Hi all
I left Kearie in Naples, I flew to England and she flew to Milan. I was so sad to say goodbye to her, it seemed like our adventure just flew past, we fitted so much in, but I would have liked it to be longer. She will be home by the end of the month, but I still miss her. I travelled to Gatwick, so had to get a train to Victoria Station and another one to my hotel, near the airport. London transport is very expensive. I stayed in a nice hotel and then took another train to Heathrow, terminal 4.
I finally arrived back in Australia last night. The flight was long and boring. I did sit between to lovely young English men, so that was okay, but the flight was still incredibly long. A one hour stop over in Dubai and a 2 hour one in Burnei.... I can't wait until they have non stop flights to England.
Learra picked me up and I stayed the night at her home. We arrived in Bendigo just before lunch todayI was eager to go and bet my baby boy from my friend Barb's house. He is fat and happy and sitting in front of the fire now. I have unpacked and am now washing everything that came out of my suitcase, I have no idea what is clean and what isn't so I am washing the lot..
Thank you all for sharing my adventure with me, I hope you enjoyed the ride. I will catch up with you all again soon. I am back at work on Monday and will have to start saving for my next adventure....
Take care
Lones
Friday, August 3, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Pompeii and saying goodbye to Kearie and Italy.....
Hi Everyone
Well our plan to start out early for Pompeii didn’t go so well, we ended up having a leisurely morning and arriving in Pompeii just before lunch. What an amazing site, the city has really been preserved well under all the ash. It was incredibly hot, yeah, real surprise.. but we carried on regardless. The line up to get into the site was enormous, I have never seen a line so big, it almost put me off going in at all... We had several discussions re just leaving, but decided we had come a long way not to, so in we went. It was hot and shadeless. So be prepared and do not come at this time of year. As we were leaving the line was hardly worth mentioning, so get there about one to one thirty and you won’t have the queues, but you will cook in August. Fortunately a few days ago, I purchased a sun hat that could shade a medium sized family.. it is enormous and I need it here, Kearie brought a more subdued one, that only shades her, a little selfish I think... I am all for helping the masses, and this hat really could. Pompeii is amazing, we found it fascinating, but we only spent about 2 hours there, it was too hot to really enjoy all of it, it is a really large site and after awhile it all starts to look the same.
The start of the city
They have plaster casts of the victims that were found in the city, that was quite sad, but as they are shoved into a storage area with a lot of broken pots, you kind of don’t get the same affect you would if they were displayed properly.... Kinda sad really.
See
Pompeii is still a working archaeological site, and it is fascinating, I suggest you visit it if you are in the area, just in a cooler month.
It must have been really something in it’s day. The views are amazing and I think if you were living there before the eruption and you had shade and fountains playing in the breeze and someone to fan you and feed you grapes, it would have been a pretty sweet place to live.
It is really early here and we are about to leave for Naples airport, I to fly to England and Kearie to fly to Milan. So our travelling together has come to an end. I am sad about that, we have had an awesome time. But Kearie will be coming home before the month is out, so I won’t have time to her too much.
I have to rush, I will post once more once to let you all know I am safely home. I am leaving the computer with Kearie
Cheers Lones
Well our plan to start out early for Pompeii didn’t go so well, we ended up having a leisurely morning and arriving in Pompeii just before lunch. What an amazing site, the city has really been preserved well under all the ash. It was incredibly hot, yeah, real surprise.. but we carried on regardless. The line up to get into the site was enormous, I have never seen a line so big, it almost put me off going in at all... We had several discussions re just leaving, but decided we had come a long way not to, so in we went. It was hot and shadeless. So be prepared and do not come at this time of year. As we were leaving the line was hardly worth mentioning, so get there about one to one thirty and you won’t have the queues, but you will cook in August. Fortunately a few days ago, I purchased a sun hat that could shade a medium sized family.. it is enormous and I need it here, Kearie brought a more subdued one, that only shades her, a little selfish I think... I am all for helping the masses, and this hat really could. Pompeii is amazing, we found it fascinating, but we only spent about 2 hours there, it was too hot to really enjoy all of it, it is a really large site and after awhile it all starts to look the same.
The start of the city
They have plaster casts of the victims that were found in the city, that was quite sad, but as they are shoved into a storage area with a lot of broken pots, you kind of don’t get the same affect you would if they were displayed properly.... Kinda sad really.
See
Pompeii is still a working archaeological site, and it is fascinating, I suggest you visit it if you are in the area, just in a cooler month.
It must have been really something in it’s day. The views are amazing and I think if you were living there before the eruption and you had shade and fountains playing in the breeze and someone to fan you and feed you grapes, it would have been a pretty sweet place to live.
It is really early here and we are about to leave for Naples airport, I to fly to England and Kearie to fly to Milan. So our travelling together has come to an end. I am sad about that, we have had an awesome time. But Kearie will be coming home before the month is out, so I won’t have time to her too much.
I have to rush, I will post once more once to let you all know I am safely home. I am leaving the computer with Kearie
Cheers Lones
Italy, beautiful and relaxing...
Hi all
Well Kearie and I have had the most wonderful adventures, sadly this is our last day together, tomorrow I will fly to England and Kearie will fly to Milan, to stay with friends. I fly home to Australia on Thursday morning and arrive in Melbourne on Friday night. It has been an awesome adventure and I loved sharing it with my beautiful daughter. Lots of wonderful memories, to keep.
We have really enjoyed having 4 days in the one spot, that is like a dream. Sorrento is beautiful, really pretty and the locals are very friendly and laid back. The beaches are nonexistent though. When we first arrived we decided to walk down to the beach, near our hotel. It was a 20 minute walk down and about a 30 minute walk back up.... I had to stop and rest on the way back up. We found the water okay, but it is almost impossible to get to, unless you are part mountain goat... There are no sandy beaches, well there is one, right in town and about 100 meters long. The rest is just rock, with a fairly steep drop to the water, mostly about 5 feet or more, up to 10 meters or more in some places.. The locals actually lay on the rocks and sunbake, pretty uncomfortable and no shade to speak of. Very pretty scenery though. We haven’t ventured back to the beach since. Kearie may go this afternoon, but I am not having any of it, a long mountain trek for scenery I can see from here. I think she may be going to brave it and swim. I will try the hotel pool, much more my style.
Sorrento, the water is not very accessable, but wonderful views...
More beautiful views
We spent one day in Sorrento, just lazing about and shopping. It is really lovely and we both really like it. We came back to the hotel and then realising we needed cash for the next day, and our day trip, we went back into Sorrento for dinner. Well that was a mistake. The food was okay, but as we were nearing the end of our meal, we looked up and this religious procession was passing the restaurant, a really long one. With all the catholic paraphernalia and incense and a huge Mother Mary, being carried by 4 really exhausted, perspiring men. Apparently they have a religious ceremony here once a year and once again I landed in the middle of it. Just like Munich and Avignon, when something only happens once a year, I somehow find it. Normally that is awesome and this would have been too, except we didn’t want to go and the buses stopped running for the duration..... No one told us that.... So I finally tracked down a policeman and asked him what the go was. The buses would run again in an hour he tells me. Okay, then we see a sign that the buses would not run until after 12 midnight, and as our last bus is at 11 something, we are in trouble. We finally decide we have to hoof it back to the hotel, it is maybe 3 to 4 kilometres, uphill, no other choice really. The walking was fine, but the fact that you have to walk on the road, with all those Italian drivers is the scary part. I was terrified the entire time. The road is very narrow and these people pass each other with incredible speed and it all looks very treacherous. Though I haven’t seen any accidents, so they are apparently pretty good at it (although the dents on the local cars show they don’t always get off scott free). I was hugging the stone wall and praying the entire time we were walking. My handbag is all scuffed and ruined due to my effort, but we did arrive in one piece. Kearie was not at all concerned, but then she has been to Italy a lot more times than me, and has driven with the locals in Milan.. I tell you the experience took years off my life!!
The place is all up and down, really hard on the legs, but pretty as a picture
The view fron the hotel roof, this morning. That is mount Versuvius on the left...
Yesterday we did our day trip to Capri... What a beautiful island. We both loved it. Our guide was half Swiss and half Italian and he learned to speak English in Australia, so of course he was wonderful at it... although with all his accents he sounded more Kiwi or South African to me. He was really nice and quite cute to look at. He showed us the part of Capri that no t many people go to and it is beautiful. We did not do the blue grotto, as he suggested against it, it takes about one and a half hours to line up for it and about 1 minute to see it, and you miss all the other stuff. 4 ladies decided to do it anyway and later told us that once they got there the Grotto was closed due to the high tide, so we are glad we did not bother. The Island is picturesque and really friendly
hotel and returned us there as well, no effort at all on our part. We did see a small part of the Amalfi coast, everyone loves it, but I must have seen the shit part, cause I wasn’t impressed at all, it was just all rocky and cliffs. Like the rest of the place, I like sandy beaches and places that are easy to access. I am probably missing something, but I don’t know that I care to be honest.
Capri, from the boat on the way there..
Capri
View from Anacapri
What a beautiful place....
Today we are going to Pompeii, that is if Kearie ever wakes up.... I am sitting outside, on the terrace and it is really beautiful, no hot sun or humidity yet. So a really nice time of day.
I will try to blog again before I leave, it is not always easy, as a lot of hotels do not have wifi everywhere, this one only has it in the lounge, so I will post this later.
Cheers for now
Lones
Well Kearie and I have had the most wonderful adventures, sadly this is our last day together, tomorrow I will fly to England and Kearie will fly to Milan, to stay with friends. I fly home to Australia on Thursday morning and arrive in Melbourne on Friday night. It has been an awesome adventure and I loved sharing it with my beautiful daughter. Lots of wonderful memories, to keep.
We have really enjoyed having 4 days in the one spot, that is like a dream. Sorrento is beautiful, really pretty and the locals are very friendly and laid back. The beaches are nonexistent though. When we first arrived we decided to walk down to the beach, near our hotel. It was a 20 minute walk down and about a 30 minute walk back up.... I had to stop and rest on the way back up. We found the water okay, but it is almost impossible to get to, unless you are part mountain goat... There are no sandy beaches, well there is one, right in town and about 100 meters long. The rest is just rock, with a fairly steep drop to the water, mostly about 5 feet or more, up to 10 meters or more in some places.. The locals actually lay on the rocks and sunbake, pretty uncomfortable and no shade to speak of. Very pretty scenery though. We haven’t ventured back to the beach since. Kearie may go this afternoon, but I am not having any of it, a long mountain trek for scenery I can see from here. I think she may be going to brave it and swim. I will try the hotel pool, much more my style.
Sorrento, the water is not very accessable, but wonderful views...
More beautiful views
We spent one day in Sorrento, just lazing about and shopping. It is really lovely and we both really like it. We came back to the hotel and then realising we needed cash for the next day, and our day trip, we went back into Sorrento for dinner. Well that was a mistake. The food was okay, but as we were nearing the end of our meal, we looked up and this religious procession was passing the restaurant, a really long one. With all the catholic paraphernalia and incense and a huge Mother Mary, being carried by 4 really exhausted, perspiring men. Apparently they have a religious ceremony here once a year and once again I landed in the middle of it. Just like Munich and Avignon, when something only happens once a year, I somehow find it. Normally that is awesome and this would have been too, except we didn’t want to go and the buses stopped running for the duration..... No one told us that.... So I finally tracked down a policeman and asked him what the go was. The buses would run again in an hour he tells me. Okay, then we see a sign that the buses would not run until after 12 midnight, and as our last bus is at 11 something, we are in trouble. We finally decide we have to hoof it back to the hotel, it is maybe 3 to 4 kilometres, uphill, no other choice really. The walking was fine, but the fact that you have to walk on the road, with all those Italian drivers is the scary part. I was terrified the entire time. The road is very narrow and these people pass each other with incredible speed and it all looks very treacherous. Though I haven’t seen any accidents, so they are apparently pretty good at it (although the dents on the local cars show they don’t always get off scott free). I was hugging the stone wall and praying the entire time we were walking. My handbag is all scuffed and ruined due to my effort, but we did arrive in one piece. Kearie was not at all concerned, but then she has been to Italy a lot more times than me, and has driven with the locals in Milan.. I tell you the experience took years off my life!!
The place is all up and down, really hard on the legs, but pretty as a picture
The view fron the hotel roof, this morning. That is mount Versuvius on the left...
Yesterday we did our day trip to Capri... What a beautiful island. We both loved it. Our guide was half Swiss and half Italian and he learned to speak English in Australia, so of course he was wonderful at it... although with all his accents he sounded more Kiwi or South African to me. He was really nice and quite cute to look at. He showed us the part of Capri that no t many people go to and it is beautiful. We did not do the blue grotto, as he suggested against it, it takes about one and a half hours to line up for it and about 1 minute to see it, and you miss all the other stuff. 4 ladies decided to do it anyway and later told us that once they got there the Grotto was closed due to the high tide, so we are glad we did not bother. The Island is picturesque and really friendly
hotel and returned us there as well, no effort at all on our part. We did see a small part of the Amalfi coast, everyone loves it, but I must have seen the shit part, cause I wasn’t impressed at all, it was just all rocky and cliffs. Like the rest of the place, I like sandy beaches and places that are easy to access. I am probably missing something, but I don’t know that I care to be honest.
Capri, from the boat on the way there..
Capri
View from Anacapri
What a beautiful place....
Today we are going to Pompeii, that is if Kearie ever wakes up.... I am sitting outside, on the terrace and it is really beautiful, no hot sun or humidity yet. So a really nice time of day.
I will try to blog again before I leave, it is not always easy, as a lot of hotels do not have wifi everywhere, this one only has it in the lounge, so I will post this later.
Cheers for now
Lones
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Luxembourg, Switzerland and Slovenia
Hi everyone
Well it has been difficult to blog lately, we have been on the run through several countires and some crappy wifi and some late nights....
We left Paris and travelled to Luxembourg city by train, what a lovely city. We both loved it. They have a lovely gorge/park that runs through the centre and we decided to walk to town through the gorge, it was really lovely, until we got to the other side and faced all those steps.... I really do hate steps. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.. We later found out they have a lift, too late for me, but good to know the townsfolk do take us unhealthy tourists into consideration some times. We did some shopping and took in the local atmosphere. We did the train ride of the history of Luxembourg and found out the place is about 1000 years old, but has been raised to the ground about 20 times in that period. It is a really nice city, clean and without beggars to peak of, they get chased away by the police. They have very little in old buildings, but it is really a nice place to visit.
Taken from the little train tour
The bridge over the park/gorge in Luxembourg City.
We then had to travel to Slovenia, that is a feat in itself. We travelled to Switzerland and only stopped there long enough for me to go the men’s room, yep I know, don’t ask.. Okay Kearie went to the toilet and told me how to get there after she returned. I followed her directions, not realising that she had taken a different escalator to me. When I had finally done 4 left turns instead of 2, I came to the toilets and just put my money in and entered. I was in a glass encased urinal... I was past being embarrassed. I just put my hands up in surrender and the little attendant came and swipped me out and led me in the right direction for the ladies. Sometimes I swear when God handed out extra stupidity I was standing at the front, waving my arms, jumping up and down and yelling. ”Pick me, pick me..”. I wasn’t going to tell Kearie what happened, but I was laughing so hard when I got back, she said “What have you done now?” I just laughed and said “You really shouldn’t let me out alone”, and had to explain what I done. Though I am not always to blame for things. When we were checking into our hotel in Luxembourg, I put in our postcode and then handed Kearie the form and said “You should fill this in as the reservation is in your name”. She started to fill in the card and then turns to me and says “Mum you did this wrong”... Huh?? I just looked at her,” Kearie, I’m not filling it in”, I said... “Oh”, she says.... It is great if you can get away with it, I almost apologised to her....
We caught the next train on our journey to Slovenia and it was a really long trip. We left Luxembourg at 2:30pm and arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia at 8:11 am the next morning.... What a trip, we were tired and dirty and hungry. We desperately wanted a shower, but could not book into our apartment until 2:00 pm that afternoon. McDonalds once again came to the rescue for breakfast, we put our luggage in the train lockers and went out to explore the city. We both fell in love with it, the tri bridges are awesome and the entire country is beautiful. I had watched the scenery from the train, once the daylight came and it is really amazing. A must to visit if you ever travel to Eastern Europe. We loved the markets in the town, and walking along the river, sitting and watching the people pass. We also had a washing machine in our apartment, what a luxury, we did all our washing and two days later it was still wet. I spent most of last night with a hairdryer, trying to dry it, while Kearie searched the web for accommodation in Italy. We now have accommodation in Italy and also a heap of wet clothes. I was valiant in my struggle, but only got about 3 quarters dry, the rest is in bags in our luggage. I hope Italy is dry....
The tri bridges in Ljubljana. In the centre of the city. It is a lovely city
Taken from a bridge
A busker, pretty impressive
Yesterday we did an afternoon trip to Bled in Slovenia, the prettiest place on the planet, I love it. It is the most beautiful place. We took a boat ride to an Island in the middle of the lake to visit a church, we also visited a castle. The place is really wonderful, I could live there quite easily.... Our guide was young, amusing and hot.... what a cutie. We were waiting for a group of Asian tourists to arrive back at the boat and someone mentioned they were Japanese. The guide corrected him by saying they were Taiwanese, and they are always late, the Japanese are never late, he said “The Japanese get sick if they are late”. That cracked me up as it is so true, they really are compulsive about some things..
The Church on the Island at Bled in Slovenia
These boats are hand made, they take about 200 hours to make, they look awesome.
part of the inside of the church on the island. And Matt, our guide, mmmmm
The town of Bled, taken from the castle
The castle from the village
Today we left Slovenia at 9:45 am and at present we are on a train to Rome. It will be another long day of travel.
We arrived at Naples at 10:10 pm. So far not impressed with Naples.....
That’s all for now
Cheers Lones.
Well it has been difficult to blog lately, we have been on the run through several countires and some crappy wifi and some late nights....
We left Paris and travelled to Luxembourg city by train, what a lovely city. We both loved it. They have a lovely gorge/park that runs through the centre and we decided to walk to town through the gorge, it was really lovely, until we got to the other side and faced all those steps.... I really do hate steps. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.. We later found out they have a lift, too late for me, but good to know the townsfolk do take us unhealthy tourists into consideration some times. We did some shopping and took in the local atmosphere. We did the train ride of the history of Luxembourg and found out the place is about 1000 years old, but has been raised to the ground about 20 times in that period. It is a really nice city, clean and without beggars to peak of, they get chased away by the police. They have very little in old buildings, but it is really a nice place to visit.
Taken from the little train tour
The bridge over the park/gorge in Luxembourg City.
We then had to travel to Slovenia, that is a feat in itself. We travelled to Switzerland and only stopped there long enough for me to go the men’s room, yep I know, don’t ask.. Okay Kearie went to the toilet and told me how to get there after she returned. I followed her directions, not realising that she had taken a different escalator to me. When I had finally done 4 left turns instead of 2, I came to the toilets and just put my money in and entered. I was in a glass encased urinal... I was past being embarrassed. I just put my hands up in surrender and the little attendant came and swipped me out and led me in the right direction for the ladies. Sometimes I swear when God handed out extra stupidity I was standing at the front, waving my arms, jumping up and down and yelling. ”Pick me, pick me..”. I wasn’t going to tell Kearie what happened, but I was laughing so hard when I got back, she said “What have you done now?” I just laughed and said “You really shouldn’t let me out alone”, and had to explain what I done. Though I am not always to blame for things. When we were checking into our hotel in Luxembourg, I put in our postcode and then handed Kearie the form and said “You should fill this in as the reservation is in your name”. She started to fill in the card and then turns to me and says “Mum you did this wrong”... Huh?? I just looked at her,” Kearie, I’m not filling it in”, I said... “Oh”, she says.... It is great if you can get away with it, I almost apologised to her....
We caught the next train on our journey to Slovenia and it was a really long trip. We left Luxembourg at 2:30pm and arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia at 8:11 am the next morning.... What a trip, we were tired and dirty and hungry. We desperately wanted a shower, but could not book into our apartment until 2:00 pm that afternoon. McDonalds once again came to the rescue for breakfast, we put our luggage in the train lockers and went out to explore the city. We both fell in love with it, the tri bridges are awesome and the entire country is beautiful. I had watched the scenery from the train, once the daylight came and it is really amazing. A must to visit if you ever travel to Eastern Europe. We loved the markets in the town, and walking along the river, sitting and watching the people pass. We also had a washing machine in our apartment, what a luxury, we did all our washing and two days later it was still wet. I spent most of last night with a hairdryer, trying to dry it, while Kearie searched the web for accommodation in Italy. We now have accommodation in Italy and also a heap of wet clothes. I was valiant in my struggle, but only got about 3 quarters dry, the rest is in bags in our luggage. I hope Italy is dry....
The tri bridges in Ljubljana. In the centre of the city. It is a lovely city
Taken from a bridge
A busker, pretty impressive
Yesterday we did an afternoon trip to Bled in Slovenia, the prettiest place on the planet, I love it. It is the most beautiful place. We took a boat ride to an Island in the middle of the lake to visit a church, we also visited a castle. The place is really wonderful, I could live there quite easily.... Our guide was young, amusing and hot.... what a cutie. We were waiting for a group of Asian tourists to arrive back at the boat and someone mentioned they were Japanese. The guide corrected him by saying they were Taiwanese, and they are always late, the Japanese are never late, he said “The Japanese get sick if they are late”. That cracked me up as it is so true, they really are compulsive about some things..
The Church on the Island at Bled in Slovenia
These boats are hand made, they take about 200 hours to make, they look awesome.
part of the inside of the church on the island. And Matt, our guide, mmmmm
The town of Bled, taken from the castle
The castle from the village
Today we left Slovenia at 9:45 am and at present we are on a train to Rome. It will be another long day of travel.
We arrived at Naples at 10:10 pm. So far not impressed with Naples.....
That’s all for now
Cheers Lones.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Paris and the end of the crappy tour....
Hi All
Well we left Sheonagh and Ally and travelled to Edinburgh to catch our flight to Paris. It was about a 5 hour wait at the airport, but you do see interesting things when you people watch. Thank you so much to our British friends, Sue and Jim, Mary and Mal and Sheonagh and Ally, you were all so very welcoming and hospitable. It was lovely catching up with you all again and hopefully we will meet again before too many years have passed.
We arrived late in Paris and as Kearie told me the hotel was close to the Metro we decided to walk.... Yes I know, me with all that luggage. Well it was a mistake, big time. It was about a 20 minute walk and I was exhausted, the luggage was getting heavier and my shoulders were aching... I was not a happy little vegemite at all. Poor Kearie she coped my wrath, all of it. So once we finally arrived I at least found out they had a lift, so I almost forgave her. She keeps forgetting I am almost 30 years older than her. She actually said that she thought I would be fine on that long trek. I just looked at her and asked "Kearie, look at me, exactly what part of my physical appearance makes you think I am a fitness freak?" She had to laugh at that, I mean really? Have you seen me lately?
After a good night’s sleep and with no luggage to lug around, we actually walked into the city. We strolled down the Champs Elysees and and then went shopping and had a lovely quiet day. I had to use a bathroom on the Champ Elysees and they actually charge you 2 Euros, I was actually amazed, that is a hefty price, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. I paid and was shown into the cubicle, ti was papered to appear like a small library, I took pictures... it was amazing, but then it should be for 2 euros.
Not a great pic, but I didn't want to use a flash in case the woman saw the flash and thought I was some kind of weirdo...
We were going to try to visit Pierrefonds, but even the tourist office could not help us with directions. The lady actually asked us why we wanted to go, as she has had several queries lately, she asked if it had been in a movie. We explained the Merlin connection and thought about travelling there, we knew we had to catch the train at Gard de Nord, but once you arrive at the closest village, the bus only travels to the castle every 4 hours and we could be stuck there for hours either end, so decided against it. We should have visited it when we had the car, but then we would have missed a stage of the tour and as Kearie got signatures that stage, we decided we did make a good choice after all. We might visit in another time we are in France. We had a lovely lunch is a restaurant and a nice dinner in another restaurant, we were really living it up, eating out twice in one day, but what can you do? It is Paris....
Today we went to the last stage of the tour, neither of us were really excited about it as Wiggins and Sky have made a mockery of the race and cycling in general. But we thought as we are here we better go anyway. We were surrounded by English people, all having a wonderful time, and who can blame them, most of them do not follow cycling and so do not see the inaccuracies in the riders. Anyway I looked across the road and noticed some of our Aussie neighbours, a couple of Kiwis. It took me a minute or two, but I finally realised that they had their flag hanging upside down... I wondered if that was a mistake or a symbol of the death of clean cycling this tour.... Yes I really am that deep...
See, upside down Kiwi flag.... the New Zealanders can be very subtle when they are making a point....
The poms do have a sense of humour. I saw a little boy, in his English colours, actually wearing large side burns, I couldn’t' believe it. For those of you who do not know, Bradley Wiggins is one of the ugliest men on the planet and he has enormous, ridiculous side burns.... someone is actually selling them and this little kid was wearing them, it was hilarious.... I later saw 4 British men wearing some too, but they were more frugal and didn't purchase theirs, it looked like one of them had cut up their wives bathroom mat and shared the bits around. They do have a great sense of humour...
One of the men, I didn't want to take pics of a minor.. I don't know if I am more amused by the home made sideburns, or the fact that someone actully had a mat like that to cut up..
And one of the group..
We left the tour and came back to the hotel for a rest, standing in the hot sun all day is very tiring, we went to a small restaurant for dinner and am now in the hotel room. An early night and then we are off to Luxembourg tomorrow.
That it for now
Cheers
Lones
Well we left Sheonagh and Ally and travelled to Edinburgh to catch our flight to Paris. It was about a 5 hour wait at the airport, but you do see interesting things when you people watch. Thank you so much to our British friends, Sue and Jim, Mary and Mal and Sheonagh and Ally, you were all so very welcoming and hospitable. It was lovely catching up with you all again and hopefully we will meet again before too many years have passed.
We arrived late in Paris and as Kearie told me the hotel was close to the Metro we decided to walk.... Yes I know, me with all that luggage. Well it was a mistake, big time. It was about a 20 minute walk and I was exhausted, the luggage was getting heavier and my shoulders were aching... I was not a happy little vegemite at all. Poor Kearie she coped my wrath, all of it. So once we finally arrived I at least found out they had a lift, so I almost forgave her. She keeps forgetting I am almost 30 years older than her. She actually said that she thought I would be fine on that long trek. I just looked at her and asked "Kearie, look at me, exactly what part of my physical appearance makes you think I am a fitness freak?" She had to laugh at that, I mean really? Have you seen me lately?
After a good night’s sleep and with no luggage to lug around, we actually walked into the city. We strolled down the Champs Elysees and and then went shopping and had a lovely quiet day. I had to use a bathroom on the Champ Elysees and they actually charge you 2 Euros, I was actually amazed, that is a hefty price, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. I paid and was shown into the cubicle, ti was papered to appear like a small library, I took pictures... it was amazing, but then it should be for 2 euros.
Not a great pic, but I didn't want to use a flash in case the woman saw the flash and thought I was some kind of weirdo...
We were going to try to visit Pierrefonds, but even the tourist office could not help us with directions. The lady actually asked us why we wanted to go, as she has had several queries lately, she asked if it had been in a movie. We explained the Merlin connection and thought about travelling there, we knew we had to catch the train at Gard de Nord, but once you arrive at the closest village, the bus only travels to the castle every 4 hours and we could be stuck there for hours either end, so decided against it. We should have visited it when we had the car, but then we would have missed a stage of the tour and as Kearie got signatures that stage, we decided we did make a good choice after all. We might visit in another time we are in France. We had a lovely lunch is a restaurant and a nice dinner in another restaurant, we were really living it up, eating out twice in one day, but what can you do? It is Paris....
Today we went to the last stage of the tour, neither of us were really excited about it as Wiggins and Sky have made a mockery of the race and cycling in general. But we thought as we are here we better go anyway. We were surrounded by English people, all having a wonderful time, and who can blame them, most of them do not follow cycling and so do not see the inaccuracies in the riders. Anyway I looked across the road and noticed some of our Aussie neighbours, a couple of Kiwis. It took me a minute or two, but I finally realised that they had their flag hanging upside down... I wondered if that was a mistake or a symbol of the death of clean cycling this tour.... Yes I really am that deep...
See, upside down Kiwi flag.... the New Zealanders can be very subtle when they are making a point....
The poms do have a sense of humour. I saw a little boy, in his English colours, actually wearing large side burns, I couldn’t' believe it. For those of you who do not know, Bradley Wiggins is one of the ugliest men on the planet and he has enormous, ridiculous side burns.... someone is actually selling them and this little kid was wearing them, it was hilarious.... I later saw 4 British men wearing some too, but they were more frugal and didn't purchase theirs, it looked like one of them had cut up their wives bathroom mat and shared the bits around. They do have a great sense of humour...
One of the men, I didn't want to take pics of a minor.. I don't know if I am more amused by the home made sideburns, or the fact that someone actully had a mat like that to cut up..
And one of the group..
We left the tour and came back to the hotel for a rest, standing in the hot sun all day is very tiring, we went to a small restaurant for dinner and am now in the hotel room. An early night and then we are off to Luxembourg tomorrow.
That it for now
Cheers
Lones
Friday, July 20, 2012
If this is Friday, this must be.. where the hell am I?
Hi All
It has been a bit of a whirl wind tour of Britain, we have travelled and travelled, it has been exhausting, but fun... I have no idea what day it is most of the time and as Keaire has changed the date on the computer, so we can book things on the day (without the computer having a fit) I cannot check the date on there anymore... We have had a lovely relaxing break in Forfar, Scotland. With our wonderful friends Ally and Sheonagh... We leave this morning for Paris, I do beleive today is Friday. Three days there and then off to Luxembourg.
We went to Glamis Castle on Wednesday and to Scone Palace yesterday. I had previously been to Glamis, but I still really enjoyed it. It has a wonderful array of Royal memorabilia and some great stories are told about the life in the castle. I noticed they no longer tell you about the young page that froze to death one winter, sitting outside the bedchamber of the lady of the house, she had forgotten to dismiss him and he couldn't leave without being dismissed. His ghost is said to be still sitting there and occasionally trips visitors as they pass by. He no longer gets a mention, but they still tell you about the two men who played cards too late on a Saturday night and played on into the Sabbath, They are walled up in a room. You can still see the blocked up window from the outside of the castle, but the door is nonexistent, just a stone wall in one of the halls... barbaric stuff, but makes the tour really interesting.
The boarded up window at Glamis Castle
Scone Palace is really nice too, we had a lovely sunny day and although it was still cool, it was lovely. Sheonagh made us remove our coats for the pictures, I am sure she wants people to think Scotland is lovely and warm in the summer.... good luck with that She.... No it really was a lovely day. The Palace has some amazing rooms and it was a really great day. This is where all the Scotish Kings were crowned, until they joined monarchs with the English. I tried to find some Penman tartan, so that I can get a shoulder wrap in my own tartan, but no luck yet, it is a very obscure tartan. I think I will order some online, it would be great to wear the family tartan...
Sheonagh and I outside Scone Castle
Kearie sitting on the replica of the stone at Scone that the kings were crowned on. I think it is called the stone of destiny. THe british stole it in about 1200 or so and it wasn't returned to Scotland until just a few years ago. The real one is now kept in Edinburgh, although there are doubts about it's authenticity.
The maze at Scone Palace. The grounds were really lovely, but no real gardens that I saw.
We took She and Ally to dinner at Roos Leap, the Aussie restaurant in Montrose. Kearie had the best hamburger she has had in two years.... It was really good food and we had a lovely evening. Today we drop the car back at Edinburgh Airport and fly to France. It will be a real drag having to cart our luggage around again, you get very spoilt when you have your own transport and can leave stuff in the car every day.
She, Ally and I at Roos Leap
I love the Australian shaped push plates on the toilet doors at Roos Leap..
Cheers for now
Lones
It has been a bit of a whirl wind tour of Britain, we have travelled and travelled, it has been exhausting, but fun... I have no idea what day it is most of the time and as Keaire has changed the date on the computer, so we can book things on the day (without the computer having a fit) I cannot check the date on there anymore... We have had a lovely relaxing break in Forfar, Scotland. With our wonderful friends Ally and Sheonagh... We leave this morning for Paris, I do beleive today is Friday. Three days there and then off to Luxembourg.
We went to Glamis Castle on Wednesday and to Scone Palace yesterday. I had previously been to Glamis, but I still really enjoyed it. It has a wonderful array of Royal memorabilia and some great stories are told about the life in the castle. I noticed they no longer tell you about the young page that froze to death one winter, sitting outside the bedchamber of the lady of the house, she had forgotten to dismiss him and he couldn't leave without being dismissed. His ghost is said to be still sitting there and occasionally trips visitors as they pass by. He no longer gets a mention, but they still tell you about the two men who played cards too late on a Saturday night and played on into the Sabbath, They are walled up in a room. You can still see the blocked up window from the outside of the castle, but the door is nonexistent, just a stone wall in one of the halls... barbaric stuff, but makes the tour really interesting.
The boarded up window at Glamis Castle
Scone Palace is really nice too, we had a lovely sunny day and although it was still cool, it was lovely. Sheonagh made us remove our coats for the pictures, I am sure she wants people to think Scotland is lovely and warm in the summer.... good luck with that She.... No it really was a lovely day. The Palace has some amazing rooms and it was a really great day. This is where all the Scotish Kings were crowned, until they joined monarchs with the English. I tried to find some Penman tartan, so that I can get a shoulder wrap in my own tartan, but no luck yet, it is a very obscure tartan. I think I will order some online, it would be great to wear the family tartan...
Sheonagh and I outside Scone Castle
Kearie sitting on the replica of the stone at Scone that the kings were crowned on. I think it is called the stone of destiny. THe british stole it in about 1200 or so and it wasn't returned to Scotland until just a few years ago. The real one is now kept in Edinburgh, although there are doubts about it's authenticity.
The maze at Scone Palace. The grounds were really lovely, but no real gardens that I saw.
We took She and Ally to dinner at Roos Leap, the Aussie restaurant in Montrose. Kearie had the best hamburger she has had in two years.... It was really good food and we had a lovely evening. Today we drop the car back at Edinburgh Airport and fly to France. It will be a real drag having to cart our luggage around again, you get very spoilt when you have your own transport and can leave stuff in the car every day.
She, Ally and I at Roos Leap
I love the Australian shaped push plates on the toilet doors at Roos Leap..
Cheers for now
Lones
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Scotland and down time with friends
Hi again
Well we went to Edinburgh and visited Hollyrood Palace, the Queen still uses this Palace when she is in Edinburgh. It was nice, we also did the bus tour of Edinburgh. I do like Edinburgh, it is a beautiful city, with lots of interesting things to see. We did not get time to go to Mary King's close this time, so Kearie did not see it, but if you are ever in Edinburgh, I suggest you take the time, it is really interesting. I blogged about it last time, so won't go into that now.
Hollyrood Palace in Edinburgh, we were not allowed take photos inside, so this is all you get.
Edinburgh castle. Can you imagine trying to atttack that castle, up that hill. I would be so like "Bugger it, let them have it, lets go around.."
Edinburgh is beautiful, the castle overlooks the entire city.
We then headed to Forfar, we had lunch along the way, luckily as it fortified me to drive through Dundee. Dundee, like all British towns is having major road works and road closures, it drives me crazy. The only time any upgrades can be done, is in Summer, as the winters are too snow covered to do anything. Unfortunately there are many hills in Dundee and a lot of traffic, we constantly had to stop in traffic jams, I am driving a manual car, that likes to roll back when starting on hills. The Scots like to park right behind you, as in right up your ginger. I was really nervous at the first stop, as I knew the car would roll back before I got enough power to go forward. I had to put my hand break on, floor it, remove the handbreak and hope for the best. I didn't hit anything, but I scared the hell out of the young man parked behind me. He gave me a full car length at the next stop. It was ridiculous, as we kept starting and stopping, he forgot and he kept getting closer again. Keaire and I drove through Dundee to the smell of burning rubber... The interior of the car still smelt when we arrived in Forfar.... It is wonderful to be back in Scotland and with my friends (and out of Dundee), they are such lovely people.
Today we are heading for Glamis Castle, remember Glamis castle, without the i.. for those who did not read my last blog, it is pronounced Glams Castle. Kearie will love this place, I am sure. Although it is raining here, yeah big surprise, lovely country, but the whole Island needs a roof, badly..
That's all for now
Cheers
Lones
Well we went to Edinburgh and visited Hollyrood Palace, the Queen still uses this Palace when she is in Edinburgh. It was nice, we also did the bus tour of Edinburgh. I do like Edinburgh, it is a beautiful city, with lots of interesting things to see. We did not get time to go to Mary King's close this time, so Kearie did not see it, but if you are ever in Edinburgh, I suggest you take the time, it is really interesting. I blogged about it last time, so won't go into that now.
Hollyrood Palace in Edinburgh, we were not allowed take photos inside, so this is all you get.
Edinburgh castle. Can you imagine trying to atttack that castle, up that hill. I would be so like "Bugger it, let them have it, lets go around.."
Edinburgh is beautiful, the castle overlooks the entire city.
We then headed to Forfar, we had lunch along the way, luckily as it fortified me to drive through Dundee. Dundee, like all British towns is having major road works and road closures, it drives me crazy. The only time any upgrades can be done, is in Summer, as the winters are too snow covered to do anything. Unfortunately there are many hills in Dundee and a lot of traffic, we constantly had to stop in traffic jams, I am driving a manual car, that likes to roll back when starting on hills. The Scots like to park right behind you, as in right up your ginger. I was really nervous at the first stop, as I knew the car would roll back before I got enough power to go forward. I had to put my hand break on, floor it, remove the handbreak and hope for the best. I didn't hit anything, but I scared the hell out of the young man parked behind me. He gave me a full car length at the next stop. It was ridiculous, as we kept starting and stopping, he forgot and he kept getting closer again. Keaire and I drove through Dundee to the smell of burning rubber... The interior of the car still smelt when we arrived in Forfar.... It is wonderful to be back in Scotland and with my friends (and out of Dundee), they are such lovely people.
Today we are heading for Glamis Castle, remember Glamis castle, without the i.. for those who did not read my last blog, it is pronounced Glams Castle. Kearie will love this place, I am sure. Although it is raining here, yeah big surprise, lovely country, but the whole Island needs a roof, badly..
That's all for now
Cheers
Lones
Monday, July 16, 2012
Guessing my way through England....
Hi everyone
Well we stayed in Lincoln for one night and went to see the Lincoln Cathedral. I had been before, but Kearie had not seen it previously. It is an amazing building. We then visited Sue and Jim in Metheringham, we had a lovely visit, and it was wonderful to see them again. After lunch we went to Rotherham to visit with Mary and Malcolm, it was so good to spend the day catching up with old friends. We stayed with Mary and Malcolm and I had a lovely tea of English fish and chips, Kearie had a pie.... We talked until after midnight, we had a lot of catching up to do. The next day we did laundry in the morning (about time too) and Mary cooked us the traditional Yorkshire pudding and a lovely roast. It was delicious, sadly we had to say goodbye and continue on our journey, but we will catch up with Mary and Malcolm again in October, when they visit Australia. We gave them a couple of Aussie slang books to help them on their way.
We then headed north to York and then Lanchester, where we spent the night. Driving in England is a real guessing game, thank God for the Navman. The English never tell you what the speed limit is, they put small signs of 30 or 40 miles an hour in the towns and then when you leave the village there is a sign with a strike through it, meaning you don't go that speed any more, but they do not have a sign telling you want you can go. It is ridiculous. They have 50, 60 and 70 mile an hour roads, but you never know which one you are on, or even if there are other speed limits. Luckily the Navman tells you the speed limit, but as our Navman tells us in Kilometres and the car speedometer is in miles, it is challenging. I say to Kearie, "What is the speed limit?". She says "95 kilometres", I say "Okay, that is about 60 miles an hour" and I hope for the best. It will be a miracle if I do not get a speeding ticket. I guess 110 kilometers is about 70, I have no idea what 50 is, so guess, guess, guess.... It is quite challenging, but never mind, the care company does not have my address this time. We gave them the address of an hotel we stayed in in Bournemouth, so good luck with sending on fines this time.. he he he.
Today we went to Hadrians wall and it was very interesting, we both stood on the thing, just to say we had. It has been looted over the last 1800 years and lots of castles, cathedrals and village houses have been made using the stones, easy stone work, without quarrying I guess, but it is a pity... Our ancestors had no respect for the past, but then again, survival was probably paramount in their minds.
Me near the wall, it is a pretty nice fence, don't you think. It was built in 7 years and has lasted almost 2000, it would have lasted in better condition if our ancestors weren't so light fingered....
We also went to Holy Island, but the tide was in and there were no boats, so we didn’t visit it. We stopped at Bramburgh and viewed the castle and then travelled to Roslin, so Kearie could see the church from the Da Vinci Code. I have seen it before, but it still amazes me, what a marvellous piece of architecture. We are now in Edinburgh and will visit the city tomorrow and then travel to Forfar to visit with my dear friends Ally and She. I am really looking forward to it, a few days to relax and wind down.
Kearie in front of Bramburgh Castle.
Kearie at Roslyn Church.
As some of you know, Kearie talked to me before I left Australia and told me that one of her favourite customers, the Duchess of St Albans, had invited us to her home, as she wished to meet me. I was quite excited by the prospect, as I have never met a duchess before, but alas, it has not been possible. We were only in London for 3 days and only really had Sunday free, and the Duchess had to leave to attend a funeral. When Kearie and I returned to Britain, we did not stay in London, so although Kearie and the Duchess will keep in touch, with letters and cards, I will not be meeting her in person. So that is a disappointment, The only royal I have ever spoken to is the Queen herself, and I was 11 at the time, so I felt I was definatly overdue for another royal chat, never mind, maybe one day.
That's all for now
Cheers Lones
Well we stayed in Lincoln for one night and went to see the Lincoln Cathedral. I had been before, but Kearie had not seen it previously. It is an amazing building. We then visited Sue and Jim in Metheringham, we had a lovely visit, and it was wonderful to see them again. After lunch we went to Rotherham to visit with Mary and Malcolm, it was so good to spend the day catching up with old friends. We stayed with Mary and Malcolm and I had a lovely tea of English fish and chips, Kearie had a pie.... We talked until after midnight, we had a lot of catching up to do. The next day we did laundry in the morning (about time too) and Mary cooked us the traditional Yorkshire pudding and a lovely roast. It was delicious, sadly we had to say goodbye and continue on our journey, but we will catch up with Mary and Malcolm again in October, when they visit Australia. We gave them a couple of Aussie slang books to help them on their way.
We then headed north to York and then Lanchester, where we spent the night. Driving in England is a real guessing game, thank God for the Navman. The English never tell you what the speed limit is, they put small signs of 30 or 40 miles an hour in the towns and then when you leave the village there is a sign with a strike through it, meaning you don't go that speed any more, but they do not have a sign telling you want you can go. It is ridiculous. They have 50, 60 and 70 mile an hour roads, but you never know which one you are on, or even if there are other speed limits. Luckily the Navman tells you the speed limit, but as our Navman tells us in Kilometres and the car speedometer is in miles, it is challenging. I say to Kearie, "What is the speed limit?". She says "95 kilometres", I say "Okay, that is about 60 miles an hour" and I hope for the best. It will be a miracle if I do not get a speeding ticket. I guess 110 kilometers is about 70, I have no idea what 50 is, so guess, guess, guess.... It is quite challenging, but never mind, the care company does not have my address this time. We gave them the address of an hotel we stayed in in Bournemouth, so good luck with sending on fines this time.. he he he.
Today we went to Hadrians wall and it was very interesting, we both stood on the thing, just to say we had. It has been looted over the last 1800 years and lots of castles, cathedrals and village houses have been made using the stones, easy stone work, without quarrying I guess, but it is a pity... Our ancestors had no respect for the past, but then again, survival was probably paramount in their minds.
Me near the wall, it is a pretty nice fence, don't you think. It was built in 7 years and has lasted almost 2000, it would have lasted in better condition if our ancestors weren't so light fingered....
We also went to Holy Island, but the tide was in and there were no boats, so we didn’t visit it. We stopped at Bramburgh and viewed the castle and then travelled to Roslin, so Kearie could see the church from the Da Vinci Code. I have seen it before, but it still amazes me, what a marvellous piece of architecture. We are now in Edinburgh and will visit the city tomorrow and then travel to Forfar to visit with my dear friends Ally and She. I am really looking forward to it, a few days to relax and wind down.
Kearie in front of Bramburgh Castle.
Kearie at Roslyn Church.
As some of you know, Kearie talked to me before I left Australia and told me that one of her favourite customers, the Duchess of St Albans, had invited us to her home, as she wished to meet me. I was quite excited by the prospect, as I have never met a duchess before, but alas, it has not been possible. We were only in London for 3 days and only really had Sunday free, and the Duchess had to leave to attend a funeral. When Kearie and I returned to Britain, we did not stay in London, so although Kearie and the Duchess will keep in touch, with letters and cards, I will not be meeting her in person. So that is a disappointment, The only royal I have ever spoken to is the Queen herself, and I was 11 at the time, so I felt I was definatly overdue for another royal chat, never mind, maybe one day.
That's all for now
Cheers Lones
Friday, July 13, 2012
Southern England... a flying visit....
Hi all
Well we have really been moving through Southern England, we realise we do not have a lot of time in Britain, so we are really flying. We picked up the car in Bournemouth and we could not get a GPS, or even a map book. So being spoilt in France we decided to buy a cheap Navman, it is wonderful. I have no idea how we managed without them. We then went to Christchurch and had lunch in the churchyard. England really is a beautiful country, but it really does need a roof.... It has rained and rained since we arrived.
We then went on to Stonehenge, something Kearie and I have both wanted to see for a very long time. The Olympic torch was about to pass through the area, so traffic was a nightmare, we finally arrived at Stonehenge to discover that we had just over ½ an hour before the road would be closed, they were going to have some big festival and the road would not open again until midnight.... they told us it would be wonderful and we should stay.... well we weren’t having any of that, so we did a quick dash to the stones, what a disappointment. I expected it to be mythical, an eerie feeling, something, it looked like a rubbish dump. Lots of old rusty iron fire poles and things had been placed around the stones, presumably to light up in the evening for their concert. But it just looked dreadful, like a trash heap. I was incredibly disappointed, they still charged full price too, even though they knew we would only have 30 minutes at the most to look at the thing. I was disgusted with the whole thing. Definitely not a place I would return to or even encourage others to visit.
We found a nice restaurant in Warminster and stayed in our first B & B, it was lovely, with beautiful gardens and lovely facilities, it was in Fordingbridge and was called the 3 lions. Really lovely spot and on the ground floor. I love the ground floor, with all my heavy luggage. Although I have cut my luggage in half, but leaving all the non essentials in the car. I will miss the car once we are back in Europe..
Some of the lovely garden at The 3 Lions, a lovely B & B
The next morning we drove to Salisbury and visited the Cathedral, it is beautiful, we were both very impressed.
Salisbury Cathedral...It's huge
Part of the inside of the cathedral, it is really lovely
After Salisbury we visited Bath, what a beautiful city, all of the buildings are made or faced with the same stone, so the whole city looks wonderful, no bright colours or silly buildings, it is really lovely. We visited the Roman baths and did the hop on hop off tour, without hopping off... It was lovely to sit back and let someone else drive, driving in Bath is a nightmare.... Even the guide on the bus told us that, I wish I had known earlier and we would have used the park and ride. They have park and rides outside a lot of towns in Britain, you park your car in a car park, outside of the town and buses come out regularly to pick people up and take them into town, a brilliant idea for places like Bath, that are crap to drive in. The Roman Bathes were great and Kearie and I really enjoyed the visit.
We stayed at another B&B called Guyers House, it had been some kind of stately home at one point, it looked like a manor to me, it was really lovely and once again our room was on the ground floor,, woo hoo, on a winning streak...
The Roman Baths
Bath, It was raining, so I have no decent shots of the city. kearie might, I will ask her when she wakes up...
Yesterday we drove through the Cotswolds, what a beautiful area, we had lunch at Burton on the Water, a really lovely village, the Cotswolds are full of beautiful villages and we had a lovely time. We then travelled north to Lincoln. We visited the Lincoln Cathedral, my third visit to this cathedral, but it really is lovely, and Kearie had not seen it before. We are staying just out of town in a Hotel, unfortunately my luck did not hold and we are back on the first floor.... I always look at the owner of our accommodation with trepidation until they say where our room is, I hate stairs and I hate luggage..
Burton on the water, beautiful place
More of Burton on the Water
Outside Lincoln Cathedral. I have posted photos of this cathedral in my last blog, 2 years ago. So won't bore you with repeats...
We are catching up with my lovely friend Sue today, and her husband Jim. I stayed with them last time I was here and it will be wonderful to see them again. We will then travel to Rotherham to visit our other friends Mary & Mal, who we met in Greece 2 years ago. We have both visited with them since, but not at the same time. It will be lovely to catch up.
We are hoping to be in Scotland by the 17th to visit with Sheonagh and Ally, so we will be travelling fast. I hope you enjoy the photos
Cheers for now
Lones
Well we have really been moving through Southern England, we realise we do not have a lot of time in Britain, so we are really flying. We picked up the car in Bournemouth and we could not get a GPS, or even a map book. So being spoilt in France we decided to buy a cheap Navman, it is wonderful. I have no idea how we managed without them. We then went to Christchurch and had lunch in the churchyard. England really is a beautiful country, but it really does need a roof.... It has rained and rained since we arrived.
We then went on to Stonehenge, something Kearie and I have both wanted to see for a very long time. The Olympic torch was about to pass through the area, so traffic was a nightmare, we finally arrived at Stonehenge to discover that we had just over ½ an hour before the road would be closed, they were going to have some big festival and the road would not open again until midnight.... they told us it would be wonderful and we should stay.... well we weren’t having any of that, so we did a quick dash to the stones, what a disappointment. I expected it to be mythical, an eerie feeling, something, it looked like a rubbish dump. Lots of old rusty iron fire poles and things had been placed around the stones, presumably to light up in the evening for their concert. But it just looked dreadful, like a trash heap. I was incredibly disappointed, they still charged full price too, even though they knew we would only have 30 minutes at the most to look at the thing. I was disgusted with the whole thing. Definitely not a place I would return to or even encourage others to visit.
We found a nice restaurant in Warminster and stayed in our first B & B, it was lovely, with beautiful gardens and lovely facilities, it was in Fordingbridge and was called the 3 lions. Really lovely spot and on the ground floor. I love the ground floor, with all my heavy luggage. Although I have cut my luggage in half, but leaving all the non essentials in the car. I will miss the car once we are back in Europe..
Some of the lovely garden at The 3 Lions, a lovely B & B
The next morning we drove to Salisbury and visited the Cathedral, it is beautiful, we were both very impressed.
Salisbury Cathedral...It's huge
Part of the inside of the cathedral, it is really lovely
After Salisbury we visited Bath, what a beautiful city, all of the buildings are made or faced with the same stone, so the whole city looks wonderful, no bright colours or silly buildings, it is really lovely. We visited the Roman baths and did the hop on hop off tour, without hopping off... It was lovely to sit back and let someone else drive, driving in Bath is a nightmare.... Even the guide on the bus told us that, I wish I had known earlier and we would have used the park and ride. They have park and rides outside a lot of towns in Britain, you park your car in a car park, outside of the town and buses come out regularly to pick people up and take them into town, a brilliant idea for places like Bath, that are crap to drive in. The Roman Bathes were great and Kearie and I really enjoyed the visit.
We stayed at another B&B called Guyers House, it had been some kind of stately home at one point, it looked like a manor to me, it was really lovely and once again our room was on the ground floor,, woo hoo, on a winning streak...
The Roman Baths
Bath, It was raining, so I have no decent shots of the city. kearie might, I will ask her when she wakes up...
Yesterday we drove through the Cotswolds, what a beautiful area, we had lunch at Burton on the Water, a really lovely village, the Cotswolds are full of beautiful villages and we had a lovely time. We then travelled north to Lincoln. We visited the Lincoln Cathedral, my third visit to this cathedral, but it really is lovely, and Kearie had not seen it before. We are staying just out of town in a Hotel, unfortunately my luck did not hold and we are back on the first floor.... I always look at the owner of our accommodation with trepidation until they say where our room is, I hate stairs and I hate luggage..
Burton on the water, beautiful place
More of Burton on the Water
Outside Lincoln Cathedral. I have posted photos of this cathedral in my last blog, 2 years ago. So won't bore you with repeats...
We are catching up with my lovely friend Sue today, and her husband Jim. I stayed with them last time I was here and it will be wonderful to see them again. We will then travel to Rotherham to visit our other friends Mary & Mal, who we met in Greece 2 years ago. We have both visited with them since, but not at the same time. It will be lovely to catch up.
We are hoping to be in Scotland by the 17th to visit with Sheonagh and Ally, so we will be travelling fast. I hope you enjoy the photos
Cheers for now
Lones
Monday, July 9, 2012
2 long days, but worth it...
Hi guys
It has been awhile. Kearie and I left Metz and travelled down the country side, along the Moselle River, it was really lovely. We passed through some beautiful villages and stopped in Toul and visited a wonderful Cathedral.
We then went onto Besancon, we had to return the car the next day and also change hotels. It was brilliant having a car and we have been spoilt, it is crap dragging luggage around. We had to fill and wash the car, before we returned it. The filling part wasn't difficult, but the car wash had no instructions in English, so we assumed it was like in Australia, you put the money in, drive in, the machine tells you to stop and then begins washing the car... No, we put the money in, I drove the car forward and the machine started without me.. so we watched it wash a nonexistent car and then tried again. This time I drove in and Kearie put the money in, we got the car washed, eventually.. Bloody silly car wash in my opinion. We then returned the car to the AVIS at the railway station, unfortunately there were no employees at the office, we waited a while, had breakfast etc, and then caught on that the office looked deserted. Upon enquiring at the railway station, we learned that you return the car to the railway staff. We did that, they didn't check the car for fuel, dirtiness or dents.... I had been really careful to do all the right things and she didn't even check. I could have saved my money on the two car washes and the extra fuel, you live and learn.
We then came out to our new hotel, we had dropped our luggage while we still had the car, we aren't entirely stupid, though I think Kearie has doubts about me. She treats me like some kind of retarded cousin. We went to watch the time trial at the tour today and it was a great day. We got an awesome spot, with no crowds and it was brilliant. I do not like Bradley Wiggins, I believe he is on drugs, I said jokingly to Kearie that we should throw marbles on the road as he went by, alas I do not have any. She replied we could throw Madeline’s ( a kind of sponge cake they throw out from the tour caravan, we had 5 packets). I thought she said mandolins and I asked her where the hell I was supposed to get enough mandolins..... I wonder why she thinks I'm special??
Cadel lost a lot of time to Wiggins today, I do not care if Cadel wins, he is not one of my favourite riders, but I do not want Wiggins to win. Sorry to my English friends, but the guy gives me the creeps... Some other Brit can win if you like, just not him.
Anyway we had an awesome day, we really enjoyed it and got so many pictures it was brilliant.
Fabian Cancellara, look how close we were and no crowds, they were all down at the finish line...loved it!!
See how much room we had, brilliant
We are flying back to Britain tomorrow, to start the next leg of our journey. Then back to Paris for the last stage before heading to Luxembourg.
I am buggered, so off to bed soon
Til later
Lones
It has been awhile. Kearie and I left Metz and travelled down the country side, along the Moselle River, it was really lovely. We passed through some beautiful villages and stopped in Toul and visited a wonderful Cathedral.
We then went onto Besancon, we had to return the car the next day and also change hotels. It was brilliant having a car and we have been spoilt, it is crap dragging luggage around. We had to fill and wash the car, before we returned it. The filling part wasn't difficult, but the car wash had no instructions in English, so we assumed it was like in Australia, you put the money in, drive in, the machine tells you to stop and then begins washing the car... No, we put the money in, I drove the car forward and the machine started without me.. so we watched it wash a nonexistent car and then tried again. This time I drove in and Kearie put the money in, we got the car washed, eventually.. Bloody silly car wash in my opinion. We then returned the car to the AVIS at the railway station, unfortunately there were no employees at the office, we waited a while, had breakfast etc, and then caught on that the office looked deserted. Upon enquiring at the railway station, we learned that you return the car to the railway staff. We did that, they didn't check the car for fuel, dirtiness or dents.... I had been really careful to do all the right things and she didn't even check. I could have saved my money on the two car washes and the extra fuel, you live and learn.
We then came out to our new hotel, we had dropped our luggage while we still had the car, we aren't entirely stupid, though I think Kearie has doubts about me. She treats me like some kind of retarded cousin. We went to watch the time trial at the tour today and it was a great day. We got an awesome spot, with no crowds and it was brilliant. I do not like Bradley Wiggins, I believe he is on drugs, I said jokingly to Kearie that we should throw marbles on the road as he went by, alas I do not have any. She replied we could throw Madeline’s ( a kind of sponge cake they throw out from the tour caravan, we had 5 packets). I thought she said mandolins and I asked her where the hell I was supposed to get enough mandolins..... I wonder why she thinks I'm special??
Cadel lost a lot of time to Wiggins today, I do not care if Cadel wins, he is not one of my favourite riders, but I do not want Wiggins to win. Sorry to my English friends, but the guy gives me the creeps... Some other Brit can win if you like, just not him.
Anyway we had an awesome day, we really enjoyed it and got so many pictures it was brilliant.
Fabian Cancellara, look how close we were and no crowds, they were all down at the finish line...loved it!!
See how much room we had, brilliant
We are flying back to Britain tomorrow, to start the next leg of our journey. Then back to Paris for the last stage before heading to Luxembourg.
I am buggered, so off to bed soon
Til later
Lones
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)