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Our flight leaves from Gatwick Airport at 9:50 AM. Since it is at least an hour away and not knowing what traffic might be like or what check-in at Gatwick would be I figured we should leave the hotel around 6AM. The concierge suggested we simply go next door to Victoria Station and take the Gatwick Express train which makes the journey in 30 minutes. But I knew better than to suggest to my wife we would have to haul our luggage and carry-ons to/through the train station, on/off the train, then into the Gatwick terminal. Side note: with age comes wisdom. The famous  London black cabs would be pretty costly so I decided to see if Uber was an option. Sure enough it was,  and it was about half the cost of a regular cab. In addition we got to meet a lovely gentleman named Nick who drove a Prius and got us to the airport safe and sound by about 7:45AM. Gatwick is indeed not as chaotic as Heathrow and the whole check-in/security process went quickly and smoothly. You do not even go through immigration anymore. You do have to scan your boarding pass in an area that resembles what might be considered a border control so maybe it is all done electronically these days. Or… maybe they do not care if/when you leave.

The flight, on one of those bright, shiny new 787s, left 10 minutes late but we are expected to land about 15 minutes early in Seattle.  Flight trivia:  Our take off speed was 157 mph and we are cruising over the polar route at 38,00-40,000 feet at a speed of 570 mph. And yet it is still a 9 plus hour flight from London to Seattle. 

The flight was smooth and we landed 15 minutes early to dry skies and a 70 degree temperature. The journey to our home on Miller Bay was also smooth as we missed the rush hour ferry traffic. The big issue was fighting to stay awake until at least 9PM!

Thus another trip came to a successful conclusion.  When Yvonne clicks her ruby red shoes she always comes home to her happy place!

Cool temperature, blue skies and sun today, and a hint of autumn in the air. We love it.  Today is our last day on the tour and we will be in London by late afternoon. But on the way we will be stopping at one of the iconic ancient wonders of the world, Stonehenge, the iconic symbol that historians are still trying to explain.

I forgot to tell you a funny incident that happened the other night at the St. Mellion bar. We decided we wanted to have a Manhattan before dinner and adjourned to the resort lounge where we found they did not know how to make one. No problem, said Gerry once he found they had the ingredients, and he talked them through the process. However when it came time to pour the three drinks into martini glasses they found they only had one martini glass in the whole facility (obviously the English do not drink martinis) and we were presented with an eclectic display of glassware. We had a good laugh and still enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

There is a lot of frivolity on the bus as we leave the St. Mellion golf resort in Cornwall. I think everyone is ready to go home, except for those who are supposed to fly home to the east coast (hurricane Florence is due to hit about the time they should be arriving). When John played his usual wake up recording of Coldplay “Viva la Vida”, the entire coach burst out in a sing-a-long as someone had printed out copies of the lyrics for us. It was not a pretty sight/sound.  John got a hearty laugh and said he could probably not listen to the song ever again without thinking of his bus choir!

The benefits of modern technology came into play soon after we were on the road. John learned that the major highway leading to Stonehenge and London was the scene of a serious accident and had shut down the highway in both directions, meaning there would be massive delays ahead. Luckily there was an alternative way there and we were able to divert to A30/A303 before we got caught up in the delays.

Stonehenge was about 3 hours from St. Mellion and we managed to break it up with a comfort stop about 1/2 way there. As London was then about 2 hours from Stonehenge and there is really minimal eating opportunities there, John suggested we grab some lunch at the rest stop for later consumption. Again the rest stop was marvelous, having multiple food outlets with really freshly made sandwiches, fruits, snacks, etc. available for purchase at modest prices. We loaded up and were back on the road fairly quickly, arriving as expected about 1.5 hours later at Stonehenge.

Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere on the pastoral English plains, surrounded by farm fields and sheep. At one time access to the Stonehenge site was virtually uncontrolled. You could park near it and walk up right to the stones. Needless to say this eventually caused vandalism problems and access to the site is now better controlled. The government has set up a new procedure for viewing the site. They have built a separate Visitor’s Center and busing system to drive you to the actual site. Where visitors arrive and park you cannot even see Stonehenge.  Shuttle buses take you on a 5 minute ride to the entrance of the actual site. You can walk (30 minutes?) if you choose, but we did not have the luxury of having the extra time. Audio guides are available to enhance the experience. At the actual site direct access to the rocks was limited by a roped off area. We were given our audio guides which explained what were we seeing and what scientists think the structure represented.

Stonehenge is VERY, VERY old. Its construction dates from 3000-2000 BC (As a comparison the Egyptian pyramids were built about 2500 BC) during the Neolithic era when people went from being nomads to settling down. The structure was built over many centuries, each time enlarged and modified. Stonehenge is not totally unique. They have found over 300 such “henges” in other parts of England, but Stonehenge is the most important.

Why was it there? The experts are not sure. We do know it was meant to be a large calendar that tracked the movement of the sun and seasons. It is oriented such that the sun strikes a certain point in the structure at the summer (and winter) solstice. That information was important for planting crops.  It was also a burial ground for important people, as the mounds around it (called barrows) were found to contain human remains. Some feel it also acted as a temple for worship. In all likelihood it was all three.

We walked around the fenced off site, listening the description on the audio guide, took way too many pictures, saw a group of “druids” sitting in a circle with a flutist providing musical inspiration, and were impressed with what our ancient ancestors did here 4,000-5,000 years ago.  We spent almost two hours at Stonehenge and it was not enough time to fully explore the site.  We did not get to see the museum there or spend any time roaming the bookstore and gift shop . I only had enough time to buy the guidebook on the site so I can delve deeper into the history and meaning of what we just saw.

Our bus left Stonehenge at 1:30 and we were back in London by 3:30PM at the hotel where we began nine days ago. We covered a lot of ground (estimated 2,000 kilometers), saw a lot of sights we had often heard about but had never seen, met some very nice people, both on the tour and those who call Great Britain their home, tried some new foods and expanded our knowledge of the world we live in.  It has been a fun time, but we are ready to go home tomorrow morning.

We quickly said our goodbyes to our fellow travelers and rechecked into the Grosvenor Hotel for one more night. Our travel buddies, Gerry and Sue, joined Yvonne and I for one final dinner in  a funky local pizza chain called “Zizzis” that made some really good flatbread pizzas in a wood fired oven. We repacked our things for the final push and got to bed early as it will be an early wake-up call in the AM.

 

Another bit of British trivia. It turns out that England does not have a national anthem. Scotland and Wales each has its own national song. England currently uses God Save the Queen which is really the national anthem for all of Great Britain.  There is a feeling that at sporting and other events in England it would be nice to have a specific song for England. There has been some discussion that either the song:  “Land of Hope and Glory” or “Jerusalem” have been suggested to be adopted as the national anthem for England. Nothing has happened so far. 

We arrived in last night in Cornwall and are staying at the St. Mellion Golf and Spa Resort (a Jack Nicklaus designed course) near the city of Plymouth on the Cornwall peninsula. Cornwall is a very separate part of the country- it is a peninsula on the west coast of England. Like the Welsh, the people of Cornwall are also descendants of the Celts. They have their own separate language. They are now considered and recognized as a national minority in the country.

The Cornwall national flag is a white cross on a black background which almost looks like a pirate flag. It actually is the cost of arms of their patron saint, St. Piran, a Cornish abbot.  Cornwall was mined for tin and copper in the past. The area is not particularly affluent these days. Tourism is the big thing here now as their weather is often better than the rest of England because of their location and the Gulf Stream off their shore. Cornwall is noted for its Cornish pasties. A bit of trivia: Jack and the Bean Stalk had its origins in Cornwall.

Each morning when we start our day on the bus John plays the Coldplay song, “Viva la Vida”, to get us in the proper state of mind for the day. It is another cool, cloudy morning with an occasional light shower. We are off to visit the seashore and the Dartmoor National Park which are nearby.

We first stopped for 1.5 hours in the seaside (English Channel) town of Looe, a popular destination for tourists. We were given time to explore the town, walking along a narrow street past shops, tea rooms and bakers selling the very popular Cornish pasties, available in small, medium and large sizes. The town is situated on a lake/river which empties into the English Channel. We walked the sandy beach and I was able to collect some more cells for my collection. I have bowls full of shells I have gathered around the world. I can not identify them but they make a nice bookshelf attraction.

The brief visit turned into a food tasting event as we first tried another Pastel de Nata (the Portuguese custard tart), then clotted cream with strawberries ice cream, followed by some still warm steak/potato/onion/swede(turnip) pasty and sharing a Belgium bun (gooey frosting on a yeasty roll-lovely) with Gerry.

Our next stop, Plymouth, is probably the most important harbor in UK and a lot of history that dates back to the 12th century. In 1588 Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada off its shores; James Cook sailed for Australia; Charles Darwin and his boat, the Beagle, visited and the pilgrims sailed to America from here on the Mayflower. It is also the home of the British Royal Navy.  As a result the city was heavily bombed during WWII and it had to be rebuilt, unfortunately in a more modern style, so it now lacks old world charm.

About half the group had chosen to take the one hour boat ride down the Tamar River to the landing in Plymouth. The others rode the bus and ultimately met us in Plymouth. The boat trip passed the naval ship yards where we saw some present day war ships and the wharfs from which famous voyagers departed Plymouth. We docked in Plymouth near the location the Mayflower left for America. The steps are still there as is a small memorial to the event.

We then had one plus hours on our own with some people having lunch, some went shopping and others simply went sightseeing. We ended up in a little French restaurant for a bowl of soup and a glass of wine. Gerry and Sue, who had gone shopping, walked by. We waved and they came in to join us, saying there was no shopping in the area. They had found a gin tour in a local distillery and were very excited to try different gins. They tried to take the tour, but was told it was sold out for the entire day! I wonder why it is so popular?

Our return to the hotel was via Dartmoor National Park where the roadway goes through an area called  “the moors”. There are no fences and animals (mostly sheep but we did see a few cows) roam freely in the area so you have to drive carefully. The moors are markedly different from the surrounding area. There is not a tree or shrub in sight. The ground is peaty as it gets a lot of rain each year. At the highest point (600 ft) you have virtually a 360 degree view of the countryside that lies below you. It is a beautiful sight.

Leaving the National park the narrow roadway took us through Tavistock, a market town that grew when tin was mined in the area. It  is the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake and they have a large statue of him in the main town roundabout.

Tonight was the farewell dinner and Insight chose to take us to a small local “farm to table” restaurant (Heskyn Mill) housed in a century old mill that used water and gears to grind the grain.

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Quite cool, windy and cloudy this morning. After the heat and humidity of our recent trips to Italy and Thailand it was a welcome change.  It will be a travel day as we work our way to Cardiff, Wales (country # 105 for me).  It turns out that Wales is more Celtic than Anglo-Saxon, something I did not appreciate. John also said they speak with a distinctively different accent than in others areas of England. Wales is known for their singers. Probably the most famous is Tom Jones. Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger theme song) is another. Wales is also noted for their men’s choirs.

We had a few more miles of travel within the Lake District before existing the area. For some reason I had expected the area or be larger than it appeared to be. The landscape is now changing  as we head south. The roads are bigger, the land is more flat and there are more towns and people. We stopped after two hours for a “comfort break” at one of their great service areas. They are really nice with several different food options, almost like a mini food court (McDonalds, Costa, Pret a Manger), snacks, sundries and  every other imaginable item one might need on the road. These road stops put the ones we have in the US to shame.

Two more hours on the road before we reached our lunch stop in the town of Ludlow, Shropshire County.  Ludlow was and has been a market town for the surrounding farms for over 1,000 years. We only had an hour so we did not have an opportunity to see the castle, the church and the local market as we wanted to eat lunch! You would ideally have several hours to really appreciate all that Ludlow has to offer. We did find a cute little pub, called the Rose and Crown hidden in the back of a passageway. John told us the area is noted for its cider which we tried along with some good homemade sandwiches and soup. 

As we exited the pub we saw a woman with a fairly large dog napping on her lap which reminded me to add something about dogs in England to my blog. It turns out that the English must love dogs!  I have never seen so many people with dogs, always on leashes by the way (Americans take note!) anywhere else. People own dogs of all shapes and types although most seem to be of a smaller variety. The other amazing thing is dogs are seemingly accepted almost anywhere; there are signs welcoming them. Furthermore the dogs are extremely well-behaved. I do not believe I ever heard a bark or saw an aggressive move when two dogs passed each other on the street. It was amazing.

By 4 PM we had arrived in Cardiff and those of us who had signed up for the tour of the Cardiff castle were dropped off there. I wondered if it would be yet another castle but ended up being pleasantly surprised. Although the original castle and fortress were built in the 11th century (part of the William the Conqueror’s conquest) in the mid 19th century the then richest man in Wales (John Bute-coal magnate) purchased and converted part of it into a Victorian gothic mansion. That is the part of the castle complex we toured. It was quite unlike any castle we have ever seen. It was richly decorated with ornate wooden and painted ceilings, a bath with 50+ different marble panels, painted and ceramic murals on the walls and stained glass windows. Religious themes ran throughout the home. And the crowning room was a rooftop fountain and garden open to the skies. It was quite a home.

Dinner was also an optional event that involved dinner with entertainment of Welsh singing. Not wanting to miss something we signed up to go. (As an aside, we tend to sign up for virtually all the “extra” events offered on these types of tours because they are usually well selected and offer an opportunity to see and/or do something unique to the area). We did not know what to expect other than thinking it would be similar to the event we saw in Edinburgh- large crowds, average food, and some reasonable entertainment. This event turned out to be totally different. We went to their new, modern entertainment center on the riverfront, led to a beautifully decorated room where there were at most 100 people. We were seated on long tables right next to the stage. Two bottles of wine were in the table (red and white). There was a menu with three choices each of starters, mains and desserts. Oh, I forgot to mention as we entered to venue we were offered a small glass of mead (honey wine) and a wedge of Welsh rarebit. When seated and meal choices were being selected we were entertained by a harpist.  Between meal courses the mistress of ceremonies and her singing colleagues (2 males and 2 females) entertained us with Welsh songs. We understood not a word but thoroughly enjoyed the music. The whole event was like being in a Las Vegas cabaret. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Yesterday, Glasgow was hopping. We could not believe how many people were out on the streets. This morning there was nary a soul to see. Of course it was Sunday morning and people might be sleeping off the revelry of Saturday night. We learned that the last call in Britain is 11PM which seems early compared to the US.  John said the locals make up for it by starting early and hitting it harder, so by 11 they are ready to call it a night!

Glasgow was a bit surprising. It has had a reputation of being a “gritty” city. It now seems to be emerging to become a modern, hip city, at least in certain areas of the city. The downtown area, with its large pedestrian walkway is as modern as seen in any city. There are all the fancy shops and restaurants. However, right next to our new, modern Radisson Blu Hotel was an old abandoned building with trees growing out of a few windows. Work remains to be done to continue modernizing Glasgow.

It is again cloudy and a bit misty and the streets are damp from an overnight rain. I do see some blue sky in the distance.  We”ll see if our luck has run out regarding the  weather.

We stopped in Gretna Green, a small village right across the border in Scotland that became famous in the 18th century for “runaway marriages”. The marriage age in Scotland was considerably lower (girls 12, boys 14) than in England and you did not need parental approval.  Young  people went there to get married at the blacksmith shop (anyone could marry you if you had two witnesses). The blacksmith seemed appropriate as he “joined” metals. Quite an industry grew up as a result. People still come here today to get married, although the age laws have changed. 

Our short visit to Scotland has ended and we are now heading to the Lake District of England. Locals simply call it Lakeland or the Lakes; there are 15 lakes in the National Park. The poet, William Wordsworth, was born (1770) and died (1850) here. About 40,000 people live in the Lake District. Tourists overwhelm the area in the summer. Our guide, John, took us to the local church in the little village of Grasmere to show us the grave of Wordsworth and his family. We then were on our own to have lunch and view what the tiny town had to offer. One of the major attractions was a tiny shop that makes and sells their local version of gingerbread. You cannot help but smell the aroma that permeates the town. John warned us it was not the usual type of gingerbread we are familiar with but urged us to try it, so we did. He is correct; it is unlike anything we attribute to gingerbread. It smells like it but that is the end of similarity. It looks like a cookie (think graham cracker), is somewhat hard and tastes a bit like toffee. We tasted it and passed on the remainder to others on the bus.

Travel through the Lake District is slow because of the small and twisting roads, but it is a beautiful drive. I can see why people are attracted to the area. Green everywhere, sheep grazing, small lakes, rolling hills and tons of trees and forests. Beatrix Potter (author of Peter Rabbit) is another famous name associated with the area. She loved coming here and after gaining fame and fortune she proceeded to buy up land to prevent development in the area. Needless to say she is revered here.

We arrived at our hotel (MacDonald Old England Hotel & Spa) in the lakeside village of Bowness by 2PM, left our luggage and joined the group who had signed up for the combination boat ride and steam train ride in the area. The boat passed a few small hotels, fewer houses and a lot of open land as we sailed south for about 35 minutes.

 

At that point we left the boat and got on a very old steam train for a 15-20 minute ride back toward our hotel. The steam-driven engine was old, but the cars were ancient! Our bus met us at the station and drove us the rest of the way to our hotel.

We had a few hours to kill before our cocktail party and dinner at the hotel. Yvonne showered and I decided to check out the cute town. Unfortunately it was 5PM on a Sunday and those shops that had been opened were now closed, except for a couple of souvenir shops. The only activity was at pubs and restaurants.

Tomorrow we leave for Wales.

 

 

Bit of trivia for the day.  Edinburgh has both an old town and a new town. What is rather funny is that the “new” town was started in the late 18th century! Not exactly what I expected when I heard it was a new town.

We left Edinburgh this morning heading to the Scottish Highlands to briefly experience the area before ending up in Glasgow for the night. We will only touch the southern portion of the Highlands; it would take another whole trip to give the Scottish Highlands the justice they deserve. It was cool and cloudy with occasional sun breaks, but no rain. The landscape has become hilly and more wooded. Initially there was a lot of farm land but farms became less and less the further north we went, replaced with heavy forests. The Highlands are sparsely populated, having only about 4.5% of the Scottish population . This is where the Scottish clans resided and ruled until they were eventually kicked out by the Gentry who wanted the land for animal grazing.

We made a brief stop at the town of Stirling to see the Stirling Castle and the Battleground of Bannockburn (June 1314) where the Scottish finally defeated the English and gained their independence. Both areas are important to the Scottish people. William Wallace (Braveheart) and Robert the Bruce are the two prominent names in Scottish history you might be familiar with. This is where they made their fame. Another name we all recognize who was associated with this area of Scotland was Rob Roy, known as the Robin Hood of Scotland. Others may associate his name with a version of the Manhattan drink, made with scotch rather than bourbon, called the Rob Roy.

We stopped for lunch in a small town called Callander, and ate in a local bakery/tea room, choosing local delicacies as steak or chicken meat pies, sandwiches made with fresh bread from their bakery and cheese scones that came with a bowl of carrot soup. It was all delicious!

Our destination after lunch was a boat ride on Loch Lomond, one of the major lakes in the area. We all have heard of Loch Lomond. It is not the site of the legendary sea serpent but it is the subject of a very famous sad Scottish ballad, called the Bonnie banks o Loch Lomond,  that contain the words “You’ll take the high road, and I”ll take the low road”. The 24 mile long lake is in a National park and thus has little habitation on its shores. It is a lovely setting and reminds me of some of the lakes in the Olympic National Park where we live- trees, more trees and water, surrounded by tall hills and a few 3,000ft. mountains called “Monroe’s”.  We had a one hour narrated boat ride down the lake to the next town where we met our bus. True to the nature of Scotland weather a rain shower managed to pop up, lending a serene scene and even a brief rainbow that seemed appropriate for where we were.

We had a OMG moment during the trip as our narrator told us this was the home of the MacFarlane Scottish clan, and she showed us the ruins of one of their hideaways on a small island in the lake. It turns out the clan were noted for being rustlers of cattle and sheep and this is where they would go to escape detection and capture. The OMG part is that we have close grad school friends in Seattle, Dr. Jim and Sue MacFarlane who told us about their ethnic heritage many years ago, laughing that they found their ancestors were not from a prominent Scottish clan. Unfortunately, we lost Jim several years ago but for a moment I felt his presence as we passed the home of his ancestors.

 Onward to our final destination action of the day, the industrial city of Glasgow. Glasgow is a “new” city, the product of the industrial revolution so it lacks the old world charm of other Scottish cities. As the clans were driven from the highlands they often ended up in Glasgow because of the jobs it offered. It is situated on the River Clyde, with access to the Irish Sea so shipbuilding has become an important industry here. It is also becoming a financial center for the country. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, with 1.5 million people living here.  It is a working man’s city and has a reputation of being a “gritty”.

Our hotel is a Radisson Blu located in the heart of the city. After checking in, Gerry, Sue and I went for a walk, looking for something to buy! Near the hotel was a long pedestrian mall. We were pleasantly surprised at how modern the area was and how many people were out and about. Of course it was 4 PM on a Saturday so that might explain part of the hustle and bustle. The stores lining the walking street carried high end brands, and most of the people were smartly dressed. There were buskers plying their trade, including a very young, geeky looking boy who could really sing. SImon Cowell, where are you? We all found a few trinkets to buy, including Gerry’s new prize possession- a set of children’s bagpipes! I am not sure if it was for one of his grandchildren or for himself, as he has been known to buy musical instruments in places where we have travelled.

Dinner tonight was an optional event, at a local restaurant called the Red Onion, where the owner/chef was once a personal chef for Tina Turner, Guns N Roses and Brian Adams. That was enough information to convince us we should be going there. It was an excellent choice and we all raved about our meals.

We left the hotel bright and early with a local guide (a Scottish lass named Andi) for a quick bus ride through the city where she pointed out local attractions and shared humorous antidotes about Scottish life. She kept us laughing the entire time we were together. Unfortunately, it was raining a bit while we were on the bus and my attempt to take pictures through the bus window resulted in some fabulous shots….of raindrops! 

The local tour then proceeded to the Edinburgh Castle, located at the top end of the “Royal Mile”. We got there just as the castle opened (by plan) as our guides wanted to beat the inevitable crowds that would show up as the day progressed. This is an unadvertised advantage of being with an escorted tour group; they skip the lines and know when to go/not go to popular attractions.

We had the use of personalized listening devices so it was easy to hear the tour guide without trying to crowd around them.  This is a marvelous advance to touring. Andi showed and educated us with the history of the castle and pointed out the important areas in it. The castle was initially built in the 12th century. It is located on the top of an extinct volcano 430 feet above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs. There is only one way up and it is very easy to see why it was built where it is. The castle is actually a series of buildings  and parts are actively used for military personnel. After the introductory tour we were left to explore the area on our own. The highlights are Scotland’s Crown Jewels (significantly fewer than England), the views of the surrounding area (you build your castle on the highest point so you can see who is coming), and the large dining hall with a display of amour and weapons from medieval times.

There was an option of staying in the castle area and perhaps walking (downhill) the Royal Mile (which is really 1.2 miles long but that is not as romantic a title) or taking a tour of the Royal yacht, the HMY Britannia.  We all opted to do that.  The 412 ft yacht had a crew of 21 officers and 250 crew. It was built in 1954 and finally retired in 1997 after sailing some million miles around the globe.

Rather than eating lunch at the adjacent shopping mall before taking the yacht tour we chose to eat onboard at the Britannia tea room, which is situated in an outdoor area (now enclosed) on the deck where the Royal family used to sun and play games. Some of us even drank the beer that the royals enjoyed while on board. The highlight was having napkins (paper unfortunately) embossed with the Royal seal, which none of us wanted to use. The server gladly gave us a few to take as souvenirs.

We followed most of the self guided tour of the ship, focusing our attention on the sleeping, living and entertaining areas used by the Royal family. There are still personal artifacts of the family on display throughout the ship, including some lovely family pictures of the children when they were young. Because this represents modern, ongoing history it meant more to me, and it further supports my premise that it is good to be king (or queen in this case). I asked if there was a new ship in the offing and the answer was no, not at the current time- probably too costly to justify, especially with the current brouhaha over BREXIT.

We returned to the hotel in late afternoon and I chose to walk the several blocks to take a picture of the Holyrood Palace, which is still used by the Queen when she visits Edinburgh. Once there I decided to pay the admission fee and tour the palace with the self guided audio guide they provide. This palace has acted as the home of all the kings and queens of the Scots since the 16th century. Queen Elizabeth spends at least one week here every summer, performing important business. Mary, Queen of Scots resided here from 1651-1657. The walking tour included visits to the rooms occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots and the state rooms used by Queen Elizabeth for state and official functions. No pictures were allowed inside the palace so you will have to seek other sources to see what I saw.

Visitors are allowed to take pictures outside and an amazing part of the palace complex is the adjacent ruins of the Augustinian Holyrood Abbey, built in 1128 and used until the 17th century. All that remains are some of the walls and columns. It makes a dramatic addition to the palace complex.

Rather than finding a restaurant on our own, we chose to do the optional dinner offering that evening at a local restaurant called “Iris”, a place our tour director had visited with a friend. It was a small venue located on a small side street that we had to walk to because the bus could not traverse the street. It turned out to be an excellent place to have dinner; we were all pleased with the meal.

Our visit to Edinburgh was way too short. There are still many things to see and do here, but tomorrow we must move on to our next destination- the Scottish Highlands.

 

 

 

 

We are still heading north and will be entering Scotland later today. The weather is cooler (which we love) but still no rain. We have been lucky so far.

During our early morning drive John entertained us with one of the episodes of a BBC production called the “British” which had been produced for the 2012 Olympics. It was pretty good and I intend to try to see it all when we return home.

Our first stop today is at Hadrian’s Wall, the rock wall ordered built by the Roman emperor, Hadrian, staring in AD 122, to keep out the barbarians,i.e., the Scots, better known as the “Picts” because they painted their faces to look fierce. The Romans had tried defeating them but were unable to. They finally decided to build the wall to hopefully keep them out of England.  The wall is quite large, ranging from 10-20 feet in width and extends some 73 miles across the upper part of Britain. Most people think it forms the border with Scotland. It does not. Where we are it is 68 miles from the border. The author of the Game of Thrones visited this site and patterned the fortress in the north in the Games of Thrones TV series on Hadrian’s Wall.

After taking the all important photos of us standing on the wall we adjourned to a nearby 300 year old pub where our tour director, John, treated us to a mid-morning snack of cream tea. The scones here had a lot more clotted cream on them.  They reminded me of the cream puffs we used to get at the Wisconsin State Fair. While there we saw several groups of people who were on the multiple day hike of the entire wall. This area was only day 2 of the venture, and the road ahead had a lot of ups and downs in elevation. I am glad we are on a bus!

Soon we were at the border with Scotland. It was hard to miss with a big sign, a large carved rock, a flag and even a bagpiper welcoming us to their land. John also extended the welcome by breaking out a bottle of scotch for us to have a wee bit before we carried on. More pictures and off we go into Scotland.

We started to see more stone fences and noticed that there was a top row of stones that were slanted in one direction or the other.  This is an area of much fog and the stones would point a farmer, lost in a heavy fog, in the direction of the nearest gate. Pretty clever solution.

We stopped for lunch in the small village of Jedburgh, the site of an abbey built in 1147 and partially destroyed in 1409. The skeletal remains still stand and make for a good picture. We ate at one of the two local restaurant/gift shops. The offerings are surprisingly good, the prices are modest and the service is quick. We were only slowed down by our meandering through the gift shops.

The last leg of the day found us passing several substantial wind farms and more and more sheep. We arrived at our hotel in Edinburgh late in the afternoon. The hotel was only a few blocks from the Queen’s summer palace here in Edinburgh, and one mile from the famous Edinburgh Castle.

Most of the tour group chose to attend the optional dinner and show in Edinburgh, which highlighted Scottish cuisine, music and dance. Between courses they offered the famous Scottish dish-haggis. We all tried the small bite sized sample served on a slice of potato. I actually thought it tasted pretty good and even finished the portion Yvonne left. It is no way the terrible tasting food that people say it is! The entertainment was OK; the highlight was the bagpiper and young lady singer.

Tomorrow we tour the castle.

I forgot to mention a couple of traffic related items in the previous day postings. The drivers in London are patient. We heard no honking of horns by irritated drivers when things did not go their way.  Another observation occurred while in the cab heading out the other night. We did get stuck in a bit of traffic and I wondered why the delays at a stoplight. What I discovered was the stoplight had only an eight second (I said second) green light for our lane while giving the opposite street a full 60 seconds. As a result only one or two cars made it through the intersection each light cycle. Our driver said that was the way the system operated. Bloody awful if you ask me!

Back to today’s story.

This is a short tour compared to many we have taken-only 12 days and there are many one night stays but it allows us to get an decent overview of the English countryside, parts of Scotland and Wales.

 

Normally you meet the tour director and fellow travelers at a reception the night before the actual tour begins. This tour was unusual in the sense we first meet everyone at 7:30 AM the day the tour leaves London, which is today.

We were asked to have luggage out of room by 6:30 AM and meet in the lobby at 7:30, ready to roll.  There was a bit of chaos in the lobby as there were two separate groups leaving , so the amount of people and luggage was a bit daunting but John Jennings, our English tour director, efficiently sorted out the people and luggage and soon we were off on our “Best of Britain” tour. There are 40 people on this tour, the maximum number Insight allows on their tours. Other tour companies usually have a maximum of 53. Insight Vacations take some rows of seats out of the bus giving people more legroom. Our bus left the hotel right before 8 AM and headed north.

Our first destination of the day was Stratford on Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. I was never a fan of his writings but was eager to see his restored home. I imagined a small little village with thatched roofed homes in the middle of a meadow. Boy, was I wrong. The home is smack dab in the middle of a pedestrian shopping street in a good sized town/city. I guess I am a few centuries too late. The home in which he was born is actually larger than I expected. I believe I heard that his father was mayor of the town. It is a lovely site, complete with young people quoting Shakespeare in the garden to the delight of visitors. Shops along the street provided a lovely opportunity to have a late morning “cream tea” once again before we boarded our bus for our final destination, York. We did our usual comfort stops and had lunch at one of the highway road stops, which featured several fast food options, including McDonalds and Krispi Kreme.

We arrived in York about 4PM and John led us on a local walking tour of the area to acquaint us with the city. York was a pleasant surprise. It was founded by the Romans in 71AD and  was later occupied by the Vikings who named it “Jorvik”. It has a population of about 200,000. We stayed right near the old section of the city where we walked. We learned that the Vikings had played an important role in the history of the area.  The streets in York are called “gate”  e.g. Canongate, as gate means street in the Viking language. And “bar” means gate. Confused now? Guy Fawkes was born and educated here. Walking down the narrow cobble stones streets was a delight. A very popular street is called the “shambles” and is lined with shops and tea rooms. Unfortunately we arrived too late to enter the York Minster (cathedral), the 2nd most important one in the UK.

Our “welcome” dinner was held at the hotel and we had an opportunity to meet some of our travel companions. Most are from the US , but we also have several people from Canada and a couple of people from Australia. Surprisingly there is no one from New Zealand; there is usually a Kiwi along as they are big world travelers.

Day one is done and we head to Edinburgh, Scotland tomorrow.