April 16th
Arrived London, about 8:30AM. Found my luggage and my way to the train. Arrived at Victoria Station. Kim was waiting for me. Went to her flat and got settled.
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| Big Ben |
After the tour we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, by then it was raining and VERY cold. We had to stand in line outside for about 45 minutes to get in. The food was good and a neat place. Met some nice people. Went shopping there and I bought 2 t-shirts, then headed back to Kim's flat. Early to bed tonight for me, the time difference is catching up with me.
April 17th
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| Westminster Abbey |
Then we walked to Trafalgar Square. I have a huge blister on the bottom of my foot, it really hurts. We tried to find a restaurant, everything was closed. Finally settled for Garfunkel's, it wasn't bad. Then we headed for the theatre - we had tickets to "The Phantom of the Opera". It was wonderfu! I cried.
April 18th
Sunshine! Today we went to St. Paul's Cathedral - quite beautiful. Very impressive, and I climbed to the top. I can't believe I made it - 530 steps. My knees and feet hurt!! Pretty view from the top, glad it was a nice day.
Then went to Covent Gardens. Had lunch, Cornish pasties. Went shopping over by Picadilly Circus and Oxford St. Nice area. Bought a English Pub, David Winter, for myself. Then we went to Harrod's, what a wonderful store! It's got just about everything imaginable, but it can be expensive. I found a scrimshaw box for George, I hope he likes it. And I got a cute pop-up card for Mary's birthday.
Headed home, our feet and legs are killing us. We got some fish and chips and took dinner back to the flat. Got to pack tonight, we leave tomorrow for Paris. Hope I can walk tomorrow.
April 19th
Packed up and moved out of Kim's flat. Left 3 suitcases in storage. Took the train to Dover. Then the bus directly to the port for the hovercraft. Didn't get to see Dover, but we could see the Dover Castle on the hill and the white cliffs in the distance. Took the hovercraft to Boulougne, France. Very bumpy ride, glad it was only a 35 minute ride, another 5 minutes I would have been sick. Kim was a little green also. There is no way to get outside in the fresh air on the craft, and we could smell gas fumes, and the ride was quite bumpy, not a good combination. Don't think we will return this way. Will have to research some alternatives.
From Boulougne we took the train into Paris, about a 2 hour trip. Then we were unsure what to do. We were looking for information, and this weird Frenchman insisted on helping us, would not leave us alone, and kept kissing us both. We were a little nervous. So decided to get a taxi to get away from him. I'm sure he was nice, but just a little pushy. I had a list of possible hotels from my research, so we just picked the Madeline Hotel. Driver brought us there. Driver didn't speak any English, and my little bit of French was not much, but figured out the toll. The Madeline had rooms, thank goodness, would not have to keep looking. We are on the 7th floor. Elevator only goes to 6th floor, but then it is only a few stairs from there up to the 7th, where there are only 2 rooms across from each other. It's really a very nice room.
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| Eiffel Tower |
We decided we were really hungry. Hadn't really eaten since breakfast, except some popcorn. Found a nice place, with a really nice waiter. We both had onion soup (excellent), I had lamb chops and Kim had a steak. I had wine, and Kim had milk - which the waiter thought was funny! We both had chocolate mousse for dessert. There was a Yorkshire Terrier at the next table, really cute!
We finished dinner about 12:15AM and walked back to the hotel, which was quite a distance. And there were no lights to climb the last flight of stairs to our room, at least we couldn't find the switch in the dark. It was a great day, getting into bed at around 1:30AM.
April 20th
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| Chapel Ceiling, Versailles |
Versaille Palace is gorgeous, really loved it. When we got back we did some shopping. I bought some silk scarves. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and rode to the top. Scarey going up and down, but okay from the top, and pretty view. Then found a restaurant for dinner. Nice man at table next to us was helpful in helping us translate the menu. He reminded me of Murice Chevalier, about the right age, and of course, very French. He suggested a seafood plate for me, which I ordered. It was not at all what I was expecting. It was a huge mound of crayfish (with heads), shrimp, oysters and clams, and some things in shells that were slimey and very fishy tasting. There were some snails that weren't too bad. Ate about 1/2, tried everything. Then we had a great dessert, an eclair with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Got back to the room about midnight. Dark on the stairs again. Tomorrow we are going back to England, but we loved Paris.
April 21st
Got up a little later today, about 8:30AM. Walked up to the Opera, checking out shops as we went. Then back to the Madelein district, had breakfast of cappuccino and croissants. Checked out of the hotel and went via subway to the train station at Saint-Lazare. Took the train to Rouen, transferred to a train to Dieppe. When we arrived in Dieppe it was raining. Had to walk to the ferry. No one spoke any English, so it was a bit confusing, but we got there. We walked about 1/3 mile in the rain with our suitcases. When we got to the ferry we found out there was a 3 hour wait. The terminal was cold. Got some pastries from a shop nearby and waited. We boarded at 5:30PM for a 4 hour crossing to Brighton. It is a big ship, very nice, and certainly a more pleasant way to travel then the very bumpy hovercraft we came over on, and we got to see a little more of France this way.
We arrived in Brighton at 10PM and took a taxi to the Old Ship's Hotel, which is very nice. I guess it should be, at approximately $170 a night. We have a balcony looking over the ocean. Went for a walk on the pier. Gambled a little, basically a waste there! Nice evening out, full moon and not cold at all. Lots of strange people about. It's now midnight, having tea in our room, with pastries we brought from France.
April 22nd
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| Brighton Pavillion |
Did a little shopping. I bought some scarves and pins and some candy. And I found a drugstore where I purchased some medicine, still feeling awful. I think that seafood platter in Paris has caught up with me.
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| Stonehenge |
Took the train to Salisbury and found a cab driver named Tony who was very nice. He took us to Stonehenge and gave us a great tour of Salisbury and surrounding area. Then took the train to Bath. Walked to the YMCA and checked in. We have a small room with bunk beds and the bathroom is down the hall. Quite a bargain at $5 a night, makes up for splurge last night.
Walked to a restuarant - The Walrus and the Carpenter. Waited in the bar for a table. Funny barman, we spent some time talking with him. I had a drink - the B52 Bomber and Kim had a Jungle Jump. Kim has never drank much alcohol and she was feeling quite tipsy all through dinner, which was quite good, but a piece of her steak jumped right off the table, according to her. Had dessert and made an early evening of it. I'm still not feeling great, although the drink might have helped.
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| Roman Baths in Bath |
April 23rd - Shakespeares Birthday
Sunny day. Not feeling great today either, but better then yesterday. Had breakfast at the Y, not too exciting, just cereal and toast. Walked to Bath Abby. It's Sunday so there were church services in the abby, so no tourists allowed inside. Went to the Roman baths which were very interesting. Everything else is closed, so took the train to Penzance, which was a long ride. Arrived in Penzance around 5:30PM. I had the names of some B & B's, so called one from the train station. They were surprised, as they usually don't have tourists at this time of year. They said they would take us as long as we didn't mind that there 2 girls would be on the same floor as us. When they are open for business in the summer, the family all stays on the first floor crowded together, but during the winter they use the upstairs. I doubt if they would have let us stay if we were men, they asked about who we were first, before they agreed. They said that their dog also sleeps in the house in the winter if that was okay. Since I love dogs I had no problem. The owner of the B & B is also the local taxi driver, so he came and got us. The dog turned out to be a very nice Doberman. They gave us a key to their front door and said we could come and go as we wanted, and if we needed a taxi to give them a call. We left our stuff and headed out to explore a little. Had dinner in a nice pub. I had scampi and chips and tried the local mead which is apricot flavored - YUM! Talked to some very nice people, the locals all seem friendly. We are going to stay here for 2 nights, so tomorrow we will look around some more.
April 24th
Penzance area is also known as Land's end. Got up early and had a typical English breakfast with the family. Cereal, orange juice, eggs, sausage, bacon, fried toast, regular toast and tea. No way could I eat it all. The English sure love fried foods. I'm surprised there were no chips! Then we went to the area known as Land's End, which was very commercial. Day started out cold and rainy, but cleared up to be a clear, beautiful day, blue skies, but still cold.
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| St. Michael's Mount, Pezance |
Came back to the B & B and gathered up clothes and took them to a laudromat. Then went to dinner at the Turk's Head Pub, which is the oldest pub in Penzance. Great food. Had some vegies! Those are sometimes hard to find in Jolly old England's pubs and restaurants. Place was nice, but a bit smokey though. Not used to people smoking around us. Got back to the B & B around midnight. Not having any problem coming in after family is in bed. Dog greets us with his tail wagging.
April 25th
On the road again! Left Penzance early after another big English breafast. Long train ride, had to change trains twice to get to Cardiff in Wales. Our bags are getting heavy. Arrived in Cardiff at 3PM. Left bags in a locker and walked to the Cardiff Castle and took the tour of it. Very pretty castle. As we were leaving it started to snow, quite heavily. Ducked into a pub. Had a local beer. Decided to stay there for dinner. We are catching a train at 9:30PM for Fishguard and we will take the night ferry to Ireland.
April 26th
Last night we took the ferry from Fishquard, Wales to Ireland. Left at 3:15AM and arrived in Ireleand about 7AM. Then took the train to Waterford. Ferry was very cold and uncomfortable to sleep on. We could have rented rooms, but I hadn't done it in advance, and once we were onboard and I inquired, there were none available. So sat up in main area.
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| glass blower at Waterford |
Arrived in Waterford, tired, cold and hungry, and looking like we had slept in our clothes, which we had. Had an Irish breakfast, which is basically the same as an English breakfast. Walked out into town and did a little shopping. Ran into 2 guys who we had seen on the ferry. They offerred us a ride to the glass factory. They have their own car. Their names are Phil ad David from Texas and they are very nice. They thought we were sisters and I told Kim to keep her mouth shut, I like being her sister instead of her mother, just for today. They are probably in their early 30's and they are flirting with us, kind of funny. We toured the glass factory with them. I bought some crystal which I had shipped home. Went back to town and the guys dropped us off, looked around some. It started to rain so we stopped for lunch, vegetable soup which was very good.
We took the train to Dublin. Just before arriving a rock hit the window by Kim's head. The window shattered but didn't come through because it was double paned, but it scared her pretty bad. Asked a cab driver to take us to a hotel we had picked out, but he didn't want to take us there. He insisted we go look at a B & B that he thought we would like, so we did. Doesn't seem bad and it's near everything, so we decided to stay. Then walked down to the shopping area through St. Stephens Green. Found a very nice restaurant and had dinner. I had the French onion soup and the Rainbow Trout Almondine. Very good dinner. Walked back to B &B and went to bed early, we're both very tired.
April 27th
Got up early and had the typical big breakfast. Walked up to Grafton street and did some shopping. Got the claddagh ring I promised for my friend Raelene and also got one for myself. Then had lunch at Flanagan's, a cute place, but the food was kind of bland and unexciting. Had a good cappuccino though. From there we took the city tour. Great tour guide, very funny with a lot of interesting stories. Went into St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was quite beautiful. Also saw Phoenix Park, Guinnes brewery, lots of government buildings, Parliament House, Custom House, Christchurch Cathedral and the city walls.
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| Kim in front of Clantarf Castle |
April 28th
Got up very early - 6:20AM. Our suitcases are VERY heavy!! Took a taxi to the ferry terminal at Dun Laoghaire. Took the ferry across to Holyhead in Wales, which took 3 1/2 hours. It was a comfortable trip. Then took the train to Carew where we changed to the Edinburgh train. Pretty ride. Lancaster looked interesting from the train, a castle and a church, but didn't have time to stop. The Lake District was also pretty to travel through, lots of sheep.
We arrived in Edinburgh about 7:30PM. We were tired and dirty. We checked into the Carlton Hotel in the Royal Mile area. We have a view of Carlton Hill from our room on the 5th floor. Very nice hotel. Took showers and got cleaned up, we felt much better.
Walked to the Royal Mile and had dinner at a wonderful place that was recommended to us by the hotel concierge. He wasn't sure if we could get in, as it's usually booked, but called and found out they had a cancellation. It was close by. When we got there we had to go down a flight of stairs to this tiny restaurant, only a few tables. They gave us each a yellow carnation when we came in. We started dinner with the large prawns sauted in garlic butter, they were wonderful. Then I had the rabbit, which was very good and had great vegetables with it. The restaurants name is Dubh Prais which is Gaelic for a black cooking pot. Best meal we've had on the trip. After dinner we stopped at a pub for awhile.
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| Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh |
Got up around 7:30AM and had another huge breakfast at the hotel. Walked to the Edinburgh Castle, shopping on the way. Also stopped at St. Giles Church, which was really lovely and had the best stained glass windows I've seen. And also went to see the statue and grave of Greyfriar's Bobby. Finally got to the castle and it was very impressive. Walked around it, took lots of pictures. Then went to Halyrood Palace at the other end of the Royal Mile. Took the tour. It is a very pretty place. Then went to Princes St. and the Waverly Market to do some shopping. Went back to the hotel, our feet hurt from all the walking.
After resting our feet, we went to dinner at The Witchery. Had a very good meal here also, and we had a witch sitting at our table (she was stuffed). Then went to the Greyfriars Bobby Pub. It was very crowded and smokey and loud. Left early.
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| Urquhart Castle ruins - Loch Ness |
Got up around 7:30AM and had breakfast at the hotel. Drug our suitcases to the train depot and left the 2 heaviest there. Took the train to Perth where we tranferred to a bus for Inverness. Arrived there about 2PM. It is Sunday and we found out there are no tours out to Loch Ness on Sundays, so we decided to hire a taxi drivver. He said that for 40 pounds he would take us wherever we wanted to go for 3 hours. We headed for Loch Ness and the Monster Exhibition Center (very touristy), then to Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness - this is a ruins of a castle right on the shore. Didn't see Nessie, but I did call to her, much to Kim's embarrassement. Then went for a scenic drive, past Cuklloden Battlefield and past several castles, including Cawdor and Stuart and several others, all closed today. Then to a cairn - an ancient burial ground dating back to the same period as Stonehenge. Our driver, Fred, was very informative, and he knew the people who own the land this cairn was on - it is just now being excavated, so we were seeing something that is not on any tourist map. He was quite a good story-teller, and quite funny. He even invited us to come have dinner with his family. We didn't take him up on that, wasn't sure his wife would really be happy if we did.
After the tour we had a Chinese dinner which was good, then went for a walk. We climbed up to Inverness Castle and walked all over Inverness. The River Ness was quite pretty. Then had some ice cream and got on the train. We had a sleeper car reserved, small cabin with bunk beds. It was quite comfortable.
May 1st
Arrived in Edinburgh at 7AM and picked up our luggage, and then took another train for York. Arrived there at around 10:30AM. Walked to York Minster, which is quite beautiful. Climbed to the top of the tower - 275 steps which are circular and narrow stairs. Then went to the Shambles and bought a cute ceramic dragon.
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| The Shambles, York, England |
Had lunch at the Earl Grey Tea Room. I had a good prawn and avacado sandwich, tea and sweets. After lunch we climbed up Clifford Tower. Decided to spend the night in York. Collected our luggage at the train depot and checked into The Abbey Park Hotel. Nice room, and after getting cleaned up we went to the Jorvick Viking Center. That was really interesting. Then to dinner at the Cafe Andros. I had a chicken and ham pie. Food was good, but the service was terrible. York closes at 8pm, so waitresses anxious to go home. Went to a pub, then a walk along the river. Back to the hotel where we ended up watching "Star Trek II" and "Annie Hall".
May 2nd
Got up at 7AM. Had breakfast and walked to the train depot. Arrived in London at 11AM. Took a taxi to Kim's flat. The luggage we had left in storage was waiting for us. We were happy to see it - clean clothes. This time they gave us a room on the 3rd floor, a nicer room then she had before. Got cleaned up and headed into town. Picked up tickets to a play for tonight, then walked through St. James Park and around town. Went into Fortnum and Mason's. Had dinner at St. Martins in the Fields Church - in the crypt. This was Kim's favorite restaurant while living here, and I can see why. Food is quite good and there is actually a salad available. Good atmosphere too, and very reasonable prices. It has been a beautiful sunny day today.
Went to the play "A Walk in the Woods" starring Sir Alec Guiness. It was very, very, GOOD! Then home to start repacking and sorting our suitcases. What a mess! Since Kim has been here since January, and she has so many school books and such, we are going to have do some shipping stuff home in boxes.
May 3rd
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| Punt Boats on the Backs of Cambridge |
Decided to take a day trip to Cambridge today. It's another beautiful sunny day, very warm. Took the train to Cambridge. The town is beautiful. Took the city tour and then took a punt boat ride along the "backs". This took us up the river along the backside of Cambridge College and under some nice bridges. Very enjoyable ride on the river, and quite pretty. Had lunch, shopped and went into a couple of church's. took the 3PM train back to London.
We got cleaned up and went to dinner and then to the play "Les Miserables." The play was wonderful. Went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dessert, then home to finsih packing as we fly home tomorrow. It's been a great trip. If I had it to do over though, I would take at least 5 weeks and bring 1/2 as much with me. We did ship several boxes home today, of Kim's stuff, but we will be carrying way more then we should.
