Glasgow!!
I finally made it to Scotland. I've been wanting to come here for years - and not just because I think the accents are sexy. ;)
I also finally have internet access - hurrah! I left mum and Em to spend a couple of hours in an internet cafe. It's wonderful to have untimed and affordable internet for a change. I didn't realise it was going to be so tricky to get online in Britain. There were a couple of terminals at the hostels on the Haggis tour, but they wouldn't let me post to Livejournal and they kept deleting my emails, so I gave up. Now I have unlimited access for all of today for only £4! This is a mega bargain compared to the £1 for 10 or 20 minutes I have seen at previous places. Nice.
It's good just to sit here and do normal things. I must say I am rather weary from all this travelling. I am loving it, but moving from one town to the next on a daily basis is tiring. As is eating out for nearly every meal. It has been good having the car though, because we've been able to buy groceries and make regular things like sandwiches, instead of constantly eating pub food. I can't wait until I can cook something myself again... That probably won't be until I'm with Sasha and we stay at a hostel somewhere. I am looking forward to meeting up with him in London!!!
Glasgow is a bit rainy, but I enjoyed the small bit of it I saw earlier this afternoon. It was good to be back in a city after a week or so in the country.
I feel like I've been to so many places already, it's a bit of a blur. I thought I'd dot point the places I can remember - mostly for my own record, but it will also give you a bit of an idea of how much moving about I've been doing recently.
On the Cornwall Crusader tour, we saw heaps of stuff. It was a brilliant tour and I'd like to do another one, even though the hostels weren't all that crash hot. Some highlights from that tour:
* Uffington White horse - a massive, ancient drawing of a horse etched into the side of a hill.
* Avebury stone circle
* Lacock (Oh, I just realised I have already blogged about this bit of the trip)
* the Roman baths in Bath.
* Cheddar Gorge (apparently inspired Tolkein's Helm's Deep) - very misty and mysterious.
* an old Celtic chapel and Wishing Well, where a tree was covered with fragments of cloth to aid people's health.
* more ancient stones: Lanyon Quoit (king arthur's table) and Men-an-Toll (the Devil's eye - I climbed through it for a cheesy photo).
* a walk from Sennen Cove to Land's End - very impressive coastal scenery.
* Tintagel castle - ruins of a medieval castle, rumoured to be the place where King Arthur was conceived. Our tour guide, Gary, had the most awesome stories to tell as he drove us through the countryside. :)
* Stonehenge - this was less impressive than Avebury for me - mostly because it is so close to two major roads that spoil the mystical atmosphere just a tad...
After the tour, we picked up our car at Salisbury - a big dark blue Volvo station wagon - not what we ordered, but rather luxurious. Since then, we've done lots of driving about and exploring of Britain. It's hard to remember it all now, but I have it written elsewhere. We've soaked up the beauty and majesty of Snowdonia national park in Wales, enjoyed the very picturesque landscape of The Lakes district, where we indulged in lots of Beatrix Potter related things. We visited her house in Hill Top, which she drew in lots of her books. It was fun seeing the actual garden where Peter Rabbit and the Flopsy bunnies lived, and the window sill that can be seen in Tom Kitten. And then we visited a museum to see some of her original works and letters. Good fun. :)
We only have one night here in Glasgow. Next we're off to Oban for two nights. Here we'll be tracing some of our Scottish ancestry a bit and visiting the places where my great grandmother hails from. Looking forward to that - as is mum, who has been very involved in piecing together our family history. Should be interesting. Then we have a couple of days in Edinburgh before flying to Paris, just in time for the Rugby grand final. ;)
I hear that Howard has finally announced the election date. November 24th. Exciting stuff. I need to sort out where I can vote! :D
That's all for now. Love to everyone. (Hope sydney-siders have survived the moth plague!)
Pen
xxxooo
PS - send me emails! I love getting them, even though my responses will be delayed and/or brief.
I also finally have internet access - hurrah! I left mum and Em to spend a couple of hours in an internet cafe. It's wonderful to have untimed and affordable internet for a change. I didn't realise it was going to be so tricky to get online in Britain. There were a couple of terminals at the hostels on the Haggis tour, but they wouldn't let me post to Livejournal and they kept deleting my emails, so I gave up. Now I have unlimited access for all of today for only £4! This is a mega bargain compared to the £1 for 10 or 20 minutes I have seen at previous places. Nice.
It's good just to sit here and do normal things. I must say I am rather weary from all this travelling. I am loving it, but moving from one town to the next on a daily basis is tiring. As is eating out for nearly every meal. It has been good having the car though, because we've been able to buy groceries and make regular things like sandwiches, instead of constantly eating pub food. I can't wait until I can cook something myself again... That probably won't be until I'm with Sasha and we stay at a hostel somewhere. I am looking forward to meeting up with him in London!!!
Glasgow is a bit rainy, but I enjoyed the small bit of it I saw earlier this afternoon. It was good to be back in a city after a week or so in the country.
I feel like I've been to so many places already, it's a bit of a blur. I thought I'd dot point the places I can remember - mostly for my own record, but it will also give you a bit of an idea of how much moving about I've been doing recently.
On the Cornwall Crusader tour, we saw heaps of stuff. It was a brilliant tour and I'd like to do another one, even though the hostels weren't all that crash hot. Some highlights from that tour:
* Uffington White horse - a massive, ancient drawing of a horse etched into the side of a hill.
* Avebury stone circle
* Lacock (Oh, I just realised I have already blogged about this bit of the trip)
* the Roman baths in Bath.
* Cheddar Gorge (apparently inspired Tolkein's Helm's Deep) - very misty and mysterious.
* an old Celtic chapel and Wishing Well, where a tree was covered with fragments of cloth to aid people's health.
* more ancient stones: Lanyon Quoit (king arthur's table) and Men-an-Toll (the Devil's eye - I climbed through it for a cheesy photo).
* a walk from Sennen Cove to Land's End - very impressive coastal scenery.
* Tintagel castle - ruins of a medieval castle, rumoured to be the place where King Arthur was conceived. Our tour guide, Gary, had the most awesome stories to tell as he drove us through the countryside. :)
* Stonehenge - this was less impressive than Avebury for me - mostly because it is so close to two major roads that spoil the mystical atmosphere just a tad...
After the tour, we picked up our car at Salisbury - a big dark blue Volvo station wagon - not what we ordered, but rather luxurious. Since then, we've done lots of driving about and exploring of Britain. It's hard to remember it all now, but I have it written elsewhere. We've soaked up the beauty and majesty of Snowdonia national park in Wales, enjoyed the very picturesque landscape of The Lakes district, where we indulged in lots of Beatrix Potter related things. We visited her house in Hill Top, which she drew in lots of her books. It was fun seeing the actual garden where Peter Rabbit and the Flopsy bunnies lived, and the window sill that can be seen in Tom Kitten. And then we visited a museum to see some of her original works and letters. Good fun. :)
We only have one night here in Glasgow. Next we're off to Oban for two nights. Here we'll be tracing some of our Scottish ancestry a bit and visiting the places where my great grandmother hails from. Looking forward to that - as is mum, who has been very involved in piecing together our family history. Should be interesting. Then we have a couple of days in Edinburgh before flying to Paris, just in time for the Rugby grand final. ;)
I hear that Howard has finally announced the election date. November 24th. Exciting stuff. I need to sort out where I can vote! :D
That's all for now. Love to everyone. (Hope sydney-siders have survived the moth plague!)
Pen
xxxooo
PS - send me emails! I love getting them, even though my responses will be delayed and/or brief.