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Published: April 16th 2010
This needs to be the quickest blog ever, as I have a date to go and see 'Sister Act' at the London Palladium on the West End tonight. I am typing away in an internet cafe while I have time before the show. This was a treat from Ron - sweet man that he is!
We have had a wow of a time travelling down from Scotland. After our short time in Ireland we caught a flight from Belfast over to Edinburgh. The flight took only thirty minutes - the delays took well over an hour, but we finally arrived late in the evening. We didn't have any accommodation booked, so while we waited for our flight, we hopped on the internet at the airport and found ourselves a fancy hotel on one of the last minute booking sites called 'The Old Waverley'. It was perfectly situated in the centre of town, very close to many tourist sites and across the road from the beautiful Princes Street Gardens. From the breakfast room you had a clear view of the Sir Walter Scott monument over the road and the Edinburgh Castle sitting proudly on the hill.
We settled in pretty
tired after a long day's travelling and got up ready to start another day of trekking. Breakfast was a very posh affair in the glorious dining room with all manner of food laid out to help yourself. Mum thought I might partake in a bit of haggis, but as I told her, I don't eat anything associated with the respiratory system or any other organs designed to remove toxins from the body. Haggis just about covers both categories and it really didn't look that appealing bubbling away looking like the lungs were still breathing!
During our two night stay in Edinburgh we visiting the historical Castle sitting up on the hill and stood in the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son, walked down the Royal Mile where we stopped for lunch in a little pub which was about 500 years old, strolled through the gorgeous Princes Street Gardens, took a peak at Holyrood House, a former home of the Queen Mother I believe and climbed yet another monument. This one required walking up hundreds of steps just to get a stunning view of the city. This was the Walter Scott monument which was pretty
impressive, as was getting to the top. It actually became quite claustrophobic as you reached the top as the spiral staircase narrowed down to very little. Ron nearly got stuck with the backpack on which would have been interesting. Larger people would have found it extremely difficult and very embarrassing to boot. The Scots turned on some brilliant weather for us and to be honest, in the country I thought would be the coldest, I actually got a touch of sunburn! It was beautiful weather, and the Scots were obviously thrilled by the break of cold they are used to. One girl in a shop told me it had been 'scorching' the day before. Scorching? How hot can it get I thought. Well, scorching turned out to be 18 degrees (celcius) which is far from scorching in our language, but it made her happy so go for it love.
Once we had spent a couple of days walking and walking, as has been the custom, we picked up our hire car and head off for our next stop - Balloch. It may not sound familiar, but the thought of 'going the high road and going the low road.......and getting
to Loch Lomond sounded too good an opportunity to resist. So it was off to the bonnie bonnie banks we went - and what a great choice it was. The loch was stunning and full of pale skinned Scots taking advantage of the 'scorching' weather. They were out in full force, boys topless, girls in their spaghetti strap tops, kids swimming - summer was here, even if it was only for two days. We were able to take a cruise on the loch, which was very enjoyable, especially with the comedy act commentary over the loud speaker system. The water was still and the weather was perfect as we glided along the water, taking in the spectacular views along the way including castles and former mansions now converted into luxury hotels. Finding a B&B wasn't a problem a the street was lined with them. We decided on one which had been the former station house and as usual it was charming. Our room was in the attic and had everything we needed. The breakfast was served on the dining room table and the lovely host bought our food out to us, all beautifully presented on lovely white linen. In the
Loch Lomond
View from the cruise boatbackground she had soft Scottish music playing which really added to the atmosphere. I got a tiny bit teary when mum's favourite, Amazing Grace was played, because I know she would have done the same.
From there, we were off again - this time a real change of pace. Blackpool. We had a lovely drive through the countryside before reaching this well known beachside town. What a funny place! It was a carnival town, tacky in places, beautiful in others, but it was fun. The streets were lined with decorative lanterns, which we hoped would be turned on at night. Sadly that was not to be but the lights of the pier carnival sideshows and streets of game parlours made up for it. Hotels were everywhere, in fact you could find little else along the main street other than hotels and carnival shops. We chose our hotel based on the street lanterns outside. We figured that the classier looking lanterns belonged to the classier end of town, so with that we found the Park Hotel, later to be renamed by us as Pensioner Park Hotel as we were the youngest guests there! We were happy though, because it added
to the whole fun of this stay. We kept laughing at everything. I can't say why, it was just a funny place to be. I think the ladies on the front desk must have wondered why we asked to stay there and the other guest must have muttered into their teapots, because we were an oddity. Proof of their age - when we arrived just after 5.30pm the dining room was full of guests having dinner. Only the oldies eat that early! Anyway, the hotel was comfortable, if not a bit dated, but it was certainly popular in a town chocca block full of hotels to choose from. We only had the choice of two rooms left.
We spent the evening walking down the waterside, taking in the sights of the sideshows on the pier and the numerous mothers out with their babies late into the night. The next morning it was time to move yet again as we headed for London. We took a slight detour to drive through the beautiful Lakes District with it's little villages by the water - lots of little stone cottages which I love and lots of dumb sheep who wander onto the
road to eat the grass on the side of the road. I don't know why - the grass is so green and lush everywhere so they really don't need to risk their lives, but I guess that is why I called them dumb sheep.
We eventually made it down to London late in the afternoon to our hotel, which is in a suburb just out of the city called Harrow. Ron kicked a goal with this one because he picked it out on our lunch break and booked it online. We are staying in a 500 tudor style hotel which had been converted into a hospital in World War One. The room we are staying in is a modern addition, but we eat breakfast in the main old part of the hotel. The room is very spacious and comfortable and again the breakfast is the highlight of the morning.
Time is running out folks, so I will give a rundown on what we have seen in London - no surprises here
Buckingham Palace where we saw the pomp and ceremony of the changing of the guard ceremony
Tower Bridge
Big Ben
Hyde Park
Harrods
London Eye
Westminster Abbey
- another church but boy was it worth seeing. Got to walk down the aisle for fun
And just about every street on the Monopoly Board.
Etc etc.
That will have to do from London as the West End is calling me.
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janet
non-member comment
great job as usual
Sounds like you ticked all the obligitory boxes, well done to your stamina. Lovely account.You are going to love your next phase, not that you have been disappointed so far it seems. Australia is going to look a bit dry and boring. hoping the events in Iceland dont delay your plans. if they do go to Wales, that is nice too or Salisbury or Plymouth or Stone Henge or Windsor Castle. No2 Son is home and OK. Love Mumx