JDR VN

Saturday we went to see an Abbey at Melrose. while the abbey was built first around 1130 AD, the Romans were known to have been in this area (and most of great britian) as far back as 67 AD. Whats left of the abbey was very well presented. Sunday we went to a donkey sanctuary. They currently have 56 rescued donkeys. Johnnie knew it was there and wanted to see it. Eleanor had not been there before. Sunday night we drove to Edinburgh to see the firework presentation. the fire works are set off from the Edinburgh castle and last for an hour. They are timed to accompany a live orchesta. Over 200,000 people watched. The finale was the Halleuliah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. It was magnificant. Monday we went back to Edinburgh and toured around. ... read more

Thursday we traveled by train to Edinburgh from Liverpool. Eleanor met us there and we hopped the bus to Selkirk. We are at Eleanor's now. Johnnie was tired because she was singing & dancing at the Cavern again last night. There was about 60 people at the Club and a man was singing mostly Beatles songs. What is interesting is the average age of the people present was about 20 years of age. Johnnie felt like a really old Grannie. That again says lots about the music of The Beatles. How well does Eleanor know Johnnie ? She gave her a magazine about the Beatles and a bulletin from the Church with Mass times. We've been having a really good visit. We will send a special photo later. When Johnnie tells you about her last day ... read more

As of Sunday morning: Boy, this is a non-stop place during the Beatles week. today the trade fair and convention started. the hotel is packed with people looking at the vendor tables, listening to guest speakers and (as usual) bands playing in a number of venues in the hotel. It runs like most conventions, get your package, pick your spreakers & presentations and go. Also today starts the Mathew street festival with 6 stages running concurrently with new performers every hour from 11 am to about 8 pm. at the same time the fringe festival kicks off for 2 days from noon to midnight across 13 venues. the fringe festival is more the latest music and teeny bopper stuff. of course the Beatles week music venues across the city are still going strong with the Cavern ... read more

well did anyone figure out that the Westminister Church is not 4000 years old. i like to exagerate. the oldest things i saw in london that i remember was some paintings in the national gallery that were painted in 12??. When we were wandering around the 16th century paintings (1500-1599) and i saw some landscapes, i could see what europe looked like when johnnie's fathers family came to canada in the mid 1500's. after johnnie had completed her beatles tour 2 we went to see the queen at buckingham palace. she wasn't home but we wandered around her house looking for her. it is quite the shack! afterwards we wandered down to see big ben and we got there about 2 minutes before 6 so were treated to the 6 bongs. the last day at london ... read more

On August 19 Vern and Johnnie are off to London, Liverpool and Selkirk, Scotland. We arrive in London on Aug 20 and will be staying near Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, the Parliment buildings and the Thames River. Not too far along the river is London Bridge, Big Ben, The Tower of London and many other attractions. Johnnie has a couple Beatles tours scoped out and of course a wander along Abbey Road. On August 25 we will take the train to Liverpool for International Beatles Week & Convention and will be staying at the convention headquarters hotel. Everything in Liverpool has been booked for quite a while. The Beatles Week is a very busy time and some activities run 24 hours a day and attract over 100,000 people. On Sept 3, we will travel to Selkirk, ... read more