Saturday Bath Abbey

Yet again we were amazed by the size, craftsmanship,  light,  surfeit of volunteers, etc of another cathedral -  Bath Abbey. We were  also  very impressed with a series of 35  images. Each image depicted an episode of Jesus life and consisted of 2 roughly A3 size elements, one calligraphy, usually a bible quote, beautifully illustrated and the other element an embroidery which matched the text in content and the calligraphy in colour. I could have spent half an hour looking carefully at each, instead I bought a book of the images and the creators notes. Noel did the same.

We talked to one of the volunteers for ages . He had spent time in Australia as a young man. We also talked to one of the clergy. He pointed out a series of new carved wooden angels above the choir stalls which were quirky and fun.   The volunteer told us about a new memorial to Arthur Philip so after the cathedral we walked up the hill to see it, having lunch on the way. We walked back yet another way via the river.
Another great day. Noel is almost better,  not so I.

Friday Roman Baths in Bath

Today's highlight was our visit to the Roman Baths. We had not read much literature and did not realize that the complex included a temple and all sorts of interesting displays. It was a vast complex of several baths of different uses, the main hot water spring which had religious significance, remaining bits of the temple to the goddess Sulis Minerva , tomb stones, artifacts, engineering displays of how the huge stone blocks were manoeuvred etc etc.  The local tribe , before the Romans arrived, believed their goddess Sulis had a connection with the thermal spring.  The town, in Roman times, was called Aqua Sulis.    It was another very rewarding experience.

In the afternoon we rested, shopped and checked Sundays bus. We wandered round the deserted streets after an early dinner, marvelling again at the attractive georgian architecture . There are hordes and hordes of people wondering around between about 10 and 6. Not always pleasant.

Arrival in Bath

Noel woke this morning considerably imroved and I woke somewhat worse for wear. We got a taxi , cost £4, to the station rather than walk 200m and catch a bus at £ 1.50 each. A no brainer.  I am learning to take taxis.

The train trip was uneventful and we arrived here in Bath in the early afternoon. Our  very pleasant room looks  over  a cobbled courtyard with a tree in the middle.  We had afternoon tea in one of the many 'traditional' tea rooms along with some of the other tourists. There were hordes wandering around the town. We wandered past the baths and abbey, very near us, and went up to look at a semi circular 'row' of large georgian townhouses. We wandered back, stopping in a pub for a drink.  Tonight we had dinner in a nice pub on the other side of the cobbled courtyard.

Resting in Truro on Wednesday

By the time we got back to our hotel yesterday Noel was feeling a bit seedy. He had a bad night, coughing and spluttering, so we decided to do as little as possible today. We had planned to go to Polperro but decided getting him better for Bath was more important. As it turned out he slept for most of the day, the only foray by him into the outside world was made to the nearby chemist  and the cafe attached to the cathedral when the cleaners came.  I had several wanders throughout the day and enjoyed the rest.

Tomorrow is another day.

Magical Mystery Nostalgic Tour

This morning we went on a magical mystery nostalgia tour.

We left Truro sitting in the top left hand seats of a double decker bus heading toward Newquay. Driving down narrow country lanes this was sometimes an advantage , we could see over the hedges, but sometimes , particularly for me on the outside seat, it was sometimes scary.  Sometimes the hedges intruded onto the road and grew over the road, over the top of norml cars, but not double deckers. A big branch would approach and the bus would drive straight through.

We had  30 minutes at Newquay in which I was shown from the cliff tops some of the beaches below by my Cornwall of 50 years ago tour guide. We then caught a bus heading for Padstow. We passed the airport and drove through St Morgan village, well known to my guide. We got off the bus at Morgan Porth.  My tour guide used to swim there. We had cornish pasties sitting watching the many people enjoying the sandy beach.  It was usually deserted 50 years ago. Not many English people ventured into the surf then. We went back to the bus stop to resume our magical mystery nostalgia tour .  I had put a lot of effort into planning this outing and was most displeased when , after 1  hour of waiting for  a bus that did not turn up, we had to rethink the plans. We decided to return to Newquay and so missed out on seeing where my tour guide lived for 2 1/2 years 50 years ago. We went on another bus to St Columb Major. Here the destination was The Red Lion. No prizes for guessing what this establishment is. Hint. My companion went there regularly after work with his crew.  We walked up and down the  unrenovated streets and felt as if we were still in the 60s.   There were no icecreams to be found.  The Red Lion still existed and served the same purpose. After sampling some wares, we got back on yet another bus and returned to Truro. Despite the change of plans and the hour and a half wait in the sun,  it was overall a successful day.

I had skate wings for dinner - another fish
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Arrival in Cornwall.

A day of mostly transport and exercises in patience. We are improving at getting ready quickly for an early departure, waiting patiently in queues and holding pens and tolerating airport food.

We arrived in Newquay to  be greeted , as arranged , by a taxi driver to drive us to Truro. I  am being corrupted by my nameless companion. Trouble is, I enjoyed paying money for half an hour in a comfy car with someone to carry my bag to avoid about 2 hours in several local buses. Our hotel is in the middle of the town and seems very pleasant. I went for a  wander while my lazy companion showed his age for the first time in over 2 weeks and had a rest.

We had a very nice dinner at the hotel. Out the window  I saw my first herring gull , an oversize seagull, according to my know - it - all companion .  My desert included my second taste of clotted cream , quite delicious. Another case of corruption of my eating habits by my companion. Needless to say, he is sitting next to me as I write.

Talking about food, this trip I have discovered a taste for whisky ( based on the huge sample of 3), have tried and almost liked venison haggis, have enjoyed cod, haddock, sea bass and tonight gurnard and  cullen skink , a soup containing smoked hddock and have enjoyed  some different type of cheeses.

Loch Lomond

After a relaxed morning we met Noel's daughter and her partner as arranged. They had hired a car to fit 4 people and we first went to Luss on the NW shore of Loch Lomond for a delicious lunch , sitting outside, at a nice pub and a stroll around a rather touristy village.

Then we drove North along Loch Long to Ard-***** (fill in guttural unpronounceable sound) ( I cannot be bothered looking up Google maps the name) . We went for a walk along a forest path, saw some views, lush undergrowth and big trees.

On the next leg, we saw some deer in a field  and drove along  the eastern shore of Loch Long and then to Helensburgh where Noel's daughters partners parents were expecting us for afternoon tea.  It was very good to meet them and we had  pleasant time.

Saturday in Glasgow

We caught a bus along the Clyde to the new Riverside Museum of Transport. It was awarded the European Museum of the year 2013. Very quickly we realised why. It was full of interesting things to see, read about, experience, from baby prams to giant locomotives.

Then we went by subway to the eastern side of Glasgow  and walked to the Peoples Palace , a museum of Glasgow life in the poor East End over the past 100 years or so. We did not have enough time. We went , via our hotel, to the West End of Glasgow where we visited Noels daughter and her partner in their lovely terrace apartment.  After afternoon tea we walked through the Glasgow uni campus to a nice restaurant for dinner,  then we went to a nearby church for a performance of Puccini's one act opera Gianni Schicchi.  Very enjoyable.

Farewell Oban

Today was actually warm enough to only wear 1 jacket to the train station to catch the train to Glasgow, rather than 2 jackets like the previous 5 days.

Our hotel in Glasgow seems good. We paid a bit extra for an outward looking room and found that this entitled us to free drinks from our mini bar and access to the executive lounge.

We arrived at lunchtime and went to a famous tearoom designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh  around the start of the 1900 s. We had a traditional afternoon tea with the works for lunch. We wandered around following a trail from the Lonely Planet guide book about old buildings in Glasgow, ending at the cathedral.  It was grey and imposing on the outside , very gothicy,  but ok on the inside. Not as appealing as Norwich, but still interesting.  Most of the many stained glass windows were relatively new, made soon after ww2.

After our exertions we partook of the french wines in the executive lounge  and soon after had our Sainsburys salads for dinner.

Cullen skink

There is a prize for anyone who is
A. Reading this  and
B.  Knows , without the aid of wiki, what a cullen skink 8 is.

Kilmartin

Today we went by bus to Kilmartin. The trip took 1 hour through more beautiful heather covered hills,  thick pine forests, windy roads, many lochs, some empty , some with many $ s worth of sail and motor craft.

I quote : Kilmartin Glen is home to internationally significant prehistoric and early historic sites and monuments, making it mainland Scotland most important archaeological landscape.

We got a map from the museum and set off through a cow paddock to the first of the sites,  Glebe Cairn.  This was the first of 4 in a row spaced o er a kilometre. They were large piles of stones beneath which were bronze age burial sites. We we able to climb down into 2. Later in the museum we saw some of the pottery items that were found in these cairns. We also saw several groups of standing stones. One was a circle (20 m  diameter )of stones each about 1 m tall. This is considered to be the ceremonial heart of Kilmartin Glen 5000 years ago.

There were more interesting things but we had  a bus to catch to return , so returned to the museum to read briefly about what we had not seen, then returned to Oban.

This afternoon's weather has been the best of the 6 days in this area. We leave tomorrow for Glasgow!

Wednesday in Oban

Noel and I separately are early risers. Today we distinguished ourselves by being late for 8.30 breakfast. We are on Holidays!

After breakfast we set off to look at the ruined castle , Dunollie, along the waterfront from our b and b. We discovered a house built in 1745 and added to with a bigger house in the 1800s. It has had a turbulent history as the seat of the chief of the Mac Dougall clan. The older house had some interesting displays about life at various times and some of the chiefs. We climbed up to the ruined castle and returned via a path through fields and woods to the back of Oban and then back here.

Later we walked into  Oban town and up the steep hill behind to a structure known locally as McCoy's Folly or on the maps as a tower. It is  a  circular stone wall some 20 to 30 ft high and about 40 yards across with several rows of arches with nothing other than trees and grass in the middle.

We had some delicious mussels for dinner. They were small but tasty, soft and not at all chewy.

Iona

By Saturday evening the weather was getting worse. On Sunday we only ventured out to get food - at lunch (another friendly pub) and at dinner (a different friendlypub). It was blowing a gale with horizontal rain. No ferries were running and we were worried our plans for Monday would be compromised. Luckily the weather improved overnight.

Early Monday morning we caught a ferry from Oban to Craignure on the eastern side of Mull. From Craignure we caught a bus to Fionphort on the western side of Mull. From Fionphort we caught a ferry to Iona. Me being me had come prepared with ferry and bus timetables. There are only 3 a day buses on this route. We were amused at Craignure to watch a Danish schoolteacher talking to the bus driver. She had no idea of times or availability for her 34 students and 4 other teachers. The road across Mull was mostly only 1 lane wide . There were numerous designated 'passing places'

We dropped out overnight bags at our b and b and went to the abbey for a brief look, then food , then back for a longer linger. We were both interested in the historical significance to the origins of Christianity in this part of the world. The rugged coastal scenery, rocky heather covered hills , scattered small cottages and wandering sheep added to the allure of the place. It is easy to understand why many people have come here over the decades to think .

This morning we woke to blue skies and calmer seas. After breakfast Noel went off on a trip to the island of Staffa. The main attraction for him was Fingals cave. Pillar like rock forms forming the walls and the high ceiling gave the cave a cathedral like sense. The view from the highest point of the island of surrounding islands, the mainland and the sea was truly majestic. I stayed on Iona and moved from 1 nice seat with a view to another nice seat with a view for 3 hours. Very pleasant.

We reversed the ferry, bus, ferry route to get back to Oban but with a longer than expected wait for a late ferry to Oban

Arriving in Oban

Yesterday we left Norwich by train straight after breakfast, made our way by crowded tube and foot from Liverpool station to Euston Station in London and then got the train we had booked to King's Langley where a friend of Noel's met us.  He and his wife are  lovely people and, after lunch,  took us to St Albans cathedral. It had a very interesting history. Now it is used for services for my different Christian groups. A lady had just finished a guided tour when we arrived. Pat asked her if she could show us around. Ok she said. An hour later she told us she had to go. She was fascinating.

In the evening we went to a nice pub for dinner. Early this morning Pat drove us to Luton airport, from where we caught a plane to Glasgow and then a train here to Oban. We chatted in the train to a lady from Liverpool whose mother was from Ireland and father from the outer Hebrides . We walked a kilometre along the waterfront to our b and b. We have a lovely view out over some water to different boats and some islands with hills, grass and not much else on them.

We have just had dinner in a place straight out of the 1950s.  I enjoyed a scotch - the first since I was in Edinburgh in 2010 but the  fish and chips were quite unremarkable.  The waiter was from Bulgaria and interesting to talk to.

Norwich Cathedral

The highlight for us yesterday was the cathedral. We spent quite a while wandering around inside.   At one time we got talking to a volunteer who had a grand nephew at Duntroon.  He pointed out to us a stained glass window depicting Anzacs.   According to him the only one in England.  He was a very chatty man and had been in the RAF. If Noel had commented on his past we would still be there.

The  bishops chair is fairly plain but on the top of a quite a few stone steps. It is the only one in England facing the congregation.  The altar cloths were both fairly plain, which was a bit of a surprise,  specially coming after the wonderful one of Worcester Cathedral.  That one was in the colours of the liturgical year and represented buildings and the river.

We had coffee and cake in the refectory - part of the new building attached to the old. We both felt the architecture was great and the space felt really good.

After the cathedral we walked to a tiny church , St Julians, where in 1370ish a lady went to spend the rest of her life in a smallish room. She became known as Julian of Norwich and was the first woman to write a book in English - about her visions from God.

After lunch Noel went to visit the museum in the castle and I spent an hour reading my book about the establishment of Iona.

We went to evensong in the cathedral - another special experience.

Norwich and Winterton

The old part of Norwich is surrounded on 2 1/2 side by the River Wensum.  Yesterday we walked around the riverside from our hotel to the cathedral. We saw a ruined old tower, old houses, swans, fisher people,  big trees, good views of the cathedral. We wandered around the Cathedral close.  4 years ago a  modern buliding linking the cathedral with some other old bits was opened.  The way the new blends in with the old is impressive.  You enter the cathedral from this new building.  When we went in we were greeted by a volunteer whose job it was was to tell us about the new building - the hostery - it has an exhibition space, a choir practice room and a room for visiting school groups. We wandered around the magnificent old  cloisters and looked at an exhibition of quilts. We left the inside of the cathedral for today .

We met as arranged the parents of a friend of Wendy's outside the cathedral. They took us to a nearby really old building for coffee in a picturesque old windy cobbled street. After working our way through our list of questions, and other chit chat, we left there and they took us to a village, Winterton on the coast East of Norwich.  We had lunch at a lovely pub, then went for a walk through the village to the beach. We walked through some sand dunes and onto the fine sand, slightly brown by our standards. We walked towards the water and , near the waters edge , there was about  5 metres of sand with stones.  Odd. A bit to the south there was a wind farm in the sea.

We walked through the sand dunes a circuitous way back to the car. On the edge of the sand dunes there was a sign to beware of adders sunning themselves on the paths amongst the dunes. Just as well I had not read this first.

We were driven back to Norwich after a companionable,  very interesting day.

Norfolk Broads

Today is Wednesday morning.
On monday we had an uneventful day. One of the other guests at the party drove us to the station and we caught a train, a crowded train and another slightly less crowded train and walked a short way to our hotel in Norwich.  We pottered in the afternoon , found a dry cleaner and shoe repair shop and wandered around some of the old cobbled lanes. Dinner in the hotel was  unremarkable.

Yesterday we had a lovely day on the Norfolk Broads.
After catching a train to Wroxham,  we had breakfast overlooking boats, swans, houses and more boats of all sizes. We found the place where I had booked a boat for the day and were instructed in its use.  Off we went upstream along the river Dare. There were not many boats and after 1 1/4  hours pulled easily into a public mooring at Coltishall  near a pub , the Kings Head, where we had coffee. We had justified a little something with our coffee, they had nothing. Luckily the shop next door had local icecream. It would have been churlish of us not to sample a local delicacy. It was delicious.

We pottered back - in an electric boat it is impossible to do more than potter - to
Wroxham and went on downstream to Horning. There was a lot more traffic . It is still school holidays here. At the first place all the public moorings were taken and there were a lot of big boats double moored. Too congested for us. We went on 10 minutes to another place and Noel executed a very good reverse park in at 90 degree ably assisted by his deckhand. We shared some fish, chips, mushy peas and a fish pie at a nice pub, the Ferry Inn. We pottered back - more boats of all sizes, swans, ducks, interesting houses. It was a very enjoyable, relaxing day.

Celebration of the 40th wedding anniversary of friends.

Sunday was a very happy day.  At breakfast we looked into the rain and English gloom but it was no damper on the day. There were 38 people here from many parts of the world and from different stages of their lives. We talked to many interesting people and ate good food most of the day in a charming location. It fined up by early afternoon.

Worcester

Yesterday we went to Worcester by foot, bus and train and returned after a long day by train and taxi (I am learning) . We wandered around - there was a festival on, many pedestrian malls, old buildings, people dressed in period costumes, bands etc We visited an old tutor house that had many original rooms and features. There were displays in various rooms showing how the house had been used

The highlight for us was Worcester Cathedral. It was a different design -2 transepts and seemed initially too long and skinny with a very high roof, but it was very impressive. Lots of interesting details all around. Nice cloisters. It was good to be able to appreciate the atmosphere of the space with someone who thought the same.

Very late lunch / early dinner was a simple pub meal in Great Malvern. Noel's beer, ' Village idot', was more successful than my rose

Great Malvern

We have French doors from our room opening onto a little balcony. With the curtains open we can see stars at night.  I discovered this in the many wakeful minutes .

The Malvern Hills are a 9 mile ridge, heavily wooded with lots of walking tracks. There is a main trail along the ridge. Before breakfast we went for a walk from our hotel up to the ridge and back. There are  great views .

After breakfast we caught a bus  - quite unusual, most people who stay here have a car - into Great Malvern.  The bus route gave us a good view of a cross section of the different levels of housing in the area - not just big old houses that used to be hotels where people came to 'take the waters' in Victoria times.

The highlight of the day was visiting the Malvern Priory. This was founded as a Benediction Priory in 1085.  It was a monastery for over 450 years. It fell into disrepair and local people bought it for £20 in 1541. It has been the parish church since.

It is huge, but lovely and light inside because of many stained glass windows. The inside stone is mostly light. When we walked in there was a singer and a few musicians practising .  We sat and listened and soaked up the atmosphere.

We wandered around the town for a while and caught the bus back. This  was a tad interesting, but we made it.

Arrived Malvern safely.

The trip here went very well. Should have, for the price. We overate.  We drank well.

Nice view from our bedroom.