Munich, Singapore, Home

We’re back!! Following on from our last blog, we had a very pleasant rail trip from Vienna to Munich with some magnificent scenery along the way. Photo of river crossed over en-route.

Our hotel was located near the airport so we spent some time at the station scanning railway timetables printed in German to find where to go to connect with the airport train. Janice accosted two policemen who were extremely helpful and escorted us all the way down to our platform. We then realised we had no ticket so they directed me back up to the ticket machines leaving Janice on the platform with the entire luggage. Whilst watching other people I attempted to enter the details. After 3 tries I got it right only to find it would not take 50 Euro notes and I did not have sufficient in smaller currency. A trip up to the shopping precinct to buy a small bottle of orange juice and back down to try again. This time with success. At last returned to Janice who had wondered where on earth I had gone to.

The airport is quite a long way out of the city. The rail journey was 45 minutes. We then picked up a shuttle bus which travels between the hotels and airport terminals. A very nice hotel with extremely pleasant staff.

The following day we were going to explore Munich which involved shuttle bus to the airport and train again into the city. The day was very foggy and didn't improve much as the day went on. The tour buses were directly opposite the station which was very convenient. There were two tours on offer, a quick city centre tour and a longer, more extensive tour. We elected to do both. It seems that Monday is not a good day to see things in Munich. Many of the tourist attractions including museums are all closed which was a bit disappointing. Photo of character building.Don't know what it was though.

I was particularly disappointed that the BMW museum was closed. Anyway we had an enjoyable day. One rather strange thing we found was city centre surfing. They have built a canal joining two parts of the river and the water is very fast flowing. Under the water they built a small wall which creates a back wave effect and local surfers take advantage of this.

The following morning it was packing (again) and shuttle off to the airport. We left Munich at 1.30pm local time and arrived in Singapore 7.10am local time the following day but in fact by our internal time clock it was only about midnight. Needless to say we weren’t very tired and didn’t get much sleep.

We arrived at our hotel just after 8am and luckily they let us have our room early. After a quick change we walked to China town only to discover that most of China town does not open until 11am or later. Anyway, we found some shops open and Janice bought what she was looking for. Back to the hotel for lunch and a siesta. Relaxed, had dinner and an early night. Lift system in Singapore hotel.

The following day we were not flying out until midnight so we met Jon Potter for lunch. (Jon and Kirsty were meeting in Singapore on the way to Vietnam and Cambodia for a holiday and Jon had arrived a couple of days earlier to stay with his brother. Kirsty was not arriving from Australia until the Saturday so we unfortunately did not meet up with her.)

Our flight to Melbourne was not condusive to sleep. The 6.5 hour flight was interrupted by dinner after 2 hours and breakfast 2 hours later. We arrived in Melbourne at 10.15am but our flight to Hobart was not until 4.30pm so Peter and Paula Murphy (friends from Hobart who are now living in Melbourne) picked us up and took us to their house for lunch which was great.

We were met at Hobart by Tammy, Adele, Xavier and Eamon. On arrival back at our house we opened the door to see a big “Welcome home” sign made by Xavier and Eamon. Jamey joined us all for dinner prepared by Adele and Tammy and all had lots to talk about.

We had a fabulous 4.5 months away but now glad to be home.

Last 10 days in UK and Vienna

That Yorkshire cold was no ordinary cold. Had me out of action for 4 days on antibiotics. Fine now.

Our first trip out was to Derby. Janice had wanted to visit an auction since we have been over here but we had not been in the right place at the right time. The Bamfords auction rooms in Derby feature on Bargain Hunt on TV quite regularly so we drove over for the day. A very interesting experience and just as well we are not driving a semi-trailer back to Aus because Janice would have had it full to overflowing. We were amazed at the prices solid mahogany, walnut and rosewood furniture were selling for. Full Denbigh, Royal Worcester, and Crown Derby dinner services were selling for about 20 pounds. Fortunately Janice’s options were limited to jewellery but she still managed to come away with 2 diamond rings to add to the three she has already bought.

Janice’s cousin David and his wife Jean travelled up to Chester and spent two days with us looking around the city. On the Saturday evening we met Geoff and Jill Osborne at Shrewsbury where we had a delightful meal.

The following day was Dad’s 90^th birthday celebration held at the Red Lion in Doddleston, near Chester. Twenty four of us sat down to lunch and he had a fabulous time. One of his school mates was there and they have been friends for over 80 years. Photo of dad and mum with dad’s school friend in the background.

The following day was his actual birthday so we Skyped Tammy, Jamey and the boys and also Kirsty in the morning. After lunch we went out for a drive to visit some of mum and dad’s old stomping grounds calling in to see mum’s sister and husband in Mold and a cousin in Loggerheads.

The following day we visited some cousins in Northop before I drove down to Birmingham to catch up with some of my ex-venturer scouts for a re-union. Of the 9 scouts I took on a trip around Europe in an old army truck in 1969, I have been able to locate 7 of them. One is Paul who lives on a Scottish island (we visited him in July) and the other six I got together with for a very enjoyable evening. We have agreed to maintain regular contact.

An early start next morning to drive back to Chester for my sister’s birthday lunch. My great niece had come up from Uckfield to join in the celebrations and had a great time. Photo below.

 While I had been in Birmingham, Janice had done a test pack and it is obvious we will need another bag. A quick trip into Chester to purchase a cheap holdall.

The next morning we were up early and packing. A quick trip down to say goodbye to mum and dad which was very difficult after such a long stay, and then off to the airport. The trip to London was uneventful but our connection to Vienna was delayed due to the late arrival of the aircraft. Anyway we were soon on our way, or so we thought. At the end of the runway apparently a warning light came on in the cockpit and we had to return to the terminal. We sat on the plane while engineers tried to rectify the problem but it was decided the job was too big so British Airways had to find another plane for us. This took some time so we eventually changed planes and were on our way 4 hours late, arriving in Vienna at 1am and booking into our hotel after 2am.

GOODBYE ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES

Vienna is decidedly colder than Chester. It is only mid autumn but everyone here is walking around in heavy coats with hats, scarves and gloves. The daytime temperatures have been about 11 or 12 degrees but the wind has been icy. (so much so that I had to borrow Brian’s hoody as I was getting a headache from the cold wind). Luckily both days have been clear blue skies and sunshine as we have toured places of interest around the centre of Vienna and today we had a trip into the Vienna Woods visiting an old abbey where nuns of a silent order still practise their religion, plus a  monastery and an underground lake which was fascinating.

Photo below of Austrian Parliament building

Tourist transport

Underground lake

Tomorrow we are off by train to Munich where we spend a couple of days before  boarding our Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore. 

London area and Yorkshire

Summer is over. Once we hit London, the temperatures started dropping and the shorts have been put away. We were staying at Romford which is only a few miles out of London.

The first day we headed down to Buckinghamshire with Janice’s cousin, Angie. We toured the locations used in the Midsomer Murders TV series. We visited the villages of Great Missenden, The Lee (where we had a drink at the Cock and Rabbit pub) and Wendover where we had lunch at the Red Lion. We then visited Amersham, Beaconsfield, Burnham, Hambleden, Marlow, Bledlow and Turville, all beautiful country villages. Photo of street in Turville.

The following day we went into London by train and met Angie at South Kensington. We walked to Albert Hall but were only able to see the outside as there were no tours available due to maintenance. There was a café open in the building so we stopped for a coffee.

It was then off to Harrods for a look around and had lunch at a nearby pub. Next stop was Buckingham Palace where we arrived early for our tour. We walked around the front and visited the souvenir shop before joining our tour group. Janice had booked us all in some weeks ago as they only do palace tours when the Royal family are not in residence. The Queen was at Balmoral for her summer break.

We didn’t realise how big the palace was. You seemed to flow from one enormous room to the next, each adorned with such grandeur and with walls covered in valuable paintings. The contents alone, if sold, would probably eliminate the national debt.

At the rear of the palace is a large private park that would probably take about half an hour to walk all around. There are many different trees and numerous lakes. Photo outside Buck House.

We had originally planned to spend a week in London but our stay had to be curtailed as my cousin in Chester passed away and it was his funeral on the Friday. We packed the car and headed off for Oxford, parking in the Park and Ride and travelling into the city by bus.

There we boarded the Hop-on-Hop-off bus that toured the city and then walked around various places of interest including Christ College which is the one that features most in the Morse and Lewis TV series. The main hall in the college is the main dining room at Hogwarts used in the Harry Potter series. It was then off to Chester to prepare for the funeral the following day.

We spent the weekend in Chester and headed for York on the Monday morning. Travelling over the Pennines, the temperature dropped to 7 degrees. We were staying with friends, Steve and Chris so in the afternoon we had a fleeting trip around York but the weather wasn’t too good so after a drink in a tiny pub, we headed home.

The following day it was off to Goatland (or Aidensfield as the Heartbeat fans would know it). On our way we approached Filingdales which is the RAF listening station. All of a sudden there was an almighty roar and a dozen or so jet planes flashed by in front of us. We stopped and it was the RAF Red Arrows doing a display. We didn’t find out until later they were celebrating 50 years of Filingdales. The display went on for about half an hour with many of the fly pasts at low level.

At Aidensfield we visited the village store, the Aidensfield Garage and had a drink in the “Aidensfield Arms”. It was then down to the railway station to catch the steam train to Whitby. Photo outside Scripps Garage.

Chris and Steve met us in Whitby and we had lunch before walking around the town. Next stop was Scarborough where we found the building used as the hospital in the TV series “The Royal”.

The following day Steve had to work so Janice and I went into York and did the Hop-on-Hop-off bus trip, visited the National Railway Museum, went on the York Wheel (York’s equivalent of the London Eye), visited York Minster and the Jordik Viking Centre where they have unearthed the remains of a Viking village. They have re-created what the village would have looked like complete with models of people and animals. Absolutely amazing. Photos below of York Minster and the famous "Shambles" street in York.

The following day we had planned a train trip to Newcastle but it was forecast rain all day and the train fare was 70 pounds so we visited the local towns of Knaresborough and Harrogate instead.

Yesterday I woke up with a Yorkshire cold so we travelled back to Chester where we will be based for the last 2 weeks of our UK stay. 

Deal and South East (Part 2)

Another episode to keep you up to date with our travels.

Since our last report, we have visited Dover, Scotney, Sissinghurst, Walmer and Bodiam Castles, the countryside down here is riddled with them. Most of the castles on the south coast were built by Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I to protect against Spanish invasion but there are many that date from much earlier times. For instance, there is a tower at Dover Castle which has a stone base dating back to Roman times where it was a fire beacon to guide Roman galleons into port at Dover. The old Roman upper structure has long since gone but some subsequent castle occupant built a new tower on top of the Roman base. Below is a picture of Bodiam Castle which has hundreds of enormous carp over 2 feet long swimming in the moat.

We spent the day with my niece and her family at Uckfield. We had a great time with them and didn't get back to Deal until 11.30pm.

 We have also been on a train ride from Hythe to Dungeness in a one third scale train. Picture below.

Janice’s cousin Angie from Welwyn Garden City joined us for a few days and we visited Howletts Animal Park which is an open air zoo not far from Deal. That evening we had an excellent meal at the Kings Arms Pub in the village of Sandwich. There is a village nearby called Ham and the pub had a photo on the wall of a road sign indicating Ham ½ mile and underneath Sandwich 3 miles.

Another day we met up with Christine (a second cousin of Janice & Angie) and her husband Mike. It was a glorious day and we ate lunch outside the Kings ead HHead pub in Deal (we haven’t come up with a pub featuring any other part of the King’s anatomy). We retired to our flat overlooking the beach for coffee. A great day.

We also spent a day in Canterbury, looking around the old town and visiting the Cathedral. Picture of the cathedral below and the house where the crooked man lived.

One evening we visited the St Crispins Inn at Worth for dinner (at least this one did not feature a part of the King). It was a 14^th century building with loads of character. I was taken with the sign hanging just inside the door. Picture below.

Today we decided to pop over to France for Sunday lunch. Deal is only 8 miles from the Dover ferry terminal so we hopped on a ferry this morning paying the princely sum of 10 pounds return for BOTH of us and headed for Calais. We indulged in a 3 course lunch at Le Mirador restaurant on the Boulevard Jacqard in Calais and looked around the city center. Being Sunday, all the shops were closed (you can be lucky sometimes!!!). We also visited a World War II museum located inside an enormous German concrete wartime bunker which was extremely interesting. It was then back to the ferry terminal and a pleasant ride back to Dover. Great day.  Note from Janice – the fare over might have been cheap, but I still managed to spend plenty on the ferry (duty free) !! Photo of Calais Town Hall below.

Well, moving on to London tomorrow. Life's hectic isn't it?

Deal and South East - Part 1

We left Chester on our way to Deal (which is down in the far south east corner of England, below London and more east) and stayed over night in Birmingham to break the journey where we had an enjoyable evening staying with Christine and I met up with 2 of my old venturer scouts from the 1960’s.

The trip down to Deal was quite good until we got just north of London where the motorway traffic slowed to a crawl. Because of the upcoming long weekend we had expected some delays so had allowed extra time luckily.

The apartment we are staying in is on the waterfront on the 3^rd floor over looking the bay and English Channel. On a very clear day you can see France. We have the place to ourselves as Andrew (the owner) is working overseas where he spends most of his time. View from our lounge room.

 So far we have visited Hastings, Folkston, Margate, Ramsgate, Rye, Eastbourne, Broadstairs, and the town of Battle which is where the “Battle of Hastings” took place, about 10 miles in from the coast.

Yesterday we went to a Medieval Festival at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex. There were thousands of people there and as well as looking through the magnificent castle, we mixed with hundreds of people in period costume and saw many displays where people plied their trade as they would have hundreds of years ago. There were potters, wool dyers, wood carvers, armourers, traditional cooking, archers, soothsayers, dancers, sellers of Mead and other wines, period costumes for sale and many costume decorations including jewelry and armour. There were also arena displays typical of the jousting competitions of the period. The “king and queen” sat in the royal box watching the various events which included sword fights, cannon fire, horseback skills putting lances through rings and slicing carrots with swords. The highlight was of course the jousting with knights in shining armour charging at each other with lances. The whole event was very well done and luckily the weather was excellent. See below castle and jousting.

 Janice – the medieval festival was just like ‘A Knights Tale’ – they even had the same music at one point (We will rock you by Queen).  We didn't even cover all of it as it was spread over a huge area, but at least Brian got to see the jousting which is what he wanted to see. 

Hastings was lovely once we found the old part with quaint shops etc.  The other part was game arcades & things like that which is for holiday makers, but not for us.

This apartment is literally across the road from the sea, and the noise of the waves is so loud, that when speaking to my son yesterday on skype, I had to move in to the kitchen.  It’s beautiful & peaceful, and we really feel like we’re on holiday.  The sun pours in here, so we spend some time just reading in the lounge, listening to the waves. 

I wanted to go to Eastbourne because that is where my grandad went every summer (from London) so I had to see it for myself.  I was expecting something like Blackpool which is made up entirely of games arcades & fish & chip shops (awful), but it wasn't like that at all – beautiful beach front, and far more picturesque than I imagined.

I would like to go to Brighton but it’s a fairly long way, so we’ll see how we go.  The other part I would like to visit is Tunbridge Wells as it has lots of quaint villages & shops.

On Sunday we went (briefly) to Canterbury, but there was such a queue to get in to see the Cathedral, we decided we’d leave that until my cousin Angie is with us, and we’ll spend more time there.  It was a long weekend so the place was very crowded (in fact all places are very crowded).  On the way back we got lost and put the Satnav on and it took us up these little winding roads until we came to a little bridge and an Inn where we stopped to have lunch.  It is a 15^th century inn called George & The Dragon and we had a lovely meal.  You just never know what’s around the corner!!! Typical old English pub.

South Wales and South West England

Following on from our last blog, we had a few days in Chester catching up on some things like washing. We visited a number of places in North Wales like Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, the Marble Church and the Great Orme headland.

I celebrated my birthday, the first one in 45 years that I have spent with my parents. We went out to lunch at an old English pub with mum and dad, my sister Pauline and her husband, and two of my cousins and their respective spouses. Had a great time over 3.5 hours.

Then it was off on another excursion. We travelled south through mid Wales visiting Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay and then down through the Elan Valley and its many reservoirs and on to Cardiff where we stayed the night. We looked through Cardiff and visited Cardiff Castle

before travelling to the outskirts of Bath to meet a friend of Janice’s and her partner for lunch at a very quaint canal side pub called the George at Bathampton. Janice and Linda had lots to talk about and her partner Peter is a retired policeman so we had something in common to chat about.

It was then off to our overnight stay at Wadebridge in Cornwall, a 3.5 hour journey through some torrential rain. Visibility on the motorway was very poor with spray coming off large trucks and the lashing rain keeping our windscreen wipers on fast speed.  By the time we arrived at our destination it had almost cleared. The B & B was run by a very cheery man who was always laughing and we had a great time there.

The following morning it was off to Port Isaac (or Port Wenn as some of you may know it from the Doc Martin TV series). The day was overcast but not raining. From where we parked the car, it was a steep walk down to the village which is just as quaint as it appears on TV. We found Doc Martin’s house, the school, the shop the series used as the pharmacy and Large’s Restaurant (which is actually a private house). The walk back up to the car was quite an effort and we were exhausted by the time we got there.

(Doc Martin's house is second from right).

We then travelled along the coastal roads of north Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, stopping at the fishing village of Boscastle and having lunch at the picturesque town of Bude. The roads were very narrow with a number of harrowing experiences along the way. At one point we met a truck and had to reverse a considerable distance and fold in the door mirror so it could creep past with millimetres to spare. After travelling through the seaside resort of  Ilfracombe we arrived at the National Trust village of Selworthy with its thatched cottages and very old church. House at Selworthy.

It was then off to the medieval village of Dunster with its narrow streets and character buildings. We arrived at Dunster Castle just too late to see inside but had a look around the outside and gardens.

Then off to Bath where we stayed just outside the city at an old country pub called the Northey Arms. In spite of the age of the place, they had done a marvelous job of modernising the rooms with an enormous en suite bathroom. When we went down to dinner, the restaurant was almost full. We had an excellent meal with a very pleasant bottle of South African wine called “Very Sexy Shiraz”.

The following day it was off to explore bath. We parked the car and travelled into the city by bus. We then boarded the “hop on hop off” tourist bus around the city and surrounds and saw the various places of interest. On our walk around the city centre we visited the ancient Roman Baths (from where the city gained its name) which were very interesting although very crowded. View of River Avon at Bath.

On our way home we called in at Bradford-on-Avon where we had lunch in a 15^th Century teahouse. Photo below.

Being Friday evening the motorways were congested with long delays so we opted for the smaller roads which took longer but at least we kept moving.

Janice – going back to Bath, we walked around the shopping area which is lovely with some very unusual shops.  There was a retro shop which sold board games etc from the 50’s & 60’s, and an old fashioned sweet shop, plus the Sally Lunn house which is the oldest house in Bath.  In NZ we called a boston bun Sally Lunn, and this is where it originated.  We decided not to have lunch there though and opted for Bradford-on-Avon because I had heard it was really pretty and only 20 minutes away.  As Brian said the tea house was extremely old, and it was really quirky with nooks & crannies, plus all the staff had to wear period costumes, i.e. black with a lacy white pinafore over the top and a white cap. 

When we were at Port Isaac I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really there.  When you stand in a certain position and look at the house that was his surgery, and all the other buildings around, it was just amazing.  The sea was really blue and you could see to the bottom.  There were lots of dreadlock men at Port Isaac (fishermen I think).  As you would imagine with a tourist place all the trinkets and other items for sale were very expensive so we left with only our photos. 

Yesterday we went back to our friends in Stiperstones (near Shrewsbury) – I just love it there.  It looks, at first glance, that it only consists of a few houses, a church, a store and a pub, but it’s bigger than that.  Amanda & David live over the road from the pub as we have probably mentioned in a previous blog, and the food there is just sooooo good and cheap.  We had a lovely late, lazy lunch there and finally got home around 7.30pm. 

We are now preparing for our next venture which will be on Wednesday, and we don’t get back to Chester until about Saturday 21^st September, but we will have wi-fi so we’ll be able to continue blogging.

Birmingham, Cotswolds, Northampton

A few days prior to leaving for Birmingham, the inside door handle on the hire car refused to operate. We notified the hire company but as it is peak holiday period here, they did not have a similar one available. They replaced it with a brand new Ford Fiesta which, although was a very nice car, lacked the power of the Hyundai and was petrol as opposed to diesel. We had to change down gears at the slightest incline. Luckily they were able to find another Hyundai i30 diesel the afternoon before we were due to leave.

The warm weather was continuing and our trip down to Birmingham uneventful, arriving at Neil and Diane Challinor’s house just in time for lunch. Neil and I were in the police together and as a young bobby I used to visit the Challinor household regularly. Their current home is a converted farm barn with countryside all around at Ullenhall and we sat out in the garden drinking, eating, chatting and laughing for the rest of the day, only moving inside for coffee when the midges started biting. Neil and Diane’s house is only 2 bedroom and they only have a single bed in their spare room so they had arranged for us to stay at a B & B down the road. We spent most of the following day with them which was hotter than the previous day so more food and drinks. (It is a wonder we are not as fat as barrels.) Note from Janice – we almost are as fat as barrels !!! Photo taken in the garden.

Then we were on our way to Dorridge (only 20 minutes away) and the home of more friends, Geoff and Jill Osborne. I have known Geoff since I was 16 when we were police cadets together and got to know Jill a year later as she was a police cadet also. We spent 9 wonderful days with them using their home as a base for catching up with other people in the Birmingham area. On the first day we visited some local landmarks like Baddeley House (photo below)

 We visited an Antiques and Collectables Fair at the NEC complex (everything was very expensive), toured Coventry, met up with Janice’s cousin David and family for lunch in Birmingham city centre and toured the Bullring and canal area. David took us on a tour of the city and everything was so different from what I remembered (there again it has been 43 years since I was last here).

Met up with friends Wendy and Pete for lunch one day and whilst there, the heavens opened and we had a terrific thunderstorm. Wave after wave of storms came through with blue sky and sunshine in between. Amazing. We also met Christine Miller for lunch and caught up with the Warwick and Law families at the Harvester Pub on Stratford Road.

On Thursday we toured the Cotswolds with Geoff and Jill and this turned out to be the hottest UK day since 1976. It reached 34 deg. We visited Shipton on Stour (where we stopped for brunch at Mrs Brown’s Tea Rooms), then on to Chipping Campden (photo below of old market)

  Stow on the Wold, (photo of typical street)

 Bourton House Gardens (morning coffe at Bourton Gardens)

 and Bourton on the Water for dinner at the Rose Tree restaurant overlooking the village green and river. We travelled back via Moreton in Marsh, all fantastic place names. 

Last Friday we travelled to Wollaston near Northampton to catch up with Keith and Jean Powell. Keith and I were also police cadets. They took us to local historical places of interest and visited Fotheringhay where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay castle in 1587. After a delightful dinner we headed back to Dorridge.

Saturday we visited various places of interest around Birmingham, called in for lunch with Christine and sister Pam, and headed back to Dorridge to get ready for dinner with Neil, Diane, Geoff and Jill at the Herons Nest hotel where we had a fabulous time.

Yesterday we travelled back to Chester via mum and dad’s and we have a few days here to get ready for the next leg of our journey. Would you believe that tomorrow we are only half way through our trip?

Janice – The Cotswolds are my favourite place – it’s all picture book stuff with beautiful thatched cottages, lots of beautiful flowers everywhere, and just what you would imagine the English countryside to be.

It was lovely catching up with my cousin David.  He took us to a lovely place called The Mailbox which everyone here seems to have heard about, and waiting there were his wife Jean, daughter Katie, and her daughter Eve.  We had a great lunch, and after that David took us all over the place (as Brian has mentioned).

We visited Chris (as Brian also mentioned) in Bournville.  This is all part of the Cadbury’s Estate and its really pretty there – all the roads are tree lined, and it just has a lovely English look about it.

Brian has had lots of nostalgic trips around the Birmingham area.  He keeps telling me that this was where he trained, or where single mens quarters were, or where he stood on the street corner & such & such happened.  It’s quite funny really as he kept talking to himself, saying that up that street was…….., and if I turn up here ……… - so I kept quiet & just left him to it. 

I am starting to feel a little homesick after two months, but there’s so much happening that you don’t have much time to think about it.

Edinburgh and Shrewsbury

Quite a while since we wrote so a bit to catch up on.

On arrival in Edinburgh we went straight to see Phil and Marie (Kristian’s dad and partner) where we had lunch before catching the bus into the centre of the city. We walked around the city centre for a while, had a brief look at the castle (which we had visited in 2010), and watched the 1pm firing of the cannon from the castle battlements. On the way around we passed a lone piper.

We then went underground to see the buried city where, after the plague in the 1600’s, houses were built on top of the old city. Access has now been gained to this area and you can walk through the old houses and along streets that are now all covered over (it’s called Mary King’s Close if you want to have a look online). Our guide related true stories of life in the old city which was very interesting.

On emerging into the sunlight we discovered that the temperature had soared to 28 degrees so after shopping for a short while (which knocked Janice around with the heat) we headed for our hotel. We had had 5 days of beautiful weather in Scotland which was almost unheard of. We were very impressed with the small hotel we stayed at but I will let Janice tell you about that. On arrival I asked if they had air-conditioning with the response of “Don’t be daft, this is Scotland”.

That evening we went to dinner at a city restaurant recommended to us which was quite amazing. The walls were adorned with old and antique ornaments, artefacts, photos and pictures. The ceiling was papered with sheet music and many of the walls had old newspapers.  After dinner, Phil and Marie joined us for drinks. Later on Marie went home and Phil and us went into the centre of the city and ended up at the White Heart Inn which was built in 1516, and Robbie Burns stayed there in 1791.  It had  low ceilings and heaps of character. There was a guitarist and fiddler playing and singing folk music which were very entertaining. We found seats close to them and once they discovered we were from Australia, out came the Australian ballads.  It felt as if Phil had found this place purposely for us to get ‘a feel’ of Edinburgh, but he was as surprised as us to find music being played inside. The duo called themselves "The Futtocks" (see below).

The following day we headed back to Chester for a few days and caught up with the washing. Our next port of call was Stiperstones near Shrewsbury where David and Amanda Wallis live. Dave and I joined the police cadets together in 1964 and have kept in contact ever since. The hot weather continued and we spent most of our time outside in the garden. Last Wednesday it was David’s birthday so we had a large party at the house with more than 40 people attending, over half of them being villagers. The party also attracted 5 ex-Birmingham Bobbies making 7 of us in total. (photo below) We all had a great time reminiscing on people we knew and the things that happened nearly 50 years ago. It was well after midnight when everyone had left.

We visited the historical towns of Shrewsbury and Ludlow before heading back to Chester to prepare for the next leg of our journey, Birmingham. (Photo of old pub in Ludlow).

Janice’s bit – when we were in Stiperstones it was fantastic.  Our friends live over the road from the local pub, and we found the people there were lovely.  Had dinner there the first night and it was very reasonable.  On the day of David’s birthday everyone kept popping in all day – some were bringing food, others were bringing things we needed for the party, and it was all go really.  So much food & drink – I made a couple of punches to lower the alcohol consumption (that’s not like me) but I thought if we were drinking from lunch time we may be a little worse for wear if we kept going like that.  Their house is beautiful and overlooks farmland which was so peaceful.  I could have sat outside for a long time & not been bored. 

Back to Edinburgh and the guest house we stayed in.  When we finally found it, we found the door locked and wondered if this was in fact where we were supposed to be.  In the end Brian knocked on the door and this lovely lady came out to greet us – she even carried our suitcase up the stairs which Brian protested about.  She then asked us if we would like a glass of wine or beer, and as we were very hot, this was most welcome.  We had a carafe of sherry for our use, two bottles of water, chocolates, and many biscuits with our tea & coffee.  I didn't realise I had booked a guest house, but it was really lovely.  They had done up the inside so nicely, but had kept the fancy cornices etc.  A Scottish breakfast is enough to keep you going for two days – haggis, black pudding, potato scone, baked beans, bacon, sausages, eggs & tomatoes.  I didn't want the first two ingredients, but even so, there’s no way I could finish the amount on my plate.  I would love to spend more time in Scotland one day.

Glasgow and the Isle of Islay

It was a beautiful day when we left to head north for Scotland along the M56 and the M6. As we progressed the cloud cover increased and we had a few showers arriving in Glasgow with low cloud but still mild. Our hotel overlooking the Clyde Estuary was a golf resort in the middle of a golf course. After checking in we explored the local town of Paisley with its many old buildings including a medieval abbey. 

The following day we caught the train into the centre of Glasgow and hopped on a sightseeing bus which toured around the local places of interest and from this we learned a lot about the history of the city. The local students had been having fun with the statue of the Duke of Wellington.

 

 

Dr Who was in town for the day.

 

 

 

For dinner that evening we went to a local restaurant and had a delightful meal and met some interesting locals who tried to persuade us to part with some of our bottle of Australian red wine.

The following morning we were off to catch the ferry to the island of Islay. Our trip north took us along the “bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond” which we followed for about half an hour before heading west over the mountains towards the coast. It truly is a magnificent lake. Our ferry left from Kennacraig which we assumed was a township but turned out to be just a loading jetty with booking office, toilets and carpark. The carpark was full but luckily someone coming off the incoming ferry vacated a space which we were close enough to grab.

The journey over was 2 hours and the weather overcast. We were met by Ishbel at Port Askaig who loaded us into her car and took us along to the brewery at Bridgend to catch up with Paul. It was a great re-union not having seen him for 43 years (the last time I was 22 and he was 17).  After some shopping at the local store we went to pick up Paul and headed to their home at Port Charlotte where we were met by an excited Staffie and 2 very friendly cats. Janice was in her element having been deprived of animals for over 5 weeks. Over dinner we reminisced over things that happened nearly 50 years ago as well as caught up with how our lives had progressed since then.

The following morning, after an enormous breakfast cooked by Paul, we headed off to explore the island which is 26 miles long and about the same wide. The overcast start to the day soon changed to a glorious sunny and warm one. I couldn’t get over how friendly everyone was and Ish seemed to know them all. We visited the ancient seat of the Lords of the Islands with its scattered ruins before driving to a remote art gallery with local crafts and tea rooms where we had morning coffee followed by a walk along the beach.

 

 

Most of the roads are single track with many pull-in-bays so vehicles can pass. Again, everyone is very co-operative. We visited many villages and bays and from the west side of the island we could see the coastline of Ireland.

 

That evening we dined at the local hotel and had a table overlooking the bay. The warm weather continued and we had to have the window open to stay cool. On returning home we chatted until almost midnight when we had a power blackout which sent Paul scuttling for torches and candles but amazingly it was still not completely dark outside.

The following morning we headed down to Port Ellen in the south of the island to pick up our ferry back to the mainland. Again another scorcher of a day. Our trip back to Glasgow was leisurely and we stopped at many interesting places along the way, including the castle at Inverary which features in the later episodes of Downton Abbey.

We selected a different hotel in Glasgow and this one was perfect. It is an old manor house set in magnificent gardens with amazing décor. We sat out in the garden sipping drinks for a couple of hours before going in for dinner.

Note from Janice – I didn’t want to leave the garden as it was so cool after a very hot day.  What a perfect spot we had found.  Brian amused me as we were watching some birds play by saying “oh look, the birds are pruning each other” !!!  If Adele had been there with me we would have had a good laugh together – as it was, I got the giggles about it while writing it in my diary. 

On our way up to Kennacraig we travelled through amazing landscape.  The hills were so high & rugged – taking photos just didn’t do it justice.  Thought of Kristian as he really loves Scotland, and we have had such a good time in Scotland, I could understand why.  Everyone has been so very friendly.  Back to Brian now…………

Off to Edinburgh tomorrow.   

Chester and North Wales

Sorry about the large gap between blogs. This last week has really been an R and R after our hectic schedule on mainland Europe. We have caught up with washing, had numerous visits to mum and dad who seem to be fine apart from the normal aches and pains you get when you are in your 90’s (apparently), done some shopping and visited Chirk Castle which was really interesting, made more so by a guide with an amazing sense of humour. The castle is one of a few built by Edward 1^st in the 13^th century along the border between England and Wales. The exterior is basically original but there has been extensive work done inside over the years and also in the grounds.

We also went to Llangollen which is my favourite place at the moment (Janice).  It just looks like one of those amazing villages you see on TV about England – so picturesque.

Brian’s mum & dad celebrated their 67^th wedding anniversary yesterday, and his dad was quite emotional that he had both his children present.  The other good thing is that we’ll be here for his dad’s 90^th birthday as well in September.  Photos – us with Mum and Dad and Brian with sister Pauline.

Had lunch with Pauline today and did some shopping. Off to Scotland later in the week.

Copenhagen and travel to Manchester

Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen as the song goes. Well it truly is….. once you get there that is. This was to be our longest train journey but turned out to be much longer than either of us expected.

The Berlin to Copenhagen express limped into Hamburg railway station 90 minutes late with an electrical problem. The problem took another half an hour to fix so we were 2 hours late to start with.
Part of our journey involved crossing over the Baltic Sea by ferry. The train actually drives onto the ferry and then we all get out for the journey. The ferry has 4 levels. The bottom level is for trains and trucks, the next is for cars, the next has restaurants, shops, duty free and currency exchange and the top level has 2 lounge bars and outdoor seating and tables. We arrived at the ferry terminal just after one ferry had left so we had to wait for the next one.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ferry trip which was very smooth. It takes only 45 minutes before being loaded back onto the train and continuing our journey on Danish soil. By which time we were 2.5 hours late. As our train was to return to Berlin that day, someone had the bright idea of offloading the passengers 2 hours short of Copenhagen and transferring us onto a regional train. They also transported the passengers from Copenhagen by regional train to this station where they could board the express back to Berlin.

Two hours by express resulted in 2.75 hours on a regional train that stopped at every station. Our scheduled arrival at Copenhagen had been 1.45pm and we got there at 5.15pm, just in time to join rush hour travellers as we tried to locate the metro train to our hotel. We ended up having to stand but luckily it was only 3 stops.
Eventual arrival at the Copenhagen Hilton was magnificent and that was another day gone.
The following day we booked for a bus and river cruise of Copenhagen. We did the bus tour in the morning and saw some amazing places. The Little Mermaid, the symbol of Copenhagen as shown on all references to this city.

 

Princess Mary was not at home so we photographed her winter palace.

 

King Frederick’s Church has the third largest dome in Europe after St Peters in Rome and St Pauls in London..

 

After lunch we boarded the open topped boat just as it started to rain. Out came the ponchos and what was a great tour was made a bit miserable due to the weather. The temperature dropped too which didn’t help. We were so glad to get back on board the bus back to the railway station. At the station the rain had got heavy and there was a thunder storm just before we boarded our train. We sat for a little while and then there was an announcement in Danish which we didn’t understand and everyone started to get off the train. We found someone who spoke English and he said the railway overhead power lines had been struck by lightening and we would have to catch a later train. Eventually we got back to our hotel after a very interesting day.

The following morning, after an enjoyable breakfast, we arrived at the airport to catch our SAS flight to Manchester. We spent up in the duty free and sat waiting for our departure gate to come up on the board. It was apparently late and then suddenly came up CANCELLED. A rush to the inquiry desk to find out what was happening and we were told that we were all being moved to other flights. SAS only has one direct flight a day to Manchester. We were told we were flying SAS to Dublin and connecting with an Aer Lingus flight to Manchester arriving at 3pm instead of 9.30am. Our cases would be checked in right through. Annoying but at least we were going to be getting to Manchester that day. A phone call to Mum and Dad and the car hire company to let them know what was happening.

An uneventful trip to Dublin but more drama when we got there. We had arrived at Terminal 3 and our Aer Lingus flight was to depart from Terminal 2. We were carrying our duty free alcohol and customs told us that if we left Terminal 3, we wouldn’t be allowed to take our bottles onto the next plane as liquids over 100ml could not be carried. They suggested we contacted Aer Lingus to see if someone could come over from Terminal 2 to pick up the alcohol and take it through for us. We phoned Aer Lingus but they said they weren’t allowed to do this. Frustration. (Adele, Glenis, Kent – I now know how you felt).

A lady at the information counter offered a suggestion. As we were carrying 2 back packs, she suggested we loaded the alcohol into one of the bags and put it through as checked in baggage. When we got to the Aer Lingus check in, the lady there was great.  She helped us pack the bag and put it through without any charge. I was just hoping we had found sufficient packing to protect the bottles.

Manchester. Hooray! We had finally arrived. Our enthusiasm was soon curbed when we discovered that our bags hadn’t. The back pack with the bottles was there (still intact thankfully) but no cases. We weren’t the only ones. Others who had been re-routed with us from Copenhagen were missing bags also. There was a queue of people at the missing baggage counter so more time wasted waiting to be served and filling out forms. They said they would let us know when the bags had been found and deliver them to us.

We picked up the hire car (the people there were very good as the booking documentation was in my case). We have a Hyundai i30 diesel which seems quite a nice car. We drove straight away to Mum and Dad’s and had dinner there. We left about 8pm and called in to a supermarket to buy groceries before arrival at Jon’s house, where we are staying. It turns out our cases were located at Birmingham airport and were duly delivered this afternoon. We can now get stuck into the washing. Looking forward to a relaxing few days.