We were staying at a campground about 6 miles outside of town, so we had to catch a bus into the city. The little village we were staying in was Roslinn, Scotland. It had 3 bars, 2 hotels, one small market, and 3 bus tops. We had dinner at one of the bars last night, and I ordered Haggis for a starter. Now, we have tried some different foods throughout our trip, but this one, we thought was really good find, you’ve got to try it yourself. Day 2, we took in the Museum of Scotland. First, it was free, and second, we would have paid to see this one. It was really fantastic, and set into a building that was comfortable to be in. I guess we spent 3 hours there, but we still had one more location we wanted to see before the day was out. We grabbed another bus and went to see the Britannia. Britain’s royal family had over 900 voyages over 40 years, but now it is retired. We tried to trade in “Bumble Bee”, but all they wanted to give us was the bucket that came from the “head”…can you imagine that??? We demanded our money back and left (right after we had finished the tour that is). It is and was a wonderful ship, and they sure knew how to live in style. Well, tomorrow is a travel day, so we headed home a little earlier (one hour). We have a 12th century church right next door to the campgrounds that we haven’t seen yet, so in the morning we will see that and then head over to COSTCO and then head south to Carlisle. We had our plans to go on up to Inverness, but it has stayed cold and very windy, with it even worse up there, so we are foregoing Inverness and heading south looking for a little warmth.
6 May ’05, Friday
We were staying at a campground about 6 miles outside of town, so we had to catch a bus into the city. The little village we were staying in was Roslinn, Scotland. It had 3 bars, 2 hotels, one small market, and 3 bus tops. We had dinner at one of the bars last night, and I ordered Haggis for a starter. Now, we have tried some different foods throughout our trip, but this one, we thought was really good find, you’ve got to try it yourself. Day 2, we took in the Museum of Scotland. First, it was free, and second, we would have paid to see this one. It was really fantastic, and set into a building that was comfortable to be in. I guess we spent 3 hours there, but we still had one more location we wanted to see before the day was out. We grabbed another bus and went to see the Britannia. Britain’s royal family had over 900 voyages over 40 years, but now it is retired. We tried to trade in “Bumble Bee”, but all they wanted to give us was the bucket that came from the “head”…can you imagine that??? We demanded our money back and left (right after we had finished the tour that is). It is and was a wonderful ship, and they sure knew how to live in style. Well, tomorrow is a travel day, so we headed home a little earlier (one hour). We have a 12th century church right next door to the campgrounds that we haven’t seen yet, so in the morning we will see that and then head over to COSTCO and then head south to Carlisle. We had our plans to go on up to Inverness, but it has stayed cold and very windy, with it even worse up there, so we are foregoing Inverness and heading south looking for a little warmth.
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5 May ’05, Thursday.
ED’n-burah was a delight !!! Actually, it was a very good stop. ED’n-burah reminded both of us quite a bit of Prague. The Edinburgh Castle, with St Margaret’s Church, sitting high on the hill, overlooking the city, was one of those sites that you would put into “one of our best sites” category. The Edinburgh Castle, which was built on top of a distinct volcano, was a fortified castle that was built over 1,300 years ago. The castle and grounds have been used for a fort, royal residence, military garrison, and a prison among other things. We walked to the top of the hill and entered the grounds just in time to get a free guided tour. It lasted about 30 minutes, but that was enough to give us enough information and then spend the next 2 ½ hours on our own. We saw the Crown Jewels, the “Stone of Scone”, the Royal Palace, and the Great Hall. Scotland’s Crown Jewels are the oldest in England, circa 1540. From the top of the hill, The Edinburgh Castle, you then walk down the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile (all down hill from the castle) is were all the shoppes have been for centuries. It runs for a mile plus 200 yards, and about 6 blocks wide, to the Holyrood Palace. Tomorrow…more Edinburgh 4 May ’05, Wednesday.
The wind shook “Bumble Bee” all night long, but when morning broke, the sun was out and the wind dropped off considerably. We had a little of last nights “attitude” left, but that was melting with the help of the sun and a trip into this little town we were in… Berwick-upon-Tweed (aren’t these names just beautiful ???). Unfortunately yesterdays fiasco pushed us past a couple of wonderful sites that we would liked to have taken in, but that was yesterday and this is a “NEW” day. We were heading up to Edinburgh Scotland, about 45 miles distant, and we were taking “A-1”. Fortunately for those of us that wanted to take the “coastal route”, this time A-1 is the coastal route. About half way to Edinburgh we came across a highway marker telling us of a small village at the sea, so we made a U-turn on the A-1 and went back a 100 yards and then headed down this very narrow road. We wondered over hills and valleys, around bends and by small and large farms, and then we came upon this incredible seaside Scottish fishing village called St Abby’s Head. As we came into the village, the main part was on top of cliff and then there was this little single lane road that we could take (providing that no one was coming up) to the small wharf below. Once there, and a lot of pictures taken, we saw this very little outdoor patio serving food. On the menu, it said, if the tables are full or it is raining, we will bring your order on a tray to your car… This was a very nice, but very old looking building. Outside, they had 7 tables that were set up inside of a wall on 2 sides…to keep the wind out… We were lucky that it wasn’t a weekend because we wouldn’t have had a table and that meant we wouldn’t have had our crab sandwich, tea, and scone with jam and whipped cream…. Oh yes, tonight we went into the little village close to the campground and had dinner at one of the little “Pub’s”. For a “starter” we had “Haggis”…mmmm good !!! Tomorrow…Edinburgh (ED’n-burah) 3 May ’05, Tuesday.
We are getting closer to Scotland, and you can sure tell it by the stronger British/Scottish accents. After leaving camp, we headed north and our first stop for the day is going to be “Hadrian’s Wall”… Built by the Romans and their slaves, at Emperor Hadrian’s order in AD 122. Hadrian’s Wall marked the northern boundary of their empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and was their most impressive engineering achievement in Northern Europe. Hadrian’s Wall covers over 73 miles and still stands on average 6 feet of the original 10 feet in height. Also along with towers, complete settlements followed the wall. For the infantry men who were to man the wall, come summer to winter, it can get very cold here. Today, the first week of May, and the rains have continued and the winds are blowing cold. Just think of the wind and snow together…it must have been really tough. Just as we arrived, the rain let up to a light drizzle and the wind was mild. Once we parked “Bumble Bee”, we had a walk of just over a half a mile to the wall. This walk took us through gated fences that kept the sheep and their new (twins) baby lambs in the “bright green” grass pastures. Our trail was down a hill and then up the other side to the wall. This section that we stopped at, was once a complete settlement for the Roman military. The foundations of most of their buildings were still there, and of course the wall. It was really amazing, because once you were at the top and looking down into the hills and dale on the Scotland side, and then with your eyes, follow the walls east and west until they went out of site in the far off distance…it was really a physical and engineering feat. Well, we had better get on the road. We haven’t decided were we will settle for the night yet, but we want to follow the “coast road” as much as we can, and it is only 2 in the afternoon. We had to back track for about 30 miles to get back to the coast (North Sea), and then make a left turn and follow the water….sounds easy???…guess again !!! I really don’t remember anytime that we had more wrong turns, mis-directed by signs and maps, and road just ending than we had today. IT WAS HELL!! I won’t go into all the trials that we went through, but we finally said enough was enough and headed for “A-1”…the mail highway…the one that IS the most traveled…ANYTHING that will take us out of our misery. When we finally pulled into a campground in a driving rain and wind storm, we really weren’t good company for each other (or anyone else, I’m sure…). WE DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT !!! 2 May ’05, Monday
The solid stone walls of the Pickering Castle still guard over the small church and a little bit of the castle walls that are still standing. It was interesting, but the Church of St. James and John made the stop. One of the stories coming out of the church was about one of the clergyman that thought the 10th century frescos that were painted on the walls, showed lewd and suggestive images that he didn’t want his congregation to view. So, he grabbed a paint brush and started painting over them with white paint. Thank goodness they have been restored. They are just wonderful paintings showing things like a dragon being slain by St. George and other bible stories. When they were painted in medieval times, most of the people couldn’t read so they painted stories on the walls. Next, we wandered over to see the North Yorkshire Moors Railway train station. This is a small railway, whose trains are pulled by steam engines. After the train left the station, we headed north into town. This is a little town called Goathland. Goathland is located right in the “moors” of Yorkshire, and the station is in a small valley with a small river running right in back of the station. This station is the one that was filmed in the Harry Potter movies. The moors (heavily brushed with heathers and heaths), run right up the bank of the other side. Our drive through the “moors” was really very pretty, but as we have read, it must really be outstanding when the heather and heaths are in bloom. On the coast is Whitby Abbey. Perched high on a cliff, the gaunt remains of this magnificent abbey stands tall above the picturesque seaside town of Whitby. The Abby was founded in AD 657 by St. Hilda (known as Hild during her life time). Unfortunately the Abby was destroyed by a Viking invasion in AD 867. Much later, William the Conqueror rebuilt it in 1070, but again King Henry VIII had it destroyed during the dissolution in 1538. It’s really sad, because it must have magnificent to see in AD657. Now, back on the road, those less traveled, we head off to our next campground, White Water Park. It is located just in between Middlesbrough and Thornaby-on-Tees. One night there, and then up the coast route “tomorrow”…. 1 May ’05, Sunday.
Leaving York, we ended up taking the “Ring Road”, which is to save you time as it will take you out of the city traffic…but NO, it takes you into one of those traffic jams that is miles long, instead of a block or 2…I hope we have learned something from this… Our destination was from York to the coastal town of Scarborough. It should have taken us about 45 minutes to an hour, but, we decided to take a side trip to Helmsley Castle. This 12th century Norman castle sits high on a massive earthworks (hill) overlooking the Rye Valley. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of castle left, but the views, the historical story, the stone cottages of the village, the small shoppes, and a nice little restaurant that we found. We decided to split a pizza and salad, and thank god we did, it was all we could eat as it was. England has a program called “English Heritage”, which we could join for £ 40, or about $75. This will get us into over 409 “Heritage” sites all over England. We gave a quick calculation, and decided that we would probably make up the cost of the pass in the first 2 weeks…we need as much help as we can get. Now, onto our next campground…West Ayton. It’s about 12 miles outside of Scarborough. Tomorrow, we’ll head back about 10 miles to Pickering... |
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