From Glasgow to Edinburgh via Inverness…

I wrote this last night but couldn’t post it so I am making use of the free wi-fi on the train – I love travelling 1^st class!

We had a wonderful time in Inverness but I ran out of time to write about it at the time.

On Tuesday we came to Edinburgh from Inverness via Aberdeen.  The weather was sunny and sky and water were a beautiful blue.  As we approached Edinburgh, the weather deteriorated and it has been grey all day today although not actually raining for most of the time.  However there has been a very cold wind.

We had booked a serviced apartment as it was reasonably priced and had a washing machine.  The office for the apartments is on High Street/The Royal Mile but our apartment was supposed to be in a street called Blair Street.  However Anna cheerfully accepted an upgrade to a two bedroom apartment right on High Street.  I wasn’t too happy as it was another scary spiral staircase!  Of course I don't know what the other stairs would have been like!  In some respects this was even worse than Marseilles, as the stairs were quite worn and uneven.  Although it wasn’t as high!  Then when I made it up the stairs, Anna and I both fancied the same bedroom.  We tossed a coin and I lost out.  My bed was fine, but the blind was rather deficient.  When lying in bed, I had a view of a lit up building, which I believe is the Balmoral Hotel in Princes Street.  Anna’s room looed out onto High Street, as did the living room.

We had a rather lazy start but wandered up the Royal Mile past St Giles Cathedral to the Castle...

…and then down to Market Street from where we could look back towards the Castle.

We had lunch at a shopping centre called Princes Mall on Princes Street.  We then took a bit of a wander through the ‘New Town’ before we parted company.

I decided that I wanted to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia so I caught a bus to the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre.  I was brought up with an interest in the Royal Family – after all Prince Charles is only about a few days older than I am!  This is quite distinct from my thoughts on whether or not Australia should be a republic.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I found it fascinating to see the areas where the Royal Family lived whilst on board and the areas where the crew lived.

This is a couple of views of the deck.

On my way back to the apartment, I even stopped off at a shop I wanted to visit.  As it was getting dark when I was continuing my journey, I was worried I would miss the stop I wanted.  But I did get off at the right spot and walked up North Bridge to the apartment.  I was very pleased that I managed to achieve this all by myself as I usually depend on Anna to tell me where to go.

Anna walked up Arthur’s Seat but she said it was so windy she had trouble taking a panorama shot (or even keeping her footing), which she likes to do.

We are off to Nottingham tomorrow…

On the banks of the River Clyde…

This morning we caught the train to Glasgow.  We had over an hour at Oxenholme.  Initially I was reading my book, but then we chatted with a couple of women from NSW who were waiting for a train to London.

We are stopping in a pretty swish hotel tonight – it is not cheap but considerably less than we paid in London and about 200+%

 better!

After we left our bags at the hotel we went for a walk.  We found a TKMaxx outlet and I bought a bag in which to carry the parka I purchased for Lapland.  Anna is not sure about the “Frenzy” label but thinks it is considerably better than the plastic shopping bag I had been carrying it in since Vienna!

We also went to the observation deck at the top of ‘The Lighthouse’ building, not far from our hotel.  However I didn’t consider it was really high enough for a good view.

Anna decided to go to a 4pm session of the movie ‘Gravity’.  I didn’t wish to accompany her so did some exploring by myself.  This brings me back to why I wanted to include Glasgow in my itinerary.  Glasgow is the setting for the television series ‘Taggart’, another of my favourites.  At the beginning of each program (the later series anyway) there is this interesting looking building.  I decided I wanted to find it.  I asked the reception at the hotel and was told it was locally called ‘The Armadillo’.  I have since discovered that it is officially ‘The Clyde Auditorium’.  Reception marked on my map where they said it was, but it was actually quite a bit further along the river than they said.  I didn’t actually find it and as it was getting dark, I decided to abandon my quest.

However, this is a photo of the River Clyde, with interesting clouds in the background…

…and this is a photo of the Tradeston Bridge

Even if I didn’t end up finding what I was looking for I had a good walk.

When Anna returned from the movies, we went and had a delicious Italian meal at a restaurant very close to the hotel.

Tomorrow we are off to Inverness...

The Lake District

We arrived in Windermere yesterday afternoon after changes at Birmingham International and Preston Stations.  There was First Class on both trains so we were fed complimentary food – it is certainly a saving on having to buy something to eat!

What inspired me to come here?  At Absisko Turiststation, there is a shop that sells a great variety of items.  When we were there it was run by an Irish woman, who now lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and little boy.  I often think of her in the evening as I bought some Abisko Red Tea from the shop (rooibos with added flavours).  She had obtained some teabags into which you place loose tea and gave me some.  I think they are very nifty, and useful.  I had asked her where in the UK she would suggest for us to go.  She said without a doubt she would recommend the Lake District.  There is a train which goes to Windermere, so that is where we are stopping.

As we only had one day, two nights, here, I decided that an organised tour was probably the most efficient way to explore the Lake District.  I only decided the details last night, so we couldn’t book until after 8:30am this morning.  The flyer said that tours needed a minimum of four people, so I hoped that we wouldn’t have to move on to plan B.  I need not have worried – it turned out we were actually joining 11 others.  As the bus only held 16 we may have been in more danger of missing out because the tour was fully booked, not that it wasn’t running at all.

We had a great day.  The driver was very pleasant and his commentary was interesting and informative.  There were a few showers and it was by and large overcast, but we were actually reasonably lucky with the weather until the very end.

The Lake District is extremely beautiful.  However I am a little confused about where exactly I took all my photos!

Here are a couple of my ‘water’ photos

And this is the Castlerigg Stone Circle, well part of it anyway!

We went to Ambleside and past Rydal Water and Thirlmere.  We stopped in Grasmere, where we looked at the Wordsworth family graves and bought some gingerbread.  We also stopped at the Honister Pass, where slate mining still occurs.  We had a lunch break in Keswick.  Derwent Water, near Keswick, is absolutely beautiful.  When I was at school I had Lakeland pencils - 12 pencils in a metal tin.  However, I always envied those who had the 72 Derwent pencils; so much so that I bought myself a set a few years ago.  There is a pencil museum at Keswick but we decided visiting it wasn’t a priority.

Initially I was trying to work out what the ground cover in many areas was.  However Malcolm, the driver, said it was bracken, which apparently covers quite large areas and is now considered a weed.  On closer inspection it was quite obvious!  We saw a lot of Herdwick sheep and even though Belted Galloways originated in Scotland, we saw a couple of them.  It reminded me of home as a relative of mine in Gippsland had Belted Galloways.

Overall we had a very memorable day,

Tomorrow we are off to Glasgow,,,

We went to Oxford…for the afternoon

This morning when we set out for Bristol Temple Meads Station a lot of people had umbrellas.  However fortunately it wasn’t really raining, as it is very hard (actually nigh on impossible) to carry our luggage and an umbrella!

We caught a train to Didcot Parkway and then changed for the short trip to Oxford.  Unfortunately there were no hot drinks on the first train as the boiler had failed.  Consequently I was forced to buy a coffee at Didcot Parkway, instead of enjoying the free coffee I was expecting in first class on the train!

It was quite early but we were able to leave our bags at the Guest House and set off to explore Oxford; well, after we stopped somewhere for lunch.

I have never personally known anyone who studied at Oxford, unlike “The Other Place” (Cambridge) where my cousin did his PhD.  However, thought it would be an interesting place to visit.  It is also the setting for the television series “Morse” and “Lewis”, two shows that I really enjoy.

I studied at the University of Melbourne from 1966 till 1969.  For these four years I was a resident in University Women’s College, affectionately known as Womens.  Since it is now co-ed it is University College – UC.  We wore academic gowns to dinner every week night and I think Sunday lunch.  There was High Table, grace in Latin at dinner, coffee after dinner in JCR (Junior Common Room).  I really enjoyed the whole tradition thing, but I am sure it is now not nearly as formal as when I was in residence.  One of my daughters was a resident in UC in the early 90s and I think they only wore gowns to dinner a couple of times a week.  According to the guide book I bought, “Oxford Colleges”, “Formal Hall”, for which students are often required to wear gowns, is available in many colleges at least once a week.  Although the guide was written in 2008, don’t know everything in it is still current!

We looked at the outside of Magdalen College and walked across the Magdalen Bridge.  (Apparently pronounced ‘mawd-len’)

I also went to look at St Catherine’s College

We then paid to visit Balliol College – the gardens/quads, chapel and hall.

We then made our way back to our very nice Guest House.

Tomorrow we are off to Windermere, for two nights

An afternoon in Bath

We arrived in Bristol about 12:30pm and made our way to the serviced apartment where we are stopping tonight.

Why did we come to Bristol?  I included Bristol in my itinerary as one of my daughters lived here for a while, some time ago.

I had planned for us to walk to the Clifton Suspension Bridge as I had always thought it looked interesting.  According to a postcard I bought, the bridge was completed in 1864 from a design by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

However we didn’t get to the bridge, or really anywhere else in Bristol for that matter, as we decided instead to go to Bath for the afternoon!  We caught the train - using our BritRail passes.

We went to the Roman Baths, which were interesting; although I am not sure my level of interest really justified the entry price!  I am usually the one who insists on going to museums.  I often end up going by myself as Anna really isn’t all that interested.  However today it was the other way around.  Anna was interested and I was less than enthusiastic!  Anna says she dislikes museums but quite likes castles, historic houses and the like.  I thought that I should have been more interested, so I bought a small book about the baths so I can read it later!

I really liked the Pulteney Bridge (it is a bridge that still has shops on it).  We had afternoon tea in one of the shops on the bridge, before making our way back to Bath station.

We are off to Oxford tomorrow.