Day 3, Part II, Touring the UK, St. Ives

Thought I would repost the picture of the map, so you can see where we are in our trip.  We're over nighting in Tavistock for 2 nights.   You can see St. Michael's Mount on the map that was part of the previous post for Day 3.

This was our Itinerary for Day 3: The plan for the day, be on the coach at 8 am, stop around 9:15 at the Jamica Inn, move onto Marazion for a picture stop of St. Michael's Mount, move onto St. Ives and have lunch; and be back at the hotel around 5.  Our tour director generally had this posted somewhere the evening before so we could plan a bit, but sometimes he didn't put it out until we were at breakfast, and sometimes he only had a copy on the bus...which wasn't as helpful.

So Day 3, Part II.  We proceeded from our photo op of St. Michael's Mount to the old fishing town of St. Ives, which isn't on the map, but is in Cornwall on the coast of The Celtic Sea.  Historically it was a seaport and fishing town.  It's turned into a hot spot for vacationers.  It boasts art galleries, good food, high-end accommodations, and is suppose to be the place to be.  

My friend, Jane and I were not impressed and felt it was overly crowded, dirty and really nothing specific to see.  I suppose if you were staying there and wanted to go boating, or fishing, or simply laying on the crowded beach in the sun; you might enjoy it.

We waited a long time to get a table for the standard fish n chips at one of the first restaurants we came to that didn't look as busy or crowded as others. 

The food was good, and we had a seat by the open area so could do lots of people watching and see the water.

Lunch took so long, we had very little time left so only window shopped as we made our way back to the car park to meet up with our fellow travelers.

On the uphill trek to the carpark we spotted this lovely Celtic Cross Memorial.

As you can see, it's to honor the men from St. Ives who fought in both World War I and World War II.

You get a feel for the narrow streets, and types of buildings in a rather hilly town as we were driving out of Cornwall making our way back to The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock.

This would be our 2nd night in this old castle looking old hotel.  We were pleased to see they had fixed the electrical problem and we had lights and were able to charge our phones.  The evening was our own, no group dinner this night.  We took some time to get things in order so that we could have our luggage out at 7 am the next morning before departing Tavistock.  We walked across the street to a courtyard area and had wood fired pizza and a glass of wine for dinner at Church Lane Pizza.  Once back in the hotel, we headed to the bar to order a nightcap to take to the room.  We ordered Manhattan's, but they didn't know how to make them.  However, the young gal was willing to make it per my directions.  It was quite tasty.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit.

Day 3 Touring The UK, Bodmin Moor, Jamaica Inn, St. Michael's Mount (Part I)

The plan for the day, be on the coach at 8 am, stop around 9:15 at the Jamica Inn, move onto Marazion for a picture stop of St. Michael's Mount, move onto St. Ives and have lunch; and be back at the hotel around 5.  Our tour director generally had this posted somewhere the evening before so we could plan a bit, but sometimes he didn't put it out until we were at breakfast, and sometimes he only had a copy on the bus...which wasn't as helpful.

Our itinerary had a bit more info:  Travel through the unspoiled beauty of Bodmin Moor: stop for photo's at Jamaica Inn, built in 1750 and immortalized in Daphne du Maurier's tale of daring smugglers.  Visit the coastal village of Marazion to see the romantic outline of St. Michael's Mount, an island topped by a spectacular castle.  In the old fishing town of St. Ives, take a walking tour to see it's cobbled streets, quaint cottages, art galleries, and surrounding sandy beaches.  Enjoy time to explore before returning to a free evening in Tavistock.

This was the view from our hotel window,(The Bedford Hotel) you can see how old the buildings are, and how foggy it was off in the distance.  We were staying in Tavistock.  Our hotel was without air conditioning, which is not uncommon in Europe.  It was also without an elevator, also not uncommon in Europe.  Both of those conditions caused several in our group some issues.  In my previous post I mentioned we were without electric our first night there and showed a picture of the hotel.

Our first stop was the Jamaica Inn.  You can see it was indeed old (built in 1750).  The beauty of Bodmin Moor that we were to enjoy on the way was a bust due to the fog and rain off and on.

The Inn had several rooms, folks looked around and some got a coffee, others of us made a bathroom stop and looked around in the gift shop.

Joss was the inkeeper, and the leader of a gang of smugglers who worked the Cornish Coastline.  The author Daphne du Maurier actually stayed at the inn and used it as her inspiration when she wrote the novel, Jamaica Inn in 1936.  Alfred Hitchcock directed a film staring Maureen  O'Hara, a period piece set in the 1815 time frame.  There was also a TV series staring Jane Seymour in 1983.  Apparently the TV series followed the novel more closely.  All I can find is Joss Merlyn was stabbed and found by his niece Mary.

I peered out at our coach before pulling up my hood on my rain coat, as it was raining a bit.  Another cute red phone box.

Before getting back on the coach, I wanted at least one picture of Bodmin Moor; but as you can see with the fog, our views were limited.

Not sure I would describe the view of St. Michael's Mount as "romantic".  But maybe if we could have seen the Castle on top?

From their webpage: what we weren't able to see.  This photo was taken during low tide, when you can walk to the island.  There are things to explore, places to shop and eat.  You need a ticket to tour the castle.

A view at night of the castle lighted.  You can get tickets for boat rides during the day or evening to get to the island during high tide.  The St. Aubyn Family gave the land to the National Trust in 1954, thought they have a 999 year lease to stay and live in the Castle and maintain the visitors business.  Our stop was about 15 minutes, long enough to attempt pictures and a few found time to use the restroom facilities.  People were quickly back on the coach due to the rain.

I'm breaking this day up for 2 posts, due to the number of pictures.  Please pop back in .

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit.

Day 2, Stonehenge and Salisbury

The plan posted for us the evening before.   Our itinerary reads as follows:

Marvel at the prehistoric circle of vast monoliths of Stonehenge and learn about the primitive builders who managed to create such an enduring monument.  Stop in Salisbury, a charming old city where the cathedral boats the tallest spire in England.  Arrive in Tavistock, a market town on the edge of Dartmoor National Park.

Our stop was a quick one.  For one it was raining, not everyone even opted to hope off the coach.  But, my friend Jane and I donned our ball caps and rain coats and walked around the circumference of the circle.  We lucked out in that we were there before other tour groups so it wasn't crowded.  My understanding is it's often quite crowded and hard to get a picture.  You no longer get to walk right up to or among the stones, but it's still quite impressive to see.

If you click the picture to enlarge it, you should be able to see some people on the left hand side of the picture.  This should give you some perspective as to the size.  This is an UNESCO site, one of the first in England.  It's a powerful witness to the people in the Neolithic and Bronze ages.  The building of this site began 5,000 years ago, but why it was built is unknown.  What it was used for is also unknown.  Some of the stones (as they are not all the same type of stone), came from the south of Wales.  How would simple people without modern day tools get stones this large and heavy from one place to another?  It will continue to be studied, and perhaps in years to come more will be learned.

Again, look at the size.  This is stone laying down tethered to a sled of sorts
See the people on the left.

Examples of grass huts can be toured behind the circle.  You get a feel for what a village would have looked like.

A launderette outside a rest stop.  Rest stops in Europe are nothing like rest stops here in the US.  The ones we saw in England had gas, public toilets and a large facility with 2 coffee shops, some fast food options, and grocery items; as well as gift items to purchase.  The launderette is a combined washer and dryer.  We watched a man put his laundry in, add the money and then went inside to eat and shower possibly.  The soap is also already in the machine.  As you can see you select which size load you have.

The Salisbury Cathedral, the tallest spire in England at 123 meters, a little over 400 feet!!  As you can see some work is being done.  No doubt that's a perpetual situation given the age of the cathedral.  The building began in 1220, and took 38 years to build.  It houses The Magna Carte among other artifacts.  Half a million visitors tour the cathedral annually.

A few of the many gorgeous stained windows.

This is an embroidered copy of the Magna Carte.  We did see the original, but you are not permitted to photograph it.  It's kept in a tent to keep light off it and only 3 people are permitted in the tent at one time with a docent controlling the entrance and exit of the tent.

Remember to click to enlarge so you can read the explanation.

A very detailed model of the cathedral.

A hot Cappauccino and shot of whiskey (can't remember what we had), was just what the doctor ordered.  Was a pretty cool, damp day and we needed a pick me up as we were walking around the town a bit.

In the pub where we enjoyed our whiskey and Cappuccino.  Forgot to make a note about the name of the pub, it was quite old.  Might have been named Ye Olde Pub or something like that.

Not a photo I took, but one from their website.  It looked like a castle, and was quite old.  Many older hotels in Europe do not have AC or elevators.  This hotel fell into that category.  We ran into trouble on night one there, as we were without electric.  3 different staff members came up to our 3rd floor room to see if they could fix it.  Something to do with the breakers.  Each plug had their own.  We lucked out in that one light did work, so we weren't in the dark; but were unable to charge our phones.  They didn't have a room they could move us too, as they were full.  They did get it fixed for us the next day.  A rather charming hotel with a warm and very nice staff.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit.

Day One, The Tour Begins, Windsor

We had a refreshing Aperol Spritz and enjoyed the nice weather.

Our itinerary summed up Day one like this:

Your tour departs at 2 pm from your Windsor Hotel.  Venture to see the splendors of Windsor Castle, a residence of the King, and the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world.  Then take a walking tour arouind the medieval town of Windsor with a local guide.  Enjoy a welcome drink with your group, and dine and explore as you wish this evening.  Our welcome drink was scheduled for 6 pm.

Walk this way.  There are no inside photo's permitted, but it was awesome to see it.  Wish I could share with you; but it's a BIG no no.  There are security checks as you enter so travel light and leave backpacks in the hotel or in our case the tour coach..

Trying to snap photo's as we walked with our guide wasn't super easy.  You have to keep up.  

Queen Victoria on High Street as you make your way to the entrance.  As you can see lots of rehab work is going on.  The tour guide said it's perpetual.  The bronze statue was to commemorate her Golden Jubilee (50th year).   At that time, she was the longest serving Monarch.

The State Entrance.  Just outside this gate was wear The Queen was often seen with her dogs, and or riding her horse.  She was quite popular and friendly according to our tour guide who saw her multiple times.

Turning the opposite direction from The State Entrance puts you in line with The Long Walk.  A beautiful place to walk, run etc.  It's 2.64 miles to the end where a horse statue resides on Snow Hill.  This was created during the reign of Charles II.

Our local guide pointing out items of interest.  Note the restaurant behind her, The Prince Harry.  After our tour and welcome drink, we attempted to go there for dinner.  They were not busy, but the wait staff and bartender just looked at us and walked away.  We waited a few minutes more and then walked out.  Guess they didn't want our business.  We did note pictures of Harry and Meghan on the walls.

Tried my best to get a picture without people, but as you can see, wasn't quite successful.  Windsor is full of tourists.  The shambles built in 1718.  Look how crocked it is.  Remember you can click on any picture to see things larger.

While this old plaque isn't readable.  It marks the location of Nell Gwynn's residence, and now tea room.

And Chinese Restaurant.  The date on the building is 1648.  She was a stage actress and one of King Charles's mistresses.

You'll recall dinner was not included, which is very weird.  I've never done a tour that didn't have a welcome dinner.  It gives the group a chance to get to know each other, and many people have just arrived that day and are tired.  To have to search out somewhere to eat isn't a particularly good way to start the tour.  So after our welcome drink, and a foiled attempt to eat at the pub right across the street from our hotel, The Prince Harry; we ended up at Meejana, 1 Church Lane in a very cute Lebanese restaurant.  My dish was an eggplant something and was delicious.  Don't remember what Jane had, but she was very pleased with it.  **edited to add my friend remembered what I had, it was Mousakaa.

See what a cute little super clean place it was.  Would highly recommend it.  We were seated at an open window area, and they had outside eating as well.

Marching orders.  Most days we had something like this posted to indicate what was next.  So breakfast at 7am, luggage out by your door by 7 am, be on the coach at 8 am for departure.  Dinner tomorrow at 6:30 in our hotel, our first group dinner.  

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit.