post trip...still recovering but very content...
29 hour days are LONG and tiring! We had a great flight back across the pond. Flew a more northerly route, just of the coast of Iceland and Greenland, and the last 2 hours were over land up in Nova Scotia and New England. It was raining the day we flew out so when we were landing we realized we were right smack across the river from New York City! Had a fabulous view of the big buildings...that was pretty neat. We arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule so got to enjoy extra time in the Newark airport....not the highlight of the trip! (actually it is a disgusting and dirty place with not enough room for the people who are there to move or sit...I will avoid flying though there in the future if possible!) When we were about to take off from Newark, Cat realized that the window next to the seat in front of us (where the two kids were wrestling and acting like animals [had to keep control of my bossy teacher side!]) had popped loose. Not knowing if that was an issue or not and concerned that the kids, whose mom was 4 rows up and oblivious to their lack of self-control, might pull it out even more, we showed it to the flight attendant, who told the captain , who came back to take a look. He explained that it was cosmetic and not to worry, then came on the speaker to explain to the rest of the passengers why he had come into the cabin. Cat was embarrassed, but the mom behind us who was holding a precious 2 year old thanked and thanked her for letting the attendant know and getting it looked into...better safe than sorry! As the captain said, it had been a rough few weeks for aviation --- 2 planes into the ocean, a pilot with a heart attack (flying into Newark the day we were leaving and on the runway there as we landed). Once up we had a good flight back to Richmond.
At Cat's request we went straight to Sonic for COLD beverages on the way home! slushes and limeades....yum!
WONDERFUL to be home with the boys...they seemed to do fine in our absence, wisdom teeth and all...
There is something to jet-lag... I have slept great and long the two nights home, but I haven't shaken the hang-over feeling. No worries....it was all worth it!
People keep asking me to tell what we did...there are so many things in my brain I don't know where to start! I am hoping once I get my thousand pictures developed it will help me to organize my thoughts! I just know it was a fabulous experience that I will treasure for ever! Can't believe everything we saw and did! wow....just WOW!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Rudolph the Red-nosed Riendeer....
Day 15...last full day in a foreign land.
FINALLY a clear day...beautiful! First one since leaving London a week ago. We can actually see the Forth Rail bridge and the Forth Road Bridge from the hotel window...off in the distance but I can see the pillars! Exciting to me and one of the reasons we came here! It did clear up last night and we discovered that it doesn't actually get DARK here at all. Sunset in London was around 10 p.m., but it wasn't until after 11 that it actually started semi-darkening here last night. And sunrise was on the way at 2:30 this morning. In the meantime it never actually got dark....you could see light in the sky all "night!" long...that is really a strange thing to me!
They are in the middle of an extreme heat wave in London and they say it is way hot here too. Today was sunny and about 80, no humidity. Really quite nice by central Virginia standards. Sun was hot, breezes were cool...but here's the thing---there is NO AC in Scotland! Not in hotels (including ours), restaurants, shops, buses....and they don't refrigerate drinks or give ice cubes unless asked (and then the answer is often"we don't have ice"), so when you are hot there is no way to cool your body down. So I am looking forward to ice, COLD drinks, and AC!
Walked up the hill and over to the Grassmarket area today. Were hoping it would be like the Lawnmarket we were in on Tuesday, lots of good shopping and fun stores, but this one was a bunch of restaurants and bars...noting to do on a sunny morning...oh well! We had foot power so we walked all around the base of the Castle and through the Princes (not Princess---no misspelling there) Gardens. Lovely flowers and the greenest areas...peaceful, shaded and nice!
Hopped a bus to the Edinburgh Zoo...Great place but no one told us it was uphill all the way! We pretty much climbed a mountain and at the top had the view to prove it....WOW! Best view of the trip! There are beautiful green mountains around this city, another reason I love it! Saw some pretty neat animals---zebras, tapirs, lemurs, jaguars, rhinos, hippos, tigers, chimps, North American porcupines, sea lions, lots and lots and lots of penguins--adults and babies (they have 47 chicks!) climbing and swimming and sunning, koalas (the UK's only ones) and REINDEER!!!!! Had never seen real reindeer before--pretty nifty with their big antlers. My feet were pretty pooped by the time we got back on the bus, but we walked a little more, did some final shopping and had one last dinner in the UK. Doesn't look like we did much today, the zoo was most of it, but it was nice to do something relaxing (yet tiring!) on the last day here.
Bags are packed--did that last night, boarding passes are printed, wake-up call set for 5:30 and taxi set for 7:00...I think we will go back to the room and play some cards and hopefully go to sleep!
This trip has been everything I hoped for and more. I have seen and done things I always wanted and I have a whole new outlook on the world. Cat and I have gotten along wonderfully and we have had a blast doing EVERYTHING (except the taxi ride in Brussels). I apologize for the rambling I will do for the next year or so....but there is so much to share! I am sad to leave (but I did take over 1000 pictures to remember!) but I am ready to be home with Harvey and Jay.
To the folks in the photo at the right...
THANK YOU!!!!! You are the reason I had this opportunity! I will never be able to thank you enough!
To Harvey and Jay... Thank you for manning the fort, taking care of wisdom teeth and each other.
And to Cat...thanks for being a great travelling companion via planes, trains, subways, buses and automobiles! I will have the highest rummy score when we arrive back in Richmond!
This has been a blast....now to get some sleep, fly on home and do laundry! woohoo!
FINALLY a clear day...beautiful! First one since leaving London a week ago. We can actually see the Forth Rail bridge and the Forth Road Bridge from the hotel window...off in the distance but I can see the pillars! Exciting to me and one of the reasons we came here! It did clear up last night and we discovered that it doesn't actually get DARK here at all. Sunset in London was around 10 p.m., but it wasn't until after 11 that it actually started semi-darkening here last night. And sunrise was on the way at 2:30 this morning. In the meantime it never actually got dark....you could see light in the sky all "night!" long...that is really a strange thing to me!
They are in the middle of an extreme heat wave in London and they say it is way hot here too. Today was sunny and about 80, no humidity. Really quite nice by central Virginia standards. Sun was hot, breezes were cool...but here's the thing---there is NO AC in Scotland! Not in hotels (including ours), restaurants, shops, buses....and they don't refrigerate drinks or give ice cubes unless asked (and then the answer is often"we don't have ice"), so when you are hot there is no way to cool your body down. So I am looking forward to ice, COLD drinks, and AC!
Walked up the hill and over to the Grassmarket area today. Were hoping it would be like the Lawnmarket we were in on Tuesday, lots of good shopping and fun stores, but this one was a bunch of restaurants and bars...noting to do on a sunny morning...oh well! We had foot power so we walked all around the base of the Castle and through the Princes (not Princess---no misspelling there) Gardens. Lovely flowers and the greenest areas...peaceful, shaded and nice!
Hopped a bus to the Edinburgh Zoo...Great place but no one told us it was uphill all the way! We pretty much climbed a mountain and at the top had the view to prove it....WOW! Best view of the trip! There are beautiful green mountains around this city, another reason I love it! Saw some pretty neat animals---zebras, tapirs, lemurs, jaguars, rhinos, hippos, tigers, chimps, North American porcupines, sea lions, lots and lots and lots of penguins--adults and babies (they have 47 chicks!) climbing and swimming and sunning, koalas (the UK's only ones) and REINDEER!!!!! Had never seen real reindeer before--pretty nifty with their big antlers. My feet were pretty pooped by the time we got back on the bus, but we walked a little more, did some final shopping and had one last dinner in the UK. Doesn't look like we did much today, the zoo was most of it, but it was nice to do something relaxing (yet tiring!) on the last day here.
Bags are packed--did that last night, boarding passes are printed, wake-up call set for 5:30 and taxi set for 7:00...I think we will go back to the room and play some cards and hopefully go to sleep!
This trip has been everything I hoped for and more. I have seen and done things I always wanted and I have a whole new outlook on the world. Cat and I have gotten along wonderfully and we have had a blast doing EVERYTHING (except the taxi ride in Brussels). I apologize for the rambling I will do for the next year or so....but there is so much to share! I am sad to leave (but I did take over 1000 pictures to remember!) but I am ready to be home with Harvey and Jay.
To the folks in the photo at the right...
THANK YOU!!!!! You are the reason I had this opportunity! I will never be able to thank you enough!
To Harvey and Jay... Thank you for manning the fort, taking care of wisdom teeth and each other.
And to Cat...thanks for being a great travelling companion via planes, trains, subways, buses and automobiles! I will have the highest rummy score when we arrive back in Richmond!
This has been a blast....now to get some sleep, fly on home and do laundry! woohoo!
trains and bridges and other good stuff!
day 14 July 1
Didn't want to blog this one while we were there because we wanted to surprise Harvey...I hope to take him on this part of the journey someday...
Nice warm day...we hopped a train to Luchars. Rode across the Firth of Forth Rail Bridge, the gigantic suspension bridge that I came here to see. It is quite massive though I thought it looked bigger looking at it than it did when riding on it. Cat did not care for the bridge, doesn't like heights, but I was all over the place snapping pictures, mostly getting the big red sides and the construction/painting equipment. I tried! Once across we rode right on the side of the North Sea. Beautiful! Huge cliffs that drop right down into the sea, little villages right along the edge, even some trailer homes (first ones we saw over there) right on the sides of cliffs in little settlements that looked like vacation spots. Really a very lovely sight, so very different from the coasts in Va.
We got off the train in Luchars to wait for a bus...while there we heard and saw jets very loud a low, just above the trees, looked like Tornadoes(sp)-type military jets. After reading some if the info at the train station we learned that Luchars means "air base". The jets were flying all around us, doing touch-and-go landings and who knows what else. (The day after we were there one of the jets crashed into the side of a mountain while training not far from Luchars...that was quite tragic and a little spooky....)
Bus arrived and we were off for the 15 minute trip to Saint Andrews! We entered the town right at the Old Course where we have seen the British Open played many times. Beautiful once again! Went to a golf info place on the way to the course from the station, got a map, and were told we could walk right out on the Swilken Bridge, the famous bridge you see when St. Andrews is shown on tv, right on the course even while golfers are there. So we did! Of course we waited to be sure no one was teeing off....didn't feel like getting hit with a golf ball! There was another couple from the states there enjoying the photo opp and we took pics for each other. The bridge is really dinky...like over a creek you could jump over, but it is very famous. Harvey tells me it is also called Arnie's Bridge for Arnold Palmer...golf trivia! And since it is a bridge it fits right into the theme for the trip! As we were taking our pics some very important looking men in suits arrived and took pics right after us. Looked like they were doing a publicity shoot for something (maybe the Open in 2010 when it is back at St. Andrew's?), so we may have seen somebody important but we were clueless as to who it was! There is a small road that cuts across this same hole on the way to the North Sea beach which is right beside the golf course. We crossed the road, again avoiding being hit by flying golf balls, and walked across the sand to the North Sea. The tide was way out and the beach was huge! We got our toes wet in the muddy muck where the tide was going out but we got grossed out by bajillions of wormy looking things all over the mud, so we retreated back to the sand. Kids were flying kites, folks were sunbathing... Went to the golf shop there but didn't really find much (better stuff in Edinburgh!). Went by The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse, but even the benches were painted with the words "FOR MEMBERS ONLY" so we couldn't even sit much less take a look inside! oh well... Walked along the edge of the sea (on a cliff, not in the sand) and had lunch right across from the course at a pub. Saw signs for the aquarium so we figured why not....pretty unimpressive but some interesting sea things were there. Walked on up the street to the ruins of the local castle (every town in the UK seems to have a castle and a cathedral!) Dating to the 16th century, it is on a point of land almost in the sea but on a cliff of course. Went over to Market Street where we had been told there was pretty good shopping, but by this time we were hot (beautiful sunny day!) and wanted a cold drink. Good luck there!
When we got back to the bus station the shuttle to Luchars was right there so we hopped on, made a timely connection with he train, headed back across the Forth Rail Bridge as it started to POUR! This was the only real rain we saw the whole trip so I couldn't complain, and it stopped before we could get back to Edinburgh and the sun was again out.
Had dinner at an Italian place (surprise!), Gusto, and the folks we had traded picture taking with in St. Andrews were there too. It was the first time we saw people that "we knew". (kinda sorta) The restaurant did not have "air con"...nothing does in Scotland...so we ate outside, even Cat was hot!
First totally clear, unfoggy, unhazy, could-see-a-long-way day. When we got back to our room on the 7th floor and I was enjoying the view of EVERYWHERE I realized that in the distance I could see the Forth Rail and Forth Road Bridges! A major moment of excitement for me...I did a lot of just looking out the window and treasuring the fact that I was in that spot at that moment! (The Forth Rail Bridge and the Gateshead Millennium bridges are the ones I saw in a book and had the feeling of "I've got to see these one day!". They are why I decided on a trip to the UK when I was nominated for the REB! And to actually be here and see these things for myself...I do not have words! [yea I am a bridge nut])
It was warm, probably about 80, but not humid and the cool breezes were still coming off the Firth, so we found it amusing that they were calling this a heatwave. The tv stations were giving advice on how to handle the heat! (refrigerate your drinks and use ice, get some "air con"...duh!)
Saw the Queen on tv at Scottish Parliament so she was still in town, but we were not invited for tea and Holyrood Palace...maybe next time.
We had the windows open since it was warm and again no "air con". The baby and mama seagulls outside the window screeched at the top of their lungs constantly! Woke us all night long...who knew seagulls were so LOUD!
Good day---and still loving Scotland! The people are so friendly and they like our accent..that tickles me!
Didn't want to blog this one while we were there because we wanted to surprise Harvey...I hope to take him on this part of the journey someday...
Nice warm day...we hopped a train to Luchars. Rode across the Firth of Forth Rail Bridge, the gigantic suspension bridge that I came here to see. It is quite massive though I thought it looked bigger looking at it than it did when riding on it. Cat did not care for the bridge, doesn't like heights, but I was all over the place snapping pictures, mostly getting the big red sides and the construction/painting equipment. I tried! Once across we rode right on the side of the North Sea. Beautiful! Huge cliffs that drop right down into the sea, little villages right along the edge, even some trailer homes (first ones we saw over there) right on the sides of cliffs in little settlements that looked like vacation spots. Really a very lovely sight, so very different from the coasts in Va.
We got off the train in Luchars to wait for a bus...while there we heard and saw jets very loud a low, just above the trees, looked like Tornadoes(sp)-type military jets. After reading some if the info at the train station we learned that Luchars means "air base". The jets were flying all around us, doing touch-and-go landings and who knows what else. (The day after we were there one of the jets crashed into the side of a mountain while training not far from Luchars...that was quite tragic and a little spooky....)
Bus arrived and we were off for the 15 minute trip to Saint Andrews! We entered the town right at the Old Course where we have seen the British Open played many times. Beautiful once again! Went to a golf info place on the way to the course from the station, got a map, and were told we could walk right out on the Swilken Bridge, the famous bridge you see when St. Andrews is shown on tv, right on the course even while golfers are there. So we did! Of course we waited to be sure no one was teeing off....didn't feel like getting hit with a golf ball! There was another couple from the states there enjoying the photo opp and we took pics for each other. The bridge is really dinky...like over a creek you could jump over, but it is very famous. Harvey tells me it is also called Arnie's Bridge for Arnold Palmer...golf trivia! And since it is a bridge it fits right into the theme for the trip! As we were taking our pics some very important looking men in suits arrived and took pics right after us. Looked like they were doing a publicity shoot for something (maybe the Open in 2010 when it is back at St. Andrew's?), so we may have seen somebody important but we were clueless as to who it was! There is a small road that cuts across this same hole on the way to the North Sea beach which is right beside the golf course. We crossed the road, again avoiding being hit by flying golf balls, and walked across the sand to the North Sea. The tide was way out and the beach was huge! We got our toes wet in the muddy muck where the tide was going out but we got grossed out by bajillions of wormy looking things all over the mud, so we retreated back to the sand. Kids were flying kites, folks were sunbathing... Went to the golf shop there but didn't really find much (better stuff in Edinburgh!). Went by The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse, but even the benches were painted with the words "FOR MEMBERS ONLY" so we couldn't even sit much less take a look inside! oh well... Walked along the edge of the sea (on a cliff, not in the sand) and had lunch right across from the course at a pub. Saw signs for the aquarium so we figured why not....pretty unimpressive but some interesting sea things were there. Walked on up the street to the ruins of the local castle (every town in the UK seems to have a castle and a cathedral!) Dating to the 16th century, it is on a point of land almost in the sea but on a cliff of course. Went over to Market Street where we had been told there was pretty good shopping, but by this time we were hot (beautiful sunny day!) and wanted a cold drink. Good luck there!
When we got back to the bus station the shuttle to Luchars was right there so we hopped on, made a timely connection with he train, headed back across the Forth Rail Bridge as it started to POUR! This was the only real rain we saw the whole trip so I couldn't complain, and it stopped before we could get back to Edinburgh and the sun was again out.
Had dinner at an Italian place (surprise!), Gusto, and the folks we had traded picture taking with in St. Andrews were there too. It was the first time we saw people that "we knew". (kinda sorta) The restaurant did not have "air con"...nothing does in Scotland...so we ate outside, even Cat was hot!
First totally clear, unfoggy, unhazy, could-see-a-long-way day. When we got back to our room on the 7th floor and I was enjoying the view of EVERYWHERE I realized that in the distance I could see the Forth Rail and Forth Road Bridges! A major moment of excitement for me...I did a lot of just looking out the window and treasuring the fact that I was in that spot at that moment! (The Forth Rail Bridge and the Gateshead Millennium bridges are the ones I saw in a book and had the feeling of "I've got to see these one day!". They are why I decided on a trip to the UK when I was nominated for the REB! And to actually be here and see these things for myself...I do not have words! [yea I am a bridge nut])
It was warm, probably about 80, but not humid and the cool breezes were still coming off the Firth, so we found it amusing that they were calling this a heatwave. The tv stations were giving advice on how to handle the heat! (refrigerate your drinks and use ice, get some "air con"...duh!)
Saw the Queen on tv at Scottish Parliament so she was still in town, but we were not invited for tea and Holyrood Palace...maybe next time.
We had the windows open since it was warm and again no "air con". The baby and mama seagulls outside the window screeched at the top of their lungs constantly! Woke us all night long...who knew seagulls were so LOUD!
Good day---and still loving Scotland! The people are so friendly and they like our accent..that tickles me!
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