United Kingdon - Saturday - Day Six

Dover

Dover is the South East gateway to England - just a quick jump over the English Channel from France.  It is a major embarking location for ferries across the channel.  Ferries are still a major passage even though the Channel Tunnel (The Chunnel) is open, simply because the toll on The Chunnel is so expensive.

The ferries are realllllllly big ships - and when they leave they go pretty fast.

Of course Dover is known for the White Cliffs - white because the cliffs are chalk because at one time the area was all under water.  It is also a beach resort - but not what you would expect in Florida or California or Hawaii.  The beach is not sand - it is pebbles - some the size of quarters and some the size of peanuts.  It is also fairly chilly, even when the sun is bright.

Because of it's proximity to the mainland, Dover was heavily damaged during the war.  There are few old buildings in Dover, except for the beautiful Castle on the hill (which we did not get to go up to see).  Also, there are many tunnels back into the white cliffs, some of them as much as two miles long, that were used as secret bases during the war.

Now, is that a cool looking castle or what? Walls, turrets, on a hill.  It was an important castle to be intimidating as people landed in Dover.

United Kingdom - Sunday - Day Seven

Warwick Castle

When people think of a castle in England, they imagine Warwick.

The BBC use Warwick Castle as the basis for its series called Merlin.

Warwick is considered Britain's finest medieval castle - dating back to the 1300's..  It is situated on a beautiful, picturesque location on the banks of the River Avon (yes the same one that is associated with Shakespeare).  It has spectacular siege machines, dungeons and costumed actors.  The castle was sold to the Tussauds Group (who run waxed museums throughout Europe) so there are waxed figures of historical people.  It is a favorite destination for families because there are jousting knights, firing of the siege machines (we missed that), medieval events, dragons (we missed those also), and falconry (which we did see - it was beautiful and fascinating).  There are great ramparts and gardens.  On the tour of the inside, there are collections of armour and swords and cannons.  And the rooms are furnished as they might have been when kings and queens visited the castle.

A profile taken from the hill that was the site of to ancient fortress.

One of the armor displays - this was Oliver Cromwell's display - which is ironic because Cromwell had many of the castles torn down after the Revolution because they were a sign of the nobility.

The bell tower of the castle.

The falconer with a bald eagle.

The battlements.

When we were there, the Queen came just to see us.  She deigned to have her picture taken with Margaret.

United Kingdom - Tuesday - Day Nine

Larry had to work today.

After work, we drove the 7 mile to Highclear Castle.  Highclear Castle has been the home the home of the Earls of Carnarvon for over 300 years.  It is situated 65 miles west of London and is often described as the finest occupied Victorian mansion in England.  We weren't able o go inside - tours are full  until October.  There are breathtaking grounds and there is a "secret garden". 

Highclear Castles is where the BBC is filming Downton Abbey - but it is more beautiful than it is on TV.

The rolling hillside with sheep

It is the setting that makes this castle spectacular. Notice that along the fence is a small mote.

People in the know can tell who is home at the castle by interpreting the flag that is flying.

 

United Kingdom - Thursday - Day Four

September 6, 2012

Today was a teaching day for Larry.  There was some drama involved.  We got started 1/2 hour late becausee two of my student had an incident on the M4 (a highway like an interstate).  They came into brief contact with a coach (bus) and had to stop to exchange information.  Very minor damage and no injuries.  However, we are a little behind in the class.

Margaret spent the day exploring shops and making more reservations.  She had a nice conversation with a mother and daughter from Epps who are taking a little holiday together.  It reminded us of Melanie and Mom.  This is the lobby of the motel where they sat and talked for about an hour.

Tonight for dinner to The Swan Inn.  We wanted to go since we first saw it.  It looked like a fun English inn and it met its expectations.  The food was excellent. the Atmosphere was excellent. 

This is a quote that was on the wall.

Now we are settling down for the evening - and packing up.  We leave this hotel tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow night we will spend in London and then do tours for the next days.  We will be taking the train into London - because Larry doesn't want to drive there and becasue there is a 22 pound "congestion tax" to drive into the inner city.  Besides that, everyone says that it is a nightmare to drive in London - so we will take the train and then let a tour guide do the driving.

Warning!!

We may not take my laptop to London - in which case there will be no blog updates until - Tuesday.

Just be patient and realize we are having fun.

United Kingdom - Wednesday - Day Three

September 5, 2012

Today was a work day.  Larry had to teach all day long.  Mar took some walks to a little outdoor mall (very Americanish).  The she walked into some neighborhoods.  It looks like Englan architecture, but the houses are only 10 to 20 years old.

 

After work, we hurried and left for a voyage.  We decided it was time to go to Stonehenge.  Rats, we got there just as they closed the area - but we still got to see it sitting there on the Salisbury plains.  It is in the middle of a beautiful green field.  We were really surprised at how big it was.  There is no wonder it is so famous with the setting it is in.  There are a few things that tell about it and the area around.

Stonehenge, like other religious shrines and cathedrals in England was built and rebuilt many times.  It was started about 3000 BC and was completed in three phases.  Each phase added to the formation but what is left is mostly the last stage.  Some of the stones are from a location about 18 miles away, but the "bluestone" used in the last phases came from Wales 240 miles away (mostly by floating on the water).  This was pretty amazing for the technology of the time. 

There are thories that it was used for astronomy or as a Druid celebration site.  But still at the Summer Solstice, the center stone, called the Heel Stone, lines up with the sunrise.  (Do not get confused by the picture.  That is not the Heel Stone.  In fact that stone is not part of the Stonehenge ring.  We were just there at a time when we could get such a cool looking picture.  But I am sure that the picture we got means something in an astral sence.  Good luck to those who stand withing the shadow of the stone - at sunset.)

Salbury plain has other significant features that are older than Stonehenge.  In fact, in the same area there are over 340 burial mounds - know as barrows.  Some of them are not even recognizable, many many are clearly visible.

The pictures do not show how truely beautiful the area is.

And then we drove back to Newbury and sucumbed to American food:

But it wasn't the same as American Piza - ours is better.

And now - England language differences:

Shopping cart = Trolly

Yeild = Give way

Bus = Coach

Take a nap = Have a lie down

Line up = Que

Double highway = Double carriage way

Truck = Lorry

Travel trailer = Caravan



United Kingdon - Tuesday - Day Two

United Kingdom - Tuesday - Day Two

Well, today Larry had to work for a few hours - till 2:00 setting up his class.  While he worked, Margaret booked tours.  We are going to be so busy this weekend.  We had a light lunch and then set out to find Stonehenge.  We never found it.  In stead we got sidetracked.

We ended up in Salisbury where we toured the Salisbury Cathedral.  Our opinion was that it was a much better choice than Stonehenge.  The cathedral in Salisbury has the highest spire of any cathedral in England - 404 feet.  That is almost twice the height of the Salt Lake City temple's highest spire - 210 feet.  The spire was added after the cathedral was built. The cathedral was not damaged in World War II becasue the German's did not want to damage it becasue it worked as a tall landmark to help with night raids.

We got there and asked if there was a tour.  One was starting at 4:00, but our guide started the tour 10 minutes early and just ook us.  It was very nice. 

First we went to the Charter House.  This is where the "principals" of the cathedral met to decide what to do relative to the cathedral.  It was a stunningly beautiful room and it was in the middle of a restoration.  We were not allowed to take pictures there becasue one of the four original copies of the Magna Carta is displayed in that room.  (The Magna Carta was rules about equality, property ownership, punishments, land ownership, etc. - it was the basis of English law and was a guide for the United States constitution.)

 Outside the Charter house was the cloister.  During the World Wars it was used as a prisoner of war camp.



We then went inside the cathedral.  It is considered a classic example of Gothis architecture - gargoyles, valted ceilings, flying butresses and stained glass.  We learned a lot.  It was hard to believe that we were standing in a building constructed more than 750 years ago - three times older than the United States.  It was beautiful and truely awsome in te whole sence of the word.

This is the "quire" (yes that is how you spell it - pronounce it "choir").  We were there for a service that included scripture reading and music.  It was very nice.

During the Crusades, Richard the Lion Hearted was captured.  There was a ransome demanded for his release.  This is a picure of the trunk that the ransom was sent in.  Five padlocs and seven other locks.  Each lock had a speaparate key that was held by a seven different men.  The trunck was so heavy that it couldn't be stolen or even budged (yes Larry tried).  Built 600 years ago.

There are a lot of notaries burid in the cathedral.. This is somebodies vault.  The Knights and royalty were always depicted as beautiful people.  However, many of the bishops wanted their effigy shown giving up the "mortal" so they were depicted as emaciated.

Around the cathedral is a "close" which is like a park.  In the olden days there was a graveyard and the grass was kept short by sheep.  Now it is a well used park.  The buldings around the close were assigned to the principals of the cathedral.  Now many of them are museums.

As a final comment, we had to drive 40 miles to Salisbury.  Again, that was white-knuckle time.  We only took the wrong turn 4 times, but the GPS put us back on track really fast.  And we got to go through some little communities with interesting names, such as, Jacks Bush, Wallop, and Nether Wallop.

United Kingdom - Monday - Day One

On our trip to the UK - Day 1 - Sunday/Monday

The flight - we left Denver and flew to Houston - Mar got to sit in First Class - which she liked - which made the trip from Houston to Londan Heathrow a littl more "cramped".  I wish there were a way to describe how awful it was.  Cramped necks and legs, babies, cramped necks, smelly feet, cramped necks, sore hiney, and did we mention cramped neck.  We got maybe two hours of very interrupted sleep and arrived so tired - but we were in England.

We made it through immigration with ease.  We got luggage with ease.  We made it through custom with ease.  We went to get our rental car.  We have a nice deasel/hybrid Audi with GPS.  We were taught how to use the GPS and how to use the car.  Then we started out.  Yikes!! As you probably know they drive on the "other" side of the road.  And they have "roudabouts". And these develous things called "bottlenecks".  Our drive to Newbury was uneventful - but very white knucked.  Still we were in England.  And Mar saw white swans on a river - Larry sidn't see them.  He was too busy being white knuckled.  Mar also saw lots of white horses.  Larry didn't becasue of that white knuckle syndrome.

We drove rather well to Newbury and went to our motel. - The Hilton Newbury Center.  It is a small room but okay.  We took a short nap and then went and explored - just a little.

The exploring consisted of finding a local site, and using the GPS to get us there - Huckleberry Farms.  It was about an 8 mile, white knuckle drive.  Hucklberry Farm is a "Children's Farm".  We just walked around and saw the animals and enjoyed being in England.  The fence was made by weaving limbs together - no nails - just weaving.

On the way back we did see some real English countryside, including some traditional old houses and a thatched roof cottage.  We were only honked at twice in roundabouts - and that was twice in the same roundabout.

For dinner we decided to do the traditional fish and chips.  Notice just how many vegetables there are.  We have discovered that food prices are rather high.