As the end of the extended vacation was coming to an end, we started to realize that there were too many things left on our "to do" list to actually do. It took some paring of the list, some abreviated visits to must-dos, and some very long days to finish up and consequently, blog time was one of the things pared off the list!
When we got close to London, we finally lit in a hotel room for more than one night! This alone was reason to celebrate. We decided to base all the rest of our travel out of a little town near Heathrow which would allow us to stop schlepping bags in and out of hotel rooms. Thank goodness for priceline, as we got a great room for a good price in an area that is known for its exorbinant hotel rooms. While we really liked the idea of staying in a little pub/inn, at this point in the trip a few nights at the Crown Plaza sounded just perfect!
After nixing the southern part of Wales from our trip, we still had Stonehenge, Brighton Beach and Castle, Winsor Castle, Hampton Court and all of London proper left. That was quite a bit to fit into three days, but we decided to give it a go.
Stonehenge was something Cait really wanted to see. I'm awfully glad she did. It is one of the mysteries of the history of man that will probably never be solved. I'd seen Stonehenge in photos and on tv, but until you actually stand near the giant stones (that actually come from more than 400 kilometers away) and realize that they were somehow not only moved there over 1500 years ago, but also stood erect.....well, its just mind boggling. The big stones weigh over 50 tons and yet somehow a civilization that the ability to dig them up, transport them and set them on end in exact pattern. Some of the stones have worn away from the elements, some where chipped away at by souvenir takers, but still, as you walk around them, you can't help but wonder how they got there....and possibly more importantly, why.
One of the funniest things we found at Stonehenge was a man from Alabama. He was hard to miss with his Bama hat and drawl, and after he heard us talk, he considered us kindred spirits! He followed Cait and I around Stonehenge chatting up a storm, telling us about his travels with his wife and her two sisters. Every year they go on a big vacation, and because he is the only husband around....it is him and these three ladies going all over the world. He talked about his sons, food, the "sisters", Scotland, Australia, the weather, the bus they were riding on, the hotel they were staying at, his recent trip to San Antonio, the newspaper in Tampa one of his sons works for, and OF COURSE, football! As a matter of fact, he talked so much, Cait and I couldn't get a word in edgewise.....which is quite a feat! Mom, on the other hand, had fallen back and she and the "Bama" wife were talking as if they were old friends...go figure! After so many days of people who spoke different languages or the same language with strange accents, it was nice to hear a y'all and a ma'am for a change. Last we saw him, he was off to find a couple who's baby had on a UT hat that we told him about.....I think he was going to probably try to convert the baby and teach him to "Roll Tide"!
After Stonehenge, we headed down to Brighton Beach. We had gotten up pretty early and were putting in a lot of mileage, even by our standards, and for the first time on the road trip....I was worried about driving. I got really tired in the afternoon sun and the drive seemed much longer than the 2 hours it actually took us to get there. After a quick look at Brighton Castle (which, incidentally looked like the Taj Mahal instead of a proper British castle), we drove to the beach where I dropped Cait and Mom off for a stroll on the beach and to collect some stones for Alexa and I took myself a little power nap. Thank goodness for the ability to power nap! The weather was cold and damp and not really beach weather anyway, so all I missed were the gorgeous stones that form the beach there. Because Alexa is such a rock collector, Mom and Cait filled their pockets will all sorts of stones from the beach to bring home to her and by the time they got back to the car I was revived enough to finish the day.
Cait's favorite time in British History is the Tudor period and the reign of Henry VIII. We new that a lot of the next few days were going to be filled with trips to the Castles where Henry and/or his wives lived, and luckily near Brighton Beach was the home of Ann of Cleves (one of Henry's wives who actually survived the marraige to him and got out of it with her head still in tact. We drove over to see it and there was a hand written sign on the entrance...."closed due to staff sickness". While that was a little odd, I guess we were glad that we weren't subjected to the germs and we spent a half hour peeking in the windows of a house built in the 1500s.
After a great dinner and good nights sleep, we were up early to head out to Hampton Court and Windsor Castle. This was one of the days that Cait had most been looking forward to in the UK.
Hampton Court was the main home of Henry VIII. It is remarkably well preserved, with original tapestries on the walls and many of the floors original as well. They happened to be filming a movie there at the time, which while making it sort of a pain to get around, did liven the place up, as there were people in costume and props around that made the castle look like an actual working castle. While I learned a lot from Cait about Henry and his wives, and the information that they give you at the castle is very informative.....maybe the most interesting part was a tour of the "privy". I'm not sure how civilization survived such terrible hygeine conditions....thank goodness for modern plumbing! The passages were dark and damp, and as they talked about the smells from the sewage and the rotting meat after the King had been there for several weeks, you really imagine how unbearable it could become. No wonder they migrated from castle to castle so often, giving each one a break and chance to air out. We spent all morning and into the afternoon at Hampton and it was actually more than we, well at least I, had anticipated it being.
Windsor Castle was next...and since it was a working castle where the current Queen spends most of her time, we weren't sure how much of it was going to be open and we expected a sort of modern Castle. Wrong again. Windsor was built in the early 1000s....and while obviously has been updated, it still has the look of an old castle. If I were Queen, I would spend all of my time there as well, because you couldn't help but feel "royal" living there. The Queen was there the day we were there and they were setting up for a big banquet, which made our visit more interesting. All of the tables in the banquet hall were being set, with a ruler being used to measure the exact placement of all of the table settings. That's not exactly how I do it at home....but I just might have to get myself a table ruler!
The Chapel on the castle grounds was maybe the most intesting part, with generations of royals entombed in the chapel. Some had regular crypt like tombs, but some were buried in vaults that were topped with carvings of their bodies lying in state. Really weird and creepy. Henry VIII, historically one of the most egocentric rulers of that time, is buried under the floor in a pretty non-desript grave, despite his pre-death instructions for a big monument that included a marble horse......guess his kids didn't get the memo!
We spent as much time as possible in the castle and were some of the last few people to leave. Considering the security at museums, government buildings, and houses of government officials here in the states, it was surprising how accessible this castle, as well as all of the other's we had seen, are to the general public. The one thing we noticed at both of the stops on this day were the large number of school aged children who were touring the sights. They seemed to be really interested in the history and pretty well behaved..........that would change the next day!!!
Our last day in the UK was going to prove to be the most exhausting there. We had decided that rather than fight the London traffic, I would drive us to the train station and we would take the "tube" into the city, where we planned on seeing London Tower, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, the Houses of Parliament, and a show in the Theatre district. Unbelieveably, we managed to see all of that, threw in a great pub dinner and pre-show desert, and it made for a highly successful, though at times trying, day.
We started with the Tower of London, because Mom told us that they lines to see the Crowned Jewels become ridiculous late in the day. Aside from the jewels, Cait was interested in the history of the imprisonment and execution of two of Henry's wifes and many high ranking royals during the Tudor period. This might have been our first and only real disappointment of the trip. The information at the Tower was sparce, we couldn't get in to see the tombs of Ann Bolynn and Catherine Howard (Henry's wives who were beheaded), many of the Crown Jewels were not out for display and there were school kids everywhere. Unlike the day before, many of these kids were not so well behaved. As a matter of fact, one particurally bad class seemed to keep showing up where we were, and by the time we were in the "Bloody Tower" learning about the murder of two young princes by their uncle, I was on my last nerve. There were stations throughout the tower where you could cast your opinion on a topic by pressing a series of buttons. They are designed to be easy to use and to keep crowds moving. Well, while trying to read about this uncle to had his nephews smothered there was a loud, repetitive click click click click click click in the room. It was one of the students from the class. His teacher was just standing and watching him...click click click click click. Everyone else in the room, being polite Brits, were, while muttering to each other, not confronting the child as well. I looked his direction and sort of shook my head. He ignored me....click click click click click. I sort of waved my hand in a gesture for him to stop. He still ignored me....click click click click click....over and over, banging on the voting button. Finally, I had had it, stared right at the little bugger and loudly (okay, maybe screamingly) said "STOP THAT NOW"!!!! He froze, eyes got big, and he rushed out of the room to find his teacher who had slithered away. I thought I might be in a bit of a jam with the polite Britsh crowd, but when I turned back at them, they were actually smiling in approval!
The little brat child did come back in, armed with his friends, but not a teacher. He sort of smirked at me, while his friends began banging on the buttons. Funny how positioning myself between them and the buttons and staring them down discouraged any further bad behavior and pretty soon the whole gang of little hoodlums ran off to bug someone else. Not only could I not believe how badly this class behaved, I couldn't believe how oblivious their teacher was to their disruptive behavior. Thank goodness for most of the teachers I know here, who not only care more about their students than that, but also care more about people in general.
While we were disapointed in many of the things at the tower, there were still parts that we loved. You could actually go into the areas where the prisoners were held, walking through the small passages, read the carvings in the walls that the prisoners had made. After all the stories that Cait had told us about this period of time, about the people who were persecuted and held prisoner there, it all really came to life and you could imagine what it might be like being a 17 year old girl who fell from grace and went from being Queen to being executed in days time.
After the tower, we got back on the tube and then walked our way around the center of the city, seeing all the sights we wanted to see, getting great half priced seats to see Billy Elliott and hopping on a double decker bus to spend the extra hour or so we had before the show, just checking out the city. Definitely the highlight of the night was the show. The kids who starred in it were adorable and amazingly talented, the theatre was old and gorgeous and our seats were perfect. It was the perfect ending to a great trip. Even the sort of creepy Italian man on the tube on the way home, hitting on Cait and trying to charm mom couldn't spoil that ending!
After finally getting to bed at 2:30 in the morning, we woke up early to get Cait on her flight home and then Mom and I went to return the car. Incidentally....the car was returned no worse for the wear from this US driver, even though the learner permits that Cait has stuck in the back windows created a bit of a stir, as apparently you aren't supposed to have them unless you really don't have a license. Oh well, no harm no foul....and perhaps the fair warning made people be a little more cautious around me.
It will be interesting to see how my thoughts about this trip evolve over the next week or so, as I get home and rested and back into a more normal routine. But I feel pretty safe in saying that this was an experience that will never be forgotten......and I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to have gotten to share it with Mom and Cait
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
We Three See........ROUND-ABOUTS
I will catch up on on further adventures tomorrow....as I'm sure our castle viewing treks are becoming tiresome to hear about. Besides, today there is something more important to talk about. My conquering of the British round-about.
You see, Brits don't really have intersections, at least not intersections like we have. No redlights, waiting your turn and the such. Every time roads intersect, whether it be 3, 4 or 7....they put what is called a roundabout.
In the US we call these traffic circles and they are often confusing because they are so rare. Here, they are confusing, because they are EVERYWHERE!
So, we approach the roundabouts from a street...and the first strange thing for me to remember is that I have to enter it going left. The entering traffic has to give-way (yield) to the cars already in the circle.
I know this seems like a simple thing....enter the circle, yielding to traffic as you enter, and drive round until your exit. Well......not so much.
Picture this......me, evidentally with legs much longer than the normal European driver since the Fauxhall (European car) that we've rented forces me to sit much closer up under the wheel than I would like. So me...legs all up in the steering wheel....trying to remember to enter and go LEFT! And in the background, Cait and Mom are both reminding me of the same, while sometimes adding little tidbits like "Mom, your drifting!" or "Bev, don't forget to yield". So basically, every interesection there is chattering and coaching going on like crazy.
Add to that, the sound of the horns when I fail to remember, to hear, or to execute either the yielding, the entering and going left or both! So now you have chattering and coaching, honking, and usually some bad pop music from the radio. Wait....seems like I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah, "Sean", the voice of our navigator who speaks in such a heavy Irish accent that he is sometimes difficult to understand.
So......a little tiny car, legs all up under the wheel, left handed shifting, trying to remember not only to keep driving on the lefthand side, but to rotate left in the roundabout, Cait reminding me at 100 words a minute about yielding and where to exit, Mom coaching from the back in her "mom voice", Sean telling me to "veer left" and go about to the 3rd exit, angry red-face Brit shaking one hand at me while honking with the other, two "learning driver" signs in the back window of the car, radio playing Frankie goes to Hollywood.......throw in someone trying to photograph a sign or a sight, snacking on something odd and yummy, or us laughing about something we have just seen or heard......and you have just imagined the scene we go through 50 or 60 times a day.
This morning, we went through the process.....with all those things above.....except this particular time no one honked.
"Bev, I think you really have the hang of these round-abouts."
Thanks Mom!
You see, Brits don't really have intersections, at least not intersections like we have. No redlights, waiting your turn and the such. Every time roads intersect, whether it be 3, 4 or 7....they put what is called a roundabout.
In the US we call these traffic circles and they are often confusing because they are so rare. Here, they are confusing, because they are EVERYWHERE!
So, we approach the roundabouts from a street...and the first strange thing for me to remember is that I have to enter it going left. The entering traffic has to give-way (yield) to the cars already in the circle.
I know this seems like a simple thing....enter the circle, yielding to traffic as you enter, and drive round until your exit. Well......not so much.
Picture this......me, evidentally with legs much longer than the normal European driver since the Fauxhall (European car) that we've rented forces me to sit much closer up under the wheel than I would like. So me...legs all up in the steering wheel....trying to remember to enter and go LEFT! And in the background, Cait and Mom are both reminding me of the same, while sometimes adding little tidbits like "Mom, your drifting!" or "Bev, don't forget to yield". So basically, every interesection there is chattering and coaching going on like crazy.
Add to that, the sound of the horns when I fail to remember, to hear, or to execute either the yielding, the entering and going left or both! So now you have chattering and coaching, honking, and usually some bad pop music from the radio. Wait....seems like I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah, "Sean", the voice of our navigator who speaks in such a heavy Irish accent that he is sometimes difficult to understand.
So......a little tiny car, legs all up under the wheel, left handed shifting, trying to remember not only to keep driving on the lefthand side, but to rotate left in the roundabout, Cait reminding me at 100 words a minute about yielding and where to exit, Mom coaching from the back in her "mom voice", Sean telling me to "veer left" and go about to the 3rd exit, angry red-face Brit shaking one hand at me while honking with the other, two "learning driver" signs in the back window of the car, radio playing Frankie goes to Hollywood.......throw in someone trying to photograph a sign or a sight, snacking on something odd and yummy, or us laughing about something we have just seen or heard......and you have just imagined the scene we go through 50 or 60 times a day.
This morning, we went through the process.....with all those things above.....except this particular time no one honked.
"Bev, I think you really have the hang of these round-abouts."
Thanks Mom!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
We Three See......A castle guard, a buried Bard and Pub food to die for
What a great night's sleep....and a late morning for us. Actually a much needed perfect start to the day, since we all felt especially rested.
We had decided to head south and try to curb our castle hunting a bit. We were on a mission to get to Stratford-upon-Avon early enough to see Romeo and Juliet by the Royal Shakespeare Company. We ya know what they say about best laid plans......
Leaving Glascow we immediately were driving through some of the prettiest country yet. While talking about the rolling hills and the strange plants and trees we were seeing, someone noticed a "castle sign". Well, maybe just one more. So, quick as that, we were off the motorway and cruising through lamb country again on tiny little country roads...finally running across some unfenced land with sheep and lambs on the roads....strangely enough, just what we had been wanting to see! We drove through the grazing fields and hills, then through a forest...and finally over a beautiful little river we saw the directions to the castle we were in search of, and as we drove onto the property and up towards the gardens, we were so glad we had ventured off path.
This was one of the prettiest castles we had seen, and the best part, there was a Duke still living there. When we got to the guard house, the guard asked us what we were there for....hmmm....since I didn't think they would believe we were there for tea, we said we had just wandered off course and needed to turn around. We took long enough to snap some great photos as we were turning around in the castle driveway (if they call it a drive way) and then headed back to find our way back onto the motorway. Though it was a two hour diversion, it was one of the best little side trips we took.
Just before we got back to the main road, we went through a little town and decided this might be a great time to try some pub food. GOOD CHOICE. We got a steak and ale pie and of course, a fish and chips and a cheeseburger. For desert we shared the most decadent "sticky toffee pudding with custard sauce", which we had no idea what it was going to be, but will now never forget how good it was. The food was incredible, the pub was right out of a book on "the real Scotland" and the bartender gave us two big cups of ice to go!!! (Ice is such a treat for us even here, that it might have even outshined the great food).
Even with our detour, we still got to Stratford in plenty of time to see the show.....but unfortunately they were sold out. Still, the little city is picturesque and quaint....and we got to grave yard search a bit while heading to the church where William Shakespeare is buried. There is just something incredibly interesting about a cemetary with grave stones from the 1600s! I know, I know...still not a normal vacation....but we will get to London soon, and then I'm sure do some more normal things!
For the most part, we met the nicest, most interesting people on this adventure. It just seems like people go out of their way to help us or talk to us. Its so nice to run into that over and over. Well, tonight ended with an encounter at the hotel that was just the opposite of what we've been experiencing. The guy at the front desk.....well, to say he tested my nerves is an understatement. I even, at one point, asked him if there was a camera someplace because it was like a character actor was playing a bad British hotel clerk and I was being punked. I looked at Cait and Mom at one point, both looked like they were waiting for a bomb to drop. Later, Mom said she couldn't believe how calm I was being and was afraid at any minute I might go right across the counter and grab him by his collar. I was trying really hard not to be the "ugly American"....and I think I somewhat succeeded......but the whole situation was just proof that no matter where you are, there are just some people who should not be doing the job they are doing. Well, that and proof that some people are just flat dumber than a post.
I know I've said this over and over again.....but I can't stress enough.....as I listen to the sounds of Cait and Mom sleeping and reflect on all the things we are seeing, learning, laughing about....I know just how blessed I am. Tomorrow....we actually go INSIDE castles. Castles that we are supposed to be at! We don't even have to pretend to be lost!
We had decided to head south and try to curb our castle hunting a bit. We were on a mission to get to Stratford-upon-Avon early enough to see Romeo and Juliet by the Royal Shakespeare Company. We ya know what they say about best laid plans......
Leaving Glascow we immediately were driving through some of the prettiest country yet. While talking about the rolling hills and the strange plants and trees we were seeing, someone noticed a "castle sign". Well, maybe just one more. So, quick as that, we were off the motorway and cruising through lamb country again on tiny little country roads...finally running across some unfenced land with sheep and lambs on the roads....strangely enough, just what we had been wanting to see! We drove through the grazing fields and hills, then through a forest...and finally over a beautiful little river we saw the directions to the castle we were in search of, and as we drove onto the property and up towards the gardens, we were so glad we had ventured off path.
This was one of the prettiest castles we had seen, and the best part, there was a Duke still living there. When we got to the guard house, the guard asked us what we were there for....hmmm....since I didn't think they would believe we were there for tea, we said we had just wandered off course and needed to turn around. We took long enough to snap some great photos as we were turning around in the castle driveway (if they call it a drive way) and then headed back to find our way back onto the motorway. Though it was a two hour diversion, it was one of the best little side trips we took.
Just before we got back to the main road, we went through a little town and decided this might be a great time to try some pub food. GOOD CHOICE. We got a steak and ale pie and of course, a fish and chips and a cheeseburger. For desert we shared the most decadent "sticky toffee pudding with custard sauce", which we had no idea what it was going to be, but will now never forget how good it was. The food was incredible, the pub was right out of a book on "the real Scotland" and the bartender gave us two big cups of ice to go!!! (Ice is such a treat for us even here, that it might have even outshined the great food).
Even with our detour, we still got to Stratford in plenty of time to see the show.....but unfortunately they were sold out. Still, the little city is picturesque and quaint....and we got to grave yard search a bit while heading to the church where William Shakespeare is buried. There is just something incredibly interesting about a cemetary with grave stones from the 1600s! I know, I know...still not a normal vacation....but we will get to London soon, and then I'm sure do some more normal things!
For the most part, we met the nicest, most interesting people on this adventure. It just seems like people go out of their way to help us or talk to us. Its so nice to run into that over and over. Well, tonight ended with an encounter at the hotel that was just the opposite of what we've been experiencing. The guy at the front desk.....well, to say he tested my nerves is an understatement. I even, at one point, asked him if there was a camera someplace because it was like a character actor was playing a bad British hotel clerk and I was being punked. I looked at Cait and Mom at one point, both looked like they were waiting for a bomb to drop. Later, Mom said she couldn't believe how calm I was being and was afraid at any minute I might go right across the counter and grab him by his collar. I was trying really hard not to be the "ugly American"....and I think I somewhat succeeded......but the whole situation was just proof that no matter where you are, there are just some people who should not be doing the job they are doing. Well, that and proof that some people are just flat dumber than a post.
I know I've said this over and over again.....but I can't stress enough.....as I listen to the sounds of Cait and Mom sleeping and reflect on all the things we are seeing, learning, laughing about....I know just how blessed I am. Tomorrow....we actually go INSIDE castles. Castles that we are supposed to be at! We don't even have to pretend to be lost!
Friday, April 1, 2011
We Three See.......Castles, Lambs, and Our Lives Flash Before Our Eyes!
I know I said we were going to have a more normal vacation once we got to the UK....but that wasn't exactly correct. While great sheets, real beds and good food have certainly been in our itinerary...the rest of the past couple days has been anything but ordinary.
We left north of London early Thursday morning....all snug and happy in our little "left handed" car. Actually the driving part was going pretty well. I even managed to figure out how to set the emergency brake! Of course, the first time we had to put gas in, it took us about 15 minutes and the assistance of two different guys who were getting gas at the same time, to figure out how to open the gas tank. We felt pretty stupid to be "baffled" by something so simple. Note to car rental agents....INCLUDE THE OWNER'S MANUALS!
Our goal was to head north about 3 hours on the "motorway".....getting off to see York Minster Cathedral, which was to be the start of a three day "castle hunting" expedition. Oh....and the second part of our goal was to figure out where exactly in the UK has the best fish and chips! We've put a big dent in both of those.
The motorway was a breeze. Its hard to even consider driving the wrong way on a divided highway and we made it to York in less time than we expected. There we went to see York Minster (a magnificient Gothic cathedral) and a castle just outside of the town. From there, we pretty much shot from the hip. Armed with a list of the best castles in the UK that we got from the internet and an atlas, we've wound our way up the northwestern coast of England, into Scotland, zig-zagging our way across the lower portion of Scotland, and now are headed back down into England tomorrow.
Our search for castles have taken us into small little medieval walled villages, down little dirt roads and even into a few "no private vehicles allowed" areas. We are still a bit early in the season and were finding many of the castles closed and some we found are not ever open to the public. The adventure of finding them has been as fun as any other part of the trip! I'm not sure why we are so interested in the castles.....perhaps we fancy ourselves princesses of sorts.....or maybe we are finding a future home for our real little princess Alexa.....or it could be we've seen too many romantic comedies and just like the idea of traipsing around small roads in the UK. Regardless of why, we have seen some spectacular castles, in all stages of repair and ruin, and still on the agenda for tomorrow are the Welsh castles.
Doing a tour like this with Cait is amazing. She is such a British history buff and great story teller than she can fill us in on who lived in almost every castle and weave wonderful tales about what each family's part in history was. We learned about everyone from the Roman leaders who built Hadrian's wall across northern England to keep the Barbarians out in the days of the Roman Empire, to William Wallace and Mary Queen of Scots, to the bits and pieces of history that have been salvaged from the dark ages as we looked at some of the castles that are little more than stacks of stone left standing on a cliff overlooking the North Sea.
In between our "castle spotting" we've sung countless songs, listened to stories, both old and new, and have seen literally thousands of sheep. Its lambing season in the UK and the fields are filled with flocks of sheep, all the ewes followed by their adorable little lamb babies. Funny thing about sheep in the UK, they don't bob their tales, so all of them, adult and newborns, have long tails! If Cait had her way we would spend a lot more time climbing fences and chasing after the baby lambs.
We are truly seeing some amazing country and some sights that are something that we never imagined seeing. When we stop someplace, we always seem to create a little bit of a stir, as the places we are going and the people we are running in to are not the sorts of places where American tourists normally go. One of the best treats was getting to meet Robert Watts....a precocious 5 year old, who wants to be a "proper bus driver" and completely charmed us as he practiced the songs that he is performing at a Mother's Day program at his school. (In the UK Mother's day is this Sunday) He chattered away at us, bright and cute and filled with personality.
We did have a bit of a "fright" today. While shifting left handed has gotten to be more and more natural, I got us into a bit of a predicament today. We were leaving one of the small little farm roads we had been on, turning back onto a larger rural road. I was going to have to make a right turn, meaning I was going to have to cross oncoming traffic. Sitting on a hill, I started out and was in 3rd instead of 1st....and the car died. Normally, even if I couldn't go ahead and start in 3rd by heavy clutching, I would simply start the car and go on. This time, as the car died, I saw a lorrie (18 wheeler) coming at us. When I looked in my rear view, another car had pulled up behind me, leaving me no room to back up. I was only out about 4 feet into the road, leaving the truck plenty of room to go around.....so I was hesistant to try to re-start and pull forward, thinking that if the truck veered to the other lane to go around me, my pulling forward could put us further in harm's way. Well, the truck didn't seem to want to leave his lane. He just kept coming right at us. I was sitting and watching.....begging him to change lanes.....Cait hid behind the atlas, as if could protect her from the impact with the 18 wheeler.....and Mom just sat and stared, not wanting to miss anything, not even us being hit by a big truck. Finally, at what seemed like the very last minute, the truck swerved, barely missing the front of our car, and we were able to pull out.
Honestly, I was pretty shaken by that.....and while we kept going, I was working hard at trying to keep my composure and calm. Even Mom and Cait were surprisingly quiet for a bit. Then, just as we started to get back to normal, we noticed a truck ahead of us driving very erratically. We dropped back a bit, as he kept veering into oncoming traffic and thought that if he got hit, we didn't want to be too close to him. After following him for about 5 minutes, watching him run several vehicles into the shoulder as he veered into their lane, he finally crossed over the opposite lane completely, hitting a road sign and fishtailing for about 200 yards before he came to a stop. I'm not sure if he was sleeping or drunk....and though Cait wanted to stick around and see what happened with him....we drove on, thankful that we had avoided two potentially vacation ruining incidents.
Fish and Chips.......we become quite the experts on them! 3 days in a row that is what we have eaten and really I anticipate eating it many more times while we are here. The fish is huge chunks of either cod or haddock, so mild and sweet each and every time we've had it. And the chips....big, and thick, but still perfectly done. We've even learned to really appreciate the vinegar on both the fish and the chips. Mom and I are both in heaven, as seafood is our favorite food, and Cait is being a great sport about our obsession with this dish. Can't wait to report on eactly where we find the best fish and chips while we are here, but so far, I think that the Wetherby Whaler just outside of York is leading the way! We've yet to try a street vendor, but I think tomorrow might be the day for that.
Tomorrow, after heading into Wales, we are going to Stratford upon Avon and hoping to see a show there. Then its off to Hampton court, Brighton Beach.....and finishing up in London.
Well, as I'm writing this blog Cait is perusing British TV. She is watching a show called "Embarrassing Body Problems" This is just unbelievable. Not only are the embarassing problems, really REALLY embarassing....but what they are showing on network tv is shocking. The first girl has a particularly hairy "backside"...and we were more than a bit taken aback that they showed it. Then......the next girl has thrush as a result of a yeast infection....AND THEY SHOWED THAT!!!!! Now, a man has an enlarged testicle.....a very old man....and finally Cait has changed the channel, but not before we were priviledged to see that testicle on our big screen tv!!!! And I thought American reality tv had gone too far. Please, please, don't let this trend move into the states.
Well, we're off early in the morning, so this is a short one. Keep your fingers crossed that we continue to have good luck with my driving and that we can charm our way out of any spots we get into by making our way into places where we aren't really supposed to be.
We left north of London early Thursday morning....all snug and happy in our little "left handed" car. Actually the driving part was going pretty well. I even managed to figure out how to set the emergency brake! Of course, the first time we had to put gas in, it took us about 15 minutes and the assistance of two different guys who were getting gas at the same time, to figure out how to open the gas tank. We felt pretty stupid to be "baffled" by something so simple. Note to car rental agents....INCLUDE THE OWNER'S MANUALS!
Our goal was to head north about 3 hours on the "motorway".....getting off to see York Minster Cathedral, which was to be the start of a three day "castle hunting" expedition. Oh....and the second part of our goal was to figure out where exactly in the UK has the best fish and chips! We've put a big dent in both of those.
The motorway was a breeze. Its hard to even consider driving the wrong way on a divided highway and we made it to York in less time than we expected. There we went to see York Minster (a magnificient Gothic cathedral) and a castle just outside of the town. From there, we pretty much shot from the hip. Armed with a list of the best castles in the UK that we got from the internet and an atlas, we've wound our way up the northwestern coast of England, into Scotland, zig-zagging our way across the lower portion of Scotland, and now are headed back down into England tomorrow.
Our search for castles have taken us into small little medieval walled villages, down little dirt roads and even into a few "no private vehicles allowed" areas. We are still a bit early in the season and were finding many of the castles closed and some we found are not ever open to the public. The adventure of finding them has been as fun as any other part of the trip! I'm not sure why we are so interested in the castles.....perhaps we fancy ourselves princesses of sorts.....or maybe we are finding a future home for our real little princess Alexa.....or it could be we've seen too many romantic comedies and just like the idea of traipsing around small roads in the UK. Regardless of why, we have seen some spectacular castles, in all stages of repair and ruin, and still on the agenda for tomorrow are the Welsh castles.
Doing a tour like this with Cait is amazing. She is such a British history buff and great story teller than she can fill us in on who lived in almost every castle and weave wonderful tales about what each family's part in history was. We learned about everyone from the Roman leaders who built Hadrian's wall across northern England to keep the Barbarians out in the days of the Roman Empire, to William Wallace and Mary Queen of Scots, to the bits and pieces of history that have been salvaged from the dark ages as we looked at some of the castles that are little more than stacks of stone left standing on a cliff overlooking the North Sea.
In between our "castle spotting" we've sung countless songs, listened to stories, both old and new, and have seen literally thousands of sheep. Its lambing season in the UK and the fields are filled with flocks of sheep, all the ewes followed by their adorable little lamb babies. Funny thing about sheep in the UK, they don't bob their tales, so all of them, adult and newborns, have long tails! If Cait had her way we would spend a lot more time climbing fences and chasing after the baby lambs.
We are truly seeing some amazing country and some sights that are something that we never imagined seeing. When we stop someplace, we always seem to create a little bit of a stir, as the places we are going and the people we are running in to are not the sorts of places where American tourists normally go. One of the best treats was getting to meet Robert Watts....a precocious 5 year old, who wants to be a "proper bus driver" and completely charmed us as he practiced the songs that he is performing at a Mother's Day program at his school. (In the UK Mother's day is this Sunday) He chattered away at us, bright and cute and filled with personality.
We did have a bit of a "fright" today. While shifting left handed has gotten to be more and more natural, I got us into a bit of a predicament today. We were leaving one of the small little farm roads we had been on, turning back onto a larger rural road. I was going to have to make a right turn, meaning I was going to have to cross oncoming traffic. Sitting on a hill, I started out and was in 3rd instead of 1st....and the car died. Normally, even if I couldn't go ahead and start in 3rd by heavy clutching, I would simply start the car and go on. This time, as the car died, I saw a lorrie (18 wheeler) coming at us. When I looked in my rear view, another car had pulled up behind me, leaving me no room to back up. I was only out about 4 feet into the road, leaving the truck plenty of room to go around.....so I was hesistant to try to re-start and pull forward, thinking that if the truck veered to the other lane to go around me, my pulling forward could put us further in harm's way. Well, the truck didn't seem to want to leave his lane. He just kept coming right at us. I was sitting and watching.....begging him to change lanes.....Cait hid behind the atlas, as if could protect her from the impact with the 18 wheeler.....and Mom just sat and stared, not wanting to miss anything, not even us being hit by a big truck. Finally, at what seemed like the very last minute, the truck swerved, barely missing the front of our car, and we were able to pull out.
Honestly, I was pretty shaken by that.....and while we kept going, I was working hard at trying to keep my composure and calm. Even Mom and Cait were surprisingly quiet for a bit. Then, just as we started to get back to normal, we noticed a truck ahead of us driving very erratically. We dropped back a bit, as he kept veering into oncoming traffic and thought that if he got hit, we didn't want to be too close to him. After following him for about 5 minutes, watching him run several vehicles into the shoulder as he veered into their lane, he finally crossed over the opposite lane completely, hitting a road sign and fishtailing for about 200 yards before he came to a stop. I'm not sure if he was sleeping or drunk....and though Cait wanted to stick around and see what happened with him....we drove on, thankful that we had avoided two potentially vacation ruining incidents.
Fish and Chips.......we become quite the experts on them! 3 days in a row that is what we have eaten and really I anticipate eating it many more times while we are here. The fish is huge chunks of either cod or haddock, so mild and sweet each and every time we've had it. And the chips....big, and thick, but still perfectly done. We've even learned to really appreciate the vinegar on both the fish and the chips. Mom and I are both in heaven, as seafood is our favorite food, and Cait is being a great sport about our obsession with this dish. Can't wait to report on eactly where we find the best fish and chips while we are here, but so far, I think that the Wetherby Whaler just outside of York is leading the way! We've yet to try a street vendor, but I think tomorrow might be the day for that.
Tomorrow, after heading into Wales, we are going to Stratford upon Avon and hoping to see a show there. Then its off to Hampton court, Brighton Beach.....and finishing up in London.
Well, as I'm writing this blog Cait is perusing British TV. She is watching a show called "Embarrassing Body Problems" This is just unbelievable. Not only are the embarassing problems, really REALLY embarassing....but what they are showing on network tv is shocking. The first girl has a particularly hairy "backside"...and we were more than a bit taken aback that they showed it. Then......the next girl has thrush as a result of a yeast infection....AND THEY SHOWED THAT!!!!! Now, a man has an enlarged testicle.....a very old man....and finally Cait has changed the channel, but not before we were priviledged to see that testicle on our big screen tv!!!! And I thought American reality tv had gone too far. Please, please, don't let this trend move into the states.
Well, we're off early in the morning, so this is a short one. Keep your fingers crossed that we continue to have good luck with my driving and that we can charm our way out of any spots we get into by making our way into places where we aren't really supposed to be.
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