Continuing On...

Friday, October 12

We had difficulty sleeping last night and were up early to shower and do sink laundry.

News on TV of the VP debate, Lance Arnstrong doping - and we saw news anchor, Louise Minchen - who we met during our Spain and Portugal trip while she was on holiday with her family 6 years ago.
She looks even better than she did then.  Her little girls must be about 8 and 10 now.  How time flies.

Other news in the UK is of Jimmy Savile, a BBC presenter now deceased, who apparently was a serial pedophile.  A statue of him has been taken down and a "coverup" is being investigated.  He raised millions for charity and it looks like many just turned the other way as a result.  This story headlined the news broadcasts the entire time we were there.

We all had breakfast at the Union Jack before taking the underground tunnel to Buckingham Palace.  From there it was a relatively short walk to Harrod's for shopping and looking.  Mostly looking.  We visited the memorial for Princess Diana and Dodie Fayed, men's shoes and the Food Court.  That was amazing.  Of course the prices were extremely high, so I just bought some tea and candy for the girls so they could say they had something from Harrod's, other than the aprons Grandma Warren got all of us many years ago.

 I rather enjoyed the underground experience.  It was a long and steep escalator down - and then another long and steep escalator down to the trains.

After Harrod's we took the tunnel to Trafalger Square.  Then back to Waterloo Station and Boots where I got a hair straightener.  There is a large shopping mall in the station.  Our hotel was right across the street.

Tonight was the first gathering of our tour group and we were met by visitors from Scotland Yard and Sweden.

At dinner Gillian encouraged us to mix with the others, so I sat with Kevan (spelled the same way our nephew spells his name) and Phil, plus Barbara and Bev and Yvonne and MJ.  Dinner was lamb, potatoes, vegetables and apple pie for dessert.

One officer had his family with him that included his young daughter (Courtney) and even younger son.  They were charming and MJ and Courtney became fast friends, especially when Courtney gave MJ lessons on how to use her new phone.

England and Scotland - 2012

We weren't home long before it was time to head back across the pond to England with the IPA group.
After a memorial service in our area for Jake Erlich onSunday and then a funeral in Sacramento on Monday for Frank Borgia, we headed to Santa Rosa.

  This would be October 8 and we arrived at Shelby's bearing gifts of cookies and early birthday gifts for her and Bruce.

On Tuesday we caught the early shuttle to SFO and finally got there about 2 hours later; traffic was heavy.  After checking in, we found others in our group down at the boarding area and then went in search of lunch.  Note:  United Airlines might have its faults, but we don't go hungry.  Skip the extra airline food.

Our taxi met us and took the six of us and our luggage to the Union Jack Club.  Our rooms weren't to be ready until 2:00 and it was around 9:30, so off we went by foot.  The location was great and the weather was beautiful (sunny and blue skies).  Past the London Eye, over the bridge to Westminster Abbey for a tour, then lunch at a pub down the street.  Fish and chips, what else.  Potato chips are called "crisps" here.  French fries are the chips.

Back to the hotel to check into our rooms and take naps.  At 6:00 we met the others for a walk in the opposite direction.  Jim and Claudia picked up some take-out sandwiches and we all headed back.


Thursday, October 11.  My hair straightener fried!  It proved to be the first of many such mishaps for our group.  About 3 converters are needed to make our appliances work with their electrical outlets.  At least it wasn't my In-Styler (the company might not be so happy to replace another one), but it was still a rather expensive one!  Not to mention how my hair looked!

We took a boat ferry to the Tower of London where we spent several hours.  At 12:00 we had a half-hour Beefeater tour that met in the chapel.  He was very entertaining as he regaled us with stories of some of the more famous victims of beheading.

The crown jewels were on display in another building.  The White Tower, Bloody Tower and Museum were also toured.

After we'd had enough blood and guts stories, we met Jim and Claudia at Starbucks where we waited (and waited) for Susan and Glen.  Finally they arrived and we were off to Hung, Drawn and Quartered Pub for a late lunch.  Ours was a steak, mushroom and ale pie (puff pastry) with chips.

A quick tour of a church and we headed back to the boat ferry.

Glen and Susan then joined us for a tour of Parliament, where Glen's knife was confiscated!  We listened to a bit of a session that was not at all interesting; the coatroom supervisor said he never listened in himself.

Back to the hotel in the rain.  Many of the rest of our tour group had arrived and were having dinner.

Tuesday - Pitlochery, The Highlands, The Firth of Forth

Leaving Inverness, we headed first to the village of Pitlochery.  Great stores and shops and we visited quite a few of them.  Larry took off to see a fish hatchery, I believe, while I did a lot of window shopping.  We found a bakery and picked up some provisions for lunch - a cheese scone.

The Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh was our destination.  After unpacking, we headed out!  Up to the castle area, Starbuck's, the book fair across the street in Charlotte Square (for me), etc.  I think this was my favorite city!  In the castle area I expected to see Harry Potter zooming around the corner on his broomstick at any time.

Tonight was our final exam.  "How many miles did the minibus travel?"  Larry placed 2nd.  Once again we did not get the prize.  That was won by John.  We'll have to keep on taking trips, I guess.

After dinner, it was time for a walk.  The castle lit up at night is a spectacular sight.

We made the most of our last day in Edinburgh.  Museums, art galleries, shops, churches, tour of the castle.  Every minute was filled and we didn't see if all.

Dinner was early and we then made our way to the castle for the Military Tattoo.  Now THIS was the trip's highlight - for sure!  Military bands from all over the UK, plus the U.S. Navy band.  It didn't rain, it wasn't too cold, and it was AWESOME.  Someday we'll get our pictures back and can see the videos again.  Plus, I'll try hard to get the actual DVD of the event when we return in October to Edinburgh.

Our favorite was the New Zealand percussion band.  They drummed very hard and very fast.  In fact, several lost their drumsticks, but apparently they had spares hidden in their uniforms because no hands appeared to be empty!

The next day - off to the airport.  Garry, Barbara, Gin and Sharon were heading on to London with Tom and Byron for a few more days of sightseeing.

We left for Newark and then San Francisco with Charlotte, with a very long layover in Newark.  Our scheduled plane was left in the hanger too long and was too hot to board.  Hours passed before they let us on.  When we finally all got on, then they decided to load our luggage!

However, we made friends of our fellow passengers and I even have a new FB friend, Tracy Sawyer, who was heading for Yosemite to meet up with her former fiance.

Shelby picked us up at the drop-off and pick-up spot in Santa Rosa and our journey was over.

Thanks to Byron (and Tom) for a great trip.  And, thanks to Byron for giving us such great notes (which I so gratefully COPIED).

Inverness

Inverness is the is the capital of the Highlands and the most northern city in Scotland.

Our hotel, The Royal Highland, was built in the 1800's and was originally a hotel for the early train travelers.  In fact, our room was very close to the train station, just outside the door across the hall.
I loved the plaid carpeting!

After dinner we joined Byron for a walk through the town, crossing the River Ness on a suspension bridge.  The sights were beautiful at night.

Monday, August 20

Leaving Inverness, we traveled south along the River Ness to the dark and deep Loch Ness.  There have been sightings of the monster for more than one hundred years.  We saw "models" of Nessy, but not her actual self.  Her full name is Agnes, but she is more commonly known as "Nessy".

Later we made a photo stop at the scenic ruins of Urquhard Castle, visited a pre-historic cairn and then to a castle where we saw a video of the unique process of vinting wines in northern Scotland.

After lunch we headed north/west to the desolate moors overlooking the Firth of Moray, the site of the infamous Battle of Culloden.  The visitors' center was outstanding and we had an excellent guide who took us for a walk of the battlefield.

We returned to town and then Larry and I headed to the nearby shopping center to find camera supplies.

On to Scotland

Our two-hour ferry ride was on the agenda for today.  I spent most of my time (after the on-board breakfast - which Byron said was the most expensive of the trip) watching "You've Got Mail" in the movie room.  It was pretty foggy out, so seeing anything was difficult, although Larry managed.

Upon our arrival we traveled north via Ayr and Kilmarnock (Robert Burns country).  Through Glasgow via the Lowlands we then went into the Highlands.  Ireland is basically pretty flat, but Scotland was much more mountainous and rocky.  The Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond was our photo and lunch stop.  I think we took lots of pictures there.

Ft. William was our stop for the next two days and nights at the Alexandra Hotel.  Off we went to the Parade (shopping area) and it rained a bit if I correctly recall.

Day 2 (Saturday, August 18)

We experienced the Highlands of Scotland today.  Highland cattle was on the itinerary, although we told everyone to just come visit us and they'd see one at the first house on our road.  Then it was off to see the amazing Caldonian Canal.  The Highlands are cut in two by the Caledonian Canal.  Three lochs and a series of canals follow the Great Glen Fault.  Next we visited the ruins of Castle Inverlochy.

For the highlight of our day (according to Byron) we visited the Highland whiskey distillery of Ben Nevis to sample the "water of life" and learned how Scotch whiskey is made.  I already knew I do NOT like Scotch whiskey!   There were 3 hikers who happened by, looking for the trail into the mountains.

A shopping and lunch stop at a woolen outlet and then we returned to the hotel.  Many of the Harry Potter scenes were filmed in the Highlands near Fort William.