Greeted by The Queen on Arrival!

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Kathryn's Visit To The UK & Europe 12th June-8th July, 2010

London

My sister Kathryn came to visit Rupesh and I in London and to do a bit of travelling around the UK and Europe. I pulled out all the stops for her visit! Kathryn flew in to Heathrow at 6am which was just enough time for us to get back to our place in North London, freshen up and then get the tube in to central London. We were going to meet the Queen! Trooping the Colour (which I had never heard of until my sister was plannning her trip) was happening today. Not only did we meet Queen Elizageth II but several other members of the Royal family including Prince Charles, Camilla & Prince William. When I say 'meet' - perhaps this is the wrong word! We were standing along The Mall with thousands of Brits and tourists. Still...my sister was impressed that she saw the Queen on her first ever visit and first morning in London! At the end of the parade we made our way up The Mall to Buckingham Palace and watched the Royals come out on to the balcony and then watch the Red Arrows fly over.

We then wandered down to the Embankment for some lunch aboard Tattershalls Castle which is a permanently docked boat. This is a great spot on the river in the Summer. We then walked through Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square to Covent Garden. Not surprisingly, Kathryn was starting to fade - after a drink in the Punch & Judy bar we headed home. Kathryn made it until 5pm - quite an achievement after getting off a long haul flight at 6am. And with all the excitement of meeting the Queen!

The following day we spent in London wandering around Camden and taking a canal boat along the Regents Canal. We met up with Rupesh in Notting Hill and wandered along Portobello Road. It wasn't quite as busy on a Sunday without all the food stalls. That evening Kathryn met Rupesh's Mum and we all enjoyed her fantastic Indian cooking.

Costwolds

There are some lovely little villages in the Cotswolds. Kathryn found a picture some time back which she emailed me and said - 'I want to go here.' She found out that it was a village called Bibury in the Cotswolds. We did a day trip from London and made this our first stop in the Cotswolds. And we found the cute little houses that she had emailed me a picture of. We wandered around Bibury, along a stream where there were baby coots and little stone bridges. From Bibury we continued north in the Cotswolds to Painswick and stopped at the Painswick Rococo Gardens. We wandered around these beautiful gardens before having some morning tea in their cafe.

Broughton-on-Water was another village in the Cotswolds where we stopped for a wander. We also had a very nice lunch (coronation chicken baguette) at the Mad Hatter cafe. Stow-on-Wold was our final stop before heading back to London.

Back In London

After arriving back from the Cotswolds we went to Shakespeare's Globe and saw Henry the VIII. It's a fantastic open air theatre with only some seating. It was quite a long play and we only had standing tickets - mental note to get a seated ticket next time! Thanfully the actors and actresses were very lively throughout and kept us wide awake.

Jessica's London Challenges

Kathryn visited a friend in Northern Ireland for 2 days and when she returned to London Jess arrived in London for a flying visit. I gave her a few challenges to complete over the 2 days while she was in London. She had a very busy couple of days. I met Kathryn and Jess in Trafalgar Square and we had a drink at one of the oldest pubs in London - Ye Olde Chesire Cheese before catching a black cab to Piccadily Circus to meet one of Jess's friends. We saw Grease the musical in the West End. Rupesh kindly gave his ticket to Jess's friend as he had another important World Cup match to watch.

Jess had a very full last day in London - we went to Borough Market at London Bridge in the morning. You never eat breakfast before you go and sample as many things as you can. The hardest decision to make is what to have for lunch. We wandered around Hyde Park and then met Rupesh in Camden. Jess loved Camden market and wanted to do a bit more shopping. From Camden we walked to Regents Park and spent the evening at The Taste of London food festival. We had some great dishes from many of the restaurant tents.

Venice

Kathryn and Jess went off to Italy, visiting Rome, Cinque Terre and Verona. Rupesh and I met up with them 4 days later in Venice. Rupesh had never been to Venice, it is such an amazing place. We did a lot of wandering, gelati tasting and boat trips on the canals. We stayed in a guest house (Residenza cà dario) overlooking one of the canals not far from the train station. It was a surprisingly quiet spot given how busy Venice is when you hit the tourist traps.

We spent 3 nights in Venice and had a chance to visit the island of Murano where Venecian glass is made. It took us 3 days to find the best pizza in Venice - found during a previous visit a couple of years ago. Pizza al Volo in Santo Margarita Square (of course the square is named after a pizza!). I was slowly crossing off the squares off the Venice map until we found this pizza. And for those who have visited Venice before, you will understand that there are squares everywhere!

Paris

Jessica caught the train to Switzerland to meet the Guides from home for a Guide Camp which was being held over 2 weeks. Jess would then fly back to Australia. Rupesh flew back to London and Kathryn and I flew to Paris. We had a fantastic couple of days exploring Paris mostly by foot. It was incredibly hot so lots of shady stops in Paris's great parks were much needed along with a cold drink. We covered a lot of ground - the Eiffel Tower and all its steps, the Arc de Tromphe, Avenue de Champs Elyseess, Notre Dame, Mont Marte, Sacre Cour and Place du Tertre.

We were thoroughly entertained at the Moulin Rouge - this is great show that is very lively from start to end. One of the most impressive sights was when one of the dancers swims around in a tank on stage with a huge snake.

We enjoyed Paris by night on the River Siene and were amazed at the number of local teenagers sitting by the river and on the bridges. There was also some outdoor dancing going on by the river.

It goes without saying that had some great food in Paris - many crepes were devoured along with good wine, cheese, baguettes and creme brulee. We also had dinner one night at Le Relais Gascon (rue des Abbesses) where we had a starter of escargots (snails) in a fantastic garlic sauce followed by a huge salad with lots of lettuce, lardons, cheese and fried potato pieces. All good!

The catacombs of Paris was definitely an interesting visit - approx. 2km of underground tunnels with bones stacked ever so neatly from floor to ceiling. We entered the tunnel at one point and exited at another. At the exit a security check was completed ensuring that visitors did not leave with any bones as souveniers. In the 1700's the cemetaries in Paris were becoming overcrowded and the bones were moved underground for infection control.

We caught the Eurostar back to London, enjoying a picnic dinner dinner with cheese, wine, baguette and pastries. I think we made the mouths water of the couple sitting opposite us!

Salisbury & Stone Henge

We had a day in London after returning from Paris. Kathryn and I drove down to Stonehenge - it is still amazing to wonder and make your own conclusions about how these stones got here in such a formation. We drove in to Salisbury and had a lovely pub lunch in glorious sunshine. We wandered around town and went inside the impressive Salisbury Cathedral. The most amusing thing outside the cathedral was a 'handbag dog' only it took his 2 owners to carry him! Back to London and Rupesh cooked us a BBQ dinner in the back garden just in time for him to watch another World Cup match!

Scotland

Seems like a good idea at the time these early morning flights until you realise that you have to get out of bed at 3.30am! We had a 6am flight from London to Edinburgh and picked up a hire car at the airport. We spent the night at Edinburgh Halls which is usually student accommodation but is turned in to a hostel in the student breaks. Edinburgh Halls was in the old part of town so easy to access a lot of the places we wanted to visit. It was a little worrying that our pillow in the hostel room had a pair of ear plugs on it but we were so tired after our early start that I don't think anything was going to keep us awake!

We had a little nap before hitting the streets of Edinburgh. We took a tour underground in Mary Kings Close where people once lived and where many were infected with the plague. It's incredible to believe that families lived underneath the street level in such horrific conditions. We visited the spectacular Edinburgh Castle on the hill and did a great walking tour of the city by day and a ghostly walking tour by night.

Edinburgh has a plethra of pubs and we visited one along Rose Street in the new part of town. I also took Kathryn to the infamous Baked Potato Shop on Cockburn Street off the Royal Mile. Their potatoes are huge and they have a great range of fillings.

Leaving Edinburgh we drove through Glasgow, stopping off for a bit of shopping. We then continued north to Tyndrum, a little town in the highlands where we spent the night at Strathfillan Wigwams. We cooked a BBQ on our little fire outside the wigwam surrounded by the mountains.

From Tyndrum we drove to Fort William and spent the day on the Jacobite Express steam train from Fort William to Mallaig. In Glenfinnan the steam train passes over the impressive bridge (Glenfinnan Aqueduct) that is featured in the Harry Potter movies. The train journey is spectacular as it passes through the Highlands. In Mallaig (small coastal town) we had lunch and spotted a seal in the harbour. We then returned on the train to Fort William.

We left Fort William and continued north to Loch Ness. We stayed in Loch Ness Hostel and had a room overlooking Loch Ness. It was a fantastic hostel - the dining room had huge windows which also overlooked the loch. Great for Nessie spotting! When we stepped out of our room we were literally on the waters edge.

The following morning we visited the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre in Drumnadrochit - lots of history about the loch and stories of the Loch Ness Monster. We then took a boat ride on the loch which was surprisingly rough for a lake.

Our journey turned around at this point and we headed south, passing by Loch Lommand and continuing to Glencoe. We had lunch at the Clachaig Inn which is surrounded by fantastic scenery - mountains frequented by walkers and climbers.

We reached Cloanaig where we to board a car ferry to Lochranza on the Isle of Arran. When we got there the ferry had been cancelled due to bad weather. The sat nav just directed us to head across the water, ferry or not! We could barely open the car door because it was so windy. I'd already booked a hostel in Lochranza but we now had to find somewhere else to stay. We managed to find an onsite van in Tarbert which overlooked the bay.

After our night in Tarbert we were able to get the ferry the following morning from Cloanaig to Lochranza on the Isle of Arran. It meant that we didn't really have time to spend the night on the Isle of Arran so had to do a bit of a whirlwind trip around the small island. We did fit in a guided tour of the Isle of Arran Distillary and our best discovery was Arran Gold - a cream liqueur like Baileys but better. We drove almost a full loop around the island and stopped to see the Machrie Moor Stone Circles (signifiying ancient occupation and buriel sites). We boarded the ferry on the other side of the island at Brodick which took us to Ardrossan where we continued out journey through the south of Scotland.

Just out of the town of Ayr we stopped by the roadside at the Electric Brae - an optical illusion where by cars appear that they are rolling backwards up the gradient when in fact they are moving forwards.

We continued to Gretna Green which is at the England/Scotland border. There are some lovely little shops in Gretna Green but unfortunately it was all closed by the time we arrived.

Lake District

After crossing the border in to England we continued south towards the Lake District to the little village of Buttermere. We had to drive at almost walking pace as we got closer to the village as there were many lambs wandering along the road and sitting by the road. We stayed at Cragg Farm Camping Barn which was clean and well set up with a toilet and shower, plastic covered mattresses upstairs and table and sink downstairs with an area to cook. We just made it in time for dinner at the Bridge Inn Pub before they stopped cooking for the evening. This pub is literally surrounded by mountains - the setting is just fantastic. The following day we drove through parts of the Lake District - my favourite road was definitely 'The Struggle.' The road was long, windy and steep with great views.

Cambridge

After leaving the Lake District we decided to head for Cambridge. All the hostels in Cambridge were full so we ended up staying in the village of Saffron Walden which was just 20 minutes out. Lets just say that The Youth Hostel in Saffron Walden had lots of character. Kathryn may describe it differently - she thought that the hostel may not be still standing when we woke up the next morning! The Youth Hostel is a Grade 1 listed medieval building from the 1490's. The upstairs flooring wasn't quite level anymore and the staircase leading upstairs had plenty of creaks. There were 1 or 2 issues with the fridge but I think this may have been one of the few items that was not from the 1490's! The seal on the fridge no longer worked so the fridge door was held shut with tape. Due to uneven flooring in the kitchen too, if the tape failed then the fridge door would swing open. Unfortunately our milk was not fit to drink the following morning! But in saying all this, we did have a good nights sleep and the building was still standing the next morning. And we had a lot of laughs staying there. I even found a shilling next to my bed.

We left Saffron Walden the next morning to spend the day in Cambridge. The walking tour was fantastic and we also fitted in punting. Wandering around the colleges was amazing particularly Kings College which is incredibly grand. We drove back to London and had a lovely roast pork dinner at home followed by one of Rupesh's (now famous) hedgehog cakes to celebrate Kathryns's birthday in a couple of days. Kathryn flew back to Melbourne the next day. What a great trip.

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