Monday, May 28, 2007 – Day 0 (Dallas to London)
Despite our better judgment, we did not test our backpacks before today. Fortunately, everything we NEEDED to take (and then some) fit into our bags. Here you see the contents of AM's backpack (she took the pack light recommendation to heart), and the contents of Rich's backpack...
Our very kind friend, Steve, drove us to the airport for our 7:10pm flight. At 9:30pm after fixing several “mechanical problems,” we finally took off down the runway, and we were off over the big pond!
Our flight was fairly uneventful…we studied our guide books and continued to plan our travels; we caught up on some recent releases, including Music & Lyrics starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore; oh, and there were two unaccompanied minors who decided to play Yatzee at about 2:00am while the rest of us were attempting sleep…just your usual nine hour flight.
Tuesday, May 29 – Day 1 (London to Bath)
Our decent into London Gatwick Airport was a wee bit bumpy, and I noticed that American does not seem to provide those handy barf bags anymore…in the end, I thankfully did not need one, but it was touch and go there for a little while.
From Gatwick, we grabbed a train to Bath. Unable to sleep on the airplane (thanks in part to the Yatzee players and also the cramped quarters), I passed out on top of my backpack (not a very comfortable pillow). Rich was good enough to stay awake and make certain that we did not miss our station.
We arrived in Bath at approximately 4:30pm and quickly located a small hostel outside of town called the White Hart. By this time, we were starving and decided to forage out in search of a decent meal. On our walk to the Bath town square, Rich and I discovered the River Avon...
We ended up at a small café in the town square across from the Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. That night we ate the traditional English meal of Fish and Chips. As the sun was setting over the town square, Rich caught AM in the shadows of the Bath Abbey...
After dinner and some good English ale, we joined a comedy walking tour called Bizarre Bath - great fun and a great introduction to the town! Following the tour, we made our way back to the White Hart (the English call a deer - a hart) and succumb to our jet lag.
Wednesday, May 30 – Day 2 (Bath to York)
We awoke to a rainy morning in Bath, but hurried to the town square to meet up with a historic walking tour. Bath is a beautiful Georgian city beside the River Avon. That is the same River Avon of Stratford-upon-Avon (home of the Bard, himself). The people are very friendly (unfortunately, a bit of a rarity in most of the rest of England). As we learned on our tour, the city is steeped in history. Sitting atop of a hot mineral spring reported to have curative effects, the first King of England, Edgar, was crowned in Bath’s Anglo-Saxon abbey.
A bit soggy after our tour, Rich and I ducked into the Roman and Medieval Baths for another tour. Here AM contemplates the Baths (doesn't the green murky water make you want to jump right in?)...
The baths were green and murky because the water is untreated and the baths are still lined with the original lead plates from the 10th century?!? Our tour of the baths ended in the famous “Pump Room,” home to Bath’s aristocratic society members in the 18th century. We were invited to share in a glass of the curative mineral spring water…I’ll take Dallas tap water over THAT any day. It was hot and tasted absolutely AWFUL!
Short on time, we hopped a train to York at about 2:30pm. I slept almost the entire four hour train ride. Rich caught up on his journal writing. He has been keeping fairly good real time records of our adventures and helps me with details I forget to account for since I am OBVIOUSLY behind in recording our blog.At 6:30pm in York, we jumped off our train and began our hunt for a place to stay. First we ventured out about a mile to a “new hostel” called Marmadukes written up in our Europe on a Shoestring Budget guidebook. As we approached the reception area with our backpacks, the night receptionist gave us a funny look and informed us that the hostel was now a rather expensive hotel. Luckily we had a whole list of back-up hostels.
The next hostel, on Queen Anne Street, had a “No Vacancies” sign, and the B&B on the corner of Sycamore Street had a “No Vacancies” sign. Then finally, a B&B farther down the road had a “Vacancies” sign. Rich rang the door bell. The keeper answered and after checking his book, apologized and informed us that the B&B in fact had no vacancies. Feeling defeated, we noticed the final B&B at the end of Sycamore Street still showed that it had “Vacancies.” Tired and hopeful, I approached the door and rang the bell. Spiros, “the boss’ husband,” answered the door. After checking his wife’s book, he informed us that they had one room left and asked if we wanted to see it. As we followed him up four flights of stairs, the temperature in the house rose about twenty degrees. The room was a family room with three beds that usually let for 75 GBP per night (that’s about $150), but since there were just two of us, he offered to let us stay for 50 GBP. We took it and it only took us an hour to find it! Did I mention we took the LAST room?...
At 8:30pm that night, the sun had STILL not yet set and we headed out to walk York’s 12th century city walls. The walls stretch out three miles around the city, and were built by the Normans to assert control over Northern England. Rich and I walked only a short section of the walls. We entered the walls at Bootham Bar (in York, a bar is a gate and a gate is a street) and exited at Monk Bar just as a kind policeman was about to lock up the city walls for the night. The walk provided and interesting walk back in time and some beautiful views of the city below. Here we are with the York Minster Towers behond us (more on that in later posts)...
1 comment:
Sounds great so far! I can't wait to see your pictures.
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