8. Catch Up

Tuesday morning started with a tour of Edinburgh. Our guide was a cute young girl in a mini kilt who could really tell a story. She had us all laughing and the men enjoyed watching her.

Edinburg is so full of history and conditions long ago sure weren't pleasant. We toured the castle and the city. We were both fascinated with the architecture. There are such beautiful old, ornate structures and we can't imagine how it was built so long ago without technology.

The archway into the Edinburgh Castle  had statues of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace on each side of the entrance.

There were lots of people stories, ghost stories and even a sweet dog story. It was a great time. When our guide, Andrea, finished, we were on our own for the afternoon to explore. I love that freedom. We walked and walked.

We called our daughter-in-law, Kathy, who had just gotten to school (she is a teacher), so she could hear the bagpiper. She is of Scottish ancestry and has traveled to Scotland.

Robert Louis Stevenson's House.

We stopped in a tea room for a delicious lunch of smoked salmon, cheese and relish sandwich, and carrot cake. There are just unbelievable choices. We visited the Giles Cathedral and climbed a hill to an interesting very old cemetery. There were street performers and we listened to another bagpiper before we headed back to meet the bus.

We freshened up back at the hotel and jumped back on the bus to go to the Haggis Ceremony. What a riot. We had a great dinner with unending bottles of wine. People got pretty silly. I laughed till I cried and now we're all best friends.

Then the show started with singers, dancers, a bagpiper, and a young lady that could really play the fiddle. The lights came on and the ceremony started with the story of Haggis, a spicy sausage of sheep's brain, heart, liver, kidney and lung stuffed in a sheep's stomach and boiled. Yuck! But Bob tried it. It was an experience and worth it all for the wonderful music and hearty laughter.
















Thursday we headed north out of Edinburgh which took well over an hour. It is a big, sprawling city, while still so quaint and so many lovely gardens. As we drove, Henry, our guide went on with the very interesting, often violent history of Scotland. I took notes just to try to absorb it all.  We drove through an area called the Kingdom of Fife which is thought of as the bread basket of Scotland as the soil is so fertile. It was beautiful. There were bright green hills and valleys with some fields plowed and freshly planted. Again, I am in awe of the trees. They are huge, running three times as big as those we think are big at home.

Our first stop was St. Andrews where we could see the famous golf course and walk around the quaint seaport town. It was sunny, but cold and blustery. We thought of you, Chad. It was impressive.

Our tour guide called the strong wind a Scandinavian Breeze as it came across the North Sea from Norway. The countryside reminded me of rolling fields in Pennsylvania, western Wisconsin and northern Michigan.

As we drove, the hills got bigger turning into mountains with pines and ferns. The scenery was amazing. We began to see rocky snow covered peaks and more rushing rivers and little water falls. It is Salmon fishing country, but you have to have an expensive permit. We did find out there are trout in some of the lakes and you can fish from the shore for free.

We stopped in Pitlochery, a sweet little Victorian town for lunch. 

We went to a tea room with our friends who let me borrow their camera, John and Mary. It was delightful with homemade soup and scones.

The weather kicked in and we drove through mixed rain and sleet up winding climbing country roads. It was beautiful. Then the sun would come out and take our breath even more.

Besides the large numbers of sheep we saw, they have long haired cattle bred for the harsh weather of Scotland called Hairy Coos. They are cute.

We stopped at the very moving battlefield of Culloden Moor with a beautiful visitor center. We were able to hike around the battlefield which inspired a very somber mood and whispered thoughts.

Meanwhile, back on our bus, I want to mention how fortunate we are to have so many talented people onboard with several singers and some great comedians. As we drove past the Heather covered fields, our friend John softly sang The Heather on the Hill from the movie Brigadoon. It was perfect and sounded just like Gene Kelly. Then towards evening when a flute version of Amazing Grace came on our sound system, our friend, Judie sang with a beautiful voice and had us all in tears. How cool is that!

We got to our hotel which was old and full of character. It reminded me of Mackinaw Island. Our room had a great view of a snow covered mountain

 

. After dinner in the lovely dining room, Bob and I hiked up the steep streets to a golf course at the top with a gorgeous view. By then, it was growing dark, with a brisk breeze and the faint smell of wood smoke. I was in Heaven.

We seem to pass through mystical, spiritual places both in buildings and nature that have us speaking in whispered voices with an overwhelming, moving, Holy feeling. Then, the next moment we're in foot stomping, hand clapping, sing along, laughing places. It's magical and we're overcome with gratitude for the blessing of this whole experience.

7. Into Bonnie Scotland

We've had our share of problems along the way adjusting. More on that later, but our day began with me trying to figure out the shower as Bob slept. I now know (and I wish I'd figured this out two hotels ago) that you don't turn on the bath knobs and the shower knobs. It cuts your pressure and fills the tub. One set of knobs has absolutely nothing to do with the other. This morning the deep tub was an inch from overflowing as I frantically turned knobs and jumped around yelling "Help! Help!" Bob ran in in a blur and had trouble too, but stopped it in the nick of time. It was not a pretty sight.

Our first stop on tour this morning was Hadrian's wall, which the Roman's built in 122 AD. Sections of the wall still exist. We saw people hiking it through the grassy countryside and thought it would be an adventure some day.



We didn't realize how much the Romans were part of the history of the British Isles. The stories are fascinating and too much to go into here. I hope I can remember half of it.



















We drove through charming little villages with original buildings and little farms. We went up and down through increasingly bigger hills on narrow winding country roads. I felt very moved with the beauty of it all. We saw pheasants and rabbits in the fields along with horses, cows and loads of sheep.

The air was misty and the fog increased as we crossed into Scotland. We stopped to take pictures of the border and a fun bagpiper was there playing. It was so cool but the view was limited by the fog. It just didn't seem to matter.

Back on the bus, I want you to picture the sun peeking through the mist, lush green hills, baby lambs playing while their mom's watch, old stone fences, and huge, ancient trees while Greensleeves plays quietly in the background. That was our drive. We came out into valleys with thick woods, spring blossoms and bubbling streams. My heart could burst!

We stopped in Jedburgh and saw Mary Queen of Scots house. Incredible it still exists and so interesting to see how she lived. We even saw her shoe framed in a box on the wall.

Next we stopped in Melrose where we were left to explore on our own. Bob and I went to the Abby where Robert the Bruce's heart is said to be buried at his request. He is in my family tree, which made me especially interested.

Bob and I both felt chills there. Then Bob found the name William Fish as one of the soldiers listed on a monument.

It was so peaceful and yet emotional. We climbed the tower of the Abbey and stayed quite a while. It was an experience.

We bought our lunch in a bakery and sat on a bench to eat before we got back on the bus to Edinburgh.

Once we were settled in Edinburgh at our hotel, we decided to go on our own for the evening and walked the quaint street from our hotel to the beach as we admired everyone's little walled garden.














When we got to the beach, we took off our shoes and waded in the North Sea. It was great.

We ended the night in a little local Pub with great food. Bob had Shepherd's Pie with lamb and I had shrimp. We walked home in a soft rain in our perfect new raincoats and umbrellas. It was all very cozy.

This is quite long, but I have to finish with getting to the room and wanting to work on the blog. We realized that in our hurry of the morning, I had left behind our electrical converter, multiple plug, my camera battery charger and spare battery. I was sick. The director called the hotel and had it shipped on ahead of us at our next hotel. Was that lucky or what!? But I was left with no camera. Our new Aussie friends, John and Mary, jumped in and said we could use their spare camera and a Californian friend, Alice, is letting me use her cord to download pictures. Aren't we blessed! I love this tour and our new gracious friends!

6. Northern England

Today we went from Coventry to York to New Castle. Our beautiful hotel in Coventry was so big and nice as we had gotten used to tiny rooms. We woke up to blue skies, sun and feeling finally well rested. As we waited to board the bus we enjoyed the sun and lovely grounds with a fountain and Palm trees. I didn't expect to see those here.

We drove through luscious green county with thick green grass, big old trees and quaint hedge rows. There were fields of bright yellow flowers that we learned were Canola. Our director explained that they are working on a new strain that is not so bright as it "dazzles" drivers on the highway.

We learned we were in coal country and thought we were seeing a huge nuclear plant but it was coal.

It is wonderful to ride along and listen to our director, Henry, explain things and tell stories as he teaches us the history of the area. It is fascinating and we won't remember it all, but it sure makes more sense than memorizing books and facts in school where I just couldn't picture it all. At one point we went by a sign that read Sherwood Forest and Henry explained the whole theory of who Robin Hood was (he was actually a group of people righting wrongs) and that the forest was actually farm land belonging to nobility and used for hunting.

We went by pretty little lakes and saw people tent camping and fishing. We saw many elegant horses, cows and sheep. I love this lush country.

We saw a small group of windmills and Henry didn't sound enthused. I guess they're in every country. We stopped at a service stop and it was just like home in this pretty country side. They offer gas, toilets, clothing and food. However the food they offered was much healthier than in the states.

This is Henry, our Tour Guide, who reminds us of my brother, Gary, humor and all.

Our first stop to explore was in the old, walled city of York, which is said to be the most haunted city in Britain. It dates back to the Celts being invaded by the Romans. Unbelievable! So much to learn! We walked through cathedrals, an old dungeon and along the wall. 

The wall around York that was built by the Romans.

This was a view from the wall with York Minster in the background.

The York Minster.

There were town squares with people performing, delicious food, antiques and interesting shops. Some of it again, made us think of the Harry Potter movies.



We love that Henry explains things as we travel, then we walk with him a bit in the beginning to get our bearings and then off we go. Sometimes we hook up with others from our group and sometimes we happily wander on our own. It was great.

We ended the day in New Castle which is an industrial town and is struggling a bit. Bob and I walked to the city center. The shops were closing but the pubs were going strong as people watched the soccer games. Back at the hotel we met up with more Australians for a drink and an interesting discussion on travel there. They are fun!

We go to Edinburgh tomorrow. We're anxious to see Scotland and we'll have quite a bit of free time to explore. Good on ya!

5. First Day on the Bus

Saturday, May 18

 Today started early as we had to have our suitcases in the hall outside our room by 6:30. We had breakfast and joined our group at 7:30. Our group was a real mix of people, with some being our kids age traveling single on Holiday from Australia, several somewhere in their 50s, and some in our age range and older. All seemed pleasant, enthused and with great senses of humor. We seemed to laugh more each day. It wasn't long before we were making new friends and forming a community. Our tour guide, Henry from Ireland, was so knowledgeable and funny. I kept feeling like I knew him and decided he really made me think of my brother, Gary.

We quickly decided that we had made the right decision to take this tour. Our guide was a wonderful story teller who made history come alive. We stopped often and learned a lot. Our first stop after passing through quaint residential areas was Hampton Court Palace where we learned about Henry the XIII. What a story! We walked through the beautiful gardens. The huge trees, lush grass and colorful flowers were fabulous. I loved the  feel of it all.










We drove through the English countryside with lush, rolling hills, sheep and horses.

We went past Windsor castle, but I couldn't get a picture. Our next stop was Oxford. (We thought of you Becky & Kevin.) All I could think was Harry Potter streets and then found out some of it was actually filmed there.



Oxford Street.









We wandered the streets and got coffee, cheese and baklava at a covered market.

We drove on through the beautiful Cotswolds and saw quaint little villages with houses with slate and thatched roofs. I'd love to go back and spend time there. I had no idea England had so much countryside. I  love the stone fences and hedge rows.

Our tour guide also talked a lot about World War II and played some music from that time. It made me misty.

Our last stops were at Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife) Cottage (with Gardens and a Thatched Roof)

and then at Stafford on the Avon (river) to  see Shakespeare's birth place and monument.  The town was quaint and beautiful.

We checked into a great hotel where we had a lovely dinner and hung around with two Australian couples. Good times. Good first night.