Our England Trip - October 2000
Wednesday, October 18, 2000
Our flight was cancelled and no one at British Airways called to tell us. Sheesh. They put us on another flight about 2-3 hours later so we spent a looooong time at the airport. The flight was long, as usual. But the excitement was strong enough to get me through it. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep much - it was too cramped (a 747).
Thursday, October 19, 2000
We got the paperwork for our rental car and walked out to see it - ROARED with laughter! It was a bright metallic lime green mini-mini-van sort of thing. It was so ugly it was cute. We dubbed him our Baby Dragon. He did very well for us :-)
We got out of London with only one wrong turn (not bad considering it was the first time Brian had ever driven on the left side and we encountered numerous roundabouts along the first part of the trek).
Arrived in New Forest area (Best Western Forest Lodge in Lyndhurst) around 3:00 or 4:00. What a pretty little area! And the hotel was really cute! Lovely wooded grounds and an old building with a lot of charm. I think I took a short nap and then we had Chinese food at Ming Dynasty in the village. Yum! Noodles and veggies. Had my first lager of the trip :-) Back to the room and snooze. Not too badly jetlagged yet.
Friday, October 20, 2000
Woke up and subjected Brian to his first English Breakfast. I'm not fond of the way they're set up and I've never been fond of breakfast food anyway (except for their bacon - yummmm). Then it was off to explore. Oh, the countryside was beautiful! We drove along the little lanes, waiting for horses with flowing manes and pink piggies with curly tails to get out of the way now and then. I love the way they just run free in places. I got to see the village of Emery Down that I am using for a small setting in "Starrling's Flight". It was perfect! No pub, no store, no church - just a few homes, farms and a post box. As we drove, we had another lesson: all roads that cross on the map may not necessarily intersect. Wandered around looking for a roundabout, an exit, an entryway, anything, then we were on our way. Stopped to view the Cerne Abbas giant. Heh. Delusional people, whoever scratched that large figure into the chalk hill. Delusional in that NO man could EVER have that large a penis! Perhaps they just *think* they do? Hmm?
Headed down to Ilsington, in Devon. We stayed at another lovely hotel - this one even better than the first (Best Western Ilsington Village in Newton Abbott, Devon). It had a huge lawn and garden in the front with woodlands surrounding the entire area. Took a little snooze (hey, we both have CFIDS...we tire easily), then had dinner in the hotel pub - pasta and chicken. It was really good. Started having trouble sleeping that night. I was awake the ENTIRE night. It was awful!
PLEASE NOTE: Best Western Hotels in England are NOTHING like Best Western hotels over here. They're still owned by families or individuals and are just linked to Best Western. They are *lovely* and I strongly suggest people consider them and not be turned off by the words "Best Western".
Saturday, October 21, 2000
We had breakfast then took off across Dartmoor. We drove in and out of all the little roads and lanes - some were single track lanes even, where the hedges scratch the side mirrors of the car! But the moors are so lovely - the most wonderful wild ponies wandering free...sheep...cows...and this beautiful type of bird that we think is a jay - it's deep, deep blue with bright white markings - looks like he's wearing a tuxedo. They were everywhere! The weather was great - cold but clear. We stopped for a look-see in Widecombe-in-the-Moor - what a pretty little village! We had lunch at The Cleaves, a pub in Lustleigh. Brian's first pub meal! I bellied up to the bar and ordered for us, since I'd already learned the ropes from my previous trips. I had a Ploughman's Lunch and Brian had a rare roast beef sandwich. Both were very good! The Ploughman's is a great creation over there: usually a plank or a platter with some salad, a large hunk of cheese (it was Stilton this time), some crusty bread and great chutney. Occasionally it's served with meat but I prefer it the vegetarian method. We were giddy in the afternoon from lack of sleep and hours of wandering - and goofing around while driving so we nearly missed one of the sights - did a few turns in the car park (slow-motion donuts, I called them) and hopped out to see an old Roman footbridge that is still standing (1,600-1,800 years later?). It was amazing! We spent a little time there stretching our legs and taking pictures. Then it was off to Lydford (Moor View House) - right at the edge of the moors. It was a small B&B and our room was toooooooo filled with "thingies" - stuffed teddy bears, dolls, etc. There wasn't much room to put our own stuff so we kept it all packed. Brian mixed me a "potion" so I could get some sleep. It worked great for a couple of hours. We didn't have dinner really - just ate snacks we'd picked up along the way from take-away places. Then when it came time for night-sleep, I was wide awake again. So he mixed me another "potion" and I was off to dreamland at last.
Sunday, October 22, 2000
Had a lovely home-cooked breakfast (that's the nice part about small B&B's) and chatted with another couple staying there. They were Brits on holiday and very nice! When we were trying to pack the car and check out, the owner's two big dogs (one was a black lab, the other a shep mix) would NOT let us go. They wanted us to stay and love them ::grin::. It always helps me on these trips when I get to play or pet puppies and cats - makes me miss my own animals a little less. Unfortunately, there was no replacement for my son but I had not yet begun to truly miss him (a sign that I *really* needed this vacation). That's not to say I never thought about him - in fact I thought and talked about him every day. It's just that I knew he was having fun and I was having fun too :-)
Today was my first driving day... YIKES! Actually, I think I did very well. Let's just say that a certain good driver I know does *not* necessarily make a good passenger ::ahem::. He had me SO nervous .... granted we both (as passengers) occasionally did our imitation of Hyacinth Bucket (mind the tree, Richard) LOL. Anyway, he did admit that I did fine (although his heart was probably racing). As for driving, it's very unnerving to be on a narrow lane and have to find a place to pull over to let oncoming traffic go by. Also we discovered a certain style of native driver that we promptly tagged the "Banzai Brit" - he/she's the one that would barrel along the single track lane and not give a fiddler's fart* about other traffic because he/she drove that same road on a daily basis. ::shudder::
*fiddler's fart... I learned that in Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, both by Frank McCourt, the two books I read on this trip.
So... here I was driving and it seemed like forever but we finally made it to Tintagel pretty early in the morning. There weren't any crowds and we walked down the very long and very steep hill to get to the entrance. It wasn't 2 minutes before we decided that we'd pay the £2 to take the Rover ride back up the hill later. Tintagel is a magickal place. The energy was overwhelming at times. It's the ruins of a 13th century castle that is perched on various levels of a cliff on the Atlantic side of the southern part of England. The wind is quite ferocious at times and we could easily imagine how isolated it must have been back then, with no roads to speak of and bad weather at times. We spent a long time wandering around. I picked up a few pieces of loose quartz and slate from the ground to take home (something I do whenever a place strikes my core). Tintagel is believed to have been rebuilt on this site in the 13th century, replacing the possible remains of a much more ancient castle - one that legend says may have been the birthplace of King Arthur. There have been many reports of supernatural happenings there. Several reports were that the vision of the castle remains blurred away from sight and replaced by a shimmering vision of life as it may have been in the 13th century. Who knows if it's true or not, but it sure adds to the magick of the place.
We continued on to our first stone circle - actually it's three combined. The Hurlers is three stone circles placed together in a row, and they are located in the middle of the moors. Almost spooky, actually. The weather was coming in and the sky was dark grey, the wind roaring so hard that my eyes kept leaking. Brian went for a walk one way, I think to let me have some time alone in the circle. I sat on one of the broken rocks and faced down the core of the circles. The bad weather seemed either to subside for a moment, or I at least ceased to be aware of it. I felt warm. I felt riveted, too. The sun peeked through the clouds and caused slanted rays to shine on the farthest stones. Whew.
Ok, here is where the driving got dicey. Brian was navigating me. Heh. He navigated me down the wrong road, which turned out to be a lane so narrow and muddy that the hedges scraped both sides of the car and the grade was so steep that I was afraid of what I would do if another car came from the other direction! I couldn't believe we survived it!
We continued along and stopped to view the Trethevy Quoit, a Neolithic monument - a burial chamber standing 15 feet tall - six stones holding up one huge slab. Part of it fell in a heavy storm a thousand years ago - it looks as if it should have fallen a long time ago. Very interesting.
We were weary by this time and continued on to St. Austell (Carlyon Bay Hotel). All I can say about this hotel is: WOW! It was right on the beach, but with a lovely green lawn separating us from the sand.... at night the bunnies hopped around all over the grass, nibbling away, despite the heavy wind and rain. What was also nice was that we were staying here two nights. More relaxing than picking up and moving each day. Had room service because we were too tired to function. I had an "egg mayonnaise sandwich" (translates to egg salad) and Brian had a ham, bacon, turkey, pineapple sandwich. We shared chips (translates to fries).
Monday, October 23, 2000
Breakfast in the room - ahhhhhhh. Then on to Cornwall. My legs were KILLING me from the stairs and hills at Tintagel. Off we went to Chysauster. This was the most interesting site on the whole trip (Tintagel being the second interesting)! It's the remains of a 2,000+ year old Celtic village. Clusters of stone houses complete with drainage designed inside each house! For the technology back then, this was quite advanced! The word "primitive" certainly isn't accurate. We wandered around all of the nine identified houses (they know there are more that haven't been excavated) and I truly felt my Celtic Pagan roots there. I could imagine them celebrating, honoring their gods/goddesses and worshiping at the nearby stone circles. I didn't want to leave, despite the strong winds and rain. They will be closing the site for the winter and the poor archaeologists will continue work to uncover another part of the settlement. Soooooo exciting! I definitely want to return to that site some day. Also, there's another village like this further south called Carn Euny that I would someday like to explore. The caretaker at Chysauster talked with us for a long time about that site and others. He also told us about these Cornish brothers who protest about the English Heritage. Apparently Cornwall wants to be its own territory. I don't think that will happen and it's a shame that they have to bother people visiting these sites.
Next we wandered along more moor-roads to Men-An-Tol - a Bronze age stone monument - about 2,000-4,500 years old (can you imagine anything that old? and that's still an infant compared to some historical sites in Europe). Anyway, it's several stones, the current remaining ones being three - two upright and a donut shaped stone in the middle. It's believed that these types of monuments were built where the earth's energy was quite strong and therefore the magick would be more effective. Pretty cool. The only problem with this site is that I think it was about a mile hike to get to it (whew).
Next we got lost. Ended up in the narrowest of narrow lanes and alleys going straight up a hill or straight down the hill near the village of Mousehole (mow-zul). Yikes! I wasn't driving (thank goodness!!) but I was a nervous wreck! When we finally got out of there I was very relieved. We continued to another stone circle called the Merry Maidens in Lamorna, near Land's End. It's fascinating! Legend has it (or should I say fairy tale has it...) that it was 19 Pagan maidens who danced in the Pagan way instead of going to church on the sabbath and they were struck by lightening and turned to stone. heh. whatever :-) Anyway, it's a perfect circle of stones with tracks crossing it (from people walking) that intersect in the very middle. I stood in that center and felt that warm magnetic pull. Again, the wind seemed to die down (perhaps it was just that I tuned it out - who knows). I felt exhilirated when we left and climbed back into the car. Brian was fumbling around in the trunk and I called "whatcha doin?" He said "just fussing." So I went back to staring at the circle and daydreaming. He finally got into the car and held out the BIGGEST diamond ring set in platinum with two small triangular diamonds on either side (the various "3's" in the ring are very important to me as 3's appear frequently in my spiritual side). "I want you to be my wife," he said. EEEP!! "I *want* to be your wife," is what I *think* I said - we hugged and I cried and I squealed and I asked him to put the ring on my finger. He slid it on in front of my handfast ring and it was sooo heavy! Wow, I've never imagined having anything like it at all. And a true proposal? I've never gotten that either! Let's just say it was a magickal gesture in a magickal setting on a very magickal day :-) I was unable to perform navigational duties - I was in shock. It started to pour as we got back into St. Austell so we stopped for fish & chips take-away and returned to our hotel room. Yumm.
Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Longest driving day today. Brian and I took turns (but he drove more than I did). Up from Cornwall to Avebury in Wiltshire. Several hours. But Avebury was wonderful. Although I'd seen it before, I'd never walked the perimeter like we did this time. The view from up there was terrific too - you could see the track of an old Roman road, even. Lots of sheepies wandering around us too.
On to Stonehenge - we got there 1/2 hour before closing but it didn't matter - we were so tired that we couldn't have stayed longer anyway. It still holds its magick for me, even if you can't get near it. Shopped in the gift shop. Headed homewards to our new hotel in Wells but stopped along the way at the ruins of Nunney Castle, a 14th century structure. Part of it took a good hit by a cannon used by Cromwell's troops but held almost in tact until recently when weather and time finally made it crumble. The moat is still in tact and filled with water! Amazing sight.
We finally arrived in Wells and stayed at the White Swan Hotel. Not the best of our hotel picks but for the village, it seemed to be the nicest. We had a four poster bed in our room! cool ! Weird dining room though - prix fixe meal that was REALLY expensive but we were so tired we ate a little there anyway. Food was good, just a little too fancy for our fatigued bodies. We both had fish - trying to eat something light. Brian mixed me another sleeping potion and off I went to dreamland.
Wednesday, October 25, 2000
Not much driving today! YAY! We drove over to Glastonbury and wandered the abbey for a while. It's really presented well by the society that runs it - all the markers are clear enough to give you a true feeling of how it was when it was in full use. It's located on 36 acres! Of course we didn't walk the whole thing LOL. It's a 16th century site with part of the main buildings still standing. Quite impressive. Some people think King Arthur and Guinivere were buried here but I have to go with archaeologists and don't believe it's true. The evidence is too contrary. Anyway, it was lovely... the rain came and went but there was always someway to stand and wait it out. Very peaceful. There was only one other couple there - from New Zealand. They had been in England for several weeks already.
After the Abbey we shopped in the village. Lots of Pagan/Witchey type shops so I was happy! I ended up having a wonderful chat with one of the owners. She told me about being a Pagan in England and I told her how it was for me in America. I let her know that I felt England to be a little more open minded about people's beliefs and she agreed, probably because Paganism was actually there in their country before Christianity. Anyway, I bought a few things (of course) and had a great time.
The rain had stopped but the wind was picking up. Brian and I drove out to the Tor. We actually climbed it despite both of us being soooo tired and not feeling great. When we got to the top, the wind was so strong I could barely stand up! The climb is only a few minutes but it's quite steep and slippery in places. Some people estimate a 45 minute round trip. Way up on top you can see for miles! And with the wind, the visibility was perfect. I've heard it said that if you have troubles, you leave them behind at the Tor and if you have questions, you'll find the answers there. I believe it. It's another place on this earth that has a palpable energy. I felt great! Exhilirated again. But BOY were my legs killing me even more!
Next we went to the Chalice Well. A most peaceful and thought-gathering spot. The well is heavy in iron so the water runs almost red - kind of a reddish orange. I filled a large bottle with some of the water and rinsed my pentacles and my new diamond in the spring too. Very cleansing. A new beginning kind of feeling. Brian said he had originall planned to propose here but he couldn't wait and the feelings at the Merry Maiden just caused him to do it sooner. Kind of sweet :-)
Back to the hotel we went, and I was glowing. I don't even remember what we did for dinner LOL. I do remember that we had tea across the street and did our laundry in a cute little "laundrette" a few blocks away. Hmmm.... dinner.... Oh! pub meal.... I think I had a Ploughman's again... Brian had pasta and some other nibbles. It was very good.
Thursday, October 26, 2000
We left Wells via the Cheddar Gorge. No, it's not filled with cheese. It's a very deep gorge with caves and such all over. Very pretty where the touristy shops haven't taken over.
We returned the Baby Dragon to Avis at Heathrow and got on their shuttle to the airport to pick up a cab for London. Halfway there I realized that, amongst all the baggage we were schlepping, my purse was missing! Both passports, all my credit cards, my ATM and £100 cash. I started to shake. The driver radioed back and had people looking in the Baby Dragon for it. This took several minutes - perhaps 10-15! Each minute I shook more and was almost to the point of hysterics when they radioed that they'd found it and were bringing it to the terminal! I can NOT believe I did that - I have always been so careful and never lost my belongings like that! ::sigh:: Anyway, it had a happy ending and I tipped the guy who brought it to me. Then I cried when it was all over. This exhausted me but I was happy it'd been found :-) We took a black cab (they are SO cool) to London and the driver was really nice! He told us all about things to see and places to eat along the way. The cab ride was only £35 which is less than I estimated and VERY worth it since we had a lot of "stuff" with us.
We settled into the Knightsbridge Green hotel and we loved our room! It was large enough for the queen sized bed, a desk and a table and chairs... a safe for my ring... plenty of closets... and the HUGE marble bathroom! Plenty of room for drying umbrellas in there. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We decided their room service prices were a little steep so we explored and found 4 cafe's around the corner! Perfect! You could either get take-away or eat in. We wandered around the neighborhood looking for a restaurant that the cab driver had suggested - the Stock Pot. We got all the way to Sloane Square and decided we couldn't find it. We turned around and headed back - found the place 1 1/2 blocks from the hotel - it was tucked in a little on the street and hard to see from the other direction LOL. We had a nice dinner - Brian had chicken and I had Sausage and Mash (mashed potatoes). Yummy!
Headed back to the hotel and off to sleep.
Friday, October 27, 2000
Up early today and had breakfast in one of the cafes around the corner. Then we got our first tube passes and navigated our way to the British Museum. It's a shame that it was all torn up for renovation (but I sure do want to see it when it's done!) and some things weren't on display because of that. But, what we did see was pretty spectacular. I found the old Celtic designs on some of the pieces amazingly intricate.
From there we went to the National Gallery. Wow. Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, etc! Right there in front of me! They have the works divided by era. We spent most of our time in the section 1800's - 1900's but wandered into the "prior to 1200" area for just a bit. We had fun spending money in the gift shop. Then it was back to the hotel. Our legs still hadn't recovered from Tintagel and the Tor so we were tiring easily. Had dinner at this tiny Italian restaurant. I had pasta with mushrooms and Brian had a chicken dish.
Saturday, October 28, 2000
Today I was on my own in the morning. Brian wasn't feeling well so he rested in the room (CFIDS flu). I hopped on the tube and went off to Hamley's to spend money on Tim ::grin:: I call it the "mommy-guilt-money" actually. He collects these small British metal soldiers and I stocked up on enough for gifts for his birthday. Also, there were lots of other cool things there so I spent a LOT of money. Lugged two bags back towards the tube stop. Ooops. Fire trucks and bobbies all over the entrance. It's closed. Asked the bobbie where to go. He directed me to Leicester Square... but said if I walked a few blocks further I'd find Covent Garden. LOL... he must have seen the pound signs all over me. I walked and walked. In Leicester square is a Swiss clock maker or shop or something - I don't recall exactly - and they have this cool "cuckoo" type clock on the building outside. It was striking 12noon when I got there and all these bells were ringing on the clock and little statues of cows, sheep, a girl and boy went around in a circle. It was cool. I stopped at a book store and got the sequel to Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt) called 'Tis. I'd finished the first one and was hooked. It was cheaper over there, too - even considering the exchange rate. I also had purchased the latest Harry Potter book for a WAY reduced priced a few days earlier! Anyway, I didn't really feel like shopping more once I arrived at Covent Garden so I just wandered before heading back on the tube. Got back to the hotel and laid down for a while. Then Brian and I went out for a bit - bussed it down to Westminster. Walked along the bridge, then back to the abbey. It was closed due to a special service but we walked around and then played in the gift shop. Had a cup of tea and a muffin from one of the carts right outside. Yummm. Back to the hotel for a rest. Had dinner in Tattershall's pub (in the restaurant downstairs - the pub was crowded and smoky). I had scampi (fried shrimp) and Brian had sausage and mash. I had two lagers! Made the leg pains go away LOL. Back to the hotel room and watched TV. Twelve channels! wow! We watched a hilarious game show called Have I Got News For You - Brian and I were laughing hysterically. I love Brit humor.
Sunday, October 29, 2000
Early this morning headed for The Tower of London. I love that place! The crown jewels were magnificent again. Wandered around (legs were tired and sore again) and looked at the ravens. Traitors Gate is awesome. Climbed the stairs in the Bloody Tower and looked at the displays. We went into the White Tower to see the armor but the Domesday Book was on display and the crowd was awful. We skipped it. It was cold and windy and we were tired already so we decided we were done. We stopped and had a snack from one of the cart vendors outside and then played in the Tower gift shop. From there we were off to the Tate Modern. By now our "dogs" were barking - I had to force myself to take steps. We wandered the museum a bit. I must admit that this is much more Brian's taste than mine - I'm not fond of modern art. At last, back to the hotel. It started to rain pretty hard by now. This was the beginning of the big storm that we had been hearing about. We braved it to find somewhere to eat - all we found was a Chinese restaurant a few blocks away. But... it was REALLY good! There was only one other person in the place - between the fact that it was Sunday and the storm, the streets were pretty devoid of pedestrians - a lot of cars, though, probably trying to get home. We braved the elements and fought our way back to the hotel after dinner. My brolly turned inside out several times. Safely back in the hotel, we were faced with the sad task of packing.
Monday, October 30, 2000
The news reports are showing awful results of the storm overnight. Flooding... people dead...trains crunched...cars with trees on them...motorways and roads that we had been on just a few days before were completely under water. Yet, London seemed fairly serene. We had a quick breakfast and then walked to Harrods. Yes, I set my personal boycott aside so that Brian could see it. We wandered the Food Hall and he bought a sandwich and a pork/apricot pie for the airport. He bought treats for the dogs and cats at home. We were trying to get down to another floor and ... there it was... the ridiculous shrine to Diana and Dodi. Sheesh. I had tried so hard to avoid it but it's almost impossible unless you avoid the escalators. So we hurried past it but I felt sick to my stomach. I shivered a little as I got further away. Those of you that know me know how I feel about the Fayeds. Publicity hungry. Oh well, Brian wasn't that impressed with the place so it looks like we won't have to go back there. I'd love to try Selfridges and Harvey Nichols next time. Much happier :-)
The Heathrow Express was not running which would mean that a LOT of cabs would be used to get to the airport. We decided to leave earlier than necessary. There was a woman in our hotel from Texas. She was typical of the "Ugly American"- loud, abrasive, demanding. She wanted to share a cab with us but we made excuses and wiggled out of it (too much luggage). She muttered and mumbled and went back to her room (even though she'd already checked out) and the staff comiserated with us over her behavior. They would be glad to see her go, too :-)
Sat around at the airport for a little bit (not very long). The line to check in had been very long (an hour!) and so we were happy we'd gotten there early. We ate some of the snacks Brian had brought. Although were flew out on British Airways, we flew back on a Virgin Atlantic (Airbus). There was more room on this flight but it was still a LONG 11 hours. Ugh. I knew I was getting sick by this time. I tried to sleep: impossible. Customs and immigration at LAX was amazingly fast! The only hitch was that Virgin had trouble finding half the baggage and most of the passengers (including us) stood around probably an extra 20 minutes till it suddenly appeared down the chute. Another half hour to get our car... and hour's drive home and we were finally in our own bed. I was thrilled to see my son and we hugged and cuddled for almost an hour. It was wonderful to see him that happy to see me!
Brian and I are already talking about our next trip (sometime... no time frame set yet). It will probably be an easier trip. Perhaps 4 days in the Lake District, 3 days in the York area and a couple days in London. The nice part is, I've already been to the Lake District and York and have hotels already picked out. For now, I have to concentrate on getting well and getting my bags unpacked LOL.
England Trip Pictures
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