Popular Belief

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Firstly i must quell some rumours that have arisen. the lack of updates of this blog have very little to do with a certain state of intoxication and far more to do with a lack of time and secure useful internet cafe's.

we have just completed a Haggis Full Monty Extravaganza Bonanza Tour of Britain. It was fantastic. we have been through three country's in the last seven days and seen some fantastic countryside. what we have seen follows:

Day 1
Wantage: Home of Alfred the Great founder of england
Uffington White Horse a 3000 yr old horse seemingly carved into the side of a hill
Uffington Castle (now a field of grass)
Cherhill Whitehorse: this one resembled a horse much more than the previous one which looked more like a disfigured greyhound
Avesbury: place of stones arranged around the town in a venn diagram like pattern. apparently some people can feel magentic disturbance here.

Laycock: an authentic historical village that has been preserved for tourists
Bath: Bath was the highlight of day 1. we checked out the cathedral which was very interesting and the resting place of Arthur Phillips (i'm not telling you who he is, you should know your Aussie history). we spoke to the priest/bishop/minister (apologies i can't remember) for some time as he had been to Oz and was ver interested in us. we then went to the Roman Baths and i must say i was a little disappointed. although interesting i probably expected a little more for what i paid.
Bizarre Bath: a comedy tour by Noel Britton was by far the most exciting part of the day. he was absolutely hilarious and i would thoroughly recommend the tour to anyone visiting the town.

Day 2
Chepstow Castle: a real Castle with bricks!!!!
Tinton Abbey/ St Mary's Church
Kilfeck Church
Hereford: Home of the SAS
Ludlow Castle: Ludlow was a nice place but definately not the prettiest we have seen
Pontcysyllte Aqueducts
WALES we made it into Wales today and it is fantastic. the views are amazing!
We stayed at a place called Tyddyn Bychan at a farmhouse. it was beautiful country side and a fantastic little farm that is over 250 years old.

Day 3

We saw the "UGLY HOUSE" which i didnt think was that bad. i've seen worse. it is thus named because it days of yore there was a law that stated if a man can build an entire house in the hours of darkness he may claim all the land within an axe-throw of his home as his own. i might have mixed two laws there but the gist is if you build the house in the dark it is yours and you are free from rent and taxes etc. the axe-throw thing is pretty much you stand at your door throw an axe as far as you can and that is where you put the letterbox.
Mt Snowden beautiful country side. supposed resting place of Owen Glendar (famous welsh guy)



Caernarfrom Castle: Home of Edward the 1st
THERE IS A TOWN WITH A NAME I CANNOT WRITE OR PRONOUNCE i'll fill it in later. 58 letter word. crazy
Conwy Castle

We then moved back into England to the Lakes District.
took a Ferry from Windamere to Ambleside where we stayed.
we found out why our driver and guide "Disco Dave" is thus named at the 80's club in Amble side.
I also Saw a Badger in the middle of the road, unfortunately i didn't have my camera on me o you do not get any photos of him.

Day 4

Ullswater Lake: we skimmed stones and took photos and then moved on to Hadrian's Wall.

this was an awesome sight to say the least. to be standing on a wall that was built centuries ago is amazing. however it was the coldest FU£$%^ng day on record and it was raining and windy. needless to say we were very close to scotland.

on the topic of rain: WHAT RAIN? we have seen two days of light drizzle in the entire time we have been over here. the UK is having a heat wave. haha

Jedburgh: the border between Scotland and England
Edinburgh

the home of bonnie wee scottish people. Disco playd the famous scottish song that goes"you take the high road ill take the low..." i actually really like the song. the history behind it isn't so great. the neglish had some scots captive at a famous battle that i can't remember the name of. the english toyed with the scots and said to these tow guys. one of you is going free one if you will be hanged tomorrow at noon; you two can decide who goes free. long story short the old guy says to the young guy you go free and whilst he is waiting to be executed he pencils this song down.

The Last Drop Pub: famous becaus ein days of old it was the pub where people on death row had their last drink. We had Haggis (Duff you'll be proud), Neeps and Tatties. it was fantastic. very much like meat patties at home, just very spicy.

Day 5: Edinburgh
we did alot of walking around town. i now know why scots tend to have enormous calves. the place is a bloody mountain. walked to Arthurs seat with our German mate Alex and took some awesome shots of the city
Edinburgh Castle we had a look at it from a few different spots but decided we didn't want to go in.
I (Cal) did a Ghost tour that night which was awesome. only downside was that it was an Aussie girl taking the tour and it didn't fit with the whole scottish thing.

Day 6
a lot more driving today and alot mor ecompulsory driver stops because over here they're not allowed to drive for more than 5 minutes without having a break. not really it's mor elike 2 hours but yeah very different to home.
Branxton and Flodden Hill: the site of the famous battle of flodden wheres James the 4th was slain in battle
York: apparently York is a famous and breathtaking city. we didn't think so. the yorkminster Cathedral was great abd breathtaking and the wall around town was good. but pizza hut was by far the most exciting part of this town. we went to the movies and saw "the lives of others" which was a very interesting german movie.

Day 7

the final day of our trip.
Sherwood Forest and the Major Oak: d.i.s.a.p.p.o.i.n.t.i.n.g. first of all the stories of robin hood and his merry men leaping from the trees to accost noble men would be quite a feat seeing as the trees aren't very close together and the forest isn't very dense at all. secondly the Major Oak was quite a disappointment. i expected this massive tree to tower above everything. i've seen bigger trees at home.

Stratford-upon-Avon
The birthplace and final resting place of the great William Shakespeare. his house was quaint and interesting. we didn't go in because they wanted £8 for us to walk through a house. we found out from others on our tour that you couldn't take photos inside or of the house and gardens anyway. umm lets just say we found a way and have some fantastic photos of shakespeares front yard.


the people on our trip were fantastic and made it very amusing and worthwhile.

Special Mention:
Alex, a german guy we met on the trip: funny and entertaining and and all round nice guy
Disco Dave: this trip would not have been as great as it was without the antics, disco facts and general knowledge of disco.

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Comments

[Michelle]

What?! its not raining! thats just not fair! haha, i know what you mean Cal about the ghost tour.. Ive had Polish people taking me through Irish castles..Doesnt work!