JULY 23-24 AND LONDON

Day 23 Tuesday, July 13 – Coventry & Stratford (Lady Godiva & Bill Shakespeare)

A sunny 17 degrees as we head off to Coventry. On the way we pass through Sherwood Forest, made famous of course by Walter Scott with Ivanhoe and Robin Hood. Apparently Scott wrote the book after hearing minstrel songs about ‘robbing in the woods’ which did take place. Unfortunately, while the Forest covered about 800 miles, it is long since cut down so we encountered no merry men hanging from trees.

We arrive in Coventry which is as far from the coast (about 70 miles) as we have been for the past 3 weeks. Coventry was, and is famous for building racing cars of all ilk. We view Coventry Cathedral and the spectacular modifications to the original (heavily bombed during WWII) done by Sir Basil Spence in the 1950’s. We then find the statue of Lady Godiva and the story of ‘peeping tom’. I note later after seeing the picture below that she was on a horse.

Next on to Sratford-Upon-Avon where we stop for pictures of Anne Hathaway’s thatched cottage, visit Shakespeare’s house and birthplace, and get a professionally done photo of our group.

Some of us head off on a tour of the small English towns and stop for ‘tea and scone’ in the quaint village of Broadway. Our last night in a hotel and it turns out to be our first Holiday Inn and again ‘internet-challenged’. A great turn-out in the bar and the last for Trevor and Alma who are heading off early to catch their flight home to New Zealand.

Day 24 Wednesday, July 14 – Back to London

Through the Cotswold Hills and a brief stop (we think only to time our arrival at Blenheim Palace) in medieval Stow-on-the-Wold before arriving for our final site of interest, Blenheim Palace. This is the home of the 11th Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. We receive a private tour and then have close to 2 hours to visit the gardens, the rest of the castle and have lunch. Quite the estate and a lot about Churchill as well. The Castle was also used as a school and military intelligence headquarters during WWII.

The trip back to London is quicker than anticipated with little traffic. As a result we arrive back where we started at the Hilton Metropole and the pace is frantic as goodbyes are said. Some are staying at this hotel while others head off to stay elsewhere, and some prepare to head to the airport. Michael shows up to meets us and we head off by the tube to the ‘flat’ where we are to stay for the next four nights.

Days 25,26,27,28 Wednesday, July 14 – Saturday, July 18 – Canadians in London

We make it by tube to the home of Nicole and Michael who donate their bedroom for the next four nights while they use the air mattress. It is a tight fit but quite comfortable and we settle in easily. Michael is working at the Embassy and studying for an exam on the 21st while Nicole is working on her Master’s thesis but they find time to keep us very busy. Anne and learn to ‘follow the weaving & bouncing blonde head’ as Nicole at full speed guides us through the tube and busy streets as we strive to see as much of London as possible. Michael takes a day off and joins us Friday and Saturday. We see the Tower of London, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, numerous parks, Big Ben, the Eye, Buckingham Palace, markets, lots of pubs, and many tube stops. We also ride a double-decker to return home one night. This proves to be the high point of our visit and we are well entertained and never stop moving. Some of the pictures from our initial day on arriving and the final week follow but two of the most impressive things we did was to see Billy Eliot at the theatre (tremendous entertainment in a great theatre) and the walking guided tour of old London that included the history of the guilds.

Day 22 Monday, July 12 - Off to York

Day 22 Monday, July 12 - Off to York

Another nice day and we are off as usual at 8am with a stop at the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe’s Floors (flowers) Castle. It is a working estate of over 50,000 acres with most of the land rented our for tenant farming. We arrive early and are the only tourists during our visit. It is not unusual to see members of the family who live in the estate and apparently we just missed the Duchess. The Castle is the one used in the film Greystone where “Tarzan” stayed in the movie. The Castle is very impressive with art and furnishings from very centuries. As is often the case with Dukes and others of ‘blue blood‘ who marry into non-titled wealth, the 8th Duke married an American heiress, May Goelet, who brought an impressive collection of floor to ceiling (these are castle ceilings) tapestries that cover entire rooms. Most impressive Castle so far.

An interesting area passed along the way is Keilder Forest which is home to over 50 different species of lady bugs, the most in all of Europe. It is a mystery as to why the bugs call it home since the forest itself was only planted in the 1920’s.

We pass into England at 11:20 am and it immediately starts to rain, much to the amusement of our English guide and driver. We stop to see a portion of Hadrian’s wall that was built by the Romans to keep the barbarians (read Scots) out of England. The wall covered 84 miles across all of England from Carlisle to New Castle. The Roman soldiers were used to build it and it took 4 years to complete the 22 foot high, 8 foot wide structure. It was discovered recently (no idea what recently means in this country) that the wall was painted white to frighten the ‘scots’. This was the furthest northern limit of the roman empire during the greatest days of the empire.
We pass Newcastle on the river Tyme and the largest shopping centre in Europe (nothing compared to the monster malls in North America..nothing to brag about) which attracts shoppers from Norway and Sweden, two countries that apparently are as expensive, if not more so, than Britain and Ireland.

We stop in York, the most complete medieval city in England. We were too late to get into York Minster, the gothic cathedral, second only to Canterbury, but it commands impressive views from many sites in the city. The city is on the river Ouse which runs through the city and is a major waterway for the canal barge boats used for touring.

450 years after the Romans left, the Vikings arrived from Ireland and called the place Jorvik, now York. York’s street names almost all originated with the Vikings. The ‘Shambles’ proves to be the highlight, a twisting lane where the house seem to lean in with the top stories almost touching. The word ‘shambles’ is derived from an early word for slaughterhouse which is what the street once housed. There are hooks along the walls of the shops which once held pieces of meat and the cobbled streets lead downward with wide runnels to allow the blood to flow.
A very pretty city and lots to see. We stop for the night at the Ramada York, another internet-unfriendly hotel.

Day 21 Sunday, July 12 An Edinburgh Day

Day 21 Sunday, July 12 An Edinburgh Day

A comfortable day of sun, clouds and brief showers starts with a bus tour and local guide.

We toured Edinburgh Castle and saw the Scottish Crown Jewels and the history of the Castle is quite amazing as it was used to house prisoners of various wars, including WWII (worth googling). There are cells where prisoners were held, and various artifacts from the various wars (seems Britain is never short of war relics of one sort or another). The Royal Mile is a mile long street, mostly for pedestrians, is lined with shops and pubs and entertainers and at either end is Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace where the Royals stay when in Edinburgh (we tour this as well).

The old city, which includes the Royal Mile, Castle and Palace is on the higher ground and very hilly. The new part of the city was designed by a young Spanish architect and is the first city to use the now standard grid system with streets running north-south and east-west, making it easy to find your way around. There are plenty of pubs and shopping areas and the view from the new city looking up is quite impressive.

This evening there is an optional tour of the moored Royal Yacht Britannia, once the royal residence for the Queen’s state visits and family holidays. They never traveled on it as, apparently, they would fly to meet the yacht and then stay on it. The consensus is that it appears quite small in terms of size of rooms and not as “ritzy” as people expected.

Day 20 Saturday July 11 St.Andrews and Edinburgh

Day 20 Saturday, July 11 St. Andrews & Edinburgh



Another nice day that sees us traveling through the Grampian Mountains and some ski areas. The roads are extremely narrow, hilly and winding and closed in the winter due to snow conditions. There are snow poles along the roads to mark the road when in snow. These roads, like many through Britain were built by General Wade in the 1700’s for the movement of troops. Every so many miles there are spots to pull over to allow oncoming traffic to pass as in places the road is really singl lane. This is the area near Balmoral Castle where the royals spend time in August. They are often seen driving their landrovers along the roads. The Castle itself cannot be seen from the roads.



This is also called the “whiskey trail” as 80% of the distilleries are located in the area. There are cairns (piles of rocks) along the route where people add a stone for good luck. Naturally we stop and most of us add our own rock to the pile. Again, spectacular scenery.

We stop for lunch in Braemar the home of the highland games and witness (what is described as a parade) a young pipe band preparing for the junior games which are to begin the following day. We see the home of Robert Louis Stevenson of Treasure Island fame who began the book while sickly in the top room of the row type house in which he lived.

Now quite sunny we stop at St. Andrews, whose Royal and Ancient Golf Club (1754) has given us the rules of golfing. Many pictures taken at the 18th hole as golfers play out the hole. The course itself is actually public and they do not play Sundays when the entire course is open to the public for walking. there are 5 courses on the site and the old course is on the sea and the sandy beach is the one used in the film “Chariots of Fire”.
We pass through Kelso where Anne’s father was stationed during WWII and take pictures from the coach to show him on our return. The city has a population of about 165,000, the 4th largest in Scotland and is where the ATM was invented and where Scott left on the Discovery and then the Terra Nova to the Antarctica (beaten there by the Norwegians).

We leave Dundee to Edinburgh over the elegant Fourth Road Bridge where we stop at the Barcelo Edinburgh Carlton, on the North Bridge, another ‘non-internet friendly’ hotel. While the high and unnecessary cost of internet access is not a problem for most, it is one of the things that bothers me the most.

The majority of the group head off to dinner and a Scottish evening with dancers, bagpipes and a bit of the Haggis. Anne and I do not go but head on our own for a walking tour and an Italian dinner on the Royal Mile. Talking to some of those who did attend the event indicates that it was a success and enjoyed. Edinburgh is very busy with the Royal Mile and both the old and new parts of the city being very crowded and, unfortunately, very dirty. Part of the reason for the crowds relates to a Crosby, Stills and Nash Concert this evening at the site of Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile. The street is cobbled with varied entertainment including musicians, sword swallower, mimes etc. It is also Saturday night in a University town. It is an easy city to walk in with the major sites visible, impressive and accessible.

Day 19 Friday July 10 Whiskey tour and Nessie Search

Day 19 Friday, July 10 Inverewe Gardens & Glen Orn Whiskey Distillery - Search for Nessie

Seems I put our search for Nessie in yesterday's tour..actually it was today.

One of the easy days when we don’t have to rush to get the bags out and head off to a new City. We do get on the ‘coach’, but this time to tour and back to the same hotel. Some of us are getting a bit weary, particularly those who are on their second tour. Many from Australia, New Zealand and some from the U.S.A. have already done a tour in Europe, the United States or western Canada. They are indeed a hardy bunch.

The weather holds up as we head off along the shores of Loch Maree to Inverewe Gardens. This is as far north as we go and we are at the same latitude as Labrador and Moscow. This explains the very long hours of daylight but not the vegetation, plants etc. we see in the gardens. There are plants from around the world, including Canadian pines, and subtropical plants that thrive because of the warm gulf stream. It is an interesting walk bordering the Sea and the only drawback are the small, biting insects, akin to sand fleas and black flies, that are attracted to the flowering plants and the sweet aroma. Guide Michael refers to them as “no-see-ums” a terms also used in Canada.

We drive back south along Loch Glascarnoch and stop for some scenic photos along the way at Loch Broon and the Loch Moor Valley. While we see a lot more open, rural land areas than expected it is pointed out that not an inch of Great Britain has not been lived upon, mined, or built upon over the centuries. The many expansive barren fields and hills, now populated everywhere with sheep, were once heavily forested, often with oak. Even the famous and blooming heather was actually planted during the Elizabethan times. There is a great deal of reforestation underway throughout Great Britain and Ireland. The roads are again extremely narrow and winding.

Our next stop is the Glen Ord distillery which I find extremely interesting. Emily, our young guide, is a local and working during a University break where she is studying opera singing in Glasgow. We follow the entire process to the end where the whiskey is stored in thousands of barrels. Only about 5% of the 200 million litres of alcohol produced is used for their single malt Glen Ord brand. The rest is used for blended whiskeys like Johnny Walker, or Baileys, gin etc. We see the barrels where the alcohol is stored in casks from Kentucky (bourbon barrels) or Spain (Sherry). After storage of 12 years the contents are ’married’ on a 50/50 basis to make their whiskey. The barrels are purchased in Kentucky and Spain, taken apart for shipping, and put reassembled by Coopers. They store the filled casks in over 50 sites across Great Britain. Apparently the coopers are paid by the cask and the record to reassemble a cask currently stands at about 7 & 1/2 minutes.

Back to the hotel and then many of us head off on an optional, but far from free, search by boat for Nessie, the famous Loch Ness monster. We start with an interesting museum visit where the history of Nessie sightings and scientific investigations are presented and then board boats to search for ourselves. Alas, no sightings. There is a myth that Saint Columba, one of Saint Patrick’s desciples, holds the record for the first sighting, and he drove the monster off with a crucifix (doesn’t just work for vampires). We dine at the local Nessie hotel, the Drumnadrochit..have not a clue as to how to pronounce it. First meal of fish and chips and it is in Scotland..and not great. Back to Inverness and pack for the drive to Edinburgh.

　
Day 18 Thursday July 9th Isle of Skye and on to Inverness

Today we follow the ‘bonnie banks’ of Loch Lomond and enter the highlands, by Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, Fort William and then the ‘road to the isles’ and ferry to the Isle of Skye. As we passed Loch Lomond (the largest lake in Scotland by surface area..Loch Ness is greater in terms of water volume) 24 miles long x 5 miles across, we were slightly detoured to miss the traffic heading for the start of the Scottish Open.

The day is sunny and we are into the hills, green, treed and rocky and we stop for photo shoot at Tarbet. Winding, narrow roads, mountainous, somewhat like foothills of large mountains, and there are the usual 3 sister mountains as in other countries. The temperature is now 13 degrees and there are small patches of snow in the higher hills. We stop briefly at Glencoe..where the McDonald/Campbell feud began with the murder of the Campbells. This is also where parts of some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.

It gets more mountainous and we pass a ski hill..at 4406 feet the highest hill in Britain is noted.
At Fort William we see a statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie (not the last you will here of him) and take a picture of an aqueduct also found in a Potter film.

Off to Mallaig and board the ferry to the Isle of Skye. Only ourselves, fellow Canadian, Barbara, guide Michael and Australian representative, Don, brave the open deck for the crossing.
On the Isle we visit the Museum of the Isles at the Clan Donald Centre. The Isle of Skye is home to about 15,000 and receives some 120 inches of rain on average.

We board the Coach to leave the Isle and pass Loch Ness on our way the Highland capital, Inverness. Guide Michael has forewarned us that some Globus clients do not favour the Columba Hotel where we are to say, but to our surprise it proves to be a favourite for many of our group. Inverness proves to be an extremely pretty City with beautiful paths along both sides of the River Ness and many quaint and attractive houses and streets.

We enjoy the hotel and regret that we cannot stay yet another day here. It is a City that we would certainly recommend seeing.

This evening we are off for a boat cruise on Lake Ness and, while it is a clear day, there are no sighting. There is an interesting museum type presentation prior to the tour that gives a very complete of the history of Nessie sightings, scientific investigations, and the lake itself. Dinner follows at the local hotel and we have our first taste of fish and chips..albeit in Scotland.
On returning to the hotel we join a group in the hotel bar to once again discuss the “ashes” cricket thing. Attending are Jessica, ourselves, Cheryl and Graham, Trevor and Alma, Kevin and Julie, Gordon and Mitzi.

Some more stuff…

..Scotland and Finland are the main suppliers of salmon for Europe, and use salmon farms which cause similar problems as in Canada when they escape and breed with the natural salmon.
..Someone named Munro climbed and mapped all of the higher hill/mountains in excess of 3000 feet, all 184 of them. Following in his footsteps (so to speak) are what are called “munro baggers” and out of the 5 million or so Scots almost 10% make claim to this title. As they climb each peak they check it off …referring to this practice as “bagging another one”.
..Scotland (859) is older than England (872).
..bobbies in England, peelers in Ireland, police in Northern Scotland.
..80,000 deer in Scotland..so far we have seen 2 (the royal ‘we’ as in not me personally but someone else on the bus). They cull 5,000 a year.
..Hunting is very expensive (1000 pounds a day for license) ; as is fishing which can cost 200 pounds per day;
..missed the name but the highest mountain in Great Britain is in Scotland and rises 4406 feet.
..conscription in Britain was only initiated for the wars and done away with in the early 60’s.
..the motto on the Scottish coat of arms, rampant lion on yellow background, translates into “nobody strikes me with impunity”.
..85% of Brits live in urban areas and the countryside of Scotland in particular is much more rural and uninhabited than I expected.
..Scotland is the main source of lobsters for Paris and, with the Finns, Salmon for all of Europe.

Day 17 Wednesday July 8th On to Glasgow


Started off in a bit of rain and about 14 degrees (about 58 American) but it warmed up and cleared during the day. Passed by Blackpool which is still a favored holiday resort, picking up lately as the economy slumps and Spain and Portugal become a bit pricey. We start off on a major highway (British standards of course) initially flat and well treed, the lake district. We note a lot of Irish ‘Viking-Irish’ names as Vikings came over from Dublin to settle the area.
We pass impressive well constructed fieldstone walls..lot of sheep again.


Very popular holiday area with many hikers..you can tell the Brits - short pants, hiking boots and white legs…narrow road, lakes, trees, boats. Very impressed with the Village of Ambleside.
On through rambling hills and stop in Grasmere (grassy lake) and visit the graves of William Wordsworth and his family. There are two graves with a husband and wife team of Wordsworth so I point out the wrong one to a couple of tourists who promptly take a picture. Beautiful village with a stream running through it and we purchase some gingerbread (milder than in Canada but quite good).


Carboot sales are quite popular and similar to garage sales in Canada. The actual historical background for Tories and Whigs relates to Irish and Scottish horse thieves respectively.
Into Scotland at 1:30 pm through lowland hills, 5 million in Scotland.
Island has the shamrock, England the rose, Wales the Leak and Scotland, the thistle (defender of the nation). The story goes that the Vikings were attacking Scotland soldiers at night and took off their boots to sneak up at night. One Viking stepped on a thistle and cried out waking the Scots who repelled the attack. Thus the thistle (nice touch).

Some more infill….

..the Scots wear the Sporn (sp? Purse actually) to keep their kilts down and to keep their valuables. The English say that they are cheap, ie. Can’t get copper out of their Sporns.
..a croft is a small house and a crofter is a shepherd.
..Scots are famous for their inventions (not all invented in Scotland, but still invented by native Scots) which include: whiskey, tar, rubber (Dunlop), TV, telephone (Bell in Canada), penicillin, refrigerator, steam engine, golf, cloning (Dolly..apparently now stuffed and in museum) etc.
..no death sentence in Europe.
..no large RV’s and few RV camping spots and they are small and do not have the same services seen in North America.
..2nd Scot flag seen often is yellow with the rampant lion in honour of Robert the Bruce (more on him later).
..hotels rarely have ice machines but rooms are always fully equipped with iron/board, hair dryer, tea & coffee, good TV services.
..many of the younger hotel staff are from across all of Europe, so many different accents abound.
..national bird of Britain is the robin.

We stop at Gretna Green where Smithies marry runaway couples. Pictures of local cows are taken and this is the first chance to buy Scottish souvenirs and the troops go wild. Tams, scarves, St. Andrews golf stuff…and Estelle buys a tartan Viking type hat with horns..some great (read comical) photos taken.

We stop in Glasgow (means green place) which is 50/50 catholic/protestant and their big sport is celtic football with the catholics supporting the green/white Glasgow ?, and the protestants, the blue clad Glasgow Rangers.

We do a very quick driving tour of Glasgow viewing the 12th century cathedral, university buildings, St. George’s Square etc. before heading to the hotel, Glasgow Thistle which proves to withln walking distance of the centre of town. Anne and I head off into town as the offices empty and the streets are very busy. We find the Square and the statues of Victoria, Robbie Burns, and Walter Scott. Unfortunately the museum is closed as is the old lighthouse building famous for its interior architecture. We take a photo of the outside and head down to the river Clyde and follow it along back to the hotel. Again only pay as you go internet service and dinner is in a large two tiered dining area with three tour groups and the noise makes chatting a challenge (nice touch).

Glasgow is a busy city but well laid out on a grid system. It is known for its universities (Strathclyde and Glasgow), museums, concert halls and its Georgian squares. We pass the oldest building in Glasgow, the Provost (small but did get a photo from the ‘coach’).