The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 8

Happy May Day! Today we woke up and got ready to leave Edinburgh. I was sad to leave because there was so much more exploring that could have been done but I'll have to save that for another trip. :)

Today was a long day of driving but we saw a lot along the way. Our first stop was at Gretna Green. For those of you avid Pride and Prejudice lovers like myself will know that this is where the Bennet family hoped that Lydia was headed when she ran away with Wickam. Gretna Green is famous for runaway weddings. We couldn't actually go into the blacksmith's shop while we were there because they were getting ready to host a wedding so we just passed the time with some shopping. There was a really big store full of touristy goodness but when we went to get in line to pay, we were behind thousands of Japanese tourists. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration but that is what it felt like. It took FOREVER to get through the line and we ended up being about 5 minutes late to the bus...a big no no. But, we were not the last ones back so I feel a little better about that.

A view of the Gretna Green blacksmith's shop.

A sign outside of the blacksmith's shop

After leaving Gretna Green we drove through Lake Country. We drove through back and scenic roads. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of this. Not sure what I was doing at the time (probably sleeping). Oops. We eventually arrived in Grasmere. Grasmere is a beautiful small town famous for Beatrix Potter, Gingerbread, and the burial site of Wordsworth.

Part of the cemetary where Wordsworth is buried. There was this strange man in a jail uniform running around the town. I'm not sure what was up but I assume it was some sort of May Day celebration. We also heard kids yelling "See a robber, catch him". But I thought it might be better to just snap a picture of him than to tackle him in a cemetary. :)

Grasmere Gingerbread store. The store itself was a teeny tiny room but the Gingerbread was really yummy. I'm not usually a fan but this stuff was good!

Grasmere Gingerbread

We left Grasmere and drove to Chester. This city is surrounded by a wall and since Erin and I hadn't walked a walled city yet, we decided to give this one a go.

Chester

A beautiful cathedral in Chester

A view from the wall surrounding Chester

A watch tower along the wall

Some buildings just inside the wall

A church near where our bus was parked

Next up: Wales

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 7

Okay, so it has been awhile since I have blogged about my vacation. I decided that it was about time to finish writing about the last vacation before it is time to go on the next one. So without further ado...here is the start of the second half of The Best of Britain and Ireland.

Day 7 of our trip found Erin and I in Edinburgh, Scotland. We started the day with a guided tour through the city and our tour guide was an honest to goodness Scotsman...accent, kilt and all. After driving through the city and being explained fascinating history (all of which I have since forgotten) we went to the bottom of the Royal Mile to the Holyrood Palace which is the palace is the official residence of the monarch of Scotland.

A tea house on the grounds of the Holyrood Palace.

A cottage on the grounds of the Holyrood Palace.

After visiting the Palace we went to the top of the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle. It was here that our tour guide told us about how much Scotmen hate the movie Braveheart. He said that the movie gets history all wrong, especially with how Robert the Bruce is portrayed. It is really interesting how he put Robert the Bruce on a pedestal and sort of put William Wallace down. Who knows what really happened. I guess movies don't really portray historical facts! :) Haha!

Holyrood Palace (also called Palace of Holyroodhouse)

Our tour group walking into Edinburgh Castle.

Inside the grounds of Edinburgh Castle. The blonde guy was our Scottish tour guide.

A view of Edinburgh from the Castle.

How cute! A doggie cemetary!

A sleeping area inside the castle prison.

Another view of the Edinburgh Castle grounds.

After we left Edinburgh Castle, our tour of the city ended and we were allowed to roam free for a few hours. Erin and I took the opportunity to run back over to the Royal Mile and take a tour of the Edinburgh underground. There were a few of these tours but we chose the one where we got to walk Mary Queens Cross. The underground is reportedly haunted...although we didn't see a ghost, darn it!! This tour was one of my favorite things that we did on our trip. It was so full of history and was incredibly interesting. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a fascination with ghosts and creepy things.

When people actually lived in Mary Queens Cross (a narrow street) it wasn't actually underground but as time went by, the city built on top of the existing street. The poorer a person was, the lower down on the building their family lived. The peasants lived at the very bottom. The picture below is the actual street that people lived on. Of course the hand rails are a new addition for us tourists.

Erin and I striking a pose in the Edinburgh underground. It was really dark down there so the lighting was infrared or something like that.

The final thing that we did today was visit the Royal Britannia. This is the ship that the Queen of England lived on for many, many years. It is also the ship that Charles and Dianna used for their honeymoon.

The Queen's bedroom. I was floored when I saw this. If I was the Queen of England I would certainly have a bigger bed!!

The Dining room.

A formal sitting room.

Today was a long day but it was a wonderful one. I absolutely adore Scotland and I want to go back there some day!

Monsoon Fun

I'm taking a break from posting about my vacation...I'll get the second half up shortly. So consider this post a brief intermission.

Okay. I had a little visitor camping out in my backyard last night. It was time for bed so I went to call my dogs inside for the night. I noticed that my dog Coco was paying particular attention to the grill on my patio so after I more forcefully told her to get inside, I took a better look at the grill to see what was going on. I saw something big moving underneath of it. Now I was freaking out!

For those of you who know me know that I am a BIG scardy cat when it comes to creepy crawlies and critters of almost all types (especially the dreaded spider). Immediately I thought that the thing that had the nerve to hide under my grill was a tarantula. I went into instant protective mode (for myself or my dogs, I'm not sure) and shut the back door very forcefully. That would teach it!! But now I had a problem. If I ignored the critter than my dogs would hunt it down and kill it in the morning. What if it was something poisonous?

I decided to put on my big girl panties and take care of the problem. I shut my dogs in my bedroom so they wouldn't run out of the back door when I opened it and then I got my flashlight and a tupperware container and went hunting. After searching the area around my grill for a minute or two (and getting scared by the light of my flashlight...I was jumpy, what can I say?) this is what I found.

A FROG!! In my backyard!! How does this happen? I can understand snakes and spiders, crickets, and roaches...but frogs? This is the desert after all. Wierd! The only expanation is that it is monsoon time and my neighbors (who have been gone for quite awhile) have a pool in their backyard. Perfect place for frogs to live and breed.

I got my tupperware container and went into action. Thankfully frogs are not one of the critters that I am afraid of so it was easy to get it inside it's plastic prison. And I'm sure my neighbors were glad it wasn't a tarantula so they would not have to listen to me screaming bloody murder every time it twitched.




Now what should I do with it? I decided to march the frog through my house and out the front through my garage. It seemed like a better plan than tossing it over the wall and into my neighbor's pool or giving it a thrilling ride through the city septic system. I left it on the curb to fend for itself (or to hitch a ride to somewhere other than my backyard).


I was pretty proud of myself at this point. I took care of a critter problem without breaking down in hysterical sobs and saved my dogs from the fate of eating a potentially poisonous frog. I went back to the bedroom to free my dogs and guess what I found? Guess how they decided to reward me for saving their lives?

One of them PEED on my BED!!!! Yep...good times.

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 6

Hooray for Scotland!! I was so surprised that Scotland turned out to be my favorite place that we visited on the trip. I loved the scenery, the history, and of course the accents. The first thing we did this morning before entering Scotland was to visit a part of Hadrian's Wall in Northern England. This wall was built by the Romans as a military fortification of the northern border of their hold in Great Britain.

Hadrian's Wall

After leaving Hadrian's Wall we drove into Scotland and stopped at the border. We were greated by a bagpipe playing Scotsman dressed in the traditional kilt. I thought this was the perfect way to start our day in Scotland. :)

Our welcoming Scotsman...doesn't he look good in blue. ;)

Our next stop was a "comfort" stop but we got to view the beautiful Jedburgh Abbey founded by King David I in 1138.

Jedburgh Abbey

Our next stop for Lunch was in the town of Melrose. Of course they had an Abbey as well, the Melrose Abbey. It is said that the heart of Robert the Bruce is enshrined here. Pretty morbid but I learned that the Scots love Robert the Bruce (more on that tomorrow).

Melrose Abbey

Melrose Abbey

We walked around the town for awhile. It wasn't very big but there were some interesting shops. Erin bought some earrings there so she could say she got something on Melrose. ;)

Our next stop of the day was the grand city of Edinburgh. I would LOVE to visit there again! We were there for about a day and a half but there was so much that we didn't get to see. (I see another trip coming on!)

A beautiful building in Edinburgh

When walking towards the information center in Edinburgh, Erin and I passed some bagpipers playing their toons. I think I must be my father's daughter because I really liked hearing the echo of the bagpipes in the city. At the information center, we got a map of the city and began our plan of attack.

View from a bridge crossing over into Edinburgh old town

Erin and I decided to go walking the Royal Mile which is about 1 Scots mile running between the Edinburgh castle at the top and the Holyrood Abbey at the bottom. The roadway is very steep and is lined with tall buildings, cathedrals, and of course, many, many shops. One of the first shops we stopped in was a jewelry store where I got a bracelet made out of heather. The stems of the heather are bound together, shaved down, dyed pretty colors, polished up, and made to look like a stone.

A street view on the Royal Mile


A cathedral on the Royal Mile

A view of the city

Erin and I made our way back to the bus and after settling into our hotel room, we left for an excursion...a traditional Scotish night (at least that is what they called it). There was singing and dancing as well as story telling. At the end of the night they had the "Ceremony of the Haggis". Where they brought out this scary looking blob of something on a bed of antlers...yes you saw that right...antlers!! The host of the evening said something in Scots Gaelic over the haggis and then stabbed it with a sword. Then he ate some of it and invited all of us to try some. The waiters and waitresses brought us each a plate with a pile of haggis and a pile of mashed potatoes and turnips. So Erin and I decided to be brave and try it. It actually wasn't too bad. It was very spicy (I'm sure to hide whatever other flavors were in there). But I'm glad that I tried it...just to say that I did.

PROOF!! Erin and I tried Haggis.

Next Up: Another day in Edinburgh

The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 5

The first thing our tour group did today before leaving Coventry was to visit the Coventry Cathedral. There are actually two cathedrals side by side. One is an older cathedral that was bombed during World War II. Only the ruins of the old cathedral stand today. The other is a newer cathedral built in late 1950s and early 1960s.

A view of the newer Coventry Cathedral.

The spire of the old cathedral.

Another view of the Coventry Cathedral.

Stained glass windows and a beautiful pink tree.

An ornate door.

What is left of a spiral staircase in the old Coventry Cathedral.

Forgive the nudity here. :) There is a local legend in Coventry about Lady Godiva who threatened to ride through the town naked if her husband raised taxes. Well, her husband ordered everyone in town to cover their eyes while his wife was on her "joy ride". Everyone did that except for good ol' Tom who snuck a peek (and was blinded as a result). Now in Coventry, every morning at 9am the clock chimes in the town center and depicts this interesting event. I think it looks like Tom is giving Godiva two thumbs up but apparently that is him covering his eyes. Consequently, this is where we get the term "Peeping Tom".

After leaving Coventry, we drove a few hours to the town of York. York is the most complete midevil city in England. There were narrow streets, really old buildings, and a wall around the entire city. The above picture is the view we saw when we were walking into the city center.

Here is a picture of our tour group. Christina, our tour director) is the brunette with her hand in front of her face (sorry I didn't get a better picture). When we walked through different cities, she would often stop us and tell us about the buildings we were walking by and about the local history. I'm not sure how she kept all of this information in her head but she was amazing with all of the stuff she knew.

A pretty park in York.

The York Castle Museum

York Minster (the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe)

After we left York we drove to Newcastle for the night. I was amazed at the differences in architecture between Southern and Northern England. Northern England is definitely more industrial. I was reminded of one of my favorite movies "North and South". If you haven't seen it (or read the book by Elizabeth Gaskell) you should. And by the way, I LOVE MR. THORNTON!! :)

After dinner, Erin and I were still ready to explore so we walked from the hotel down a very steep hill to the Tyne river.

A bridge that crosses the Tyne river in Newcastle

A cool looking building in Newcastle.

Next Up: Day 6 - Scotland