I am about to begin a foray into the two-plus week vacation
I just had in the UK. For those of us
about to embark… we salute you.
Pre-Trip Introduction
This trip was unusual in that I had two travel companions,
April Moore-Fager and Sharmon Pruitt-Blank.
For a year, I made plans, adjusted plans, re-adjusted plans, asked
myself WHY I put myself through this (because I love it, of course), and got
every duck and duckling in a row I possibly could.
Because this was such a long trip, you can never plan for
everything. But, I had planned enough
that *most* of the trip went without a hitch.
It was magical, fun, giggly, eye-opening, amazing, and beautiful. If they gave grades for trip planning, I
think this would’ve gotten an A+. However,
there were those surprises.
Day 1/2
Day 1 was not Day 1, really, because April and I had planned
on only one afternoon in London (we were more interested in the
countryside). Sharmon came along on our
trip at the last minute, and wanted more London time, so she took off ON HER
OWN, to a country she’d never been before, and amused herself in the city for
several days prior to our arrival. Kudos
to a lady who has more guts than I ever would in a similar situation!
April and Joy’s Day 1
April left from Kansas City to Houston where she and I both
picked up a United flight heading for London Heathrow. I don’t think either of us slept going over
(I can’t ever sleep on a plane!). We
arrived in London just before 7 am, and (surprise!) even though we had to stop
by the luggage carousel for my luggage, we were through immigration and
customs, on the tube, and at our hotel by 9 am.
On the way, I had IM’ed Sharmon that we were in town. I think she had been lonely because we had barely
arrived when she said she was on her way over!
We were exhausted and just wanted to shower and rest before our tea at
Fortnum and Mason (the first stop on our trip).
But, Sharmon was enthusiastic and really excited, so we waited for her
arrival. And waited. And waited.
She kept saying she was in the coffee shop downstairs, but I
never saw her. Turns out, she’d gone to
the wrong Premier Inn! Twice! (two
different hotels) before finding ours.
But, she finally made it and it *was* good to see her!
We decided to go on over to Fortnum and Mason to our
afternoon tea (we had paid in advance).
I’d never had tea in London before (yes, after all these years, I ticked
something off my bucket list!). We
started by shopping in the tea area. I
love Fortnum and Mason tea, but it’s cost-prohibitive to ship. So, I just wait til I get there and buy all
the tea I can get my hands on before heading home! I love F&M. It’s not as pretentious as Harrods – or as
large. Not as crowded.
We were upstairs by noon for our 1 pm tea, and they
graciously took us early. We were still
running on fumes, but even so, it was a wonderment of tea cakes, sandwiches,
pots of tea, and all you could eat for one price! The restaurant was beautiful and the staff
were very helpful.
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| F&M |
After our lovely tea, we headed to the underground for a
trip to North London and the RAF Museum… well worth the trip for Military
historians or enthusiasts.
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| RAF Museum |
As if we hadn’t done enough already, we made our way to the
British National Library to see a Guttenburg bible, a copy of the Magna Carta,
and various other cool books!
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| British Library |
We came home to our hotel (Premier Inn, Kings Cross)
and crashed mightily.
Day 3
April and I got up early and had breakfast at McDonalds
before checking out and meeting Sharmon at Kings Cross. I had pre-paid for our train tickets, so all
we had to do was locate our train to Durham and head out!
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| Sharmon and I on the train! |
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| April on the train! |
The Enterprise folks met us at the Durham train station with
our rental car and then it was off to our B&B! The Hollycroft
was very nice, but our GPS kept sending us to some other town for the address
(the proprietors had warned us this happened sometimes). It was a lovely stay, though, and we were
very happy with it.
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| Hollycroft B&B |
There were a few things we had planned for Durham – one of
which was to meet up with my friends Linda and Chris for a tour of Durham
Cathedral. However, at the last minute,
they couldn’t make it, so my initial trial by fire was to drive to central
Durham and find parking!
I actually did pretty good, and we were soon cloistered in
the Cathedral (can you be cloistered in a cathedral???). Wow, what a tour! Loved it.
The architecture was beautiful… the stained glass… but the most exciting
thing for me was to see the sarcophagus for the Venerable Bede! Wowser.
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| Bede |
After a few wrong turns, we finally made it to the castle –
only 2 miles from the B&B!
Initially, we were lead to the Library bar and had a few drinks. But we got restless and asked where the party
was going to start. We were lead to
another bar, much noisier than the last and inhabited by would be medieval
types (members of a group who were attending the banquet).
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| Motley Crue |
One bright spot in the night was that Sharmon got to speak
to a bagpiper who agreed to play us a lovely song on the pipes – just for us –
out in the garden.
The night was lovely, and the
castle was beautifully lit.
It’s supposedly haunted, but we never did see a ghost! We did chat with a guy who was there for
business who sat next to Sharmon, and a Scotsman who sat next to me (and was
very much for Scottish separatism!).
All in all, it was a
wonderful evening (except for the raucous lot sitting behind us).
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| Lumley Castle |
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| Elizabethan Banquet |
The funny bit was, after the banquet it was so dark we took
a wrong turn and ended up on a tiny private drive. It was so narrow that when I went to turn
around, my car all of a sudden wasn’t moving!
Oh no… did I get stuck in a rut?
We pondered and mused and pondered some more. I got out of the car and lo and behold, there
was a sawed off tree trunk pushing against the front right tire! All sorted, we got the car turned around and
on the right road before you could say “Bob’s your uncle!”
Day 4
Day 4 started off beautifully with Ray and his wife Lyn (and
Bross and Rusty – the German Shepherds) lead us northward to Lindisfarne. I had always wanted to visit the area and had
heard much of the “Holy Island”. It was another beautiful day – we were
blessed with many this trip. So, it was
with awe and admiration we caught our first glimpse of the tidal island.
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| Lindisfarne |
Lyn came with the girls and I to view the different parts of
the island (there is a priory, a church, the castle, and a small village). On the way, we saw some fisherman huts made
of boats turned upside down!
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| Fisherman Hut |
We spent some happy hours exploring each before meeting up
with Ray and the dogs at the local pub for a small bite to eat.
Ray wanted us to see Bamburgh Castle which wasn’t too far away. Though we
were too tired to tour the castle by then, it was definitely an awe-inspiring
piece of architecture.
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| Bamburgh Castle |
It fairly ate up the coastline. By the way, the sand was so soft and
wonderful that it was all I could do to keep my shoes on. The dogs had a rush playing in the waves, and
a good time was had by all!
Afterward, we decided against fish n chips at Sea Houses, and
went back to a pub at Chester-le-Street.
There, we were served fish and chips bigger than our heads!
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| Bigger than yo Head! |
Needless to say, the dogs had a lovely dinner later that
evening because there is no way we could eat it all!
It was with great sadness we bid goodbye to Ray and
Lyn. They are such wonderful people and
went way out of their way for us that day.
But, they said that they would meet us the following week when they were
in the Lake District for Ray’s 214th Wainwright walk.
Day 5 (September 14, Sunday)
Day five was full of adventure! We bid a fond farewell to lovely
Chester-le-Street, County Durham (home of the Prince Bishops) and headed north!
Our first stop was the Angel of the North (just off the
A1). It is a huge sculpture you can see
for miles! I’ve always wanted to see it,
so here we were.
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| Angel of the North |
Lots of great pictures later, we were off, again, and
heading northward to Hadrian’s wall ).
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| Hadrian's Wall |
I aimed us toward a Roman Fort called
Birdoswald
which has a nice visitor center and short tour of the property (with a
walk-through of the fort's history). They also have
(as I discovered) spartan group accommodations for hikers, bikers, and others
visiting the area.
Afterward, we stopped for lunch at a little place called the
Slackhouse Farm about ½ mile from Birdoswald. This was my second visit there, and I had the
roasted vegetable quiche (to die for).
Remember to ask her to heat it up first.
The Victoria Sponge dessert was beyond reproach. All in all, a mega wonderful meal!
After lunch, away we went onward into Scotland and to our
next destination, Stirling Castle.
This was my second visit to the castle, so I let Sharmon and April off the hook
to explore on their own while I went the other route to investigate an
interesting churchyard just adjacent.
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| Statue of Robert the Bruce at Stirling Castle |
John Knox once lectured on
the grounds of the Church of the Holy Rude.
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| Statue of John Knox |
I saw several graves with skull
and crossbones. When I looked this up,
it said the primary reason skulls appeared on memorial and headstones was as a Memento Mori, a reminder of our own
mortality, an aide-mémoire, should it be needed, that you too will die one day
- death is inexorable!
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| Memento Mori |
With all this spookiness going on, I quickly got myself back
to the car park to meet Sharmon and April who were already waiting for me to
leave on our last leg of the day’s journey.
We meandered upward, past civilization, into heavily
forested areas of Scotlands Trossachs. On small roads, through tiny villages without
a “Spa and Resort” in sight. We were
going to a place I had seen from the road the prior year – (MacDonald Forest Hills).
Indeed, when we finally did find it, it gleamed like a jewel
along Loch Ard. We were quickly checked
in, but April and I found out our room had three beds! So we resituated so that Sharmon was able to
stay in our room and we saved some money that way. What can I say about this place? The grounds were impeccable. I could have spent days just sipping tea on
the front veranda. The rooms were modern
and very nice. The hotel staff couldn’t
have been more helpful.
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| Comfy Room |
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| Beautiful view from the veranda |
Needless to say, we were in our happy place!
Day 6 (September 15, Monday)
We got up the next morning (slowly) and went to have
breakfast). I had booked us through www.booking.com, and didn’t expect too many
perks for that… but we were given a HUGE breakfast (normally 17.50 GBP) free
(included with the room).
We had to do some laundry, but the hotel didn’t have a
laundry service (which amazed us). They
did offer, however, to have housekeeping do our laundry for free while we were
gone! OkYES! We didn’t hesitate.
We ventured out around 10:30 for Aberfoyle where we met up
with the
Scottish Wool Centre
and saw a sheepdog demo prior to entering.
We shopped til we dropped, then got some cash and headed to
Balmaha to catch the cruise around Loch Lomond. Sadness ensued when we realized
that the cruises weren’t running that day.
So, to assuage our hurt feelings, we went to the local pub. I ordered a J2O and turned April onto this
tasty drink (my favorite is orange and passion fruit). Soon, a young couple we’d met at the dock
stopped by to tell us that the cruises weren’t running, but the ferry was. Ferry?
What ferry? We trudged back to
the boat landing and found out that a ferry goes over to “the island” by
request. What island? As it turns out, one of the first and best of
our spontaneous moments. We landed on Inchcailloch. What
a beautiful place it was! Fern-encrusted
forests, easy-to-follow hiking trails, and breathtaking views of Loch Lomond!
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| Nature Preserve |
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| Sharmon and April - intrepid exlorers |
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| Stunning views from the top! |
Drove back to Aberfoyle, got some gas, then found a tiny
bite to eat at the Wool Centre. Sharmon
got a horrible hot dog from a truck vendor outside. We got back to the hotel and our laundry had
all been done for us and ready to take back to the room to be sorted and
reunited with the correct owners.
Day 7 (September 16, Tuesday)
We left the Trossachs around 8 am after another breakfast
that couldn’t be beat. We stopped at
services (which impressed April and Sharmon to no end!). I wish they had services like that for
us. Basically, in the middle of nowhere,
you’ll find a mini mall with restrooms, grocery store, gift shops, fast food,
and gas. Even cash points and slot
machines! See an example. It makes traveling so much easier.
We reached our destination (Goodwin
House in Keswick) around 1 pm, checked in and began our Lakeland adventure!
I picked up my rental hiking gear
from George Fishers (thanks to them, hiking was MUCH easier for me this year).
After a tour of the town, we got
some Fish n Chips at a local shop, then returned by St. John’s church (my
favorite church in England) to show them why I liked it so much.
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| St. Johns - Keswick |
Day 8 (September 17, Wednesday)
Got up at 7:00 and I went up to the
church for a bit to take some pictures.
I may do an article on St. Johns at some point because that church and
the zen-like churchyard are a place I’ve spent many happy hours just sitting
with nature, praying, meditating, and enjoying the view of the fells.
After breakfast, we drove up to the
car park at Latrigg so I could show April and Sharmon one of the best views in
the Lake District. From the car park up
to the top of Latrigg is about a 30 minute walk. We ran into a fellsrunner (Abbie) and she
took the following picture of us.
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| Photo by Abbie (April, me, Sharmon) |
After Latrigg, I drove the girls to
Grasmere to see Wordsworth’s house (Dove Cottage). And a more congested village I’ve never
seen. This was mid-week in September, so
it shouldn’t have been so crowded, but there we were – tasked with finding a
parking spot. I finally located one on
the other side of the village, and we walked over to Dove Cottage.
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| Dove Cottage |
I left Sharmon and April to tour
the cottage (I had seen it before and someone needed to move the car before our
hour parking was up!)
But then we had a slight issue with
April and Sharmon finding the car again.
Not too big a deal (only about a 10-minute wait). We packed back into the car and were off in
search of Ray and Lyn Bradshaw, who were in the Lakes for their anniversary.
Now, I had asked a guy at the Herdy
shop (http://www.herdy.co.uk/) about the
best way to get to Hartsop where the Bradshaws were staying. He said, “Well, you can either take this
A-road (a fairly decent road) or you can take “the Struggle”. I said, “We’ll take the A road! No Struggle. NOPE!”
But, with our GPS acting up and in
unfamiliar territory… you guessed it… I ended up driving the STRUGGLE! (http://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/kirkstone-pass/)
It was a narrow road with no
passing room and sometimes fairly steep gradients. However, the intrepid trio made it all the
way to Hartsop. And no one died!
There, we were met by our lovely
friends, the Bradshaws, and Lyn made us a wonderful lunch while we visited.
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Lyn, Sharmon, April,
and me
|
Ray offered to lead us to Aira
Force (a beautiful waterfall near Ullswater).
Thank goodness he knew his way because the car park was EXPENSIVE and
the walk would have been much longer.
But, we parked a little further up the road and made our way to the
falls.
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| Ray |
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| Aira Force |
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| Aira Force |
We said a tearful goodbye to Ray
after the walk and headed to the Rheged Centre
for some “cheap gas” and a look-see.
Note that gas in the UK is currently running almost $8 a gallon. We have nothing to whine about in the U.S.!
Rheged was not all I had thought it
would be, though it was interesting (the store is built into the side of a
hill). And there is a cool playground
for the kids. But that was about it!
We came back to the B&B and
while everyone else rested, I went back into town to gather some change for the
laundramat, and picked up a cheap daypack for hiking later in the week (this
turned out to be a pivotal moment in our trip – which will be explained
later). I also got some socks in one of
the shops there. I love the comfy woolly
socks I find in the UK much better than the ones in the states. (At least, in
my mind they are!)
I also picked up a couple of
flashlights as we were going to walk at night to the Theatre by the Lake to see
a play of Dracula.
So, with flashlights in hand, we
walked down to the Lake and into the theatre… hoping for a nice evening
out.
But, the production was… not awful,
but not great. There were no microphones
and the cast spoke in a fast northern dialect, so I was having a very hard time
following. Plus, the script just wasn’t “all
that”… so we left at intermission. Don’t
have to do that again! LOL
That was the end of the first half of our travels...
And no one died!
Read Part II here.
