There must be something about breweries that makes them hard to find. I figure I should mention this because in Dublin I went to see the Guinness Brewery and do their tour. Then a week after I got home, as part of my brother's bachelor party, we went to visit the Samuel Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain (basically in Boston).
As Lisa and Liza can attest, the 15 minute walk the guy from the Dublin Tourist Center said it would take to get to the Guinness Storehouse turned into at least a 45 minute walk as we walked the entire circumference of the Guinness factory proper and then finally had to do several zigzaggy turns and ask directions twice before we circled our way into what ultimately appeared to be an alley that housed the Storehouse, which is Guinness tour center, etc. There were only signs on the last two turns, and as the brewery is one of the major sites of Dublin I was surprised that there were not more signs on how to get there. After looking at the map, we saw that we took an obvious wrong turn, which was my fault. To my defense, I told them that my direction sense was very poor. All in all, after the search everyone was very tired of walking by the end of the tour.
Follow that up with the Samuel Adams Brewery tour. We played 9 holes of golf before heading to the brewery. One of the guys driving had a GPS on his car and was able to program in the address of the Brewery. First off, let me point out that their brewery is in one of the sketchiest locations in Boston. That said it also was in a very back alley location and had only signs in the last two turns or so. The GPS that was to lead us to the location, kept turning us in a giant circle around the brewery to the point I think we may have navigated around it at least once and possibly twice before there was a frantic couple turns and somehow we dove into the parking lot.
I am not sure why I think they'd try to put more signs telling how to get there, but maybe the cities won't let them. In any event, I think the next brewery I visit for a tour is going to require at least an extra 45 minutes to find the place the way things are going so far.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
I finally got to upload the video I took of a trebuchet firing at Warwick Castle. My camera work is not so good I'll admit, but you can see it here anyway.
Monday, September 18, 2006
All in all...
All in all I had a real lot of fun.
I should mention some stuff about the tour and the various people on it. I was one of 3 Americans on the tour. The bulk of the people were either Aussie, New Zealanders or Canadians. There were a couple Tasmanians as well. So most of the people came from the lower side of the world.
I roomed for the tour portion with an Aussie from around Melbourne named Anthony. We got along well enough and made it through the couple weeks of early rising and being crammed into the bus as good as can be. Amongst the group, there were a couple other Aussies who we ended up spending a lot of time with, Lisa and Liza. The three are in one of the pictures from Blarney castle and they've told me they'd send me some of their photos as well. I learned a ton about Aussie slang, though I'm sure they figure I learned very little, and I think I heard much more Australian accent than I heard of any accent from the British Isles all totaled. They definitely made the tour a lot more fun than it might have been running around solo.
The Canadians tended to be on the louder side. I think they made Americans seem rather quiet. Overall the age of the group was much higher than the four of us. I think we were sort of the kids' table of the tour. There were many very nice people all the same and I regret not getting picture of a few of them, but the opportunity didn't pop up in my mind until it was too late.
Back in the States, I'm going to enjoy having good coffee and something other than a full English Breakfast and cream of vegetable soup for a change. That said, I did enjoy most of the food that I had, as long as I had enough pepper in the shaker for me. The coffee generally left much to be desired and those folks look at you funny if you try to take tea black without lemon or sugar.
The driver was named George and he was really one of the highlights of the tour for me and for the people I hung out with as well. He was a great driver and had a great sense of humor to boot. He did have to take a couple days off from our tour by law based on how long he'd been driving and we missed him a lot during that time (his replacement driver had a bit of trouble with shifting and stopping and starting). I even ended up doing some tech support for George because he bought a new computer before the tour and a new mp3 player on the ferry back from Ireland.
The tour guide was named Sam. He knew a lot but some of his presentation was lacking. I won't go too deep into it so as not to make it seem like it ruined my vacation, but overall he could have done better. It apparently was his first Trafalgar tour. Maybe he'll shape up a bit in his second and so on. In any event, as I said, he didn't ruin my vacation, he just failed to add enough to it.
As far as taking the tour goes, I am glad I got to see as much as I got to see, but by the same token I wished I could have seen certain places so much more. I think the experience pointed out that I want to make sure in the future if I do take any other tour type experiences that I find tours that stay in places for several days at a shot rather than a couple hours here and an hour and a half there. Overall the experience was a good one but for the time being I think I'd prefer the ability to see things at my own pace. I figure it would have been a bit tougher without the added companionship.
Would I recommend the tour to anyone else? Overall, probably if the person understood that there are many stops that are just too brief and a couple that are a bit too long. This tour has made me want to see much more of the various places we went to, but I figure it'll be a while before I get back to the UK and Ireland.
I should mention some stuff about the tour and the various people on it. I was one of 3 Americans on the tour. The bulk of the people were either Aussie, New Zealanders or Canadians. There were a couple Tasmanians as well. So most of the people came from the lower side of the world.
I roomed for the tour portion with an Aussie from around Melbourne named Anthony. We got along well enough and made it through the couple weeks of early rising and being crammed into the bus as good as can be. Amongst the group, there were a couple other Aussies who we ended up spending a lot of time with, Lisa and Liza. The three are in one of the pictures from Blarney castle and they've told me they'd send me some of their photos as well. I learned a ton about Aussie slang, though I'm sure they figure I learned very little, and I think I heard much more Australian accent than I heard of any accent from the British Isles all totaled. They definitely made the tour a lot more fun than it might have been running around solo.
The Canadians tended to be on the louder side. I think they made Americans seem rather quiet. Overall the age of the group was much higher than the four of us. I think we were sort of the kids' table of the tour. There were many very nice people all the same and I regret not getting picture of a few of them, but the opportunity didn't pop up in my mind until it was too late.
Back in the States, I'm going to enjoy having good coffee and something other than a full English Breakfast and cream of vegetable soup for a change. That said, I did enjoy most of the food that I had, as long as I had enough pepper in the shaker for me. The coffee generally left much to be desired and those folks look at you funny if you try to take tea black without lemon or sugar.
The driver was named George and he was really one of the highlights of the tour for me and for the people I hung out with as well. He was a great driver and had a great sense of humor to boot. He did have to take a couple days off from our tour by law based on how long he'd been driving and we missed him a lot during that time (his replacement driver had a bit of trouble with shifting and stopping and starting). I even ended up doing some tech support for George because he bought a new computer before the tour and a new mp3 player on the ferry back from Ireland.
The tour guide was named Sam. He knew a lot but some of his presentation was lacking. I won't go too deep into it so as not to make it seem like it ruined my vacation, but overall he could have done better. It apparently was his first Trafalgar tour. Maybe he'll shape up a bit in his second and so on. In any event, as I said, he didn't ruin my vacation, he just failed to add enough to it.
As far as taking the tour goes, I am glad I got to see as much as I got to see, but by the same token I wished I could have seen certain places so much more. I think the experience pointed out that I want to make sure in the future if I do take any other tour type experiences that I find tours that stay in places for several days at a shot rather than a couple hours here and an hour and a half there. Overall the experience was a good one but for the time being I think I'd prefer the ability to see things at my own pace. I figure it would have been a bit tougher without the added companionship.
Would I recommend the tour to anyone else? Overall, probably if the person understood that there are many stops that are just too brief and a couple that are a bit too long. This tour has made me want to see much more of the various places we went to, but I figure it'll be a while before I get back to the UK and Ireland.
Another note
Every day should have its link to the accompanying pictures at this point, so just check back to the posts that didn't have them before.
Day 15, Tower Bridge and return home
I started the day early and had plenty of time before I had to get to Heathrow, so I took a cab to central London and walked up to Tower Bridge where I went through the upper walkways and engine room exhibit. After that I took a ride on a hop-on, hop-off river boat back to Westminster and hit a couple shops and then took a cab back to the Hotel which was again the Jury's Chelsea. Chelsea Football Club was playing Liverpool and traffic was kind of rough but I was able to get my stuff and get a new cab and get to the airport with plenty of time.
From there things went pretty smooth. The return flight was on a 777 and I sat next to a 75 year old woman who travels to England every year for 6 weeks to visit her best friend. She was very nice and we talked pretty much the whole 8 hours of the flight. The flight was full but since neither of us was too big there really wasn't any space issues. I had a window seat. She the aisle.
Back at Dulles we had a minor hassle going through customs but not too bad. I took my flight to Boston on a 757 and had an Economy Plus seat with no one next to me. This was fortuitous because the plane was loaded in standard economy class as there was a smaller plane that was supposed to leave an hour prior that was cancelled. I was able to sleep for most of the hour of this flight, which was nice because it was equivalently about 4am to me and I'd been up straight through.
After waiting what seemed forever, I was able to get my luggage. My dad was waiting already to pick me up and we got out of the airport fairly quickly.
I'll post my final thoughts on the trip in a short while. I've just woken up and have to go to work.
Images are posted here.
From there things went pretty smooth. The return flight was on a 777 and I sat next to a 75 year old woman who travels to England every year for 6 weeks to visit her best friend. She was very nice and we talked pretty much the whole 8 hours of the flight. The flight was full but since neither of us was too big there really wasn't any space issues. I had a window seat. She the aisle.
Back at Dulles we had a minor hassle going through customs but not too bad. I took my flight to Boston on a 757 and had an Economy Plus seat with no one next to me. This was fortuitous because the plane was loaded in standard economy class as there was a smaller plane that was supposed to leave an hour prior that was cancelled. I was able to sleep for most of the hour of this flight, which was nice because it was equivalently about 4am to me and I'd been up straight through.
After waiting what seemed forever, I was able to get my luggage. My dad was waiting already to pick me up and we got out of the airport fairly quickly.
I'll post my final thoughts on the trip in a short while. I've just woken up and have to go to work.
Images are posted here.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Day 14, Bath, Salisbury and Stonehenge
We started with a stop at Bath for a couple of hours. The majority of our time was spent visiting the Roman baths and then getting coffee at The Pump House next door. The baths were interesting but it takes 2 hours to go through legitimately and we did it in only 1 hour. That said, I liked it a lot. Bath would be fun to visit for a longer stretch.
From Bath we went to Salisbury, where we saw the Cathedral mainly. It has a 402 foot spire, the tallest in England. It was interesting but the abbey in Bath may have been more interesting. The Cathedral had a cafeteria inside it and that’s where we ate lunch.
It was then on to Stonehenge for a short stop for photos. About all there is to say there.
From there the tour was over as we drove back to London. I have just checked back in to the Jury’s Chelsea as I write this. Room 228 this time.
Today's images are here.
From Bath we went to Salisbury, where we saw the Cathedral mainly. It has a 402 foot spire, the tallest in England. It was interesting but the abbey in Bath may have been more interesting. The Cathedral had a cafeteria inside it and that’s where we ate lunch.
It was then on to Stonehenge for a short stop for photos. About all there is to say there.
From there the tour was over as we drove back to London. I have just checked back in to the Jury’s Chelsea as I write this. Room 228 this time.
Today's images are here.
Day 13, Ferry to Wales and Cardiff
Today started very early to catch a ferry from Ireland to Wales. The coach was on its way by 6:45am, which was earlier than was really necessary. Positives: we were first coach on and off the ferry. Negatives: we were waiting on the coach to get in the ferry for about 45 minutes. The ride was pleasant. I didn’t take my camera off the coach because the ferry port in Ireland was bland looking. Of course, where we landed in Wales was very picturesque and I couldn’t take pictures. Such is life.
After the ferry we drove pretty much straight on to Cardiff with only a brief stop at a service area. There we were given a few minutes to run about the city before getting into the castle for a tour. The tour of castle was a bit muddled by the place not having a proper guide, but it was very impressive. I didn’t get to go into the ruined keep due to time constraints, which rather bothered me.
After the rush job it was off to the hotel.
Images taken today can be seen here.
After the ferry we drove pretty much straight on to Cardiff with only a brief stop at a service area. There we were given a few minutes to run about the city before getting into the castle for a tour. The tour of castle was a bit muddled by the place not having a proper guide, but it was very impressive. I didn’t get to go into the ruined keep due to time constraints, which rather bothered me.
After the rush job it was off to the hotel.
Images taken today can be seen here.
Day 12, Ring of Kerry, Sneem, Blarney and Waterford
Today we left the Bayview and Waterville and continued along the Ring of Kerry. This brought us to a brief stop at Sneem very early in the morning. The town was small and not yet open when we got there. There was some very nice visuals.
After Sneem we drove a bit further, had a coffee stop at the Gap of Moll and then moved on to Blarney to see the castle, the stone and the Woolen Mills (which is a very big store). There I climbed to the top of the castle but did not kiss the Blarney Stone. They require you hang over the edge of the castle upside down to do it. To be honest, I had made up my mind I wasn’t kissing it before I went up there. The castle is ruined in proper Irish format, but it was still quite nice. For certain reasons I can’t explain how much I spent in the Woolen Mills.
After leaving Blarney we traveled to Waterford with a short photo stop. At Waterford we took a walking tour of the old city of Waterford which is apparently now 1003 years old, the oldest city in Ireland. There is less preservation of the old stuff in Ireland but there still was some to be seen. The guide gave us a few stories about the area. Overall the walking tour was fun, but it was supposed to finish up in a local pub, the cost of the first pint included in the cost of the walking tour. Apparently our guide messed up the price and took us aside before we went into the pub and asked us to pay the rest or skip the drink. We skipped the drink. Majorly not impressed with this move.
I have placed the images from today here.
After Sneem we drove a bit further, had a coffee stop at the Gap of Moll and then moved on to Blarney to see the castle, the stone and the Woolen Mills (which is a very big store). There I climbed to the top of the castle but did not kiss the Blarney Stone. They require you hang over the edge of the castle upside down to do it. To be honest, I had made up my mind I wasn’t kissing it before I went up there. The castle is ruined in proper Irish format, but it was still quite nice. For certain reasons I can’t explain how much I spent in the Woolen Mills.
After leaving Blarney we traveled to Waterford with a short photo stop. At Waterford we took a walking tour of the old city of Waterford which is apparently now 1003 years old, the oldest city in Ireland. There is less preservation of the old stuff in Ireland but there still was some to be seen. The guide gave us a few stories about the area. Overall the walking tour was fun, but it was supposed to finish up in a local pub, the cost of the first pint included in the cost of the walking tour. Apparently our guide messed up the price and took us aside before we went into the pub and asked us to pay the rest or skip the drink. We skipped the drink. Majorly not impressed with this move.
I have placed the images from today here.
Day 11, Bunratty Castle, Kilarney and Waterville
Today started out from Clare to Bunratty Castle and Folk Village on the way towards Limerick. The Castle was interesting. We had a local guide for a good portion of the time there and were given information on how the castle was built, used and the like. I really liked this stop. The castle was smaller than the ones seen on the other island. It also had been ruined and restored as apparently most all of the castles in Ireland were by Cromwell. The folk village part was anachronistic to the time of the castle being set in a the 19th century. It was interesting to see. Living conditions didn’t seem very good for most people.
After the castle we moved on to Kilarney where we took a horse carriage ride around the city and then were given some free time to run around the city. The horse carriage ride was fun. The driver had a really good sense of humor as he pointed out stuff about the area. Kilarney seemed nice and I was amazed by the vegetation inside the park we rode through.
Moving on from Kilarney we rode the Ring of Kerry through some very scenic areas to Waterville. We stopped for a photo shot of the Bay of Dingle before moving our way to the hotel called the Bayview hotel. This isn’t grand accommodations, but the area is absolutely spectacular being right on the beach. The view was amazing and I saw my first every sunset over the ocean (being typically accustomed to sunrises coming from that way).
We had dinner and three locals stopped in to sing a couple Irish songs. Oh, and we had a spider the size of my thumb right outside the window of the room.
Today's images can be seen here.
After the castle we moved on to Kilarney where we took a horse carriage ride around the city and then were given some free time to run around the city. The horse carriage ride was fun. The driver had a really good sense of humor as he pointed out stuff about the area. Kilarney seemed nice and I was amazed by the vegetation inside the park we rode through.
Moving on from Kilarney we rode the Ring of Kerry through some very scenic areas to Waterville. We stopped for a photo shot of the Bay of Dingle before moving our way to the hotel called the Bayview hotel. This isn’t grand accommodations, but the area is absolutely spectacular being right on the beach. The view was amazing and I saw my first every sunset over the ocean (being typically accustomed to sunrises coming from that way).
We had dinner and three locals stopped in to sing a couple Irish songs. Oh, and we had a spider the size of my thumb right outside the window of the room.
Today's images can be seen here.
Day 10, Galway, Clare and Limerick
Today started with a trip to Galway for a brief lunch stop. Galway was nice seeming but this was our first rainy weather spot. That said, we didn’t have a lot of time in Galway so really didn’t do too much there but grab a bite and then move on.
Clare was our stopping point for the night and we stopped in and dropped off luggage really briefly before heading out to Limerick where we went to a pub named Dolan’s and were given a show of traditional Irish music and dance by 4 men who didn’t have a band name. They were a father, his two sons and a guitarist who was not related to the other two. The food was good. I had Irish stew. The entertainment was superb. I am really glad this was part of the trip.
The images from today can be seen here.
Clare was our stopping point for the night and we stopped in and dropped off luggage really briefly before heading out to Limerick where we went to a pub named Dolan’s and were given a show of traditional Irish music and dance by 4 men who didn’t have a band name. They were a father, his two sons and a guitarist who was not related to the other two. The food was good. I had Irish stew. The entertainment was superb. I am really glad this was part of the trip.
The images from today can be seen here.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Just a note
I've added links to a bunch of the various albums I've been able to upload while in Dublin. The links are in the posts for their specific days.
Day 9, Dublin
Today was really kind of a run around Dublin. While Dublin is a cool place, it’s honestly not too scenic, so I didn’t really take a lot of pictures. We started the day with a bus tour of the city then we had time to wander. I was able to visit the Guinness brewery and we saw Dublin Castle (which is kind of small) and we saw a couple of the Cathedrals from the outside (not necessarily in that order).
Dublin is a very crowded city and there appears to be a taxi driver strike going on that caused some issues with getting around a little bit. Dublin is also kind of dirty. Overall I liked the city, but there’s a lot of room for improvement here.
The images from today may be seen here.
Dublin is a very crowded city and there appears to be a taxi driver strike going on that caused some issues with getting around a little bit. Dublin is also kind of dirty. Overall I liked the city, but there’s a lot of room for improvement here.
The images from today may be seen here.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Day 8, Brief stops and Ferry to Ireland
Today wasn’t really much of anything. The bulk of the day was taken up in riding the ferry from Wales to Ireland. We made a couple brief stops. I didn’t take many pictures as they were mainly coffee shop stops.
In any event, I spent the evening mainly in O’Neill’s pub a fair walk away from the Croke Park Hotel we’re staying in. This is by far the best hotel we’ve been in.
Images can be seen here.
In any event, I spent the evening mainly in O’Neill’s pub a fair walk away from the Croke Park Hotel we’re staying in. This is by far the best hotel we’ve been in.
Images can be seen here.
Day 7, Graetna Green, Grassmere, Windermere and Preston
After leaving Airth Castle in a soup of thick fog, the day started with a non-memorable coffee stop at Graetna Green. Not going into details, the location has some significance due to the difference in marriage laws between Scotland and England.
From there we drove to Grassmere. This is very scenic in the Lakes District. Grassmere is where William Wordsworth was buried and I was mildly embarrassed to remember only the words, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” but it’s been a few years since I’ve read him. The place has lots of hiking available and I bought a book and pamphlet on hiking in the Lakes District because I think I’d quite like to do it.
From Grassmere we drove a short hop to Windermere to take a short boat ride on Lake Winderemere. This was highlighted by the near dead boat captain who had a monotone voice that would best be used in children’s filmstrips. Nonetheless the ride was pleasant and lasted about an hour.
From Winderemere we road out to Preston to eat dinner and spend the night. It seems that weddings have been following us. There was a wedding happening tonight at the Tickled Trout, just as there were weddings in the previous two nights.
The Tickled Trout is actually pretty nice and provides the best view from a window we’ve had in any hotel to point.
Images from today are posted here.
From there we drove to Grassmere. This is very scenic in the Lakes District. Grassmere is where William Wordsworth was buried and I was mildly embarrassed to remember only the words, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” but it’s been a few years since I’ve read him. The place has lots of hiking available and I bought a book and pamphlet on hiking in the Lakes District because I think I’d quite like to do it.
From Grassmere we drove a short hop to Windermere to take a short boat ride on Lake Winderemere. This was highlighted by the near dead boat captain who had a monotone voice that would best be used in children’s filmstrips. Nonetheless the ride was pleasant and lasted about an hour.
From Winderemere we road out to Preston to eat dinner and spend the night. It seems that weddings have been following us. There was a wedding happening tonight at the Tickled Trout, just as there were weddings in the previous two nights.
The Tickled Trout is actually pretty nice and provides the best view from a window we’ve had in any hotel to point.
Images from today are posted here.
Day 6, Trossochs and Edinburgh
The started out of Airth Castle where we took a driving tour of the Trossochs in the Scottish lowlands. This apparently is the main realm of Rob Roy. It was a couple hour drive and we barely got out of the bus but for a coffee stop and two photo opportunities.
From there we returned to the hotel and picked up the rest of the tour and drove into Edinburgh. They gave us an hour long driving tour of the city then we only had two hours to run around the city. It costs 10.30 British pounds to get into Edinburgh Castle so I stayed outside since I wouldn’t have enough time to take advantage of it.
After the city it was back to the hotel for a very quick freshen up and then off to the Scottish show. It was a nice time out, but I’d never have to do it again. The show was a couple hours and we got back to the hotel by 11pm and it was off to bed.
Today's images are posted here.
From there we returned to the hotel and picked up the rest of the tour and drove into Edinburgh. They gave us an hour long driving tour of the city then we only had two hours to run around the city. It costs 10.30 British pounds to get into Edinburgh Castle so I stayed outside since I wouldn’t have enough time to take advantage of it.
After the city it was back to the hotel for a very quick freshen up and then off to the Scottish show. It was a nice time out, but I’d never have to do it again. The show was a couple hours and we got back to the hotel by 11pm and it was off to bed.
Today's images are posted here.
Day 5, Durham, Jedburgh and Airth Castle
Today was almost completely a driving day. We started out of Leeds (I guess that hotel was actually in Selby), and then headed up to Durham where we had an hour and a half to look at the Cathedral there and then run around the town which is fairly small. There really wasn’t much else historic there and the important point for me was I got to pick up some cash and have an espresso other than the Cathedral. This Cathedral dated very similarly to Yorkminster in make and makeup.
Leaving Durham we drove north until we got to the Border of Scotland and stopped for the photo shoot where the piper plays under the Scotland sign on the big rock. That was a very brief stop.
From the border we drove until Jedburgh where we stopped to look at the ruins of the abbey. It was made in medieval times as well, and I believe that Sam said it was destroyed by one of the Tudors (one of the Henry’s even) and has been a ruins since then. Jedburgh was a very brief stop.
After Jedburgh we stopped at the Edinburgh Woolen Mills for a brief bout of shopping and a cafeteria lunch. I bought some Scotch Fudge, some of which should make it home and I had Scotch broth for lunch. That stay was an hour and a half or so.
From the Woolen Mill we moved on to Airth Castle. This was a moderately long drive but was over by about 4:30pm. In Airth Castle the hotel is built in the former stables. There was a traditional Scottish wedding happening when we got there, kilts and all. We hung around for a bit and got used to the place then it was off to the night out at a Scottish Pub. The pub we went to was the Torphichen Inn. The food was good. I had venison. And they had a surprise piper and his daughter who was 9 and did a traditional Scottish step dance for us. This was a very good time and if I’d known they were going to have the piper I would have brought my camera.
Images from today are posted here.
Leaving Durham we drove north until we got to the Border of Scotland and stopped for the photo shoot where the piper plays under the Scotland sign on the big rock. That was a very brief stop.
From the border we drove until Jedburgh where we stopped to look at the ruins of the abbey. It was made in medieval times as well, and I believe that Sam said it was destroyed by one of the Tudors (one of the Henry’s even) and has been a ruins since then. Jedburgh was a very brief stop.
After Jedburgh we stopped at the Edinburgh Woolen Mills for a brief bout of shopping and a cafeteria lunch. I bought some Scotch Fudge, some of which should make it home and I had Scotch broth for lunch. That stay was an hour and a half or so.
From the Woolen Mill we moved on to Airth Castle. This was a moderately long drive but was over by about 4:30pm. In Airth Castle the hotel is built in the former stables. There was a traditional Scottish wedding happening when we got there, kilts and all. We hung around for a bit and got used to the place then it was off to the night out at a Scottish Pub. The pub we went to was the Torphichen Inn. The food was good. I had venison. And they had a surprise piper and his daughter who was 9 and did a traditional Scottish step dance for us. This was a very good time and if I’d known they were going to have the piper I would have brought my camera.
Images from today are posted here.
Day 4, Coventry Cathedral and York
The day started with an actual breakfast at the hotel. From there we moved on to Coventry Cathedral. The Cathedral consists of the ruins of the old cathedral which was fire-bombed during World War II. I took quite a few pictures of this. The rebuilt the Cathedral in the 1960s using a style that was fit for that time. The new cathedral is right next door to the old one. The style was rather not my style and I didn’t take any pictures of it.
From there we spent a large part of the day driving to York. We arrived at York at about 1:30 and had until 4:30 to be there. I had a lot of fun in York but again this visit was killed by being far too short. Managed to get through Yorkminster Cathedral and do a bit of the wall aside from eating at Guy Fawkes Hotel, in the restaurant therein, which I believe was named Guido’s. The food was pretty good there. I had a venison pie with mixed vegetables and boiled potatoes. Getting back to Yorkminster, it’s where I spent a the better part of my time in York. The current cathedral is built over the site of two previous ruins. The first a Roman fort. The second a Norman era cathedral. The building that stands took towards 200 years to complete. I was very impressed with how much obviously went into this building. It stills scares me what has been done and spent in the name of religion. The Roman wall is exactly that, a fortress wall built by the Romans and maintained so that it was always in repair. You can walk the top of the wall and I managed to get through some of it, but time just ran out too quickly.
Things I didn’t get to do… The castle, it’s not big but I wanted to visit it. The Viking museum. Jorvik I believe it was called.
Oh, yeah, during the early part of the visit we visited a small medieval parish church that was very interesting as well.
After the visit to York it was on to the Quality Hotel for dinner and sleep. The Quality Hotel is in Leeds I think.
Images for today are posted here.
From there we spent a large part of the day driving to York. We arrived at York at about 1:30 and had until 4:30 to be there. I had a lot of fun in York but again this visit was killed by being far too short. Managed to get through Yorkminster Cathedral and do a bit of the wall aside from eating at Guy Fawkes Hotel, in the restaurant therein, which I believe was named Guido’s. The food was pretty good there. I had a venison pie with mixed vegetables and boiled potatoes. Getting back to Yorkminster, it’s where I spent a the better part of my time in York. The current cathedral is built over the site of two previous ruins. The first a Roman fort. The second a Norman era cathedral. The building that stands took towards 200 years to complete. I was very impressed with how much obviously went into this building. It stills scares me what has been done and spent in the name of religion. The Roman wall is exactly that, a fortress wall built by the Romans and maintained so that it was always in repair. You can walk the top of the wall and I managed to get through some of it, but time just ran out too quickly.
Things I didn’t get to do… The castle, it’s not big but I wanted to visit it. The Viking museum. Jorvik I believe it was called.
Oh, yeah, during the early part of the visit we visited a small medieval parish church that was very interesting as well.
After the visit to York it was on to the Quality Hotel for dinner and sleep. The Quality Hotel is in Leeds I think.
Images for today are posted here.
Day 3 – Oxford, Stratford and Warrick Castle
The morning started out finally meeting my tour group. 7am for a continental breakfast then on the tour bus and out of town. Our guide is named Sam and our driver is named George. I’ve gotten a picture of George just yet. I’ll try to get a picture of the bus at some point.
Leaving London we headed to Oxford for a very short stay. The day was part of a two day Festival of St. Giles. We were only there for an hour and a half or so. After leaving Oxford we headed to Stratford. I tried to take a couple pictures from the window of the bus but it didn’t work out so well, so unless we’re stopped I’ll likely not bother anymore.
In Stratford you could visit the birthplace of Shakespeare, but it was a pay visit for a very small thing that I did the first time I was in England so I skipped on that. We had one and a half hours to run about Stratford. I found what claimed to be the oldest pub in the town, The Garrick, and had lunch there. Slow roasted lamb with new potatoes. It was decent, but we’re not expecting high cuisine from the Brits. As a side note, most of the tour appears to be Australian and in eating with some of the Australians yesterday I learned that they call the Brits Poms. I’ve never heard the term Pom before. They weren’t sure of the origin.
After Stratford I took the optional tour to Warwick (pronounced Warrick) Castle where two and a half hours wasn’t near enough time for me. It was a great place and if ever you’re going to the UK, make sure you can get in a visit. It is the second oldest inhabited castle in England according to the guide. I took about 200 pictures of the castle and that was limited by the time. I never got outside to see the gardens and I watched both presentations from the castle walls instead of the field you’re supposed to watch them from. At some point I’ll figure out a way to post the video I took of the trebuchet fighting (I learned not to quit my day job to become a professional cameraman, but it came out ok anyway).
After leaving the castle (last one to get on the bus), we rode to Coventry to stay the night in the Novotel Accor. Not as nice as the Jurys, but serviceable. I now met my roommate Anthony from Melbourne. The room is serviceable. It’s only one night worth though.
Images are finally located here.
Leaving London we headed to Oxford for a very short stay. The day was part of a two day Festival of St. Giles. We were only there for an hour and a half or so. After leaving Oxford we headed to Stratford. I tried to take a couple pictures from the window of the bus but it didn’t work out so well, so unless we’re stopped I’ll likely not bother anymore.
In Stratford you could visit the birthplace of Shakespeare, but it was a pay visit for a very small thing that I did the first time I was in England so I skipped on that. We had one and a half hours to run about Stratford. I found what claimed to be the oldest pub in the town, The Garrick, and had lunch there. Slow roasted lamb with new potatoes. It was decent, but we’re not expecting high cuisine from the Brits. As a side note, most of the tour appears to be Australian and in eating with some of the Australians yesterday I learned that they call the Brits Poms. I’ve never heard the term Pom before. They weren’t sure of the origin.
After Stratford I took the optional tour to Warwick (pronounced Warrick) Castle where two and a half hours wasn’t near enough time for me. It was a great place and if ever you’re going to the UK, make sure you can get in a visit. It is the second oldest inhabited castle in England according to the guide. I took about 200 pictures of the castle and that was limited by the time. I never got outside to see the gardens and I watched both presentations from the castle walls instead of the field you’re supposed to watch them from. At some point I’ll figure out a way to post the video I took of the trebuchet fighting (I learned not to quit my day job to become a professional cameraman, but it came out ok anyway).
After leaving the castle (last one to get on the bus), we rode to Coventry to stay the night in the Novotel Accor. Not as nice as the Jurys, but serviceable. I now met my roommate Anthony from Melbourne. The room is serviceable. It’s only one night worth though.
Images are finally located here.
Monday, September 04, 2006
London Day 2
I started London Day 2with a tube ride from Fulham Station which appears to be the closest to the Jurys to Oxford Circus (chosen mildly randomly). I then made my way to Picadilly Square where I had breakfast at a Garfunkel's. I love Brit bacon. From there I walked down to the Thames and then walked up to the Tower of London. I did the Tower, including the guided tour. The tour guide is a retired serviceman and is called a Beefeater. They apparently actually live in the Tower with their families. In any event, our tour guide was very funny and also very short. Nonetheless, that was a brief portion of my stay in the Tower. I spent from 10am to nearly 3pm in there and I have a ton of pictures to prove it.
After I completed the Tower I walked back towards Westminster stopping at Embankment. Because my feet were killing me I decided to get off them for a bit by taking a boat tour of the Thames. It wasn't anything exciting but was a very nice respite. After that I searched out dinner in Picadilly again, going to an Italian restaurant I already forgot the name of and having broiled sea bass. The first fillet was perfect but the second was a bit charred. Nonetheless I enjoyed it. Following that, I walked back to and across the Thames and took a "flight" on the London Eye. (I realize my walking wasn't very efficiently thought out). The flight was about 45 minutes or so and people like me who aren't nuts about heights maybe shouldn't do it but I enjoyed it anyway. Sunset happened while I was up there, but nothing excitingly visual came with that. It just got dark. In any event, after I was done with the Eye I pretty much wandered for a bit more and then took a taxi back to the Jurys.
The images are posted on kodakgallery here.
After I completed the Tower I walked back towards Westminster stopping at Embankment. Because my feet were killing me I decided to get off them for a bit by taking a boat tour of the Thames. It wasn't anything exciting but was a very nice respite. After that I searched out dinner in Picadilly again, going to an Italian restaurant I already forgot the name of and having broiled sea bass. The first fillet was perfect but the second was a bit charred. Nonetheless I enjoyed it. Following that, I walked back to and across the Thames and took a "flight" on the London Eye. (I realize my walking wasn't very efficiently thought out). The flight was about 45 minutes or so and people like me who aren't nuts about heights maybe shouldn't do it but I enjoyed it anyway. Sunset happened while I was up there, but nothing excitingly visual came with that. It just got dark. In any event, after I was done with the Eye I pretty much wandered for a bit more and then took a taxi back to the Jurys.
The images are posted on kodakgallery here.
My Room
I forgot to mention this in the inital post because I had a pretty full day. I gambled a bit with my room situation in that I suggested I would be willing to share a room. The difference in the cost of the trip was around $500-$600. I don't remember the exact figure. There were a couple potential outcomes. One was that I would end up with some weirdo roommate. Another was that I would have a normal roommate. In either of these instances I'd have lived fine because I wouldn't be spending a ton of time in the room anyway I figured (though a snorer would have sucked).
I did manage however the royal flush in this hand of poker. If I had taken a single room it would have been smaller than the normal rooms. However since I opted to share but the tour didn't have another person to share, I paid the normal tour rate and get a double accommodation room all to myself. Anyway, it's 7:30am and I've got to run out and find breakfast.
I did manage however the royal flush in this hand of poker. If I had taken a single room it would have been smaller than the normal rooms. However since I opted to share but the tour didn't have another person to share, I paid the normal tour rate and get a double accommodation room all to myself. Anyway, it's 7:30am and I've got to run out and find breakfast.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
London Day 1
Ok, so the two negatives about the Jurys. First it didn’t have a room ready for me when I arrived. I’m not going to hold that against them. Their check in time is much later than I arrived. Second is that they are way the hell out of the way to downtown London. I’m a person who likes to walk and the distance I traversed not realizing how far out I was when I started was gigantic. Compound this with the fact that I was still wearing my slip-ons bought for the plane rides rather than my pair of walking shoes and it spelled severe damage to my feat. I’ll live but I am pretty certain I walked about 8 hours today and that all of this walking was on shoes with absolutely no padding whatsoever. I know now that I have to find a bus or Tube stop that will make my walking minimal as long as I’m staying at the Jurys. Theoretically this amounts to tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure the return to London has me here as well. For the record, the Jurys is in the Imperial Warf in Chelsea, SW6.
So when I finally reached town I started to take pictures and such. I have bunch of photos of Big Ben, taken from different angles at different points in the day. I did manage to find Sloane Tube stop and I took that to Westminster, which put me right on top of Parliament. Fortunately, I remembered that would happen. The Jurys is on the Thames, but it is miles away (kilometers away) from anything useful, honestly.
So, in starting from Westminster I did a short walking tour of London. I skipped some things I knew sort of but it wasn’t really intentional. It was more that I was just randomly wandering.
Some things I saw: Parliament, Big Ben and the Eye of London, pictures included. Trafalgar Square, pictures included. The Regent Street Spain Festival which was a big deal. All of Regent street was closed down. Unfortunately, on my first pass things were still setting up and on my second pass it was far too crowded, so I really didn’t take any pictures. I visited Westminster Abbey and took what pictures I was allowed to there and I visited Queen Mary’s Gardens where I took a ton of pictures.
When I doubled back to Buckingham Palace I found that they were having the Tour of London, which is a bicycle race that does a short lap of the Mall and a little beyond. When I got there, the participants were all using hand peddled bikes, presumably because they were handicapped. Pictures are included for Buckingham Palace and for the Tour of London (though I didn’t go nuts on these).
After I visited Buckingham Palace I made my way to Westminster Abbey. I entered there, but photography wasn’t allowed on the things worth taking pictures. I would say that anyone who visits London should visit the Abbey. There was some very good stuff there.
Most of my memories of day 1 will be about foot and knee pain. I am now at the point where I must sleep however. The images I are posted to kodakgallery here.
So when I finally reached town I started to take pictures and such. I have bunch of photos of Big Ben, taken from different angles at different points in the day. I did manage to find Sloane Tube stop and I took that to Westminster, which put me right on top of Parliament. Fortunately, I remembered that would happen. The Jurys is on the Thames, but it is miles away (kilometers away) from anything useful, honestly.
So, in starting from Westminster I did a short walking tour of London. I skipped some things I knew sort of but it wasn’t really intentional. It was more that I was just randomly wandering.
Some things I saw: Parliament, Big Ben and the Eye of London, pictures included. Trafalgar Square, pictures included. The Regent Street Spain Festival which was a big deal. All of Regent street was closed down. Unfortunately, on my first pass things were still setting up and on my second pass it was far too crowded, so I really didn’t take any pictures. I visited Westminster Abbey and took what pictures I was allowed to there and I visited Queen Mary’s Gardens where I took a ton of pictures.
When I doubled back to Buckingham Palace I found that they were having the Tour of London, which is a bicycle race that does a short lap of the Mall and a little beyond. When I got there, the participants were all using hand peddled bikes, presumably because they were handicapped. Pictures are included for Buckingham Palace and for the Tour of London (though I didn’t go nuts on these).
After I visited Buckingham Palace I made my way to Westminster Abbey. I entered there, but photography wasn’t allowed on the things worth taking pictures. I would say that anyone who visits London should visit the Abbey. There was some very good stuff there.
Most of my memories of day 1 will be about foot and knee pain. I am now at the point where I must sleep however. The images I are posted to kodakgallery here.
Transit
Starting from the start… The first flight was on United 981 from Boston Logan to Washington Dulles. The plane was an Airbus A319A. The flight had some bumpy spots but overall went well. I left Boston at about 3pm and arrived in Washington at about 4:45 including the gigantic wait in taxi to find a terminal to deplane. All said and done, by the time I was off the plane the posting for United flight 920 from Dulles to London Heathrow was already posted on the departure screens, so I made my way to the gate quickly, stopping at a shop to pick up a white chocolate Kit Kat which I ate pretty quickly. The wait wasn’t really that long until we were boarding the flight.
I was originally assigned to seat 25A but because the person scheduled to sit next to me was from a family of 4 with two young children I agreed to move a couple rows back from the window seat to an aisle seat next to her husband so she could have one of her children sit next to her. The switch was actually advantageous because the seat I was assigned had some sort of electrical box at my feet and the move to an aisle seat freed that up and gave me actual foot room. The flight didn’t depart on time because there were a lot of seating change requests. Mine went under the radar to the service personnel.
The interesting side notes to boarding. Number one: I really on received a security check at Boston in the sense that I could have entered the plane with a gigantic carry-on even though United was supposed to have a limitation on the size of carry-ons to the UK. That said, I am a teeny bit miffed I didn’t bring my backpack but I’ll live. I did get the random TSA security check at Dulles. The checks were purely determined by how long it took them to go through a person’s bags. I was done quickly. The lady with the oversized bag before me took a lot longer. Two: and this is the really awesome note: during all flights at this point there is a rules that states no liquids whatsoever may be taken on the flight. Right after I finished my random security check I entered the ramp behind a Caucasian couple in their 50s or so. The male had a bottle of water sitting right on top of his carry on bag. I blurted out, “How did you get that in there?” The guy said he was intending on throwing it out before he got to board but forgot about it. No one else noticed it. He left it in the ramp. Security….
In any event, whether I’m a flyer who defies his fear of the process or not, the flight to Heathrow was basically uneventful. I didn’t sleep as well as I’d hoped, even taking some Nyquil caplets, but such is life I guess. There weren’t many bumps. The pot roast dinner wasn’t horrible and we arrived on time.
I was beginning to believe my curse (which states that whenever Tom tries to go somewhere there will be inevitable delays) was going to be avoided when I found in boarding the Heathrow express to Paddington that there was a fire alarm status in one or the tunnels the train had to go through and that there would be a delay of indeterminate time. It ended up being about 20 minutes or so. I’m glad to see I can bring down foreign transit systems as well as local ones. I took a cab to my hotel: The Jurys Inn Chelsea. It’s on the Thames but a significant distance away from anything major in London.
I arrived at the Jurys at about 8am. A very nice woman helped me put my larger suitcase on in a backroom because their normal check-in time is about 2pm and they had no rooms available. I then left the place carrying my laptop bag which had maybe 20 pounds worth of gear in it, including my laptop and camera.
I was originally assigned to seat 25A but because the person scheduled to sit next to me was from a family of 4 with two young children I agreed to move a couple rows back from the window seat to an aisle seat next to her husband so she could have one of her children sit next to her. The switch was actually advantageous because the seat I was assigned had some sort of electrical box at my feet and the move to an aisle seat freed that up and gave me actual foot room. The flight didn’t depart on time because there were a lot of seating change requests. Mine went under the radar to the service personnel.
The interesting side notes to boarding. Number one: I really on received a security check at Boston in the sense that I could have entered the plane with a gigantic carry-on even though United was supposed to have a limitation on the size of carry-ons to the UK. That said, I am a teeny bit miffed I didn’t bring my backpack but I’ll live. I did get the random TSA security check at Dulles. The checks were purely determined by how long it took them to go through a person’s bags. I was done quickly. The lady with the oversized bag before me took a lot longer. Two: and this is the really awesome note: during all flights at this point there is a rules that states no liquids whatsoever may be taken on the flight. Right after I finished my random security check I entered the ramp behind a Caucasian couple in their 50s or so. The male had a bottle of water sitting right on top of his carry on bag. I blurted out, “How did you get that in there?” The guy said he was intending on throwing it out before he got to board but forgot about it. No one else noticed it. He left it in the ramp. Security….
In any event, whether I’m a flyer who defies his fear of the process or not, the flight to Heathrow was basically uneventful. I didn’t sleep as well as I’d hoped, even taking some Nyquil caplets, but such is life I guess. There weren’t many bumps. The pot roast dinner wasn’t horrible and we arrived on time.
I was beginning to believe my curse (which states that whenever Tom tries to go somewhere there will be inevitable delays) was going to be avoided when I found in boarding the Heathrow express to Paddington that there was a fire alarm status in one or the tunnels the train had to go through and that there would be a delay of indeterminate time. It ended up being about 20 minutes or so. I’m glad to see I can bring down foreign transit systems as well as local ones. I took a cab to my hotel: The Jurys Inn Chelsea. It’s on the Thames but a significant distance away from anything major in London.
I arrived at the Jurys at about 8am. A very nice woman helped me put my larger suitcase on in a backroom because their normal check-in time is about 2pm and they had no rooms available. I then left the place carrying my laptop bag which had maybe 20 pounds worth of gear in it, including my laptop and camera.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Packed and ready
I'm packed and ready to go at this point. I will be leaving for Logan about 11:15 to 11:30am today. My flight departs to Dulles at 3pm and I'll be on my way to the UK by about 6:30pm arriving at approximately 7am Sunday.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Weather in London
I'm not really going to be good enough to find links for weather to all the city's I'm visiting. For now I give you a link to weather in London. So far the early outlook doesn't seem too bad.
You can see it here.
You can see it here.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Packing
The only other times I've been on a trip as long as this one was for work to New York City and for my current company to Solon, OH. During the NYC trip of 20 days or so I knew that I was going to have the company pay for laundry so I didn't have to pack for as long a stretch as I would have otherwise. The same holds true for the 14 day OH trip.
I know that I can have a hotel do laundry for me while I'm out there and I likely will, but since hotel laundry is a cost by the piece I'd prefer to have to pay for as little as possible to be laundered. I need to have 15 days worth of clothing but there's no way I'm packing 15 pairs of pants and 15 shirts plus the underwear and socks as well. My hopes are that the rolling duffel I got will be able to hold about 10 days worth of stuff and I can get some laundry done about two thirds of the way through. I'm also cheating the pants thing by trying to bring a couple pairs of shorts in the hopes that my New England background will allow me to survive in shorts whether it is a bit cool or not. I think I can. I'm going to wear a pair of shoes and bring a spare pair that is better suited for walking. Due to airline and security regulations I'm almost destined to have to take my shoes off. To that end I bought a pair of slip ons that are basically comfortable and should fit the bill for both flight and tour usage.
I guess the real question is how much I can really fit in the rolling duffel. I unfortunately won't know that until it arrives. It seems sizeable by dimensions, but I'm horrible with spatial understanding so it's hard to be certain.
My next packing issue is what I can fit in the bag and what I can fit in the carry on. I just purchased a new laptop back that fits the size bill for the airline and TSA recommendations for flights to the UK. I know the laptop will fit and I believe I can get the camera in sans the carrying bag. I should also be able to fit one book and my mp3 player. I'm going to try to put the charger for the laptop in the carry on too, but I will leave the charger and spare batteries for the camera in the checked luggage. I'm going to go with putting all my toiletries in the checked luggage except I will carry one spare set of contacts in the carry on. I will be wearing my glasses for the flights so in worst case I'll always have the glasses. Normally I would like to take a shot of nyquil before the flight but I'm not even going to think about a solution for this. Hopefully I will be able to sleep on the flight naturally.
I know that I can have a hotel do laundry for me while I'm out there and I likely will, but since hotel laundry is a cost by the piece I'd prefer to have to pay for as little as possible to be laundered. I need to have 15 days worth of clothing but there's no way I'm packing 15 pairs of pants and 15 shirts plus the underwear and socks as well. My hopes are that the rolling duffel I got will be able to hold about 10 days worth of stuff and I can get some laundry done about two thirds of the way through. I'm also cheating the pants thing by trying to bring a couple pairs of shorts in the hopes that my New England background will allow me to survive in shorts whether it is a bit cool or not. I think I can. I'm going to wear a pair of shoes and bring a spare pair that is better suited for walking. Due to airline and security regulations I'm almost destined to have to take my shoes off. To that end I bought a pair of slip ons that are basically comfortable and should fit the bill for both flight and tour usage.
I guess the real question is how much I can really fit in the rolling duffel. I unfortunately won't know that until it arrives. It seems sizeable by dimensions, but I'm horrible with spatial understanding so it's hard to be certain.
My next packing issue is what I can fit in the bag and what I can fit in the carry on. I just purchased a new laptop back that fits the size bill for the airline and TSA recommendations for flights to the UK. I know the laptop will fit and I believe I can get the camera in sans the carrying bag. I should also be able to fit one book and my mp3 player. I'm going to try to put the charger for the laptop in the carry on too, but I will leave the charger and spare batteries for the camera in the checked luggage. I'm going to go with putting all my toiletries in the checked luggage except I will carry one spare set of contacts in the carry on. I will be wearing my glasses for the flights so in worst case I'll always have the glasses. Normally I would like to take a shot of nyquil before the flight but I'm not even going to think about a solution for this. Hopefully I will be able to sleep on the flight naturally.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Baggage Restrictions
For good for ill I am flying United Airline (They're who the travel company picked for me). I checked their website and have found their baggage restrictions. Note that flying to the UK has special restrictions of course.
The site is located here.
The size requirements seem pretty tiny for the carry on.
The site is located here.
The size requirements seem pretty tiny for the carry on.
Monday, August 21, 2006
The TSA and you
I found the link to what is allowed and not on a flight's carry on or checked luggage. To point I haven't seen if there are special rules to the UK on the site. If there are I will post those too.
The link is here.
The link is here.
Hammond Castle
Went to Hammond Castle in Gloucester, MA this weekend. Maybe as a primer to using the new camera in a similar setting to what I'll be seeing in the UK and Ireland. I only took a few pictures and most of those outdoors due to expectations that they didn't want flash photography on the artifacts inside. I have posted the images to Kodak Gallery (formerly Ofoto). They are at the following link:
Hammond Castle Pics (Now on Shutterfly)
As much as anything else this is a test to see if I can share the links from the blog. You will need to sign in to view the images.
Thanks
Tom
Hammond Castle Pics (Now on Shutterfly)
As much as anything else this is a test to see if I can share the links from the blog. You will need to sign in to view the images.
Thanks
Tom
tsavard's blog - meant for travel
This blog will be used... hopefully... to keep track of my upcoming two week trip to the UK and Ireland. The trip starts with a flight to Heathrow on September 2, 2006, and I expect to be back home very late on September 17, 2006.
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