bigbluethermos

[bigbluethermos]

Sat Sept 29

Touring the Moors district on the way to Oxford. The non hwy roads normally look like this.

But sometimes there are these one lane roads.

As you can see they don't really believe in shoulders on the roads. Ean is getting better at the B type two lane roads but is still leery of the A single lane roads. There are some wider areas of the road to allow some passing and if you meet a car coming the way someone has to back down to the nearest passing area. Not fun!

The Moors are a desolate looking area with not a lot of vegetation.

Again here the sheep roam freely. You might notice the sheep are sprayed different colours. That is so when the farmers go to collect their sheep they can tell them apart from the other ones.

People again go hiking around these areas. While on a small hike we found some interesting things. There were some rocks sticking straight up.

Followed by some creating a long path.

Off to the side were some smaller ones in the shape of a circle.

I didn't find out much about these but they were probably used in the same way Stonehenge was. While on the drive we also stopped at Postbridge to walk over a 700 year old bridge which transversed the Dart River.

[bigbluethermos]

Fri Sept 28

We drove through the New Forest on the way to Exeter. The New Forest is a fairly old area but always called new?? It is more open that the area surrounding it and horses, cows and sheep roam freely around in it without barriers to stop them being in the road.

It is an area with many trails that people like to walk around on and the paths are fairly well marked. I went for a small walk around and of course ran into some horses.

The area is also well know for thatched roof houses.

[bigbluethermos]

Thurs Sept 27

Today we toured Southampton and then visited at home my Aunt and cousin. I was surprised to find out how old Southampton is and that it used to be a walled city. While walking downtown Dick pointed out the old wall and many buildings.

Most people know it as a major port for all the cruise ships.

The city was bombed during the war and unfortunately some of those buildings were never rebuilt. This used to be a church

Of course the nicest decorated places are the pubs. Anyone recognized the name of this place?

The town is an interesting mixture of old and new.

After touring the town we headed back to my Aunt’s house where we had lunch, chatted and looked at old pictures. It was great to hear about my relatives and how much I am like them. It seems my grandfather always put ice in his tea too! As he likes his tea cool. My Aunt it seems likes her tea cold. I never realized where this trait come from as both my parents always had theirs hot. After another nice pub dinner we all posed for pictures.

So this is my lovely Aunt Mary (my fathers sister) and one of her sons Dick. Unfortunately Marys other son passed on much earlier due to suicide. Both sons sadly never married. The living immediate family therefore is very small and pictured here. It was lovely to meet them again, and unfortunately I doubt I  be able to again.

[bigbluethermos]

Due to the long and awkward hours of the rally I think my next set of posting will be delayed. Sorry. But Im still having fun and enjoying the trip. Hugs to all!

[bigbluethermos]

Wed Sept 26

My Cousin Dick had arranged a trip to Stonehenge for us today. The weather was wonderful for it. A quick drive and we arrived. There have been many changes at the Stonehenge site for visitors. Back in the day you could walk among the rocks, touching them if you wished. Then ropes and a walkway was built around. Now there is a whole visitor centre and you get bused into the site or walk for about 20mins. I chose the bus! My cousin had generously prepaid our entry complete with headphones, for a walking tour, and a souvenir booklet. I found the whole experience very wonderful. It has been listed in one the top 10 things to do that you would be disappointed with, but I did not find it so. The walk around well explained with the audio tour and in some places you were quite close. i took many pictures all the way around as the perspective did keep changing.

Afterwards we went into the centre for a video of the site through the ages. Out back of the centre there were some huts that were a depiction of what the builders houses might have looked like.

They reminded me very much of the huts in Africa.

[bigbluethermos]

Tues Sept 25

Nice simple day. We had breakfast at the B&B and headed on our way to Southampton. Ean’s driving is improving but still not ready for small roads. My Aunt and Cousin live in Southampton so that is the reason for this stop. We made good time and checked into a Premier Inn, booked and paid for by my Aunt. the room was much bigger than in London. Unfortunately I had internet problems again! I went down to the lobby to ask for the internet provider number so I could ask for help. When I got through to them I was told that they couldn’t help me, it must be my comp. After getting angry about this I decided to call Best Buy Geek Squad in Canada. They were very helpful but in the end they could only figure out it was something that was wrong with the WiFi provider. For dinner we met my aunt and cousin at a restaurant and had a nice dinner and chat.

[bigbluethermos]

Mon Sept 24

Today we left London and headed to Bath. After checking out of the hotel and having them store our luggage, we head to the underground to get the rental car. Lots of thought went into where we booked a car from and what kind of type to reserve. We ended up reserving one from National, for the pick any car in the row policy, and the location at the Waterloo underground. The Waterloo station is a really big one it looked close to where we were where, when I looked on a map. Getting there proved to be to be harder than I thought. Once we made the two train trip getting to Waterloo we looked for the car rental booth. After searching the station it seemed the agency was outside. Following a very small sign it seemed that it was really located about 5 blocks away. No problem in getting a car and it turns out to be a Hyundai i 30. It is pretty basic but at least Ean fits. 

On the road to Bath we decide to get off the major motorway and try some of the more scenic side roads. This proved to be a mistake as the recent learning to drive on the left hand side, a different car, and the extremely narrow roads

caused Ean to become extremely anxious. So until he gets more practice we will be staying off the smaller roads!

Bath is an extremely old town that was first settled by Romans.  We stayed at Brooks Guest House . We were in Rm 1.

They even had cookies and choc bars along with the tea supplies.

The architecture around Bath is spectacular! The Circus is a curved series of buildings in a circle.

It has amazing scrolls and sunken gardens.

Bath starts on a high hill and goes down to a river.

Some of the buildings have strange names.

Here are some other beautiful buildings

Down by the river there is a lovely garden

We stopped for supper at an interesting bar

It was a long walk around Bath but well worth it!

[bigbluethermos]

Sun Sept 23

Today's plan was to have tea with Archie’s (my father in law) girlfriend in Richmond. Richmond is a neighbouring village to London. Luckily for us we did not have to do anything but get on one underground train to get directly there. Easy peasy right? Got on the train with no problems but while announcing the stations they say due to delays our train will stop three stops before the end of the line(ie Richmond). So we get off the train and wait for the next one, about 10 minutes. We reach the end of the line and walk up and up and up a very steep hill to find Pam’s house. It was a lovely old house.

I was very surprised to see that Pam had invited her four daughters and their children to meet us. We had a lovely typical english tea of cakes, different cookies and even a fruit cake. We talked and looked at fantastic old pictures of Ean’s father in his teens. In a couple of pictures he was even smiling! We posed for some pictures and sadly said our goodbyes.

One our return to London we had dinner in one of the many old pubs.

[bigbluethermos]

Sat Sept 20 part 2

After the hop on hop bus we went to get something to eat and the rain finally stopped. We decided to try the night tour on the hop on hop bus. On the way I managed to get some better shots of the architecture around the area

When we got on the night bus it started to rain again. But I finally got a couple of good pictures of the Eye.

While we were going round there was a great number of people(1,000′s) taking part in a walk for charity. Many were dressed up with glowing lights and bunny ear headbands. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a good shot as both they and the bus were moving.

After the bus dropped us off we walked back to hotel and went to sleep.

[bigbluethermos]

Sat Sept 22

Woke up at 2pm (still jet lag) to a rainy overcast drizzly typical London day. Today was hop on hop off bus day. Walked to the nearest stop and passed the gates to the palace. 

on the way found a telephone box and of course had to stop for pics

Right after taking our pics there was a group of 5 girls who came along and posed for their own set of pictures. Close to the telephone box was an mailbox.

So they actually do still exist! We got on the bus very quickly and look seats downstairs as the bus didn't have much of a roof on top, which was a little disappointing. Saw all sorts of lovely sights but with the rain didn't manage to get very good pics.

Winchester Cathedral

This is actually Big Ben. It is completely wrapped and even the clock has now been taken out. There was some sort of strike/ parade/ protest going on so the bus diverted and missed the stops I wanted to see, Trafalgar Square and the shopping at Piccadilly Circus. I was very disappointed as those places were a major part of the why I wanted to go to London. Because of the detours and the rain the buses one of the next stops our bus was the first to arrive at some of the stops. This caused the bus to become very overcrowded.

There were so many people that they had to go up top and stand in the rain, as there were even no seats up there! This caused problems and safety concerns. I was also unable to take pics or look out the other side window for a lot of the ride. I also didn't want to get off the bus in case the others were just as bad and I would have lost a seat. I did try for some other pics but the rain was just too bad.

[bigbluethermos]

Fri Sept 21

Because of the turbulence we had to circle the airport a number of times before finally landing about 10 minutes late. For me taking off and landing are the worst parts of flying so it was a bit stressful. We landed at Gatwick airport. This airport, if you look on a map, is actually fairly out of town if you are heading to London. There was an amazing train that left right from the airport to the Victoria Station. It was fairly crowded but a lovely introduction to the English country sides and small towns. I thought it was fairly cheap too! A quick transfer to the subway and one stop over to St James Place. Finally made it to where we wanted to be. It was quite hard to maneuver all the luggage up and down the subway stairs. The hotel  Hub by Premier Inn, Westminster 

was wonderfully located in downtown London. Right across the street was the location of the New Scotland Yard but it was being torn down and relocated. It was and approx 10 minute walk to the palace! As you can see from the pictures the room was really really small but well thought out. It was very techie with the light controls being on the headboard. The bathroom was actually quite big. And for some reason it had a very strange balcony type thing that led to the window. Surprisingly all the luggage fit underneath the bed on a slide out ledge or in a drawer. 

.Because of the jet lag and timing once settled in the room a big long nap was held. After waking up about 6 hours later it was about 8pm local time so headed around the corner to our first pub. Came back to hotel and tried to sign in to the WiFi but it wouldn't keep connected and kept dropping the signal. Too tired to worry about it I just watched some TV, and went back to sleep.

[bigbluethermos]

Finally some wifi that works. Updates soon!

[bigbluethermos]

Thurs Sept 20

After trying out different suitcases and gym bags, finally manage to decide and get things packed. End up with 2 suitcases, two backpacks and a gym bag. I am going for a month after all! LOL

Son in law Jamie comes and picks us up and we get to the airport in fine time. The lines for security are fairly small and I’m thinking things are going fairly well. As usual I make the body scanners beep because I am partially made of metal. All normal.We are scheduled to leave from gate 2, wonderful nice and close I think but nope this is where things fall apart quickly. The gate is at the far end of the terminal and building, oh did I mention that all the escalators and walking sidewalks are not working? Get to the gate about 20 minutes before the plane is scheduled to board. But it doesn't board for another 40 minutes. I had booked the two end seats leaving an open seat between us. I had hoped to get extra room this way as I had guessed the plane might not be full and that no one would want to book a seat between two people. This plan was working until the second last person came to sit between us. So close. The plane ride was bumpy with lots of turbulence. I had hoped to sleep on the night flight but because of all the activity around I wasn't able to do so. They started feeding us about an hour after we boarded and kept it up until 1/2 hr before we landed and I certainly didn't want to miss any of my free cookies or drinks! 

[bigbluethermos]

Bad internet

Sorry but this hotel has strange internet. I can connect with my phone, and everything seems to work, but I can't seem to connect with my laptop. I am going to see later today about going to the front desk and help. Hopefully it will work. If not I will have to post from phone without the pics from the camera. Chat soon and big hugs for all those effected by the storms in Ottawa.

[bigbluethermos]

Wed Sept 19

I leave in about 9 1/2 hours. Everything is done except for the packing. I’m feeling semi calm, but worried about making sure everything is going to get into the suitcase. I had hoped to post the schedule of places I will be visiting but it seems that this site doesn’t allow anything other than actual pictures or web links. Please let me know what you think of this blog (ie appearance) and what content you would like me to post in future. My general plan will be to do an update concerning what happened during that day with some pictures.

[bigbluethermos]

Two days left until I leave. I have created this blog space so I can share my vacation for my friends. Lets see how it works.