A walk among old city walls and ghost trails

We spent Sunday and Monday in the 2000 year old city of York. I LOVED this city. It has retained its old world charm as indicated by its intact city walls around the ‘ring road’ and old abbey in the centre of the city.
Yorkminster Abbey is the second largest gothic abbey in Northern Europe, and man, was it impressive! We had to pay to go through, but at least we had a look at the great east window, which at 76ft tall, is the largest stain glass window in the world. We did pay to go into the crypts though, which is essentially a museum about the abbey. We learned that the abbey was built on top of an ancient roman military building, then a saxon cathedral. It was neat to walk among the roman rubble and see how they recreated the past.

It is also a great walking city with pubs and tea shops everywhere you look. We had some fun just wandering the streets. Interesting the city was originally the creator of Terry's chocolates & sweets (as in the chocolate orange) and Rowntree (as in Smarties). Sadly both of these companies have since been bought and moved elsewhere, but the chocolate tradition was rampant in the city. We loved how most of the streets were cobblestone, and the houses were designed in the Tudorian style as below with black and white designs and jettying over the streets.
During that particular weekend we were there it was an annual international sword dancing festival and we also found sword dancers from every country doing their own take on the dance, some more complex than others. The group below in wooden shoes were from Belgium. When I was on a city walking tour I was so distracted by the dancers that I rarely listened to the tour guide!
The best part of our walking tour was the ability to walk along the city walls and get great shots of the city and abbey as well as gaze inside the towers at each corner and picture how soldiers would have defended the city from siege. I especially liked this unique sign upon the wall.
We stayed that night in an ‘inn’ – translation – rooms above a pub called the Exhibition Inn. Our rooms were so cute and cosy and the whole place had such a homey feel to it. The pub itself was also fabulous. It had a huge beer garden out back, as well as a conservatory-style restaurant out back where we had a fab English breakfast as part of our b&b package. I’m pumped that we finally stayed in an authentic inn as Syd and I have been meaning to do that for some time now.
York is also infamous for being the most haunted city in the world, with a total of 504 recorded hauntings according to the Ghost Research Foundation International. Which isn't surprising really, given York's history of conflict and many tragic events. One can even seek to stay in a haunted inn - thankfully ours wasn't one of them!
Multiple ghost tours were available to learn more about this, and we chose the one closest to our inn. It was led by an older fella who has been a guide for over 25 years. He told some pretty interesting stories, including one about a girl in the 60’s who was in Yorkshire Abbey with her dad when she saw the ghost of her brother who was off to war at the time. Only the guide of that tour at the time saw her recoil in fright and recognition of seein a ghost before she fainted. She only admitted to the guide that the ghost she saw was her brother and if her father knew it meant that they would be getting some dire news soon. As it turned out, they received a letter from the army notifying them of the death not 2 days later. Creepy. There were also other creepy stories of children being abused as child labour about 100 years ago in an old industrial site, which is now a residential area where numerous sightings of children ghosts have been seen. All of us enjoyed the ghost tour, even Syd, who is generally skeptical of the macabre.

On Monday we learned all about the history of York through the ages at the York Castle museum at the base of Clifford’s tower. The most unique aspect of this museum was the recreated 16th century york streets – complete with a sweets shop, a candle-making studio, a fire station and police station and toy stores! It was coupled with smells and newspapers and was so neat! A quick glance of what a carriage looked like in the 'street' in the depths of the museum is below.
Unfortunately we had to head home for a long ride back to London, but I could have stayed there so much longer. I’m glad that we made the effort to go up to York as it was totally worth it and I recommend it to everyone.

Punting on the backs of academia

On our way up north to York on May 24th we decided to spend the day in Cambridge. The old university buildings were so amazing! King’s College was especially impressive.
We made it our goal to find a riverside tavern (on the river Cam of course!) and then try a go a punting a small boat down the river. Seems that everyone else had the same idea because the river was packed – helped that it was a beautiful spring day.
We ate near Darwin college at Granta riverside tavern, which conveniently also had a punt hire next door. We enjoyed a pitcher of Pims and watched some silly girls screaming on the river while they nearly toppled their self-guided punting boat a number of times. Little did we know that we would soon be sharing the same water with them shortly and make it a specific aim to avoid them at all costs! In any case, Syd did a great job of punting down the river.
He was so serious and focussed as he says it is a lot harder than it looks! We didn’t blame him when he left the punt in the river twice – the second time around we were laughing lots but able to catch a shot of it (on Aunt Lori’s camera so not available here).
The 3 of us just sat back and enjoyed the views. We punted along ‘the backs’, which is what the section of the river is that glides along the backs of all of the university buildings/grounds. This has been a common pastime for locals & students for a number of years, but now it’s mostly just a tourist attraction – and tourists there were many. The universities were just as picturesque from the ‘backs’ as they were from the ‘fronts’. Queens College had the oldest building along the river – 600 years old! That puts the University of Waterloo’s 50ish buildings to shame – ha ha.
Following that fab experience we had a stroll up Cambridge’s high street and market and before heading out we had a nice afternoon tea in a Moroccan themed shop called the “copper pot’.

The Torturous Tower

On Sunday we went to the Tower of London, a must-see for any visitor to London. Founded nearly a millennium ago and expanded upon over the centuries since, the Tower of London has protected, housed, imprisoned and been for many the last sight they saw on Earth.
When we arrived, Barb and Lori immediately wanted to hit the gift shops, but I steered them towards the castle instead. We joined a 'yeoman warder' tour where he described the stories of what befell those in the tower. It has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs ... the site of renown political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels ... It has housed lions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens ... not to mention notorious traitors and framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights.
We loved that our knowledge of the Tudor reign came to light here, especially with the story of Sir Thomas Moore being held in the tower and then later beheaded for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the head of the church. Anne Boleyn was also beheaded here too, but had a more private affair than Sir Thomas' public one on tower hill!

What we learned later while talking to a Yeoman is that they all actually live there in homes surrounding the tower, though still within the tower gates. They all had to serve 22 years in the UK military before being considered for the post. Could you imagine them going to the doctor, and the doctor asking where they live, to which they reply literally, 'the tower of london' - how strange!

Later, we went inside the White Tower, where royals used to live, but now is basically a large museum.
We also found within it the weapon of 'mass destruction' itself.

Of course we also visited the crown jewels and viewed a sceptre of the cross with the largest diamond in the world - 530 carats! Below is the imperial crown set with sapphires and rubies.

Lastly we had a tour of the chapel where thousands of headless bones were found buried beneath - essentially because whenever someone was beheaded, the heads would be placed on stakes on London Bridge and were never reunited with their bodies again!

In the gift shop on the way out, we especially liked this 'manly' suit of armour that Henry the 8th used to wear!

Bygone Baths

On our first weekend with Mum and Aunt Lori we decided to take them out of London to experience the city of Bath, once the Roman epicentre of commerce and bathing. Bath has natural hot springs - the only site in Britain. To the Romans, those famous lovers of baths, these well-situated hot springs were a magnificent attraction. Combining Celtic and Roman gods, they dedicated their impressive bath complex to Sulis Minerva, throwing offerings and curses into the steaming waters for the deity's attention. Bath, called Aquae Sulis, grew as a town, and excavated burials have demonstrated that the cosmopolitan settlement was home to travellers and merchants from distant parts of the Roman Empire.

Bath's glamorous heyday came in the Georgian period. The town became England's most fashionable resort, where Society came to take the waters in the Pump Room, to dance and flirt at the Assembly Rooms, to gamble, gossip and promenade. The town was rebuilt, and became an architectural showpiece.
At the centre of the town is beautiful gothic church - Bath Abbey . It was founded in the 7th century, and then rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. It is set near the river, and the tour buses of course! It made a great backdrop for beautiful pictures.
Now, Bath is a World Heritage Site, famous for both archaeology and architecture, and a new, somewhat-delayed thermal spa opened in 2006. We visited the Roman Baths museum, where the great bath, and adjacent baths made up the entire complex, and we got to walk around the Roman ruins and learn about life during the antiquities.
Syd and I just love delving into the history and spent a good amount of time listening to every single audio message. Bill Bryson, a best-selling author of humorous travel books, had audio commentary about the baths as I walked through, and I loved his insight the best!
Following that we had lunch in a great cafe called Clarke's (which Barb remembers the name of because of the shoe store), and then walked around the famous Pulteney Bridge over the river Avon...

and even managed to find a community garden!

You can take the ladies out of Lowbanks...

Okay, I love my mother-in-law, and aunt-in-law (Lori), but I have to 'take the piss' out of them and share some true tourist stories.

They got to London without any problems, took the train and a cab to my house, albeit getting a bit dizzy in the London taxi on the winding streets on the opposite side of the road. We went out for our first pub experience that night - for fish and chips of course, again no worries since Syd and I were with them.

However, the next day some episodes happened that made us laugh to tears at dinner that evening! Syd and I went to work the next day and left them to their own devices. After a long 'lie-in' they got going around 1 pm and went to Green Park tube. When they got there they popped into a posh cafe to use the toilet, and decided it best to buy a coffee while they were there. Barb walked up to the counter and asked for a coffee. She started making it and then said to Barb - 'Americano?' and she said 'No- Canadian!'. The girl started to laugh and then Barb realised she wasn't asking about her nationality and said "oops. I thought you asked if I was American" to which she humourously replied, 'it's okay, i'm not predjudice!"

They were amazed at the underground system and couldn't believe how high the escalators were, such that they stopped dead at the bottom of the escalator blocking traffic and exclaimed really loud (in the American way): "How far underground ARE we?".

Later that day they tried to buy tea in Covent Garden tea shop and it cost pounds and pence. Being a banker after 30 some odd years, Aunt Lori didn't understand what all of the coins looked like or meant yet so she just dug around in her pockets and held out a handful of coins for the cashier to pick out of her hand!

Lastly, we went to a pub while waiting for Syd and try our first ales. We are drinking them out on the street and they see a big red phone booth. They are like, "ooh, ooh, lets get a picture in the booth!" so the proceed with their pint glasses into the booth. I took a while to line up the picture to which they exclaimed, "hurry up, we look like tourists!". I told them that they didn't need my help for that!

Good laughs - thanks Mum!

Rides, ponies, and camping without fires

Last weekend was the first long weekend in Spring in the UK, so what better way to spend it than going to an amusement park? Our friends Rob and Laura were heading there for a friend's birthday so we decided to tag along. It doesn't take much to get me to a theme park though! We went to a park about 30 minutes out of the city to a Madame Tussaud's park called Thorpe Park. The weather ended up being warm, sunny and fabulous! As I'm a roller coaster fiend, I was quite excited to try out new rides. The most unique one was new this year, and called Stealth. It essentially goes from 0 to 60 km/hr in the first few seconds and shoots you right up a nearly 90 degree hill and then right back down at the same angle! Syd and I were at the very front. It was crazy. The picture below gives you a taste.We also had our first camping weekend in the UK where we stayed in the Southeast part of Hampshire, England in a National Park called New Forest. It is grazed by the ponies, cattle and pigs of the local 'commoners' - allowing livestock to graze is called 'commoning'. The New Forest is a beautiful area, but it is not "natural" in the sense of untouched by man. The Forest has been moulded by the fads of monarchs since William the Conqueror, and the changing priorities of the Crown over the last 900 years: deer; timber for naval shipbuilding; commercial timber production; and recreation.
When we first turned into the New Forest Park, we saw a whole group of white-tailed deer. We stopped to grab a picture, which was just as well because they decided to cross the road! Not 10 minutes down the road we also saw a number of wild ponies out in the field. We soon realised that the ponies were indigenous to the area as when we got to the campsite they were grazing around the campground as well!
The first campground we went to had 320 tent pitches, but no toilets. Which I took to mean, no flush toilets. However, when we asked what that meant, it meant there were no toilets period, and all campers were expected to bring their own chemical toilets...what??? Needless to say we were directed to another campground where there were toilets on site.
When they say campground, they mean big field where you just squat your tent wherever. Everyone is one big happy family in UK camping land. Another weird thing about UK camping is that you can't have campfires, at all. That makes the camping experience seem so different to me, as I didn't come home with campfire smell embedded in my clothes! Instead, we bought one-time use portable barbecues to cook dinners and breakfasts with. They came in handy let me tell you, plus Syd had lots of fun cooking with them!
We managed to find a spot facing a hilly mound so we weren't looking at other campers. We also camped next to a big thorny yellow bush that we soon called 'prickolellows' because they leave their sting if you touch them! They are everywhere in new forest, and look quite pretty from afar - but watch out! They made good shelter from the wind and the eyes of other campers though!
In New Forest there was a quaint little town called Burley where we rented bicycles on Sunday afternoon and rode around some trails such as an old railroad. We tried some local 'scrumpy' cider right of of kegs as well. The apples are pressed during October and November using true cider fruit from traditional cider orchards. After fermentation the cider is blended into freshly emptied whisky barrels to enhance the flavour. I am quite the lover of many of ciders though this was not my favourite cider in the world, but hey to each his own. At 7.4% alcohol per 2 pint jug we were happy to buy and share on our bike ride anyways!
Burley is famous for a 'witchy past'. In the 1950s a white witch resided there by the name of Sybil Leek. She was a healer and astrologer who drew her energy from the neighbouring woods of new forest. She started a coven of healing witches. She soon became notorious and attracted a number of people to Burley who came to see her and learn her healing ways. By the 1960s, the townspeople were so annoyed with all of the 'strangers' in their village, that they kicked Sybil out. She moved to the US where she was well received and went on a tv show to help explain psychic phenomena. The sad irony of the story is that they kicked her out because she brought too much tourism, but more people have visited the village since, just because of the IDEA of her! We ended our Sunday with some pints in the Burley Inn where we waited for the rain to subside while playing a wicked card game called Guillotine.

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Observations:
The Brits have a different concept of personal space than Canadians do when it comes to camping. Not even a minute after we had our tents set up, other campers walked right through the middle of our site, just inches beside one tent, to get to the toilets on the other side of the field. This happened within the next 20 minutes 5 more times and really began to annoy us such that we moved our car next to our tent so that people would stop using it as a path. They ended up just going around the other side of our tent so we just gave up and ignored it, as I guess we were supposed to do. Very strange!

I learned a new word this weekend - Gobby. Laura and I were on a walk and we encountered two owners whose dogs were meeting for the first time. One german shepherd (aka alsatian) was kind of growly and the owner said 'don't be gobby'. I asked Rob later what gobby meant and he said 'mouthy'. Which now makes sense as they use 'gob' to describe mouths quite a lot - as in: 'look at that wide-open gob' and 'I'm gob-smacked' meaning speechless. aha! I'm figuring this stuff out!