Farewell London

Our last day in London and the UK. Initially this meant packing, a slightly more difficult task at this end of the trip given all the stuff we've bought since we arrived. Mercifully, our lovely hostess here at Cap'n Bligh's has allowed us full use of our rooms here today until we have to go to the airport. A shower just before we leave will be just wonderful after a day of running around.

With all the packing, we left our rooms quite late. This was fine, since we wanted to avoid the crush of the rush hour, and get a cheaper non-peak public transport ticket which can only be used after 9:30am. First we headed to the British Museum, where Phil had some specific things he wanted to see. First was the display of finds from the Sutton Hoo ship burial (around 600AD), especially the hugely famous helmet...

He also wanted to check out the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes...

Petra was immensely patient with all of this, and found many of the displays were quite interesting. We were both impressed by the museum building though. In one of those "small world" moments, Phil saw someone he knew from the ANU at the Museum.

After a few hours, we had lunch at yet another nearby pub and then caught the Underground to Southwark. Phil wanted to have a look at the Tate Modern, a fairly new gallery of modern art which is housed in a former power station south of the river across from St. Paul's. Petra decided to take in the sights and sounds of the riverbank while Phil did a quick tour through the gallery.

We then decided to take a final walk back to Lambeth. Now all we have to do is get ourselves ready, get to the airport and get going home.

Three hours later...

We have made it to the airport. Car arrived on time, but because it was afternoon peak hour it took just over an hour to get to Heathrow. We then spent the next half hour going through check-in and security. What fun! Petra has gone off to do some duty free shopping to recover from the security ordeal. Phil sits patiently. Plane boards in a little less than an hour and a half. Can't wait...

So what haven't we done yet?

With only two more days in London we decided that we needed to throw away Phil's ambitious daily programs and devote our days to those things we haven't managed to fit in yet that we absolutely have to do.

So first thing we walked over to Westminster and did our tour of Westminster Abbey. A much less impressive building than St. Paul's, Phil says. Really all it is is a collection of tombs and monuments. Mind you, there are some pretty amazing tombs - Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Queen Mary, Henry VII, Chaucer, Churchill, Edward I, Richard II, Henry III, Isaac Newton...the list just goes on. Again though, photographers are discriminated against, so no pictures.

After going all through the Abbey we walked up to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard - we missed this last time we were at the Palace because it coincided with our Palace tour. We got to see a lot of men in fuzzy hats and red coats march by us...

...and amused ourselves by trying to work out which regiment they belonged to by the arrangement of buttons on their tunics. The chaps above were Welsh Guards, while the ones below were, we believe, Grenadier Guards...

...or not. We were pretty sure that these were Horse Guards...

After the guards were all changed we walked through Green Park to Hyde Park, even though it was raining a bit by then and we were getting wet because we believed the internet weather forecasts. We stopped for lunch at The Serpentine Bar & Kitchen which overlooked the eastern tip of The Serpentine, which itself was very pretty even in nasty weather...

A bit further on we found the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, but we didn't go as far as Kensington Palace as we had sort of planned. Rain does that to you.

So off we trudged to Harrods, which was yet another over-the-top retail outlet with prices that made Phil just chuckle to himself. The only part of the store that was crowded with shoppers was the Harrods merchandise section, jam packed with tourists like us buying the only things in Harrods which had less than three figures to the left of the decimal point in the price tag.

Having been retail-shocked by Harrods, we sought a dose of reality by catching a bus to Debenhams department store in Oxford Street, a few blocks down from that other icon of retail excess, Selfridge's. Petra much enjoyed wandering through the shoe section there, particularly since the prices didn't make Phil chuckle with disbelief.

So back to Lambeth for our last night at Cap'n Bligh's. Oh, and we went to the pub for dinner...

The Tower, St.Paul's and the Globe

Almost made a full week without rain, but it was a bit drizzly this morning. Nothing to cause us much distress though.

We had our first experience of peak hour travel on the tube this morning, since we wanted to get to the Tower of London in time for their 9am opening. At Lambeth North station we watched in awe as dozens of people crammed themselves into an already overpacked train. We, well we chose to wait for the next train which was shown as arriving three minutes later and was marginally less overpacked.

In any case, we arrived at the Tower soon after 9am and stayed there until almost 1:30pm.

Again, wow. We started off with the Crown Jewels, which were amazing even to a suburban-socialist-republican like Phil. Unfortunately no photography allowed, so we can't show you how truly beautiful it all is. Phil loved the St. Edward's Crown (the one used for the coronation of QEII), while Petra was smitten by the Anointing Spoon, of all things.

After having a coffee to recover from all that wealth and ostentation, we then wandered through the walls and towers pretty much at random. The armoury displays were very nice...

...and some of the towers had some excellent short historical videos and explanations of great historical events that are supposed to have happened there. Many towers had graffiti carved into the stone by famous prisoners...

Then there was Tower Green, where people such as two of Henry VIII's wives and Lady Jane Grey (Queen for about 9 days) were executed.

Eventually we ran out of Tower to look at, so we walked down to The Monument (which commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666) and St. Paul's Cathedral. 

Petra was a bit footsore, so Phil Looked around inside St. Paul's while she recovered. A truly amazing building with lots of monuments to some very famous people. The Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson are both interred in the crypt, but Phil though the drama of their magnificent tombs was somewhat cheapened by the souvenir shop, toilets and (can you believe it) noisy cafe not 50 feet away.

From St. Paul's we walked across the Millennium Bridge (pedestrian only) to the south bank and visited the Globe Theatre, a reconstruction of the theatre where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed. Unfortunately we were too late to tour the theatre itself, but we went through the museum and watched a demonstration of dressing an actor (or in this case a hapless tourist plucked from the audience) in Ophelia's costume from one of the productions of Hamlet. It was an authentic Elizabethan-period costume, and quite interesting to see how it all held together before buttons, zippers and velcro.

After walking back to our rooms for a bit of a rest, we walked up to another nearby pub and had an excellent Thai meal...just for something different...

Greenwich, the British Music Experience and tryin' a little tenderness

Another late night, but this time the blog comes before bed.

When we finally crawled out of a deep sleep this morning (following yesterday's Paris excursion) we made our way to Westminster Bridge and caught a boat down the Thames...

...to Greenwich.

What a place. We both loved it out there, maybe partly because it reminded us of being in the countryside and smaller, picturesque villages. Naturally we visited the Greenwich Observatory, which has wonderful views down to the Maritime Museum and Canary Wharf in the background...

...and squirrels frolicking everywhere. We sought out and found the markings for the Prime Meridian so that each of us could have a picture of ourselves with one foot east and the other west. What a tourist hoot.

After walking back down the hill, we took a bus to North Greenwich and "The O2", a large entertainment complex...

Inside this is the British Music Experience which is an interactive exhibition of all things relating to British Popular Music. Phil headed straight for the area where visitors can play various Epiphone guitars (proving he hasn't forgotten how after so many weeks away from it), drum kits, and keyboard, and can re-mix Queen's Radio Ga Ga (Phil turned everything off except the guitar). Petra went straight to the display of memorabilia from various periods, and Phil soon joined her. Petra was a bit peeved that there was hardly any Elton John stuff, but Phil was blown away by an old guitar owned by Pete Townsend (completely smashed to pieces at one of The Who's shows) and some of David Bowie's stage costumes.

As time was now getting on, we went back to Greenwich and cruised back up the river the way we had come, this time accompanied by some very entertaining commentary provided by one of the members of the crew. We had never before speculated what Big Ben would be called if its designer had been named Richard rather than Benjamin.

Back at our rooms we immediately had to get ourselves ready to go out for dinner and a West End show, The Commitments. A decent feed and a great show, particularly the music. Phil decided that he'll need to convince his band to bring soul to the people of Canberra.

Phil got us lost again coming back from the theatre, but luckily Petra's sense of direction got us home OK.

Un jour à Paris

The blog is late today since we were a little bit weary after our day-trip to Paris.

Our day started at 4:30am when we quickly got ourselves ready to catch a 5am local bus that would take us to St. Pancras International station, luckily from virtually right outside our guest house. London is very serene at that time of the morning. When we arrived we had to go through all of the check-in, immigration and security checking before we could sit down and have a coffee and muffin in lieu of a proper breakfast.

The Eurostar train to Paris was very comfortable, whisper quiet and very fast (maybe even as fast as Petra's uncle on the autobahn, which we think was our previous land speed record). After only a bit over half an hour we had reached the Channel Tunnel, which took us about 20 minutes to get through giving us the opportunity for a snooze in the absence of anything to look at except our fellow passengers. Then we were in France in bright sunshine. Unfortunately the sunshine didn't last as far as Paris and it was rather drearily overcast for the day.

We arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris around 10:30 local time (Paris being an hour ahead of London) and immediately jumped on a local train to Notre Dame where we had one of the most interesting toilet stops ever and viewed the cathdral from the outside...

The queues to get inside were already so long that we decided it would take too much of our short day in Paris before we could have a look, so only a bit reluctantly decided to move on.

The nearby Latin Quarter was our next destination. Lots of narrow streets with all sorts of cafes and other food sellers...

We just wandered around (often in circles) until we decided to have an early lunch in a cafe looking straight out at Notre Dame.

From there we started walking - about 6 kilometers we think. We visied Le Bon Marche, a Parisian department store that makes Selfridge's look like K-Mart, and eventually found ourselves at the Eiffel Tower...

Next was a cruise up and down the Seine before we hopped on a local train again to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees (another famous street that we found disappointing).

By this time it was getting late, so we hurried off to Montmartre for our final stop. We took the obligatory photos at the Moulin Rouge (which we had to walk through Paris' red light district to find), then ventured into Montmartre's back streets and found a cafe where we could sit at tables on the footpath and sip red wine (Phil) or an oh-so-Parisian pina colada (Petra).

Another local train from Montmartre took us quickly back to Gare du Nord where we went through all of the check-in, immigration and security again and had a very nice baguette while waiting in the extremely uncomfortable "lounge" to board the Eurostar for the trip back. Not nearly as interesting a return trip as it was all in darkness, but we got back to St. Pancras on time at 9:30pm. Then the local bus back to Lambeth again. Quite a day.

Shopping

Today was shopping day. We headed off early on the bus to the Old Spitalfields Market out in the East End.

Well worth the trip as there were lots of excellent stalls with high-quality and quirky things. One of our favourites was a guy who made jewelry out of twisted and bent antique silver and silver-plate cutlery. After some time there we went on to the nearby Petticoat Lane Market, but it was full of mostly cheap and nasty stuff. Both were quite crowded though.

Finished with markets, we caught the underground in to Baker Street where first stop was The Beatles Store. We then walked down to Oxford Street and Selfridge's Department Store, which absolutely blew Petra away with its high-end merchandise and general fancy-ness. Lunch was overdue when we left Selfridge's and we were able to find quite a nice pub just off Oxford Street.

After lunch we continued down Oxford Street to Regent Street...

...and turned off to Carnaby Street. Unfortunately the Mod Era is well and truly gone, and Carnaby Street is now full of the usual trendy shopping mall stores. Sad. We continued on browsing at shops as we passed through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, ending up once more at the Square of the Blue Chicken of Trafalgar.

More walking to get back to our rooms. The best way to see London is definitely on foot.

St. James, Westminster and Lambeth

We took our time this morning, with nowhere we had to be until late morning. We are really enjoying living at Captain Bligh's, and Lambeth is a great location - close to everything, but away from the huge crowds. Apparently as recently as 20 years ago Lambeth was a pretty rough part of town and taxis would refuse to come here. All changed now and it's quite trendy.

When we were finally ready we headed off on the tube towards Buckingham Palace. We had a tour of the state rooms booked for 11:15, but we got there early enough to have a good look around outside first...

The tour inside took about an hour, and it was all quite impressive in a completely-over-the-top sort of way. The rooms and furnishings and artworks were designed to impress and did not fail. There was also a display commemorating the Queen's coronation all those years ago, including the fantastically ornate dress and jewelry she wore. Sadly, no photography allowed inside the Palace.

After the Palace we toured the Royal Mews, which is basically the royal garage. State coaches, stables for the horses who drag them, the Queen's Rolls Royce, a random Maserati of unknown provenance (not pictured)...

By this time we were hungry, so when we exited we bought some lunch and ate it sitting on the lawn in front of the Palace, even though it had started to turn a bit cold by then.

From there we walked down the Mall to Trafalgar Square - we just love the big blue chicken - and then to the Houses of Parliament past some men in red jackets and shiny hats sitting on horses...

We wanted to go to Westminster Abbey, but by the time we got there it was closed. Apparently someone wants to use it for some religious ceremony tomorrow (Sunday). Go figure.

Thwarted at the Abbey, we walked over Lambeth Bridge to Lambeth Palace and the nearby Museum of Gardening, which is unremakable except for the fact that William Bligh's tomb is there. Since we are staying in his house we felt obliged to stop by and pay our respects.

Petra had had enough by then and went back to Cap'n Bligh's for a rest while Phil visited the Imperial War Museum across the road. Unfortunately it's in the middle of a huge renovation, so the displays are limited. There was a very good display on the secret services though - MI5, MI6 and all that.

When Phil returned we set off on a mission to find a decent traditional pub, and after a good deal of wandering the streets of Lambeth and Waterloo we finally found just what we were after. Bangers and mash never tasted so good. Again, inevitably, a group of Australians sat at the table next to us and it was good to swap travel stories and places to go.

Kew and Covent Garden

The day started with a very nice self-prepared breakfast in front of Captain Bligh's sitting room fireplace. Cool.

When we were ready we walked up the road to Lambeth North tube station, about 5 minutes away, and caught the tube out to Kew Gardens. This excursion had two purposes: for Petra, and opportunity to wander around Kew Gardens, and for Phil, a chance to do some family research at the UK National Archives.

Phil spent a lot of time navigating his way through the Archives rules and processes. He stood in line for advice, obtained a users' card, ordered records, lined up for more advice, and more advice, and more advice. Finally he managed to sit down with some microfilm, which he absolutely hates using, and some original documents from the 1850s, which he absolutely loves using. Luckily he managed to do the two main things he went to the Archives for, even though one of the answers wasn't exactly what he was hoping for. It all took way more time than he expected though.

This all gave Petra a great opportunity to wander the very extensive Kew Gardens, but by the time we met up again it was early afternoon and we decided not to attempt a visit to Hampton Court, as we had planned, because it would have had been too rushed. Possibly we will get there another day next week.

Instead of Hampton Court, we headed back towards the city for a wander around Covent Garden. After arrival we had a large but unremarkable lunch, and then happened on the Covent Garden market.

After exhausting all the possibilities the market had to offer, we just followed the crowds, figuring that where there were a lot of people, something interesting must be going on. A lot of bog standard shops, but some interesting ones, including fantastic antique shops with excellent pieces and prices to match!

Eventually we started to feel weary and decided to walk back to Lambeth via Trafalgar Square...

...,which has a curious blue chicken in it, and the Golden Jubilee Bridge across the Thames...

We've been on the lookout for nice traditional pubs, which aren't as easy to find as you might think in London. So whenever we see one we take note of its location for later. After last night we decided trendy gastro pubs are to be avoided.

Heading to London

After a very ordinary Edinburgh day yesterday, today dawned bright and sunny. Who would have thought.

Anyway, we packed up our bags, bid farewell to our substitute flat and walked down the hill to Edinburgh Waverley Station to catch our 10am train to London. We had booked first class tickets, which is an unusual thing for the normally tight-fisted Phil to do, but there you go. Our seats faced forward with a table in front of us, across which were two seats facing towards us. Inevitable these seats were occupied by an Aussie couple from Melbourne - she was very chatty, he was a grumpy old git. We were given food and drink regularly throughout the trip, which was nice enough and seemed to disprove the stereotype of really awful service on British rail trips.

We arrived at London Kings Cross station bang on time after four hours and forty minutes on the train, and took a taxi to our home for the next week, Captain Bligh House in Lambeth. We are staying in what used to be Bligh's sitting room...

...which looks out across Lambeth Road to parkland and the Imperial War Museum.

After we settled ourselves in, we went for a walk up to the nearby London Eye. We paid the outrageous cost to ride the Eye, but it does give amazing views of London...

After that we went for a walk along the side of the south bank of the Thames before we headed back to our rooms, via a convenient pub. We went to dinner at gastro pub (read "pretentious former working class drinking place") a few doors down from us. Very expensive. Phil had partridge (sorry Keith). Petra had plaice and chips.

Very tired now...

Edinburgh II

After the rigours of yesterday we had a much slower start this morning, lingering over breakfast in the flat rather than rushing out and about. The rather drab and dreary drizzle outside our window also contributed to this decision.

When we did venture out we decided to head for the New Town - this is the 18th century part of the city, with the Old Town, where we're staying, being 17th century and earlier. After a quick coffee, we strolled down some of the wide and straight streets of the New Town in the driving drizzle until we decided to seek refuge in a nasty modern shopping mall just because it was warm and dry.

Finally the drizzle let up enough for us to walk to the Museum of Scotland, which is quite a nice building on the inside...

...with some excellent pieces on display...

Of course, all of this stuff fascinated Phil, but left Petra thinking about her sore feet. So Petra decided to do some laundry instead while Phil indulged his peculiar interests.

We met Phil's friend Tom for lunch again today, going to a very nice restaurant tucked away in a narrow cobbled lane off the Royal Mile. Phil completed his gastronomic self-destruct by having a dish that included slices of black pudding. He was nice enough to share it with Petra, and both pronounced it edible, if not tasty. Still best not to think about what goes into it.

Saying our goodbyes to Tom we then went to a nearby house run by the National Trust of Scotland with rooms furnished and decorated according to the age of construction of the room. All very well done, and the volunteer guides were a wealth of information about the house, the history of the High Street (the Royal Mile) and the development of Edinburgh.

We are now back in our flat with the sounds of a bagpipe wafting up from the street below. We may go to the pub later for dinner...

The Highlands

Today was a departure from the norm - we took a day tour to the Highlands.

Our tour mini-bus left central Edinburgh at 8am (with only a slight delay for late arrivers - grrrr!) and we headed out first towards Stirling, where we saw its famous castle from a distance. We also passed Doune Castle, where much of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed, on our way to our first stop at Deanton Distillery. Here we had a brief tour of their still room and had time for a coffee.

We then headed through the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park to Glencoe. Some amazing scenery...

We then passed through Fort William and on to Fort Augustus at the bottom of Loch Ness. We decided to take a one-hour cruise around the southern end of the Loch, which was also very scenic and, thanks to the weather conditions, quite atmospheric...

After that, the tour headed back to Edinburgh via Glen Spean, Pitlochry (where we went to the pub) and the Forth Road Bridge, arriving back at 8pm. So a long day with over 500 kilometers driven.

The pizza last night was so good we had another one tonight.

Edinburgh Castle and an old friend

A nice start to the day having breakfast looking down from our flat...

...on to the Royal Mile. In no particular hurry, after breakfast we walked down to the train station to check it out for our rail trip to London on Thursday. We think we have it sorted now so all should go well.

We then went to Edinburgh Castle with every other tourist in the city. Very spectacular views over the city, and some interesting buildings and displays within the castle walls, including the Scottish equivalent of the crown jewels. The castle itself was interesting enough, but we preferred the ones we saw in England and Wales.

After the Castle we wandered back down the Royal Mile to meet up with a friend of Phil's, Tom, who once upon a time was his university lecturer/tutor. We had a very nice lunch with Tom, who then gave us a walking tour of Edinburgh University where he now works.

We then had to leave Tom since he had to give a lecture (on the Emperor Justinian, he said) soon after. Phil arranged to meet him in a nearby pub for a drink after he finished his lecture, while Petra had a rest in the flat after another day's walking. Nice cider, but should really have had whiskey given where we are.

Excellent take-away pizza back in the flat for dinner.

Edinburgh

Today was a sunny day. And quite warm.

After sampling haggis for the first time at breakfast, and managing to avoid thinking about what was in it, we packed up the car for the last time and headed off for Edinburgh. When we arrived we unpacked our bags at a laundrette next to where we were staying, and while Petra dealt with our overflowing laundry bags, Phil took the car back to Avis. At least he did after getting lost around the streets of Edinburgh several times. Sadly, the people at Avis told him that our Audi was being retired, and we had taken her on her last journey as a hire car. All 2,506 miles we travelled in her were a delight.

But enough sentimentality.

Having finished our laundry, we left our bags at our flat and started wandering the streets to get our bearings. What a fantastic city! Even though its a Sunday there were people everywhere and something to look at no matter which direction you are facing.

After hours of walking and stopping where we felt like it - including at a shoe shop for Petra to replace the shoes she wore out walking Hadrian's Wall - we went back to our flat and settled in for a bit of a rest before venturing out again. Unfortunately the guy in the upstairs flat decided to have a bath in a faulty bathtub and water started pouring through our ceiling! This meant that we had to move to a new flat which is in the Royal Mile just about as close to Edinburgh Castle as you can get.

And now we are sitting in front of the TV watching the first episode of the new series of Downton Abbey and going ga-ga every time we see one of the rooms we toured through at Highclere Castle almost three weeks ago.

Lindisfarne, Bamburgh Castle and into Scotland

Another beautiful start to the day, and unlike yesterday the sun kept poking out from time to time throughout the day. We packed up again and were on the road by about 9am again, this time headed east and then north.

We were on a timetable today that was based on the tides. Our first stop was Holy Island, a tidal island off the coast of Northumbria that can only be accessed by car when the tide is low, so we had to get there as early as possible and make sure we were off the island by 2:20pm. We managed to get there by 11 and went straight to Lindisfarne Castle, which is on a rocky outcrop overlooking the North Sea...

Beautiful inside as well as outside.

After the castle we had a wander around some of the other sights - the ruins of the Lindisfarne Priory and the beer garden of one of the pubs stick in mind.

Having escaped the Island well in advance of the 2:20pm deadline, we headed slightly south to the very pretty village of Bamburgh and its spectacular castle. You could see Bamburgh Castle from Lidisfarne Castle (and vice-versa).

Anyhow, we took a wander around the Bamburgh Castle and even had a late lunch in the Castle Cafe.

By the time we were finished at Bamburgh it was time to move on to tonight's accommodation, a hotel in Dunbar, which is about 28 miles east of Edinburgh. Crossing the Scottish border was probably the most exciting part of the drive, but we arrived regardless. Dunbar is basically a fishing town so we went for a bit of a walk by the harbour before returning to our hotel for dinner.

Not sure how we'll go for internet in the next few days, but will continue to write the blog and publish when we can.

The edge of the Empire

A much nicer morning today, with some sunshine replacing yesterday's rain.

After breakfast downstairs at the guest house we headed off to a place called Steel Rigg to start our day's walking along Hadrian's Wall. Our first leg involved a five mile circular walk, first following the Wall along an impressive escarpment...

...and then returning through farmland below the escarpment (and outside the Empire).

The Wall must have been just incredible when it was built, and it's a pity so little of it is still left. Luckily we got to walk along what is regarded as some of the most impressive and well-preserved stretches.

By the time we returned to Steel Rigg we were pretty hungry, and luckily there was a nearby pub from which you can see the Wall on the hill above (on the Empire side). The pub was at a place called Twice Brewed, which funnily enough is right next to Once Brewed.

Having recharged, we drove to Walltown (how apt) and walked another few miles of the wall. Here the surviving sections of the wall went over our heads, and you could really see how well constructed it was...

Another one off the bucket list!

Vindolanda and Haltwhistle

Rain. We woke up with it, drove through it, walked under it. But did it stop us? No, it did not.

We left Windermere a little after 9am and started our driving for the day through the Lake District, passing the villages of Ambleside and Grasmere to the town of Keswick. Some very nice scenery on the drive, and just after Keswick there was a neolithic stone circle that we could visit (in the rain)...

We then headed east through the town of Penrith (looked to us like a typical northern industrial town), from where we crossed the Pennines at Hartside Height, which is 1903 feet above sea level. Some amazing views, even though visibility was a bit limited due to the rain. The road up to Hartside Height was very winding and narrow, with precipitous drops on Petra's side of the car. She closed her eyes during some of it. Phil just clenched the steering wheel tighter and assumed we would not fall off.

Arriving in due course on the "other side of the mountain" and the lovely village of Alston, we had another of those SatNav moments when Jane the GPS took us down a truly incredible stretch of single-lane track through sheep paddocks, forcing us to dodge pheasants and sheep alike, through some poor farmer's farmyard, and finally out the other end onto a reputable stretch of road. We were headed for the Vindolanda Roman Fort near Hadrian's wall and we duly arrived there.

We walked through the partially excavated site of Vindolanda, which shows the remains of a Roman fort and nearby village dating from (as we recall) the fourth century...

...and visited the excellent museum they have there. Such a wealth of Roman artifacts on display, but by far the most awesome were a collection of tablets on which Romans at Vindolanda had written about everyday things, even a woman inviting her sister to her birthday party.

After a few hours at Vindolanda we went to the nearby Roman Army Museum, which had many static displays as well as some amazingly good audio-visual presentations on life in the Roman army.

After all of this Roman stuff we went to the village of Haltwhistle, which is supposedly at the geographic centre of Britain, and where we are staying for the next two nights. Our guest house here is pretty fancy. The view out our window is pretty nice too...

Luckily they have pubs here in Haltwhistle so we had somewhere to go for dinner. 

The Yorkshire Dales and Windermere

On the road again, as Willie Nelson so wisely put it. We were back in our familiar spots in the Audi before 9am, heading out of York. The first stage was north along the motorway - I'm not sure how they do it, but all the motorways here seem to be through the most drab and unappealing countryside imaginable. They are always jam packed full of trucks and other traffic, over-charge mercilessly for fuel at their "service centres", and people in black German cars are always speeding past you as if you were standing still. Still, motorways do get you from one place to another pretty fast and directly.

Before we knew it (which is easy when you don't know where your SatNav is taking you), we turned west off the motorway through the Yorkshire Dales. What a beautiful drive it is. We stopped at a village called Hawes right in the middle of the Dales so we could have coffee and cake, which was nice without being remarkable. Bugger it! When there is scenery like this, who wants coffee anyway?

We continued through the Dales and almost straight into the Lake District in Cumbria. We first made our way to Bowness-on-Windermere, parked the car and immediately set off on a 90 minute cruise of the lake down to Lakeside and back. Nice and relaxing after the drive, and we spent most of the time out in the fresh air. On the way back we had to go inside for a bit due to a freezing cold wind and rain. Didn't last long though.

On our return to Bowness we found a pub for lunch. Say no more.

We then went to Windermere itself, parked the car near our guest house and went for a wander around some quirky shops in the village. Eventually we tired of this and checked into our guest house for a bit of a rest. After a bit though we decided to go for a walk up to Orrest Head Lookout, which is on a huge hill behind Windermere. It was quite an effort to climb up there, but it was worth it. It was approaching sunset and there was still rain around, so the differences in light and colour were spectacular.

By the time we climbed back down again it was time for a trip to the pub. Petra is keeping count of how many pubs we have visited, for the statistically minded among you readers.