Our brush with royalty

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I think we're seen a bit of the country... So, in the excitement of the flying car adventures and the Super Lamb Banana in the last blog I totally forgot to mention that we saw Prince Andrew! We were in York at the bus stop waiting to leave the city and there was a small crowd milling around, after a while it became apparent that we were waiting for said Prince to emerge from a function at the adjacent building. Turns out I could be a paparazzi, I whipped out the camera and managed to get a couple of shots. He seemed nice, said a few words to the crowd which made the old ladies day, he seemed a bit caddish, but nearly not as bad as some members of the Royal family.
So there you have it, it turned out to be a very English day indeed, as we also had cornish pasties for lunch. Pretty gross really, a good old mince pie is much better, at least the mince isn't grey.
Well, we have less than a week before we're home, we've run out of money and only have a couple of touristy things to do here in London before we're off, so this may be the last blog. It's hard to talk about this trip and not gush and say stupidly cliche things like, its changed my life and it has been the best trip ever. Well, without totally gloating, it really has. Thinking back to two months ago when we left NZ and now looking at all the stuff we've seen and done, pretty much a huge chunk of English and European history in a few weeks, as well as some good times with friends, it really has been amazing. I must say, if I don't see another castle, church or museum for a while i'll be a happy girl. The last few weeks have been great with the hire car as we were able to trip around and see a few more obscure things as well as high-tail it to places quickly. One of the best things about the English country-side is that it is darn beautiful, of course, I am preaching to the converted - looking at NZ nothing is better, but there are parts of England, and especially Scotland and Wales that are truly stunning.
After leaving York we drove up to Edinburgh. Unfortunately Edinburgh chose to grace us with a horrible day and it was freezing cold and raining for much of the day. We went to the castle, which of all the castles we've seen would be a favourite of mine, it is perched up on this craggy rock and dominates the city skyline. It is all very dark and imposing (the driving rain really helped the ambiance that day) and is largely intact which makes for a good visit. That took up most of our day and the next day we drove up to Inverness. The drive up north through Scotland is really worth it, the highlands are a totally different feel to the rolling farmland of England, and again, with the rain it was a wild and awesome place to see.
We went to Culloden, to be fair, the only real reason for us going was to honour Jamie and Claires memory (if you haven't read the Diana Gabaldon books you'll have no idea) and we held a mini silent vigil at the Clan Fraser stone. All a bit silly really. Culloden though is a vital part of Scottish history, where the Jacobites lead by Bonnie Prince Charlie were slaughtered by the ruthless English. But of course, like all things touristy in this country, there is a main road leading right through it, so you have to share your thoughts of horrible battle with the low rumbling of passing cars.
Inverness is a very very pretty city, we took a drive down past the Loch Ness. Now, there are a lot of stupid people in this world, as there is a whole tourist industry around the Loch Ness Monster and you can cruise up and down the Loch Ness, spending your money on tourist crap. Ugh, the tackiness of it all. It is however, a very nice place to visit and drive along the waterside is definately worth doing.
We had an evening in Glasgow, but didn't see an awful lot, it seemed nice, Scottish. And that marked the end of our time with our car and staying in the Bed and Breakfasts. I had been aprehensive about staying in the B&Bs, I didn't know what to expect and I half felt that the hosts would be horrible, all old women who would make us feel like we were an imposition. Half cooked breakfasts and windy, freezing rooms. I don't know where that thought came from, it's not like we're travelling through Victorian England on a horse-drawn carriage. But staying in all of these places was a total delight. Some of the hosts were fabulous, we even stayed with the Mayors widow in Dogellau in Wales! She was a hoot, she had a gold tooth and you could hardly understand what she was saying! Some of the houses were a little run-down, we did have a couple of days where we rated the place on how creaky the floors were and whether the toilet flushed on the first try (it seems to take on average about 3 goes to get most toilets in this country to flush). The best place was the last place we stayed, it was a big manor house about half an hour out of Glasgow and the hosts were so lovely. It is kind of like staying at some obscure relatives house who just loves the company. Quite possibly the best way to see the country.
We flew over to Belfast after Glasgow. The flight took 25 minutes. They didn't even have time to take the drinks trolley along the aisle. We laughed all the way there.
When I think of Belfast I think of IRA, bombings and ruffians with machine guns. It is not like that now, obviously, but it is still showing the scars of the 'troubles' as the locals call it. The important buildings in the city have what they call 'blast walls' around them, so that if a car bomb went off it wouldn't damage the building. Most of the new development along the waterfront has been happening since the peace process started in the 1990s and Belfast seems like an up and coming city. It doesn't really have any attractions to speak of, but both Katherine and I agreed that we could live there if we needed to.
We didn't go to Belfast for Belfast though, we went to go and see the Giant's Causeway, in County Antrim at the northern edge of the island. And of course it rained absolute cats and dogs that day, which made it all a little challenging. The Giant's Causeway is a rock formation of hexagonal shaped coloumns that disappears into the sea. The scientific explanation is cooling lava from a volcano about 60 million years ago. The myth is that Finn McCool, the local giant, made the causeway to take a walk across to Scotland. When we got there he encountered a larger giant than he, so fled back to Ireland and asked his wife to disguise him. He dressed up as a baby and when the Scottish giant came hollering across the causeway, he looked at the baby and decided that he didn't want to meet the father of such a giant bub and so ran back to Scotland, tearing up the causeway as he went. Myth? Well then why are there similar stones on the coast of Scotland I ask ye?
I thought that it would be like the pictures, but it really is an amazing sight and the pictures don't really do it justice, unfortunately my pics don't really do it justice either as we look like drowning rats.
From Belfast we went to Dublin. Now, poor old Dublin has the honour of the last place for us to visit on this trip and so well, to be fair I was just a wee bit sick of the whole thing. Dublin, being in the Republic of Ireland is on the Euro, which is a big fat pain, and it is also really expensive. So we didn't get up to too much. We had a tour of the city on one of those trusty hop-on, hop-off buses, which, if you are ever anywhere and stuck for something to do, do that. Even if a city doesn't have any attractions, these companies will make them up! Dublin is a lovely city, and it amazed me how many people were out and about. We went past the Guiness factory, as well as past Oscar Wildes house. Ireland was worth the visit, I think it would be better visited on the pound rather than the NZ dollar. The accents alone are worth checking out!
And now we're back in London. We are having a very lazy day today, we're yet to see Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards, but otherwise its quality time with our friends who we have to say goodbye to and figuring out how to adjust to life as a working person again. There is no way to sum up how phenomenal this trip has been, except to look back at the near on 1000 photos i've taken (don't worry, I won't be subjecting any of you to slide show nights!) and wondering where on earth all that money has gone!
Goodbye England, I will be back.

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Photos

Is it raining? I hadn't noticed
There she is, where is the giant?

Hi Prince Andrew!
That's him making some smart comment to impress the crowds...oh yes.

Imposing isn't it
Edinburgh Castle overlooking the city

£6 I think not!
This is Castle Urqhart on the Loch Ness. It costs £6 to go in, or you can take a photo over the fence...

They say it is a pretty drive....
Me in Ireland before the rain really took hold.

View from above
We walked over a small swing bridge on the way up to the Giants Causeway

Summer in London!
A picture from today in Clapham Common, and to think we're coming back home to winter!