Friday, July 28, 2006
JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN TRIP
JULY 1st THROUGH JULY8th, ENGLAND
We left Atlanta at 6:30 on June 30th. We arrived in London on July 1st at 10:05 AM. We had our Brit Rail Passes so we found the train station in Gatwick Airport, got our passes validated and got help figuring out our route to our home for the next week.
We stayed in a small town named Newton Abbott in Devon. It is about three hours from the center of London by train. I thought that we would be able to use bus transportation to get to the rail station, but it was not located on a bus line so we rented a car. That was an experience. I had to drive sitting on the right side of the car, the car was on the left side of the road and it had a stick shift which I had to handle with my left hand. With Mary’s help I got through the week without an accident.
We stayed in a condo which was part of a complex built around the original building of an Inn which dated back to 1761. They served the very traditional British meals in the Inn and we had several meals there. We had stuff I had read about like Ploughman’s Lunch and Carvery for Dinner. We had beef pie and Yorkshire pudding. We were the only colonials there so we were the oddity, but everyone tried to make sure we had a good time. On Sunday afternoon we saw some local dancers doing some of the old Folk Dances of England.
They were called Morris Dancers; nobody seemed real sure why. The entertainment was fun and the last dance they invited everyone to participate so we did. We are probably the only Morris Dancers in either of our families.
On Monday we did local stuff and did some shopping which we need to do. On Tuesday we went to London and took a get on get off double decker bus tour. We had someone telling us what we were seeing and they took us to all the major attractions in Central London. I think the most impressive sight I saw was the Houses of Parliament and right next door was Westminster Abbey. On the front of the parliament building is the Tower of Big Ben.
We were taking pictures and the clock struck the hour of six, so we know it works we took a little boat tour on the Thames River and saw Tower of London, the old prison which is now used for public meeting and concerts. They have a new attraction right across the river from Big Ben which is called London Eye. It is a big Ferris wheel 443 feet high with thirty two enclosed capsules which hold twenty five passengers. It moves so slowly that it takes half an hour to completely cycle.
The view is amazing, not only of the city, but of a lot of the surrounding area as well. Just before we went for a ride on the Eye, Mary asked a guy standing near us to take our picture. He heard her accent and said that sounds a lot like home. He was from Stockbridge, GA which is probably about 30 miles for where we lived in Atlanta. Small world!!! We had a big day and I can’t take time to write about everything we did and saw.
We returned to London and took a walking tour to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It is very ceremonial and lock step. We got a lot closer than many thousands of other people because we had an aggressive tour guide and he knew when to move and where to go.
The ceremony started at St. James Palace which is the official home of the Queen. The new guard gathered there and was escorted down the Mall by a band with much fanfare.
They entered the grounds at the Palace and the old guard formed up and joined them. By the time the change was completed and the old guard marched out it must have taken 45 minutes. We went to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery. Mary said that was a week long effort, not a few hours.
Before the Gallery we went to lunch at the Original Hard Rock Café. They had stuff in there from a lot of people I actually recognized. I think the center piece is a guitar given by Eric Clapton. It was their first artifact. Their very special stuff is in a vault room in the basement and someone takes you in there. I’m amazed that they let you handle the stuff they have there.
I took a picture of Mary playing BB King’s guitar, wearing on of Bo Diddlie’s hats and sitting on cushions which came from Jimmie Hendrix’s’ couch.
On Thursday we went to Dartmoor. I always heard about the moors and the country is beautiful. I guess there are moors all over England. We saw a show on the history channel which explained the changes in the land over the thousands of years which caused the land to be as it is.
Dartmoor is known for cattle, sheep and ponies.
We climbed Haytor Rock which is the highest point on the Moor. We visited a village called Widecombe on the Moor.
We visited a craft fair there which was held in a 15th century church hall. The core buildings in the village were all from that same time period. One of the older citizens told us of 4000 year old ruins close by. The granite used to build London Bridge was quarried there, and there is still a railroad built from granite to transport the stone from the quarry.
The next day, Friday, we stayed home and packed. We left in the afternoon so we could make the train trip to our next destination which was Germany.
JULY 1st THROUGH JULY8th, ENGLAND
We left Atlanta at 6:30 on June 30th. We arrived in London on July 1st at 10:05 AM. We had our Brit Rail Passes so we found the train station in Gatwick Airport, got our passes validated and got help figuring out our route to our home for the next week.
We stayed in a small town named Newton Abbott in Devon. It is about three hours from the center of London by train. I thought that we would be able to use bus transportation to get to the rail station, but it was not located on a bus line so we rented a car. That was an experience. I had to drive sitting on the right side of the car, the car was on the left side of the road and it had a stick shift which I had to handle with my left hand. With Mary’s help I got through the week without an accident.
We stayed in a condo which was part of a complex built around the original building of an Inn which dated back to 1761. They served the very traditional British meals in the Inn and we had several meals there. We had stuff I had read about like Ploughman’s Lunch and Carvery for Dinner. We had beef pie and Yorkshire pudding. We were the only colonials there so we were the oddity, but everyone tried to make sure we had a good time. On Sunday afternoon we saw some local dancers doing some of the old Folk Dances of England.
They were called Morris Dancers; nobody seemed real sure why. The entertainment was fun and the last dance they invited everyone to participate so we did. We are probably the only Morris Dancers in either of our families.
On Monday we did local stuff and did some shopping which we need to do. On Tuesday we went to London and took a get on get off double decker bus tour. We had someone telling us what we were seeing and they took us to all the major attractions in Central London. I think the most impressive sight I saw was the Houses of Parliament and right next door was Westminster Abbey. On the front of the parliament building is the Tower of Big Ben.
We were taking pictures and the clock struck the hour of six, so we know it works we took a little boat tour on the Thames River and saw Tower of London, the old prison which is now used for public meeting and concerts. They have a new attraction right across the river from Big Ben which is called London Eye. It is a big Ferris wheel 443 feet high with thirty two enclosed capsules which hold twenty five passengers. It moves so slowly that it takes half an hour to completely cycle.
The view is amazing, not only of the city, but of a lot of the surrounding area as well. Just before we went for a ride on the Eye, Mary asked a guy standing near us to take our picture. He heard her accent and said that sounds a lot like home. He was from Stockbridge, GA which is probably about 30 miles for where we lived in Atlanta. Small world!!! We had a big day and I can’t take time to write about everything we did and saw.
We returned to London and took a walking tour to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It is very ceremonial and lock step. We got a lot closer than many thousands of other people because we had an aggressive tour guide and he knew when to move and where to go.
The ceremony started at St. James Palace which is the official home of the Queen. The new guard gathered there and was escorted down the Mall by a band with much fanfare.
They entered the grounds at the Palace and the old guard formed up and joined them. By the time the change was completed and the old guard marched out it must have taken 45 minutes. We went to Trafalgar Square and went to the National Gallery. Mary said that was a week long effort, not a few hours.
Before the Gallery we went to lunch at the Original Hard Rock Café. They had stuff in there from a lot of people I actually recognized. I think the center piece is a guitar given by Eric Clapton. It was their first artifact. Their very special stuff is in a vault room in the basement and someone takes you in there. I’m amazed that they let you handle the stuff they have there.
I took a picture of Mary playing BB King’s guitar, wearing on of Bo Diddlie’s hats and sitting on cushions which came from Jimmie Hendrix’s’ couch.
On Thursday we went to Dartmoor. I always heard about the moors and the country is beautiful. I guess there are moors all over England. We saw a show on the history channel which explained the changes in the land over the thousands of years which caused the land to be as it is.
Dartmoor is known for cattle, sheep and ponies.
We climbed Haytor Rock which is the highest point on the Moor. We visited a village called Widecombe on the Moor.
We visited a craft fair there which was held in a 15th century church hall. The core buildings in the village were all from that same time period. One of the older citizens told us of 4000 year old ruins close by. The granite used to build London Bridge was quarried there, and there is still a railroad built from granite to transport the stone from the quarry.
The next day, Friday, we stayed home and packed. We left in the afternoon so we could make the train trip to our next destination which was Germany.
