Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe - page 3082

The entire London Study group spent a week touring Southern England. We went to Cambridge, Ely, York, Warwick, Kentworth, Coventry, Bath, Amesbury, Salisbury & Portsmouth. Saw a couple World Heritage sites, a few castles and infinity cathedrals.... read more

Its was a cold November morning. My alarm started ringing at 4:30 am with the song »L'ombelico del mondo« - the belly of the world - loudly. Anyway, it was a short night, as packing was done into long night hours. So, i picked up Adi some 30 minutes later, just as he was just getting his hair cut (at 5am in the morning hehe)... actually, he didn't even go to sleep, funny (straight from work, but hey, he was seriously tired afterwards in the day)... My dad then drove us to the airport, and i got seriously annoyed by his slow driving... But OK, better safe than sorry, as our trip was just starting ;) Yep, my first trip... overseas... so, my travelling career is starting :) So, our first stop was London, an overnight ... read more

Visit England and Simon for the first time... read more

This was the day to walk over Cleeve Common , a high plateau. After the initial climb (1000 feet above sea level, of which the hotel is half way), the walk is gently rolling. At the south edge are the remains of a hill which was use for double-ditch protection over 2000 years old. Much further on and around is Belas Knap, a burial mound over 4000 years old. Built into the mound were small stone caves for the bodies (over 38 were found, according to the information board). More gentle walking, then down, down, down over fields, descending to the village of Winchcombe for lunch. This was the scariest (steepest) terrain and the longest leg – 6.5 miles. Our reward was a quiet visit to url=https://www.bri... read more

From the hotel, we were dropped off by Mike, a part-time driver (when he’s not working for the County cutting grass). He chatted with me all the way, since I rode in the front of the van. Peter is our guide. We walked along well-defined paths and roads. Houses and beautiful gardens were seen with some frequency. These groups of houses are nominally villages, although none have any services beyond a mail box and a (red) phone box. Most of the houses have been extensively refurbished, repaired, and extended. Apparently they are expensive. Some villages are farm yards, in which all the outbuildings have been converted to houses. We saw this in Devon, too. To get to lunch we walked along a paved road to the Highwayman Inn, an old coaching house, now adjacent to the ... read more