Woke up to more amazing sunshine in normally cloudy Scotland. Without the wind, it was a perfectly warm day, but then that arctic wind blast would hit you and remind you that you're in Scotland, not Florida. Today was our last day of vacation, and the day we set aside to go into Edinburgh. We hopped on the bus and made our way to the city center. The tourists were already pouring into Edinburgh Castle, and I was very glad Nate and I had advance tickets so we didn't have to wait in the very long ticket line. Dad was planning on hanging out at the castle coffee shop while Nate and I took the tour. Mom and dad have been to the castle many many times, and I'm sure they're pretty burned out on it. It was only my second time there, but I was still enjoying it, because it's such a well maintained place and rich with history. But then we made our way to the line to see the Scottish Crown Jewels. I don't know if it's because we were there on a holiday weekend or what, but the line was all the way to the door, and snaked around numerous hallways and stairs. It was hot inside, and my temper was boiling over as more and more people started cutting in line and pushing their way into any small gap in the line they could find. I tried the whole “tongue clicking” thing, and made comments about people being very rude, and it didn't phase any of them. It was really ridiculous... we're all tourists, we're all here to see one thing and one thing only... cutting in line (or in the queue, as they say over here) is the ultimate “there's no one in the world but me” mentality that I think is the root of all evil in the world. I was getting so mad I was literally shaking at one point. Nate and I agreed whatever we do after this.... no more queuing for anything for awhile.
We did finally see the Scottish crown jewels, which was very interesting. The story is really pretty funny, after England and Scotland were united, the Scottish coronation jewels were no longer needed, so someone put them away, and literally forgot about them for hundreds of years. Who forgets about the crown jewels, I mean really? I think it was Sir Walter Scott who did some research and figured out the jewels were hidden in a castle basement and “rediscovered” them. The display also included the Stone of Scone, known also as the stone of destiny, which was captured from the Scottish Kings centuries ago, and English Kings and Queens sat on it for their coronations since then. I guess back in the 90s, the Scottish asked nicely if they could have their stone back, and the Queen said yes, it could be displayed in Edinburgh, but they had to agree that all future Kings and Queens would still get to sit on the stone for coronation, so an agreement was reached. We also walked through the royal apartments, where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James, who many years later would be crowned King of England (and he's the one who later builds the chapel for his mother at Westminster, to honor her death at the hands of her enemy Elizabeth I.)
We wandered around Edinburgh Castle some more, checking out displays about the castle prisons, and the Great Hall (where we sat in the fake throwns to be King and Queen like good tourists, and then a guard said to me “you don't want to sit there....” and then made the motion of a single finger across his throat.... ah yes, because Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded... yikes.) We also went into the bookshop where they were doing some Whiskey tasting, and I couldn't pass that up. But it was after noon at this point and the castle was getting insanely busy, so we decided to move on. As we left, the line to get tickets to enter the castle was about a hour wait, and I was very glad we were leaving.
The guidebook suggested a restaurant called Amber, above the Whiskey Experience store, but the book promised it wasn't touristy at all, but in fact quite nice. So we decided to try it out because we were pretty hungry. The food was excellent and Nate even tried some of mom's Haggis with whiskey sauce, and he even admitted it was good. So there you go, Nate's now had his Haggis, tatties and neeps (potatoes and turnips.)
We walked a little more of the Royal Mile, but then we decided to slip down to the Grassmarket, where all the public executions took place, and also home to many of the oldest pubs in town. We had a pint at a place called The Last Drop (with a hangman's noose on the sign.) Then we winded our way back up towards the Royal Mile. We were hoping to go inside the Mary King's Close, but the tours were sold out all day! Popular spot I guess... book in advance next time. The close in Edinburgh is like an alley between buildings, because the city was basically built up kind of around itself. As you walk around you see all these things that look like parts of bridges, and that's exactly what they are. The town built up around the bridges, creating an underground labyrinth, which would have been neat to see. Mary King's Close is supposedly haunted because a bunch of people got sick with the plague and so they walled them up in a building and closed it off until they all starved to death.
We did some shopping, although I couldn't convince Nate to purchase a kilt. He did buy a pin with his Cameron clan symbol on it. I looked for some gifts and bought a few small things, but the shops were mostly pretty touristy, and I was not looking for a beach towel made to look like a kilt. We walked down to the “End of the World” pub, so named because the castle walls used to be there, and the only entrance into the walled city was there at that corner, so anything beyond was indeed considered the end of the world. Then next street up was called “New Street.” We made our way back up the Royal Mile because we had dinner reservations at a place called the tower, but first we took in a pint at a place called Frankenstein. Dad said “all the kids like it” and so we were hoping to see what it was all about. I guess it was opened in 1818, about the time Mary Shelley's book came out, so people were into marketing even back then. So the place was packed with younger folks and it was really loud, so we had our pint and then pushed on to our dinner location. The Tower is a very limited menu, very classy upscale restaurant. And you can't beat the view.. all tables sit near the window with an amazing view of Edinburgh Castle. We all enjoyed our food and then walked back to the bus stop to make our way back to Dalkeith. We needed to call it an early night since we had a lot of packing to do, to figure out how to get all our whiskey and other trinkets packed away in our bags. After we finished with that, we toasted a few more glasses of wine with mom and dad, and started to feel a little sad about leaving Scotland in the morning. Nate and I shot some night time video of the Palace, hoping to catch some ghosts on film, but all we ran into was some college kids getting a late night snack in the kitchen, and wondering who the hell we were.
Sunday – Back Home
For the last time, Nate and I trucked down the one flight of stairs to the shower and wrestled with the hot water and then finished packing up everything. Luckily it all fit. Mom and dad took Nate and I to the airport, and we got checked in with no problems. We shared a final breakfast, and we we went towards the security check point I remembered that I hadn't removed my Swiss Army Knife from my backpack. Thank goodness I remembered since that's the knife I bought in Switzerland like at least 15 years ago and it has my name engraved on it... I would have been very upset with myself had I been forced to give that up. Mom took it for me and we said our final good byes. We had to fly an hour East to Amsterdam to catch our flight back west to Minneapolis (as Nate pointed out, flying right over Edinburgh again) and now we're on the long journey home. It's been a nice trip and so good to see family and friends. Hoping it won't be too long before we can visit again!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Friday -- Rosslyn and Scotch
We started out the day today at Rosslyn Chapel, also known as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew. It's also now famous for its role in the Dan Brown book Da Vinci Code, although the tour guide pointed out Brown never came here and much of what he says about Rosslyn Chapel is “rubbish.” She said that they also pointed out to the film makers that some of their model of Rosslyn was incorrect, but “they didn't want to change it.” The film however did get the part right about the “grail stone” in the center of the chapel. The term is used because it's the stone that holds up the structure, but located under it, scans show that there is a vast room, as deep as the chapel is tall, with honey comb like storage areas. What's buried in there will forever be unknown though, because they don't have permission to go in there. Some speculate that at the time of reformation, when the church was forced to get rid of all their figures of idolatry (statutes) that they buried the statues under there, while others speculate it houses anything from the holy grail, to Jesus or Mary's remains... maybe even Elvis. If you stand under the grail stone, some say they feel warmth and have been cured of diseases. As you wander through the chapel, you see all the amazing detail of the carvings on the walls and windows and pillars, and even the ceiling. The grandest pillar is the Apprentice's pillar.. the apprentice was killed because the Master was jealous of his work. Now the Master's face is carved in the wall facing the Apprentice's pillar, so he must spend eternity looking at it. The stone carvings also contain an ancient symbol called the Green Man, a circle faced little man with vines coming out of his mouth, a pagan symbol for fertility. Nate bought a couple of Green Men souvenirs. Because the chapel is carved out of sand stone, the Scottish rainy weather has taken its toll on the chapel, and is literally breaking the stone back down into sand, so there's a big metal canopy over the roof, to keep the rain off and help the stone dry out naturally. They thought they would have to keep the canopy up for another couple of years... so it would be nice to come back after the drying process and many other renovations are complete. The nice thing about the canopy being there is it gave us a chance to walk up and look at the detail of the carvings on the outside of the chapel. There are a series of pyramid type structures on top of the church, and every one is uniquely carved, no two are the same. There was also a pretty view of the valley and the Rosslyn Castle ruins in the distance.
Next we had a little bit of a long drive up towards the highlands, but we knew Nate would enjoy Edradour Scotch Distillery. It's claim to fame is it's the smallest Scotch distillery in Scotland, only producing 15 barrels of Whiskey a week. Because it's so small, their aim is to make the best whiskey with the most traditional distilling process, and it really was fascinating. And you can tell how rich and smooth the flavor is when they give you a sample at the beginning of the tour. The guide explained that the origin of the word whiskey is from the Gaelic Iske, meaning water (the full phrase meant water of life) and after several glasses of Iske, it sounded more and more like “whiskey.” (insert chuckles here.)
We were running a little behind schedule because there was a lot of campers and tourist traffic heading up to the highlands, so I guess Easter weekend is a big outdoors holiday for the Scots. But as we headed back south to Sterling Castle, the traffic was fine on our side, and even more backed up than earlier on the northbound lanes. Nate seemed to think it was a little chilly for camping, but I guess that just shows he's not a native Scotsman.
Then we got to Sterling Castle, which has a lot of history in Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots was crowned Queen at 9 months old there. The good thing is that it's not a ruin, so there's a lot of castle left there, but the bad thing is there isn't much to see because the place was turned into an Army barracks at a certain time. So much of the historical furnishings are gone, but the castle itself is still in tact. We enjoyed wandering around there and then spent way too much money at the Book Store/Whiskey Shop (mostly on Whiskey though.)
They kicked us out of the castle at 6pm sharp and then we headed back to Dalkeith and stopped at a neighborhood pub for some grub. Dad had some haggis, which Nate is refusing to try (spoil sport.) Now we're hanging out in mom and dad's flat drinking wine, catching up on the journal, and hopefully I will convince them to play hearts with my brand new “Queens and Kings of England” playing cards that I bought at Westminster.
Next we had a little bit of a long drive up towards the highlands, but we knew Nate would enjoy Edradour Scotch Distillery. It's claim to fame is it's the smallest Scotch distillery in Scotland, only producing 15 barrels of Whiskey a week. Because it's so small, their aim is to make the best whiskey with the most traditional distilling process, and it really was fascinating. And you can tell how rich and smooth the flavor is when they give you a sample at the beginning of the tour. The guide explained that the origin of the word whiskey is from the Gaelic Iske, meaning water (the full phrase meant water of life) and after several glasses of Iske, it sounded more and more like “whiskey.” (insert chuckles here.)
We were running a little behind schedule because there was a lot of campers and tourist traffic heading up to the highlands, so I guess Easter weekend is a big outdoors holiday for the Scots. But as we headed back south to Sterling Castle, the traffic was fine on our side, and even more backed up than earlier on the northbound lanes. Nate seemed to think it was a little chilly for camping, but I guess that just shows he's not a native Scotsman.
Then we got to Sterling Castle, which has a lot of history in Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots was crowned Queen at 9 months old there. The good thing is that it's not a ruin, so there's a lot of castle left there, but the bad thing is there isn't much to see because the place was turned into an Army barracks at a certain time. So much of the historical furnishings are gone, but the castle itself is still in tact. We enjoyed wandering around there and then spent way too much money at the Book Store/Whiskey Shop (mostly on Whiskey though.)
They kicked us out of the castle at 6pm sharp and then we headed back to Dalkeith and stopped at a neighborhood pub for some grub. Dad had some haggis, which Nate is refusing to try (spoil sport.) Now we're hanging out in mom and dad's flat drinking wine, catching up on the journal, and hopefully I will convince them to play hearts with my brand new “Queens and Kings of England” playing cards that I bought at Westminster.
Thursday -- Castle and Car Trouble
So my parents had mentioned that Dalkeith is supposedly haunted, and that the students often will hear footsteps above them, even though the attic area is locked and sealed up. This type of thing normally wouldn't bother me, but given the alcohol we drank, it weakened my defense mechanisms enough to be completely freaked out about ghosts all night, enough to the point that I had a dream (maybe) about feeling a hand on my back, and waking up to find Nate rolled with his back to me. Spooky, or just drunk paranoia. That coupled with the uncomfortable mattress meant a rough night's sleep.
After wrestling with the awkward dorm style showers, we had breakfast and then headed out for a day of touring. First stop was Jedburgh Abbey, one of four Abbeys located near the Scottish/English Border that were sacked and left in ruins after the border wars. Kind of strange to think that Christians would pillage other Christians with no sense of remorse, because “We're the RIGHT Christians.” The ruins hint at the amazing structure it must have been. It was started in Roman times and still had some Roman characters on a corner stone. I guess parts of the church were built in that Romanesque style, but it takes so long to build a structure like that, the times they were a changing, and so the rest of the church was built in the Gothic style. A little museum talked about how they were able to build these kinds of grand structures in medieval times. Nate and I wandered in the cemetery, with tombstones so old you could no longer read anything on them. The oldest ones you could actually make out were late 1700s.
We wrapped up our tour there and hopped in the car for a short trek across the border into England, and made our way to Alnwick, to see a castle that has been a consistent family home for 700 years, and is in such good shape, it's often used in movies (most recently in the Harry Potter movies.) But as we pulled into the small town of Alnwick, suddenly that burning smell in the car got really bad, and dad started having troubles with the clutch. Then right in the middle of a busy two lane road, the car would no longer shift, and we were stuck, blocking traffic. There was literally no where to go... and as we're trying to figure out where to push the car to, people are driving by calling us idiots and making gestures. Just a thought... if a car is stopped in the middle of the road where it shouldn't be... maybe it's because it CAN'T move. Eventually, some (illegal) parking opened up where we could push the car (and some friendly locals helped us out.) Mom called the car rental place and they called a tow. The locals told us there's a traffic warden who makes the rounds, but just “explain it all to him so he won't give you a ticket.” I asked if there was a car rental place in town and the lady laughed and said “we're small but we do have that.” So dad stayed with the car while mom took us to a place called the Treehouse for lunch. Someone didn't show for their reservation, so we were able to sneak into a prime spot right near the fireplace. The tall chairs carved out of very tall hunks of wood gave the restaurant the feeling of eating in a wooded area.
We walked back towards the castle and dad met us there, saying they had to go out to the airport to get us a new car. So it kind of worked out okay, since mom and dad had already seen Alnwick castle, so Nate and I went inside to explore while they took care of the car situation. As Nate and I walked up to the castle, we noticed a man and woman teaching archery, and thought that seemed like fun. So we paid two pounds each to get a mini lesson and then give it a shot to see if we could be master archers. Then we went inside the State Rooms, the rooms open and available to the public, since it is still a family home. It was very interesting to see all the old family portraits, and then some picture of the current family sitting in a simple frame on a book shelf. You could tell this wasn't like a palace where the idea is to preserve everything as it once was... this is a home, and like any home, you remodel and change things out. Tired of the red silk wall coverings in the dinging room? Well then let's put up some green silk covering. They were also doing a 200,000 pound restoration project in one of the rooms and we actually got to see them working on the cleaning and repair work. We wandered around outside checking out the towers and the wall walk. Pretty soon it was after 4pm and time to meet up with mom and dad at the entrance, where they pulled up with a bit bigger car with a working clutch!!
We rushed back to Dalkeith and then went to the Stables Bistro for dinner, so named because it was the old Dalkeith Palace horse stables. That's new since I was here visiting mom and dad six years ago (the last time my parents were here, and dad was teaching the program then, this time he's directing it.) Mom ordered wood pigeon with blood pudding (also known as bread pudding.. developed during times of poverty, when all people had to eat were oats, and they would pour animals blood on it for added flavor and nutrition... Nate and I realized that the black sausage looking thing we had eaten at Hotel Russell was actually blood pudding, and we both were a little uneasy about that.) But mom's blood pudding came out with cranberry sauce all over it, so that really added to the gross factor for me, but as we said, if you didn't know how blood pudding was made, you would actually think it tasted just fine.
So after dinner we headed into Newton Grange to go to Dean's Tavern, where a music club called Nittenfolk meets every Thursday. Dad enjoys this very much, but he's tired of bringing visitors who don't sing, so he insisted I bring a couple of songs. It was a really fun evening, with people singing American and Scottish folks songs and even some rock songs and then traditional Scottish songs as well. Dad sang a Bob Dylan song called “Boots of Spanish Leather” and then I attempted to sing my old audition song from Oklahoma, Ado Annie's “I can't say no” but about half way through I lost the melody and went up to a higher key, so I really struggled my way through it. But of course they're a polite and kind group so they applauded my efforts. Several people sang Carol King songs but then one woman sang an original folk song that was beautiful. Many of the women's songs dealt with women frustrated with men or disenchanted with love, so there were many jokes about that all night. Another woman sang a traditional English folk song about April which was very pretty. There was another song about singing blues on a red guitar, and she actually borrowed another man's red guitar to play it, which was a big hit with the group. The man whose red guitar she borrowed also sang a fun sing-a-long kind of song about life in the city and running a laundromat, which had it's dark humor, customary in many of the Scottish folk songs we had been hearing. Then dad sang again and sang a song he had written called “The First Time” and it was really a lovely song, many people complimented him on it when he finished. And then I sang Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin, and that redeemed my earlier performance... lots of people sang along and it was a good time. The evening ended with a “toe tapper” from one of the fiddler players and everyone joined in with their guitars and drums and it was a fun way to end the evening.
After wrestling with the awkward dorm style showers, we had breakfast and then headed out for a day of touring. First stop was Jedburgh Abbey, one of four Abbeys located near the Scottish/English Border that were sacked and left in ruins after the border wars. Kind of strange to think that Christians would pillage other Christians with no sense of remorse, because “We're the RIGHT Christians.” The ruins hint at the amazing structure it must have been. It was started in Roman times and still had some Roman characters on a corner stone. I guess parts of the church were built in that Romanesque style, but it takes so long to build a structure like that, the times they were a changing, and so the rest of the church was built in the Gothic style. A little museum talked about how they were able to build these kinds of grand structures in medieval times. Nate and I wandered in the cemetery, with tombstones so old you could no longer read anything on them. The oldest ones you could actually make out were late 1700s.
We wrapped up our tour there and hopped in the car for a short trek across the border into England, and made our way to Alnwick, to see a castle that has been a consistent family home for 700 years, and is in such good shape, it's often used in movies (most recently in the Harry Potter movies.) But as we pulled into the small town of Alnwick, suddenly that burning smell in the car got really bad, and dad started having troubles with the clutch. Then right in the middle of a busy two lane road, the car would no longer shift, and we were stuck, blocking traffic. There was literally no where to go... and as we're trying to figure out where to push the car to, people are driving by calling us idiots and making gestures. Just a thought... if a car is stopped in the middle of the road where it shouldn't be... maybe it's because it CAN'T move. Eventually, some (illegal) parking opened up where we could push the car (and some friendly locals helped us out.) Mom called the car rental place and they called a tow. The locals told us there's a traffic warden who makes the rounds, but just “explain it all to him so he won't give you a ticket.” I asked if there was a car rental place in town and the lady laughed and said “we're small but we do have that.” So dad stayed with the car while mom took us to a place called the Treehouse for lunch. Someone didn't show for their reservation, so we were able to sneak into a prime spot right near the fireplace. The tall chairs carved out of very tall hunks of wood gave the restaurant the feeling of eating in a wooded area.
We walked back towards the castle and dad met us there, saying they had to go out to the airport to get us a new car. So it kind of worked out okay, since mom and dad had already seen Alnwick castle, so Nate and I went inside to explore while they took care of the car situation. As Nate and I walked up to the castle, we noticed a man and woman teaching archery, and thought that seemed like fun. So we paid two pounds each to get a mini lesson and then give it a shot to see if we could be master archers. Then we went inside the State Rooms, the rooms open and available to the public, since it is still a family home. It was very interesting to see all the old family portraits, and then some picture of the current family sitting in a simple frame on a book shelf. You could tell this wasn't like a palace where the idea is to preserve everything as it once was... this is a home, and like any home, you remodel and change things out. Tired of the red silk wall coverings in the dinging room? Well then let's put up some green silk covering. They were also doing a 200,000 pound restoration project in one of the rooms and we actually got to see them working on the cleaning and repair work. We wandered around outside checking out the towers and the wall walk. Pretty soon it was after 4pm and time to meet up with mom and dad at the entrance, where they pulled up with a bit bigger car with a working clutch!!
We rushed back to Dalkeith and then went to the Stables Bistro for dinner, so named because it was the old Dalkeith Palace horse stables. That's new since I was here visiting mom and dad six years ago (the last time my parents were here, and dad was teaching the program then, this time he's directing it.) Mom ordered wood pigeon with blood pudding (also known as bread pudding.. developed during times of poverty, when all people had to eat were oats, and they would pour animals blood on it for added flavor and nutrition... Nate and I realized that the black sausage looking thing we had eaten at Hotel Russell was actually blood pudding, and we both were a little uneasy about that.) But mom's blood pudding came out with cranberry sauce all over it, so that really added to the gross factor for me, but as we said, if you didn't know how blood pudding was made, you would actually think it tasted just fine.
So after dinner we headed into Newton Grange to go to Dean's Tavern, where a music club called Nittenfolk meets every Thursday. Dad enjoys this very much, but he's tired of bringing visitors who don't sing, so he insisted I bring a couple of songs. It was a really fun evening, with people singing American and Scottish folks songs and even some rock songs and then traditional Scottish songs as well. Dad sang a Bob Dylan song called “Boots of Spanish Leather” and then I attempted to sing my old audition song from Oklahoma, Ado Annie's “I can't say no” but about half way through I lost the melody and went up to a higher key, so I really struggled my way through it. But of course they're a polite and kind group so they applauded my efforts. Several people sang Carol King songs but then one woman sang an original folk song that was beautiful. Many of the women's songs dealt with women frustrated with men or disenchanted with love, so there were many jokes about that all night. Another woman sang a traditional English folk song about April which was very pretty. There was another song about singing blues on a red guitar, and she actually borrowed another man's red guitar to play it, which was a big hit with the group. The man whose red guitar she borrowed also sang a fun sing-a-long kind of song about life in the city and running a laundromat, which had it's dark humor, customary in many of the Scottish folk songs we had been hearing. Then dad sang again and sang a song he had written called “The First Time” and it was really a lovely song, many people complimented him on it when he finished. And then I sang Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin, and that redeemed my earlier performance... lots of people sang along and it was a good time. The evening ended with a “toe tapper” from one of the fiddler players and everyone joined in with their guitars and drums and it was a fun way to end the evening.
Wednesday -- Arriving in Scotland
So we arrived in Edinburgh and mom was there to great us as we got off the train. Dad was still arranging the rental car, I guess they didn't have the car they had reserved, and when we got into the car they did have for us, it smelled really bad, like burning rubber. But it was all they had so we left with it, and drove on to Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh. It looked pretty small, but once we inside I realized what an amazing find this was. It's incredibly well-preserved, considering it's a ruin. Most ruins are just piles of stones and you have to sort of imagine what it must have been like. But this ruin still had entire rooms in tact, including fireplaces and balconies, so you really could imagine what medieval life was like living in this castle. It also has some historical significance because Mary Queen of Scots spent time there, mourning the murder of her “close friend and secretary” (a woman) and then plotted the death of her husband. You can read between the lines there. The castle also had amazing views of Edinburgh Castle and Adam's?? Seat, a popular hiking spot.
Mom and dad drove us back to their new/temporary home at Dalkeith Palace. It is funny how it looks so grand and palatial from the outside, and then we got inside and it was, in Nate's words “kind of a dump.” Really the deal is when the previous owners, the Buccleugh's moved out of the palace, they stripped it of anything worth any value (except one fireplace reportedly worth millions) and now the University of Wisconsin runs this education program out of the palace, so of course it's going to look like a college dorm on the inside.
So Nate and I unpacked in our little room, and then went down to mom and dad's flat. We had a mini celebration of Nate's and my engagement, and my birthday, with some presents and some port wine. Mom gave me some cashmere gloves and a scarf and she gave me and Nate matching Celtic eternity knot rings. Mine doesn't fit... I hope that's not a bad omen. We also walked down to the Cavalier Restaurant in Dalkeith, where the owners greeted mom and dad like old friends... I guess they're eating there quite a bit.
After dinner, mom and dad had planned a little reception in their flat for me and Nate to meet the faculty and staff there at the Dalkeith program. We had a fun evening of sharing stories and talking and laughing, and drinking, and talking and then we all realized how late it was... we all eventually decided we needed to hit the hay, because we had a big day planned for Thursday.
Mom and dad drove us back to their new/temporary home at Dalkeith Palace. It is funny how it looks so grand and palatial from the outside, and then we got inside and it was, in Nate's words “kind of a dump.” Really the deal is when the previous owners, the Buccleugh's moved out of the palace, they stripped it of anything worth any value (except one fireplace reportedly worth millions) and now the University of Wisconsin runs this education program out of the palace, so of course it's going to look like a college dorm on the inside.
So Nate and I unpacked in our little room, and then went down to mom and dad's flat. We had a mini celebration of Nate's and my engagement, and my birthday, with some presents and some port wine. Mom gave me some cashmere gloves and a scarf and she gave me and Nate matching Celtic eternity knot rings. Mine doesn't fit... I hope that's not a bad omen. We also walked down to the Cavalier Restaurant in Dalkeith, where the owners greeted mom and dad like old friends... I guess they're eating there quite a bit.
After dinner, mom and dad had planned a little reception in their flat for me and Nate to meet the faculty and staff there at the Dalkeith program. We had a fun evening of sharing stories and talking and laughing, and drinking, and talking and then we all realized how late it was... we all eventually decided we needed to hit the hay, because we had a big day planned for Thursday.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
On the Rails
We did some posting from the train today. Apparently Wi-Fi in London COSTS, so we didn't have the opportunity to get much done on the blog. That and you know, sightseeing and drinking and eating takes up most of the day. We should be in Edinburgh in about 20 minutes. We will see what happens...
I've been eyeballing some sheep from the window of the train...
I've been eyeballing some sheep from the window of the train...
Tuesday – Hopping Along
Nate and I had a tough time getting up (can't imagine why, even though the desk was filled with beer and wine bottles) but then we made it down in time for breakfast at the hotel. It was a gorgeous dining room and quite an elaborate setup. Lots of rolls and pastries and fruit and hot meals as well, so we ate well. Then we walked over to the British Museum. We didn't have a lot of time to spend, but with our hotel being so close, it would have been a shame to not see anything there. So we breezed through some of the Egyptian artifacts and barely saw the Rosetta Stone over all the heads of the tourists taking pictures. We also walked through the Greek sculptures and the massive vase collection. We saw the reading room where great minds penned great works, including Karl Marx, who also often drank at a pub near the museum (according to the guide book anyway.) We made our way to the third floor where the mummies are located and I started having strange thoughts about how odd it was that we were looking at dead bodies. What if 300 years from now they dug up your family member and put them on display to show how these ancient people buried their dead? Nate and I discussed the fact that the British Museum is filled wit the spoils of war or of exploration... they won, they keep the spoils. But it did feel a little bit like grave robbing to me.
The Original Tour, hop on hop off double decker bus stop was right outside the museum, and we decided to do that. We figured it would be a good way to get a good feel for the city, at least better than just using the Underground all the time. So we paid the 24 Pounds a piece to do that, and within moments of getting on the correct tour bus, we realized that London's notoriously congested traffic was messing with our tour plans. It took forever to get from Trafalgar Square to Westminster, where we decided to hop off, so we could make sure to see that before it closed. The protest that was going on yesterday was still going on, but this time off the streets and moved into the grassy area in front of the Abbey. And the purpose of the protest remains a little sketchy to me since there were some signs about Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, and a very loud woman screaming undecipherable things into a megaphone. (I found out later that someone died at the protest Monday, and a couple of guys had jumped off the bridge into the water, and we're pretty sure we saw that cold, wet man wrapped in a blanket.)
We made it into Westminster Abbey and took the free audio guide with us on a walk around the Abbey (complete with tour guide Jeremy Irons) and I found it to be very informative and interesting (some of those audio guides can be so dull.) It's an amazing collection of the country's history all under one roof... Saxon era Kings buried near leaders like Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, who battled for the soul of their country, and the ancient coronation chair used for every King and Queen coronation since 1308. I guess they no longer do brass rubbings of the grave markers, and they don't even sell them anymore, so I the ones mom and I have must be antiques now! The lady in the gift store said they still do them at St Martin's, and I think we read that they also have a restaurant in the crypt of that church, so we'll have to make a trek there next time we make it to the UK.
We left Westminster Abbey and hopped back on the tour bus. We wanted to at least do one loop around the city, and hoped the traffic wouldn't take up too much of our time. We caught a glimpse of Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, Oxford Street, The BBC building and TeleComm Tower, Piccadilly Circus and saw some neat little neighborhoods we might not have otherwise seen. But all in all, we're not sure that it was worth the money. I think we could have seen many of those things a lot quicker taking the tube, and actually would have had time to wander the side streets and stop at a pub for lunch. But we wasted so much time sitting in traffic that by the time we were approaching Trafalgar Square, we just decided to jump off and walk, because we weren't moving very fast at all. We walked to Westminster bridge where our hop on hop off bus pass also got us a ride on the Thames to Tower Bridge. It was interesting to see London from the water, and we caught a glimpse of the Millennium foot bridge and the new Globe Theatre, plus a view of the Tower Bridge and Tower of London from the water. We had to rush back to the hotel and get changed and then rushed to the Clos Maggorie restaurant, where we had reservations for my birthday dinner (thanks mom and dad!!) Then we went to Royal Haymarket Theatre and saw the play On The Waterfront. It was a unique production with some sort of modern dance type of moves instead of fight scenes, but we enjoyed it. Oh and Nate thinks the mob boss was played by an actor who played a bad guy in a James Bond movie. (We just looked it up and Steven Berkoff was indeed in Octopussy... he was also in Clockwork Orange and Beverly Hills Cop.)
We wandered around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square and Covent Garden areas trying to find a pub for one last drink, but little did we know the pubs close up shop by 11pm in London. If you want a drink after that, you need to hit a nightclub and Nate and I aren't really the nigh club type. But the hotel bar was still open so we had a couple of drinks there and then called it a night... We have a long train ride to Edinburgh in the morning!
The Original Tour, hop on hop off double decker bus stop was right outside the museum, and we decided to do that. We figured it would be a good way to get a good feel for the city, at least better than just using the Underground all the time. So we paid the 24 Pounds a piece to do that, and within moments of getting on the correct tour bus, we realized that London's notoriously congested traffic was messing with our tour plans. It took forever to get from Trafalgar Square to Westminster, where we decided to hop off, so we could make sure to see that before it closed. The protest that was going on yesterday was still going on, but this time off the streets and moved into the grassy area in front of the Abbey. And the purpose of the protest remains a little sketchy to me since there were some signs about Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, and a very loud woman screaming undecipherable things into a megaphone. (I found out later that someone died at the protest Monday, and a couple of guys had jumped off the bridge into the water, and we're pretty sure we saw that cold, wet man wrapped in a blanket.)
We made it into Westminster Abbey and took the free audio guide with us on a walk around the Abbey (complete with tour guide Jeremy Irons) and I found it to be very informative and interesting (some of those audio guides can be so dull.) It's an amazing collection of the country's history all under one roof... Saxon era Kings buried near leaders like Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, who battled for the soul of their country, and the ancient coronation chair used for every King and Queen coronation since 1308. I guess they no longer do brass rubbings of the grave markers, and they don't even sell them anymore, so I the ones mom and I have must be antiques now! The lady in the gift store said they still do them at St Martin's, and I think we read that they also have a restaurant in the crypt of that church, so we'll have to make a trek there next time we make it to the UK.
We left Westminster Abbey and hopped back on the tour bus. We wanted to at least do one loop around the city, and hoped the traffic wouldn't take up too much of our time. We caught a glimpse of Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, Oxford Street, The BBC building and TeleComm Tower, Piccadilly Circus and saw some neat little neighborhoods we might not have otherwise seen. But all in all, we're not sure that it was worth the money. I think we could have seen many of those things a lot quicker taking the tube, and actually would have had time to wander the side streets and stop at a pub for lunch. But we wasted so much time sitting in traffic that by the time we were approaching Trafalgar Square, we just decided to jump off and walk, because we weren't moving very fast at all. We walked to Westminster bridge where our hop on hop off bus pass also got us a ride on the Thames to Tower Bridge. It was interesting to see London from the water, and we caught a glimpse of the Millennium foot bridge and the new Globe Theatre, plus a view of the Tower Bridge and Tower of London from the water. We had to rush back to the hotel and get changed and then rushed to the Clos Maggorie restaurant, where we had reservations for my birthday dinner (thanks mom and dad!!) Then we went to Royal Haymarket Theatre and saw the play On The Waterfront. It was a unique production with some sort of modern dance type of moves instead of fight scenes, but we enjoyed it. Oh and Nate thinks the mob boss was played by an actor who played a bad guy in a James Bond movie. (We just looked it up and Steven Berkoff was indeed in Octopussy... he was also in Clockwork Orange and Beverly Hills Cop.)
We wandered around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square and Covent Garden areas trying to find a pub for one last drink, but little did we know the pubs close up shop by 11pm in London. If you want a drink after that, you need to hit a nightclub and Nate and I aren't really the nigh club type. But the hotel bar was still open so we had a couple of drinks there and then called it a night... We have a long train ride to Edinburgh in the morning!
TV and Beer
This was written on Monday evening, our first night in London.
London is a very dangerous place. We all know Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd, dark and narrow alleys. While here in London we too have witnessed the current horrors of London crime. We have witnessed the show known only as NIGHT COPS.
The show was thrilling, exciting, entertaining, just like our own COPS show. Police officers in the UK have the most challenging of jobs. They risk their lives daily battling against wet willies and profanity. This entire show was based on the cliff hanging drama involving the bar and club scene. A gentleman in a dispute with his girlfriend got a tad excited, started shouting profanities in the street, and was promptly disciplined by the UK's finest. Another gentleman decided to lick his finger, stick it in the ear of a cop patrolling the local pub, and gave the man in uniform a wet willy. For this he was apprehended and quickly transported out of the pub and outside, where he was given a stern lecture and released. Profanity boy ended up with a ticket for 40 pounds, and promptly let go.
Another clip included actual WEEPING. A man was accused, and apparently guilty of, trying to steal someones jacket. Once this grown man realized the gravity of the situation he began to cry. Apparently he had not watched this thrilling show before, because if he had, he would know, he had nothing to worry about.
The entire damn show was about people (always drunk) committing the slightest of offenses, given a stern talking to, and RELEASED. Always, released, and ALWAYS talked to in a respectful/intelligent manner. This is apparently as bad as it gets in Edinburgh Scotland. Frankly my friends, I think it is high time for us to get organized. We have all seen mob movies. We have all witnessed the crime sensation known as Lex Luther. We need to move in and get some Hollywood style mafia action installed. That's all I think it would take to turn this entire city into a cesspool of brutal crime and murder. Lets make a few bucks, catch a few diseases, and live like kings in the dark alleys and holes of this town. The cops, obviously, will try to talk us out of it, but after listening to their advice, and throwing away the lollies they hand to us, we should have no trouble taking over this town. Lets get together, buy some tickets, head over here, and create a crime syndicate that only the powers of a superhero could possibly battle. It's ours my friends, ours for the taking, as long as your fearless leader (myself) can sober up long enough to come up with a decent thought, they will be DOOMED.
We witnessed another show called TV BURP. I believe it was a comedy show harassing the television shows of the week. It was almost funny. A man with large black glasses, a bald head, and a popped collar you could hide under would do little sketches involving clips of various shows. The chicken puppet was very enjoyable. There was also a fat hairy guy with bad teeth, a woman with a bowl on her face who headed-butted a guy with a pillow strapped to his face, she then jumped on his pillow head. It was frightening in a sketch comedy kind of way. She could have squished him. Jello was also involved, although they called it “jam.” The puppet sat on the jello, the host sat on the jello, I have no idea what the hell was with the damn jello. They were all about it, and yes, a deformed puppet vibrating on a pile of jello, to surf music, that's funny; a grown man sitting on a giant jello mold and just sort of swishing around, that's creepy as hell man. I have seen something similar, and let me tell you, it will never be allowed on the airwaves of any sane country. Creepy man.
This post has been officially sponsored by a few British beers, the names of which I can't quite recall right now.
London is a very dangerous place. We all know Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd, dark and narrow alleys. While here in London we too have witnessed the current horrors of London crime. We have witnessed the show known only as NIGHT COPS.
The show was thrilling, exciting, entertaining, just like our own COPS show. Police officers in the UK have the most challenging of jobs. They risk their lives daily battling against wet willies and profanity. This entire show was based on the cliff hanging drama involving the bar and club scene. A gentleman in a dispute with his girlfriend got a tad excited, started shouting profanities in the street, and was promptly disciplined by the UK's finest. Another gentleman decided to lick his finger, stick it in the ear of a cop patrolling the local pub, and gave the man in uniform a wet willy. For this he was apprehended and quickly transported out of the pub and outside, where he was given a stern lecture and released. Profanity boy ended up with a ticket for 40 pounds, and promptly let go.
Another clip included actual WEEPING. A man was accused, and apparently guilty of, trying to steal someones jacket. Once this grown man realized the gravity of the situation he began to cry. Apparently he had not watched this thrilling show before, because if he had, he would know, he had nothing to worry about.
The entire damn show was about people (always drunk) committing the slightest of offenses, given a stern talking to, and RELEASED. Always, released, and ALWAYS talked to in a respectful/intelligent manner. This is apparently as bad as it gets in Edinburgh Scotland. Frankly my friends, I think it is high time for us to get organized. We have all seen mob movies. We have all witnessed the crime sensation known as Lex Luther. We need to move in and get some Hollywood style mafia action installed. That's all I think it would take to turn this entire city into a cesspool of brutal crime and murder. Lets make a few bucks, catch a few diseases, and live like kings in the dark alleys and holes of this town. The cops, obviously, will try to talk us out of it, but after listening to their advice, and throwing away the lollies they hand to us, we should have no trouble taking over this town. Lets get together, buy some tickets, head over here, and create a crime syndicate that only the powers of a superhero could possibly battle. It's ours my friends, ours for the taking, as long as your fearless leader (myself) can sober up long enough to come up with a decent thought, they will be DOOMED.
We witnessed another show called TV BURP. I believe it was a comedy show harassing the television shows of the week. It was almost funny. A man with large black glasses, a bald head, and a popped collar you could hide under would do little sketches involving clips of various shows. The chicken puppet was very enjoyable. There was also a fat hairy guy with bad teeth, a woman with a bowl on her face who headed-butted a guy with a pillow strapped to his face, she then jumped on his pillow head. It was frightening in a sketch comedy kind of way. She could have squished him. Jello was also involved, although they called it “jam.” The puppet sat on the jello, the host sat on the jello, I have no idea what the hell was with the damn jello. They were all about it, and yes, a deformed puppet vibrating on a pile of jello, to surf music, that's funny; a grown man sitting on a giant jello mold and just sort of swishing around, that's creepy as hell man. I have seen something similar, and let me tell you, it will never be allowed on the airwaves of any sane country. Creepy man.
This post has been officially sponsored by a few British beers, the names of which I can't quite recall right now.
Monday -- Heading to London
We got up and packed up and then Amanda took us to the train station. It was very nice to experience "Real England" for a bit, but now it was time to head into London. We said our quick good-byes and then hopped on the train to Liverpool Station. It was an easy hop, skip and a jump to Russell Square where our lovely Victorian Style hotel, Hotel Russell, was located. The hotel room was small, like most European hotels, but very comfortable and actually quite lovely. The location has been pretty ideal, very centrally located and easy to access anything. And we found a cute little pub around the corner that served excellent fish and chips. We actually have a view of the place from the hotel, it's called Friend At Hands, located across from the Horse Hospital, or at least a building that says horse hospital on it.
Then we hit the Underground to get to the Tower of London. Nate is fascinated with all things medieval so I thought he would enjoy the tower. I had forgotten about all the prisoner's graffiti markings on the walls of the various towers, some of it was so ornate. Of course I hadn't forgotten about viewing all the crown jewels. Although it was the first time this trip that I got annoyed with all the pushy tourists.... there's a long line and it's a bit warm, pushing your way in front of me won't improve the situation for anybody. “Oh hey look, you saw Queen Victoria's tiny crown 5 seconds before me because you shoved your way in front of me... lucky you!” We also saw an exhibit of Henry VIII armor and sports (including the oldest football/soccer ball in the world.) We also saw the torture exhibit with replicas of various torture devices. There was also the actual stone and ax used in the last beheading that took place in the Tower of London.
We had tickets to get on the London Eye at 7:30pm to watch the sunset, so we had to leave the Tower and make our way to Westminster. I had hoped we could walk around Big Ben and Parliament a bit before heading to the Eye, but there was some kind of large protest going on that shut down the roads around Parliament, and the cops were trying to steer us away from Big Ben. Of course we had to pull out the camera and document what was going on (the journalist in me.) It was a protest of some kind of Sri Lanka genocide going on... I guess I'm not well versed enough in international politics to know (and frankly, the protest only warranted a 20 second spot on the news later that night, so I guess things like this just happen a lot around here.) We walked around a bit and ended up at Trafalgar Square and then crossed the foot bridge to get to the Eye. We were obedient little tourists and got in line 30 minutes early, and ended up getting on the Eye by 7:15pm, which would have been fine except we had wanted to see the sunset and we ended up wrapping up on the Eye before the sunset. Oh well, it was still very nice and an excellent view of London just as the sun was starting to set.
On our way back across the bridge we saw an older Asian man bending wires, and decided we loved his little creations and so we bought a frame. We decided to do a night walking tour of Fleet Street. The gorgeous Justice building was all lit up, and we saw several ancient looking churches. Then we saw a place called Ye Old Cock Tavern. Nate thought it was awesome and took a picture, but we didn't duck in, because we were on a mission. I really wanted to check out the Ye Old Cheshyre Cheese Tavern, because it was an old abbey and had caverns you had to duck under and wind through to get to the bar. It was very ancient feeling and kind of had it's own charm. I had a steak pie and Nate had a cottage pie, which wasn't really a pie at all. After dinner we walked past St Paul's Cathedral to get to our subway stop, and we both agreed it was... big. We hit the Tesco.. that means beer and wine. And Space Raiders beef chips, and Skips prawn cocktail chips. And then Nate and I hung out in the room letting our feet rest and watching British TV... which was quite entertaining. We especially enjoyed Night Cops... but I'll let Nate take over from here so I can continue drinking my Cotes du Rhone.
Then we hit the Underground to get to the Tower of London. Nate is fascinated with all things medieval so I thought he would enjoy the tower. I had forgotten about all the prisoner's graffiti markings on the walls of the various towers, some of it was so ornate. Of course I hadn't forgotten about viewing all the crown jewels. Although it was the first time this trip that I got annoyed with all the pushy tourists.... there's a long line and it's a bit warm, pushing your way in front of me won't improve the situation for anybody. “Oh hey look, you saw Queen Victoria's tiny crown 5 seconds before me because you shoved your way in front of me... lucky you!” We also saw an exhibit of Henry VIII armor and sports (including the oldest football/soccer ball in the world.) We also saw the torture exhibit with replicas of various torture devices. There was also the actual stone and ax used in the last beheading that took place in the Tower of London.
We had tickets to get on the London Eye at 7:30pm to watch the sunset, so we had to leave the Tower and make our way to Westminster. I had hoped we could walk around Big Ben and Parliament a bit before heading to the Eye, but there was some kind of large protest going on that shut down the roads around Parliament, and the cops were trying to steer us away from Big Ben. Of course we had to pull out the camera and document what was going on (the journalist in me.) It was a protest of some kind of Sri Lanka genocide going on... I guess I'm not well versed enough in international politics to know (and frankly, the protest only warranted a 20 second spot on the news later that night, so I guess things like this just happen a lot around here.) We walked around a bit and ended up at Trafalgar Square and then crossed the foot bridge to get to the Eye. We were obedient little tourists and got in line 30 minutes early, and ended up getting on the Eye by 7:15pm, which would have been fine except we had wanted to see the sunset and we ended up wrapping up on the Eye before the sunset. Oh well, it was still very nice and an excellent view of London just as the sun was starting to set.
On our way back across the bridge we saw an older Asian man bending wires, and decided we loved his little creations and so we bought a frame. We decided to do a night walking tour of Fleet Street. The gorgeous Justice building was all lit up, and we saw several ancient looking churches. Then we saw a place called Ye Old Cock Tavern. Nate thought it was awesome and took a picture, but we didn't duck in, because we were on a mission. I really wanted to check out the Ye Old Cheshyre Cheese Tavern, because it was an old abbey and had caverns you had to duck under and wind through to get to the bar. It was very ancient feeling and kind of had it's own charm. I had a steak pie and Nate had a cottage pie, which wasn't really a pie at all. After dinner we walked past St Paul's Cathedral to get to our subway stop, and we both agreed it was... big. We hit the Tesco.. that means beer and wine. And Space Raiders beef chips, and Skips prawn cocktail chips. And then Nate and I hung out in the room letting our feet rest and watching British TV... which was quite entertaining. We especially enjoyed Night Cops... but I'll let Nate take over from here so I can continue drinking my Cotes du Rhone.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday
Waking up this morning was a little rough on Tess. Flight hangover, I guess. We eventually got going and we made our way to the Red Cow pub for our Sunday lunch. It was a sunny beautiful day, and the pub had a garden area, so we stayed outside to play with the kids and enjoy the sunshine. We had an excellent salmon starter and then Nate had a homemade chicken pot pie and Tess had butternut squash risotto, which was all very tasty. Then for dessert we ordered an Eton Mess, which we ordered because I wanted to know what the heck an Eton Mess was, and I discovered it was a yummy whipped cream and berry sort of concoction. Pippa loved it so much she was scraping the plate with her spoon to get every morsel of sweetness.
We gathered the kids and headed back to the house, and the kids passed out in the car which meant it was nap time when they got home. Amanda suggested that Nate and I could spend an afternoon wandering around in Cambridge, which is not far away from them. She dropped us off on the edge of town, and so we walked the old streets and looked at the "oldy worldy" (as Amanda calls them) buildings. We checked out all the different colleges and wandered over to the round church and then the bridge over the Cambridge River. You can rent little boats and try to navigate them around dozens of other tourists, which was entertaining to watch. We spent quite a long time searching for how to get to the castle mound because I was trying to figure out the map instead of following Nate's gut (he was right.) The mound was just that.. a mound. But it was a nice view of the tops of the buildings. We stopped off at a bar near the mound for a drink, and then meandered back through town until we found the path that leads to the banks. We watched more boaters trying to negotiate the other boaters, and then made our way back to the main part of town. It was starting to get late, so we started our walk to the train station. We managed to catch a train pretty quickly and then Amanda picked us up at the train station. Amanda and Keith are getting the kids ready for bed, and then we're going to have a light dinner and turn in early, because tomorrow we're headed in to London!
We gathered the kids and headed back to the house, and the kids passed out in the car which meant it was nap time when they got home. Amanda suggested that Nate and I could spend an afternoon wandering around in Cambridge, which is not far away from them. She dropped us off on the edge of town, and so we walked the old streets and looked at the "oldy worldy" (as Amanda calls them) buildings. We checked out all the different colleges and wandered over to the round church and then the bridge over the Cambridge River. You can rent little boats and try to navigate them around dozens of other tourists, which was entertaining to watch. We spent quite a long time searching for how to get to the castle mound because I was trying to figure out the map instead of following Nate's gut (he was right.) The mound was just that.. a mound. But it was a nice view of the tops of the buildings. We stopped off at a bar near the mound for a drink, and then meandered back through town until we found the path that leads to the banks. We watched more boaters trying to negotiate the other boaters, and then made our way back to the main part of town. It was starting to get late, so we started our walk to the train station. We managed to catch a train pretty quickly and then Amanda picked us up at the train station. Amanda and Keith are getting the kids ready for bed, and then we're going to have a light dinner and turn in early, because tomorrow we're headed in to London!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
We Have Arrived
After 6 hours of international flying, 2 hours of walking/waiting, 2 hours of busing, we have arrived at Saffron Waldon. We are going to hang with friends of Tess's and make a general nuisance of ourselves for 2 days.
We came, we saw, we fell asleep. Overcast and wet when we arrived, sunshine greeting me when I decided to open my eyes. I got up, we walked around the town, we checked out some old castle ruins, a park, a grocery store, a bakery, a everything we looked at was interesting because it wasn't what I was used to being encased in.
We spent some time in the garden, with the kids, at the pub, eating lasagna, drinking, opening shells. Did I mention the drinking? Perhaps I did, here are some photos....
only edited twice!
Saturday -- Pushing On
When you arrive somewhere from overseas. it's best to just push on. Try to stay awake. Don't allow yourself to sleep the day away, or else you won't be able to get on your new schedule. Nate and I were not capable of doing that, so we took a long nap for about three hours after arriving at my friend Amanda's house.
After I gained consciousness, I realized that Amanda's house is an incredibly charming older home, with an amazing backyard garden. We took a walk with Amanda and her kids Ben and Pippa to enjoy the charms of her small town. We saw St Mary's in Saffron Walden, a place that has been a church site since the 1200s. We also saw the Walden Castle ruins, which was the site of a centuries old fort and castle, which Nate said if you didn't know what you were looking at, you'd think it was a rock pile on the side of a road. We tried to go into a Labyrinth, but it was locked up, possibly for trimming. You never want your labyrinth to get overgrown, because then it's just a mess. We saw several lovely gardens and old Tudor style homes. But we were also trying to keep Pippa entertained, and that involved a trip to the bakery where she could get a 'pink' -- a donut with pink frosting -- and we also picked up more fresh baked bread for the weekend. We also hit the grocery store so I could get something for my diet coke cravings and we also picked up a selection of European chocolates to sample after dinner.
Once back to Amanda's, we watched a recording of a horse race that happened earlier in the day. The winner was a 1 in 100 bet, a long shot, the kind of story stories are made of. It was fun to watch, even though it made my stomach churn every time a rider and his horse would miss a jump over the hedge and the rider would fall and sometimes even get trampled by other horses. Out of 40 horses and riders, only 17 completed the race.
Amanda's husband Keith took us to a nearby pub while Amanda and the kids watched Dora the Explorer and she put them to bed. We talked British sports and enjoyed not watching the Dora the Explorer... plenty of time for that once we have kids. And once we came back it was time for the grown ups to toast with some champagne... we had to toast to Nate's and my engagement. Then we had homemade lasagna and wine, and as we had more wine the conversation became more and more lively. The wine and chocolate even brought out some funny stories and good laughs. Now everyone's heading to bed and Nate and I are battling with computers again, hoping to get this blogging experiment to work for us!
Tomorrow, we will continue to press on, hopefully with some more sleep under our belts.
After I gained consciousness, I realized that Amanda's house is an incredibly charming older home, with an amazing backyard garden. We took a walk with Amanda and her kids Ben and Pippa to enjoy the charms of her small town. We saw St Mary's in Saffron Walden, a place that has been a church site since the 1200s. We also saw the Walden Castle ruins, which was the site of a centuries old fort and castle, which Nate said if you didn't know what you were looking at, you'd think it was a rock pile on the side of a road. We tried to go into a Labyrinth, but it was locked up, possibly for trimming. You never want your labyrinth to get overgrown, because then it's just a mess. We saw several lovely gardens and old Tudor style homes. But we were also trying to keep Pippa entertained, and that involved a trip to the bakery where she could get a 'pink' -- a donut with pink frosting -- and we also picked up more fresh baked bread for the weekend. We also hit the grocery store so I could get something for my diet coke cravings and we also picked up a selection of European chocolates to sample after dinner.
Once back to Amanda's, we watched a recording of a horse race that happened earlier in the day. The winner was a 1 in 100 bet, a long shot, the kind of story stories are made of. It was fun to watch, even though it made my stomach churn every time a rider and his horse would miss a jump over the hedge and the rider would fall and sometimes even get trampled by other horses. Out of 40 horses and riders, only 17 completed the race.
Amanda's husband Keith took us to a nearby pub while Amanda and the kids watched Dora the Explorer and she put them to bed. We talked British sports and enjoyed not watching the Dora the Explorer... plenty of time for that once we have kids. And once we came back it was time for the grown ups to toast with some champagne... we had to toast to Nate's and my engagement. Then we had homemade lasagna and wine, and as we had more wine the conversation became more and more lively. The wine and chocolate even brought out some funny stories and good laughs. Now everyone's heading to bed and Nate and I are battling with computers again, hoping to get this blogging experiment to work for us!
Tomorrow, we will continue to press on, hopefully with some more sleep under our belts.
On the final plain
Why am I so tired. It's only 11:39pm our time, 50 minutes from Heathrow, and I would really enjoy a couple of hours sleep.
No Wi-Fi in New Jersey, at least nothing free. Aftter riding a terminal bus though the fog and rain we got to our terminal in plenty of time. Delays throughout the airport, people packed in everywhere. I guess we are lucky our international flight was not delayed. Is there even such a thing?
We spent some time in an airport bar enjoying some of Brooklyn's finest beer, and watching a German argue with the waiter about what is and is not a Pilsner.
Tess is trying to nap next to me, I don't know how anyone can sleep in these friggin planes. I think I am going to have to crash for a couple of hours once we land, or power through. According to Tess you are going to be a mess if you don't POWER THROUGH that first day. So Rick Steves might not tell you this, but Tess will. POWER THROUGH! That's a travel tip from me to you, free of charge. There is lots of rhyming here, not trying to do that.
I watched two movies on the way over, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (kinda sucked) and “Gangs of New York” (was ok in a “I'm half asleep in a plane and could care less whats on as long as it has moving pictures and noise).
Was served both dinner AND breakfast on the flight, if you can call lasagna cubes and flat croissants meals. I really was not sure what to do with the croissant. Seriously, it was flat, really flat. I folded it around the butter cube and made something like a butter burrito. It was not as tasty as I had imagined...
Time to fill out my LANDING CARD!
No Wi-Fi in New Jersey, at least nothing free. Aftter riding a terminal bus though the fog and rain we got to our terminal in plenty of time. Delays throughout the airport, people packed in everywhere. I guess we are lucky our international flight was not delayed. Is there even such a thing?
We spent some time in an airport bar enjoying some of Brooklyn's finest beer, and watching a German argue with the waiter about what is and is not a Pilsner.
Tess is trying to nap next to me, I don't know how anyone can sleep in these friggin planes. I think I am going to have to crash for a couple of hours once we land, or power through. According to Tess you are going to be a mess if you don't POWER THROUGH that first day. So Rick Steves might not tell you this, but Tess will. POWER THROUGH! That's a travel tip from me to you, free of charge. There is lots of rhyming here, not trying to do that.
I watched two movies on the way over, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (kinda sucked) and “Gangs of New York” (was ok in a “I'm half asleep in a plane and could care less whats on as long as it has moving pictures and noise).
Was served both dinner AND breakfast on the flight, if you can call lasagna cubes and flat croissants meals. I really was not sure what to do with the croissant. Seriously, it was flat, really flat. I folded it around the butter cube and made something like a butter burrito. It was not as tasty as I had imagined...
Time to fill out my LANDING CARD!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Flight Delays
Our flight has been delayed for a couple of hours. So instead of a 4 hour layover in New Jersey, we have a 4 hour layover in Kansas City. But they let us plug the laptop in here, so maybe that's a good thing. More battery power to watch pornography and play solitaire in the air once our flight does take off (Tess insists that I mention that the porn comment is a JOKE and should in no way, shape, or form be used as evidence that I am a scumball). As Martha would say, It's a good thing...
We will still have 2 hours or so to get to our flight in Newark, with plenty of sitting on the plane waiting to take off time included. We considered buying a $10 tornado shot glass, but thought better of it, although I might reconsider. It's plastic and tacky, who doesn't love plastic and tacky?
I'm still trying to learn how to type on this tiny-ass keyboard. We will see if my skills improve, or if this plastic gadget goes into the trash.
Met a couple of guys going back home to Newark. Tess talked to them while I battled it out with the airport wireless internet monster. I won the battle, Tess learned some tips and tricks about the Newark airport. And I believe I just heard that our flight is delays until 4:30. Shit.
False alarm, that's the flight after ours. So far, so good. Maybe one of these days we will leave the city limits. At least the delay gave us plenty of time to set up this AWESOME blog....
And I only edited this post 3 times!
We will still have 2 hours or so to get to our flight in Newark, with plenty of sitting on the plane waiting to take off time included. We considered buying a $10 tornado shot glass, but thought better of it, although I might reconsider. It's plastic and tacky, who doesn't love plastic and tacky?
I'm still trying to learn how to type on this tiny-ass keyboard. We will see if my skills improve, or if this plastic gadget goes into the trash.
Met a couple of guys going back home to Newark. Tess talked to them while I battled it out with the airport wireless internet monster. I won the battle, Tess learned some tips and tricks about the Newark airport. And I believe I just heard that our flight is delays until 4:30. Shit.
False alarm, that's the flight after ours. So far, so good. Maybe one of these days we will leave the city limits. At least the delay gave us plenty of time to set up this AWESOME blog....
And I only edited this post 3 times!
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