I have felt very "at home" on Scottish soil. I love Edinbugh; just had to block out the road works...detours everywhere. The veiw from our hotel: Edinburgh Castle at sunset.

This is the stunningly beautiful St. Giles Church in Edinburgh.

Our hotel was on Princess Street, a boulevard of shopping, shopping, shopping.....but so crowded on the Saturday. People come to town for big, trendy shopping over the weekend. The touristy shopping is on the "Royal Mile"....so we toured that too.

We've all seen musicians on the street, guitarists, singers, sax players, etc.... In Scotland you find

Pipers....we saw several, like this guy (Clan Ferguson) just trying

to keep it all together. He had a horrible cold! but kept on with it. He plays pretty well. Looked like he was about 17.

Still in Scotland, and loving every minute....we've been so lucky with our hotels; the veiw from every one has been stellar.

This is Loch Ness from our window..

The weather in UK is described as "changeable" and you can always tell if its going to rain when the cattle are lying down in the field....this group seems to have a tied vote....it was overcast all day, but didn't rain. Actually, we've been accused of bringing the good weather with us from California. We've had wonderful weather since we've been here with some overcast and just a little rain today.

This is the Glenfinnan Viaduct in Ft. William, just below Loch Ness. It might look a bit familiar; just picture a steam train going over it heading for Hogwarts....it was used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies.

The final Harry Potter movies are currently being filmed in the Glencoe area; we saw the helicopters moving people from place to place, but didn't see the sets

There are rivers, streams and lakes everywhere here. I can't resist water, so in I went....didn't stay long, however, because this little stream was COLD

We spent the night in Liverpool with the plan to see the Beatles Story today....beginning with seeing a ferry across the Mersey (river). And many thanks to Ron in Coventry for pushing Bill to buy a SAT/NAV (GPS) unit....we'd have never negotiated our way to and through Liverpool without it. To Liverpool's credit, however, their streets are relatively nicely marked.

Liverpool was sorely damaged in the Blitz of WWII....some scarring still remains. This seems to be responsible to some extent the music scene there in the late 50s....these 'war babies' were tired of the deprivation following the war and wanted something new and different. At one point in the 50s there were more than 400 bands playing around Liverpool, including the Quarrymen..who were led by John Lennon. Paul turned up one night to listen and auditioned; within a week he was in the band. Not long after they needed a guitar player....Paul suggested an old schoolmate, George Harrison, who at 3 years younger than the 18 year old John, nearly wasn't auditioned at all because John was put off by his age. Must have been simple good manners on John's part, but it sure paid off. George played "Raunchy", the first rock'n'roll instrumental that had only been out a few years. He nailed it. And the rest, they say, is history....

The exhibit is wonderful. It covers their whole career, good and bad; and theirs was all played out in the media. There is a replica of the Cavern Club, what a small, dingly little place it was...the exhibition is also in a basement, very fitting, I think. We took a little side trip to the Cavern Club location, now in a trendy shopping area. But the entrance is still there and there is a Cavern Pub.

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We're in Glasgow now. What a pretty city. Our hotel is an old brownstone, sort of like the ones you see in TV or movies set in New York City....this is veiw from our hotel room:

These are the gates to the massive park across the street.

There is the small town in Scotland, Gretna Green, just over the border, where English couples wishing to marry (without parental approval) would go to elope; Scottish tradition considers marriage to be between a man and woman, excluding their family wishes (rather than the English rules of needing parental consent before the age of 21). The ceremonies took place most frequently at the blacksmith's shop....

Bill and I "tied the knot" (again) today in an ancient Celtic ceremony called "handfasting". When a Scottish couple had the "handfasting"; in front of their families and fellow villagers, they joined their right hands, which were loosely bound with a strip of the family tartan; promises were made (and kept) for a year and a day...afterwhich the couple could choose either to make the committment permanent or go their separate ways (the partner choosing to leave was to be responsible for any children born during that year). If they chose to make it permanent they uderwent a second "handfasting" ceremony where the same piece of tartan was again wrapped around their joined right hands and.....tied in a knot, signifying the permanent committment.

Coventry

We're very out of order here, but we spent yesterday and today with our friends Ron & Kath (along with their sons Neil & Scott) who live in Coventry. Its very nice to see familiar faces! We met their oldest son Al and his wife Leigh as well as their two kids Millie & Link...wonderful break...Neil was our guide around Coventry

Ruins of the 12th century Cathedral in Coventry that was bombed out in the Blitz

in November 1940

Lady Godiva

Avebury

Crescent row houses in Bath

The canal in Bath; the windows on the bridge are actually windows in homes

Glastonbuy Abbey ruins; burial site of King Arthur

Glastonbury Abbey from the side

Its been absolutely wonderful....and still so much more to go. We spent two days in Cornwall, two days in Wales (I think I could live there, but Bill said no and Alissa said I have to come home)

We're in Coventry now after spending last night in Strattford-Upon-Avon where we saw a play "The Grain Store" at the Courtyard theater; the Royal Shakespeare is closed for renovation, so it wasn't Shakespeare, but it was very good anyway. And shop shop shop, of course....

We spent the afternoon with our friends Ron & Kath Collins; their son Neil will take us on a tour around the area tomorrow and we'll all meet up for dinner after.

In The Beginning....there were rocks

And not just any ol' rocks.

STONEHENGE

It's surprisingly small....about the size of a baseball diamond, including foul territory. Apparently its made of stone found in Wales that was hauled to the site, mostly by canal. Its exact origins remain a mystery.

Approximately 2500 BC it was erected. The stone interlink on their tops (see the center stone in the pic); the link was pounded by hand with stone hammers....remarkable.

We also went to Avebury, a small village within a stone circle. I'll add pix of that later. Its a charming little place where the sheep graze around the stones. It has the usual pub, church, school and tiny little homes that sit right on the road.

The city of Bath is a beautiful small town. It's built almost entirely of 'bathstone' a local material. But talk about commercialized! Starbucks, Ben & Jerry and Subway.....we had lunch in a local tapas bar.

Look to the left, then to the right; welcome to London! This pic was taken while I was standing in the same place, with just a little turn to the left, then right...London is a wonderfully complex and beautiful city, new architecture on the left, Tower Bridge on the right.

A few buildings survived the Great Fire of 1666 (which also wiped out the plaque epidemic from the year before by destroying the rat population, but that's another story entirely). Historically the architectural powers that be have preserved much of what was left and simply built around it.

The traffic is horrendous...so we toured the City from the top of a double decker bus. Saw all the major sights. Our regular travel about town was by public transit, which is very efficient and convenient.

Friday night (by the light of full moon!) we followed the trail of Jack the Ripper around the Whitechapel district. Our guide was great...the slums where the murders occurred are essentially gone, but the alley ways remain.

Every teenage girl in the mid 60s who was remotely fashion concious knew about the designers in Carnaby Street. I was just learning to sew then and used to copy the clothes I saw in British fashion magazines....Mary Quant was a favorite.

The street does not allow traffic and is still a mecca for modern fashionistas. I did find a pair of gorgeous red suede pumps... unfortunately the only pair in my size was an obnoxious flamingo pink.

Labels: London
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