Friday morning I got up to drive Kristin to work and the entire right hand mirror of the car was missing. Someone had obviously had decided that their need was greater than ours!
On Saturday we headed off to Liverpool (w/o driver's side mirror) and arrived unscathed about midday. We decided to have a much quieter weekend than our normal trips!
The first stop was Albert Dock, we didn't do The Beatles Story (did it Sunday), but grabbed a lot of information to decide what we would do. From the docks we walked to the Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican) and from the outside it looked very big, perched on top of the highest hill (St. James' Mount) in the city. It was constructed during the 20th Century of locally quarried (reddish) sandstone and a tower height of 108 metres. Inside there was some sort of Anglican festival going on with lots of different activities. We climbed the Tower (well mainly used the lifts) and got panoramic views of Liverpool. From the Tower, we spotted our next location to visit - the Catholic Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King).
The Metropolitan Cathedral was completely different to all other cathedrals that we have seen this year - and that is saying something because I reckon the count has to be over a hundred! It was very modern, built in the 1960's, but to me it just seemed like a very, very big suburban church in Melbourne!
From the Metropolitan Cathedral we walked down Brownlow Hill to the shopping centre of Liverpool and made our way to the Cavern Quarter. Here we visited Mathew Street which has the Cavern Club, made famous by The Beatles. So the "Fab Four", Kristin, Andy, Billy and Declan went into the club and by the looks of the place, I don't think much has changed in the last 50 years! The was a two-piece band playing and for a Saturday Arvo, it was quite crowded.
Next, we drove to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and took the obligatory photos. From there we found our hotel, the Throstle's Nest (I assume a Throstle is a bird, a thrush?)and had a quick break before going back into the city centre for dinner. Liverpool was rocking early in the evening and on the corner of Mathew Street and Temple Court, it was impossible to have a conversation in the street, due to the blaring music from all venues!
Sunday morning, saw us visiting Liverpool FC's ground, Anfield and around the corner Everton's home ground, Goodison Park. Then we drove to Aintree, the racecourse where The Grand National is held (on the first Saturday in April). After our sporting fix, we went back into Liverpool and Andy & Kristin did The Beatles Story and really enjoyed it.
We left Liverpool, via the Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey River and headed to Chester, which once upon a time was a more important port than Liverpool! Now it is a quaint medieval town where the rich football stars have mansions! Besides having the obligatory cathedral and city walls, the most interesting feature of the town was the ROWS, a series of two-level galleried arcades, like having a 1st story footpath, which was convenient because when we arrived in Chester in was raining!
Our last location for the weekend was Ironbridge Gorge, a World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution was kicked started here by Abraham Darby, who discovered how to smelt Iron ore with coke, which led to mass-production of iron wheels, rails and locomotives. The town has the world's first iron bridge (still standing), constructed in 1779.
From Ironbridge we headed back to Cardiff, and are getting ready for another week at the "Salt Mine". As usual all the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
View Liverpool Trek in a larger map
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
South England
Last week Gabby & Andrew Wynne (and their girls Madi & Steph) dropped in for a visit on their UK/Europe trip. It was great to catch up, have a few (too many) beers and some nice Indian food.
Billy has been a bit crook with a dose of the flu and the rest of us have been a bit 'flu-ish' as well.
Anyhow we spent the weekend in the South of England. We headed off Saturday morning and drove to Canterbury arriving just before lunch. Canterbury is a lovely medieval city which has city walls, a castle ruin, an abbey ruin and a magnificent cathedral. Canterbury is the foothold of Christianity in England, this where St. Augustine established the Christian church in about 590 AD. In the Cathedral there are some famous people buried there, these include Thomas Becket, King Henry IV and the "Black Prince" Edward Plantagent.
After leaving Canterbury, we headed south to the English Channel at Hythe, we were hoping to have a coastal drive as we headed west, but what we found was the coastal road was next to a high embankment which blocked any view of the water. We did stop at a beach called St. Mary's in the Marchs and the wind was blowing a gale and the beach had a series of groynes about 50 metres apart. Travelling along the South Coast we came across towns called, Rye, Eastbourne, Seaford, Hastings & Brighton -why did they copy those Victorian names?!!
The next stop was Battle, near Hastings, the site where William the Conquerer defeated the English forces in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, and thus changing the course of England's history and turning them into Normans.
We stayed overnight in Eastbourne at a bed and breakfast 30 metres from the beach. Eastbourne is your typical British seaside resort with the obligatory promenade and pier with amusement arcade and a shale beach littered with groynes.
After breakfast we visited the Easbourne International Lawn Tennis Club. The traditional ladies lead-up tournament to Wimbledon is held here. From Eastbourne we went to Beachy Head, which has a series of huge chalky limestone cliffs to the water's edge. There is about 5 to 10 km of cliffs like this called the Seven Sisters and a popular surf beach called The Birling Gap. Have a look at the Web albums to see how big and impressive these limestone cliffs look. Interestingly the cliff at Beachy Head drops about 200 metres straight down to the water, with no safety rails or warning signs.
From here, we went Brighton - a larger version of Eastbourne, then onto Arundel. Arundel is another lovely little medieval town with a magnificent castle (the home of the Duke of Norfolk) and yet another cathedral. From Arundel we headed to Portsmouth via Chichester (Another Bloody Cathedral!).
Portsmouth is famous for its Naval history and the Royal Navy has been based here since Henry VIII built his giant warship, the Mary Rose. At the maritime museum, there are 3 famous ships, The Mary Rose, The Warrior (the first modern iron ship) and The Victory (Nelson's ship @ Trafalgar), all very impressive.
On our way home to Cardiff, we went to Salisbury and had a quick drink with the Wynne's who had been visiting Cornwall and Devon and Stonehenge over the weekend (if you are interested in their travels I've put a link to their blog on the top right).
Next week , we may head towards Liverpool - weather permitting - there is a lot of rain around this week!!
Cheers.
View South England trek in a larger map
Billy has been a bit crook with a dose of the flu and the rest of us have been a bit 'flu-ish' as well.
Anyhow we spent the weekend in the South of England. We headed off Saturday morning and drove to Canterbury arriving just before lunch. Canterbury is a lovely medieval city which has city walls, a castle ruin, an abbey ruin and a magnificent cathedral. Canterbury is the foothold of Christianity in England, this where St. Augustine established the Christian church in about 590 AD. In the Cathedral there are some famous people buried there, these include Thomas Becket, King Henry IV and the "Black Prince" Edward Plantagent.
After leaving Canterbury, we headed south to the English Channel at Hythe, we were hoping to have a coastal drive as we headed west, but what we found was the coastal road was next to a high embankment which blocked any view of the water. We did stop at a beach called St. Mary's in the Marchs and the wind was blowing a gale and the beach had a series of groynes about 50 metres apart. Travelling along the South Coast we came across towns called, Rye, Eastbourne, Seaford, Hastings & Brighton -why did they copy those Victorian names?!!
The next stop was Battle, near Hastings, the site where William the Conquerer defeated the English forces in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, and thus changing the course of England's history and turning them into Normans.
We stayed overnight in Eastbourne at a bed and breakfast 30 metres from the beach. Eastbourne is your typical British seaside resort with the obligatory promenade and pier with amusement arcade and a shale beach littered with groynes.
After breakfast we visited the Easbourne International Lawn Tennis Club. The traditional ladies lead-up tournament to Wimbledon is held here. From Eastbourne we went to Beachy Head, which has a series of huge chalky limestone cliffs to the water's edge. There is about 5 to 10 km of cliffs like this called the Seven Sisters and a popular surf beach called The Birling Gap. Have a look at the Web albums to see how big and impressive these limestone cliffs look. Interestingly the cliff at Beachy Head drops about 200 metres straight down to the water, with no safety rails or warning signs.
From here, we went Brighton - a larger version of Eastbourne, then onto Arundel. Arundel is another lovely little medieval town with a magnificent castle (the home of the Duke of Norfolk) and yet another cathedral. From Arundel we headed to Portsmouth via Chichester (Another Bloody Cathedral!).
Portsmouth is famous for its Naval history and the Royal Navy has been based here since Henry VIII built his giant warship, the Mary Rose. At the maritime museum, there are 3 famous ships, The Mary Rose, The Warrior (the first modern iron ship) and The Victory (Nelson's ship @ Trafalgar), all very impressive.
On our way home to Cardiff, we went to Salisbury and had a quick drink with the Wynne's who had been visiting Cornwall and Devon and Stonehenge over the weekend (if you are interested in their travels I've put a link to their blog on the top right).
Next week , we may head towards Liverpool - weather permitting - there is a lot of rain around this week!!
Cheers.
View South England trek in a larger map
Monday, September 28, 2009
White Horses & Cheddar Gorge (again)
Hi all,
The weeks are beginning to get long and the weekends seem too short! Declan is starting to play soccer and rugby for the school again. Billy spends one day a week at school cooking all day (hard life for some!). Kristin is working lots and Andy has one ok week and then a horror week (only 2 free periods for the whole week!!).
Anyhow, this weekend we got up early Saturday to watch the Grand Final - at 5 in the morning and no beers it just doesn't have the right atmosphere!
Sunday, we travelled to Wiltshire and went on the White Horse Trail. There are about 8 White Horses and we managed to see 6 of them. We have been to this area twice before and had only seen a glance of one of them. Some of them would be 10 metres high and 40 metres wide. The White Horses are carvings on the side of hills, the geological structure is of solid white chalk with a thin layer of topsoil. These type of carvings have been given a name, LEUCIPOTTOMY. During WWII the horses were covered to prevent enemy recognition, but since then they have been cleaned and re-cut.
Of the White horses, the best were at Cherhill, Alton Baarnes and Westbury. Early in the year we saw the Uffington White Horse which pre-dates all the Wiltshire horses by several hundred years, but these three were much more impressive. At the Westbury White Horse, we had lunch and watched para-gliders sailing off the hilltop.
Later in the day we went to Cheddar Gorge, again (we had a family pass that allowed us to visit some of the attractions left over from earlier in the year). Last time it was in January and extremely cold, this time it looked a lot different and much busier. We went into the Cox's Cave, not as good as Gough's Cave that we saw last time and then went up Jacob's ladder (274 steps almost straight up) to the Lookout Tower. There was a great view of the surrounding area, and we could even see the Glastonbury Tor from the lookout.
The trip home was terrible, as we spent an hour and twenty minutes on the 20 mile stretch of the M5 from Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol.
Another enjoyable Sunday! We may go to the South of England next weekend. Check out the Web Albums for the pictures.
Cheers!
The weeks are beginning to get long and the weekends seem too short! Declan is starting to play soccer and rugby for the school again. Billy spends one day a week at school cooking all day (hard life for some!). Kristin is working lots and Andy has one ok week and then a horror week (only 2 free periods for the whole week!!).
Anyhow, this weekend we got up early Saturday to watch the Grand Final - at 5 in the morning and no beers it just doesn't have the right atmosphere!
Sunday, we travelled to Wiltshire and went on the White Horse Trail. There are about 8 White Horses and we managed to see 6 of them. We have been to this area twice before and had only seen a glance of one of them. Some of them would be 10 metres high and 40 metres wide. The White Horses are carvings on the side of hills, the geological structure is of solid white chalk with a thin layer of topsoil. These type of carvings have been given a name, LEUCIPOTTOMY. During WWII the horses were covered to prevent enemy recognition, but since then they have been cleaned and re-cut.
Of the White horses, the best were at Cherhill, Alton Baarnes and Westbury. Early in the year we saw the Uffington White Horse which pre-dates all the Wiltshire horses by several hundred years, but these three were much more impressive. At the Westbury White Horse, we had lunch and watched para-gliders sailing off the hilltop.
Later in the day we went to Cheddar Gorge, again (we had a family pass that allowed us to visit some of the attractions left over from earlier in the year). Last time it was in January and extremely cold, this time it looked a lot different and much busier. We went into the Cox's Cave, not as good as Gough's Cave that we saw last time and then went up Jacob's ladder (274 steps almost straight up) to the Lookout Tower. There was a great view of the surrounding area, and we could even see the Glastonbury Tor from the lookout.
The trip home was terrible, as we spent an hour and twenty minutes on the 20 mile stretch of the M5 from Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol.
Another enjoyable Sunday! We may go to the South of England next weekend. Check out the Web Albums for the pictures.
Cheers!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Gower Peninsula
It had been a long week at work (taught 23 out of 25!) and a disappointing effort by the Pies on Saturday, so we thought we'd better do something on Sunday!
We visited the Gower Peninsula, which is about an hour and a quarter West of Cardiff. The Gower Peninsula begins at Swansea, but we didn't stop here as Swansea was the first place we visited this year (Jan 1, in fact - it is worth comparing the pictures from today with then!).
We drove down the coastal road, via The Mumbles and first stopped at Langland. A lovely beach , a row of green and white boatsheds and a nice coastal walk around to Caswell Bay. We stopped also at Oxwich and Port Eynon and leaving Oxwich had to back up about 400 metres along a narrow country lane as another car coming the other reckons it was much further the other way before cars could pass!
The highlight of the day was Rhossili at the Western tip of the Gower Peninsula. We were lucky to visit here on a day with very little wind and a pleasant Autumn day (about 17 C). There were a couple of hang gliders landing in the paddock that we parked our car! At the very tip is a headland called the Worm's Head, only accessible at low tide along a rocky causeway - we didn't get across as the tide was beginning to change! Picture Postcard Perfect!
After leaving the Gower, we travelled to Neath and visited the Aberdulais Falls - the site of a former tin mine.
A lovely Sunday drive - must be getting old!!
Check out the Photos on the Web Albums.
We visited the Gower Peninsula, which is about an hour and a quarter West of Cardiff. The Gower Peninsula begins at Swansea, but we didn't stop here as Swansea was the first place we visited this year (Jan 1, in fact - it is worth comparing the pictures from today with then!).
We drove down the coastal road, via The Mumbles and first stopped at Langland. A lovely beach , a row of green and white boatsheds and a nice coastal walk around to Caswell Bay. We stopped also at Oxwich and Port Eynon and leaving Oxwich had to back up about 400 metres along a narrow country lane as another car coming the other reckons it was much further the other way before cars could pass!
The highlight of the day was Rhossili at the Western tip of the Gower Peninsula. We were lucky to visit here on a day with very little wind and a pleasant Autumn day (about 17 C). There were a couple of hang gliders landing in the paddock that we parked our car! At the very tip is a headland called the Worm's Head, only accessible at low tide along a rocky causeway - we didn't get across as the tide was beginning to change! Picture Postcard Perfect!
After leaving the Gower, we travelled to Neath and visited the Aberdulais Falls - the site of a former tin mine.
A lovely Sunday drive - must be getting old!!
Check out the Photos on the Web Albums.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Snowdonia & North Wales
Llanddewi Brefi
We headed out early Saturday and after a couple hours drive and passing 22 places that began with Llan we arrived at Llanddewi Brefi. Little Britain fans may be familiar with Daffyd, the only gay in the village. Poor Llanddewi Brefi apparently has its road signs stolen on a very regualr basis - but we were lucky, the road signs were there!
Snowdon
By the time we arrived at Llanberis and I could finally get mobile reception and found out that The Mighty Pies had won!! LLanberis was now about the 35th Llan.. place we had passed or seen - what is it with the Welsh? It would be like naming places in Melbourne with the prefix Melb or Vic, imagine that! (Llan means church.) Llanberis is at the base of Mt. Snowdon (Wales highest mountain, 1113 m)and this is where Hilary and his team did their training for Everest. We intended to catch the Mountain Railway to the summit, but unfortunately we couldn't get a ticket - apparently you need to book ahead!! So we had lunch and went for a walk to the waterfall.
From Llanberis, we back-tracked to Beddgelert (means Gelert's grave). Beddgelert is a pretty little village in Snowdonia, who's claim to fame is the grave of a dog! I think we must be getting desperate for things to see!! Apparently Prince Llewelyn, a 13th century prince, killed his faithful dog, Gelert, cause he saw blood all over the dog's mouth and believed that it had savaged his baby son, when Gelert had in fact killed a wolf that had attacked the infant. Others believe that it was an 19th century hotelier's invention to boost tourist numbers!
Caernarfon
After leaving Beedgelert and almost circumnavigating Snowdon, we headed to Caernarfon. Caernarfon is on the Menai Strait, which separates North of Wales from Anglesey and about 10 miles from Mt. Snowdon. There is a grand medieval castle and a walled city situated on the Menai strait.
LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
From Caernarfon we crossed the Menai Strait and first stopped at Britain's longest named place, LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which means "St. Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave". Once again it was a 19th century tourist idea and it still works!
Menai Bridge and Beaumaris
From Llanfair PG, we headed along the shoreline towards Beaumaris, which is a lovely seaside resort town with an old castle. Beaumaris sits at the other end of the Menai strait from Caernarfon. Next we crossed the Menai Bridge and had a quick look at Bangor before headed to our accommodation at Conwy.
Conwy
We stayed at the Youth Hostel and arrived about 6 pm. After settling in we walked into the city - once again a walled city with a glorious castle. We had fish and chips for dinner on the wharf just near the castle and then headed back for an early night.
Llandudno
After brekky on Sunday morning we headed to Llandudno (I think the "llan" count was up to 46 at this point) a few miles from Conwy. Llandudno is your classic British seaside resort. It has a lovely promenade along the beach, hotels lining the promenade, a pier with amusements, a cable car and tramway up the near mountain (the Great Orme) and water on both sides of the town.
The average age of the people we saw there was about 75, so I think it might be one of God's waiting rooms. We drove up to the Great Orme summit, but there was a sea mist blocking most of the views. After spending a couple of hours or so in Llandudno, we drove along the coastline of North Wales and then headed to Llangollen (another Llan!).
Llangollen
Llangollen is a lovely little town which has a canal designed by the 18th century engineer Thomas Telford. Telford's masterpiece is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, about 316 m long, which carrys the canal 48 metres above the River Dee. An amazing engineering feat! While we were there at least 10 canal boats crossed the aqueduct. Llangollen itself was very busy today and there were hundred's of motorcyclists.
Shrewsbury
Our last stop was Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Charles Darwin - so there were many references to Darwin. It has a nice little castle and an Abbey and has a lot of Tudor style buildings.
So we almost did a whole lap of Wales on the weekend and were blessed with very nice weather, about 20 C and very little wind (except from Kristin!!). All the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
PS the final "llan" count was 54!
We headed out early Saturday and after a couple hours drive and passing 22 places that began with Llan we arrived at Llanddewi Brefi. Little Britain fans may be familiar with Daffyd, the only gay in the village. Poor Llanddewi Brefi apparently has its road signs stolen on a very regualr basis - but we were lucky, the road signs were there!
Snowdon
By the time we arrived at Llanberis and I could finally get mobile reception and found out that The Mighty Pies had won!! LLanberis was now about the 35th Llan.. place we had passed or seen - what is it with the Welsh? It would be like naming places in Melbourne with the prefix Melb or Vic, imagine that! (Llan means church.) Llanberis is at the base of Mt. Snowdon (Wales highest mountain, 1113 m)and this is where Hilary and his team did their training for Everest. We intended to catch the Mountain Railway to the summit, but unfortunately we couldn't get a ticket - apparently you need to book ahead!! So we had lunch and went for a walk to the waterfall.
From Llanberis, we back-tracked to Beddgelert (means Gelert's grave). Beddgelert is a pretty little village in Snowdonia, who's claim to fame is the grave of a dog! I think we must be getting desperate for things to see!! Apparently Prince Llewelyn, a 13th century prince, killed his faithful dog, Gelert, cause he saw blood all over the dog's mouth and believed that it had savaged his baby son, when Gelert had in fact killed a wolf that had attacked the infant. Others believe that it was an 19th century hotelier's invention to boost tourist numbers!
Caernarfon
After leaving Beedgelert and almost circumnavigating Snowdon, we headed to Caernarfon. Caernarfon is on the Menai Strait, which separates North of Wales from Anglesey and about 10 miles from Mt. Snowdon. There is a grand medieval castle and a walled city situated on the Menai strait.
LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
From Caernarfon we crossed the Menai Strait and first stopped at Britain's longest named place, LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which means "St. Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave". Once again it was a 19th century tourist idea and it still works!
Menai Bridge and Beaumaris
From Llanfair PG, we headed along the shoreline towards Beaumaris, which is a lovely seaside resort town with an old castle. Beaumaris sits at the other end of the Menai strait from Caernarfon. Next we crossed the Menai Bridge and had a quick look at Bangor before headed to our accommodation at Conwy.
Conwy
We stayed at the Youth Hostel and arrived about 6 pm. After settling in we walked into the city - once again a walled city with a glorious castle. We had fish and chips for dinner on the wharf just near the castle and then headed back for an early night.
Llandudno
After brekky on Sunday morning we headed to Llandudno (I think the "llan" count was up to 46 at this point) a few miles from Conwy. Llandudno is your classic British seaside resort. It has a lovely promenade along the beach, hotels lining the promenade, a pier with amusements, a cable car and tramway up the near mountain (the Great Orme) and water on both sides of the town.
The average age of the people we saw there was about 75, so I think it might be one of God's waiting rooms. We drove up to the Great Orme summit, but there was a sea mist blocking most of the views. After spending a couple of hours or so in Llandudno, we drove along the coastline of North Wales and then headed to Llangollen (another Llan!).
Llangollen
Llangollen is a lovely little town which has a canal designed by the 18th century engineer Thomas Telford. Telford's masterpiece is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, about 316 m long, which carrys the canal 48 metres above the River Dee. An amazing engineering feat! While we were there at least 10 canal boats crossed the aqueduct. Llangollen itself was very busy today and there were hundred's of motorcyclists.
Shrewsbury
Our last stop was Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Charles Darwin - so there were many references to Darwin. It has a nice little castle and an Abbey and has a lot of Tudor style buildings.
So we almost did a whole lap of Wales on the weekend and were blessed with very nice weather, about 20 C and very little wind (except from Kristin!!). All the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
PS the final "llan" count was 54!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
London: late August
We have just spent the weekend in London to say good-bye to Lucy and hello to Mary (Andy's sister) and her husband Dick.
We arrived, via a coach, early on Sunday afternoon and found our apartment (about 5 mins walk on the south of the Tower Bridge - which was convenient because Mary and Dick were just on North side of the Tower Bridge. We were wondering what are we going to do for 2 and a half days because we thought we had done London pretty thoroughly -but we managed to keep ourselves very busy and saw lots of new "things".
Sunday afternoon, after Lucy met us, we went to Notting Hill carnival - a massive street party organised for the Caribbean residents. It was very colourful, loud and extremely busy. Back in London we caught up with Mary and Dick and had dinner at an English pub. It was great to see Mary and Dick, seasoned travellers like us, forget how exciting it is when you see London for the first time!
Monday was a slow start and we were trying to find something "new" to do, so we caught the Tube to Regent's Park and walked through to Primrose Hill - which has a great view of the London skyline. From Primrose Hill we walked along the Grand Union (Regent's) Canal into Camden. The Camden market was in full swing and we had lunch there and did lots of browsing of the goods. Checkout the pics - some very interesting people. Unsure what to do next, we went back to Notting Hill and the carnival to us seemed twice as packed. On Sunday we saw parades of Steel Drum bands but Monday was the parade of the girls (and guys) all dressed up like the carnival in Rio. The music was so loud that my chest was throbbing when you walked past one of the trucks carrying the music gear. It was a fantastic sight.
Monday we caught up with dinner with Mary and Dick again - we had Indian - traditional English food - curry! A lovely meal, but then we had to say good-bye to Lucy - she caught a 9:00 am plane back to Australia and also to Mary and Dick.
Tuesday took us to Harrods (again!) but then to the Victoria and Albert museum (a mix of Art and Design), Kensington Gardens, Royal Albert Hall, Prince Albert memorial, Kensington Palace and the Science museum before we had to catch the bus back to Cardiff.
I went to school today (Wednesday) and it has rained solidly all day and more is predicted tonight!! :(
Cheers for now - check out the photos and I've also put a link to Mary & Dick's blog!
GO PIES!!!!
We arrived, via a coach, early on Sunday afternoon and found our apartment (about 5 mins walk on the south of the Tower Bridge - which was convenient because Mary and Dick were just on North side of the Tower Bridge. We were wondering what are we going to do for 2 and a half days because we thought we had done London pretty thoroughly -but we managed to keep ourselves very busy and saw lots of new "things".
Sunday afternoon, after Lucy met us, we went to Notting Hill carnival - a massive street party organised for the Caribbean residents. It was very colourful, loud and extremely busy. Back in London we caught up with Mary and Dick and had dinner at an English pub. It was great to see Mary and Dick, seasoned travellers like us, forget how exciting it is when you see London for the first time!
Monday was a slow start and we were trying to find something "new" to do, so we caught the Tube to Regent's Park and walked through to Primrose Hill - which has a great view of the London skyline. From Primrose Hill we walked along the Grand Union (Regent's) Canal into Camden. The Camden market was in full swing and we had lunch there and did lots of browsing of the goods. Checkout the pics - some very interesting people. Unsure what to do next, we went back to Notting Hill and the carnival to us seemed twice as packed. On Sunday we saw parades of Steel Drum bands but Monday was the parade of the girls (and guys) all dressed up like the carnival in Rio. The music was so loud that my chest was throbbing when you walked past one of the trucks carrying the music gear. It was a fantastic sight.
Monday we caught up with dinner with Mary and Dick again - we had Indian - traditional English food - curry! A lovely meal, but then we had to say good-bye to Lucy - she caught a 9:00 am plane back to Australia and also to Mary and Dick.
Tuesday took us to Harrods (again!) but then to the Victoria and Albert museum (a mix of Art and Design), Kensington Gardens, Royal Albert Hall, Prince Albert memorial, Kensington Palace and the Science museum before we had to catch the bus back to Cardiff.
I went to school today (Wednesday) and it has rained solidly all day and more is predicted tonight!! :(
Cheers for now - check out the photos and I've also put a link to Mary & Dick's blog!
GO PIES!!!!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Coach Trip Part 6: France
Hi all, We are back in sunny (not!) Cardiff, but are going back to London on Sunday to see Mary & Dick and to see Lucy before she heads back to Oz.
Bordeaux and Poitiers
From Bilbao we headed back into Southern France and the first port of call was Bordeaux. It has a really nice feel about it and apparently when they decided to re-model Paris 150 years ago, it was Bordeaux they used. We could have easily spent a few days there instead of a couple of hours! We stayed overnight in Poitiers, but there was nothing remarkable or noteworthy here.
Ambois and Orleans
The next day was all about getting to Paris but we had 2 stopovers. Ambois is in the Loire river region, which is dotted with castles. At Ambois there is Da Vinci's castle and his burial place, apparently Da Vinci was a close friend of one of the King Louis! We also stopped in Orleans for lunch and took photos of the Joan of Arc statue.
Paris
We arrived back in Paris for our last 2 nights of the tour and Paris doesn't disappoint! On Tuesday night we caught the metro to Sacre Coeur and walked through Pigalle to Moulin Rouge and then onto the Arc De Triomphe and caught the metro home.
Declan's birthday
How many people can say they spent their birthday in Paris? Well Dec can! The highlight of the day was hiring bikes and riding down the Champs Elysees. We had a lovely day seeing a lot of sights that we hadn't seen on our previous visit. Later in the day we met Lucy at the Louvre and walked up the Champs Elysees and then onto the Eiffel Tower for one last time when it was all lit up! !!
Check out the photos for more details! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and need another few weeks to recover!!! Cheers! Go Pies
Bordeaux and Poitiers
From Bilbao we headed back into Southern France and the first port of call was Bordeaux. It has a really nice feel about it and apparently when they decided to re-model Paris 150 years ago, it was Bordeaux they used. We could have easily spent a few days there instead of a couple of hours! We stayed overnight in Poitiers, but there was nothing remarkable or noteworthy here.
Ambois and Orleans
The next day was all about getting to Paris but we had 2 stopovers. Ambois is in the Loire river region, which is dotted with castles. At Ambois there is Da Vinci's castle and his burial place, apparently Da Vinci was a close friend of one of the King Louis! We also stopped in Orleans for lunch and took photos of the Joan of Arc statue.
Paris
We arrived back in Paris for our last 2 nights of the tour and Paris doesn't disappoint! On Tuesday night we caught the metro to Sacre Coeur and walked through Pigalle to Moulin Rouge and then onto the Arc De Triomphe and caught the metro home.
Declan's birthday
How many people can say they spent their birthday in Paris? Well Dec can! The highlight of the day was hiring bikes and riding down the Champs Elysees. We had a lovely day seeing a lot of sights that we hadn't seen on our previous visit. Later in the day we met Lucy at the Louvre and walked up the Champs Elysees and then onto the Eiffel Tower for one last time when it was all lit up! !!
Check out the photos for more details! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and need another few weeks to recover!!! Cheers! Go Pies
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