June 21 Heading North to Scotland

Mom, Sara, Kate and Rory. We had a lovely time in Rodden Manor and could not have asked for better hosts. Thanks much, you two!

Thursday-June 21
Did you know that the keyboards on the computers over here are different? Takes a little getting used to.

Yesterday we drove up from Frome to Rosewell, just south of Edinburgh. We stopped regularly but our only tourist stop was at an ancient Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall where we were able to walk the layout and commune with some sheep. I am writing this at an internet cafe so will load the pictures later.


Friday June 22
Our cottage for the next few days is in a wooded mature garden setting and I am thoroughly enjoying the books in the library. I found one on funny last wills and testaments and it gave us all the giggles this morning. We caught the bus into Edinburgh, about 55 minute drive, and it is misty and foggy and you cannot see the castle from where we are on the Royal Mile, but hopefully it will burn off soon. More later.

June 20th- Cornwall-Tintagel

Well, not as good weather today--very cloudy and the perfect atmosphere for a visit to the Devon and Cornwall coast and a trip out to Tintagel, the supposed place of King Arthurs conception. Below you see a shop full of King Arthur stuff. Good stuff I'm sure, but we didn't go in. We had lunch at Wyldes Cafe, real coffee for Mom and Brian- Coke for Kate. Did you know that they don't have Mt. Dew here? How am I supposed to survive?

Here you can see how much Mom is loving the sunny Cornwall coast, notice the palm trees,-- and Brian is getting by with his one pair of shorts, no pants- Still haven't got his luggage from the airlines, they have no idea where it could be.
Here we are out at the ruins of Tintagel castle-quite the forbidding location and I can't imagine they had to fight anyone off--who would want to invade? In the legend, Merlin disguises Uther as Ygrain's husband, Gorlois, the duke of Cornwall. He sneaks him up the cliffs and into the castle where she welcomes him and Arthur is conceived. I didn't like climbing up there with stairs, let alone sneaking up the cliff face.


It was quite a climb up there and we left Mom at the Cafe at the bottom. In order to get there we hiked down and back up again--Mom rode down in a Landcruiser and decided to walk back up with us because she felt she hadn't had enough exercise yet that day. Hah! She has had enough now!We drove home up the M5 and then came across near Glastonbury, but the music festival is on and the traffic was all backed up so we detoured. We seem to be doing a lot of that. Had dinner tonight in the George Hotel in Frome.
The weather has been cool so we have both been wearing our jeans, which we only packed just in case. Just goes to show you! We are getting up early tomorrow and heading north to Scotland. It will probably be colder there, but hopefully by the time we get down to London we will see some warmer weather.

Till the next time I can get online-ta ta from all of us to all of you!

19th June- Bath

We listened to the news Tuesday morning and heard that the sun was to be out most of the morning so we headed for Bath! The Bath Abbey was beautiful and Mom and I were both very impressed by the intricate work on the ceiling. The windows were also incredible. Brian had me take pictures of several of the wall plaques to different Pennisular War veterans--figure that. I won't make you look at them though.

From there we walked out side to the Roman Baths, right next door. They were just found in the last 150 years and excavated out. They are 15 feet below the street level. The water is green because they are now exposed to the sun, and the algae grow. They would have been clear and very hot in 200 a.d. The Pump Room was right next door and we didn't have tea there, just looked and checked it out. Very nice, Beau Nash did a good job!
We then hopped on a sightseeing bus tour for the rest of the city, and went around once just to figure out where we wanted to see more. Mom on the top of the bus,....Next stop Jane Austen's for tea. We then walked up to the circus which was a full circle of townhouses from the Georgian era, late 1700's--and on to the Royal Crescent where we toured the inside of a Georgian home at the #1 townhouse museum there.
We were home early enough for us to build a fire again and read our books. A very nice day with rain at the end but plenty of clear day to enjoy.

18th June---Lazy day

We spent most of the day lazing about in our great cottage- reading books in front of the fire. Mom and Brian went grocery shopping and we had steaks, asparagus, corn on the cob and baked potatoes with a big salad for dinner.

June 17th Sunday

Brian made breakfast again, but we came downstairs to eat it!
Mom wanted to see some gardens, so we headed south to Stourhead Gardens and walked a two mile course through them. Beautiful vistas planned to take advantage of many very MATURE trees and the lake.

Then we went to Winchester to visit the Cathedral- Jane Austen is Buried here!

We then headed south to the Coast and looked for Woodend- a home of George Berkeley for a few years. We ended up on crazy back roads of only one lane, hemmed in completely by trees and hedges, but eventually found it. We got the name of the current owner and Brian will contact her later. She is 93 and was taking her nap.
Then we went to Southampton and the old walled town is somewhat visible-

On our way home we went through the NEW forest and Kate navigated an extra long tour home ( I missed an exit, what can I say!) We had dinner at a great Italian restaurant in Ilchester.

June 16, 2007 in Frome

Frome, pronounced Frume is a lovely town and we are staying right outside in a wonderful spot. I will be uploading photos in the next few days, but till then I will give you a running report. Friday we arrived at the airport on time, then spent 45 minutes in the passport checking line, but found Brian as soon as we picked up our luggage. We rented a car through Enterprise and ended up with a Mercedes that Brian is loving to Drive.


We drove to St Peters in West Molesy to find the tomb of Admiral Berkeley. We found he was actually buried in a tomb beneath the church, but got pictures of Brian in front of the memorial plaque.

1. We then drove down to Salisbury and saw the wonderful Cathedral and once again took many pictures.
Mom and Brian on the bridge.








2. From there we drove out over the plains to STONEHENGE. What a great stop.





3. We then proceded to find our cottage and went to bed at 9.
   

Saturday-

Mom and I woke up to breakfast in bed, served by my wonderful little brother, Brian.

1. We left early and drove to Wales, to the capital of Cardiff. We spent some time in Cardiff castle.







2. We then drove east to Caerleon roman ruins and saw the Ampitheater and museum and had lunch at the Priory where Brian loved the Creme Brulee.
   
   
   
   
   We then drove on to Berkeley Castle where Brian helped the docent on the tour.
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. Home again, driving through the Cotswolds.I know this is very brief, but I am using the computer in my hosts home and they are expecting guests soon.

On the road again--

We can't check into our hotel room until 3pm- but Jeff will be bringing Mom up as soon as he can, so he can avoid the nasty traffic on the way out of town. They have a 3 hour drive, and Karen and I only have a 2 hour drive, so I will be waiting for Mom's call. We will leave a little earlier and do some thrift shopping on the way.

I lately discovered BookMooch and have been throwing lots of my books up on the swap site. There should be a link at the bottom of the side bar on the left. I also just barely started putting my Library up on LIBRARYTHING but they have been down for repairs for the last few days so I am just looking at all the books thinking how the heck am I going to get them all listed! I started with the Science Fiction first, since the computer is set up in front of that bookcase--but YIKES, I have a lot of books! It is pretty easy with the newer books with ISBN numbers on them, but earlier than 1970 I am going to have to enter a lot more information. This might be a good time to decide what I really NEED to keep, but culling is hard.

ALL RIGHT!!--my ride is here. I will be in contact when I can--Love to all.

Brian in London-his luggage in India

I finished my day at work, now I am doing last minute checks and playing with Sassy Pants, she is sure going to be huffy with me when I get back.

from Brian's email---

OK - so I'm here. I was delayed 3 hours at takeoff in NYC (on the plane and on the runway - it was hot) because of thunderstorms. I arrived this morning and they had sent my bag on to India. I hope to get it tomorrow or the next day.

Be sure to have your medicines and essentials in your carryon!

Thanks for the warning Brian, I will pack for that contingency!

Brian is on his way!

Well, Brian is in the air and on his way. He will be doing some research before we get there, and as soon as we get out of the airport Friday morning we are headed for Berkeley's gravestone, and I will definitely be taking pictures of Brian grinning there!

I am all packed and finishing last minute things around the house, still have to work tomorrow, but then I am officially on VACATION. Just turned on the airconditioner for the first time, so I at least am hoping it will be a bit cooler there.

My personality report.

Mom sent me this link.

I am a respectful analyst!

My Personal Dna Report

St. Louis stop on the 13th of June

Mom and I will start our journey with a road trip from our respective homes to St Louis on the 13th of June. I used Priceline.com to get our reservations in town, so that we can have a good nights sleep. We were upgraded to a four star hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Union Station!

We need to be on the Amtrak at 6:00 AM on the 14th, and have a 6 hour trip to Chicago. We then need to get from the train station to O'Hare Airport by 4:00 PM for our 6 o'clock flight to London. We will have an 8 hour flight and arrive in London at Heathrow at 8 in the morning. Hopefully Brian will be waiting for us with a big smile on his face. Then we drive out to Frome, south of Bath. It will be a long day, but I hope we get some sleep on the plane so that we can enjoy the drive and see some sights that first day.

London Accomodations June 24-30

This is where we will be staying for the week in London with Jennifer. She says Brian has to have the top bunk! We will be staying in apartment C in this advertisement








Glenthurston & The Croft are situated to the South East of the Centre of London. Zone 3 in a residential area, a 5 minute walk from the train stations.

Rodden Manor, Frome in Somerset- First Stop

The first stop on our trip will be Rodden Manor in Somerset. It is just south of Bath.








Attached to the historic medieval Manor, part of which dates from Norman times, Rodden Manor Cottage lies in secluded privacy on the banks of Rodden Brook half a mile outside Frome. The moated Manor house was acquired by Sir John ('Little Jack') Horner following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. According to the popular story, at the time of dissolution Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury, hoped to appease Henry VIII by sending his steward Jack Horner to London with a Christmas gift, a pie, hidden in which were deeds of twelve manors, including those of Rodden and Mells. On the journey, Jack opened the pie and removed the deeds; shortly afterwards the Horner family took up residence at Mells.

Park Nuek Cottage in Scotland.

This is in the old stone section of the building, but the dining area is in the newest section. How about that view? http://www.parkneuk.co.uk/



There are several reasons why I chose this place to stay for the Scotland Leg of our tour. This is the main one! Guess where I want to sleep?

It is also just south of Edinburgh and very near the Rosslyn Chapel, which figured in the last section of The Di Vinci Code.

More Preparation

Finally settled on our London accomodations! Now I just have to choose between the ones that respond for the first week.

I ate Chinese tonight and my fortune cookie said- You are about to embark on a most delightful journey! How's that for a rousing endorsement!

Preparation

Ok, before you go on a trip you have to decide where, who and when.

1. Great Britain,
2. Mom, Kate and Brian with Jennifer joining us for the last week in London
3. June 15-July 1, 2007

Then you have to get transportation tickets.

1. Jennifer did
2. Mom and Kate did.

Then you have to find out where you are staying. I am working on that.

The first 6 days, 15th-20th will be in the Midlands, then 3 nights in Scotland, 21th-23th and then a week in London, 25th-30th.

I am confirming our spot in Scotland at Park Neuk cottage and am still getting feedback on London and Midlands sites.