Day 19 Loose in London! Aug. 16, 2010

Today was our last day in London, and I gave my people a free day. I like to get them oriented and then turn them loose. They always love the adventure of being on their own in a foreign country, and I love hearing about their adventures when we get back together.

My grand-daughter loves Shakes-peare, so I took her to the Globe Theatre. It's a replica of the original, and it sits on the south bank of the river only a few hundred yards from where the original stood. We took a guided tour and had a wonderful time.

Here we are in the "groundling" space right in front of the stage. These were the cheapest tickets in Shakes-peares' day, what we would call SRO. You had to stand, but you were inches from the actors, and they had to play to you.

We met the others for dinner in a tiny place and then went to Love Never Dies, sequel to Phantom of the Opera. What could be better for our last night in London?

Day 18 London Eye Aug. 15, 2010

Sunday! We went to church in the Hyde Park Ward. Next door are 2 huge and free museums. The Victoria & Albert has a "Cast Room" with exact replicas of lots of famous statues. You get to see all the famous sculptures in the same place!

In the picture you see a replica of Michel- angelo's David, plus the concrete thing is a cast of one entire house from the a ghetto in India. It was built in the cracks between other houses. You can climb around inside. It's 2 levels, but it's tiny. A family of 8 people lived in the original house.

Then we walked around Parlia- ment and West- minster and started down Whitehall. Around the corner, underneath the Treasury building, are Churchill's War Rooms. This underground complex was his headquarters. Churchill really was the man for the times. You can hear him speaking. His inspired speeches galvanized the country in their darkest hours. You see the famous shot of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, surrounded with smoke during the Blitz. People stayed up on the roof 24/7 guarding it from burning shrapnel. The Brits would emerge from the subways after a bombing raid, and look to see if the dome of St. Paul's was still there. It became a symbol of their determination.

We came upon a parade and found we'd just missed the Prince. We saw the same folks on TV later that night.

We took the subway and then 2 taxis to the British Museum. I wanted to show them the Rosetta Stone, which cracked the code to Egyptian hieroglyphics. People are always surprised that it's not bigger, because it was so important to our understanding of history. At about 4 feet high, it's totally covered in tiny engraved writing in Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphics. Afterward, we had to zoom to get to a concert at Westminster Abbey by 5:00. We found a red double-decker bus going our way, hopped on, and got there with minutes to spare!

That evening we had tickets to ride the London Eye. This giant ferris wheel turns around once in 30 minutes, providing stellar views of the city with the Thames River, London Bridge, and Parliament far below.

Thirty people ride in one pod, getting a ride they will never forget.

Day 17 Tower of London Aug. 14, 2010

As soon as we arrived in London on our flight from Munich, we dropped our bags and were off to see the town! Here we are by the Tower Bridge, which spans the Thames River next to the Tower of London.

Famous for the Crown Jewels and the Beef- eaters, the Tower of London is a must- see when you go. As you can tell by the picture, the line to see the jewels is long, but of course we went anyway.

The oldest part is the White Tower, which was built by William the Conquerer, a French invader who crossed the Channel a thousand years ago in 1068. That's it above.

London theatre (notice the British spelling) is the best in the world, and it's cheap. When you throw in the easy availability of half- price tickets, and you see why it's THE place to see great shows! That night we got cheap tix for Love Never Dies, which is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera.

Here's my attempt at an artistically framed shot of Tower Bridge.

Solo Trip! August 4-19, 2009. Ireland, England, Scotland, & Germany

Back in July of 2009, the family things were finished for the summer, and I had a bunch of Skymiles, so I decided on short notice to go to Europe to up my spirits and finish off my school vacation.

I'd never been to Ireland or Scotland, and so those were high on my list. I've always wanted to see the Edinburgh Tatoo (not a body marking, it's a bagpipe, drum and bugle corps spectacular.) I wanted to see Wicked in London, and I wanted to walk on top of Hadrian's Wall.

I've also wanted to see the Passion Play for 40 years. It's happened every ten years for the last four centuries, and I wanted to take a group to see it in 2010. Their website offered various packages for high prices, but I couldn't just trust them to choose a place for me. I needed it to be in the actual village of Oberammergau and within walking distance of the PassionSpielHaus.

I got to do everything I wanted! The next dozen posts are from my daily e-mails home.

The top picture is Blarney Castle in Ireland.

The next one is Trafalgar Square in London., and the last is the little Baroque (Rococco) village church in Oberammergau, Germany.

Day 9 Hadrian's Wall & Drive to Scotland

Today I got to hike along Hadrian's Wall. I drove my rental car down the little lanes a few miles to a visitor's center for Vinolanda, an active archeological dig that's an old Roman fort. It was pretty interesting, but I wanted to hurry on to walk along Hadrian's Wall. I'd heard you can actually walk on top of the wall.

The wall was built about A.D. 125 by the Roman emperor Hadrian. It stretches from sea to sea at the narrowest part of England, about 80 miles. Most of it is still there. It marked the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire, and had a small fort every mile and soldiers stationed all along it to protect from invading Scotsmen.

I left my car at a visitor's center, and caught the bus to another Roman fort area (huge) a few miles to the east. After hiking a half mile uphill, I finally got up on the wall and walked west, toward my car. This is the top of the world, kind of like in the top of the Bighorns in Wyoming, except it's the top of the North York moors. You can see in every direction for miles and miles. What a hike! Wind about 30 mph in my face the whole way, but part sun and breezy white clouds and no rain! There was a whole lot of up and down, and every mile felt like 3, with lots of long staircases as the wall winds up and down the hills.

Robin Hood's Tree sits in the middle of the wall. You've seen it in lots of posters and movies.

You actually can only walk on top of a short section. The rest of the time, you walk beside the wall. There is a much easier trail about 100 yards away, but you can't see the wall from there. I figured I didn't come all this way not to walk right next to the wall, so what should have taken me 2 hours, took 3 and a half.

I was sweaty and red-faced when I finally finished, but I am so proud of myself!

There was an American group of a dozen retirees staying in my B & B who were walking the whole wall. I thought what a great scout hike this would make! Now it's on to Scotland. I'm really enjoying this trip.

I never could buy a decent map of the way to Scotland, so I just went on the GPS and B&B directions, and I made it just fine. My B&B lady was expecting me at 2, but I didn't get there until 5, and she'd been waiting for me and needed to go to town. I was sorry, but what a wonderful day I'd had!

What a fabulously scenic drive through southern Scotland! I finally got on the motorway, and after an hour I saw a sign that said "Scenic way to Edinburgh" so I definitely took that! It was a narrow 2-lane road that wound through tall hills with sheep and timber stands and past lakes and through little villages. The sun kept peeking out and turning everything brilliant, and the drive was wonderful.

Day 8 Traveling to Northern England

Here I am in Haltwhistle, near Hadrians' Wall in northern England. I'm in an old manor house that has been made into a really nice B&B, and it's cheap, only 36 pounds, because it's so far out.

I took the train from London north as far as York, where I got off to tour the town. It's supposed to be the next best tourist town after London, and it is.

It's very compact, so you can walk to everything, and it has a quaint old medieval center called the Shambles.

First I got on a double-decker red bus tourist bus, which drives all around the town, giving a commentary. That's a cool way to get oriented because you are up high enough to see everything.

Then I walked over to York Minster (great cathedral) and wandered around there for awhile. It's English Perpendicular Gothic style, and very high inside.

I climbed some red brick steps up onto the old city walls and walked along the top for awhile, keeping close track of my time, as this was just a stop en route for the day.

Then it was time to hike back to the train station. That all took 3 hours, and I was hoofing it!

Back on the train to Newcastle, the furthest NE town in England.

I walked a few blocks in the misty rain to pick up my EuropeCar Rental. I was worried about driving stick shift on the wrong side of the road in 5:00 city traffic, but I did fine. After I got out in the country, I pulled over into the lay-by and hooked up the GPS. It was very comforting when the GPS I brought from America recognized the street address in the village of Haltwhistle!

I love the northern English countrside! It's more wide open, but still green and rolling. The occasional manor houses dot the hillsides and there are lots of sheep and a few horses.

The manor house above is my B&B. I hope I can come back here someday. Haltwhistle claims to be the center of England, and the tiny village is so quaint and lost in time. Tomorrow I want to walk along Hadrian's Wall.