15 Aug, Sunday

The train for Glasgow didn't leave till 1140, so we had a brief look around parts of Fort William that we had neglected. I talked to the troops at the local fire station, gave them a Denton FD patch, and traded t-shirts.

We stopped in Glasgow again and considered staying for a couple of days, but neither of us could work up a lot of enthusiasm so we moved south into England and stopped for the night in Carlisle. We found a hotel and had a short wander before dark. We hiked around a Henry VIII castle, but it was closed for the day, so we literally hiked "around" it. We may go in tomorrow. England is much warmer than Scotland. It must be in the 70s here! ... See Photos

16 August

We left our bags at the hotel and went to the Tourist Info Center for advice about Hadrian's Wall. After a maddening circular conversation with possibly the densest woman in Britain, we secured a bus schedule and left. We decided to stay another night in Carlisle, so we checked back in to the same hotel. Street noise and bar revelry were a bit of a problem last night, so we made sure to get a back room for tonight.... Read More

17 August

Today's train ride was from Carlisle to Penrith, where we explored the ruins of a castle that was home to Richard III before he was the king. We then took a bus to Keswick, a town in the Lake District National Park. This is where Beatrix Potter lived for many years. The town reminds us a lot of Breckenridge, Colorado. We had booked a room online, so didn't have to find a room, just the hotel. We took a cruise around the local lake this afternoon, going ashore to hike along the hills for a few miles before catching the next boat back to town. This is a magically beautiful place, with small mountains running right down to the lake shores. So far, the rain has toyed with us, but not hampered our activities. ... See Photos

18 August

I joined a walking group led by park rangers this morning for a hike through the surrounding area. We took a bus to Seatoller and hiked about eight miles back to town through the hills. Some periods of light rain did nothing to spoil a really good day. Janene decided to pass on the hill hiking and spent the day exploring Keswick. ... See Photos

19 August

We re-traced our route back to Carlisle so we could take the scenic train through northern England to the town of Settle, in the Yorkshire Dales. A group of lads on the way to Leeds for a holiday joined us, and we had fun talking to them. We think we understood most of what they said. It's safe to say that very few of the locals we've met sound like Tony Blair or Hugh Grant. With all the different dialects, it's a wonder they can understand each other at all. It may be even more extreme here than in the States. The train route was indeed quite scenic in that hilly, meadowy, stone-fencey, sheep-grazing-in-the-fields manner that is everywhere one looks in these parts. We found our B&B and explored the town a bit before settling in for the night with our fish-and-chips. ... See Photos

20 August

Today tested our navigation skills as we took a bus from Settle to Skipton, another bus on to Grassington, and a final one to Kettlewell. The purpose of all this was to visit the Kettlewell Scarecrow festival. Kettlewell is a village in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Each year, dozens of scarecrows are displayed all over the town, many in unusual places.... Read More

21 August

Along the route yesterday, we saw notices for the Gargrave Agricultural Show, which was held today. After checking with the local Tourist Information Center and securing lodging for Sunday and Monday nights, we walked to the adjoining village of Giggleswick to catch the train to Gargrave. We saw cattle, horse, and dog shows, some show jumping, a tug of war contest, falcon demonstrations, and antique car and tractor shows. The weather was much improved, with some heavy clouds, but no rain.... Read More

22 Aug, Sunday

After breakfast, we caught a train back toward Carlisle and got off at Garsdale, which is just a station basically in the middle of nowhere. Way back when, there was a line that ran east, but it's been closed for many decades. The upside is that it is in a wonderful location in the Yorkshire hills. After a 2-hour wait, an antique bus arrived to transport us to the town of Hawes, but before we boarded the bus, Janene put on an act to rival the Three Stooges.... Read More

23 August

The clouds were gathering as we finished breakfast and caught a bus for the village of Askrigg, about five miles away. This is the village that doubled for Darrowby on All Creatures Great & Small. We saw the main characters' house and the local pub, bought a sandwich at a little shop, asked directions at another, and started our hike through the Dales back to Hawes.... Read More

24 August

Happy birthday, Cary! We left our bags at the hotel and spent a couple of hours around Hawes. Today was market day, so we looked through the various goods on display. The wind was blowing about 30 MPH and it was COLD, so it wasn't the best day to be a street vendor. And then, it started raining. We also strolled through the local rope factory, getting a brief lesson in rope making, both old and new. A modern bus took us back to the cold, windy Garsdale train station, where we caught the train south to Leeds. We were undecided about whether to stay in Leeds or to go on to Manchester, but settled on Leeds when we found a nice hotel room for ₤20. This is with the same company we stayed with in Dijon and Paris, so it's not even sleazy. The Tourist Information Center didn't charge us a booking fee, and a free city bus took us within a couple of blocks of the hotel. Leeds was off to a good start with us! We walked around downtown, looking at the town hall and visiting the free city museum. We bought deli food at a supermarket and dined in our room.

view from guesthouse

market day

British humour

Rope Factory Video (6s, 1MB)

Garsdale Train Station

Leeds, England Leeds Civic Hall golden owl

Leeds Town Hall

Town Hall Lion

Town Hall Organ

25 August

We left Leeds for Manchester today, arriving in the early afternoon. We had pre-booked the Ibis, so we were under no pressure to find lodging. Before leaving the train station, we took advantage of the first-class lounge's internet network to check email. We also enjoyed the first free snacks and beverages since we left Spain. After checking in at the hotel, we went to the Manchester Museum and visited an excellent special exhibit about Charles Darwin. After the museum closed, we wandered around downtown Manchester before taking an order of fish-and-chips back to our room in time to catch tonight's episode of Holby City on the telly.

locks o' luck

Canal Street Locks video (51s, 8.2MB)

British taxi cabs

China Town Manchester	City Hall	Wheel of Manchester
street scene	Saint Ann's Church	Manchester Central Library

26 August

It was cold and rainy as we moved from Manchester to Nottingham. The train was very crowded, so we had to split up, but it worked for the best since the ladies I ended up sitting with had not heard my stories and jokes before. It was a welcome respite for Janene and a treat for the Brits, I'm sure.☺ We took a tram to the Nottingham Tourist Information Center, where we secured lodging along our route for the next 4 nights. The hike to the B&B was uneventful except for the occasional shower and mandatory large hill. We decided to make soup in the room and stay in for the night. It soon became apparent that there was no heat available in our room. Management seem amazed that we thought it a bit cool, since it's still obviously summer, but did they come up with additional covers. I put my stocking cap on in the middle of the night, but actually slept quite well.

Manchester hotel

The Crooked Spire Chesterfield Parish Church

27 August

Sunshine replaced the clouds and rain, and it warmed up nicely compared to the last several days. We spent the day seeing some of the sights of Nottingham. We toured the museum complex at the former site of Nottingham Castle. It was one of the greatest in its day, but was demolished way back for various reasons. We tried going to Newstead Abbey, Lord Byron's home, but a series of unfortunate events caused us to arrive too late at the wrong place, so we returned to Nottingham, strolled about the Arboretum grounds and took a short-cut home through the graveyard where we found several very interesting markers. Supper at a neighborhood pub finished off a pretty decent day. ... See Photos

28 August

It seems that the famous English weather has finally caught up with us. We took a bus from our rooming house to the train station, and two different trains to move from Nottingham to Buxton in the Peaks District. We then had to walk 1/2 mile to the Devonshire Lodge guesthouse. Rain fell during most of this activity. This wasn't the light drizzle we've been having, but rather the kind of steady rain you hope for after the crops are all planted, and the equipment is cleaned and stored till next season. The rain became slightly intermittent later in the afternoon, and we ventured out to the Tourist Info Center and had an orientation stroll around town. When we were on the continent and wanting to fine-tune our wardrobes, we looked in vain for charity shops. We concluded that they did not exist. We counted seven in a two-block stretch of Buxton, but, of course, we no longer need to either acquire or dispose of anything.

Nottingham				Buxton
view from B&B	B&B room	horny bike		NOT our hotel

29 Aug, Sunday

Chatsworth House was our attraction of this day. It's a HUGE house on a 32,000-acre estate which has been the home of the Dukes of Devonshire since the English Civil War back in the early 1700s. The house is now actually owned by a charitable trust, but the duke & his family still live there. We spent about five hours touring the house and extensive gardens, and, although it was extremely crowded (presumably due to the major holiday crowd), it was certainly worthwhile.... Read More

30 August

This morning greeted us with glorious sunshine; maybe we can finish out our trip on a bright note!? We head south today, in search of warmer climes. We told our landlady "Cheers," hiked to the station, and caught the train back to Stockport, where we transferred to another line which took us south along the Welsh border to Cardiff. The train was relatively crowded as people traveled home from their holiday. We finally found short-sleeve weather in Cardiff. After finding a room, we walked around the festival in the marina area and went to see Dinner for Schmucks at the cinema. Although Cardiff is the capital of Wales, it's pretty unremarkable. It reminds me a bit of Belfast architecturally, but much more cheerful.

St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Brainzzz!

All Hands sculpture

Water Towers roundabout fountain

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Visitor Centre

restored lightvessel

31 August

We rode a series of trains through Cornwall to St. Ives, where we found a B&B overlooking the ocean. The train route is advertised as one of the most scenic, and it was indeed very nice. The tracks wind along seaside hills for several miles with nice views of both sandy beaches and rocky coastal areas. We arrived late in the afternoon, but had time for a nice stroll around town and supper on the beach. St. Ives is small, very picturesque, and very pleasant. ... See Photos

1 September

We went to Penzance for a few hours' walkabout, and had a genuine Cornish pastie for lunch, before snuggling into our first-class seats for the five-hour ride to Reading, just outside of London. The route basically ran east from the tip of Cornwall to just west of London. This part of England is very different from the Yorkshire area. Stone walls have been replaced by hedgerows, and there are a lot more trees. It's very pretty here, but lacks the wild look of the Scottish Highlands or the fairy-taleness (if that's a word) of the dales. We got in later than usual, but managed to tour some of the business district while seeking a room for the night. We finally settled on our old standby Ibis Hotel. We weren't very hungry, thanks to free snacks from the train lady, but needed internet, so we ate a late supper at McDonald's. We now have reservations for flying home on the 12th. ... See Photos

2 September

Searching the internet last night yielded a lead on a flat in London, so we decided to stop off on the way to Dover for a look. We found the place about 10-minutes walking distance from Paddington Station and went ahead and put down a deposit. This place is about half as nice as the one in Paris for about double the price, but it's London, so we were expecting the worst.

When we got to Dover, we had a bit of trouble finding reasonably priced lodging, but finally settled on a rather dilapidated hotel near the station. After exploring the town and having supper, we saw Toy Story 3 at the local cinema.

town map (larger map)

white cliffs at

Dover Marina

looking NE toward Dover Castle

pretty picnic table

WW2 tunnels

St. James Church ruins

Dover info sign

Market Square

zoom on Big Screen

Bear on Biggin Street

cannons by town hall

Ye Olde One Shoppe Stopping

Danger!

3 September

Although we were on the 4th floor, the caterwauling from Karaoke night in the pub below us kept us awake till quite late last night. That, combined with the general shoddiness of the place, inspired me to get out this morning and look for something better. I had to arrange for two different B&Bs for the next two nights. We're paying more, but not regretting it.... Read More

4 September

We left our bags at tonight's B&B and struck out to hike the White Cliffs of Dover to St. Margaret's. It was a nice day for a walk, and the route furnishes lots of great views of the Dover harbour, the cliffs, the Channel, and the endless procession of ships and ferries coming and going between Dover and France. We took a bus from St. Margaret's to Deal, then rode the train back home.

Janene's pedometer crossed the much-sought-after 1,000-mile mark today! I guess we should have solicited walking pledges before we left. We might have raised enough to cure something. ... See Photos

5 Sept, Sunday

It was another nice day, so we left our packs with the landlord and hiked up to the Western Heights, a fortification on another hill opposite the castle. The beginnings of this series of forts date to the U.S. War of Independence, when France and Spain sensed British weakness and joined our side. Napoleon and other 19th-century threats caused further development, and it was used through WW2. We took a walking tour with a local historian, including passage through a unique triple spiral staircase that was designed to rapidly move troops from their hillside barracks to the shore. The weather was clear, so we were able to see France one last time before heading to London.... Read More

6 September

It was rainy for part of the day, but we still managed quite a bit of exploring. We walked through Kensington Park all the way to Buckingham Palace, which we found underwhelming. Most of our time was spent just looking around and strolling the extensive park paths. ... See Photos

7 September

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Blitz. Tube employees are staging a partial walkout, shutting down about 2/3 of the trains. Fortunately, we have plenty to see and do within walking distance of our rooms. We walked back through the park to the Prince Albert memorial and Royal Albert Hall before spending the afternoon at the Science Museum. We shopped for groceries on the way home and fixed dinner in the apartment.

Kensington Palace		Albert Memorial		Albert Memorial		Royal College of Organists
Royal Albert Hall	British phone box
			recumbent trike		skateboarding elephant

Science Museum

Cray computer info	Cray-1 supercomputer	R.J. Mitchell	Sigmund Freud
Ampex Video Recorder info	Ampex Video Recorder
		Round Pond

8 September

We rode the Hop-A-Bus today, then finished out the afternoon back at the Science Museum. A different route home let us explore the area east of Paddington Station. This area of London is mostly Arabic and is filled with little shops and Arabic delis. It seems like English speakers are in the minority here; we didn't even try to count all the different languages we've heard, mostly because we have no idea what they are. ... See Photos

9 September

We finished our Hop-a-Bus ride this morning with a cruise on the Thames from Big Ben to Greenwich and back again to the Tower of London. We spent about four hours touring the Tower and viewing the Crown Jewels and an exhibition of royal armor. After the Tower closed, we rode the tube to Harrods and looked around for a bit, but soon tired of what is basically just a British Neiman Marcus. We had fish and chips in our neighborhood and bought groceries for tomorrow before collapsing for the night. ... See Photos

10 September

We decided to explore to the north today, so we walked up to Regent's Park, home of the London Zoo. We didn't go to the zoo, but wandered the gardens and climbed up to the viewpoint at Primrose Hill for a nice panoramic view of the city. (We did see some warthogs off the side of the walkway where the park and zoo join.)

We circled around by the British Museum, but didn't stay very long. Although they have an amazing collection of artifacts, we realized that a Greek vase in London pretty much looks like a Greek vase in the U.S.... Read More

11 September

We walked through Hyde Park for the last time this morning to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum. This is another of the big London attractions that we felt we should visit. The Rodin sculptures were the highlight of the usual museum fare on display, but we enjoyed the Beatrix Potter exhibition, with the original Peter Rabbit illustrations, and a section dedicated to the performing arts, more.... Read More

12 September

We must be ready to go home, because I hopped right up when the alarm went off at 0600 and Janene only hit the snooze once. The short hike to Paddington Station, half-hour train to Heathrow, queue for preliminary security check, boarding passes/luggage check-in, and carry-on screening took about one hour. We had to wait over an hour before our gate was announced, but there are endless shops in the terminal and ample waiting areas. Boarding was pretty painless and, at least compared to our flights to and from Australia, our seats had luxurious legroom. I'm glad I didn't pay $500 extra to fly business class. Not that there was ever any danger of that!

I busied myself re-sizing and editing pictures while Janene watched movies and played video games. Too bad I didn't have the nerve to face lugging my noise-canceling earphones all over creation; they would have been really nice to have. Still, there are worse places to spend ten hours, and we were fed and hydrated well by the very nice crew.

It took us almost exactly one hour from disembarking to clear customs and retrieve our luggage. We stood in a total of nine queues today. Cary was on hand to meet us, and we were welcomed home by 90 degree heat and noticeable humidity. Still, it's good to be home.

Heathrow

to

DFW

Final observations:

Five months is a long time to be on the road.

One can travel with very little and do just fine. Even as lightly as we packed, we sent some things home, gave some away, and had a few that we never used.

SmartWool hiking socks will last for at least 600 miles per pair.

Europe is a hard place to get a drink of water! Drinking fountains are non-existent, and waiters are incapable of filling a glass from a tap, forcing the consumption of bottled water.

Ice is considered a driving hazard, not something to put in a drink.

As hard as it is to get a drink, it's nearly as hard to get rid of one without paying. Janene's proudest achievement of the trip was never paying to use the toilet – although it was really close a few times. Thank you, McDonald's!!

Spoons are either huge are tiny. Or maybe our spoons are a funny in-between size.

Beds do not have sheets and blankets. Duvets are the norm, so you're either hot or cold most of the time. And the pillows on the continent are huge – about 36"x36".

Hello Kitty is possibly an alien plot to infiltrate every society on Earth. They've certainly succeeded in Europe.

Kebabs, or kebaps, can be purchased EVERWHERE.

Engineers in the British Isles are still struggling as they continue to try to perfect a toilet that will activate on the first attempt; not flush completely, just activate.

Any light bulb brighter than 20 watts is considered stadium lighting.