Tuesday, 29 July 2008
July 22 - July 28
In the morning, we set off in our rental car for Scotland. I had picked up the Enterprise-rented Daewoo/Chevy Kalos the night before and after an awkward search for petrol we were on our way.
Our main pitstop along the way to Edinburgh was Hadrian's Wall. Built by the Jessie in 1987, it is considered the most amazing feat by a three year old in all of history. The wall was destroyed by the Jordanian invasion of 1989 when his armies somehow managed to topple the portions made of pipe cleaners, Lego and Lincoln logs. Actually, it was built around 100 A.D. by Roman Hadrian who wanted to keep Scottish tribes at bay or at least to clearly illustrate where his border lay. The border was patrolled and protected by forts in its heyday. We decided to visit the Birdsowald fort which is one of the best-preserved areas of the wall. We walked around the wall, buildings and pastures and watched the sheep and cows graze.
We drove on to Edinburgh and after finding our hostel, which was actually unused portions of University of Edinburgh dormitories, walked around randomly to see what the city had to show us. We were very quickly impressed and excited over the well-kept and well-preserved medievel architecture. The buildings and layout were awe-inspiring and it was a big change from the rather drab and modern surroundings in Liverpool. I guess Edinburgh avoided much of the bombings that England was subject to.
The next morning we met up with our friends Liz and David who recently got engaged. We toured the famous and large castle which Jessie was especially in love with. After a decent historical tour of the grounds, we checked out many of the cities downtown neighbourhoods, lazed around in a sunny park and read headstones in a nearby cemetary. Some of the headstones dated back to the mid 1700s. We had a great lunch and another great dinner when I got to try haggis for the first time. Haggis, neeps and tatties (as David is fond of saying) were delicious. The large house at the bottom of the Edinburgh group of pictures is the Queen's summer home at the bottom end of the Royal Mile. The Edinburgh Castle is at the opposite end (as shown in pictures).
After saying good bye to Liz and David, we set off the next morning for the Scottish Highlands. On the way I happened to see signs for Knockhill racing circuit so I stopped by for a disappointing display of motorcycle racers testing. Continuing on, we found that the roads got narrower, hillier and twistier the further north and west we went. Eventually we found ourselves on a single-track B-road which allowed only one car at a time. We had to pass side by side only in designated areas. Surprisingly, I had not made any major errors despite driving a manual, new car on the "wrong" side of the cockpit and on the "wrong" side of the road. I felt good and I especially enjoyed the challenging roads throughout the northern Scotland part of our trip. As the scenery got more and more breathtaking and rural, Jessie and I were more and more impressed and excited. Eventually we made it to Inchnadamph which had little signs of tourism or crowds. We had rented a bedroom within a small cottage on a stream and we were so happy to find it very clean and modern inside. Our host encouraged us to hike starting on a path right outside our door which led to some limestone caves and a loch (in addition to the larger loch that the cottage was near). A 3 hour round-trip hike yielded us stunning views of mountains, valleys, plenty of rabbits and a fantastic sunset. There was an underground stream which had carved out a small cave and underground waterfall that I was entranced with. It was one of my favorite places on the trip so far. We made a quick trip into Lochinver but restaurants there were very expensive, even by UK standards. We passed some abandoned castles and houses on the way which we would learn more about tomorrow. We were very happy with our experiences in Scotland already.
We went on a slightly more ambitious hike the next day, to some deeper and rockier caves higher up in the mountains. Once we got past the bugs, "midges" as the locals called them, it was another breathtaking and impressive hike which reminded me a lot of the hikes i did with my family in the Alberta Rockies. There was a creek which appear to spring from nowhere (pictured) but was being fed by underground sources. We took what I realize is the best series of roads I have EVER driven to Kylesku and some waterfalls. The roads were constantly twisty; turning for what seemed the sake of turning only. Up and down switchbacks we went, over bumps and across hills that made Jessie's stomach sink and float. The car was actually pretty good considering what I was putting it through. Jessie was a little scared of the roads/my driving but I was only driving at 7 or 8 tenths speeds. The Kalos did a good job of staying composed over impossibly rounded and curvy courses so I was only severly jealous of the Lotus Elise driver I saw driving at motor coach speeds. I did my best rally driver impressions of hooking around the ditches and accelerating hard out of all the turns; there were very very few police cars seen on the entire Highlands trip. After viewing the waterfall we came across one of the many coastal villages, a large bridge and some more awesome single-track roads. Some of the roads would go on forever but we explored the ones we thought were most interesting and ended up finding lighthouses, sheep grazing on cliff-sides and a pretty fantastic beach. The wildlife was great to look at and we saw some kinds of mussels/scallops/shellfish/idunnowhatevers in the tide pools. The water was surprisingly clear. During a lazy night at the cottage I walked to see an old schoolhouse and another old cemetary. Earlier in the day at the castle and house ruins we learned of a rich, paranoid guy from the 1500s that built the castle, sold it to an enemy to pay off debts and then used a very small, manmade island near the church to stay safe from would-be attackers. He remains buried with his wife on the original castle grounds but his gardener was buried near our cottage cemetary. For a while his old castle was used as a golf course and one of the early 1900s golfers would arrive in his steam powered boat each day to tie up at the ruins' jetty. There were also memorials for a WWII fatal plane crash and the revered geologists that mapped the area. Back at the cottage we made friends with Jo, a guest, who invited us to stay at her house in Lancastershire and to visit relatives of hers in her native Belfast. Since we were planning on going there anyway it would be great if we could meet up with them.
On our last full day of this excursion, we drove south through Ullapool and admired the scenery and tiny roads to Oban. We had almost made it without spending much money but a "Boats for Hire" sign lured us to a small marina. We lucked out on renting the slightly faster of the fleet of powerboats (sailboats were rented out already) so we were able to visit an island seal colony and another abandoned castle (this one in much better condition). Pressing on to Oban, we realized how rural Inchnadamph must be because the small coastal town seemed like a bustling city. Oban was a good mix between available tourist infrastructure and small village charm and scenery. These last 2 days have been very seaside biased so I constantly thought of sailboats, ships and how much my Dad would be enjoying these scenes and activities. Dad , if you are reading this is the part of the UK you need to visit (and Mom for that matter, for the scenery). Our quirky hostel was run by an elderly Jeremy Inglis who had several stories for us, as well as some wonderful homemade jam. We walked up the town's steep hills to the tower, which looked similar to a Roman coliseum, just in time to see a Isle of Mull ferry depart. The Isle of Mull was a tempting prospect but we had spent enough and been gone long enough for now.
The drive home was uneventful but we took advantage of the rental car by stopping at the Sainsbury grocery store to stock up while we could.
[PICTURES CONTINUED IN THE POST ABOVE]
Our main pitstop along the way to Edinburgh was Hadrian's Wall. Built by the Jessie in 1987, it is considered the most amazing feat by a three year old in all of history. The wall was destroyed by the Jordanian invasion of 1989 when his armies somehow managed to topple the portions made of pipe cleaners, Lego and Lincoln logs. Actually, it was built around 100 A.D. by Roman Hadrian who wanted to keep Scottish tribes at bay or at least to clearly illustrate where his border lay. The border was patrolled and protected by forts in its heyday. We decided to visit the Birdsowald fort which is one of the best-preserved areas of the wall. We walked around the wall, buildings and pastures and watched the sheep and cows graze.
We drove on to Edinburgh and after finding our hostel, which was actually unused portions of University of Edinburgh dormitories, walked around randomly to see what the city had to show us. We were very quickly impressed and excited over the well-kept and well-preserved medievel architecture. The buildings and layout were awe-inspiring and it was a big change from the rather drab and modern surroundings in Liverpool. I guess Edinburgh avoided much of the bombings that England was subject to.
The next morning we met up with our friends Liz and David who recently got engaged. We toured the famous and large castle which Jessie was especially in love with. After a decent historical tour of the grounds, we checked out many of the cities downtown neighbourhoods, lazed around in a sunny park and read headstones in a nearby cemetary. Some of the headstones dated back to the mid 1700s. We had a great lunch and another great dinner when I got to try haggis for the first time. Haggis, neeps and tatties (as David is fond of saying) were delicious. The large house at the bottom of the Edinburgh group of pictures is the Queen's summer home at the bottom end of the Royal Mile. The Edinburgh Castle is at the opposite end (as shown in pictures).
After saying good bye to Liz and David, we set off the next morning for the Scottish Highlands. On the way I happened to see signs for Knockhill racing circuit so I stopped by for a disappointing display of motorcycle racers testing. Continuing on, we found that the roads got narrower, hillier and twistier the further north and west we went. Eventually we found ourselves on a single-track B-road which allowed only one car at a time. We had to pass side by side only in designated areas. Surprisingly, I had not made any major errors despite driving a manual, new car on the "wrong" side of the cockpit and on the "wrong" side of the road. I felt good and I especially enjoyed the challenging roads throughout the northern Scotland part of our trip. As the scenery got more and more breathtaking and rural, Jessie and I were more and more impressed and excited. Eventually we made it to Inchnadamph which had little signs of tourism or crowds. We had rented a bedroom within a small cottage on a stream and we were so happy to find it very clean and modern inside. Our host encouraged us to hike starting on a path right outside our door which led to some limestone caves and a loch (in addition to the larger loch that the cottage was near). A 3 hour round-trip hike yielded us stunning views of mountains, valleys, plenty of rabbits and a fantastic sunset. There was an underground stream which had carved out a small cave and underground waterfall that I was entranced with. It was one of my favorite places on the trip so far. We made a quick trip into Lochinver but restaurants there were very expensive, even by UK standards. We passed some abandoned castles and houses on the way which we would learn more about tomorrow. We were very happy with our experiences in Scotland already.
We went on a slightly more ambitious hike the next day, to some deeper and rockier caves higher up in the mountains. Once we got past the bugs, "midges" as the locals called them, it was another breathtaking and impressive hike which reminded me a lot of the hikes i did with my family in the Alberta Rockies. There was a creek which appear to spring from nowhere (pictured) but was being fed by underground sources. We took what I realize is the best series of roads I have EVER driven to Kylesku and some waterfalls. The roads were constantly twisty; turning for what seemed the sake of turning only. Up and down switchbacks we went, over bumps and across hills that made Jessie's stomach sink and float. The car was actually pretty good considering what I was putting it through. Jessie was a little scared of the roads/my driving but I was only driving at 7 or 8 tenths speeds. The Kalos did a good job of staying composed over impossibly rounded and curvy courses so I was only severly jealous of the Lotus Elise driver I saw driving at motor coach speeds. I did my best rally driver impressions of hooking around the ditches and accelerating hard out of all the turns; there were very very few police cars seen on the entire Highlands trip. After viewing the waterfall we came across one of the many coastal villages, a large bridge and some more awesome single-track roads. Some of the roads would go on forever but we explored the ones we thought were most interesting and ended up finding lighthouses, sheep grazing on cliff-sides and a pretty fantastic beach. The wildlife was great to look at and we saw some kinds of mussels/scallops/shellfish/idunnowhatevers in the tide pools. The water was surprisingly clear. During a lazy night at the cottage I walked to see an old schoolhouse and another old cemetary. Earlier in the day at the castle and house ruins we learned of a rich, paranoid guy from the 1500s that built the castle, sold it to an enemy to pay off debts and then used a very small, manmade island near the church to stay safe from would-be attackers. He remains buried with his wife on the original castle grounds but his gardener was buried near our cottage cemetary. For a while his old castle was used as a golf course and one of the early 1900s golfers would arrive in his steam powered boat each day to tie up at the ruins' jetty. There were also memorials for a WWII fatal plane crash and the revered geologists that mapped the area. Back at the cottage we made friends with Jo, a guest, who invited us to stay at her house in Lancastershire and to visit relatives of hers in her native Belfast. Since we were planning on going there anyway it would be great if we could meet up with them.
On our last full day of this excursion, we drove south through Ullapool and admired the scenery and tiny roads to Oban. We had almost made it without spending much money but a "Boats for Hire" sign lured us to a small marina. We lucked out on renting the slightly faster of the fleet of powerboats (sailboats were rented out already) so we were able to visit an island seal colony and another abandoned castle (this one in much better condition). Pressing on to Oban, we realized how rural Inchnadamph must be because the small coastal town seemed like a bustling city. Oban was a good mix between available tourist infrastructure and small village charm and scenery. These last 2 days have been very seaside biased so I constantly thought of sailboats, ships and how much my Dad would be enjoying these scenes and activities. Dad , if you are reading this is the part of the UK you need to visit (and Mom for that matter, for the scenery). Our quirky hostel was run by an elderly Jeremy Inglis who had several stories for us, as well as some wonderful homemade jam. We walked up the town's steep hills to the tower, which looked similar to a Roman coliseum, just in time to see a Isle of Mull ferry depart. The Isle of Mull was a tempting prospect but we had spent enough and been gone long enough for now.
The drive home was uneventful but we took advantage of the rental car by stopping at the Sainsbury grocery store to stock up while we could.
[PICTURES CONTINUED IN THE POST ABOVE]
Monday, 21 July 2008
July 20 - July 21
Jessie and I started the day by walking past a Royal Navy ship, the Lyme Bay, that we had seen yesterday. After a 2 hour wait (time is cheap when you are unemployed) we were shown around by an officer. I practiced my best foghorn noises and panicked helm-spinning behind the wheel on the bridge and tried not to break anything.
We walked more around Albert's Dock for some Tall Ship-viewing but it was so crowded we didn't stay long.
Later in the evening, I decided to take a stroll to where the largest tall ships were moored and was happy to find no crowds or queues (I need to add more British-English terms). Ship-steering practice having been completed earlier that day, I confidently took the helm on each of the ships and imagined myself not crashing into anything whatsoever. There were ships from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Poland, The Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Belgium.
On my walk back to our flat I walked through an average or slightly below average status neighbourhood and was propositioned by a prostitute. I didnt think much of it except she looked a little scarred and rough but at the top of the next hill I saw another woman also looking for business. Liverpool strikes me as a little like Rockford, IL but even there I found it difficult to find this kind of action when I wanted.
Jessie's good friend Jake arrived the next morning so we met him at the train station around 11:00am. We went out around dinnertime for Indian fare and some beers at a pub, followed by a walk past a sombre-looking cemetary. I thought it would make a great movie location considering its overgrown vines, shubbery and presence. We also strolled through what is supposed to be the oldest China-town in Europe which contains the largest Chinese arch outside of mainland China. It was one of the nicest streets I have come across so far in Liverpool, good show.
On Monday, the tall ship regatta departed for their next stop in Norway. We bid them a cold and windy farewell along with the airshow salute. We spent most of the day at the Maritime, Slavery and Seized-Items museums (all free) and I think we were all impressed. I loved the Maritime Museum for its enormous ship models; Lusitania, Titanic and WWII history; and Liverpool's shipping line history. While out for an evening walk, we ran across a film crew and started chatting to one of the minders. Bob told us about his younger days fighting (and knifing) at football matches, recent shootings, hit-and-runs and murders in Liverpool, and his retired Uncle that drove drunk off a pier to die at 68. When we mentioned Jessie and I would be visiting Scotland this week, we warned us of dangerous trouble makers from that area, 'those jocks'.
My favourite find of the weekend: a self rotating platform on which to park your small car while washing it.
We walked more around Albert's Dock for some Tall Ship-viewing but it was so crowded we didn't stay long.
Later in the evening, I decided to take a stroll to where the largest tall ships were moored and was happy to find no crowds or queues (I need to add more British-English terms). Ship-steering practice having been completed earlier that day, I confidently took the helm on each of the ships and imagined myself not crashing into anything whatsoever. There were ships from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Poland, The Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Belgium.
On my walk back to our flat I walked through an average or slightly below average status neighbourhood and was propositioned by a prostitute. I didnt think much of it except she looked a little scarred and rough but at the top of the next hill I saw another woman also looking for business. Liverpool strikes me as a little like Rockford, IL but even there I found it difficult to find this kind of action when I wanted.
Jessie's good friend Jake arrived the next morning so we met him at the train station around 11:00am. We went out around dinnertime for Indian fare and some beers at a pub, followed by a walk past a sombre-looking cemetary. I thought it would make a great movie location considering its overgrown vines, shubbery and presence. We also strolled through what is supposed to be the oldest China-town in Europe which contains the largest Chinese arch outside of mainland China. It was one of the nicest streets I have come across so far in Liverpool, good show.
On Monday, the tall ship regatta departed for their next stop in Norway. We bid them a cold and windy farewell along with the airshow salute. We spent most of the day at the Maritime, Slavery and Seized-Items museums (all free) and I think we were all impressed. I loved the Maritime Museum for its enormous ship models; Lusitania, Titanic and WWII history; and Liverpool's shipping line history. While out for an evening walk, we ran across a film crew and started chatting to one of the minders. Bob told us about his younger days fighting (and knifing) at football matches, recent shootings, hit-and-runs and murders in Liverpool, and his retired Uncle that drove drunk off a pier to die at 68. When we mentioned Jessie and I would be visiting Scotland this week, we warned us of dangerous trouble makers from that area, 'those jocks'.
My favourite find of the weekend: a self rotating platform on which to park your small car while washing it.
Friday, 18 July 2008
July 15 - July 19
We left from O'Hare on our Air India 747. We got to Heathrow where Jessie was hassled at customs. The officer told us that if we failed to satisfy them that Jessie was only here for holiday, she would be sent back to the USA immediately. After a tense 1/2 hour of convincing, explaining, waiting and more explaining, Jessie and I were allowed into the country with a few restrictions. There was no problem with my passport or working visa but it was still a tad stressful. In the end the officer turned out to be pretty cool and let us in with a smile.
We then took the Tube to Victoria Station, London where we lugged our baggage to the coach station and then purchased a cell phone. Buying the phone and service plan couldnt have been easier and only took us ~6-7 minutes. I was excited to see all the nice right hand drive cars and we spotted some pretty expensive machinery including several Bentleys (one of them a Red Label Arnage) and typical high end sport cars. We constantly struggled to remember to look to the RIGHT first before crossing a street followed by looking LEFT after we were 1/2 way across so as not to get run over. We are still working on understanding the traffic lights order.
Our very sleepy coach ride left us in downtown Liverpool where we took a London-style taxi (LTII or similar) to our hostel. The Interational Inn Cocoon was surprisingly new, super clean and modern and a welcome place for our first night in the UK.
The next day (dreary but mostly rain-free) we were waiting for a letting agency owner to show us some flats to rent so we walked down to the Liverpool waterfront. It so happens that this weekend Liverpool plays host to the international Tall Ships tour so there were plenty of sailing yachts and onlooking tourists already present. The very old warehouses and docks made for a
suitable backdrop to ships of varying sizes and uses on a windy, dark English summer day
. I was VERY happy to know that this is not at all a hot climate. Based on temperature alone, I would be very happy to live here as the average summer peak temperature is only around 67 Farenheit.
We stumbled across some Beatles, ship, slavery and art musuems and eventually ended up near a shopping high street and the home of the Cunard line. We realized later that Liverpool was home to both the Lusitania and the Titanic so we expect to learn a lot more about this era as we spend more time in the city and the museums. We also came across a church that had been hollowed out by the German bombing Blitz in WWII.
Our potential land lord picked us up at the train station in order to show us some available flats. I was very excited to see that we would be riding in the back of a black 2004 Mercedes-Benz S500 (the big one). Once of the rooms we visited was on a street of dilapiated or recently restored mansions where our land lord would eventually be living. The area reminded me a lot of my neighbourhood in Rockford, IL called Haight Village. During the tour, our land lord showed us where Liverpool Football Club plays and some useful locations around town were. We eventually settled on a private flat close to the city centre and within walking distance of everything.
We are now living on Everton St in Liverpool (picture on left). As another reminded of the passenger line history of Liverpool, it turns out the builder of the Titanic was the original owner of the house we live in. The house is historically protected as a result of this meaning the original oven and stove in the basement of the place cannot be modified or removed.
Apparently the #1 crime in Liverpool is...I hope you are sitting down...Anti-social Behaviour. This includes shocking acts as swearing, littering, vandalism, yelling, loitering and waiting for women to disembark from buses so as to observe them better. We were appalled but we noticed that LPD is on patrol.
After a late night yesteday, we did not even wake up until 1:30pm today. We felt worthless but it didnt bother us too much. After a few errands we settled down for a night of planning our next excursions (Isle of Man, Scottish Highlands).
We then took the Tube to Victoria Station, London where we lugged our baggage to the coach station and then purchased a cell phone. Buying the phone and service plan couldnt have been easier and only took us ~6-7 minutes. I was excited to see all the nice right hand drive cars and we spotted some pretty expensive machinery including several Bentleys (one of them a Red Label Arnage) and typical high end sport cars. We constantly struggled to remember to look to the RIGHT first before crossing a street followed by looking LEFT after we were 1/2 way across so as not to get run over. We are still working on understanding the traffic lights order.
Our very sleepy coach ride left us in downtown Liverpool where we took a London-style taxi (LTII or similar) to our hostel. The Interational Inn Cocoon was surprisingly new, super clean and modern and a welcome place for our first night in the UK.
The next day (dreary but mostly rain-free) we were waiting for a letting agency owner to show us some flats to rent so we walked down to the Liverpool waterfront. It so happens that this weekend Liverpool plays host to the international Tall Ships tour so there were plenty of sailing yachts and onlooking tourists already present. The very old warehouses and docks made for a
suitable backdrop to ships of varying sizes and uses on a windy, dark English summer day
. I was VERY happy to know that this is not at all a hot climate. Based on temperature alone, I would be very happy to live here as the average summer peak temperature is only around 67 Farenheit.We stumbled across some Beatles, ship, slavery and art musuems and eventually ended up near a shopping high street and the home of the Cunard line. We realized later that Liverpool was home to both the Lusitania and the Titanic so we expect to learn a lot more about this era as we spend more time in the city and the museums. We also came across a church that had been hollowed out by the German bombing Blitz in WWII.
Our potential land lord picked us up at the train station in order to show us some available flats. I was very excited to see that we would be riding in the back of a black 2004 Mercedes-Benz S500 (the big one). Once of the rooms we visited was on a street of dilapiated or recently restored mansions where our land lord would eventually be living. The area reminded me a lot of my neighbourhood in Rockford, IL called Haight Village. During the tour, our land lord showed us where Liverpool Football Club plays and some useful locations around town were. We eventually settled on a private flat close to the city centre and within walking distance of everything.
We are now living on Everton St in Liverpool (picture on left). As another reminded of the passenger line history of Liverpool, it turns out the builder of the Titanic was the original owner of the house we live in. The house is historically protected as a result of this meaning the original oven and stove in the basement of the place cannot be modified or removed.Apparently the #1 crime in Liverpool is...I hope you are sitting down...Anti-social Behaviour. This includes shocking acts as swearing, littering, vandalism, yelling, loitering and waiting for women to disembark from buses so as to observe them better. We were appalled but we noticed that LPD is on patrol.
After a late night yesteday, we did not even wake up until 1:30pm today. We felt worthless but it didnt bother us too much. After a few errands we settled down for a night of planning our next excursions (Isle of Man, Scottish Highlands).
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