Driving to Scotland was when we realized driving on the left side of the road seemed normal now. Traffic circles could be interesting when we get back to the US. (After years of driving and never understanding them, I've finally figured them out- in England, of course!)
We arrived in Edinburgh with five hours still left with the car, but since we didn't really know what to do with ourselves, and I was desperate for a nap after my poor night of sleep, we dropped it off and got a ride to our B&B. We were staying at Ashlyn House, and to be honest, when we arrived, I don't know how they weren't fully booked! GORGEOUS interior, right next to the Royal Botanical Gardens, huge rooms, quiet part of town... it was perfect! Our room was absolutely stunning. They decorated it in the Victorian style, but not too overdone like so many. It had high ceilings (maybe 12 feet?) with beautiful double moulding around it, pink and white printed walls (although not too pink as to be girly) that looked like they were cloth-covered on the top half, with patterned plaster (paper?) for the bottom half, a padded, printed headboard with partial canopy that matched the curtains to the huge five foot windows. Like I said, gorgeous. I crashed for two hours and woke up feeling much more myself. Not wanting to miss anymore than we absolutely had to (due to time constraints), we headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens.
To both of our Moms: if you need a reason for traveling overseas, this is it! Just look at the pictures. We spend hours wandering in there and only scratched the surface it seemed! And even the things we DID see I want to see again! Huge gardens with an amazing variety of plants, all seemingly in bloom.
Dinner was Italian at a local place down the street. We ordered a bottle of red wine, some soup for me (still the throat thing) and some calamari for Chris, as well as a pasta and chicken dish for him and a dish of chicken with caramelized onions and peppers in a white wine and butter/garlic sauce for me. Exquisite! The chicken was so tender and juicy, and the onions went perfectly with it! I've kind of fallen in love with caramelized onions this past year.
We walked back to the B&B and had an early night, since the next day we wanted to do Edinburgh.
I pretty much love Edinburgh, and mostly because of one woman I met in a Christmas shop who was a total kindred spirit- foodie and Christmas lover who got excited when talking about either of the two, especially when she could point us in the right direction for her favorite food (unfortunately, we'd already eaten, so we couldn't work them in :( :( but next time for sure!)
So, I'm getting ahead of myself, talking about food. Let's back up to say that I once again slept very well the previous night, and after a light breakfast (for me anyways), we headed for Edinburgh Castle, a must-see according to every guidebook and website. I should also do a disclaimer that states that we were starting to get a little run down, all this traveling at the frantic pace, so if you notice that we're doing less and less in each city, that's why. We're exhausted!
So, the Castle. It has a really interesting history, although difficult for me to relate to you, since I get all the Charleses and Edwards mixed up. And the Bruces, Stewarts, and all the other inter-marrying monarchs. Go to Wikipedia.
Anyways, awesome views and we got to see the Scottish Crown Jewels, after once again encountering the Great Heathen Army. I was getting hungry and cranky before too long though, so we headed to find a pub for some cheap lunch (and ok, yes, some hard cider. Sue me!) I got a bacon cheeseburger American style, Chris had Italian Chicken, and we both left happy campers. (Well, happy until we found out the other places that had awesome food and we were too full to eat at them...)
I have been collecting Christmas tree ornaments from each country I visit this year, so I was on the hunt for a Scottish one (Yvonne, I forgot an English one, please get me one so I don't have a hole in the collection!) as well as some earrings. That's when we met the sweetie in the Christmas shop.
We walked down the rest of the Royal Mile to see the Castle at Holyrood, where the Queen of England stays when she is in Scotland. We didn't go in, partly because we were tired, but also partly because I think I heard people talking about Prince Charles either coming or being there. So closed to visitors. Back to the B&B!
Since we had to get up at 4:30AM to catch our flight to Dublin the next day, it was another early night.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Walking Hexham and Limping Hadrian's Wall
So by Wednesday morning I was still feeling pretty grim, but we headed out for Hadrian's Wall, although Chris promised that we wouldn't have to walk far on it. The drive from York to Hexham was beautiful and also driven safely, so it was a pleasant journey. We stopped in Hexham mostly because I was navigating and didn't know what we were doing. But we had been told at our B&B in York that the abbey there was worth seeing, so I guess it was ok.
They weren't joking. The abbey was really interesting, mostly because it really seemed like you should see monks walking around doing things as they did in the Middle Ages. One thing that immediately struck me was the wooden roof and wooden joint covers. Whereas in most abbeys the roof is either gilded, whitewashed, or painting, here it was left as dark wood. The abbey itself was pretty dark and cool inside. Besides the stunning stained glass, they also had a 13th century staircase that we went up, a Breeches Bible from the 17th century, and an Anglo-Saxon chalice. A quiet, peaceful break from driving.
We drove to the part of Hadrian's Wall that is where it's the highest, near Homestead Fort. After hiking uphill 1/2 mile (no joke, the information desk told us to expect that) and through another sheep pasture, we got to the wall. Snaking along ridges and over hills, it is in amazingly good condition in this spot. The workmanship is superb, the stones cut very square and stable enough to allow us to walk on it for a short while, just as the Roman soldiers would have done centuries ago. Looking at the views from the Wall, you can see why the location was chosen- there would be difficulty in hiding anywhere for miles! We really enjoyed the walk, but I was so sick and out of sorts that I couldn't do much at all before needing to turn back. I wish we could have seen more of it, but I guess that's for next time.
We stayed in a little village about 15 minutes from the wall called Wark in the Battlesteads Inn Hotel. Luckily for me, they had a restaurant in the hotel, so we didn't need to go far for dinner! It was also the place where I tried duck for the first time. I'm in love. It was beyond excellent, with an incredibly crisp, flavorful crust, but moist meat that fell off the bone, and then the bones fell apart from each other! Served with mashed potatoes, it was an excellent meal! I need to find duck in the US... Not sure what Chris ate or what he thought of it, since I was so busy rhapsodizing about mine that I'm not sure he ever got a word in.
That night wasn't good, as I couldn't sleep because of my cold. This is when I noticed that it didn't get completely dark outside until after 11PM, and began to get light at around 3:30AM. Are we in the Arctic Circle here?! Luckily, there was a lot of coffee for breakfast the next morning, and then we were off to Scotland!
(Continued next post)
They weren't joking. The abbey was really interesting, mostly because it really seemed like you should see monks walking around doing things as they did in the Middle Ages. One thing that immediately struck me was the wooden roof and wooden joint covers. Whereas in most abbeys the roof is either gilded, whitewashed, or painting, here it was left as dark wood. The abbey itself was pretty dark and cool inside. Besides the stunning stained glass, they also had a 13th century staircase that we went up, a Breeches Bible from the 17th century, and an Anglo-Saxon chalice. A quiet, peaceful break from driving.
We drove to the part of Hadrian's Wall that is where it's the highest, near Homestead Fort. After hiking uphill 1/2 mile (no joke, the information desk told us to expect that) and through another sheep pasture, we got to the wall. Snaking along ridges and over hills, it is in amazingly good condition in this spot. The workmanship is superb, the stones cut very square and stable enough to allow us to walk on it for a short while, just as the Roman soldiers would have done centuries ago. Looking at the views from the Wall, you can see why the location was chosen- there would be difficulty in hiding anywhere for miles! We really enjoyed the walk, but I was so sick and out of sorts that I couldn't do much at all before needing to turn back. I wish we could have seen more of it, but I guess that's for next time.
We stayed in a little village about 15 minutes from the wall called Wark in the Battlesteads Inn Hotel. Luckily for me, they had a restaurant in the hotel, so we didn't need to go far for dinner! It was also the place where I tried duck for the first time. I'm in love. It was beyond excellent, with an incredibly crisp, flavorful crust, but moist meat that fell off the bone, and then the bones fell apart from each other! Served with mashed potatoes, it was an excellent meal! I need to find duck in the US... Not sure what Chris ate or what he thought of it, since I was so busy rhapsodizing about mine that I'm not sure he ever got a word in.
That night wasn't good, as I couldn't sleep because of my cold. This is when I noticed that it didn't get completely dark outside until after 11PM, and began to get light at around 3:30AM. Are we in the Arctic Circle here?! Luckily, there was a lot of coffee for breakfast the next morning, and then we were off to Scotland!
(Continued next post)
Friday, June 4, 2010
York (The Old One)
So, Tuesday we picked up our rental car, which had been upgraded for us :) to a Ford Mondeo Ghia, which was awesome. Big and roomy trunk space, Chris had more leg and head room than he knew what to do with, and it drove very smoothly. Hmmmmm, next car perhaps? Anyways, he proved once again what a fabulous driver he was by getting us to York alive and well, and without a scratch on the car! What a guy! I was sick by this point, so we didn't want to schedule TOO much, but there were a few must-see things on our list.
The first thing I wanted to do was visit the Jorvik Center, which is all about the Viking settlement in York. (You know me and my barbarian fascination!) Lucky for him, Chris was interested too! Also, Yvonne had told us that it was really awesome (my words, not hers, she only uses awesome to mock us) and a must-do. It is split into two parts: the first is a moving ride in which a narrator explains the scenes before you, and life-like statues move, talk, and work, showing what the village was like. You also get the smells: food cooking, wood smoke in the forge, and yup, the cesspool as well. I was a little nervous, since by then I was sick and not sure how my stomach would do, but I must say, after Izmir on hot days, this was nothing! The ride was my favorite part, mostly because it got us away from the Great Heathen Army (i.e. the kids). The second part was a bit more like an interactive museum with a few people in period piece explaining their roles, as well as computer animation, more statues, as well as some artifacts. We didn't stay there long, mostly because the Army had already invaded and overrun the place, and were pushing, shoving, and generally being disruptive. I am still a little disappointed we couldn't poke around for a bit longer, but ah well. And sorry, there's no pictures- not allowed.
Next we went for lunch at a lovely Chinese place. Because of my throat, I ordered hot sour soup (as well as a bunch of other food, of course). When it came, it was much different than I was used to, but really delicious! Then we had fried chicken with a spicy sauce and an order of Beijing dumplings. The sauce on the chicken was sooo divine, we actually liked that better with the dumplings than the vinegar they provided!
Feeling full, we waddled to York Minster, one of the most important cathedrals in England, or at least one of the most well-known. That is also divided into two parts: the basement, which has the history of the cathedral (going back to Roman times) and the modern cathedral. We both really liked the basement, they'd done excavations and therefore could tell us where we were in relation to the Roman basilica, then the Saxon church, then the Norman cathedral as you walked through. They also had a lot of the artifacts that had been recovered during excavations that were hurriedly done before the church was reinforced due to weakness and severe cracking as it slowly collapsed. There were things like the stone that fell and hit some guy while he was sleeping during church, but didn't kill him, so it was considered a miracle. There were also the faces on the decorative pieces that hide the joining of the roof beams. There was also a room filled with chalices and gifts to the cathedral throughout the years (nice and glittery, that room!), as well as other artifacts and 3-D models of the cathedral as it changed over the years. It was really cool, but sorry, we couldn't take pictures there either.
We COULD take pictures in the modern York Minster, however. And wow. It seemed that everywhere we turned there were things to take pictures of. Pictures don't quite capture how massive this building is though. And the acoustics! When we came in, there were services being held, and the choir was singing. Although the service was in a different part of the cathedral, it sounded as though you were standing in the middle of it. Really lovely, and set a nice atmosphere for taking pictures and thinking about the history. By this point in the day I was about done for, having wandered around in a medicine stupor. However, Chris told me I needed to see one last thing, and took me to the Chapter House, a room separated by the cathedral by a hallway. Inside, the octagonal room was like nothing I'd seen yet! The floor reminded me of tiles I'd seen in Izmir, the ceiling was gorgeous, and there were beautiful stained glass windows on seven of the eight sides. Between were pointed arches, and on each side were all unique faces (you'll see some in our pictures) and intricate wood carving. The administration of the cathedral still meets in that room, and inside each archway was a seat. A very unique room, and I'm glad Chris saw it!
I was completely knackered by this point, so we got back to the car and drove fifteen minutes to our B&B for the night, the White Rose Villa. Can we say GORGEOUS?! We stayed in the Lavender Room, and it was huge! The shower was great, tons of hot water at high pressure, just what you needed after a day of walking! The bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever encountered in a hotel, and our hosts were absolutely wonderful. We ordered pizza that night (I told Chris it felt like an anniversary- traveling in the car most of the day, feeling tired, eating pizza...) full of bacon, ham, salami, and pepperoni, and apparently butter. Divine! Slept like babies, and woke up the next day to a full English breakfast and the drive north to look forward to.
(Btw, in case you couldn't tell by the length of the post, I'm feeling better and am back to my normal long-winded self. Sorry to those of you who were enjoying the succinct posts!)
The first thing I wanted to do was visit the Jorvik Center, which is all about the Viking settlement in York. (You know me and my barbarian fascination!) Lucky for him, Chris was interested too! Also, Yvonne had told us that it was really awesome (my words, not hers, she only uses awesome to mock us) and a must-do. It is split into two parts: the first is a moving ride in which a narrator explains the scenes before you, and life-like statues move, talk, and work, showing what the village was like. You also get the smells: food cooking, wood smoke in the forge, and yup, the cesspool as well. I was a little nervous, since by then I was sick and not sure how my stomach would do, but I must say, after Izmir on hot days, this was nothing! The ride was my favorite part, mostly because it got us away from the Great Heathen Army (i.e. the kids). The second part was a bit more like an interactive museum with a few people in period piece explaining their roles, as well as computer animation, more statues, as well as some artifacts. We didn't stay there long, mostly because the Army had already invaded and overrun the place, and were pushing, shoving, and generally being disruptive. I am still a little disappointed we couldn't poke around for a bit longer, but ah well. And sorry, there's no pictures- not allowed.
Next we went for lunch at a lovely Chinese place. Because of my throat, I ordered hot sour soup (as well as a bunch of other food, of course). When it came, it was much different than I was used to, but really delicious! Then we had fried chicken with a spicy sauce and an order of Beijing dumplings. The sauce on the chicken was sooo divine, we actually liked that better with the dumplings than the vinegar they provided!
Feeling full, we waddled to York Minster, one of the most important cathedrals in England, or at least one of the most well-known. That is also divided into two parts: the basement, which has the history of the cathedral (going back to Roman times) and the modern cathedral. We both really liked the basement, they'd done excavations and therefore could tell us where we were in relation to the Roman basilica, then the Saxon church, then the Norman cathedral as you walked through. They also had a lot of the artifacts that had been recovered during excavations that were hurriedly done before the church was reinforced due to weakness and severe cracking as it slowly collapsed. There were things like the stone that fell and hit some guy while he was sleeping during church, but didn't kill him, so it was considered a miracle. There were also the faces on the decorative pieces that hide the joining of the roof beams. There was also a room filled with chalices and gifts to the cathedral throughout the years (nice and glittery, that room!), as well as other artifacts and 3-D models of the cathedral as it changed over the years. It was really cool, but sorry, we couldn't take pictures there either.
We COULD take pictures in the modern York Minster, however. And wow. It seemed that everywhere we turned there were things to take pictures of. Pictures don't quite capture how massive this building is though. And the acoustics! When we came in, there were services being held, and the choir was singing. Although the service was in a different part of the cathedral, it sounded as though you were standing in the middle of it. Really lovely, and set a nice atmosphere for taking pictures and thinking about the history. By this point in the day I was about done for, having wandered around in a medicine stupor. However, Chris told me I needed to see one last thing, and took me to the Chapter House, a room separated by the cathedral by a hallway. Inside, the octagonal room was like nothing I'd seen yet! The floor reminded me of tiles I'd seen in Izmir, the ceiling was gorgeous, and there were beautiful stained glass windows on seven of the eight sides. Between were pointed arches, and on each side were all unique faces (you'll see some in our pictures) and intricate wood carving. The administration of the cathedral still meets in that room, and inside each archway was a seat. A very unique room, and I'm glad Chris saw it!
I was completely knackered by this point, so we got back to the car and drove fifteen minutes to our B&B for the night, the White Rose Villa. Can we say GORGEOUS?! We stayed in the Lavender Room, and it was huge! The shower was great, tons of hot water at high pressure, just what you needed after a day of walking! The bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever encountered in a hotel, and our hosts were absolutely wonderful. We ordered pizza that night (I told Chris it felt like an anniversary- traveling in the car most of the day, feeling tired, eating pizza...) full of bacon, ham, salami, and pepperoni, and apparently butter. Divine! Slept like babies, and woke up the next day to a full English breakfast and the drive north to look forward to.
(Btw, in case you couldn't tell by the length of the post, I'm feeling better and am back to my normal long-winded self. Sorry to those of you who were enjoying the succinct posts!)
Hiking with Sheep
Sunday we went hiking with Yvonne, Euan, and Yvonne's mum in Hay-on-Wye. I say hiking, because it was for me, although I think Yvonne and Euan would call it a walk :) As you remember from one of my previous posts (and if you don't, go back and re-read, slackers), Hay is just over the border into Wales, next to the Black Mountains, so the sites are quite amazing.
We hiked/walked up the Hay Bluff, going up the "easy" side, and down the more "challenging" side. Going up wasn't too bad, besides the fact that it was uphill. And windy. I mean, REALLY windy. When you look at the pictures, you can't see that the wind is actually pushing us around. I was wearing Chris' windbreaker (because I under-dressed, as usual) and I sounded like a flag snapping in the wind. Luckily, we were walking, and stayed warm enough, although there was definitely a nip in the air when we first climbed out of the truck! Also, I should mention that the areas surrounding the bluff, as well as the rest of Wales, are all sheep pastures. So while the views were amazing, I only saw them in snippets, because most of my attention was on the ground, trying to avoid poo. :) We got to the top, but because we came up the backside and all the good stuff is near the front, we headed that direction...
IS THIS A PLATEAU?! geez louise, every time we'd get to the top of a rise I'd think, "Ok, this is it, it's going to be awesome just over this!" and then I'd see more walking to do. We did get to the edge on the side though, and that created some great pictures. We even saw a glider taking advantage of the high winds and soaring almost eye level with us!
On the way back down, we went a different and more challenging route. Straight down is challenging, right? :) It was worth it though, because near the bottom was a herd of horses. I have no idea if someone owns them or if they're just there, taking advantage of the grass, but there were some very new colts posing for us and lots of gorgeous horses to admire. Maybe I don't need a puppy. Maybe I need a horse...
After letting Yvonne and Euan walk ahead to get the car and leaving us "snails" behind (yes, Yvonne, I talked to your mum and heard what you said!) we ran into more sheep and saw more lovely sites. Then relief arrived in the form of SUV, and we tiredly climbed in. We certainly earned the tea and cheesecake we ate when we got home! After the bacon sandwiches... And the roast chicken, cheesy broccoli/cauliflower, Yorkshire pudding, and potatoes we had for supper. MMMMM! I kind of want Yvonne and Euan to come live with us and cook every day!
All in all, a tiring day but worth the effort, because as you'll see, the pictures are gorgeous!
We hiked/walked up the Hay Bluff, going up the "easy" side, and down the more "challenging" side. Going up wasn't too bad, besides the fact that it was uphill. And windy. I mean, REALLY windy. When you look at the pictures, you can't see that the wind is actually pushing us around. I was wearing Chris' windbreaker (because I under-dressed, as usual) and I sounded like a flag snapping in the wind. Luckily, we were walking, and stayed warm enough, although there was definitely a nip in the air when we first climbed out of the truck! Also, I should mention that the areas surrounding the bluff, as well as the rest of Wales, are all sheep pastures. So while the views were amazing, I only saw them in snippets, because most of my attention was on the ground, trying to avoid poo. :) We got to the top, but because we came up the backside and all the good stuff is near the front, we headed that direction...
IS THIS A PLATEAU?! geez louise, every time we'd get to the top of a rise I'd think, "Ok, this is it, it's going to be awesome just over this!" and then I'd see more walking to do. We did get to the edge on the side though, and that created some great pictures. We even saw a glider taking advantage of the high winds and soaring almost eye level with us!
On the way back down, we went a different and more challenging route. Straight down is challenging, right? :) It was worth it though, because near the bottom was a herd of horses. I have no idea if someone owns them or if they're just there, taking advantage of the grass, but there were some very new colts posing for us and lots of gorgeous horses to admire. Maybe I don't need a puppy. Maybe I need a horse...
After letting Yvonne and Euan walk ahead to get the car and leaving us "snails" behind (yes, Yvonne, I talked to your mum and heard what you said!) we ran into more sheep and saw more lovely sites. Then relief arrived in the form of SUV, and we tiredly climbed in. We certainly earned the tea and cheesecake we ate when we got home! After the bacon sandwiches... And the roast chicken, cheesy broccoli/cauliflower, Yorkshire pudding, and potatoes we had for supper. MMMMM! I kind of want Yvonne and Euan to come live with us and cook every day!
All in all, a tiring day but worth the effort, because as you'll see, the pictures are gorgeous!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)