A light breakfast and we are off to the station at Abergavenny. We successfully navigate our way onto the train with our heavy burdens. It is with mixed feelings that we head home to our lives, our vacation quickly closing in on us. We have been treated royally this past 5 days in particular. Paul and Karen have been fantastic hosts, balancing the welcome to their home with just the right amount of respect for our time to ourselves. Happy to be going home , sad to be leaving a life of leisure and beauty. Reality will hit hard on Thursday morning for both of us when we must be back at our desks.
Pictures to organize, stories to write up, scrapbooking to do, and people to contact. The next couple of weeks is going to be very busy and a huge adjustment - but ah! Home!
It is a long journey home. The adrenaline of the joruney to England has burned off and the 9 hour flight home is tedious. 3 movies, one novel, 4 sudokus, dinner and a magazine have occupied us, but we are ready to land and be home. Beverages are being served one more time, with an hour before landing. Anything for a diversion.
Soon we will be back amongst all of you and we thank you for joining us on this adventure. We have enjoyed writing the blogs, anticipating responses, reading responses and knowing that some came along quietly, reading our blog but not commenting, just enjoying our story. Thanks to all of you.
By the time we get home and tucked in bed we will have been up for 26 hours, but we are determined to stay up and not nap on the drive home so we can overcome jet lag as quickly as possible.
See you in person soon.
Love
Us.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Home Again Home Again - Lickety Split - May 23
I believe Gloria Rose is going to post our final adventure day - traveling back to Canada. But I wanted to take the time to add a personal thought - to all of you who over the past few weeks have traveled vicariously with us as we made our journey to (and around) the UK and back. The first thing we did when we got to a computer to blog was check the comments. It seemed ever so important to stay connected with all of you and your thoughts and sharing your experience of our blogs were a great reward. So all of you who took the time to not only read what we wrote but who commented back - thank you!
I also want to say that traveling with my "younger twin" was really a grand experience as well. Gloria Rose and I really didn't know each other very well but we soon found that we had similar if not identical thoughts at the same time. It almost became a standing joke between us - because one of us would say it - and the other would be amazed because that's what she was thinking at that moment! Uncanny.
I want to personally thank Jack for providing Gloria Rose with the freedom to share this adventure with me and for her willingness to leave him behind (physically - he was never far from her thoughts) because this vacation would not have been what it was had it not been for Gloria Rose.
We are home now and it's back to our jobs tomorrow. Thankfully we will have this blog and our scrapbooks of pictures and postcards to remind us of our incredible journey. We will also have rampaging bulls, old goats, jackasses and walking stick growing wild in the fertile Cotswolds ground - to bring laughter to our hearts as we return in our minds to those really special moments. If laughter is good for the soul, we are in very good shape.
We can also hold proudly to the comments of our tour guide - Hugh - "we were good ambassadors for Canada". We certainly did our best to connect with the people and if Leticia's (one of the Cosmos representatives) welcoming hug when we arrived back in London and being the only ones specifically invited for supper on a night the place is normally closed are any indication - we left the place better than we found it!
I also want to say that traveling with my "younger twin" was really a grand experience as well. Gloria Rose and I really didn't know each other very well but we soon found that we had similar if not identical thoughts at the same time. It almost became a standing joke between us - because one of us would say it - and the other would be amazed because that's what she was thinking at that moment! Uncanny.
I want to personally thank Jack for providing Gloria Rose with the freedom to share this adventure with me and for her willingness to leave him behind (physically - he was never far from her thoughts) because this vacation would not have been what it was had it not been for Gloria Rose.
We are home now and it's back to our jobs tomorrow. Thankfully we will have this blog and our scrapbooks of pictures and postcards to remind us of our incredible journey. We will also have rampaging bulls, old goats, jackasses and walking stick growing wild in the fertile Cotswolds ground - to bring laughter to our hearts as we return in our minds to those really special moments. If laughter is good for the soul, we are in very good shape.
We can also hold proudly to the comments of our tour guide - Hugh - "we were good ambassadors for Canada". We certainly did our best to connect with the people and if Leticia's (one of the Cosmos representatives) welcoming hug when we arrived back in London and being the only ones specifically invited for supper on a night the place is normally closed are any indication - we left the place better than we found it!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
White Castles in the sky - May 21
Well this is it -- our last walk for this vacation. So we got brave and had our reward first - kind of like eating dessert first. We had Paul, our host, take us to White Castle to start our journey. This of course was supposed to be our reward at the end, but now being the experienced map readers we are we were up for a new challenge and decided to read the written instructions backwards and we reversed our direction for the day. (aside from L: I know what you are thinking....Good Luck right!)
White Castle turned out to be the most well-preserved of the three castle ruins we have visited, so we are glad we saved it for our last day. Standing in the base of one guard tower we could look up and see ridges where each of the floors above had rested. The one we were in had three floors above and probably a look out tower above that. One tower had the top floor rebuilt of wood slats with spaces between. It was creepy stepping out from the very narrow stone stair well that wound up and out onto these slats knowing that three stories of open space with a hard stone base lay directly below. the view was incredible in all directions, especially as this castle was built atop a hill. Unlike the previous two castle ruins, this castle had an inner and an outer court. The moat ran between the two courtyards, encircling the inner one. This castle is deemd to be the most perfectly moated castle in all of Wales.
And now we must vacate this home of many grey squirrels before the keeper of the gates opens shop and charges us £2.50 each for entering these grounds, which we are finished looking at.
We were not disappointed to find fewer stiles on today's agenda, however the steep inclines both ascending and descending, continued to be plentiful. We discovered that unlike their sheepish relatives, goats are not shy. Instead of turning to skitter away from us when we entered a field which housed goats, they came to greet us. Fortunately they were neither agressive nor accompanied by protective male counterparts or we may have brought home pictures of Leslie head butting one. Picture that!
At one point we rested while admiring yet another panoramic view. As we started off again the breeze carried to us a rather odd aroma. It was less than pleasant shall we say! Oh well, onward and upward, literally. As we came over a stile into the next field, we discovered the source of this assault to our senses. A dead sheep lay rotting in the hot sun, his compatriates lazily grazing all around him. Says something of the loyalty of these rogues doesn't it?
Getting ourselves out of this pasture energized our weary steps once more and we made haste to the stile across the field. Here we were greeted by a dog who was not too anxious to be friendly. He just wanted to do his job and run us off his territory and we were only too willing to oblige.
Carefully stepping between the heartily populated sheep do-do, we were gingerly making our way down a steep incline (should that be called a decline?) when we noticed one sheep with his head tucked through the 3 inch wire mesh fence. He could neither move forward nor back and was panicking as he saw us come nearer. We moved away from him so he would not be so frightened but we felt guilty that we were unable to assist him, knowing that to get close enough to help may have resulted in the injury of at least one of the three of us. The farm house was visible from here and we prayed the owners would be diligent in caring for their flock.
Our instructions now told us to keep the dingle on our left, so as we were reading them backward, we kept the dingle to our right for some time - at least we think we did since we arrived at our destination without the benefit of a Welsh dictionary to inform us the meaning of "dingle".
Next, Leslie got her quota of kisses from a very cute, energetic local (no kidding, this is true). We finally found a stump to park our bottoms on while we had sustenance. Our hostess from the B&B packs great lunches.
We are now closing in on our final destination with but a short jaunt left to go we sighed, knowing that not only was today's trek almost complete, but the same could be said of our long anticipated vacation.
We went for a celebratory coffee - not shandy. It actually was black coffee, very weak, but coffee and it only set us back $10.00 for a cup each. so there you have it, coffee $5.00 a cup.
Upon arrival back at the Old Rectory, our home for the last 4 days, we unpacked and repacked our suitcases for the journey home tomorrow. We went down to the lounge for tea and to write this blog. Before getting past the castle, our blog preparation was interrupted by the arrival of two cyclists who had just arrived for the night. They were anxious to talk our ears off so the blog was set aside until after our scrumptious dinner.
At dinner, we met two other new guests at the B&B. These ladies had walked a mere 18 miles today, which represented day two of a 180 mile walking trek they are on.
So good night. We are homeward bound tomorrow
With love
Leslie and Gloria-Rose
White Castle turned out to be the most well-preserved of the three castle ruins we have visited, so we are glad we saved it for our last day. Standing in the base of one guard tower we could look up and see ridges where each of the floors above had rested. The one we were in had three floors above and probably a look out tower above that. One tower had the top floor rebuilt of wood slats with spaces between. It was creepy stepping out from the very narrow stone stair well that wound up and out onto these slats knowing that three stories of open space with a hard stone base lay directly below. the view was incredible in all directions, especially as this castle was built atop a hill. Unlike the previous two castle ruins, this castle had an inner and an outer court. The moat ran between the two courtyards, encircling the inner one. This castle is deemd to be the most perfectly moated castle in all of Wales.
And now we must vacate this home of many grey squirrels before the keeper of the gates opens shop and charges us £2.50 each for entering these grounds, which we are finished looking at.
We were not disappointed to find fewer stiles on today's agenda, however the steep inclines both ascending and descending, continued to be plentiful. We discovered that unlike their sheepish relatives, goats are not shy. Instead of turning to skitter away from us when we entered a field which housed goats, they came to greet us. Fortunately they were neither agressive nor accompanied by protective male counterparts or we may have brought home pictures of Leslie head butting one. Picture that!
At one point we rested while admiring yet another panoramic view. As we started off again the breeze carried to us a rather odd aroma. It was less than pleasant shall we say! Oh well, onward and upward, literally. As we came over a stile into the next field, we discovered the source of this assault to our senses. A dead sheep lay rotting in the hot sun, his compatriates lazily grazing all around him. Says something of the loyalty of these rogues doesn't it?
Getting ourselves out of this pasture energized our weary steps once more and we made haste to the stile across the field. Here we were greeted by a dog who was not too anxious to be friendly. He just wanted to do his job and run us off his territory and we were only too willing to oblige.
Carefully stepping between the heartily populated sheep do-do, we were gingerly making our way down a steep incline (should that be called a decline?) when we noticed one sheep with his head tucked through the 3 inch wire mesh fence. He could neither move forward nor back and was panicking as he saw us come nearer. We moved away from him so he would not be so frightened but we felt guilty that we were unable to assist him, knowing that to get close enough to help may have resulted in the injury of at least one of the three of us. The farm house was visible from here and we prayed the owners would be diligent in caring for their flock.
Our instructions now told us to keep the dingle on our left, so as we were reading them backward, we kept the dingle to our right for some time - at least we think we did since we arrived at our destination without the benefit of a Welsh dictionary to inform us the meaning of "dingle".
Next, Leslie got her quota of kisses from a very cute, energetic local (no kidding, this is true). We finally found a stump to park our bottoms on while we had sustenance. Our hostess from the B&B packs great lunches.
We are now closing in on our final destination with but a short jaunt left to go we sighed, knowing that not only was today's trek almost complete, but the same could be said of our long anticipated vacation.
We went for a celebratory coffee - not shandy. It actually was black coffee, very weak, but coffee and it only set us back $10.00 for a cup each. so there you have it, coffee $5.00 a cup.
Upon arrival back at the Old Rectory, our home for the last 4 days, we unpacked and repacked our suitcases for the journey home tomorrow. We went down to the lounge for tea and to write this blog. Before getting past the castle, our blog preparation was interrupted by the arrival of two cyclists who had just arrived for the night. They were anxious to talk our ears off so the blog was set aside until after our scrumptious dinner.
At dinner, we met two other new guests at the B&B. These ladies had walked a mere 18 miles today, which represented day two of a 180 mile walking trek they are on.
So good night. We are homeward bound tomorrow
With love
Leslie and Gloria-Rose
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Walking with Stile - may 20th
We have gone over our maps and we are much encouraged by yesterday's success so we are looking forward to today's adventure. The sun is out. The birds are singing and altogether of a promise of a wonderful day lies ahead.
Our host gave us a lift to Grosmont, where today's hike would start. As we strolled down the narrow street we greeted a local gent with a cheery "Good Morning, and how are you today?" His miserable response, "Terrible but thanks for asking."
Surprised we simply replied,"We do hope your day improves". To which he replied,"Well that's the thing isn't it. If you start your day off miserable it can't help but get better. If you start off too cheery you could be in for a disappointment." We agreed, wished him a cheery day and a miserable start to his day tomorrow, as we continued on our way.
Aside from GR: as the start of the walk involved ascending the mountain again, my thoughts couldn't help but remind me of Leslie's previous comments on our bus tour regarding the steep slopes of the sheep pastures. Little did either of us know that we would soon be scaling slopes of similar degrees ourselves and we would be in danger of tumbling to the bottom if we lost our footing and/or our balance. Picture that!
Aside from L: I stopped half way up the steep incline to catch my breath and in doing so turned around to look from whence we had come and it took my breath away!
After resting on another bench, where both of us caught our breath, our climb proceeded into the trees where we found a beautiful, natural walking stick obviously left behind by another walker who may have tumbled down the hill. Gloria-rose used it for the rest of the walk to see if having two sticks made much difference. It does.
As we crested the mountain and came out of the treeline we came across a beautiful looking meadow which we soon discovered was hazardous to walk. It was so bumpy there was not a level spot the size of the sole of our shoes anywhere for us to place our step. This meadow has probably caused many a twisted ankle. So we took it slowly.
Overhead, true to the description in our guidebook we noted buzzards circling overhead. It crossed our minds that perhaps there have been previous walkers who hadn't survived this journey. (later we discovered from our host and hostess that this is actually true -- eek).
After passing Box Farm we met 16 walkers doing the same trail in the opposite direction. One older gentleman commented as he stepped over a stile and nearly lost his stick in the nettles that this truly isn't the type of walk for which he should have worn shorts.
We were greeted by a protective little terrier who escorted us to where a mother and daughter were setting up jumps right along our path. The guidebook had not advertised a horseshow as part of this day's events, but it provided a pleasant diversion for a few moments as we watched them take a few jumps.
Our next welcome was provided by a beautiful friendly black lab who sat patiently at the top of the lane and waited for our arrival. He greeted each of us in turn to get his token pat on his head from each before allowing us to continue past his master, hard at work on the scaffolding around the house. He advised us we had about half a mile to our destination.
We strolled on up the road, walked with hedges too high to see over most of the time and arriving at Skenfrith about 12:15 pm.
After lunching on a bench outside the castle wall we entered and did a photo session within. We then proceeded to the obligatory visit of the village church, where we saw a 15th century embroidery and a graveyard with beautiful cheery flowers on many of the gravesites.
We enjoyed listening to some local gossip as we sipped coffee at a church fundraising venture. It was run out of an open garage and resembled a collage of yardsale, craft sale, bake sale, concession booth and plant sale, all combined to offer something for everyone. It was open Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays only - so non-regular days for other shops. Keep in mind that bank holidays mean long weekends described as a bank of days off - not associated with banks as establishments of financial business.
We will not have access to post our blog tomorrow as the Hunters Moon Inn will be closed and there are no alternatives. Therefore we will post tomorrow's blog from Heathrow Airport - access permitting.
Love from
the Happy Wanderers
PS. We climbed over 22 stiles today. This is not always a simple task as often the ground on either side falls away exaggerating the steps up or down for us to navigate.
PPS. Last night the owner of the Hunters Moon invited us to come back for dinner tonight even though they are usually closed. He, also being the chef, sat next to our table to discuss meal options with us. Talk about personal service. Beat that! Well now beat this,.....the server informed us as we waited for our meal that no one else was coming. They opened JUST FOR US because we are so NICE! Do we have pull or what? Feeling pretty special now.
Our host gave us a lift to Grosmont, where today's hike would start. As we strolled down the narrow street we greeted a local gent with a cheery "Good Morning, and how are you today?" His miserable response, "Terrible but thanks for asking."
Surprised we simply replied,"We do hope your day improves". To which he replied,"Well that's the thing isn't it. If you start your day off miserable it can't help but get better. If you start off too cheery you could be in for a disappointment." We agreed, wished him a cheery day and a miserable start to his day tomorrow, as we continued on our way.
Aside from GR: as the start of the walk involved ascending the mountain again, my thoughts couldn't help but remind me of Leslie's previous comments on our bus tour regarding the steep slopes of the sheep pastures. Little did either of us know that we would soon be scaling slopes of similar degrees ourselves and we would be in danger of tumbling to the bottom if we lost our footing and/or our balance. Picture that!
Aside from L: I stopped half way up the steep incline to catch my breath and in doing so turned around to look from whence we had come and it took my breath away!
After resting on another bench, where both of us caught our breath, our climb proceeded into the trees where we found a beautiful, natural walking stick obviously left behind by another walker who may have tumbled down the hill. Gloria-rose used it for the rest of the walk to see if having two sticks made much difference. It does.
As we crested the mountain and came out of the treeline we came across a beautiful looking meadow which we soon discovered was hazardous to walk. It was so bumpy there was not a level spot the size of the sole of our shoes anywhere for us to place our step. This meadow has probably caused many a twisted ankle. So we took it slowly.
Overhead, true to the description in our guidebook we noted buzzards circling overhead. It crossed our minds that perhaps there have been previous walkers who hadn't survived this journey. (later we discovered from our host and hostess that this is actually true -- eek).
After passing Box Farm we met 16 walkers doing the same trail in the opposite direction. One older gentleman commented as he stepped over a stile and nearly lost his stick in the nettles that this truly isn't the type of walk for which he should have worn shorts.
We were greeted by a protective little terrier who escorted us to where a mother and daughter were setting up jumps right along our path. The guidebook had not advertised a horseshow as part of this day's events, but it provided a pleasant diversion for a few moments as we watched them take a few jumps.
Our next welcome was provided by a beautiful friendly black lab who sat patiently at the top of the lane and waited for our arrival. He greeted each of us in turn to get his token pat on his head from each before allowing us to continue past his master, hard at work on the scaffolding around the house. He advised us we had about half a mile to our destination.
We strolled on up the road, walked with hedges too high to see over most of the time and arriving at Skenfrith about 12:15 pm.
After lunching on a bench outside the castle wall we entered and did a photo session within. We then proceeded to the obligatory visit of the village church, where we saw a 15th century embroidery and a graveyard with beautiful cheery flowers on many of the gravesites.
We enjoyed listening to some local gossip as we sipped coffee at a church fundraising venture. It was run out of an open garage and resembled a collage of yardsale, craft sale, bake sale, concession booth and plant sale, all combined to offer something for everyone. It was open Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays only - so non-regular days for other shops. Keep in mind that bank holidays mean long weekends described as a bank of days off - not associated with banks as establishments of financial business.
We will not have access to post our blog tomorrow as the Hunters Moon Inn will be closed and there are no alternatives. Therefore we will post tomorrow's blog from Heathrow Airport - access permitting.
Love from
the Happy Wanderers
PS. We climbed over 22 stiles today. This is not always a simple task as often the ground on either side falls away exaggerating the steps up or down for us to navigate.
PPS. Last night the owner of the Hunters Moon invited us to come back for dinner tonight even though they are usually closed. He, also being the chef, sat next to our table to discuss meal options with us. Talk about personal service. Beat that! Well now beat this,.....the server informed us as we waited for our meal that no one else was coming. They opened JUST FOR US because we are so NICE! Do we have pull or what? Feeling pretty special now.
Windsong - may 19th
Today we walked from Llanvetherine to Grosmont, 6.5 miles over hill and dale. The clouds rolled across the blue expanse above, the wind not permitting them to linger long enough to rain on our parade. We did get "misted on" briefly a couple of times, but at no point did we feel the need to don our Hallowe'en costumes, aka TMNT or hunch backs.
Although thankful for our walking sticks for balance and extra umph while climbing up hills and gingerly stepping over stiles, we have not yet required them to beat back any rampaging bulls. Sorry Kris. The sheep scatter at the mere sight of our hats, the little lambs scurrying after their mothers who watch us warily as if they have never seen anything so strange in all their lives.
At the four mile mark our written guide offered us a choice of walking the tarmack to skirt the base of the mountain, or to bravely challenge a steep increase in elevation to go right over the top of it. Keep in mind these so-called mountains do not compete with our Rockies with regard to full elevation, but they do pose a challenge to inexperienced hikers. It would compare to Bear's Hump in Waterton Park.
We chose to enjoy the panoramic view available only from the top of this very steep incline. Just before we entered the treeline we found the bench placed there by the Monmouth Ramblers for walkers to break for lunch, enjoy the panoramic view and catch their breath. Little do we know the climb continues straight up through the forest for quite a steep rise yet.
The trails on this journey were clearly marked, the instructions less vague and our enjoyment comparably increased - not one mug bog that we were forced to traverse.
Our reward?
Grosmont Castle ruins were very impressive. The broken, decrepit holes through which arrows were once aimed at intruders was now the nurturing ledge for a beautiful delicate flower. As we sat and enjoyed the remainder of our lunch inside the ruins, we watched as a couple of horses nipped at each other, playing roughly in the meadow we could see through one of the castle openings.
Having completed our tour of the castle we made a quick tour of the main street of Grosmont. We decided on the Gentle Jane Teahouse for refreshments. We enjoyed Winter Spice tea and flapjacks while chatting with a local lady who had just had a visit from her niece who lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. She was only too happy to join us at our table.
As we left the teahouse there was an enterprising young man, about 10 years of age, entertaining passersby by playing his Devil sticks and his electric guitar, which was not plugged in. Once in a while his younger sister would join in by playing a tune on her recorder. This seemed like it would be a fruitless endeavour as this small town didn't appear to have much industry to attract many passersby, but they seemed quite content with the 50p each we gave them for allowing us to take pictures of their activities.
As no town visit could be complete without visiting the local cathedral, we obligingly paid a visit. Almost every small town church here has post cards available within for a small, specified donation upon your honour.
We ended our walk by using the bright red traditional phone booth to call our hosts for pick up. Paul came right away and kept us entertained with stories of his spark plug collection as he returned us to the B&B. Now we have some time to spruce up before heading back to the Hunters Moon Inn to dine on poor Old Rosie.
Although thankful for our walking sticks for balance and extra umph while climbing up hills and gingerly stepping over stiles, we have not yet required them to beat back any rampaging bulls. Sorry Kris. The sheep scatter at the mere sight of our hats, the little lambs scurrying after their mothers who watch us warily as if they have never seen anything so strange in all their lives.
At the four mile mark our written guide offered us a choice of walking the tarmack to skirt the base of the mountain, or to bravely challenge a steep increase in elevation to go right over the top of it. Keep in mind these so-called mountains do not compete with our Rockies with regard to full elevation, but they do pose a challenge to inexperienced hikers. It would compare to Bear's Hump in Waterton Park.
We chose to enjoy the panoramic view available only from the top of this very steep incline. Just before we entered the treeline we found the bench placed there by the Monmouth Ramblers for walkers to break for lunch, enjoy the panoramic view and catch their breath. Little do we know the climb continues straight up through the forest for quite a steep rise yet.
The trails on this journey were clearly marked, the instructions less vague and our enjoyment comparably increased - not one mug bog that we were forced to traverse.
Our reward?
Grosmont Castle ruins were very impressive. The broken, decrepit holes through which arrows were once aimed at intruders was now the nurturing ledge for a beautiful delicate flower. As we sat and enjoyed the remainder of our lunch inside the ruins, we watched as a couple of horses nipped at each other, playing roughly in the meadow we could see through one of the castle openings.
Having completed our tour of the castle we made a quick tour of the main street of Grosmont. We decided on the Gentle Jane Teahouse for refreshments. We enjoyed Winter Spice tea and flapjacks while chatting with a local lady who had just had a visit from her niece who lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. She was only too happy to join us at our table.
As we left the teahouse there was an enterprising young man, about 10 years of age, entertaining passersby by playing his Devil sticks and his electric guitar, which was not plugged in. Once in a while his younger sister would join in by playing a tune on her recorder. This seemed like it would be a fruitless endeavour as this small town didn't appear to have much industry to attract many passersby, but they seemed quite content with the 50p each we gave them for allowing us to take pictures of their activities.
As no town visit could be complete without visiting the local cathedral, we obligingly paid a visit. Almost every small town church here has post cards available within for a small, specified donation upon your honour.
We ended our walk by using the bright red traditional phone booth to call our hosts for pick up. Paul came right away and kept us entertained with stories of his spark plug collection as he returned us to the B&B. Now we have some time to spruce up before heading back to the Hunters Moon Inn to dine on poor Old Rosie.
Friday, May 18, 2007
the Wale song - May 18th
We wrapped up our stay in Moreton-in-Marsh by going out to dinner with the two Dutch girls who bravely did the walk. We had a very nice time - laughing and connecting with these two elegant and energetic ladies.
In the morning the sky was blue, there was a slight breeze, but the day was promising to be a nice one. After breakfast we took the opportunity for a photo session in the front garden of our B&B before heading back to the room to collect our gear.
The train to Worcester was on time. We scrambled on board, lugging our heavy cases with us. We repeated this ritual at Worcester and again at Hereford as we had to debark and change trains. An older lady on her way to a quilting fair was extremely helpful and eager to giver her assistance and information. As we roared across the country by train, we both noticed how much less manicured the fields appeared. Yes - there were still pastures and fields fenced with hedges, but there was a certain wildness that was not evident in the Cotswolds.
No longer in “tourist heaven” we also noticed how much less affluent the area seemed as we trundled along to Hereford. The landscape also began to rise to the Malvern Hills and Wales doesn’t appear as gentle because of the sharpness of the land. Don’t get us wrong, this area is every bit as breathtaking as we have seen. The farmland is reddish coloured dirt which would have made Leslie’s ancestors feel right at home when they settled in PEI. The clouds, ever so vigilant, began to follow us as we travelled to Wales. At one point they overtook us but we rallied to blue sky shortly after. Our victory was short-lived however, the clouds battered their way across the sky until they had completely defeated any chance of the sun having a day out.
After climbing up and down the stairs at our final destination we snared a taxi to the Old Rectory, our new B&B. The taxi driver drove us through the narrowest country roads, at warp speed, lined by hedges taller than the car. He assured us this was a two way road. Heaven help us if we meet a car coming the other way. There is literally no where to squeeze past another vehicle.
Upon our arrival we sat cozy and well fed with our new hostess Karen, who generously offered us refreshments upon our arrival. She is kind and generous and more welcoming than any of the hosts we have stayed with thus far. We are definitely in good hands here. Having settled into our room - well, Gloria-Rose settled in and Leslie just unzipped her suitcase. - it was time for a tour of the village. Five minutes later we are back. The hamlet is the size of Iron Springs with nearly as many amenities. But what a view from the front yard. Incredible!
The only eating establishment here opens at 6:30 pm most nights, not at all other nights. With some trepidation, we head there for supper as we have no other alternative. Boy are we in for a treat. We have just eaten our gourmet meals at the Hunters Moon Inn. We have dined at some rather fancy establishments in London and Edinburgh tops them all. Imagine finding such wonderful fare in a village off the beaten track in Wales. Yummmmmm!
Note: it is true. yesterday's blog did not mention shandy. fear not. Gloria-rose switched to Guiness, but she is now back with Leslie drinking Shandy, however we are making up for lost time and we are now getting really brave and ordering full shandy's instead of half pints.
later
ta ta
ta ra
In the morning the sky was blue, there was a slight breeze, but the day was promising to be a nice one. After breakfast we took the opportunity for a photo session in the front garden of our B&B before heading back to the room to collect our gear.
The train to Worcester was on time. We scrambled on board, lugging our heavy cases with us. We repeated this ritual at Worcester and again at Hereford as we had to debark and change trains. An older lady on her way to a quilting fair was extremely helpful and eager to giver her assistance and information. As we roared across the country by train, we both noticed how much less manicured the fields appeared. Yes - there were still pastures and fields fenced with hedges, but there was a certain wildness that was not evident in the Cotswolds.
No longer in “tourist heaven” we also noticed how much less affluent the area seemed as we trundled along to Hereford. The landscape also began to rise to the Malvern Hills and Wales doesn’t appear as gentle because of the sharpness of the land. Don’t get us wrong, this area is every bit as breathtaking as we have seen. The farmland is reddish coloured dirt which would have made Leslie’s ancestors feel right at home when they settled in PEI. The clouds, ever so vigilant, began to follow us as we travelled to Wales. At one point they overtook us but we rallied to blue sky shortly after. Our victory was short-lived however, the clouds battered their way across the sky until they had completely defeated any chance of the sun having a day out.
After climbing up and down the stairs at our final destination we snared a taxi to the Old Rectory, our new B&B. The taxi driver drove us through the narrowest country roads, at warp speed, lined by hedges taller than the car. He assured us this was a two way road. Heaven help us if we meet a car coming the other way. There is literally no where to squeeze past another vehicle.
Upon our arrival we sat cozy and well fed with our new hostess Karen, who generously offered us refreshments upon our arrival. She is kind and generous and more welcoming than any of the hosts we have stayed with thus far. We are definitely in good hands here. Having settled into our room - well, Gloria-Rose settled in and Leslie just unzipped her suitcase. - it was time for a tour of the village. Five minutes later we are back. The hamlet is the size of Iron Springs with nearly as many amenities. But what a view from the front yard. Incredible!
The only eating establishment here opens at 6:30 pm most nights, not at all other nights. With some trepidation, we head there for supper as we have no other alternative. Boy are we in for a treat. We have just eaten our gourmet meals at the Hunters Moon Inn. We have dined at some rather fancy establishments in London and Edinburgh tops them all. Imagine finding such wonderful fare in a village off the beaten track in Wales. Yummmmmm!
Note: it is true. yesterday's blog did not mention shandy. fear not. Gloria-rose switched to Guiness, but she is now back with Leslie drinking Shandy, however we are making up for lost time and we are now getting really brave and ordering full shandy's instead of half pints.
later
ta ta
ta ra
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Cotswolds Complete - May 17th
As the clock rolled on toward 6:30 am I wondered if my not being in the same room as Gloria-Rose was allowing her a lie-in. Not to worry, she rapped at the door, right on time. So thankfully I didn't have to knock her up. Whew!
We had coffee in her room as mine was considerably smaller. She told me all about her escapades of the night before. Half an hour before breakfast we went down to the tea room where we were joined by a lawyer from Seattle, who chatted amiably with us until breakfast was announced. As we ate our breakfast, there was a little boy in a vehicle outside our window, playing peek-a-boo with Leslie (aside from GR: Even the younger persuasion of English gentlemen are attracted to Leslie. They just can't help themselves. Those poor sots).
The liquid sunshine was once more gracing our day. We strolled leisurely down the street to the tourist information bureau to enquire after a bus schedule. They provided one, noting the bus would leave for Moreton-in-Marsh at 10:17, only a few minutes from now. They discouraged us from trying to go to Chipping Campden first. We waited at the bus stop and no bus came.....wait a minute.....stop......Leslie isn't sure what she has done with her passport package. We quickly sauntered back to the B&B so she could check her luggage and under her bed. Found! She attached it to her body and we returned to the bus stop. The schedule the ladies had provided indicated the next bus was at 11:07 am. So thank goodness we hadn't missed that one.....however, as luck would have it....no bus showed up at 11:07. We deciphered the weathered sign on the bus stop post. It looked like there might be a bus at 11:55. When other people began to gather we realized this was a good sign. An older lady pulled out several pages of schedules and not only gave us great information on getting to Chipping Campden, but she provided to us instructions on getting back to Moreton-in-Marsh later from Chipping Campden.
After we arrived in market square we headed down the street where we walked through the original market building. Photo ops were great. The floor was extremely unlevel. Then we headed off down the street where we passed the memorial garden constructed to honor the local plant hunter, Ernest Henry Wilson. Off to another church where we stood listening to a trio of musicians practise. They were amazing.
Hoping to find a good place for lunch, we rounded a corner and there was "the eight Bells". Inside we got chatting with some folks from Cincinnatti over lunch. Before they left one fellow asked to have his picture taken with Leslie (aside from GR: Can you believe it? Everywhere we go...they just cannot resist her charms!) According to his wife and two travelling companions she looks exactly like his sister Donna. They thought Donna would appreciate the picture.
Nourished and thirst quenched, we visited a few more shops, walked up Sheep Street and back before touring through an art gallery. Aren't we the cultured ones?
Oh, then of course, ice cream was calling so we stopped for one each.
As the time to leave drew near we gathered at the bus stop and began chatting with a local Moreton-in-Marsher, which reassured us we were in line for the right bus, and that we would not have a two hour wait as we had earlier.
Twenty minutes later we checked into our rooms, then made haste to the Bell Inn and the internet....our lifeline to all of you.
We do not have definite plans for tonight yet, except to repack our suitcases in preparation for tomorrow's journey to Wales.
We had coffee in her room as mine was considerably smaller. She told me all about her escapades of the night before. Half an hour before breakfast we went down to the tea room where we were joined by a lawyer from Seattle, who chatted amiably with us until breakfast was announced. As we ate our breakfast, there was a little boy in a vehicle outside our window, playing peek-a-boo with Leslie (aside from GR: Even the younger persuasion of English gentlemen are attracted to Leslie. They just can't help themselves. Those poor sots).
The liquid sunshine was once more gracing our day. We strolled leisurely down the street to the tourist information bureau to enquire after a bus schedule. They provided one, noting the bus would leave for Moreton-in-Marsh at 10:17, only a few minutes from now. They discouraged us from trying to go to Chipping Campden first. We waited at the bus stop and no bus came.....wait a minute.....stop......Leslie isn't sure what she has done with her passport package. We quickly sauntered back to the B&B so she could check her luggage and under her bed. Found! She attached it to her body and we returned to the bus stop. The schedule the ladies had provided indicated the next bus was at 11:07 am. So thank goodness we hadn't missed that one.....however, as luck would have it....no bus showed up at 11:07. We deciphered the weathered sign on the bus stop post. It looked like there might be a bus at 11:55. When other people began to gather we realized this was a good sign. An older lady pulled out several pages of schedules and not only gave us great information on getting to Chipping Campden, but she provided to us instructions on getting back to Moreton-in-Marsh later from Chipping Campden.
After we arrived in market square we headed down the street where we walked through the original market building. Photo ops were great. The floor was extremely unlevel. Then we headed off down the street where we passed the memorial garden constructed to honor the local plant hunter, Ernest Henry Wilson. Off to another church where we stood listening to a trio of musicians practise. They were amazing.
Hoping to find a good place for lunch, we rounded a corner and there was "the eight Bells". Inside we got chatting with some folks from Cincinnatti over lunch. Before they left one fellow asked to have his picture taken with Leslie (aside from GR: Can you believe it? Everywhere we go...they just cannot resist her charms!) According to his wife and two travelling companions she looks exactly like his sister Donna. They thought Donna would appreciate the picture.
Nourished and thirst quenched, we visited a few more shops, walked up Sheep Street and back before touring through an art gallery. Aren't we the cultured ones?
Oh, then of course, ice cream was calling so we stopped for one each.
As the time to leave drew near we gathered at the bus stop and began chatting with a local Moreton-in-Marsher, which reassured us we were in line for the right bus, and that we would not have a two hour wait as we had earlier.
Twenty minutes later we checked into our rooms, then made haste to the Bell Inn and the internet....our lifeline to all of you.
We do not have definite plans for tonight yet, except to repack our suitcases in preparation for tomorrow's journey to Wales.
May 16th - addendum
Leslie is sleeping and I, Gloria-Rose, have just come back to my room after visiting with two other guests in the sitting room. It is now 11 o'clock. Earlier I thought I heard our hosts returning and I wanted to email or phone Jack, whom I am missing terribly. Unfortunately it was not them, but the two ladies were quite friendly and we chatted for about two hours. One was Jewish and her nanny had spent time caring for children at Sudely Castle as well. She is here to visit her nanny who is about to turn 96. The other lady, originally from India, has a daughter who works for Amnesty International and just came from a trip to Uganda. Well it is 11 o'clock and I must get some sleep or Leslie will have a hard time knocking me up tomorrow morning. Goodnight all.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
On to the lights of Broadway - May 16th
It dawned with a promise of a beautiful day. Blue sky could be seen out the bedroom window - of course the birds were singing as they have every morning since our arrival in this country. Lying in bed listening to the mama sheep conversing with their lambs was very peaceful. It felt good to lie there just a few minutes longer before getting up. We went for a short walk before breakfast, admiring the town we had called home overnight.
Some time during breakfast, which was served by our charming host, optimistically attired in shorts, the clouds bullied their way across the expanse of blue. We hope that our day will prove to be drier than the previous. Our breakfast companions from San Francisco were also walking the indiscernible paths of the Cotswolds, and they had opted to extend their stay in certain towns in order to see the sights. This is a great idea for the next time we come this way.
Trevor and Jean willingly offered to give us a lift, but due to their pride and love for their area, they wanted us to encourage us to walk at least some of it. Assuring us that the last portion of the walk was not through mudbogs, they gave us a lift to Stanton and directed us to the walking paths from there. However, they had not calculated the amount of rain that had fallen and we were very soon looking for the tarmack again. Shortly after they dropped us off for our pleasant walk, that liquid sun started to fall again all around us and on us, trickling down our necks. We quickly donned our bright water apparel once more.
The only tarmack available was along the main road so we walked the rest of the distance trying to remember that the cars on the right, coming towards us were on our side of the highway. So here we are in Broadway. It is not what I expected of Broadway when I was growing up. Rather than bright lights and movie stars it is a very quaint town of yellow Cotswold stone and beautiful flower gardens, geared to help tourists part with yet more of their money. We have yet to toodle around and see what spectacular sights we can find but we are about to do that before stopping for....you got it....a shandy. Before we do we feel impelled to tell you we have been upgraded to separate rooms. Don't worry we are not at war, but since we arrived at the guest house first, before the girls who actually walked the entire trail, we got the choice rooms. Yeah for us......More tomorrow. Love y'all!
................Keep those comments coming, we laugh so hard when we read them.
Some time during breakfast, which was served by our charming host, optimistically attired in shorts, the clouds bullied their way across the expanse of blue. We hope that our day will prove to be drier than the previous. Our breakfast companions from San Francisco were also walking the indiscernible paths of the Cotswolds, and they had opted to extend their stay in certain towns in order to see the sights. This is a great idea for the next time we come this way.
Trevor and Jean willingly offered to give us a lift, but due to their pride and love for their area, they wanted us to encourage us to walk at least some of it. Assuring us that the last portion of the walk was not through mudbogs, they gave us a lift to Stanton and directed us to the walking paths from there. However, they had not calculated the amount of rain that had fallen and we were very soon looking for the tarmack again. Shortly after they dropped us off for our pleasant walk, that liquid sun started to fall again all around us and on us, trickling down our necks. We quickly donned our bright water apparel once more.
The only tarmack available was along the main road so we walked the rest of the distance trying to remember that the cars on the right, coming towards us were on our side of the highway. So here we are in Broadway. It is not what I expected of Broadway when I was growing up. Rather than bright lights and movie stars it is a very quaint town of yellow Cotswold stone and beautiful flower gardens, geared to help tourists part with yet more of their money. We have yet to toodle around and see what spectacular sights we can find but we are about to do that before stopping for....you got it....a shandy. Before we do we feel impelled to tell you we have been upgraded to separate rooms. Don't worry we are not at war, but since we arrived at the guest house first, before the girls who actually walked the entire trail, we got the choice rooms. Yeah for us......More tomorrow. Love y'all!
................Keep those comments coming, we laugh so hard when we read them.
Hitchhikers guide to the Cotswolds - May 15th
We woke to rain, again! Early on we decided not to walk the muddy, indiscernible trails from Bourton-on-the-Water to Winchcombe. Besides Gloria-Rose had lost the tip of her walking stick in a mud bog yesterday as she tested the depth of the mud into which we were in danger of falling. We inquired of our hosts for alternate travel options and were advised to check the bus schedules in the town square. Much to our dismay the bus from Bourton-on-the-Water to Winchcombe only went once a week -Thursdays!
So, we decided our best option was to try our thumbs. Once we determined which road to get on we headed off. After a few near misses on the very narrow country roads, a construction lorry pulled up taking pity on us. He was from Bourton-on-the-Water and coincidentally (so he said) was heading to Winchcombe. We scrambled in.
Alisder was very accommodating - dropping us right in front of our new B&B. Our home tonight is an old tudor house dating from the 1600's. It's really quaint, with a terraced garden off the back. Our hosts, Trevor and Jean, are hospitable and helpful. We are in good hands.
We settled into our room where Gloria-Rose ceremoniously decorated our bathroom with wet socks and dainties. Then we set off to see the sights of Winchcombe.
On our way to St. Peter's Church we spotted a new tip for Gloria-Rose's walking stick. What a miraculous find! Apparently someone found it in a mud bog - cleaned it up - and put it on the end of a shiny new stick. So she bought it.
Several times over the course of our stay we had seen postcards entitled "Cotswolds Characters". We had no idea where they were located until we walked to St. Peter's. There on the exterior wall were the ugly, contorted faces - the gargoyles of St. Peter's - about 40 of them in all, depicting characters of the town, from the 1460's.
Inside the church we were greeted by a pleasant gentleman who gave us a brief history of the town church and what specifically to see in the town. A woman came in and relieved him as he finished briefing us. It appears the church members all take turns greeting the public as a service to visitors. This was a pleasant feature, making us feel very welcomed.
We had already decided to walk to Sudeley Castle, so after a brief stop at the tourist information booth we headed off. The walk was about a mile, meandering through green pastures, past a gate house and all on tarmack - no mudbogs!
The sun was shining by this time and we got rather warm. At the castle, full admission provided an escorted tour and a commemorative book, so we paid the extra and headed to the predetermined meeting place. Just as we arrived the clouds burst open again. Thankfully the tour was mostly indoors through the private quarters of Lord and Lady Ashcroft.
Finishing our guided tour we were once more outside and the sun had come out to greet us. We walked through the gardens and into the Queen's Chapel, where Catherine Parr, the last wife of King Henry VIII was buried. Her tomb was stunning.
On to the pheasantry where we saw a few really amazing birds. One of the owners was coming to clear us out as the castle was closing for the day, but she insisted we take a look at the peacock who had just begun to flaunt himself. The bird was exquisite. He looked like he had a painted face. She told us that this species had been extinct, but had recently been resurrected from DNA of a stuffed specimen. This was too cool.
Back through the gardens, down the tarmack and to the gatehouse where the large gate had been closed, forcing us to use the small human gate complete with mudbog, just in case we were missing them.
So here we are sipping shandy, in the White Hart Inn where Leslie is keeping her eye on a few local hotties -- well maybe not so hot.
A few shandies, a good meal and we can call it the end of another day in beautiful sunny England, where the term liquid sunshine takes on new meaning.
So, we decided our best option was to try our thumbs. Once we determined which road to get on we headed off. After a few near misses on the very narrow country roads, a construction lorry pulled up taking pity on us. He was from Bourton-on-the-Water and coincidentally (so he said) was heading to Winchcombe. We scrambled in.
Alisder was very accommodating - dropping us right in front of our new B&B. Our home tonight is an old tudor house dating from the 1600's. It's really quaint, with a terraced garden off the back. Our hosts, Trevor and Jean, are hospitable and helpful. We are in good hands.
We settled into our room where Gloria-Rose ceremoniously decorated our bathroom with wet socks and dainties. Then we set off to see the sights of Winchcombe.
On our way to St. Peter's Church we spotted a new tip for Gloria-Rose's walking stick. What a miraculous find! Apparently someone found it in a mud bog - cleaned it up - and put it on the end of a shiny new stick. So she bought it.
Several times over the course of our stay we had seen postcards entitled "Cotswolds Characters". We had no idea where they were located until we walked to St. Peter's. There on the exterior wall were the ugly, contorted faces - the gargoyles of St. Peter's - about 40 of them in all, depicting characters of the town, from the 1460's.
Inside the church we were greeted by a pleasant gentleman who gave us a brief history of the town church and what specifically to see in the town. A woman came in and relieved him as he finished briefing us. It appears the church members all take turns greeting the public as a service to visitors. This was a pleasant feature, making us feel very welcomed.
We had already decided to walk to Sudeley Castle, so after a brief stop at the tourist information booth we headed off. The walk was about a mile, meandering through green pastures, past a gate house and all on tarmack - no mudbogs!
The sun was shining by this time and we got rather warm. At the castle, full admission provided an escorted tour and a commemorative book, so we paid the extra and headed to the predetermined meeting place. Just as we arrived the clouds burst open again. Thankfully the tour was mostly indoors through the private quarters of Lord and Lady Ashcroft.
Finishing our guided tour we were once more outside and the sun had come out to greet us. We walked through the gardens and into the Queen's Chapel, where Catherine Parr, the last wife of King Henry VIII was buried. Her tomb was stunning.
On to the pheasantry where we saw a few really amazing birds. One of the owners was coming to clear us out as the castle was closing for the day, but she insisted we take a look at the peacock who had just begun to flaunt himself. The bird was exquisite. He looked like he had a painted face. She told us that this species had been extinct, but had recently been resurrected from DNA of a stuffed specimen. This was too cool.
Back through the gardens, down the tarmack and to the gatehouse where the large gate had been closed, forcing us to use the small human gate complete with mudbog, just in case we were missing them.
So here we are sipping shandy, in the White Hart Inn where Leslie is keeping her eye on a few local hotties -- well maybe not so hot.
A few shandies, a good meal and we can call it the end of another day in beautiful sunny England, where the term liquid sunshine takes on new meaning.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Blog from the Mud Bog - May 14th
Breakfast was not being served until 8:30 am so we had a couple cups of coffee and strategized a day that was promising to be very soggy.
After breakfast we head out, all geared up looking like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Tilley hats. Leslie was a bright red mound crowned in a cream Tilley; Gloria-Rose was a bright yellow mound with a dark sage Tilley wanna be. What a sight we made!
Not wanting out knapsacks to get wet we had draped our ponchos right over them. Pick your favourite vision TMNT - or brightly coloured hunchbacks off the beaten track from Notre Dame. Well if we get lost and they came looking for us we should be visible for miles. There was some comfort in that. So we set off on our path....well it wasn't actually a path. It was more of a suggestion of a trail over hill and dale, through mud bogs and traversing streams, through herds of cattle, sheep and horses, over stiles and through kissing gates (aside: no we didn't kiss, the gates did).
The instructions we were given were often ambiguous and when they weren't ambiguous they were down right vague. Occasionally they were clear. Those occasions were a nice surprise.
Crossing a very quaint churchyard we found ourselves in a small village where we stopped a Fox Inn for refreshments and a change into dry socks. Dry socks are heavenly! Here we met a couple from Nova Scotia who visit this area every May to see the best countryside on Planet Earth.
The sun must have heard us singing "You are my sunshine" and "Mr Golden Sun" because he/she decided to put in an appearance by the time we got to Stow-On-the-Wold. We took the opportunity to check out market square and a few shops before pushing on.
A short distance from our destination we lost the trail. Having doubled back and forth a couple of times, trying to figure it out, we decided to ask a local for assistance. As luck would have it, after telling us where we needed to go, she informed us she was headed to Bourton-on-Water if we would like a lift. Would we????
We would! We are convinced she is probably an angel in training.
Once settled into our lovely room, overlooking a beautifully manicured garden we each had a soak in a hot tub and a foot massage before heading off to the Mousetrap Inn for a bite. Seems the mouse got here first and ate all the cheese so we had to suffer through a New York steak and the best salad we've had since coming to this country. We are sipping shandy (shandy is better than water. It is becoming our staple food item) and trying to find out where internet access is available.
After breakfast we head out, all geared up looking like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Tilley hats. Leslie was a bright red mound crowned in a cream Tilley; Gloria-Rose was a bright yellow mound with a dark sage Tilley wanna be. What a sight we made!
Not wanting out knapsacks to get wet we had draped our ponchos right over them. Pick your favourite vision TMNT - or brightly coloured hunchbacks off the beaten track from Notre Dame. Well if we get lost and they came looking for us we should be visible for miles. There was some comfort in that. So we set off on our path....well it wasn't actually a path. It was more of a suggestion of a trail over hill and dale, through mud bogs and traversing streams, through herds of cattle, sheep and horses, over stiles and through kissing gates (aside: no we didn't kiss, the gates did).
The instructions we were given were often ambiguous and when they weren't ambiguous they were down right vague. Occasionally they were clear. Those occasions were a nice surprise.
Crossing a very quaint churchyard we found ourselves in a small village where we stopped a Fox Inn for refreshments and a change into dry socks. Dry socks are heavenly! Here we met a couple from Nova Scotia who visit this area every May to see the best countryside on Planet Earth.
The sun must have heard us singing "You are my sunshine" and "Mr Golden Sun" because he/she decided to put in an appearance by the time we got to Stow-On-the-Wold. We took the opportunity to check out market square and a few shops before pushing on.
A short distance from our destination we lost the trail. Having doubled back and forth a couple of times, trying to figure it out, we decided to ask a local for assistance. As luck would have it, after telling us where we needed to go, she informed us she was headed to Bourton-on-Water if we would like a lift. Would we????
We would! We are convinced she is probably an angel in training.
Once settled into our lovely room, overlooking a beautifully manicured garden we each had a soak in a hot tub and a foot massage before heading off to the Mousetrap Inn for a bite. Seems the mouse got here first and ate all the cheese so we had to suffer through a New York steak and the best salad we've had since coming to this country. We are sipping shandy (shandy is better than water. It is becoming our staple food item) and trying to find out where internet access is available.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
EA from LA and poor poor James (yeah right)
EA from LA = Chris is my guess. do I win?
Don't feel too sorry for James. He didn't learn his lesson. His response to a suggestion about checking the time was "I did not come on holidays to watch the time", yet he booked a holiday that required a schedule as so many other people's holidays were affected by his lack of respect. I'm not crying any tears for James.
Don't feel too sorry for James. He didn't learn his lesson. His response to a suggestion about checking the time was "I did not come on holidays to watch the time", yet he booked a holiday that required a schedule as so many other people's holidays were affected by his lack of respect. I'm not crying any tears for James.
Train to MIM - May 13th
MIM = Moreton in Marsh
Happy Mother's Day to me..... It was great to receive more comments. We chuckled until we read Morgan's comments and then we burst right out laughing. Everyone in the pub thought we may have enjoyed the Shandy a little toooooooo much. Morgan I am going to email your Sussex comment to our Tour Director. He loves making inuendoes in his presentation and I am sure he will enjoy that.
Off to Paddington Station by means of a taxi. We had lots of time to stop and have a coffee after getting our bearings. Drips of something (?) from overhead fell on Leslie causing me to rethink having the lid off my coffee to let it cool, as pigeons flew freely through the station.
We waited, watching the board eagerly.
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford PLATFORM 10
And we are off....run run run (sounds like a grade one reader doesn't it)
with heavy bags in tow, running down the platform
the front of the train comes clearly visible: OXFORD !
WHAT! Stopped dead in our tracks. OXFORD? Check the time. Check the platform number. It is 9:36 am. Our train leaves at 9:42. What to do? confusion! brain stopped! No conductors visible.
Oh wait! Here is a station employee.
"Yes, Ma'am. Train for Hereford? Platform 2. It leaves at 9:42 you better hurry!"
Backtracking on the run with 75 pounds of luggage in tow. Boy am I glad I've done the stairs at work for the past 4 months.
Whew! We made it! what went wrong? Leslie thinks, and it makes sense, we were watching the arrival board, not the departure board. Bet we won't make that mistake again.
On the train we sat with Beth and John from Tucson. We had a very nice chat with everyone around us.
While we were watching the scrolling sign board I noticed that Kingham was listed as the stop right before Moreton in Marsh. With this information we were well prepared for our stop. Once off the train we headed left - then changed back to right - then back to left. Gloria-Rose was walking fast, me not so much. When we passed the stairs that led to an upper platform I didn't notice the metal cover in the pavement and as I stepped on it, my foot slid out from underneath me and I was down on the ground. This would not have happened in my picture perfect England where the rain is not falling. Don't worry folks I am okay. No harm done. Pants aren't even dirty, just got a wet bottom.
We arrived at Townend Carriage House, found our way into the courtyard where we met a lady, not our hostess, who gave us our roomnumber, key was in the door. We are not in a room, but rather, in the Clamatis Cottage with two storeys, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two of us. The bathroom on the upper floor has a tub and a bidet (the first we have encountered a bidet). We left for a tour of High Street, stopping a the Bell Inn as the rain began in earnest. Luckily, it serves sandwiches and Shandy and has internet access. yeah! what more do we need?
We are looking forward to getting our proper itinerary from our hosts when we return to the Carriage House. It would be nice to have a look at the trail that leads to Burton-on-the-Water, but for now we are staying warm and dry at the Bell Inn Pub.
There is a 100% chance of rainshowers today and a 76% chance that Leslie will be in denial that it is happening, even as we wade through puddles that come up to our ankles.
Until our next encounter of the internet kind....cheerio!
Happy Mother's Day to me..... It was great to receive more comments. We chuckled until we read Morgan's comments and then we burst right out laughing. Everyone in the pub thought we may have enjoyed the Shandy a little toooooooo much. Morgan I am going to email your Sussex comment to our Tour Director. He loves making inuendoes in his presentation and I am sure he will enjoy that.
Off to Paddington Station by means of a taxi. We had lots of time to stop and have a coffee after getting our bearings. Drips of something (?) from overhead fell on Leslie causing me to rethink having the lid off my coffee to let it cool, as pigeons flew freely through the station.
We waited, watching the board eagerly.
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford PLATFORM 10
And we are off....run run run (sounds like a grade one reader doesn't it)
with heavy bags in tow, running down the platform
the front of the train comes clearly visible: OXFORD !
WHAT! Stopped dead in our tracks. OXFORD? Check the time. Check the platform number. It is 9:36 am. Our train leaves at 9:42. What to do? confusion! brain stopped! No conductors visible.
Oh wait! Here is a station employee.
"Yes, Ma'am. Train for Hereford? Platform 2. It leaves at 9:42 you better hurry!"
Backtracking on the run with 75 pounds of luggage in tow. Boy am I glad I've done the stairs at work for the past 4 months.
Whew! We made it! what went wrong? Leslie thinks, and it makes sense, we were watching the arrival board, not the departure board. Bet we won't make that mistake again.
On the train we sat with Beth and John from Tucson. We had a very nice chat with everyone around us.
While we were watching the scrolling sign board I noticed that Kingham was listed as the stop right before Moreton in Marsh. With this information we were well prepared for our stop. Once off the train we headed left - then changed back to right - then back to left. Gloria-Rose was walking fast, me not so much. When we passed the stairs that led to an upper platform I didn't notice the metal cover in the pavement and as I stepped on it, my foot slid out from underneath me and I was down on the ground. This would not have happened in my picture perfect England where the rain is not falling. Don't worry folks I am okay. No harm done. Pants aren't even dirty, just got a wet bottom.
We arrived at Townend Carriage House, found our way into the courtyard where we met a lady, not our hostess, who gave us our roomnumber, key was in the door. We are not in a room, but rather, in the Clamatis Cottage with two storeys, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two of us. The bathroom on the upper floor has a tub and a bidet (the first we have encountered a bidet). We left for a tour of High Street, stopping a the Bell Inn as the rain began in earnest. Luckily, it serves sandwiches and Shandy and has internet access. yeah! what more do we need?
We are looking forward to getting our proper itinerary from our hosts when we return to the Carriage House. It would be nice to have a look at the trail that leads to Burton-on-the-Water, but for now we are staying warm and dry at the Bell Inn Pub.
There is a 100% chance of rainshowers today and a 76% chance that Leslie will be in denial that it is happening, even as we wade through puddles that come up to our ankles.
Until our next encounter of the internet kind....cheerio!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Haste ye Back! - May 12th
I cannot believe the amount of sadness I feel right now - heavy heart. Let it rain - release my pain. Part one of our journey is coming to a close. People we have come to know are moving away to their own lives. Some we will miss tremendously, others not so much.
We did have a contact sheet where everyone who wanted to participate could provide addresses and emails, but that won't be the same.
Again our trip today was rushed - off like a herd of turtles - five minutes late thanks to James.....again! I overheard our tour director saying that this behaviour was impolite and he thought the reason James travelled alone was that no one would travel with him.
Our first stop today was Bath, known as the City of Blooms. We both enjoyed the city, however we didn't sample the often times sulphuric mineral waters as was done in the days of yore, to cure any number of ailments. (aside from Leslie....for me it is only Shandy's from now on to cure what ails me)
The garden gate was closed and locked but we could see into it over the stone wall that surrounded it.
When the Saxons came in and settled this area, they became identified by the region they settled. The Western Saxons lived in Wessex; the middle territory became known as Middlesex; the Southern Saxon area was known as Sussex and the Eastern Saxons lived in Essex. What were Northern Saxons called? They weren't - they died out since they had Nossex.
On the way to Stonehenge we listened to the Best of British Brass CD. The skies stayed clear while we quickly took photos, breaking open as we pulled away from the parking lot - a deluge of water such as hasn't been seen since Noah's time.
True to its name "the Breadbasket of England", the Salisbury Plains resembled the shape of a basket. This area is rich with all forms of agriculture, great grazing land to cereal crops - oats, barley and wheat - sheep, cattle, and pigs. Of note, the fields were dotted with tiny igloo shaped structures known as "pigloos". The reason for the use of shelters is that these pigs are raised out of doors. (aside from Leslie: it is no wonder the bacon over here tastes like the bacon of my childhood!) The pigs, for the most part, were as large as full grown sheep, the odd creature being larger than that.
We stopped in Salisbury for lunch, choosing to go to the open market down the street where we boosted the economy one more time - Hurray for us! (aside from Gloria-Rose: Jack, sell another cow before the VISA bill comes due!)
The spire of the Salisbury Cathedral stands well above the horizon and no one seems to know the exact height although there is no disputing it is the tallest spire in England. Claims range from 386 to 420 feet. The church was built in the Early English Gothic style and only took 38 years to complete. This is a relatively short span considering the York Minster took 252 years. This short time span allowed the cathedral to maintain a continuity of architectural style not found in the other cathedrals we visited.
This was our last stop. From here we travelled quickly down the highway, making record time. As the bus pulled to a stop outside the hotel our tour guide bid us farewell using the Scottish phrase "Haste ye back!" (which means come back soon) He quickly added "If you can't come back - just send the money."
We bid a quick teary eyed farewell to our fellow travellers, tour guide and of course the bus driver (aside from Gloria-Rose: Kris, I was watching this part very carefully to ensure the safe return of your sister) who in full English style kissed the back of Leslie's hand and Gloria-Rose's cheek.
Now we are left on our own to fill our afternoon and evening. We are already looking forward to the morning and the next leg of our adventure in the Cotswolds.
Sorry folks. Once again we are not able to add photos at this internet cafe.
Cheers!
We did have a contact sheet where everyone who wanted to participate could provide addresses and emails, but that won't be the same.
Again our trip today was rushed - off like a herd of turtles - five minutes late thanks to James.....again! I overheard our tour director saying that this behaviour was impolite and he thought the reason James travelled alone was that no one would travel with him.
Our first stop today was Bath, known as the City of Blooms. We both enjoyed the city, however we didn't sample the often times sulphuric mineral waters as was done in the days of yore, to cure any number of ailments. (aside from Leslie....for me it is only Shandy's from now on to cure what ails me)
The garden gate was closed and locked but we could see into it over the stone wall that surrounded it.
When the Saxons came in and settled this area, they became identified by the region they settled. The Western Saxons lived in Wessex; the middle territory became known as Middlesex; the Southern Saxon area was known as Sussex and the Eastern Saxons lived in Essex. What were Northern Saxons called? They weren't - they died out since they had Nossex.
On the way to Stonehenge we listened to the Best of British Brass CD. The skies stayed clear while we quickly took photos, breaking open as we pulled away from the parking lot - a deluge of water such as hasn't been seen since Noah's time.
True to its name "the Breadbasket of England", the Salisbury Plains resembled the shape of a basket. This area is rich with all forms of agriculture, great grazing land to cereal crops - oats, barley and wheat - sheep, cattle, and pigs. Of note, the fields were dotted with tiny igloo shaped structures known as "pigloos". The reason for the use of shelters is that these pigs are raised out of doors. (aside from Leslie: it is no wonder the bacon over here tastes like the bacon of my childhood!) The pigs, for the most part, were as large as full grown sheep, the odd creature being larger than that.
We stopped in Salisbury for lunch, choosing to go to the open market down the street where we boosted the economy one more time - Hurray for us! (aside from Gloria-Rose: Jack, sell another cow before the VISA bill comes due!)
The spire of the Salisbury Cathedral stands well above the horizon and no one seems to know the exact height although there is no disputing it is the tallest spire in England. Claims range from 386 to 420 feet. The church was built in the Early English Gothic style and only took 38 years to complete. This is a relatively short span considering the York Minster took 252 years. This short time span allowed the cathedral to maintain a continuity of architectural style not found in the other cathedrals we visited.
This was our last stop. From here we travelled quickly down the highway, making record time. As the bus pulled to a stop outside the hotel our tour guide bid us farewell using the Scottish phrase "Haste ye back!" (which means come back soon) He quickly added "If you can't come back - just send the money."
We bid a quick teary eyed farewell to our fellow travellers, tour guide and of course the bus driver (aside from Gloria-Rose: Kris, I was watching this part very carefully to ensure the safe return of your sister) who in full English style kissed the back of Leslie's hand and Gloria-Rose's cheek.
Now we are left on our own to fill our afternoon and evening. We are already looking forward to the morning and the next leg of our adventure in the Cotswolds.
Sorry folks. Once again we are not able to add photos at this internet cafe.
Cheers!
Friday, May 11, 2007
Bristol Cream - May 11th
We left Liverpool at 7:40 am on our way to Chester. Chester is known as a shopping town, building commerce to recreate itself after an economic decline.
It offered two tier, open to the street markets. Cosmos tous wisely decided with the number of women on board they should limit our stop to very brief in order to keep us on schedule. After our brief stop we were off again to "dip our toes" into Wales.
Llangollen is a border town - quaint and old (aren't they all). Here was the first time we encountered pay toilets. We paid 20p for 1 pee. Is that a fair trade? It depends on how desperate the need is.
We headed off to Stratford on Avon but we hit traffic at Birmingham which waylaid us for half an hour, according to the drver.
Stratford-on-Avon is a typical, bustling tourist centre full of shops geared to get between people and their money. We allowed them to take a few bob from us. In honour of William Shakespeare there is a statue of the jester on Henley Street. He is lovingly referred to as the fool. We have taken a picture of one of us with the statue. (picture to follow once we have USB port access). It will be up to you to decide who is the fool.
Back on the bus we headed through the Cotswolds - WOW! Let me say that again, WOW!
We passed some houses for sale and if I can find a house for a couple of hundred pounds you'll not see me for dust. ( aside from Gloria-Rose: Leslie is in denial again. There will be no dust. It has been raining again).
Into Bristol for a bus tour. We didn't disembark, because of the pouring rain. We couldn't take pictures through the raindrops streaming down the window so we feel it was a waste of time, however, the tour guide probably felt obliged to give us our money's worth.
We are in our room, all fed up and happy. We have internet on TV in our room so you lucky dogs ge our instalments. Sorry, no USB port for pictures. They will come later.
Tomorrow we are back to London. Our our is quickly coming to a close. I am sure there will be many sad emotions experienced as we say good-bye to our favourite fellow passengers (and driver)/
That's all for today. Ta! ta!
It offered two tier, open to the street markets. Cosmos tous wisely decided with the number of women on board they should limit our stop to very brief in order to keep us on schedule. After our brief stop we were off again to "dip our toes" into Wales.
Llangollen is a border town - quaint and old (aren't they all). Here was the first time we encountered pay toilets. We paid 20p for 1 pee. Is that a fair trade? It depends on how desperate the need is.
We headed off to Stratford on Avon but we hit traffic at Birmingham which waylaid us for half an hour, according to the drver.
Stratford-on-Avon is a typical, bustling tourist centre full of shops geared to get between people and their money. We allowed them to take a few bob from us. In honour of William Shakespeare there is a statue of the jester on Henley Street. He is lovingly referred to as the fool. We have taken a picture of one of us with the statue. (picture to follow once we have USB port access). It will be up to you to decide who is the fool.
Back on the bus we headed through the Cotswolds - WOW! Let me say that again, WOW!
We passed some houses for sale and if I can find a house for a couple of hundred pounds you'll not see me for dust. ( aside from Gloria-Rose: Leslie is in denial again. There will be no dust. It has been raining again).
Into Bristol for a bus tour. We didn't disembark, because of the pouring rain. We couldn't take pictures through the raindrops streaming down the window so we feel it was a waste of time, however, the tour guide probably felt obliged to give us our money's worth.
We are in our room, all fed up and happy. We have internet on TV in our room so you lucky dogs ge our instalments. Sorry, no USB port for pictures. They will come later.
Tomorrow we are back to London. Our our is quickly coming to a close. I am sure there will be many sad emotions experienced as we say good-bye to our favourite fellow passengers (and driver)/
That's all for today. Ta! ta!
OFF TO THE LAND OF THE INSECTS _ MAY 10th
Alright folks, our view has changed dramatically! It now looks like a tapestry of oranges, reds, greens etcetera, creating a fabric so beautiful they decided to use it as seatcovers on the bus. we are now viewing the back of one of the seats towards the very back of the bus. I blame Leslie for this. She just could not behave herself completely while sitting so close to the front (ie. the vicinity of the driver). It is much more difficult to take good photos from this seat.
Sometimes I think Leslie and I are the only ones who came to have fun. We are both experiencing fits of laughter as the bus trundles along these lovely country roads through the lowlands of Scotland. The elevation may be lower, but it is anything but flat. Scottish legend says that when a Scotsman died in a foreign land he returned to Scotland by means of the "low road". Thus the song "If you take the high road, I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland afore ye." The condemned man would return before his freed buddy who was still alive. Sometimes being "afore ye" is not a good thing.
My only disappointment so far is that the UK seems to steer clear of good salads. We have eaten way too well over here but I am longing for a good, crisp salad.
Today we visited Gretna Green, famous for the Blacksmith marriages. England had strict laws on marriage, so many eloped to Scotand where they could marry easily.
You can all understand why approaching Gretna Green, in a vehicle carrying both Leslie and her "dream man" was cause for some concern. Well wouldn't you know it, Leslie left her camera on the bus just so she would have an excuse to return unchaperoned to fetch it. The driver doesn't know how close he came to being lured to the Blacksmith's Anvil. Thank goodness he had to eat breakfast in an area restricted to the passengers.
Following our brief stay here we crossed the border back to England at 10:40 am. We stopped at Grasmere for lunch before heading to Liverpool, our overnight destination.
We have been on a fast track these past few days-early mornings and late nights- most of our travelling companions are finding it easy to nod off between stops on the bus. They miss out on some tremendously panoramic views. I am just as interested in the journey as the destination - therefore I am determined to stay awake. I need to see it all - get my money's worth. Our tour director played an ample supply of soothing elevator music after lunch and I was grateful our driver managed to stay awake through it all.
Well, after being warned not to expect great things from our rooms at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel, Gloria-Rose and I think we've got a pretty good room! We have twin beds, ensuite bathroom, spacious sitting area, lots of room to relax.
For the last to nights we have had to suffer with an incredible view, from our room, of the Edinburgh Castle. To compensate, our room this evening overlooks a busy street and a seven story parkade.
So relax we did, our bags arrived and a minute later the phone rang and we were late for our tour. We should have been royally boo'ed, but we were royally pardoned by our tour guide, Hugh Davies.
We had a brief guided tour of Liverpool, starting with a visit to an absolutely magnificent Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ Your King. The choir was singing. The whole experience ethereal. It is the most magnificent structure I have ever seen. It was designed by the same 21 year old man who designed the English style red phone booths. Do not worry... The church is neither red nor tiny by any means.
Of course Liverpool is not complete without the Insects. We went to see "the Cavern" which was the coffee/tea nightclub where the Beatles were discovered. It is now a night club in the true sense of the word. Some of our group are there right now. The tour guide then took us to the Philharmonic Dining Room and Pub where Leslie and I had our first shandy : first of many I hope. It was very tasty.
Oh, I see Leslie neglected to tell you she had Shandy. Well it was not surprising that she would forget because after a half pint of shandy she forgot her purchase on the bus, her coat in the dining room and I as afraid to ask her what her name was for fear she had forgotten that too! Right now she is passed out on her bed. I must be the only one from our group who is behaving.
It must be that saintly complex that I felt tingling over me when we were in the chapel.
We'd been told the internet was available at MacDonald's 1/2 block from the hotel. Yes, Ronald MacDonalds, so we walked there only to find the internet was down so no blog could we post Thursday. We hope to have better access Friday when we get to Bristol.
Well good night until we are able to write again.
Written by Leslie and Gloria-Rose. You figure out who belongs to which paragraph>
Sometimes I think Leslie and I are the only ones who came to have fun. We are both experiencing fits of laughter as the bus trundles along these lovely country roads through the lowlands of Scotland. The elevation may be lower, but it is anything but flat. Scottish legend says that when a Scotsman died in a foreign land he returned to Scotland by means of the "low road". Thus the song "If you take the high road, I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland afore ye." The condemned man would return before his freed buddy who was still alive. Sometimes being "afore ye" is not a good thing.
My only disappointment so far is that the UK seems to steer clear of good salads. We have eaten way too well over here but I am longing for a good, crisp salad.
Today we visited Gretna Green, famous for the Blacksmith marriages. England had strict laws on marriage, so many eloped to Scotand where they could marry easily.
You can all understand why approaching Gretna Green, in a vehicle carrying both Leslie and her "dream man" was cause for some concern. Well wouldn't you know it, Leslie left her camera on the bus just so she would have an excuse to return unchaperoned to fetch it. The driver doesn't know how close he came to being lured to the Blacksmith's Anvil. Thank goodness he had to eat breakfast in an area restricted to the passengers.
Following our brief stay here we crossed the border back to England at 10:40 am. We stopped at Grasmere for lunch before heading to Liverpool, our overnight destination.
We have been on a fast track these past few days-early mornings and late nights- most of our travelling companions are finding it easy to nod off between stops on the bus. They miss out on some tremendously panoramic views. I am just as interested in the journey as the destination - therefore I am determined to stay awake. I need to see it all - get my money's worth. Our tour director played an ample supply of soothing elevator music after lunch and I was grateful our driver managed to stay awake through it all.
Well, after being warned not to expect great things from our rooms at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel, Gloria-Rose and I think we've got a pretty good room! We have twin beds, ensuite bathroom, spacious sitting area, lots of room to relax.
For the last to nights we have had to suffer with an incredible view, from our room, of the Edinburgh Castle. To compensate, our room this evening overlooks a busy street and a seven story parkade.
So relax we did, our bags arrived and a minute later the phone rang and we were late for our tour. We should have been royally boo'ed, but we were royally pardoned by our tour guide, Hugh Davies.
We had a brief guided tour of Liverpool, starting with a visit to an absolutely magnificent Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ Your King. The choir was singing. The whole experience ethereal. It is the most magnificent structure I have ever seen. It was designed by the same 21 year old man who designed the English style red phone booths. Do not worry... The church is neither red nor tiny by any means.
Of course Liverpool is not complete without the Insects. We went to see "the Cavern" which was the coffee/tea nightclub where the Beatles were discovered. It is now a night club in the true sense of the word. Some of our group are there right now. The tour guide then took us to the Philharmonic Dining Room and Pub where Leslie and I had our first shandy : first of many I hope. It was very tasty.
Oh, I see Leslie neglected to tell you she had Shandy. Well it was not surprising that she would forget because after a half pint of shandy she forgot her purchase on the bus, her coat in the dining room and I as afraid to ask her what her name was for fear she had forgotten that too! Right now she is passed out on her bed. I must be the only one from our group who is behaving.
It must be that saintly complex that I felt tingling over me when we were in the chapel.
We'd been told the internet was available at MacDonald's 1/2 block from the hotel. Yes, Ronald MacDonalds, so we walked there only to find the internet was down so no blog could we post Thursday. We hope to have better access Friday when we get to Bristol.
Well good night until we are able to write again.
Written by Leslie and Gloria-Rose. You figure out who belongs to which paragraph>
Ceremony of the Haggis- May 9th
The evening was oveall, not great. The room where dinner was served was too stuffy, the food was full of pepper - very strong pepper - and I was croweded into a corner where I could not move. The singer was pathetic. But on the up side, the Scottish dancing was fabulous, the MC was comical and the broth was good and the dessert was gre-e-at!
Kris, you are going to be so proud of me. I decided on the bus over to the ceremony of the Haggis at the Thistle Hotel that I would try some. I'd come all this way, to go home without having done so seemed rather silly. So I tried mine. SURPRISE......I liked it. I liked it very much and I ate my entire portion.
That is it for May 9th. Check next blog for next day's events.
Kris, you are going to be so proud of me. I decided on the bus over to the ceremony of the Haggis at the Thistle Hotel that I would try some. I'd come all this way, to go home without having done so seemed rather silly. So I tried mine. SURPRISE......I liked it. I liked it very much and I ate my entire portion.
That is it for May 9th. Check next blog for next day's events.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Photos
Ghost writer again.
Here are a few photos that the girls emailed me.
Past posts have been updated with photos as well.
- Ghost Writer
Here are a few photos that the girls emailed me.
Past posts have been updated with photos as well.
- Ghost Writer
Girls loose in Edinburgh - May 9
We will post our mornings activities now, even though our day is not done. We don't know when our next internet contact will be - maybe tomorrow, maybe not.
I used my walking stick to barricade Leslie into the seat on the bus so she could not run away with the driver, so poor, poor Leslie....she is stuck here with me. Are you feeling sorry for her yet? AWWWWWW!
We did a bus tour of Edinburgh this morning - ending with a tour of Edinburgh Castle. In the afternoon Leslie and I chose to stroll through downtown Edinburgh while the group went on a tour to Rosslyn Chapel (as in the Da Vinci Code). We went to see the garden clock, an actual functioning clock made out of a flower garden.
As we strolled in the garden below Princes Street whom should we run into - you got it, the bus driver. It was his day off. What a coincidence to run into him here!!!
Do you think Leslie's recommendation to not go to Rosslyn Chapel was motivated by other premade plans? Well I stood my ground and kept her by my side so she could not run away.
Then off to the internet cafe and here we are. Oh and before we left the Castle I found my family tartan - or should I say clan tartan?
.....gloria-rose
The morning started off with a trip to Edinburgh Castle. As we made our way up the steep walkway our new local guide wearing his mother's clan tartan kilt, advised us that it was going to rain. He said that he didn't know where the wind was coming from but he knew where it was going!
Once dismissed from the group we toured inside. The dungeon was most interesting and I teased Elizabeth and Vernon, from Los Angeles, that we had to choose our new beds for the night amongst the hammocks in the dungeon, as our accommodations had been too opulent. This made for a good laugh.
Walking back to the hotel is good exercise as we've been well fed on our adventures so far. The ceremony of the Haggis is tonight - I am NOT going to taste any, don't even ask - but Gloria-Rose is brave enough to go for it.
By the way Laurie, I thought I was choosing a horse, not a tortoise. Are you sure you had the right races?
Leslie...
I used my walking stick to barricade Leslie into the seat on the bus so she could not run away with the driver, so poor, poor Leslie....she is stuck here with me. Are you feeling sorry for her yet? AWWWWWW!
We did a bus tour of Edinburgh this morning - ending with a tour of Edinburgh Castle. In the afternoon Leslie and I chose to stroll through downtown Edinburgh while the group went on a tour to Rosslyn Chapel (as in the Da Vinci Code). We went to see the garden clock, an actual functioning clock made out of a flower garden.
As we strolled in the garden below Princes Street whom should we run into - you got it, the bus driver. It was his day off. What a coincidence to run into him here!!!
Do you think Leslie's recommendation to not go to Rosslyn Chapel was motivated by other premade plans? Well I stood my ground and kept her by my side so she could not run away.
Then off to the internet cafe and here we are. Oh and before we left the Castle I found my family tartan - or should I say clan tartan?
.....gloria-rose
The morning started off with a trip to Edinburgh Castle. As we made our way up the steep walkway our new local guide wearing his mother's clan tartan kilt, advised us that it was going to rain. He said that he didn't know where the wind was coming from but he knew where it was going!
Once dismissed from the group we toured inside. The dungeon was most interesting and I teased Elizabeth and Vernon, from Los Angeles, that we had to choose our new beds for the night amongst the hammocks in the dungeon, as our accommodations had been too opulent. This made for a good laugh.
Walking back to the hotel is good exercise as we've been well fed on our adventures so far. The ceremony of the Haggis is tonight - I am NOT going to taste any, don't even ask - but Gloria-Rose is brave enough to go for it.
By the way Laurie, I thought I was choosing a horse, not a tortoise. Are you sure you had the right races?
Leslie...
continued en route.......
While we visited Melrose Abbey ruins a ceremony was taking place. They carried in a large wooden cross, sang some hymns, their voices echoing beautifully, resonating off the stone structure. The ceremony was a dedication to the rebuilding of the abbey and to the success of this venture. It was rather eerie and awesome at the same time being in this sacred place whilst the ceremony took place. I had a hard time taking photos while they were there because even though I was not photographing the ceremony itself it felt sacreligious to be present and treat this as my personal entertainment. I got over it quickly because tourism is playing its role in motivating the restoration, funding the restoration and the continued maintenance once the restoration is complete. So I am just doing my part. They want the tourists there.
I loved Hadrian's Wall, as I expected I would, but I was amazed at the miles upon miles upon miles of stone fences outlining every field and yard and lining the roads. They were built using already quarried stone from Hadrian's Wall after it was no longer in service. These stone fences are beautifully crafted, perfectly straight - real works of living art.
Love y'all
Missin' you guys.
Love your responses.
Gloria-Rose....
I loved Hadrian's Wall, as I expected I would, but I was amazed at the miles upon miles upon miles of stone fences outlining every field and yard and lining the roads. They were built using already quarried stone from Hadrian's Wall after it was no longer in service. These stone fences are beautifully crafted, perfectly straight - real works of living art.
Love y'all
Missin' you guys.
Love your responses.
Gloria-Rose....
On route to Edinburgh - May 8
We travelled the Northumberland Moors, saw small fragments of Hadrian's Wall before walking the narrow streets of Heddon on the Wall, to Swan's Pub where refreshments were available; not to mention the facilities. Out behind the pub one of our group spotted an odd looking goat - WAIT - Sorry, not it was not James our lost companion - so we all rushed over to take his picture. He had a double set of horns.
Back on board our history lesson continues as we cross over into Scotland. The landscape changed from flat fields to rolling hills and at one point along the road a yard dotted with sheep was so steep if one had layed down, rolled onto its side it would have rolled onto the road in record time and beyond with no chance of stopping.
We stopped at Jedburgh and Melrose where King David I had built abbeys in honour of his mother, Queen Margaret. Although destroyed, the stone structures still stand in her memory. I was most curious about the heart of Robert the Bruce. Legend said it was buried in Melrose around 1590. Someone found a metal container in the early 1920's while the town was digging to install pipes of some sort. It did contain an embalmed heart. The container was secretly reburied and in the 1990's it again surfaced while more digging was needed. This time it was reburied in the abbey yard with proper markings telling visitors what it was.
We arrived in the historically beautiful Edinburgh, took a tour of the Old City into the New City and on to our hotel. Amazing architecture again and tomorrow we get to explore it more fully. As we reached our hotel I spotted James on the streeet about a block from the hotel. The lost was found, but apparently not till he arrived in Edinburgh. The police and hospital in York must be relieved. We are not.
Our room here is magnificent! We have a view of the castle out our window, staying here two nights. We're glad to have all the space. Gloria-Rose has settled in, and as I never do, we have lots of space for more. Off to the Britannia for a tour and supper at four o'clock.
The Britannia was the ship built for Queen Elizabeth II, now docked here as a tourist attraction.
Afterwards we go to dine at yet another fancy restaurant, Mal Maison. We'll have more about Edinburgh tomorrow - unless I pull a "James" and run off with the bus driver.
Leslie. to be continued......
Back on board our history lesson continues as we cross over into Scotland. The landscape changed from flat fields to rolling hills and at one point along the road a yard dotted with sheep was so steep if one had layed down, rolled onto its side it would have rolled onto the road in record time and beyond with no chance of stopping.
We stopped at Jedburgh and Melrose where King David I had built abbeys in honour of his mother, Queen Margaret. Although destroyed, the stone structures still stand in her memory. I was most curious about the heart of Robert the Bruce. Legend said it was buried in Melrose around 1590. Someone found a metal container in the early 1920's while the town was digging to install pipes of some sort. It did contain an embalmed heart. The container was secretly reburied and in the 1990's it again surfaced while more digging was needed. This time it was reburied in the abbey yard with proper markings telling visitors what it was.
We arrived in the historically beautiful Edinburgh, took a tour of the Old City into the New City and on to our hotel. Amazing architecture again and tomorrow we get to explore it more fully. As we reached our hotel I spotted James on the streeet about a block from the hotel. The lost was found, but apparently not till he arrived in Edinburgh. The police and hospital in York must be relieved. We are not.
Our room here is magnificent! We have a view of the castle out our window, staying here two nights. We're glad to have all the space. Gloria-Rose has settled in, and as I never do, we have lots of space for more. Off to the Britannia for a tour and supper at four o'clock.
The Britannia was the ship built for Queen Elizabeth II, now docked here as a tourist attraction.Afterwards we go to dine at yet another fancy restaurant, Mal Maison. We'll have more about Edinburgh tomorrow - unless I pull a "James" and run off with the bus driver.
Leslie. to be continued......
Monday, May 7, 2007
photographs
Yes, we are getting plenty of photos despite our little mishap.
We had hoped to post some of these as we go but the computer stations we have available do not allow uploading information from any kind of memory source. they are just computer terminals with slots to take money from us.....lots and lots of money. And they don't even chime and whistle and splash coins back at you like at the casino. What's with that?
I guess you'll have to wait for the main event when we get back to see our pictures.
We are off to Edinburgh, Scotland today, with a short stop at Hadrian's Wall along the way.
Hopefully we will have access at our facility tonight to send you another update.
Laurie. My travelling companion and I generally sit with a cup of "coffee" in the evening and prepare a short recap of our day together. Then she dictates it to me as I type it in very quickly
We had hoped to post some of these as we go but the computer stations we have available do not allow uploading information from any kind of memory source. they are just computer terminals with slots to take money from us.....lots and lots of money. And they don't even chime and whistle and splash coins back at you like at the casino. What's with that?
I guess you'll have to wait for the main event when we get back to see our pictures.
We are off to Edinburgh, Scotland today, with a short stop at Hadrian's Wall along the way.
Hopefully we will have access at our facility tonight to send you another update.
Laurie. My travelling companion and I generally sit with a cup of "coffee" in the evening and prepare a short recap of our day together. Then she dictates it to me as I type it in very quickly
Scotch Corner Here we come
Well we have arrived at Scotch Corner after a rather eventful day. It started off raining. Leslie was in denial but I am sure that this is what it is called when many big fat droplets of water fall from the sky. I expected her to break into "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!" but to her credit she did not.
Now I, Leslie, am taking over the musings. As I write this the rain has stopped, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, so I am happy to be here.
Our first stop, Cambridge, the City of scholars. It was a perfect fit for us - we felt at home with all the enormous brain power around us - of course you all expected nothing less! We took pictures of antiquated street fronts, and tour of Kings College chapel. The far room was so steeped in tradition, there were carvings, old dark polished wood, red carpet, hymnals; it was absolutely reverent. My eyes filled with tears and I almost wept as the original purpose of the room swept over me.
Back outside the rain was still slicking the cobbles as we made our way back to the bus via the shops. We pulled out on our way to York as the sun came out.
York sits behind the wall overflowing with history, Roman influence, viking influence. Most of which has been irradicated but there were small hints here and there. The huge statue of Constantine sat guarding the entrance to the cathedral. We considered the cost of entry and determined our short time here would be better spent elsewhere. Rushing through The Shambles which was crowded with Bank holiday revellry, we found our way to the Viking Museum giftshop. Very interesting tinkets could be purchased here but all this paled to our trip along the top of the wall where we discovered an ice house that looked like a brick igloo. How quaint!
Instructions from our guide were followed very carefully by 47 of the 48 of us and we arrived back to the bus at the noted time. However, James Bosworth for the third time failed to appear on time. After 25 minutes the guide gave up the hunt and ordered us to move out. Where is James tonight? We are not sure, but not one other member of our tour group is willing to chance being late tomorrow.
Scotch corner is our stop tonight. Our room is luxurious, especially the bathroom. The towel bar is heated so the towels are warm and welcoming. Gloria-Rose has graciously agreed to allow me to sleep in the bed and she is taking the bathroom to be close to that towel bar in order to assess how best to remove it from the wall and into her luggage as a souvenir.
Alright, back to me, Gloria-Rose. Leslie has done a fair job of assessing our day so I will now provide the answer to yesterday's quiz.
1. castle: a fortress or protected palace of sorts
palace: a splendid, luxurious home
2. SMBDS ; something must be done syndrome
TMNA; this must never happen again
3. a speed bump
4. In the entrance to Windsor Castle, home of our Queen, there is a foyer or chamber between the outer gate and the inner gate. If unwelcome visitors came, they were invited into this chamber to await the opening of the inner gate. The outer gate was closed, trapping them between the two. Three carved faces in the ceiling were removed revealing holes from which melted fat and/or tar would be poured, raining down over these would-be visitors. I think perhaps in a former life Leslie may have experienced such a fate, thus creating her strong aversion to anything falling from the sky.....such as the rain we experienced this morning.
Jack, get the hot water hooked up to the wall in the bathroom because if I can figure out how to bring one of those water heated towel racks home , it's ours.....
Cheerio for now!
Having a fabulous time!
Please take time to send back comments. We truly enjoy and appreciate them!
signing off......Gloria-Rose and Leslie and Gloria-Rose again.
Now I, Leslie, am taking over the musings. As I write this the rain has stopped, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, so I am happy to be here.
Our first stop, Cambridge, the City of scholars. It was a perfect fit for us - we felt at home with all the enormous brain power around us - of course you all expected nothing less! We took pictures of antiquated street fronts, and tour of Kings College chapel. The far room was so steeped in tradition, there were carvings, old dark polished wood, red carpet, hymnals; it was absolutely reverent. My eyes filled with tears and I almost wept as the original purpose of the room swept over me.
Back outside the rain was still slicking the cobbles as we made our way back to the bus via the shops. We pulled out on our way to York as the sun came out.
York sits behind the wall overflowing with history, Roman influence, viking influence. Most of which has been irradicated but there were small hints here and there. The huge statue of Constantine sat guarding the entrance to the cathedral. We considered the cost of entry and determined our short time here would be better spent elsewhere. Rushing through The Shambles which was crowded with Bank holiday revellry, we found our way to the Viking Museum giftshop. Very interesting tinkets could be purchased here but all this paled to our trip along the top of the wall where we discovered an ice house that looked like a brick igloo. How quaint!
Instructions from our guide were followed very carefully by 47 of the 48 of us and we arrived back to the bus at the noted time. However, James Bosworth for the third time failed to appear on time. After 25 minutes the guide gave up the hunt and ordered us to move out. Where is James tonight? We are not sure, but not one other member of our tour group is willing to chance being late tomorrow.
Scotch corner is our stop tonight. Our room is luxurious, especially the bathroom. The towel bar is heated so the towels are warm and welcoming. Gloria-Rose has graciously agreed to allow me to sleep in the bed and she is taking the bathroom to be close to that towel bar in order to assess how best to remove it from the wall and into her luggage as a souvenir.
Alright, back to me, Gloria-Rose. Leslie has done a fair job of assessing our day so I will now provide the answer to yesterday's quiz.
1. castle: a fortress or protected palace of sorts
palace: a splendid, luxurious home
2. SMBDS ; something must be done syndrome
TMNA; this must never happen again
3. a speed bump
4. In the entrance to Windsor Castle, home of our Queen, there is a foyer or chamber between the outer gate and the inner gate. If unwelcome visitors came, they were invited into this chamber to await the opening of the inner gate. The outer gate was closed, trapping them between the two. Three carved faces in the ceiling were removed revealing holes from which melted fat and/or tar would be poured, raining down over these would-be visitors. I think perhaps in a former life Leslie may have experienced such a fate, thus creating her strong aversion to anything falling from the sky.....such as the rain we experienced this morning.
Jack, get the hot water hooked up to the wall in the bathroom because if I can figure out how to bring one of those water heated towel racks home , it's ours.....
Cheerio for now!
Having a fabulous time!
Please take time to send back comments. We truly enjoy and appreciate them!
signing off......Gloria-Rose and Leslie and Gloria-Rose again.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
On the Thames
Apparently our ghost writer didn't receive this last blog to post. We sent it this morning, but tonight I see that we received it back as undeliverable so consider it having been sent earlier than London Sightseeing.
"On the Thames"
Believing we had an hour before needing to meet our Cosmos Hosts forour Taste of London excursion, we settled down with crochet hook and abook. The phone ringing was unexpected and soon we were chargingoff....4 minutes late. The elevator crept to our floor as they always
do when you are in a hurry. We scrambled in and pushed the button for the Ground floor. The elevator stopped. We rushed out as another hotel guest stepped in. We looked left, then right before we realized our error. Our fellow passenger had already seen our confusion and was calling us back into the elevator. Together the three of us laughed t our mistake as we continued from the thired floor to the lobby.Meeting up with the other participants, we were escorted to High Street where we met the bus that would deliver us to the restaurant,Chez Gerard, for an exquisite meal. We had a choice of one of 3 starters, 3 entrees and 3 desserts. Damian, our host, suggested sitting in groups of 3, but we stayed in our twosome. We sat with Florence and Dave from Idaho and a retired nurse and her mother from New Norway Alberta. After dinner we took the boat ride up the river, which was so full of information we'll need to buy a book in order to remember it all. The one unusual occurrence was the lifting of The Tower Bridge to allow a boat to pass underneath, according to our guide this is unusual in modern times. Tired and satisfied we went right to bed once back at the hotel. A few noisy guests in the hallway reminded us we were not at home though everything else was oh so comfortable. Awoke shortly after 3 am, talked till 5 before making a start on our day. Sleeping with our window open we enjoyed the songbirds in the wee hours. Leslie mentioned there were a lot of birds singing and we tried to determine what kind of birds they were. But we noticed they all had Cockney accents to their songs, so it was hard to determine if we were listening to robins or english sparrows. Leslie's comment regarding a lot of birds in London sent Gloria-Rose into a fit of laughter as she correlated "birds" with it's English counterpart for girls. Well we are off now for another day of fun, having had a continental breakfast and two tours within London to be enjoyed today.
We will be seeing the changing of the guards at Buckinham Palace, and we are going to have tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle (except we just heard that she is in USA).
must run. getting dark out and i have to get back to the hotel.
ta ta.
"On the Thames"
Believing we had an hour before needing to meet our Cosmos Hosts forour Taste of London excursion, we settled down with crochet hook and abook. The phone ringing was unexpected and soon we were chargingoff....4 minutes late. The elevator crept to our floor as they always
do when you are in a hurry. We scrambled in and pushed the button for the Ground floor. The elevator stopped. We rushed out as another hotel guest stepped in. We looked left, then right before we realized our error. Our fellow passenger had already seen our confusion and was calling us back into the elevator. Together the three of us laughed t our mistake as we continued from the thired floor to the lobby.Meeting up with the other participants, we were escorted to High Street where we met the bus that would deliver us to the restaurant,Chez Gerard, for an exquisite meal. We had a choice of one of 3 starters, 3 entrees and 3 desserts. Damian, our host, suggested sitting in groups of 3, but we stayed in our twosome. We sat with Florence and Dave from Idaho and a retired nurse and her mother from New Norway Alberta. After dinner we took the boat ride up the river, which was so full of information we'll need to buy a book in order to remember it all. The one unusual occurrence was the lifting of The Tower Bridge to allow a boat to pass underneath, according to our guide this is unusual in modern times. Tired and satisfied we went right to bed once back at the hotel. A few noisy guests in the hallway reminded us we were not at home though everything else was oh so comfortable. Awoke shortly after 3 am, talked till 5 before making a start on our day. Sleeping with our window open we enjoyed the songbirds in the wee hours. Leslie mentioned there were a lot of birds singing and we tried to determine what kind of birds they were. But we noticed they all had Cockney accents to their songs, so it was hard to determine if we were listening to robins or english sparrows. Leslie's comment regarding a lot of birds in London sent Gloria-Rose into a fit of laughter as she correlated "birds" with it's English counterpart for girls. Well we are off now for another day of fun, having had a continental breakfast and two tours within London to be enjoyed today.
We will be seeing the changing of the guards at Buckinham Palace, and we are going to have tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle (except we just heard that she is in USA).
must run. getting dark out and i have to get back to the hotel.
ta ta.
London Sightseeing
London Sightseeing - Sunday May 6th
Okay Ghost Writer you get a break I found a place that accesses the blog directly.
To answer the comment asking who I am. I am a friend of Leslie's. I don't wish to use my entire name on the internet as that can be dangerous as I don't know who will read it. My first name is Gloria-Rose.
Well we learned today that even though there is a shortage of real estate in London, the Queen's horses have apartments with balconies. There is one park in London which has no flowers planted because King Charles was caught picking flowers in this park. Apparently the flowers were not for his wife. She would not allow flowers to planted in that park since then. The first female guards now guard the palace because they need as many men as possible to go to Iraq.
We watched the change of the guards who are on foot and later watched the changing of the guards on horseback. The cheapest house in London is £350,000 (x 2.28 to convert to CDN) So we'll have to wait until next year to consider purchasing a flat here, unless Leslie publishes "Say it through Harley" and becomes fabulously wealthy very soon.
Okay here's a short quiz for you. answers in next post.
1. What is the difference between a castle and a palace?
2. There are two syndromes known to the British that define their lack of action as compared to france's willingness to take action in the form of riots or demonstrations to express when they are not pleased with something. The British syndromes are known by the following two acronyms: SMBDS and TMNHA . Can you tell us what these two acronyms stand for? Leslie and I created one for Canada. It represents what Canadians are known for....BNA (be nice always).
3. What is a sleeping bobby?
4. What is the origin of the phrase "a warm English welcome"?
I personally have learned that vacations are hard on cameras. In Nova Scotia, the digital camera I was using fell into the salty Atlantic water by Peggy's Cove and was ruined. In Vancouver, my camera got a grain of sand in the telescopic lens and would have cost mroe to fix than to replace. And today while trying to help a fellow tour mate, my camera fell to the cobblestone, breaking the clip that holds the battery in place.....NO that does not mean there will be fewer pictures. Don't be so silly. Fortunately, Leslie's camera uses the same memory stick as mine so it didn't make us even skip a beat on our photo journalling.
Well tomorrow we leave London taking a coach north to Scotch Corner on our way to Edinburgh. We will try to keep you updated, but that will depend greatly on internet access along the way.
Tata for now.
Okay Ghost Writer you get a break I found a place that accesses the blog directly.
To answer the comment asking who I am. I am a friend of Leslie's. I don't wish to use my entire name on the internet as that can be dangerous as I don't know who will read it. My first name is Gloria-Rose.
Well we learned today that even though there is a shortage of real estate in London, the Queen's horses have apartments with balconies. There is one park in London which has no flowers planted because King Charles was caught picking flowers in this park. Apparently the flowers were not for his wife. She would not allow flowers to planted in that park since then. The first female guards now guard the palace because they need as many men as possible to go to Iraq.
We watched the change of the guards who are on foot and later watched the changing of the guards on horseback. The cheapest house in London is £350,000 (x 2.28 to convert to CDN) So we'll have to wait until next year to consider purchasing a flat here, unless Leslie publishes "Say it through Harley" and becomes fabulously wealthy very soon.
Okay here's a short quiz for you. answers in next post.
1. What is the difference between a castle and a palace?
2. There are two syndromes known to the British that define their lack of action as compared to france's willingness to take action in the form of riots or demonstrations to express when they are not pleased with something. The British syndromes are known by the following two acronyms: SMBDS and TMNHA . Can you tell us what these two acronyms stand for? Leslie and I created one for Canada. It represents what Canadians are known for....BNA (be nice always).
3. What is a sleeping bobby?
4. What is the origin of the phrase "a warm English welcome"?
I personally have learned that vacations are hard on cameras. In Nova Scotia, the digital camera I was using fell into the salty Atlantic water by Peggy's Cove and was ruined. In Vancouver, my camera got a grain of sand in the telescopic lens and would have cost mroe to fix than to replace. And today while trying to help a fellow tour mate, my camera fell to the cobblestone, breaking the clip that holds the battery in place.....NO that does not mean there will be fewer pictures. Don't be so silly. Fortunately, Leslie's camera uses the same memory stick as mine so it didn't make us even skip a beat on our photo journalling.
Well tomorrow we leave London taking a coach north to Scotch Corner on our way to Edinburgh. We will try to keep you updated, but that will depend greatly on internet access along the way.
Tata for now.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
And so it begins
This blog is being written by a ghost writer as we were unable to gain
access to a "non-restricted" computer. Apparently bloggers
upload/download undesirable material -- who'd have thought that a
picture of Leslie and I standing unkempt from overnight air travel
would be considered obscene? It might have been bad but....really.
Tonight plans include an excursion called " A Taste of London" - 4
course dinner followed by a leisurely cruise down/up the Thames after
dark.
Currently the sky is blue - a light splattering of nonthreatening
clouds are hanging about and the temperature is warm. Just like we
predicted. The Hotel we are staying in is Kensington Close in the
Kensington District - a few blocks from High Street.
Our first challenge was to figure out how to turn on the bathroom
lights in our room. No switch worked - no lights anywhere. Finally we
noticed the small sign by the door - Swipe your card here to turn on
the power for this room. Don't forget to remove the card when you
leave the room. That was a lesson in why we should read the small
print. Thank goodness we learned it while there was still natural
light.
Our flight was uneventful, proving the pilot knew his job and he
landed us without a bounce, receiving accolades (applause) from the
cabin. Sleep however was fitful, however, in order to adjust without
too serious jet lag our "CD" host from the airport encouraged us to
keep busy. No napping. So we've gotten lost once, found ourselves
again (thanks to Maxine????) and we were back at the hotel where
Leslie flirted shamelessly with young Paul, our concierge ( 20 or so
years old). Being the intellects we are, we visited the local
library, did some shopping, sent postcards to the few non-technical
people we are sharing our adventure with and now we are getting ready
for our evening out.
Ta ta!!!
Cheerio!
access to a "non-restricted" computer. Apparently bloggers
upload/download undesirable material -- who'd have thought that a
picture of Leslie and I standing unkempt from overnight air travel
would be considered obscene? It might have been bad but....really.
Tonight plans include an excursion called " A Taste of London" - 4
course dinner followed by a leisurely cruise down/up the Thames after
dark.
Currently the sky is blue - a light splattering of nonthreatening
clouds are hanging about and the temperature is warm. Just like we
predicted. The Hotel we are staying in is Kensington Close in the
Kensington District - a few blocks from High Street.
Our first challenge was to figure out how to turn on the bathroom
lights in our room. No switch worked - no lights anywhere. Finally we
noticed the small sign by the door - Swipe your card here to turn on
the power for this room. Don't forget to remove the card when you
leave the room. That was a lesson in why we should read the small
print. Thank goodness we learned it while there was still natural
light.
Our flight was uneventful, proving the pilot knew his job and he
landed us without a bounce, receiving accolades (applause) from the
cabin. Sleep however was fitful, however, in order to adjust without
too serious jet lag our "CD" host from the airport encouraged us to
keep busy. No napping. So we've gotten lost once, found ourselves
again (thanks to Maxine????) and we were back at the hotel where
Leslie flirted shamelessly with young Paul, our concierge ( 20 or so
years old). Being the intellects we are, we visited the local
library, did some shopping, sent postcards to the few non-technical
people we are sharing our adventure with and now we are getting ready
for our evening out.
Ta ta!!!
Cheerio!
Friday, May 4, 2007
No More Sleeps
I just got off the phone with Gloria Rose; she and Jack will be here around noon to collect me and we're off the Calgary. I am so excited, I have to remind myself to breath. For those who were wondering how I slept last night - I slept beautifully! I awoke rested and ready for my adventure. I cried heading down the stairs to write this; it's almost too unbelievable to be real. Gloria Rose said she bought us something to help us as we complete our walking tours - something we hadn't discussed. I couldn't imagine how she was getting a dog in her suitcase! As it turns out she got us both walking sticks. Now we will look like professional hikers - in our Tilley (or mock Tilley) hats; with our walking sticks. She says they are collapsable so they fit into her suitcase, so they won't be gnarled old sticks made from tree branches, but they will be a wonderful accessory to beat off that raging bull we encounter crossing Farmer Brown's field. For everyone who had a good laugh at the visual image of the two of us running in front of a rampaging bull, turning every once in a while to hit him with our canes before continuing to safety, I'm glad I could give you something to laugh about! Next post will be from England.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Three more sleeps
Three more sleeps and Gloria Rose and I will be winging our way across the country; across the ocean to a land I have only seen in magazines and television shows. The anticipation is almost edible! I have been packed for nearly four weeks now - I suppose my clothes will be in need of a good ironing just because they have been laying around a suitcase for so long, but it will be worth it - even if I have to walk around as the rumpled one. Both of us have been making lists and checking them twice because we realize that this adventure is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Chances are we will never be fortunate enough to make a return trip - for a very long time. So, making the most of it, I spent months making the critical decision of how I wanted to spend my time and where and I certainly hope the Cotswolds is up for my arrival! Mr. Golden Sun - please shine down on us as we briefly tour the entire country first and especially as we walk the many meandering and ancient paths that have seen the feet of generations - keep us warm and dry and light our way with your radiance.
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