fact maybe that is where that phrase comes from) up the hill to a different building where it has been preserved as a museum. It was Fabulous, although I think they could have splurged on new electric lights, instead of the dim period lighting they kept. If I lived in Bath, I would happily take visitors to the museum of Bath Works as often as I could and still not tire of looking at the contraptions and shelves of spare parts and tools.
After lunch Amos, Lydia and Granny went off to be pampered (their thoughts) by taking a Hot Springs Roman Bath Spa treatment and Granny got a simply lovely massage from a young chap named Adam. He really worked out her luggage carrying kinks and was rewarded for his efforts by plying her for information on all the Large American Cars she had owned/driven. Discovering she had owned “ two toned white aqua Plymouth with a soft top and Fins” was like us oohing and aweing over the 5,000 year old bronze ring dug out of the drain of the Roman Bath house.
While the trio turned into aromatic prunes in the in succession of “Lavender Steam Room, “Herbal Steam room’, warm spring bath, Foot bath and finally in the Roof-top glass walled hot thermal open air bath in a light chilly drizzle (Sound delightful?) Marci enjoyed the British version of Marie Clair magazine cover to cover and subjected our dirty clothes to their own hot bath and sauna in the local laundry mat. We all then met up at the famously accommodating Martini’s Italian Restaurant mentioned in a previous post, where the owner was delighted to meet Amos’s old and feeble mother who was previously too tired to come down 4 flights of stairs for dinner. After a sauna and massage, she was a bit of a limp noodle, but we didn’t mention that she had just hiked up and down the hills of Bath 3 times a day since the first evening. Granny treated us to a delicious dinner, including tiramisu, of course and then we all turned in early, happy, full and tired from our last night in Bath.
Tomorrow, it is a taxi, train, train, train, rental car journey to the north, to the Lake Country(District) where we will be staying (we think) at a farmhouse on the Youth Hostel route – with the penny pinching youth bunking in a barn loft, and we in an awesome English Cottage Home.
We started out with a tour bus ride on Mad Max tours to Stonehenge and a little village where parts of a Harry Potter movie were filmed. The tour guide/bus driver Gary was quite a character. He could have his own HBO special I think (less censors than network tv). In attempting to talk through his headset and make the tour memorable, he managed to insult the French, Older/women drivers, the Druids (smelly) and others. This was after he had interviewed various parties on the bus to find out where we were from. When he mentioned there was a beautiful Art Museum but he had never bothered to go and then later mentioned during an R rated commentary about pubs and tourism, that he hadn’t been able to find a good Lap Dancing venue since he had moved to Bath 3 years ago, I impulsively yelled out that that the Art Museum had a lovely Lap Dancing area, and why Didn’t he give it a go? (go see it). Well the bus ride had been rather dull up to then, because the people from Taiwan, Canary Islands , Israel and the back of the bus weren’t participating in the group dynamics, but from then on Gary mentioned Lap Dancing that Marcia (he thought Marci too American sounding) had recommended, every chance he got. At this point the people in the back perked up and paid attention to the rest of his tour guide patter, because there might be more info on how to get into the lap dancing exhibition. And I was Gary’s new best friend and he gave me a free bottle of water. However, at the quaint Harry Potter village, he cornered me and asked how I had found out about the Lap Dancing at the Art Museum, and I had to tell him I was just kidding. Well, then, on the bus ride back to Bath, he broke the bad news to the bus, and commented that he was looking for an ejector seat for Marci and her American ideas. It was all in good fun, but (I thought) but the lady from Israel asked me what Lap Dancing was and if she should go also. So we may have very well confused the tourists from Hungary and Australia as well.
After the tour bus, Amos’s radar kicked in and he directed us straight away to a great restaurant with reasonable food, where Lydia had Bangers and Mash (pork sausages and mashed potatoes) and Amos had a Shepherd’s Pie. Afterwards, we had an invigorating city hike uphill to see the Bath Museum of Works. Apparently, The Bowler Family had run a general fixit/make/it invent it shop for 3 generations and kept every invention, machinery , tool and spare part for all those years. They even bottled mineral water with carbonation from mixing the local lime stone (white cliffs of Dover chalk/lime) with an acid. The abruptly, the business was shuttered in 1969 and the family walked away from it all. When years later the city wanted to refurbish or knock down the building (I couldn’t figure out which) they unlocked the doors and discovered a treasure trove of museum quality artifacts. So they documented and took pictures and moved much of the stock, machines and work areas, lock stock and barrel (literally) (in fact maybe that is where that phrase comes from) up the hill to a different building where it has been preserved as a museum. It was Fabulous, although I think they could have splurged on new electric lights, instead of the dim period lighting they kept. If I lived in Bath, I would happily take visitors to the museum of Bath Works as often as I could and still not tire of looking at the contraptions and shelves of spare parts and tools.
After lunch Amos, Lydia and Granny went off to be pampered (their thoughts) by taking a Hot Springs Roman Bath Spa treatment and Granny got a simply lovely massage from a young chap named Adam. He really worked out her luggage carrying kinks and was rewarded for his efforts by plying her for information on all the Large American Cars she had owned/driven. Discovering she had owned “ two toned white aqua Plymouth with a soft top and Fins” was like us oohing and aweing over the 5,000 year old bronze ring dug out of the drain of the Roman Bath house.
While the trio turned into aromatic prunes in the in succession of “Lavender Steam Room, “Herbal Steam room’, warm spring bath, Foot bath and finally in the Roof-top glass walled hot thermal open air bath in a light chilly drizzle (Sound delightful?) Marci enjoyed the British version of Marie Clair magazine cover to cover and subjected our dirty clothes to their own hot bath and sauna in the local laundry mat. We all then met up at the famously accommodating Martini’s Italian Restaurant mentioned in a previous post, where the owner was delighted to meet Amos’s old and feeble mother who was previously too tired to come down 4 flights of stairs for dinner. After a sauna and massage, she was a bit of a limp noodle, but we didn’t mention that she had just hiked up and down the hills of Bath 3 times a day since the first evening. Granny treated us to a delicious dinner, including tiramisu, of course and then we all turned in early, happy, full and tired from our last night in Bath.
Tomorrow, it is a taxi, train, train, train, rental car journey to the north, to the Lake Country(District) where we will be staying (we think) at a farmhouse on the Youth Hostel route – with the penny pinching youth bunking in a barn loft, and we in an awesome English Cottage Home.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bath for a Roman Bath
PLEASE note: This post was written by a very tired Amos, edited by a slightly less tired Lydia and posted under the account of a fresh-from-an-after-dinner Marci
The city of Bath is clean, spacious and very regular and symmetrical. This is all due to Georgian and Regency architecture. Georgian means the time of King George the 3rd , the one the American’s revolt against led, among other things, to the insanity he suffered during the last ten years of his life. Once he went mad, there was a Regent and that is Regency period. Some English architects were wandering around in Italy and they liked the Classical style, and at this time they were mucking around in the mud near a hot spring in Bath and they found a bunch of Roman ruins and the next thing you know all things Roman or Greek or classical was the rage. Put up columns and call the circular street the circus. They also seemed to find out why the city of Bath was called Bath; but sadly didn’t get the hint that they should take a bath.
The Roman Bath was the first thing we went to see and the exhibit was fantastic, with all kinds of things that they dug up very clever engineering and beautiful. Within about 20 years of getting to England in about 50 AD they had started building and keep on building for some 300 years till they left, and it was an impressive site. One of the interesting things about this site was that you could not only ask for a blessing but, when in a vindictive mood, ask for a curse on the person that stole your gloves or done you wrong,. It seems popular to either ask for the villain to go mad or, failing that, be turned into a liquid. I am not sure how that was to work out. There was a great audio tour and then followed a tour guide. That was clearly a good job for an actor who can’t find an alternative job. Our guide was incredibly enthusiastic. He told us there we still un-excavated ruins that they would get to, as soon as the city let them knock down the thousand year old abbey.
After this I went over to the Tourist Information to arrange the Stonehenge Tour. I probably should have done this before, but we were so busy I didn’t get to it. I was able to get the Mad Max tour which was recommended but just ½ day for Tuesday aka tomorrow. We were all just relieved to get on the tour at all, it wasn’t a sure thing.
As it turns out we did meet the Wife of Bath. It always seems to be hard to decide where to eat and we were standing outside of a pub where Lydia, Marci and I had had great fish and chips and/or meat dish the night before. There was a painted hussy of a woman, with huge fake nails, smoking a cigarette and she spoke up and recommended the Slug and Lettuce across the street. She said the pub was horrid and looked like she had spent many a late night in the pub. Lydia thought she must be associated with the other restaurant. Well any way, after going around the block we finally ended up back there and had a fine lunch.
We then went on the to Costume Museum which is part for the Roman Bath ticket. Marci and Lydia got to try on hoop skirts and corsets. Worrisomely to me they both said they thought the corset was comfortable! Any way the rest was okay but not nearly as well done and set out as the Roman Baths.
After this we split up with Marci and Lydia doing some shopping at second hand stories. I took Mom back to the B&B for a nap and I went on to see the Royal Crescent, Royal Lawn Bowling and oddly Royal put-put golf. I guess one of the younger Royals, Royally opened this. We then tried to do laundry but time and money is a problem; since you have to have the right coins and things just do not stay open as late. We then wandered much further than we meant looking for Take Away which we finally found and then stumbled on the yard of the Youth Hostel where we could find a place to sit and eat. Marci then convinced some people at the hostel to eat the rest of the pizza, since we did not want it go to waste. After a longish walk home and 76 steps to the room it was time for bed since we have to get up early to go to Stonehenge in the AM.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Canterbury to Bath
Sunday July 18, 2009
Yesterday in the Canterbury Tales Experience we heard and meet the Wife of Bath. We are on our way to Bath Spa and I certainly hope that she‘s not there since she was a rough looking character.
It gets light early and with the change of time we are still waking up early. Marci seems to have slept like a rock and is getting a second wind. Granny and I (Amos) were up at the crack of dawn and after a bath we went off for a walk in the gardens around the town. There are some beautiful gardens and green places and people seemed to give old moldering buildings away because you can’t fix them up too much, if they get put on the historic registry. Not even new double paned sash windows, so they can be uncomfortable and expensive to live in and you can hardly sell one. In P.G. Woodhouse books, selling such buildings to American’s is a running gag.
After walking we went back for the breakfast and meet up with Lydia and Marci. We ate and were well. The lady I had referred to as the proprietress earlier turn out to, as she said, “only work here”. When I was arranging to leave the bags while we went to church and I gave her the key I said her assistant had given me. She said he was Mr. Chapman and owned the place. He looked like a teenager to us and while we were there he never changed his clothes. Well she did give us a good price of 85 lb /day which was 20lbs off what the quote was for summer season. I hope she doesn’t get into trouble and left her a tip.
All four of us went off to look at the gardens and river and a truly amazing tree. It was like a baobab tree, but a mulberry. (See the pictures) It had been very sunny earlier and when we started to walk over to Canterbury Cathedral to go to church it began to rain hard. We got all of our rain gear out and went on into the church. I had thought we would go to an Evensong to hear the choristers (boys choir on scholarship for school) but the time had not worked out so we went to the main service of the day. It was nice although I don’t think I would like such a choir all the time. Sometimes the accent seems a little like the priest in Princess Bride saying “mawridge” or some word that doesn’t exist but looks like that one.
We left a little early to make the train to Bath Spa. Well we got there early and got and earlier express train to London which was helpful. Some people got a nap and the country side is nice to look at. We had to change to the Tube to go from one station to another and did have an hour at Paddington Station to freshen up and eat some lunch. There are no trash cans in the station and no trash either. Apparently after the IRA bombings in the 80’s they took all the cans out for safety and they just have people scooping up rubbish so that it was really very clean.
We are now on the train to Bath Spa. We talked with an American living here about our multi-pass (which is supposed to get us four days of travel on any sort of public transportation) and that no one seemed to pay any attention to it. She said this had been her experience as well but then the young man to let us through scolded us for not filling our pass in properly. Not a single one of the other multiple workers we showed it to said a thing.
We will check into the Brock House and visit Bath tomorrow. I haven’t made a reservation for a tour of Stonehenge which I plan for us to do on Tuesday so I may work on that tonight. We get three nights here so we can settle in.
Lydia here, to sum up our evening in bath. Our bed and breakfast is lovely, with windows and a more reasonable bathtub/shower configuration. Too bad its up four flights of stairs. Ahh well, Granny stayed up in the room while we went to get ourselves dinner, planning on getting her some take away on the way back. The city is as lovely as our room, though expensive. Apparently, its something like the British version of the Hamptons. We walked around, looking for a place that was a) open on Sundays b) not a smoke filled bar and c) reasonably priced. I spotted a sign in the window of a bar/restaurant that advertised food for less than five pounds. It was delicious, to say the least, and authentic too. Me and Papa had Fish and Chips and mum had roast. Hers came with Yorkshire pudding and papa had mashed peas. We went to order Granny some take out, when they said they didn’t do Take Away. So we wandered down the street, and no one did Take Away. So we wandered further around, up down and across and still no Take Away. Finally Papa went in to an Italian restaurant and begged the man inside to give him some soup in a take away container, because his poor old tired mother couldn’t walk down the four flights of stairs to go out to eat, and so he gave in and grudgingly gave us a container of soup and some garlic bread. So, there we are. Dinner accomplished.
Yesterday in the Canterbury Tales Experience we heard and meet the Wife of Bath. We are on our way to Bath Spa and I certainly hope that she‘s not there since she was a rough looking character.
It gets light early and with the change of time we are still waking up early. Marci seems to have slept like a rock and is getting a second wind. Granny and I (Amos) were up at the crack of dawn and after a bath we went off for a walk in the gardens around the town. There are some beautiful gardens and green places and people seemed to give old moldering buildings away because you can’t fix them up too much, if they get put on the historic registry. Not even new double paned sash windows, so they can be uncomfortable and expensive to live in and you can hardly sell one. In P.G. Woodhouse books, selling such buildings to American’s is a running gag.
After walking we went back for the breakfast and meet up with Lydia and Marci. We ate and were well. The lady I had referred to as the proprietress earlier turn out to, as she said, “only work here”. When I was arranging to leave the bags while we went to church and I gave her the key I said her assistant had given me. She said he was Mr. Chapman and owned the place. He looked like a teenager to us and while we were there he never changed his clothes. Well she did give us a good price of 85 lb /day which was 20lbs off what the quote was for summer season. I hope she doesn’t get into trouble and left her a tip.
All four of us went off to look at the gardens and river and a truly amazing tree. It was like a baobab tree, but a mulberry. (See the pictures) It had been very sunny earlier and when we started to walk over to Canterbury Cathedral to go to church it began to rain hard. We got all of our rain gear out and went on into the church. I had thought we would go to an Evensong to hear the choristers (boys choir on scholarship for school) but the time had not worked out so we went to the main service of the day. It was nice although I don’t think I would like such a choir all the time. Sometimes the accent seems a little like the priest in Princess Bride saying “mawridge” or some word that doesn’t exist but looks like that one.
We left a little early to make the train to Bath Spa. Well we got there early and got and earlier express train to London which was helpful. Some people got a nap and the country side is nice to look at. We had to change to the Tube to go from one station to another and did have an hour at Paddington Station to freshen up and eat some lunch. There are no trash cans in the station and no trash either. Apparently after the IRA bombings in the 80’s they took all the cans out for safety and they just have people scooping up rubbish so that it was really very clean.
We are now on the train to Bath Spa. We talked with an American living here about our multi-pass (which is supposed to get us four days of travel on any sort of public transportation) and that no one seemed to pay any attention to it. She said this had been her experience as well but then the young man to let us through scolded us for not filling our pass in properly. Not a single one of the other multiple workers we showed it to said a thing.
We will check into the Brock House and visit Bath tomorrow. I haven’t made a reservation for a tour of Stonehenge which I plan for us to do on Tuesday so I may work on that tonight. We get three nights here so we can settle in.
Lydia here, to sum up our evening in bath. Our bed and breakfast is lovely, with windows and a more reasonable bathtub/shower configuration. Too bad its up four flights of stairs. Ahh well, Granny stayed up in the room while we went to get ourselves dinner, planning on getting her some take away on the way back. The city is as lovely as our room, though expensive. Apparently, its something like the British version of the Hamptons. We walked around, looking for a place that was a) open on Sundays b) not a smoke filled bar and c) reasonably priced. I spotted a sign in the window of a bar/restaurant that advertised food for less than five pounds. It was delicious, to say the least, and authentic too. Me and Papa had Fish and Chips and mum had roast. Hers came with Yorkshire pudding and papa had mashed peas. We went to order Granny some take out, when they said they didn’t do Take Away. So we wandered down the street, and no one did Take Away. So we wandered further around, up down and across and still no Take Away. Finally Papa went in to an Italian restaurant and begged the man inside to give him some soup in a take away container, because his poor old tired mother couldn’t walk down the four flights of stairs to go out to eat, and so he gave in and grudgingly gave us a container of soup and some garlic bread. So, there we are. Dinner accomplished.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Well, today was certainly a long day.
We all woke up several hours before breakfast because the light was just streaming through our windows. After loitering about getting dressed and packed and wasting time, we had breakfast hear at the inn. First things first, we walked over to Canterbury Cathedral. Sadly, the crypts were closed but otherwise visitors are given nearly free range. The cathedral itself was quite impressive, as were the tombs of the assorted dead Arch Bishop, and we saw that of the Black Prince, that were set between the columns—forming a solid wall. We saw where Thomas Beckett was murdered and buried, and from where his body was later dug back up, burned to ashes, and scattered. All that for one man, at the word of another. Kings can be rather vindictive, it seems.
We walked out the Cathedral and into a crowd, waiting for a parade. It was to honor the local regiment, recently returned from Afghanistan, and was a fine affair. From there we went to The Canterbury Tales! Full of Life Size Dioramas and with Real Authentic Medieval Smells (horse manure and sweat) Pumped In. I can’t help but wonder where these smells were pumped in from. It was marvelously tacky, simply wonderful. We went from room to room holding these telephone shaped devices to our ears and it summarized background story and recited to us five selections from Chaucer’s great work. As they did so, lights would spot light the various and vaguely grotesque life size statues of the speakers, the beggars, the rats. By far the best room was that which illustrated the Miller’s Tale. It featured doors that slid back, revealing windows into which various painted, flat wooden figures would noisly clack up, and then fall back again when their part was done. There was even a more than life size bum that hung down from a window. It was used to represent two people, of different genders, and did so rather poorly but that only made its appearance more comical.
From there we walked to the train station, stopping for lunch on the way, out to Dover. That was fine and well, and from there we took a “ten minute” twenty-five minute walk down to the harbor, where we found we had missed the boat tour by 15 minutes and the next one was in two hours. So we meandered down the very windy beach, and along the very windy road, and watched the very windy ocean for a bit. We were walking, we thought, over to the cliffs of Dover but those turned out to be rather a far way away. So we thought we would have a bit of a desert and take a taxi over closer, so we barged into a Best Western, got some desert, and demanded they call a taxi company. The taxi company told us, sorry, we’re busy. So they called another taxi which took us to the cliffs.
The cliffs were wonderful. We walked out on top of them. Papa and I walked way out further, past some wheat fields. Really, only picture could do them justice. We sat down in a little shelter from the incredible strength of the wind and read aloud “Dover Beach” but the effect wasn’t quite the same since it was written on a dreary, foggy day and today was just lovely. Although the winds were incredible, we held on to granny so she wouldn’t blow away.
So, three or so hours later we called a cab. And they told us they were busy. So we called another, and they told us fifteen minutes. When, thirty five minutes later, we called another cab. Shortly after the first showed up, told us it was no big deal to wait twice as long in the cold and dark, and then refused to give Papa the three pounds in change. Mom got back in the car and demanded it.
Well, that went rather longer than I had expected. We’re all tired and laying out in our beds. Don’t know how much longer we can stay awake, with another day of sightseeing and travel ahead of us. Alright then. End Blog Post.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Pilgrimage Compleated
July 18, 2009
Canterbury
Canterbury has been a site of pilgrimage for nearly 1000 years. Pilgrims and Pilgrimages are usually beset with some problems. If not you would not have any stories or tales to tell. Hospices were places built to take care of the sick on the trip. Fortunately we now have both hospitals and hospices since we have learned to do a lot more for the ill.
We started our trip on July 16. Off to the airport for our 3 hour security clearance that only took 15 minutes and then a rain delay but finally on the plane and on our way to England. Unfortunately summer colds had beset Granny and then Lydia. Lydia had exhausted herself with all her studies and exertions like some Austenian character. She put on a brave face but apparently I was the only one who could sleep on the plane during the journey. The timing is off of course with us feeling like it is 2 AM when it is 8AM and so we started our first day July 16 a little under the weather. We landed at Gatwick and it was a long walk to and through immigration and control. Nice to be able to speak the language, and then we took a pleasant train ride through the beautiful country side. Lydia really did not feel well and we had loader her up with medicines, resorting at last to the Benadryl which always puts her out. By the time we got to Canterbury she was falling asleep sitting in the chair for tea, what with Benadryl, exhaustion and little sleep.
Marci took charge, called a cab and got us to Greyfriars, the B&B. Grey Friars is where Franciscan Friars came to Canterbury in 1226, which was within St. Francis of Assisi’s life time, and it has survived all this time. The building looks its age. Everyone is on edge since the actor that plays Ron Wesley of Harry Potter has Swine Flu. The Proprietress took one look at us and asked if we needed to call a doctor. Five hours of sleep later Lydia had made a good recovery.
I was able to walk around Canterbury and take some pictures and make some drawings. I tried a local “Pasty” which is lunch to go in pie crust. Sort of like a Stromboli but an acquired taste I think. The B&B is pleasant enough. We went to dinner in shifts and had a good meal. We will go down to our first “full English Breakfast” in a few minutes.
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