Stonehenge

Friday, May 22

We decided to go on our seniors' tickets for the tour of Stonehenge and Old Sarum (the first edition of Salisbury, dating back before the Romans). The bus left in the early morning (well, early for me: 10:00), and we were on it and anxious to start.

Now, you need to understand that buses in England are the same size or larger than those in Canada, but the roads are smaller. There are, in general, no shoulders, and sometimes no centre lines either. This does not slow anyone down, though. We were merrily speeding through the rolling areas around Salisbury on our way to Stonehenge, passing by these petit British cars as if we were on a four-lane road. I was glad not to be driving, and Darlene was ecstatic that we were not in a car. It is dangerous enough just crossing a road, much less driving on one.

We were not prepared for the impact of Stonehenge itself. First, it is bigger than you think it will be. Those suckers are enormous, and how they got the stones there remains a wonder and a mystery. And, second, the way in which they had organized the tourist experience was in my opinion very good, so that you had the time to explore, and question, and learn, about this 5000 year old monument to something....We had a wonderful time, and took about twice the time we had expected to take with it. And the weather, for once, was sunny, although cool. So it was a joy.

Then to the old settlement of Old Sarum, an old castle and town from probably the ninth or tenth century. We walked around and marvelled again at the work done by these people from the pre-oil era. The rocks around that area contain a lot of flint, so the structure was quite different from what we would expect in Canada.

Daniel arrived in the late afternoon, and we met him, then went for a dinner before going to the Salisbury International Arts Festival. I had Boar to eat, and the other two had beef, in another old tavern near the market square.

That evening was the start of the Festival, also in the Market Square. It was due to start at 8 PM, and we go there before that. Not much was happening, just one stall for some indian food, and a couple who were doing a wonderful skit with vegetables (I can explain). But we had been led to believe there would be some acrobatics or circus-type performances, and this was not happening by 9 PM, so we were getting antsy. Then....what felt like suddenly, there were people dressed in whiteface, drumming a hypnotic beat, and dancing together, and among the many people in the square. They moved around, drawing us all into their rhythm. And it was infectious, exotic, exciting, even sensual, to hear them and watch them.

After about 30 minutes of almost non-stop drumming and dancing, there was a pause, and the drummers re-appeared seemingly in mid-air. The had attached themselves to harnesses, and were lifted by a crane into the air—all the time drumming as before. And then one of them began to do trapeze maneuvers in the middle of the other six. Very difficult to explain, but wonderful to view: it was magical to see these performers probably twenty feet in the air, performing their little hearts out. We were so glad we stayed.

A perfect end to a very good day.

The Cathedral

Thursday, May 21

The Salisbury Cathedral dominates the skyscape of this town. The town itself is about 20,000 people, and the buildings are all low-rise. The cathedral's spire is the tallest in England, so it sits quite high.

(Interestingly, the German Luftwaffe were apparently given strict orders not to bomb the Cathedral, since they used its spire as a guide on their way to London.)

We walked downtown from the B&B, about twenty minutes, found the Information Bureau, and from there were directed to the Bus Station to buy our tickets for Stonehenge for the next day. A very pleasant experience, actually: the man there decided that we really were both Seniors (to save any extra paperwork) and deserved the rate for that, both in our trip to Stonehenge, and for our trip to Heathrow on Saturday. Ah, bureaucracy!

We had hoped to see an Evensong while in England, and managed to get to the Eucharist in the Cathedral. This is the Communion for Ascension Day, and was of course an elaborate affair, lots of incense and praying. But some lovely singing as well. It really is a marvellous structure, the Cathedral. We will go back for a tour proper, but after the service, walked around the Close a bit and the neighbouring areas. Then off for something to eat, which we found in a pleasant second-floor restaurant on the Market Square.

Daniel was to arrive the following day, in the evening, so we saved some of our tourist things for him. tomorrow would be Stonehenge!

Swansea

Thursday, May 22

The trip down here was by an older line called the Mid-Wales Train, which travels slowly from Shrewsbury to Swansea, through some of the wonderful Wales countryside: imagine greens like you seldom see, with sheep almost everywhere, and streams traveling alongside the train. And moors. And little towns. It was worth the extra time it took to get down here.

Now Swansea is not Shrewsbury. It is more working class and bleak, with rather poorly done urban renewal in places, and a sense of a city under duress. This is a bank holiday weekend, so lodging was difficult, and we ended up staying in a Premier Inn, pleasant enough but pretty ordinary. However, we got settled in early enough to get a good walk by the ocean, and that was great. Some sea shells to add to the collection, and some rain to meet expectations, and we returned to the room after a long walk towards the Mumbles, but not reaching it.

The hotel we were staying in had internet at 3 Pounds per minute, so we went in search of a free internet. Of course these are all attached to bars and loud noise, so we didn't stay long. Supper turned out to be one of those comedies of error, with a Spaniard, German, and Italian working in an Italian restaurant, none of whom could understand what we wished to order, and getting it all quite wrong. The dinner was almost, but not quite, a disaster.

Fortunately, the hotel was close and we got there, dodging the inevitable rain, and settled into an awful TV show before bedtime.

Darlene was up earlier than I (surprise) the next morning to walk with the garbage men and the early joggers. She went back to the beach and got some more of her sea-time exposure. Then it was pack, find a cafe for breakfast, and get to the train, on our way to Salisbury.

This involved a quick transfer, but was pretty painless. The Brits really do trains better than we do. They might have been a bot better at announcing the stops, though: we almost missed the Salisbury stop.

And on to Shrewsbury

Monday, May 18

We of course had the worst time of mooring over the whole two days, trying to get it to the dock of the marina at the end of the trip. Almost put Darlene in the brink, and managed to totally blow it as far as my skipper credibility is concerned...sigh.

The folks at the marina seemed to be quite inattentive and not helpful, different from all the other folks we had met so far who went out of their ways to help. So we were not unhappy to get a cab back to the Gobowen train station, then a short twenty-minute ride to Shrewsbury. On the train we met a man in his late sixties who had just completed a 14-day walk along the Offas Dyke, for which he was justly proud.

Why Shrewsbury, you might ask? Well, it is a town with many virtues. Charles Darwin was born and bred here. There is a history and architecture going back to the Elizabethan times, with buildings of the timber and stucco variety all over, some of them quite askew. It is imminently walkable, and so far a real pleasure to do. And we will catch, in a few days, a train back into Wales, to Swansea and the Mumbles (so named because a French soldier thought the hills looked like boobs and called them the mamelles.

We went to the Tourist Bureau to get our accommodation worked out. The trip there was one of those up-hill-down-hill-all-about-the-town trips, dragging our bags behind us. But we were rewarded with a very pleasant lady at the Bureau who got us a good price (for England) on a room at the Prince Rupert Hotel, right in the centre of the oldest part of Shrewsbury. This hotel, it turns out, goes back almost 900 years, with the original part inside the current hotel and still having its rooms rented: we explored that part, with stairs and walls at all angles, and a sense of a ghost lurking somewhere. We walked out and around the streets, each with their own curves and hills, described in our book as a spaghetti structure, which I think is apt. Lots of houses from Tudor times, as well as Elizabethan and Georgian times. Also buildings into the 20th Century, and clearly a working town. We fell in love with it at once, and decided to stay an extra day.

Lunch at Cromwells, more walking, including a visit to the Dingle (a wonderful formal gardens), then time for a pint, which we got at The Three Fishes, a traditional pub. An excellent supper at a pub called The Golden Cross, one of the oldest in Britain (licensed for 600 years), and a talk with Gareth, the owner, who proudly showed off his rooms upstairs, decorated like a bordello, but wonderful in their excessiveness and their history.

The next morning was slow to get going, but we managed to get out of the hotel in time to catch a walking tour, presented by a former cop, of the town and some of its history. We decided to have supper at the Drapers Hall ("drapers" are wool merchants, interesting in part because Darlene's grandfather Izatt was a draper), again a very old building.

Wednesday morning came and we had to pack up, and moved on to the train station reluctantly, and with a view to returning some day.

Das Boot

Saturday, May 16

Wonderful serendipity. We got up slowly, prepared for our trip to the train station (do all cities have a Picadilly Station in England?), and caught our cab. This was also a good-bye to Patrick, since we were very unlikely to see him again here. And of course, being Manchester, it was rainy.

But we got there, and the station was one where we had to go up and over a set of tracks to get to the one we wanted. we had bags, so took a lift. And when the lift doors opened, there was a former patient of mine from Dundas! So it really is the epicentre of the universe. But nice to see him: he in his home town visiting his brother, and we in my son's town visiting my family.

The train ride was smooth and uneventful, also fairly fast. We got to the small town of Gobowen, Wales (the friendly conductor on the way asked if we had family there: "it really is a bit in the middle of nowhere", he said). A wonderful stationmistress directed us to a store for some food for our boat trip. she said it wouldn't take long to shop, and she was right. The Co-op was small, but quite adequate, and we were provisioned and on our way in no time. Got the perfunctory tour of the boat, with all its little tasks that we had to do each day or the boat would sink, or we would come to ruin in some other way. It all sounded like too much work, but the sun was shining at that point, and the world seemed right. So we were off.

Now, this boat is called a narrow boat, and for a reason. forty-one feet long and less than seven feet wide. An RV on water. Basic, but possible. The canal is about as wide as two of these, with a bit of room to spare. Except at the bridges, when it narrows to be only slightly more than a single width.

And then there were the tunnels and the aqueducts. Each of those was a single lane, so you had to ensure that there was no one coming the other way before entering. The tunnels were about 400 metres long, and totally dark, so you were bouncing off the sides and unable to see a lot at the same time. The aqueducts were open, and high. One side had a walking path and railing, and the other had a steel side with a sheer drop of over 100 feet beyond that. The good news is that the sun was out while we did it (the rain was at other times, and it did rain!). The worse news was that it was very scary and when the wind came up you were sure you wold be blown right off. But we made it. My steering is improving, Darlene's is making great strides. But our mooring leaves something to be desired, and is fraught with anxiety for both of us.

Right now we are moored outside the town of Llangollen. Darlene walked into town to get some supplies, and I had a nap. She had an adventure when it was longer and more arduous than expected. I had an adventure when one of the mooring spikes came out and one end of the boat was "flapping" in the canal. We were each helped by strangers who assisted us in making it better, and we are now looking at a friendly bottle of wine before moving to a different place for the night.

If I had doubts about it, I am now convinced I am a true-blue landlubber. And one who enjoys vacations with a modicum of luxury, rather than ones where there is a healthy dose of work.

However, the day ended well, with a walk into the town—a beautiful town built by the looks of it in the nineteenth century, and maintained well until now—and a supper at a riverside restaurant which was good and filling and relatively cheap. We walked back to the boat in a bit of rain (although I think in Wales they call this sunshine), and settled in for another night.

Darlene has asked that i be sure to mention the rapid changes of weather we have experienced. Today began cloudy, followed by rain. As we approached the Aqueduct, the sky miraculously cleared, and we were met with blue, plus a bit of wind. Then it clouded and rained again. Then cleared, then clouded. One man we talked with said it was because we were close to the border with England, and the weather couldn't decide whether to be English or Welsh: he might just be right. But we have become accustomed to experiencing rapid changes, many times a day.

the Canal and all

Sunday, May 17

We didn't get up so early today, but it was sunny when we woke about six. By the time we got up at seven, it was cloudy, and soon began to rain. We were headed back to where we rented the boat, so retracing our steps from the previous day. But of course we are now seasoned boaters, and much better than yesterday. And we were going downstream, which gives us the right-of-way as well. So we began, reluctantly leaving Llangollen, and going through tight stretches of the canal. We met boats which made us pull over (literally—you should have seen Darlene tug on those ropes to slow the boat down and keep it in place: I was very proud of her), and others which almost hit us. But we met some nice folks who helped with the locks and the lift bridge functioning that we needed to do. As I said yesterday, the weather here changes fast. It was pouring (pissing might be a better, albeit less polite, word), and we were getting soaked. So we stopped, moored, and prepared to settle in for a long haul. In less than five minutes, the sun was out and it was warmer than the whole previous day. So we started out again. We stopped for a bite at a local pub along the way, trying to manage it between two rain showers. And we pretty much succeeded, getting back to the boat and on our way just as it started to rain.

We got most of the way back to the starting place, and moored for the night. Supper was light, and involved some wine, as I recall.

We have decided to see more of Wales, and tomorrow brings us to Shrewsbury, and the start of a longer Wales trip, before getting back into England in a few days.

More to come.

Manchester

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Ah, Manchester...it is rainy and cold today, just as one would suppose in one's prejudice about this city. Still a nice place (particularly since we have a nice son here), but nonetheless miserable weather. We got here later last night, after a mix-up with trains, but we are here.

Our last day in London was a good one. We had enjoyed the time at Covent Gardens, so went back there for another look, and were blessed with another operatic singer in the courtyard, followed by a string quartet; it doesn't get much better. A walk around those pats was wonderful, then we decided to walk to the British Museum (about a kilometer away).

I suspect that if you grew up with something as large and comprehensive, and impressive, as the British Museum, you would believe in your bones that Britain was the centre of the known world. As far as I could tell there was something from almost anywhere there. It was quite literally phenomenal. We saw the Rosetta stone, the Elgin marbles from the Parthenon. There were lots of school kids, and the like, fondling the statues with the signs that said "do not touch". It was hard not to scream at them.

The trip up here was fine, and we were met by Dan, Pat, and Electra. We went out for Chinese food, and got to bed late.

Today was a day for e-visiting the Manchester we got to know three years ago. I got sleepy after lunch and came back to Dan's place to sleep. Darlene and Pat went to see the North End part of the city, which is the arty part and turned out to be quite fun.

Supper at a Brazilian restaurant, run by a Portuguese man from the Island of Madeira, who couldn't explain why he left an island with a year-round temperature of 20-33 to come to Manchester. But there you go.

So tonight to bed, and tomorrow to boat.

Prep for England

May 8, 2009

They say that preparing for a trip is as much fun as doing the trip; I'm not so sure! I had done a lot of work finding and booking a place in London for our first night (and at a price that didn't entirely break the bank), only to have Air Canada in their usual manner let me know by email that they had changed our flight. So instead of arriving on Friday night, getting early to bed and being okay on Saturday, we flew overnight Friday, the 8th, and arrived (speaking for myself) irritable and bleary-eyed on Saturday morning.

I had also booked a narrowboat trip in Wales for the time May 15-18, but the people who do the booking are very laid back and didn't get some information to us, necessitating a call across the pond. And then there was the Income Tax which wasn't yet done, and of course the bathrooms had to be cleaned, and various other anxiety-reducing measures invoked before we could actually get onto a plane.

Patrick flew in from Calgary on the 5th, and had a few days with us getting ready as well. It was really nice to see him again, and that time went fast.

And fortunately my cousin Pam was able to drive us to the airport, so we didn't have to worry about parking at all.

We drove off to the airport, got there in lots of time, and got onto the plane for our ride. We actually arrived in England fifteen minutes early. The flight over the last few minutes was quite wonderful, coming in over the southern coast and low hills, with fog in the valleys. And then over the centre of London, right over the Parliament Buildings and the London Eye, before turning west to Heathrow.

Saturday, May 9

After landing, we got our first taste of what was to become a theme here: hordes of people all going in one direction. Our plane-load, along with a few others it seemed, were herded along a narrow corridor to this great cattle-sorting station called Immigration/Customs. Winding our way along the lines, we were able to finally get to the front and through into another too-big room where our bags were supposed to arrive (they all made it). Then through some other dingy places to the exit area, and a meeting with Daniel and his girlfriend Electra (whom we were meeting for the first time). I managed to keep awake and be civil, and we each got fitted out (I think they say "kitted out" in the UK) with an Oyster card, which is the electronic pass for the Underground, and wound our way into Kensington, and finally to the hotel.

(As an aside, Heathrow—a least the terminal at which we arrived-is in need of some repair and a good coat of paint. It has that 1984, late-USSR proletarian look.)

The hotel is an old Victorian house converted to a hotel, managed by German staff, and decorated to their tastes. But clean and comfortable, overall. The room we were assigned was small, but adequate. Certainly adequate for me to get a few hours of sleep before going out again-thus rendering me almost human.

Saturday was the Tower of London, a must-see for any tourist. It was begun by William the Conqueror in 1071, and added on over many centuries. It served to imprison many and torture or execute some of those (most famously Anne Boleyn); but also was the home for some of the monarchs over the centuries. It now serves to hold the Crown Jewels, which we saw in all their exuberant luxury; and has museum-like services as well, showing off armour and the such. We saw some of that, and it was quite interesting.

We had eaten a pub lunch in the heart of London, so were not hungry for supper, or at least we were more hungry for sleep. Went home and slept from about eight to about seven the next morning.

Sunday, May 10

Today was Mother's Day, and we were going to see Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Globe. I had been looking forward to this for many weeks. We got there in enough time to look around a bit, and then settled into our wooden seats (benches actually) and watched a wonderful performance of the play, much as Shakespeare would have presented it. The weather cooperated (thank heavens: the roof is open to the sky), and the pidgeons kept coming and landing on the stage. The sound was mostly good, and not amplified. So I was glad I brought text to follow along. But the humour and the tragedy were well portrayed, and I found it quite moving, at least in part because of the setting.

But all things come to an end, and we went off in search of the London Eye after Dan walked with Electra to her train and then rejoined us. Electra had overcome my reticence towards the Eye-I thinking it was just a big ferris wheel and likely too scary even for me, much less Darlene-and had convinced us that it was something we might consider doing. And she was spot-on. It was wonderful, transported high above the Thames in this pod-like thing (they actually do call them Eyepods!) to get the view you can't get from anywhere else.

And then back to the hotel, found a very nice French restaurant in our neighborhood (www.thelittlefrenchrestaurant.co.uk) before heading back for another fairly early night.

Monday, May 11

Today we had planned to take a formal bus trip around London. You know, those open-topped sight-seeing buses which are in many big cities. And he day was bright, albeit cool and a bit windy. We paid too much for the tickets, but what-the-hell. Got on, and started. We had an unscheduled stop for about 40 minutes so they could change buses, and another diversion due to a Tamil demonstration near Westminster, so it was less than stellar. But we saw Buckingham Place, St.Paul's Cathedral, Canada House, and heard a wonderful operatic singer in Covent Gardens. This, and lots of other sights from the outside. and did some walking as well, all in the sun. I have the sun-burned pate to prove it.

Last night, we saw Dan off to Manchester after a short meal together in our own 'hood. And we went to bed. Seems like we sleep a lot, but I think it is still the time-shifting.

Tuesday, May 12

Today is Tuesday. It was just Pat, Darlene and I. Pat wanted to head off on his own, so Darlene and I went to St.Paul's Cathedral for a more detailed inside look. We paid our money and walked in wonder at the art of the place, truly a magnificent building (particularly since it was built in the 17th Century). We went up to the dome area and tested the Whispering Gallery (it worked), and marvelled at the opulence of a structure built in honour of a person who taught simplicity and charity. But as a structure, and as art, it blows you away.

That and walking about took most of the day. We had lunch in a little bar down a narrow alley near the Cathedral, tried to take a bus back home (only to discover that you can't get here from there), and got back to our hotel to say goodbye to Pat, who is on his way to Manchester tonight.

So what are our impressions of London? Expensive, busy, beautiful, packed with people, lots of restaurants. I like it, and want to come back. You feel like you're in a movie set, and you keep having this impression that you've been here before-when you could not have been.

And tomorrow we see more of it before heading north to Manchester ourselves.