Friday September 24th Contiki tour leaves the Royal National bright and early. We take a quick city tour, going by most of the places I have visited the last 4 days. We leave the city and drive out to Windsor, which is the home of another Royal Castle. We stop for breakfast, and then we stay on a little longer to see the changing of the guard. If the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace is anything like this, I don't think I missed anything by skipping it. We then head out to that circle of rocks in the English countryside Stonehenge. Several motorways run right by it, you just sort of pull off the road to take the tour. I was a little bit disappointed and unimpressed, especially when I realized what the Egyptians were building during the same time frame. The audio tour as a bit long, I dislike these, they are either too short and give little information or they are like a college lecture.

Stonehenge

We then head to the Roman city of Bath. In Bath Abbey, the first King of England, Egbert, was crowned. But the true tourist attraction in this town is the Roman Baths which are close to 2,000 years old. You can walk through the old baths and see the pools, cistern, pipes that bring the water from the river and the various ways the Romans heated the water. They also have an impressive collection of artifacts that they have found during excavations, plus a heating room which would be similar to a modern day sauna.

The Roman Baths

Afterwards, I walk around the city and do a little bit of shopping, I also pick up a cheezy postcard with sheep on it for the cheezy postcard contest we are having at dinner tonite. We then head outside the city to Limpley Stoke where we are spendng the night. The hotel looks like an old Victorian style mansion. My roomate for the tour is Rodrigo, an 18 year old from Mexico City, he also has really freaky dyed red hair. This meal is included in the tour. We head to the bar afterwards where we have some adult beverages. Their is a friendly drinking contest between Glen (Gleen), the crazy Kiwi and Eric the Entrencher an Aussie, although why he was drinking Miller a crappy American beer is beyond me. Needless to say, New Zealand won the first round of the drinking wars. There was a wedding reception going on in the hotel so the bar was crowded. Later on in the night, those of us that were still up were invited to join the reception. I am pretty sure this was Eric's doing.

Saturday September 25 Our first stop today is Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of world reknown writer William Shakespere. After getting off the bus I head up to Shakespere's birthplace, to take a picture. I actually don't go inside, it is a little bit too expensive and I really am not much of a Shakespere fan. I do head down to the Church where he is buried and pay the 60p to go in and look at his grave, once again graves inside a church. Afterwards, eat lunch at a pub called the Dirty Duck/Black Swan, one of the only pubs in England with a 2 sided sign and 2 names. After heading away from Stratford, we go to Warwick Castle, the castle of Richard Earl of Warwick. He was nicknamed the kingmaker because by changing sides in the War of the Roses, he enabled Edward IV to temporarily take the throne. The castle is now owned by Madame Tussard's, and they have made it a very tourist friendly castle. A lot of different areas of the castle are made up to reflect a specific time frame. They have a Victorian Tea Party in one area. They have an area dedicated to the Kingmaker. They have a ghost Tower which follows the castle during the time of the Tudors. They also have a small tower on a hill which can be traced back to William the Conqueror. In keeping with the Madame Tussard tradition, there are lots of wax statues throughout the castle, helping you visualize what life was like during those times. It is also interesting to walk around the walls and check out the towers. They also have an interesting dungeon where they show various medievil torture instruments.

Warwick Castle

We are staying in Coventry tonight, a town that is famous brcause Lady Godiva rode naked through town to protest taxes. They have a statue in town of her. Tonight we head outside of town to Cuume Abbey to attend an old style medievil banquet. We get a show in between courses and we eat with our hands. Most people only wore a little bit of medievil garb for the show, but Eric dressed up as Robin Hood and Glen as his Sir Guy of Gisbourne. After heading back to the hotel, another night of hanging out at the hotel bar, including target practice with a bow and arrow and fun with an inflatable sheep.

Sunday September 26th We get to sleep in a little later today, before we head to the English city of York, which is a walled city with a Viking history. We pretty much have the better part of the afternoon to explore this city on our own. First, a good portion of the group goes to the York Dungeon, this is really tacky, not scary and definetly not worth the money. I then go to the Jorvik Viking center on my own. This explores the Viking history of York at an archeological dig just discovered recently. Their is a ride through a Viking village and then you can look at Viking artifacts, discovered on the site. This is another site that can be skipped. I then go up, with the intention of visiting York Minster, the Gothic Cathedral, but it is closed due to services, I find out later, I could have went up to the tower from the back. The group all gets together for dinner at a pub, and then most of us go on a ghost walk through York. Our guide is pretty interesting, and scary, and tells many of the tales that were told in the York Dungeon, but much better. The story of Dick Turpin the Highwayman was paticularly interesting. After we get back to the hotel, it seems that this is an early night for most people.

Monday September 27 Today, we are heading to Scotland but first we are headed to see Hadrians Wall. This wall, built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian marked the northernmost border of the Roman Empire. The wall is not very tall, it was built to keep out the "barbarians" from the north. The Romans built castles about every mile or so to protect the wall. We get out of the bus and walk up to see the wall. We have to walk on a small path which is covered with sheep crap, the meadows and countryside around the wall are quite beautiful. We get to walk near the wall for a while, and check it out.

Hadrians Wall

After leaving the wall, we head into Scotland on the way to Edinburgh. We stop and shop, in a town clled Jedburgh right over the border. When we get into Edinburgh, we take a quick bus tour of the city, looking at the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, Edinbrugh Catle and the Kirk of St. Giles. I find a spot to do my laundry, before we head to the Hard Rock for dinner. Afterwards we have a couple of drinks at Jeckyl and Hyde's, Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh. The coolest part about this place is the bathrooms, the doors are hidden in bookcases. They also have a bar called Deacon Brodies which is named after a man who was a judge by day and a murderer by night, this is the man Stevenson based Jeckyl and Hyde on. We then hang out at a Irish Bar for awhile, listening to a band before heading over to a nightclub. In nightclubs here, I get to hear all the British pop from the 80's and 90's you don't get to hear too often like Wham and Culture Club, they also play Abba, Livin Lavida Loco and Mambo #5. The thing that struck me most about this club was over the dance floor, they had a couple of screens playing Disney movies like Snow White and Cinderella. Anybody else see that ? Because tommorrow is a free day, most people stay out late dancing and drinking.

The Scottish Highlands

Tuesday September 25th Today is the free day in Edinburgh, despite the late night, I wake up early for a day of "power sightseeing", which stands for cram as much tourist stuff as you can into the day. Head up to Edinburgh Castle at one end of the Royal Mile. I take the guided tour, from a genuine Scotsman with a kilt. Ediburgh Castle has never been taken by force. Within the castle walls, they have the Crown jewels of Scotland, including the Stone of Destiny, which used to be part of the Coronation Chair for the British Monarch and was recently returned. They show you the bedroom where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James the First, future King of England. They also have a memorial to Scots killed during WWI. From the ramparts, you can look out over the whole city.

Edinburgh Castle

After leaving the castle, I walk down the Royal Mile, briefy look in the Church (Kirk) of St. Giles, they have a memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson. The Duke of Montrose is buried there. I briefly stop in the Childrens Museum, which traces Games and dolls through the ages. I walk to the end of the Roya Mile, and check out Holyrood Palace, but don't take the tour. There is a yellow flag flying abve the Palace, which I think means the Queen is in residence. Walk part of the way up the hill behind the palace and snap some photo's of the city. Do a little shopping along the mile and check on my e-mail. That night, we head out for a traditional Scottish meal. For an appetizer some of us have haggis, which is various parts of the sheep, cooked inside a sheeps stomach. I had been warned about it, but tried it and it was quite good. We have a bagpiper in full Scottish Regalia who performs for us, and tells us a little bit about Scottish History. He also shows us the various weapons a Highlander uses when he goes into battle and tells us the history of the Tartans and the Kilts.

Wednesday September 29 Today, we leave Edinburgh and head into the Scottish Highlands. The scenery outside the bus is quite beautful, with the mist covered mountains and the heather in bloom along the roadside. There are tons of sheep alongside the roads filling up the pastures. We stop for a snack in a great country inn, and Ally, our busdriver, has a bit of a swordfight with one of the locals. We then have to stop the bus at a small bridge and have to carry some of the luggage across in order for the bus to make it across the bridge, ya right !

We take a tour of the Glenlivet Whiskey Distillery, where we learn how scotch is made, including some free samples. We then make a short trip to see the battlefield at Culloden. Culloden is the battefield where in 1746, the last major Scottish rebellion, until independence was declared recently, under Bonnie Prince Charlie was put down by the Duke of Cumberland. The battle was a rout for the British, 1,350 Jacobites (Scots) were killed on the battlefield against 350 British.

Battle Monument at Culloden

After leaving the battleield, we head by Loch Ness on our way to Inverness, stoping at the tacky Loch Ness giftstore with Nessie outside. That night, the boys and girls split up for a while, to celebrate a wedding, tommorrow we are going to Gretna Green so Perri (PJ) and Tony are the lucky/unlucky couple, depending on your viewpoint. This is the guys version, because that is the only version I know. With the exception of Nathan, all the guys tie a nice one on. There are quite a few underage girls milling about Invernesses pubs. We end up at a dance club where one of the guys (Glen) gets kissed by a guy, leading him to start keeping track of how many guys and girls have kissed him. As we are leaving, one of the bouncers ask us where we are going, "because drinks are only a f***ing pound ". We end up at the bar where we are supposed to meet the girls and there is a line. Paul refuses to wait in a queue so we end up at another bar. On our way back to the bar where we are to meet the girls, Tony has had enough and hurls on the sidewalk.

Thursday Sept 30 Rodrigo and I get a late start today and barely make the bus. We stop to take pictures, feel the water and hunt for Nessie in Loch Ness.

Loch Ness

We climb up long and winding roads to Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland. This is where I deposit some of last nights liquor. We then take a boat cruise on Loch Lomond, the largest loch in Scotland. We see a cave where Rob Roy McGregor used to hide from the British.

The Highlands of Scotland, at or around Ben Nevis

After a nice drive through the Scottish countryside, we end up at Gretna Green for the wedding. This place is extremely tacky, it is like a lame museum to weddings.

We enter into England and drive through the English countryside to the Lake District, where we will spend the next 2 days. The guys are upgraded to a different hotel up the street. The hotel most people are staying in has a nightclub in the basement, check this out briefly, but hit the sack early.

Friday October 1 Today is the free day in Windermere, I am going gorge scrambling in the afternoon, so in the morning, I take a quick stroll through town and check out the shops. When we are ready to go out gorge scrambing, our ride is late, it is raining quite heavily. When we get out there, they tell us it would be more like gorge swiming, so we opt out when told we will get a refund. After getting back, we go out for pizza, have a few drinks, then hang out at the club downstairs dancing and drinking. I spot a shim which scares me, as Glenn said, "scarier than the York Dungeon". This club is pretty funny in that the securty gaurds at the club in the boonies have earpieces like they were the Secret Service or something.

Saturday Oct 2 We leave the lake district and travel to the city of Chester. Chester was a walled Roman city, similar to York. We get a tour of the cities, walking along the walls on our guided tour. We get to see where they built a dam to divert the direction of the river. Chester has the second most photographed Victorian Clock in Engand behind Big Ben, so I snap a photo. Walk around the city and do a litle shopping. We then head into Wales, the 3rd country on the tour. We stop at a little town and do a bunch of shopping. At the hotel, we have a last dinner, I let Rodrigo color my hair red, skunk stripe down the middle. Now, Glenn, Eric and I are honorary Mexicans. After a little sambuca, as Rodrigo would say "sambuca it's cool". This is the last night for people only taking the England/Scotland/Wales portion of the tour before we head to Ireland tommorrow afternoon. Lots of picture taking, drinking and partying, just us and a bunch of English rugby fans in the bar. Ally does a couple of more knightings, I am knighted "one scary American" I guess with my hair, that is fitting. Eric brings out his friend the sheep, dressed like a Scotsman. Once again, he is used as a drinking vessel, though later on in the night, he is deflated by a sword.

Sunday October 3 Today is the last day of the England/Scotland/Wales portion of the trip. We go and visit Kidwelley castle in the morning. I find this castle extremely interesting. One of the main reasons is that we are the only people there, no other tour groups to move around, plenty of time to explore ramparts, walls, murder holes and arrow slits. Their is an audio tour, but it is a long winded one. We head back to the hotel where we pull a double switch, the people leaving the tour are getting on a bus heading back to London while the people just doing the Ireland portion are joining us from London. After picking up the new members of the tour, and saying goodbye to our new friends heading out, we drive about 2 hours to the ferry dock. We then have a 4 hour ferry ride across to Ireland. The boat ride is quite rough and a little boring, I watch a little of the Tonga vs New Zealand rugby game untill the TV goes out ad then pick up the end later. After getting of the boat, we drive to Mcdonalds where we have a brief supper. We are getting dropped of in small groups at bed and breakfasts in Waterford. Luckily, Rodrigo and I are out at the first stop. We are staying at Mrs. O'Reilly's house, she invites us in and asks about our trip, where we are from, gives us tea and coffee. She also takes our orders for breakfast, we get to have pancakes. Those of you on the trip probably won't understand the joy in this, every morning, we have had what I call the high cholesterol breakfast, eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns, it was good to have a change of pace. We go down and check out the Waterford Crystal Factory all lit up at night. Afterwards, we play a little Connect Four, Lynn is the world champ, she beats me about 4 times and Rodrigo at least 12 times, I don't think he beat her even once !

Monday October 4 We have a nice pancake breakfast this morning, before we head off to the Waterford Crystal factory. We walk through the factory, looking at the blowers, carvers and engravers. This stuff is expensive, they have a clock made totally of the stuff, that costs 38,000 irish pounds, about 57,000 US. They also have a lot of the various sports trophies like for the Super Bowl that they have made over the years. We then drive out to Blarney Castle, the castle looks quite beautiful when walking up to it through the meadows and trees. It doesn't look like it was built in an easily defendable position, it isn't on too steep of a hill. The castle is pretty much in ruins, you walk up through the steps to the top of the tower to kiss the Blarney Stone. You have to lean over backwards, and arch your head back.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

We drive through the Rings of Kerry, hilly and windy roads, but the scenery is beautiful, and unlike England and Scotland it is sunny today. We stop a couple of times to take pictures of the Rings, the lakes around it, including a castle that could only be taken by a force attacking from water, which Oliver Cromwell did, and Killarney National Park.

Killarney National Park

We stop outside Killarney where we are staying tonight in Killarney national park. We have a group photo taken and then we divide into groups of six and seven and take jaunting cart rides through the park, which includes the ruins of an abbey and a manor house. We then get to ride the carts into town and walk to the hotel. This hotel has a bar and a nightclub in it. At the pub, we watch an Irish band play some typical Irish music and then we retire to the nightclub untill they close for the night.

previous page	Powered by MSN TV	next page