Home and Top Tips

On Wednesday, we drove through Angylsea to the ferry in Holyhead on our way to Dublin. The coastline is beautiful and I wish we had had time to take some coastal or hill walks. When we arrived in Holyhead we drove to the BeachHouse Hotel and Restaurant, a guidebook pick, for lunch as we had about an hour to kill.  The owner and an Irish couple checking out at the time were so amazingly friendly and helpful, though lunch wasn't served until mid-day so we asked about walks to spend some time.  The owner recommended a walk with lots of steps to a lighthouse about 10 minute drive from there which he used to go to with his friends when he was a boy. Perfect! If you've ever gotten directions from a local, you might imagine how we got on. we took a short walk with lovely coastline views but did no find the lighthouse. Then we decided that we should turn in the car sooner rather than later, given the extra time that might take, so it was cafeteria food on the 3-1/2 hr long ferry.

I had not done much research on Dublin and most of what I know is from the movie, Once, about a street musician. We stayed in Temple a Bar since we only had 1 day to tour around, which is walking distance to the main tourist sights. We'd had disappointing food for a few days so we were really ready for a good meal. The apartment owner's sister recommended a French place around the corner. Yes, we ate French in Ireland, but it was excellent and just what we needed to fuel us up for one last day of touring. Thursday was a great day walking of the city: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, St. Stephens Green, Grafton St. Christ Church Cathedral. Dublin is very different from London, grittier, not polished for viewing. Perhaps that's just Temple Bar area, but it struck me how different it looked and felt there.

And now we are home! Pizza for dinner with the house/cat-sitter extraordinaire, Kristin Ingram. Julia and Evan are ecstatic to be home with their cat. Though we are all up for another trip and delay to going back to school and work, it will be a while until we can save up enough money. And now the countdown begins, we take Katie to college in 12 days. Now that is truly the next great adventure. I will miss her being part of our everyday life, her sweetness, passion for issues and learning, her psychology lectures, and messes and hugs.

And finally, amid mountains of laundry here are my last thoughts!  

Most Memorable

• The kids as interested and sometimes more so than parents in the British Museum exhibits
• Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Eye- perfect tourist day in unbelievably old buildings
• First pub we went to had mostly American ales and IPAs on tap- and most others as well
• Kids crying uncle on the pubs- please can we eat somewhere other than a pub!
• Evan helping a woman with baby stroller in the tube station
• Playing cards at the kitchen table in Bourton
• Visiting with Jim's friends
• Katie's joy in being at the Globe, and Evan and Julia appreciating Katies moment and not complaining 
• The look on Julia's face when she saw The Orangery at Kensignton Palace for afternoon tea
• Harry Potter tour, well done
• Walking in Bath along the streets of Austen and Heyer novels that I love
• Releif when we arrived safely in Bourton- not to mention the drive
• Carrying luggage up and down 4 flights in London and 6 flights in Dublin
• Beautiful gardens in London and Bourton
• Evan supporting every musician performing in tube stations
• Walking to Dublin castle across from theatre with Once musical performing with kids singing "Falling Slowly"
• Chat with young couple and mom, Sue, about football teams
• Walking, walking, walking

And, what kind of project would this be without a lessons learned, because you know I can't help analyzing how things can be better!

Top Tips- What We Learned 

• There is never enough time to see everything you want to see in London
• Do not count on free wifi touted by Verizon or city and don't count on having service for maps. You may need to rely on the old fashioned way after all so don't forget to carry a paper map
• When booking an interesting-looking, luxury hotel, check if they cater to tour groups and if so, ask what percentage of rooms are individually booked. Apparently we were the only individually booked room in the castle on Tuesday night and they were not that interested in assisting us with dining options or anything else tho bar staff was great
• Do not plan the natural hiking excursion at the end of the trip, no one will want to go
• When booking a homeaway, VRBO or Airbnb room, make sure you ask about and see pics of the bathroom! It matters.
• Also, when they mention there's no lift, it's for a reason- Dublin penthouse riverfront apt, no lift, yes workout
• Learn how to use European washer/dryers
• Pack lighter
• Pack umbrellas and rain jackets to ensure sunny weather everyday;-)
• Don't underestimate the stress of driving on the wrong side of the road through narrow streets with cars parked on the road and stone walls adjacent to the road
• Get the expensive insurance when driving abroad in unusual circumstances
• Plan more meals- dining on the go gets old. Make at least one reservation that can be canceled.
• Find out best way to get taxi, car BEFORE arriving. Use HALO app in Dublin
• The Jane Austen museum in Bath is more for the casual reader of her works
• Talk to more people

The Castle in Ruthin Wales

The Castle Hotel was very cool with ruins from the 13th century that you could walk through and explore. The rooms in the hotel, built in the early 19th century, were beautiful and bathrooms luxurious. The service and amenities, not so much;-) So I'd recommend a day trip to walk the grounds but not to stay, unfortunately. That said, Evan was thrilled because in our suite he had his own room and he enjoyed playing with the peacocks.

We were all looking forward to a good meal though. Apparently, the lovely village of Ruthin practically closes down on Mondays and Tuesdays, so decent restaurants were closed and the castle restaurant was booked solid, with tour groups it turns out!

Evan's Room

View from back of the Castle

Formal Garden

Julia Made a Flower Crown

Royal Chess in the Garden

Feeding the Peacocks

Bourton-on-the-Water and our 375 year old house

I'll just add that the car trip was quite harrowing at first, but gradually improved so that now I hardly flinch when we drive down narrow streets with cars parked on both sides with barely room to pass. Really, kind-of dumb luck, wrong place at the wrong time in the first few minutes on the road.

Castle Combe Village

Bourton is simply lovely and quaint.  The perfect Costwold town for our tour. Jim's friends suggested Castle Combe (Stardust, WarHorse, Wolfman filmed there) and The Slaughters which were lovely but we liked Bourton the best. I can perfectly understand why they preferred other villages to Bourton, it was seriously mobbed with people in the town center at the tiny bridges and many children playing in the river (it is about 2" deep I think) on Saturday and Sunday. I think it was not so bad for us because we had our house and garden to escape to and spent the days walking on the public paths, to both Lower Slaughter and Clapton-on-the-Hill.

When we arrived, quite relieved to be safe and sound, I might add, the first thing we had to do was figure out how to open this ancient (or an old-enough recreation) door! If you've seen the knocker door "handles" in historic movies, this is it, with old fashioned key and all. The neighbors nearly had to rescue us but we figured it out just in time.

Evan and Julia Feeding the Ducks in Bourton-on-the-Water

Front Door

Our Cottage, Middle Gable

 I love the design sensibility of the British. They honor their historic architecture but blend modern elements and, most importantly, modern conveniences quite well. It's particularly evident in London, but throughout the other places we've been as well. This house underwent a major renovation in the early 1900s, but many features are original, including the "master" bedroom wood flooring and roof beams in the third floor bedroom. I do wish the owner would have provided us with more information about the people who had lived there in the past. Walking across that floor in the morning thinking about who walked that floor 300 years ago. What kind of work did they do? Did the mourning doves wake them at 4:30 am too? Was the garden as full of flowers then or was it utilitarian with vegetables instead? And did they have a bakery as amazing as Bakery-on-the-Water? I think it's the best bread we've ever eaten, seriously. And we Monthies do like our bread, as most of you know.

Garden View of our Cottage, Middle Gable

Watch Your Head!

Stairwell to Bedrooms

Master Bedroom

The long country walk up the hill was Jim's must do while in Bourton so Evan and I joined him while the girls chilled at the cottage. Unfortunately, the lady at the info center did not give the best info and the walking map we bought on arrival was a little short on details so we sometimes lose the trail. Just the way Jim likes to roll though! We had a lovely chat with a lady at the top in Clapton who had lived on the farm there for the past 25 years (after living in Africa with her husband for 20).  We had some gorgeous views of the countryside that we tried to capture on film. 

Driving in the UK - Jim Post

After our whirlwind tour of Bath, it was time to leave the safe and secure world of public transit and pick up the rental car.  I didn't really know how driving on the left side of the road would go.  As it turned out the first day was really difficult.  Sue, Evan and I walked the 2 miles to the car rental location on the outskirts of town.  We had three options for insurance coverage and decided to go for the cheapest option with the highest deductible.  I remember saying something like "nothing's going to happen."  It took about 12 maneuvers to get out of the rental lot, but then we were on our way.  We figured we'd drive to the hotel, park and load up there.  Easy enough...  But, the streets of Bath are very narrow in places and I was having issues positioning the car in the center of the lane.  After a few wrongs turns and hitting the curb a few times, we made it back to the hotel.  Phewww...

We spent the morning touring around Bath.  Upon our return, we notice an issue issue with the rental car.  It looked like someone might have hit the front bumper and a small rectangular cover was now missing from the bumper.  No worries, could be worse!  Good thing we added the insurance coverage.  I was now wishing I had paid more for the lower deductible, though...

We rented a station wagon.  Before we left home, we did a trial run fitting the luggage into our VW wagon.  All looked good.  Turns out our rental car is smaller than the VW.  We had a hell of a time getting the luggage to fit.  After several attempts we found a configuration that sort of worked.  It was tight and the rear hatch was difficult to close, but we did manage to leave a small hole for me to see through in the rear view mirror.  

Everyone piled in and we were off.  Day 1 of driving would take us to Bourton-on-the-Water, with a short stop in Castle Combe.  But first we needed to get out of Bath...  Recall the streets of Bath can be very narrow and I was having issues staying in the lane.  I was also overacting to oncoming traffic on these narrow roads by veering quickly to the left.  In retrospect, I would not have been able to sit in the passenger seat.  On one of these occasions we were going across a narrow stretch of road with a large truck coming the other direction.  To make matters worse, there were these two posts to my left that went up to about mirror height.  Needless to say, the mirror on the left hit the post pretty hard.  It cracked on impact and was left hanging from the housing.  I shouted an expletive and continued driving.  I am pretty sure Sue and the kids were yelling stuff too.  It was like a scene out of National Lampoon's vacation.  Funny to watch, but not so funny when you are in the middle of it.  At this point, I wasn't sure of the damage.  I was picturing damage to the whole left side of the car.  Luckily the damage was limited to the mirror and Evan was able to pop the cracked mirror back into place. 

The Damage Done...

Mint Condition, Otherwise...

Needless to say, the rest of the drive was pretty harrowing.  No more damage, but plenty of times where Sue had to close her eyes (and a few times where I had to as well).  There was talk of returning the car as soon as possible and switching back to the train.  But we made it to Castle Combe:

Castle Combe

And then we made it to Bourton-On-the-Water.

The Water of Bourton-on-the-Water

We've since had a day trip to Oxford, and have successfully made it to Ruthin in North Wales with a stopover in Stratford-Upon-Avon.  I think I am getting the hang of this driving thing.  Just wishing I had bought the expensive coverage with £0 deductible...

In the Footsteps of Jane Austen

Bath-This is the only Jane Austen place of interest that I forced that family to visit! Such a lovely city and everyone enjoyed it. No, really, they did. Lots of fun shops and how much fun is to to continually ask mom, "Do you love it?" "Are you so excited, Mom?" "What happened here?"

Dancing in the Assembly Rooms just like Jane

Bath Abbey

Lovely Welcome by Villa Magdala Hotel Staff

Roman Baths were quite interesting, it was a sacred site with temple in Roman times. Later, site of the Pump Room where Georgian and Regency patrons would drink the hot mineral water for their health. Not quite as bad tasting as I expected, though I suspect they blend it with tap water to temper it a bit for the tourists.

Topped off the day with dinner at Sally Lunne's with 3 of Jim's former customer work-mates. Apparently, they spent a lot of time drinking in Bristol and Munich together in the past. They were terrific and brought significant others so all talk was not about computers chips and digital storage and past business trips. Totally forgot to get a photo of the group but did have an entertaining lesson in Morris Dancing.

The Morris Men Dance with bells on their legs and jingle and while they dance with kerchiefs and sticks! Link to the video will be added soon, so come back if it's not here. You gotta see this!

YouTube Video Link:

https://youtu.be/_Um61R6GLvs

Cheers, London! We had a Grand Time

We capped off our London visit with the ultimate Londoners experience, a tube strike. Driving the 3 miles to Paddington Station took half the travel time to Bath, about 45 minutes! While loading our luggage in the car, our Uber driver joked he'll just take us to Bath, and after traveling the traffic-snarled streets we understood. One week was not even enough to see all we wanted to. At the beginning, the kids, especially Evan, were asking why were we staying in London so long and in the end, our "chill and fill-in" day was just a full of touring as all the others.

So, what did we do on Tuesday and Wednesday, our magical, dramatic touring days, you ask. On Tuesday, after later start than I would have liked, we took the Globe Theater and Museum tour which just filled-in some info and got us closer to the stage. Julia's top requested activity for Afternoon Tea at The Orangerie at Kensington Palace was delightful. It was daunting choosing where to have tea and I'm certain there's not a more beautiful location than this elegant hall overlooking Kensington Gardens.

Afternoon Tea at the Orangerie at Kensington Palace

We spent the afternoon at the British Museum, which did not even allow us to see half of the exhibits. Evan was disappointed to not see more, Julia was worn out!

Stairway of St. Pauls Dome

So Wednesday was the completely unplanned day to do whatever we missed or just relax. lol- relax... We all agreed that visiting St Paul's was a must. It got squeezed out among other scheduled events in the past few days, and is closed Sundays. I had forgotten how magnificent it is. intricate mosaic scenes cover the ceilings. And lots of dead people to walk over. When we visit the cemetery at home, we make an effort to avoid stepping on the graves, yet the cathedrals here are built so that you do walk on those buried there. It just struck me as interesting. We were fortunate to catch the 12:30 Eucharist and so it was truly moving to attend service and pray while looking on such magnificent artistry where thousands- millions have worshiped over hundreds of years. And it turns out the service is nearly identical to Catholic mass- I knew it was close but did not expect to have the same responses, so it felt like home, so to speak. I now wish we had broken the rules to take some photos to share. Simply spectacular. Now we did take photos from the top of the dome! The open metal mesh spiral staircases up were a bit scary, but we persevered and the view was worth the effort.

Millennium Bridge to Globe and Tate Modern

Crane City

We're currently riding the First Great Western railway to Bath Spa, a Jane Austen tourist-haven as well as Roman Spa town. Photos would not upload on train's wifi, so here's post a bit late.

Monday August 3rd - Stage Tours- Premier Performers!

Another busy day, yes, 7ish miles of walking. Here's what we did.

Tour of Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium was pretty fun and Evan was happy. It's not his team, Liverpool has that privilege, but Emirates has been voted best pitch in British Premier League 10 years running. The care of the field (pitch) is incredible- a highly trained crew replaced the entire field every year and follows a regimented maintenance plan of the 1" tall turf. Tour guide said all grass will look just as good at the end of the season as it does now. Home locker rooms are sweet, with huge hotub, and quite sanitary- good cleaning crew on staff, it seems, tho season starts this weekend so perhaps tours in a few weeks will have a different experience:-)

Best seats in the house

Post-game press conference

And, to keep things moving we headed north to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. It really was quite good, if you're a fan, it's worth doing. So crowded, they must be making as much on this gig as the movies. Bloody brilliant to make this a permanent exhibit! 

And, this is the point we decided that self-guided audio tours are quite a bore and rather annoying. Nearly every site, museum has them. They are often informative, but waaay too long (they didn't get the memo, Simone!) And too much extra info, and in HP it was actually competing with video screens and interactive exhibits so truly distracting. So, we are done with those!

MANY photo-ops

Diagon Alley

 Many of the structures, like Diagon Alley were used in the filming. And the special effects are really impressive: animatronics, make-up, computer effects. Very cool! And the level of detail in the planning of everything, down to the thousands of handmade wand boxes in Olivander's Shop. Awesome.

Haaarrrry, help!

So, after my rescue from the horrifying spider, Jim's former co-worker, Martin, who fortunately works right down the street from HP, picked us up to have dinner at a local pub in Kings Langley. The Unicorn is 400 years old and has been an operating pub all that time. The food was awesome and owner, Debbie and her staff are the BEST! It turns out the kitchen was closed when we arrived, but she did not turn us away and then proceeded to prepared our best meal in a pub yet! And, then drove half the crew to the train station so Martin did not have to shuttle us in 2 trips again. So fun to meet Martin and chat Brit-stuff, engineering, music and more! Fun fact: This village and surrounding countryside was established as hunting grounds for the king in the 1200s and wood was harvested here for use in the Tower of London.

The Unicorn in Kings Langley

Martin with Monthies