To the Country

October 14, 2018

Tuesday morning, October 9, we checked out of our apartment in London and drove to the Cotswolds.  The Cotswolds is an area of "unique scenic beauty," according to British maps, located northwest of London. In this case it is not hyperbole. Tim and Lynda have visited the Cotswolds several times and always marvel at the never ending stream of beautiful towns and villages. Many of the villages have used the same golden colored sandstone for the construction of all the buildings.  This part of England is reasonably hilly so there are also many opportunities for awe inspiring panoramic views. Our apartment is located in the village of Bretforton about 20 miles south of Stratford-upon-Avon. None of us have ever been to this village. The apartment was one of the nicest Airbnb apartments we have stayed in. So much nicer then the apartment in London. It is a three bedroom apartment spread over two floors with abundant space for us all to stretch out in. An added bonus: less then a five minute walk led us to The Fleece, a 300 year old pub that we discovered on our first evening served a wonderful meal. Tuesday was spent driving, unpacking and going to the pub.

The Fleece

Our first stop Wednesday morning was Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of the great playwright, William Shakespeare. We began at the home where Shakespeare was born and raised. Houses of Shakespeare's era usually consisted of three rooms, a combination living room/kitchen, a bedroom for the children and a bedroom for the parents. Will's father, a glove maker, was reasonably well to do. A sign of wealth at that time was a large bed in front of the window of the parents bedroom that all could see as they walked by. The Shakespeare home had such a bed. Upon leaving the house we were greeted in the garden by the Shakespeare Out Loud Theatre Company, consisting of a man and a woman. They performed scenes from several different Shakespearean plays. The woman started by performing a scene from "A Mid-Summers Night Dream" that ended up with Jeff in a starring role as the Ass. No comments, please. He is our son and we love him. This was followed by the man performing the famous scene from "Hamlet" where Hamlet talks to the skull of Yorick. They then asked for a request from the small audience and were asked to perform the balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet." We all enjoyed this bit of Shakespeare, with Cole and Kelsey particularly enjoying Jeff's stardom. We left Shakespeare's home and drove to Anne Hathaway's home, Anne, of course, being Will's wife. Her family was rich by Stratford standards; her father was a farmer and the owner of almost 100 acres of land. Anne's wealth allowed William to pursue his theatrical career.  Her house was similar to Shakespeare's house. We were pleased that both Cole and Kelsey appeared to enjoy the whole "Shakespeare thing."

Jeff Starring as The Ass

We left Stratford-upon-Avon and drove to Coventry specifically to visit the Coventry Cathedral. During most of the 20th century Coventry was a major manufacturing center, particularly the manufacturing of automobiles. The Detroit of England if you will. During World War II, like Detroit, the factories converted to the production of war materials making Coventry a prime target for German bombers. One of the casualties of this bombing was the Coventry Cathedral. All that survived were parts of the four outer walls. After the war a new Cathedral was built immediately adjacent to the ruins. The architect cleverly designed the entrance to the new Cathedral to be joined with one of the remaining bits of the old. The New Cathedral is a stunning contemporary edifice. We are sure when the Cathedral first opened many of the citizens of Coventry were appalled at the design. Of course, we absolutely love it. The visit was made more magical when the church organist began rehearsing for an upcoming service. An added, unplanned addition to the itinerary for the Crandall's was watching Tim and Lynda navigating the warren of streets in central Coventry. After the visit to the Cathedrals we returned to our apartment for a rousing game of UNO.

Bombed ruins of old Coventry Cathedral

New Coventry Cathedral seen behind wall of old Cathedral

Inside the new Coventry Cathedral

In 2002 we rented a cottage for six weeks in Stow-on-the-Wold, another lovely town in the Cotswolds. Thursday was spent driving to various places in the Cotswolds that we have previously visited that we thought were worth showing the Crandalls. Most of the places we went to today were of little historical importance but were unusual or unique in some way. The lone exception was the Rollrights Stones. This is a circle of stones dating from 1500 B.C. These stones are not as mammoth as those at Stonehenge, but, unlike Stonehenge, the kids were able to touch and climb on them.

Friday morning we reluctantly left our beautiful apartment in Bretforton and headed to our final destination, our Airbnb apartment located just outside of Guildford, southwest of London.  In 1986-87 we lived in Guildford while Tim was on sabbatical at the University of Surrey. Our long drive on Friday took us first to Avebury where there is a large circle of stones like Stonehenge and the Rollrights. When we say large, we mean a whole village is pretty much inside this large circle of stones. Like the Rollrights, the kids could climb on these stones. Unfortunately, the weather was lousy so we spent little time visiting this site. Stonehenge was about 15 miles from Avebury. By the time we got to Stonehenge, it had stopped raining but was still very blustery and cold. To see Stonehenge in person never fails to impress. We first saw these monoliths in 1986. Back then you could actually walk among the rocks and touch them.  Now, the closest you can get to them is about 50 feet. What makes this site so intriguing is the fact that there is no explanation for how these 30 ton stones were placed the way they were thousands of years ago. Stonehenge was pretty much the highlight of the day for all of us. On our way to our apartment we drove into Guildford and showed Heather, Cole and Kelsey where we lived in 1986-87, and where Jeff went to school. It was fun watching Jeff revisit an important part of his childhood and talk about it with his family. His family had lots of questions that we assured them we would answer on Saturday. We were all tired from the long drive and anxious to check into our apartment. This apartment was equally as large and comfortable as the apartment in Bretforton, but did not have the same cozy, homey feel to it. On the other hand, it did have a clothes dryer which is highly unusual in an English home. Heather was ecstatic. Our laundry in Bretforton had to be put on drying racks to dry.

Late Saturday morning we drove back into Guildford and spent several hours exploring the central shopping area. We watched Jeff with a mix of wonder, pride and love as he so obviously enjoyed being back in Guildford. His comment was "I can't seem to get this stupid grin off my face."  We couldn't help but remember his tears when we first arrived in Guildford, questioning why we had taken him away from his friends in Mason, to eleven months later asking Lynda why Tim and Jil couldn't return to Mason while they stayed in Guildford. While enjoying lunch, Jeff decided he wanted to walk back to Onslow Village where our house from 86-87 was located. Cole and Kelsey wanted to join him. We agreed to meet him by the village shops near where we lived. We again walked by 12 Manor Way, our home, and spent some time on the recreation ground where Jeff had spent much time as a kid. What a special day for all of us.

This morning, Sunday, we awoke to another lousy weather day. The plan was to go to Hampton Court Palace and then on to Windsor to see Windsor Castle. Hampton Court is famous as the home of King Henry VIII, although succeeding monarchs also inhabited the Castle. Of particular interest and our first destination at Hampton Court was the Maze. This maze is similar to the corn mazes we see in Michigan in the fall except this one is 300 years old and is an evergreen hedge that stands 10 feet tall. It was the first puzzle maze created in England. There are now many more of these kind of mazes in England, many more difficult then Hampton Courts, but none of them were the first maze. We were fortunate that it wasn't raining when we entered the Maze. We were the only ones in it and we had great fun entering and then trying to find our way out. We had paired up entering the Maze and the air was alight with laughter as we all worked to solve the puzzle of escaping the Maze. After all had successfully escaped we entered the Castle, and climbed a set of steps that led to Henry VIII's apartments. As you can imagine, the many rooms of his apartments were opulent. The adults enjoyed the historical facts that we learned on our tour while Cole and Kelsey enjoyed the two rooms where there were games from the 16th century that they could play.

Outside Hampton Court

Playing 16th Century Games - No Batteries Required!

We left Hampton Court, headed for Windsor which should have been about a 30 minute trip.  Between using a GPS in our Ford minivan, which is not very good, and Lynda trying to follow on maps that were equally poor, we got terribly lost, taking almost an hour to get to Windsor. By the time we got to Windsor Castle we were all so tired and Lynda and Tim so frustrated that we all looked at the Castle and said, "There it is," and were ready to return to our apartment. We do have something of interest for you, our loyal blog readers. We stopped for dessert in Windsor. As we left the restaurant, Tim and Lynda talked with the owner and found out that for the businesses in Windsor, this weekend's wedding of Prince Andrew's daughter, Eugenia, had little affect on their business while Harry and Megan's wedding was a veritable circus. All right. How many of you knew there was another royal wedding at Windsor Castle this weekend?

It is Sunday night, we are back in the apartment, we are pretty much all packed, ready to head to Heathrow tomorrow morning for our flight home. The last three and half weeks have flown by for us and the last ten days with Jeff, Heather, Cole and Kelsey have been a joy. We are yet again reminded how blessed we are with two wonderful children, equally wonderful son and daughter in laws, and four fantastic grandchildren.

Our next trip is in January. We are going to celebrate our 50th anniversary by taking Jilayne and Jeffry and their spouses, sans grandchildren(!), on a Caribbean cruise highlighted by two days in Havana, Cuba. Thanks to all of you that followed along. See you in January.

Jeff, Heather, Cole and Kelsey arrive

Monday, October 8, 2018

Friday (October 5) morning, Jeff, Heather, Cole and Kelsey, hence forth know as the Crandalls, arrived at Heathrow Airport from Detroit.  Despite leaving Detroit an hour later then scheduled, they arrived in London only 20 minutes late and breezed through passport control and customs without any problems.  We whisked them onto the Tube, the London Underground subway system, and took them to our rented apartment. A few words about our apartment.  It is located in Kensington in the western part of London.  London residents would call it the posh end of London. We are located no more then 100 yards off of Kensington High Street, the main thoroughfare through Kensington that runs directly into Piccadilly Street. Our apartment consists of three floors. The ground floor contains the master bedroom and a bathroom.  The second floor has a kitchen and lounge (living room) and the 3rd floor has two bedrooms and a bath.  The Crandall's are located on the 3rd floor, we are on the ground floor. While not posh, the apartment has plenty of space and is clean and comfortable.  The only problem we have had is that the apartment has been cold and it was finally on the last evening that we figured out the boiler was set for hot water only, not hot water and heat. Tim blames this on our host. This is probably the first Airbnb that we have rented that did not come with a complete set of instructions for anything that we might need.

We gave everyone 30 minutes or so to get settled before starting our exploring.  We thought that with the Crandalls being tired from an overnight flight, a bus route that took in some of the major sights would be the best way to go. However, the first order of business was lunch.  Tim had found a nearby pub that would be a great way to start the Crandall's culinary trip through England. After everyone enjoyed their first pub lunch we hopped on a bus that took us past Kensington Gardens, the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, a bit of Piccadilly Street, and Trafalgar Square.  We exited the bus by Charing Cross Railway Station and took a short walk to Covent Garden. Originally Covent Garden was a major market for that  section of London. Now the building that originally housed the market has an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants.  Interestingly, in the market was a display of mannequins dressed with flowers.  The public was invited to vote for their favorite.  Kelsey was quite taken with this display and was the only one of us who actually cast a ballot. The street that encircles the market building is now a pedestrian only area. Throughout this area there are buskers (entertainers) putting on short shows.  We watched one magician who was very good.  By this time the youngest two Crandalls were fading quite noticeably so we headed back to the apartment and called it a night.

The Crandalls in Covent Garden

Dress of flowers

We awoke Saturday to chilly temperatures and overcast skies.  The original plan was to attend the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and then have lunch.  After lunch the women were going to Hamley's, a famous toy store, and the British Museum while the guys attended an English football (soccer)  game.  Due to the weather, the changing of the guard was canceled, so we headed immediately to Hamley's much to Cole's delight.

Cole has been playing soccer for several years and really enjoys it.  While watching one of his games last spring Tim had a moment of inspiration and asked Jeff what he thought about taking Cole to a soccer match when we were in London.  Jeff thought it a wonderful idea.  The English Football league consists of four divisions with the top division, the Premier League, being the soccer that is seen on American TV.  A quick google search showed that the cost for those games was very expensive.  However, the next division down proved to be affordable.  The men attended a game at the Millwall Football Club. The stadium holds about 20,000 people and was at least three quarters full for this match.  Our seats were in the third row from the field at what would be considered approximately the 25 yard line at an American football game.  In other words, great seats. We had a fabulous time. Up close and in person the game was much more entertaining then watching on television.  The fans were every bit as entertaining as the game. They sang and cheered throughout the game. There was no marching band to lead them in the singing.  The opposing team, Aston Villa, had one end zone full of their fans. Early on when Aston Villa took an early lead, their fans were every bit, if not more, as boisterous as the Millwall fans. Once Millwall tied the game and then took the lead, the Aston Villa fans could not be heard. One funny occurrence that can only happen in England.  Tim listened to two older people at the concession stand during half time complain bitterly that there was no hot tea.  The fact that it rained throughout the entire match did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Crandall men.  The miserable weather did dampen the spirits of the Crandall women.  They gave up on the British museum, returned to the apartment and took a nap.

We awoke Sunday to abundant sunshine. Once we got everyone moving, no small chore considering the long day the Crandalls had on Friday, we took a bus to Kensington Garden which leads to Hyde Park.  It was a spectacular morning for a walk which was highlighted by seeing the Peter Pan statue and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.  Cole and Kelsey also enjoyed watching all of the dogs that had brought their masters to the park. 

Kelsey, Peter & Cole

On our first trip to England in 1984, we stayed at the Kensington Green Hotel that is situated just across the street from Hyde Park.  From the park we walked past the hotel and down the little alleyway next to it that contained little shops, restaurants and cafes.  Jeff reminisced with his family about his remembrances from that trip. It was just a short walk onto Harrod's, maybe the world's greatest department store. The Food Hall at Harrod's  is incredible and the first place we take any visitor.  As with all things, Harrod's has changed and the Food Halls now seem to cater more to people sitting down to eat then to the savvy, well to do shopper looking to take food products home to prepare themselves.  Though Lynda and Tim noted the change, Jeff, Heather, and Cole were still suitably impressed. Kelsey not so much.  After leaving Harrod's we walked to Tattersalls Tavern, a pub we have visited just about every time we come to London.  On our first visit it was a beautiful, traditional independent pub that morphed on succeeding visits to a gastro pub that no longer had a traditional feel.  It is now back to the more traditional style but is, unfortunately, owned by a large brewery with the same menu as all of the other pubs owned by that brewery.  Still, they were serving a traditional Sunday Roast and we were hungry.  After a leisurely Sunday dinner, we took the tube to Parliament Square to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  Westminster Abbey was nearby.  We knew before leaving the states that Big Ben had been shut down for much needed renovations.  What we did not anticipate was the fact that the tower was so completely covered in scaffolding that it was totally unrecognizable.  Heather and the kids had to take our word for it that that was Big Ben.

Big Ben (supposedly)

 Like many of the great Cathedrals of Europe, both St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey charge a hefty admission to gain entry.  However, attending a church service is free, so we took everyone to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong service.  Evensong is a service in the late afternoon that is mostly sung by the choir and the celebrant.  If one is there early enough they are allowed to sit in the choir stalls of the church.  We were there early but were not admitted because of a family gathering and a small number of bishops visiting.  However, just before the service began, an usher told Lynda there were two seats available in the choir.  She offered them immediately to Jeff and Heather but they declined so we took them.  This is the third or fourth Evensong we have attended and they are always stunning.  The sound of the Choir of Westminster, containing both men and boys, is heavenly, and the setting sublime. Jeff and Heather enjoyed the service but said it was hard to understand the words the choir was singing from where they sat.  Cole managed to take a nap!  After Evensong, Tim and Lynda returned to the apartment while the Crandalls took the tube to King's Cross Railway Station to see Platform 9 3/4 of Harry Potter fame.

Off to Hogwarts!

On Monday we enjoyed another day of fine weather as we took a Yeoman Warden, one of the "Beefeaters",  led tour of the Tower of London.  These tours are fun for young and old alike as the Beefeater presents important historic information about the Tower of London with a humorous twist. Everyone was also in awe of our tour of the Crown Jewels  and the Regalia used when a monarch is crowned.  After lunch we took a ferry boat down the Thames River to Greenwich, home of the Royal Observatory and the location of the Prime Meridian. When back home planning this trip to Greenwich we forgot two significant details. 1. The Royal Observatory sits atop a high hill. 2. Our only other visit was by car where we parked beside the Observatory in the car park.  After a long, arduous hike up the hill, we did enjoy spectacular views of the Thames River and the East End of London.  We also got the de rigour picture of the Crandalls straddling the Prime Meridian.  Kelsey is presently studying longitude and latitude in school so she enjoyed the section of the Observatory Museum that explained those things. She is hoping to get bonus points in class when she gets home.  Upon leaving the Royal Observatory we again split up with the Crandalls heading to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone which they were unable to get to before closing time and Tim and Lynda heading to a pub to determine where we would all meet for our last dinner in London. We picked an OK Italian Restaurant just off of Leister Square in Central London.  The highlight of the evening was walking from Leister Square to Piccadilly Circus with all of the spectacular lights leading our way.  Two places of note that Tim and Lynda had not ever visited in London were M&M World and Legoland. On one of the floors of M&M World you could buy M&M's by the pound in just about any color of the rainbow.  Tim pretty much hyperventilated his whole time in the store.  Legoland was across the street from M&M World and had a replica of Big Ben that stood 12 to 15 feet tall, was made entirely out of 80,000 legos, and had a working clock in the bell tower. One of the store employees told us that this was the only fully functioning Big Ben in London right now.  Piccadilly Circus is one of the iconic squares in London.  There are huge lighted billboards above the entrances to the stores on the square that almost make the square as bright as day.  These lighted billboards have been in place since at least World War II.

Tuesday morning while Tim went to Heathrow to collect our rental van for the rest of the trip and Lynda packed, the Crandalls made a quick trip back to the British Museum where they finally saw the Rosetta Stone. They were also impressed with seeing a section of stone that contained part of Hammurabi's laws, the first known written laws as well some Roman and Egyptian artifacts.  We checked out of our apartment and drove  around Oxford on our way to the village of Bretforton located in the middle of the Cotswalds.  You will have to check back with us Sunday night to find out about the Cotswalds and what we saw on the remainder of our trip.

Cheers!

Last Days on Our Own

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Our apartment in Lincoln was located just outside the old city that surrounded the Lincoln Cathedral.  We had to walk through a stone arch that was hundreds of years old to get to this part of Lincoln.

Lincoln (not Nebraska)

Regular readers of our blog know that we love visiting the grand cathedrals throughout Europe. Each is different, yet all are exceedingly impressive. Lincoln Cathedral was no exception. The outside of the Cathedral was more ornate then the other English cathedrals we have visited. Additionally, because local limestone was used in the construction there was a yellowish tint to the building unlike the somber gray of most other cathedrals we have seen.

Lincoln Cathedral

The inside was a bit more austere then others but still awe inspiring. All of these cathedrals are built in the shape of the cross with the congregation sitting in the lower part of the cross and the alter and places for the celebrants in the upper part of the cross. In English cathedrals the area directly in front of the alter is called the choir, probably because it is where the choir sits. The choir is very ornate with several rows of pews facing each other across an open aisle leading to the altar. This is also where the priests who are conducting the service sit.  The choir in other cathedrals partially blocks the congregations view of the altar. In Lincoln Cathedral it completely blocks the view. There is a pulpit suspended from one of the columns in the area where the congregation sits. We assume a priest comes down from the choir and climbs the few steps up to the pulpit to deliver the sermon. There were two large movie screens in the congregation that we again assume allows the congregation to see what is going on up front. A bit strange in our minds. These cathedrals also have small chapels, usually located in the cross piece of the cross and also behind the altar. In the Lincoln Cathedral the chapel behind the altar had been recently remodeled with very contemporary furnishings. These furnishings were in stark contrast to the rest of the Cathedral but no less beautiful. In the middle of the last century the Lincoln diocese was the largest in England, hence, the Bishop of the Lincoln Cathedral was a very powerful and rich figure.  Accordingly, his Palace was also impressive. Part of the palace remains as offices for officials of the diocese. The rest of the palace is basically ruins. This is because centuries ago an earthquake partially destroyed the Cathedral and stones were used from the palace to rebuild the damaged parts of the Cathedral. There was an original tower still standing that had two rooms. Tim climbed the circular stairway that the Bishop undoubtedly used to reach these rooms. Because of the heights of the ceilings, these rooms were probably on what we would consider the 3rd and 5th floors of the tower.  Once back down, Tim offered a silent "thanks" to the inventor of the elevator. We spent the rest of the day exploring the varied mix of shops, having a pub lunch and going back to the apartment to read and nap.

Modern chapel in Lincoln Cathedral

Our original destination for Tuesday had been Peterborough with the primary attraction being Burghley House, one of the largest Elizabethan houses remaining in England.  Turns out this house was not located in Peterborough, but in Stamford, about 10 miles south of Peterborough.  Again, poor research on Tim's part. While in Lincoln, Lynda spent time on the internet arranging another Airbnb apartment for us near Peterborough. The best she was able to come up with was about 20 miles south of Peterborough in a village called Buckden. Needless to say, we never made it to Peterborough. Our hosts at our apartment told us we had not missed a thing by skipping Peterborough. Stamford was another wonderful surprise. While Lynda communicated with our Buckden hosts they suggested we stop at the George Hotel in Stamford for lunch. This hotel is almost a thousand years old and has hosted two queens amongst other celebrities. We had lunch in the cozy bar and then explored some of the other public rooms. It was all very impressive. After lunch we crossed  the street to visit the Mr. and Mrs. Clark Art Gallery. There was a sign over the door that said David Hockney, the name of a famous contemporary British artist. When we entered we were greeted by Mrs. Clark who explained to us that all of the art in the small gallery were either original pieces or prints of work by David Hockney. It took us only about 15 minutes to view all of the works, 15 minutes that we enjoyed.  Before leaving, Tim asked the owners how a gallery with original work by such a famous artist ended up in Stamford. Mr. Clark explained that he had started collecting Hockney prints 10 or 15 years ago which eventually resulted in opening the gallery. They were in Stamford because their children were in various schools in the area and they liked Stamford. Next door to the gallery was an interior design store that specialized in modern Italian design. We spent 15 or 20 minutes in this shop oohing and aahing over several different pieces that we would have loved to have in our house until we looked at the price tag.

The Burghley House was as grand as advertised. It was built in the 1500's by William Cecil, the first Marquess of Exeter. He was Secretary of State and then High Treasurer to the Queen. He felt he had to build a house suitable to host Her Royal Highness, thus Burghley House. The house is still owned by the family of William Cecil. In the early 1900's the 9th Earl of Exeter tried to sell the House to the National Trust. When those negotiations fell through, he set up a trust that would allow the House to stay in the family and provide money to maintain it. Previous to setting up this trust, the family had been forced to sell a lot of the original artwork accumulated over 500 years in order to maintain the house and pay the substantial taxes. This scheme worked. Eventually they also opened the house to the public (for an admission charge, of course). The present owners, the Marquesses of Exeter and her husband, still live in the house with their 4 children. Of more interest, particularly to Lynda, were the gardens which were designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. He is one of the most famous of a long line of famous British garden designers.

From Burghley House we drove to Buckden and checked in to our apartment. Buckden is a small village about 20 miles west of Cambridge. After a leisurely Wednesday morning, we left for Cambridge. As is our wont, actually more Lynda's want then Tim's, rather then the most direct route to Cambridge we took back roads. We drove through charming villages, finding a nice pub for lunch.  Lynda had a cheddar cheese and pear toastie, and Tim had a pulled ham hock, Emmental cheese, and mango chutney toastie. They were as delicious as they sound. Shortly after lunch we were surprised to come upon the Cambridge American Cemetery. We stopped briefly. As with all U.S. Military Cemeteries, the Cambridge Cemetery was tastefully done and a fitting tribute to those who have died in service to our country.

In Cambridge we were headed to the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens. To get there we took a slight detour through the village of Grantchester. Those of you who watch Masterpiece Theater on PBS will recognize Grantchester as the name of a wonderful series that the network has run. We are going to have to watch an episode when we get home to see if the series was actually filmed in the village. When we got into Cambridge we encountered horrific traffic including almost as many bicycles as motor vehicles. We also were unable to find anyplace to park at the Garden. There was no dedicated car park. We decided to give up on the Botanical Garden and fight the traffic leaving Cambridge and return to our apartment.

Lovely English village

Tomorrow morning we drive into London, return our rental car, check in to our apartment and prepare for the arrival of Jeff, Heather, Cole and Kelsey on Friday morning. Our next blog posting will probably come at the end of the weekend. Until then, cheers.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Sunday, September 30, 2018

We'll let you guess where we are now located!

When we last blogged we were headed to Gullane, Scotland where Tim hoped to play golf.  Gullane is located about 30 miles east of Edinburgh on the south shore of the Firth of Forth.  As the crow flies Gullane is directly south of St. Andrews.  Tim did, in fact, play at the Gullane Golf Club, the host of the Scottish Open on occasion and often serves as a qualifying  course for the British Open.  Tim once again thoroughly enjoyed experiencing golf in Scotland, as the game was invented.  After his round Tim picked up Lynda and we stopped on the outskirts of Gullane at the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, more commonly known as Muirfield, a part of the rota of golf courses that host the British Open.  As the name would suggest, this is a rather posh club.  Tim did walk out and take of couple of quick pictures of the course but made no attempt to find the pro shop in hopes of buying a shirt.

Making a hasty retreat from the HCEG, we drove east towards the wonderfully named town of Berwick-upon-Tweed.  The villages and towns in the UK have such inventive names.  Lynda still chuckles over the name of the village of Cockbridge that we drove through.  The drive along the coast on Friday morning gave us stunning views of the North Sea.  We stopped at one point to take pictures of a huge rock island that jutted out of the sea not far off of the coast.  A lighthouse had improbably been built on the side of this rock.  Our destination for the night was Newcastle-upon-Tyne. (In case you haven't figured it out, Tweed and Tyne are rivers.)  We found a lovely inn just outside of Newcastle called The Snowy Owl where we had a large, comfortable room, and enjoyed dinner in a very nice pub that was part of the inn.  This was the kind of accommodation travelers a hundred years ago would have stayed in.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne was a nice surprise.  We planned this itinerary with stops in cities we have known about in our visits to the UK but had never visited.  Just like Forrest Gump we don't know what we will get.  Newcastle was good.  As you may have already seen on Facebook, a pedestrian bridge was built across the Tyne to commemorate the millennium.  It is a beautiful, contemporary structure.  We discovered purely by accident that the bridge moves in order for boat traffic to pass under it. Everyday at noon the bridge is closed to pedestrian traffic and it swings up even if there is no boat traffic.  We watched this happen from the 5th floor of the Baltic Museum of Contemporary Art that overlooks the bridge and has an observation deck for this purpose.

A friendly couple from Newcastle explained everything about the bridge. Two bits of information you might enjoy. 1. The bridge itself was built off site. It was then moved by crane up the river and placed into hinges that it turns on.  Both sides of the river were lined with spectators watching to see if the bridge would actually fit as there were literally just of few inches of clearance on each side of the river. A huge cheer went up from the crowd when the bridge fit perfectly in place. 2. There is an older woman who hosts family and friends and always brings them to watch the bridge move at noon. However, she does not tell them that it always goes up and down at noon. She asks them if they would like to see the bridge do its thing and says "I'll go see if they will move the bridge for you".  Cheeky woman.  We also enjoyed walking  Grey Street, named after Sir Earl Grey of tea fame.  There is a statue of him at the top of the street.  The street was alive with people and we enjoyed window shopping and observing the wide selection of restaurants and bars.

Leaving Newcastle, we stopped just outside of the city at the site of "The Angel of the North".  This is a huge, 65 feet tall with a wingspan of 175 feet, metal sculpture that stands on a hill overlooking  the major road into Newcastle.  It serves as a welcome to the north of England and also commemorates the importance of the coal mining industry to the economic health of the area.

The Angel of the North

We drove on from Newcastle towards our destination for the night, Scarborough. (!) As we neared Scarborough we saw the ruins of a castle on a high cliff overlooking the North Sea.  There is never a ruin we won't take time to see so we exited the main road  and descended into the town below the ruin.  This turned out to be Whitby, situated on a small inlet off of the sea.  It was a picturesque town, so after getting close up pictures of what turned out to be a ruined priory, not a castle, we decided to see if we could find accommodations in Whitby.  The city centre was abuzz with people. Tim went into a hotel on the harbor but discovered there were no rooms and was told there probably were no rooms anywhere in Whitby.  A 60's music festival was taking place.  This was another of the pleasant surprises we get when traveling. It was a disappointment not finding a room for the night.  So it was on to Scarborough.

Tim was responsible for Scarborough being on the itinerary.  With strains of Simon and Garfunkel running  through his head, he pictured a bucolic town with a picture perfect market (fair).  His quick research revealed an attraction called the Scarborough Fair Collection.  Viola!  Except further research after arriving showed the Collection to be a collection of antique vehicles, calliopes, and such.  Also, there was nothing bucolic about Scarborough at all.  It was a decidedly down on its luck town that made up for it by not being particularly attractive. Tim may not be allowed to plan the itinerary again.

Seizure

In the spirit of full disclosure, this blog entry was started in Scarborough but is being finished in Lincoln.  We left Scarborough this morning, Sunday, and drove to the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden southwest of York.  We had discovered this park on a previous trip and loved it so decided to return.  Most of the sculptures are created to be displayed outdoors.  We saw 6 pieces by Joan Miro that we enjoyed because Miro has always been a favorite of ours.  We also went inside a work called "seizure".  The artist had taken a room from a house that was to be torn down, removed all furnishings except the toilet fixtures, sealed the room and pumped it full of a chemical solution that was almost at the boiling point.  When the solution had cooled to room temperature, he pumped the solution out of the room and created a door size opening to the room.  As the solution cooled it had formed crystals on all the surfaces.  The crystals were a vivid blue and created quite a striking effect in the room.  A docent tried to explain to us why the work was called "seizure" but she was not very successful.

From the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden we drove to Lincoln.  Lynda got online this morning in Scarborough and arranged an Airbnb apartment for us to stay in here in Lincoln. Unless you stay in high end, modern hotels, accommodations in England tend to be cramped for space.  We are renting this apartment for two nights so we can spread out and relax for a couple of days.  We do plan to explore the area but maybe at a more leisurely pace.  We will be back in a couple of days.

Cheers.

Thoughts from the navigator.  Scarborough had an attractive area on the water front - it reminded me of Bath - the curved road with tall houses lining the street going up hill along the water.  Besides the sculpture garden the highlight of the day for me was finding the perfect spot for a Sunday joint....not the kind you smoke!  The Red Lion Pub had both beef and pork loin roasts today - with roasted potatoes, seasonal veg, Yorkshire pie and stuffing.  To top that off my beef I had Banoffee pie - my favorite.  Very rich with carmel but delicious.

The Scottish Highlands

Monday, September 24, 2018

Loch Lomand (Loch is a Gaelic word meaning lake) is a long, narrow lake just to the northwest of Glasgow.  Sunday, we had not traveled far on the western shore of the lake when we found a lovely Inn in which to spend the night.  We were tired and it was getting dark and we wanted to see Loch Lomand in the daylight when we were reasonably fresh.  The road we traversed on Monday wound around the edges of the lake, giving us constant, spectacular views of the lush and majestic scenery.  We stopped along the way when we saw a sign for the Falls of Falloch.  The parking lot was just off of the road but was surrounded by dense foliage.  A five minute walk  brought us to the falls.  The adjoining picture really does not do justice to what we saw.  Loch Lomand is about 22 miles long so we spent almost a hour driving along the shore of the lake.

Falls of Falloch

Leaving Loch Lomand, we drove into, or more accurately, up into the Scottish Highlands.  The difference in scenery was stunning.  The highlands is a region of rugged mountains barren of any but the most hearty of foliage.  There were no trees, few roads and little sign of civilization except for the moderate traffic on the highway. And yet there was a beauty to this region that we can't really explain.  Fort William was a large, by Scotland standards city situated on the western coast of Scotland where we stopped for a break.  There was nothing particular important to report about Fort William other then it seemed to be a thriving community in the middle of nowhere.

Our destination for the day was Inverness, almost to the tip of central northern Scotland.  Our route took us along the entire 23 mile length of Loch Ness. Like most of the lakes in this region, including Loch Lomand, the lake is long and narrow, probably no more then a quarter to a half mile wide.  Loch Ness, of course, is infamous as the home of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. It was in the early 1930's when someone produced a doctored picture supposedly showing the monster.  Could this be the first example of a photoshopped picture?  Over the years there have been many attempts to verify the existence of Nessie with no success. The first sighting was supposedly in the 6th century!   The locals believe the legend of the monster came into being as the result of someone having too much to drink seeing a particularly large eel in the lake.  Nevertheless, there is a thriving cottage industry surround this legend including a place called Nessieland.  We waved as we drove by.

Our interest in Inverness was based on the Battle of Culloden that took place in 1746 about 5 miles outside of Inverness. Jilayne put us onto a television program on Straz network called "Outlander" based on a series of books by the same name.  Hopefully some of you are familiar with this show.  It is a fictionalized story of actual events that took place in the late 1600's and early 1700's in Scotland.  A brief history lesson.  During this time period the Stuarts sat on the English throne as King or Queen.  At some point they were no longer able to produce an heir to the throne so the House of Hanover replaced the Stuarts on the throne. There was a major philosophical difference between the two houses.  The Stuarts believed in the absolute soveirenty of the King in ruling England.  The Hanovers favored a more balanced power between the King and Parliament. There were also religious overtones to this that we will not try to explain. One of the Stuarts, Prince Charles, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was exiled in Paris but was determined to take what he thought was his rightful place on the throne.  His supporters were known as Jacobites.  The Jacobites were mostly Scottish. Bonnie Prince Charlie secreted himself into Scotland, organized the Jacobites into an army and began to march towards London.  They got within a few days march of London when their commanders, except the prince, chickened out.  The British came after them some time later and they met at Culloden.  The hour long Battle of Culloden in April of 1746 proved to be the end of Jacobite uprising.  The Culloden Battlefield is a Scottish National Trust site with an excellent visitors center explaining all the lead up to the Battle.  The grounds around the visitors center where the battle actually took place is pretty much a large open field. However, excavations still occasionally turn up artifacts from the battle.  Having been to Culloden we are now anxious to go home and rewatch the first several seasons of "Outlander" now that we have a better understanding of what was going on at the time.

Tuesday morning we were a bit lazy, taking our time getting started.  We are on vacation after all. We did a bit of shopping in Inverness before hitting the road again. We drove southeast out of Inverness heading towards Dundee.  This took us through the Highlands again which were even more foreboding because the weather was lousy;  temperatures in the mid 40's, overcast with occasional rain showers, and 30 to 40 mile an hour winds.  Our only company were the sheep we saw the whole way through the mountains. 

Scottish Highlands

At one point on the journey we stopped at an attraction called "the Watchers" which was nothing more then 5 semi-enclosed chair like structures where one could sit and look out on the bleak landscape.  The wind was so fierce and bitterly cold that we quickly returned to the warmth of our car.

Lynda Watching

The Watchers

Our journey down and out of the Highlands took us by Balmoral Castle, one of the Queen's country homes.  There are lovely pine forests surrounding the castle so we were unable to see it. But it is in a picturesque part of Scotland.  We eventually arrived in Dundee on the eastern coast.  Our reason for visiting was to go to the recently opened Victoria and Albert Museum of Design.  Before leaving home we had made the decision to not book any accomodations except for when Jeff and family arrived.  We figured we would have no trouble finding places to stay and we did not want to be locked into being at a certain place at a certain time.  This plan didn't work out too well.  It did not help that we had no guide books with us that listed accomodations, plus we were unable to access the internet on our phones.  Unable to find anything to our satisfaction in Dundee we drove on to St. Andrews, the next stop on our itinerary.  (Anybody surprised?)  We figured we had a better chance of finding someplace to stay in St. Andrews and it was only 13 miles back to Dundee to see the V&A museum.  This plan worked.

Wednesday morning, Tim was up early and went into St. Andrews hoping to be able to join up with a twosome or threesome to play golf at the Old Course, considered the birthplace of golf, as well as one of the great golf courses in the entire world.  Unfortunately, at 7:30 he would have been 18th on the waiting list.  The starter recommended that Thursday would probably be a better day to get on the course. With no golf for Tim, we spent the morning exploring St. Andrews, seeing the ruins of the old Cathedral, walking about the University of St. Andrews and window shopping in the interesting mix of shops in the town.

In the afternoon we drove to Dundee to visit the Dundee V&A.  The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is one of the great museums in the world.  The building design is spectacular and very contemporary.  It is a three story tall building that is shaped much like a large boat.  The interior when you first walk in is open from the ground floor to the roof.  It too is awe inspiring.  Unfortunately, the building may be of more interest then the exhibits.  There were only two exhibit halls, both on the third level. One that we think is a permanent exhibit features Scottish design through the years.  Hence the name of the museum. The displays featured design from a wide range of products, from fashion to the arts and industry. It was an interesting exhibit.  There was also a temporary exhibit about the history of the design of cruise ships.  This exhibit required a ticket. We decided not to visit this exhibit.  The last order of the day was very mundane.  We found a laundromat so that we would continue to have clean under garments to wear.

As we are finishing this post it is Thursday morning.  Tim has just returned from another unsuccessful attempt to get on the Old Course.  The plan now is to check out of our hotel and drive around Edinburgh, heading east to a village called Gullane where Tim knows of a course that is highly thought of that might be easier to get on. We will keep you posted.

Greetings from Bonnie Scotland

Sunday, September 24, 2018

We started this blog in December, 2008 as a way to communicate with all of our family and friends during our "Around the World" adventure. It was popular enough that many of you asked us to continue it on our following trips.  We have found over the last few years that it is not only a vehicle for entertaining vicarious travelers but also has become a travel diary for us.  We still get great joy in going back and rereading portions of the blog.  Remember - if you think we are being a bit verbose, keep in mind it is a blog for us as much as you.

 Thursday evening,  September 20th, we took a 10:34 p.m. flight from Detroit to London, landing Friday morning at 10:30, forty minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival.  Thank you Delta.  We also found British passport control to be considerable more efficient then in the past.  Consequently, we were in our rental car on our way to Liverpool at noon.  Unfortunately, traffic was a nightmare all the way to our destination.  We ended up in a hotel just outside of Preston, England which is located about 20 miles northeast of Liverpool.  It was an exhausting day.

Our first stop on Friday was Blackpool, a small town on the west coast of England about 15 miles north of Liverpool.  It is famous in England as a family resort town that caters to middle class blue collar families.  A poor man's Cedar Point if you will.  Within one block you will find Ripley's Believe It or Not next to a Fish and Chip shop, next to 2 souvenir shops, next to another Fish and Chips Shop, next to Madam Tussuad's,  next to a gypsy fortune teller, next another Fish and Chip Shop.  We think you get the picture.  The whole lot of it is across the road from the beach so when you tire of the stores you can soak up the sun.  The garish lighting and decoration is in direct contrast to what we would consider proper, dignified Britain.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Blackpool, were glad we had stopped, and have no plans to ever return.  Just by happenstance (ha) on the way to Blackpool we stopped by the Royal Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club so Tim could see one of the courses he arranged this trip around.

Horseradish Carriage in Blackpool

Our destination for Saturday was Prestwick, Scotland, on the west Scotland coast.  To get to Prestwick we chose a route that took us through the Lake District of northern England.  It earns its nickname by being the location of a number of lakes with Lake Windermere being the largest.  The hilly scenery around the Lake District attracts a large number of outdoor enthusiasts, not only for the boating but also for the spectacular hiking that is available.  We drove through several beautiful towns on Lake Windermere that contained lovely hotels, inns, and B and B's as well as wonderful shopping.  The Lake District was in stark contrast to Blackpool.

Our last stop of the day was rather sombre.  Lockerbie, Scotland is where Pan Am flight 103 crashed in 1988, as the result of a terrorist bomb being exploded on the plane. We had done no research ahead of this trip but thought there might be some sort of memorial to this horrific attack.  What we found was the "Garden of Remembrance" located towards the back of a cemetery located just outside of Lockerbie.  It was an understated but appropriately dignified memorial to the 288 people who lost their lives in this tragedy.

We spent Saturday night at the Adamton Country House Hotel just outside of Prestwick.  Parts of the Adamton House were quite nice and were probably very impressive once upon a time but the House is now a tired shadow of its former grandeur.  We took a trip into Troon for a lovely dinner on the harbor - and just happened by Royal Troon - you guessed it...another famous golf course.

The reason for going to Prestwick was so Tim could play golf at the Prestwick Golf Club.  Prestwick, founded in 1851, was the site of the first ten British Open Golf Championships, now simply called "The Open".  It no longer hosts major golf tournaments because there is not room for all of the ancillary components that surround a major modern golf tournament, i.e. Corporate sponsor tents, merchandise tents, food concessions, temporary press and media facilities, etc.  However, it still is a challenging course to golfers of all abilities.  Tim's caddy remarked that he would love to see the top pro's play Prestwick. He said that they would not be able to bully the course with their monstrous length.  It is a links style course right on the ocean that looks nothing like the typical American golf course. While Tim had a great time and loved experiencing this Scottish golf, please don't ask him his score.

17th Hole at Prestwick

After Tim finished his round of golf, he picked up Lynda at the hotel and we drove to Glasgow.  Recently we have been reading that this dingy industrial town has had a bit of a comeback featuring among other things new and exciting architecture in the city center.  While we did find some impressive older architecture, what struck us most was the chaotic traffic patterns throughout the center of the city that made driving around the city a mind numbing experience.  It did not take long for us to pull over in a parking spot and quickly plan an exit strategy out of Glasgow.

We are spending Sunday night in a hotel with beautiful views of Loch Lomand out our window.  Tomorrow we plan a leisurely drive through this beautiful part of Scotland on our way to Inverness.

Cheers. 

Beijing, China

April 24-25,2018

Tuesday and Wednesday were days of stark contrast as we visited The Great Wall, Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. All three were spectacular edifices that caused various emotional responses. 

Tuesday morning we were bused about 30 miles outside of Beijing to a region of mountains where we spent two hours walking a very small section of the Wall. This was a well preserved portion of the Wall which attracted many visitors. Walking the Wall was challenging because of the steepness of the Wall as it winds up and down the mountains. The weather was spectacular and the views were picture postcard worthy. Lynda walked just a small portion while Tim took on the challenge of joining others in our group in climbing up the steeper inclines. One of our compatriots had an app on his cell phone that measures gradation and told us that the grade of the Wall at times was 50 to 60 degrees. We all agreed that climbing up the walkway on the Wall was just as difficult as walking up the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. This was an exhilarating experience for both of us as we added another one of the Seven Wonders of the World to our list of places visited.

Wednesday morning was another Chamber of Commerce morning weather-wise as we visited Tienanmen Square, probably best known to our readers as the site of the student protests in 1989.  This is where the iconic picture of the single student standing defiantly in front of a Chinese Army tank was taken. This square is several hundred acres large, overwhelming in its size. There was a line of thousands of people that snaked throughout the square waiting to walk past Chairman Mao’s tomb which didn’t even have his remains in it. We found this to be a bit disturbing. There was really nothing else to see in the square other then the large buildings that surrounded it.

The final stop on Wednesday was the Forbidden City, built between 1406-1420, and  home to the Emperors of China. It is now a museum of sorts although we went inside only one of the buildings which contained an ugly throne made with deer antlers, a couple of rifles, several bow and arrows, and some Chinese calligraphy. There must have been 40 or 50 particularly large buildings (we lost count) that stood on multiple large courtyards, just one building after another and one huge courtyard after another, all looking alike.  The sheer size of each of the buildings ended up dulling our senses. Had we been Chinese or had we studied Chinese history and understood the significance of each building, we probably would have appreciated the Forbidden City more.

The other attraction in Beijing that should be noted was the dinner we had at the top Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing, which has hosted several U.S. Presidents. Like practically all of the places we ate in China we sat at large round tables for 8-10 people with a lazy Susan in the middle where the different dishes of food were placed. There is strict protocol to the preparation of Peking Duck. Air is blown into the duck to separate the skin from the meat and then the duck is hung to dry for several days before being roasted. In the restaurant in which we ate a chef carved the duck on a cart next to our table. Eating the duck was almost like eating a taco. We took a very thin, almost translucent, pancake, spread a bit of hoisin sauce on the pancake, added pieces of the duck including the skin and then finished with various toppings such as slivers of onion, celery, beet, mushrooms, red cabbage, etc. The pancake is rolled over the top of all of this and eaten like a soft shell taco. Delicious. This meal was particularly enjoyable because, for the first time since leaving our boat, there was unlimited complimentary wine, and our tour guide was not rushing us to our next stop. We have enjoyed wonderful conversations covering a wide array of topics with all of the people on our bus at all of our meals.

This brings us to the end of another wonderful trip. We are both looking forward to going home but it won’t be long before we start planning our next adventure - stay tuned! 

Xi'an, China

April 22, 2018

Xi’an is the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors, over 6600 life size soldiers and horses made of Terra Cotta. These warriors were created by the first Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, to protect the Emperor in the after life. They were discovered in 1974 by a farmer drilling for water. True story. This is now both a major visitors attraction as well as an ongoing archaeological endeavor.  Most of the warriors were broken apart during the process of being buried and archaeologists are doing the painstaking work of putting them back together. This work occurs at night so that neither the visitors nor archaeologists are disturbed by the other. We saw the Terra Cotta Warriors 9 years ago on our National Geographic Expedition and were looking forward to seeing them again. We were not disappointed. The attention to detail on both the figures and the features on the heads is incredible.  The rank of each warrior is determined by the knot of hair on top of his head and the division of the army is shown in the differing detail of the warriors uniforms. In the ensuing 9 years there have been obvious changes. The areas where archaeologists were at work were made clear by the presence of desks, file cabinets, etc. We could also see individual warriors that were in the assembly process with different numbers attached to various parts of the figures by the scientists. Unfortunately, the attraction has been “Disneyfied” by the addition of a long pedestrian-only street leading up to the exhibit containing restaurants, fast food joints, gift shops and souvenir shops where one can purchase an array of warrior related tchotchkes. We understand that the Terra Cotta Warriors now attract over 80,000 visitors a day so all these new additions should not be surprising.

This was the only tour we took in Xi’an. There was an optional tour in the evening that included dinner and a Tang Dynasty show that we had seen on our previous visit. Instead, we visited the mall across the street from our hotel and found a pizzeria that was a welcome change from all the Chinese food we have been eating.

Monday morning we flew to Beijing and were bused directly to “Old Beijing”  where we took an hour long Rickshaw ride that included a half hour visit with a local family similar to the visit we made in Tibet. This was followed by a “tea tasting.” Tomorrow, Tuesday, we visit the Great Wall and enjoy, we hope, a Peking Duck dinner in the evening. Wednesday we go to the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square before flying home on Thursday. Our last blog posting may not happen until we get home.

Old Beijing

Local Home Visit

Tea Tasting

Several other random observations. Each one of our hotels has had two gas masks in the closet!  While traffic laws in Italy tend to be suggestions, the Chinese have taken this to a new level. We have watched our bus driver make a left hand turn as soon as the light turned green directly in front of oncoming traffic. Likewise, our bus drivers don’t wait for a break in traffic before turning right on a red light. Unlike the rest of the civilized world where pedestrians have the right of way, in China you take your life in your own hands even when crossing the street in a clearly marked crosswalk.  Finally, motorbikes are everywhere and they don’t make any noise. Tim took a walk one morning in Shanghai while Lynda was getting ready and was on a quiet side street when about 10-12 motorbikes went by. It was like someone had hit the “mute” button as they went by.

As always, we hope you have enjoyed following along on our adventures and appreciate the interest that you show in our travels.  We look forward to seeing you all when we get home and don’t forget that you are suppose to have spring in place for us.