Farewell, JoAnn

The weather has been getting colder and colder and they were calling for snow/sleet this morning. We decided to get an early start on the road to Manchester. We left at 7 am. to get JoAnn to the airport in time for her 11 a.m. flight. JoAnn's luck with the weather held as we did not get any precipitation on the way out to Manchester. As she checked in I ran into one of Brad's co-workers seeing off a friend of hers who was catching the same flight as JoAnn. After JoAnn checked in, she, Brad and I gathered one more time at a cafe in the airport before she headed off through the security gates. Wow, the time has certainly flown by! We had a great time showing JoAnn the sights and would be happy to do the same for future visitors.

Brimham Rocks

This is JoAnn's last full day in England. Brad had to go back to work today so I was behind the wheel. We drove over to Brimham Rocks, a wonderful National Trust site populated by huge boulders shaped into fantastical forms by wind, erosion and ice-age glaciers. We were the only ones on the Brimham estate and it was a bit eerie wandering among the towering rock forms. It was yet another bright and beautiful day and I strained to see York Minster from the viewing platform but there was too much haze on the horizon. From Brimham we went to Ripley, a small town outside Harrogate with a 14th-century castle and church. The castle was closed today but we took a tour of the church. We had lunch at the tea cottage. I had a sandwich and JoAnn had, you guessed it, a cream scone! From Ripley we headed back into Harrogate so JoAnn could do some last-minute shopping. We had left-over lasagna for dinner and then JoAnn began packing up her bags for the journey back home.

Thanksgiving in the Dales

This morning Brad, JoAnn and I had breakfast at Bettys before heading off for a drive through the Yorkshire Dales. It was another beautiful winter day, though a bit chillier in Harrogate than it had been in London. We drove over to Grassington, a quaint little village in Wharfedale, and browsed through the shops before taking a short hike to the even quainter village of Linton. I love this short hike because the views are spectacular, you get a wonderful introduction to the drystone walls of Yorkshire and you cross a bridge over the dramatic Linton Falls with views of some fantastically-shaped limestone. But my very favorite part is a visit to the 12th-century church in Linton. As we approached the bridge the wind whipped up and the skies darkened. Then the wind died down and we got a great view of a robin on a fence post and said hello to a cute little cat. The wind picked up again and we began to be pelted with rain. We took refuge in the church. It was so peaceful, warm and quiet in there. We took our time exploring the delights of the little church and by the time we left the wind had settled down and the skies had cleared. Typical Yorkshire weather. We witnessed a shocking event on the way back to the car. That cute little cat attacked and caught a pheasant!! We think it was a juvenile pheasant but it was still quite a large catch for the little kitty-cat. Neither I nor JoAnn could bear to look at the devastating scene.

Back in the car for a drive to Appletreewick, a village as picturesque as its name sounds. By this time the skies were bright blue. The road to Appletreewick is narrow, twisty and turny and affords stunning views of the countryside. Our destination was the New Inn, a cozy pub with friendly staff, where we had our Thanksgiving Day dinner. Brad and JoAnn both had a big salad with Swaledale cheese. I had fishcakes, potatoes and peas. For dessert we all opted for Sticky Toffee Pudding in Cream. It was an unorthodox Thanksgiving Day dinner but everything was absolutely delicious and the setting couldn't be beat!

After dinner we headed back into Harrogate. We topped the evening off with a visit to the Odeon Cinema where we saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

London to York

This morning we left London. Our train was due to leave at 10 a.m. but we were worried about getting to Kings Cross Station during rush hour so wanted to get up early (again). We didn't trust the hotel to give us a wake-up call, so I called Brad the night before on my cell phone and asked him to give us a wake-up call at 6 a.m. It was a good thing I did, because the hotel never did give us a wake-up call. We debated about catching a cab to the station but in the end decided to take the tube. It was crowded but we managed okay. We arrived at Kings Cross well ahead of schedule and had more than an hour wait for our train. The platform for our train wasn't announced till about 10 minutes before it was due to leave, so we still had to make a mad dash for the train in the end.

By noon we were pulling in to York train station. We dropped our bags off at the left luggage counter and hit the streets. I took JoAnn for a short walking tour through York past the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey and up on top of the city wall commanding wonderful views of York Minster. We popped in and out of gift shops and ended up having lunch at the National Trust tea room where JoAnn indulged in another cream tea. After lunch we browsed through the Minster and the Shambles till dinnertime. We grabbed a jacket potato topped with cheddar cheese at a little eatery on the way to the station. Amazing how delicious English potatoes and cheese are!

Tower Tales

We got up early again so we could arrive at the Tower of London when they opened at 9 a.m. Our wake-up call arrived late but we made it to the Tower in good time nonetheless. The morning was overcast but the clouds eventually broke apart to reveal some pretty blue skies. There were not very many people at the Tower at that early hour. We first went to gawk at the Crown Jewels and then wandered about the grounds before joining a talk with a Yeoman Warder. We were the only ones in the audience for the slideshow/talk. We had a choice of subjects: Torture or Life of the Yeoman Warder. JoAnn eagerly chose "Torture". Our lecturer had just recently become a Yeoman Warder and he stumbled a bit on his facts but was a good speaker. After that gruesome lecture we joined a guided tour of the grounds with another Yeoman Warder. He was much more experienced and gave an animated theatrical talk emphasizing the more gruesome aspects of the history of the Tower. By the end of our tour it was lunchtime and we grabbed some sandwiches in one of the dining facilities at the Tower.

We decided to talk a walk along the Thames from the Tower over to Leadenhall Market, taking in some lovely views of Tower Bridge before setting off. Leadenhall Market, a lovely shopping area, was dressed up quite festively for the Christmas season. We browsed about the former Harry Potter (it filled in for Diagon Alley in one of the movies) then hopped on the tube to Knightsbridge, our destination: Harrods. We spent a lot of time wandering through the vast food hall then had a delicious dinner at the chicken rotisserie counter.

Time to head back to the hotel, drop our bags off, rest up a bit, then head back out to Tower Hill again. We planned to join the London Walks' Jack the Ripper tour. Quite a crowd of folks showed up for the tour. There must have been some 30 or 40 of us there. Our tour guide, Don, an established authority on Jack the Ripper, did an excellent job, making sure everyone could both see and hear him. He regaled us with the grizzly details of one of the worlds' most famous unsolved murder mysteries. We visited the spots where most of the murders occurred, though I found it difficult to imagine the Victorian setting as most of the old buildings were gone.

A Right Royal Day

The morning started off bright, crisp and clear so JoAnn and I decided to talk a walk from our hotel over to Buckingham Palace. We were at the Palace rather early so there were no crowds and the guards looked rather sad and lonely at their posts. We were the only tourists in evidence and took our time snapping photos of the palace and the Queen Victoria monument. Then we took a stroll through St. James Park, encountering frosted leaves, all manner of wild fowl and glorious views along the way.

We continued walking over to Westminster Abbey, past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. Our early start paid off; we did not have to wait in line to buy our tickets for the Eye and were able to hop on right away for a wonderful view over Londontown. There were only four other people in our capsule and one of them must have been a born-and-bred Londoner; he was pointing out all the landmarks to his girlfriend while the rest of us eavesdropped. When we departed the London Eye there was quite a crowd of people queueing at the ticket booth and to get onboard. We had certainly been fortunate in our timing.

From the London Eye we made our way over to Waterloo Station and hopped on the tube for the British Museum. We spent a couple of hours at the British Museum picking and choosing what we wanted to see of its monumental collection: The Rosetta Stone, Lindow Man, the Elgin Marbles and a hugely interesting exhibit on Life and Death that featured intriguing native art from all over the world. We had lunch at the British Museum and then hopped back on the tube for Oxford Street. First stop was Selfridges where we admired the window displays and then headed for the Christmas shop where we each made some purchases. It was getting late in the afternoon and what I'd hoped would be a leisurely stroll down Oxford Street to Regent Street became a mad dash for Fortnum and Mason's. We wanted to allow time for shopping there before having afternoon tea in Fortnum and Mason's St. James restaurant. We were seated on a sofa and tea was served elegantly to us at coffee table. We felt so posh as we nibbled on our cucumber sandwiches with the crusts trimmed off. Everything was so very tasty.

We finished with plenty of time to return to our hotel, drop our bags off and head out again in great anticipation for the Old Vic theatre. We had tickets to see Richard II starring Keving Spacey! As it turned out we arrived rather early -- even before the bar opened. We hung out in the lobby for awhile and once the bar opened reserved our drinks for the intermission. We had really good seats for the show -- second row of the dress circle near the center. We were some of the first to be seated so we got a good chance to do some people watching as the theatre slowly filled almost to capacity. We noticed how casually people dress for the theatre in London and several people were there on their own. Finally the show began and we were treated to an intriguing interpretation of Shakespeare. The actors wore modern dress and used modern accoutrements such as cell phones but the dialogue was pure Elizabethan Shakespeare. Kevin Spacey had a commanding presence on stage (appropriately enough) and all the acting was superb. We thoroughly enjoyed the show. We made our way to the stage door and did not have to wait long before Ben Miles, who had portrayed Henry Bolingbroke, appeared to sign autographs. He had an affable personality and asked JoAnn if she'd ever seen the play before. Only a few minutes later, and to our great delight, Kevin Spacey made an appearance. He looked thoroughly exhausted and drawn -- understandable when you consider the energetic performance he had just made. We each got his autograph. JoAnn told him she had come all the way from Baltimore to see him perform. All I could muster was something about what a fantastic performance it was. His reply to both of us was a plain and simple, "Thank you very much." JoAnn was on cloud nine, having spoken to Kevin Spacey and gotten his autograph, and if it were possible would have floated back to our hotel for sheer bliss. She'd hoped to stop off at the internet cafe to email friends back home about the event but they were already closed.

From York to London

Up at 6 a.m., out the door at 7:45 so Brad could drive us to the train station in York where JoAnn and I caught the 9 a.m. train to London. It was very cold and a heavy frost clung to every tree branch and blade of grass. An eerie mist rose over the frosted fields as we made our way to York. This time the train left on time, though with a last-minute platform change. We arrived at King's Cross station a little after noon. After a brief stop for a photo opportunity at platform 9 and 3/4 we crammed ourselves and our luggage onto the tube for a ride to Victoria Station. From there it was a 10-minute walk to Lime Tree Hotel. We checked in only to find that our room was at the very top floor of the hotel and there is no elevator! 60 steps up and we were exhausted. Just enough energy to notice we had a tub with a hand-held shower head. Oh well, no matter, we were in London and were determined to have a good time!

That first day it took me a while to get my bearings straight. I had left my good maps of London in the room and the free map given to us by the hotel was nearly useless. We caught the tube to Covent Garden and decided to take the steps once we saw the queue of people waiting to catch the lift. Bad choice. After 193 steps we arrived above ground with exhausted lungs and aching muscles. After a few wrong turns we found our way to St. Martin-in-the-Field for lunch in the Cafe in the Crypt. The church is right at Trafalgar Square but we didn't get a chance to wander around there. The square was being set up for some kind of sold-out performance. We walked over to Leicester Square, got lost a bit trying to get back to Covent Garden where we did some shopping. My only purchase was a decent portable map of London. We had dinner that night at Spaghetti House: delicious appetizer of olives and mixed salad, so-so pizza. All the walking and climbing up stairs had worn us out so we headed back to the hotel for an early evening in. We'd hoped to catch some good shows on the telly but there wasn't much on that night.

Birmingham

Another early start (a continuing theme of JoAnn's visit) for a drive to the NEC in Birmingham. The NEC is a huge sprawling conference center outside of Birmingham. JoAnn wanted to go there to attend the GCCF Cat Show, to meet some folks she knows and see how cat shows are run on this side of the pond. On the drive out of Harrogate the fields were all covered with thick frost and we could see mist rising up eerily as the sun rose. Just outside of Birmingham our car became enveloped in a low-lying fog as thick as pea soup. We dropped JoAnn off outside the show hall around 10 a.m. Brad and I had heard there was a train station in the NEC so thought we would catch the train into Birmingham city center. It took us nearly a half hour to walk from the show hall to the train station which gives an idea just how huge the place is. Once in the city center we began strolling along the pedestrianized areas right into the city's German Christmas Market. It was an authentic market with vendors from Frankfurt selling German goods and food. We each had a bratwurst and gluhwein, bringing back happy memories of German fests we attended while living in Heidelberg. I ordered a dampfnudel with Vanilla sauce but it was a pathetic version of the real thing. I told Brad it must be the Germans' way of getting back at Britain for losing the war. After strolling around the Birmingham center we hopped back on the train to pick JoAnn up. We had a very good first impression of Birmingham -- another city I'd like to return to for more exploration.

JoAnn and I went to our favorite fish and chips joint in Harrogate for dinner that night. It was tasty as usual and we each had dessert as well: pineapple and banana fritters with Cornish ice cream. Decadent but delicious.

Magical Mystery Tour

Up early again to catch the 7:28 train to Leeds where we intended to transfer to another train bound for Liverpool. The 7:28 arrived late and due to some confusion on the tracks missed two other trains bound for Leeds. We finally left Harrogate about 45 minutes behind schedule and arrived in Liverpool around 11 am., about an hour later than we had hoped. Well, at least JoAnn got a taste of the famed British rail service -- appalling at best.

First stop in Liverpool was the Tourist Info Center where we purchased tickets for the 2 p.m. Magical Mystery Tour. We were instructed to return to the TI to catch the tour bus. From there we attempted to follow a walking tour I had found in English Heritage magazine but got off course due to some road construction we encountered along the way. It is hard to avoid construction sites on the streets of Liverpool today as the city gets spruced up for its stint as Cultural Capital of Europe in 2008. We did eventually make our way over to Albert Dock, making stops at the post office and the Three Graces along the way. We popped into a few of the shops at Albert Dock and had a delicious lunch at the Tate Cafe before heading back to the TI. We boarded the bus, decked out just like the Magical Mystery Bus in the Beatles' TV special, and headed promptly over to Albert Dock! If we had known about that stop we would have just hung out there instead! No worries, though, as we got better seats than the crowd that boarded the bus at Albert Dock. Our tour guide was brilliant. He's been doing the tours for 14 years and really knows his stuff. He was full of anecdotes about Liverpool as well as the Beatles. We made stops at all four of the Beatles' boyhood homes, Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and ended up at the Cavern Club on Mathew Street. Aside from seeing all the Beatle-related sites on the tour, we got a good view of parts of Liverpool we would not have seen otherwise. Liverpool is a really cool city with loads of interesting architecture and cultural attractions. I hope to return at least one more time before moving back to the States. I still haven't been to the the Walker Art Gallery or the Anglican Cathedral.

JoAnn and I decided to have dinner at home rather than find a restaurant in Liverpool. We forgot how long it takes to get from Liverpool and Harrogate and weren't sitting in front of our soup and sandwiches until nearly 9 p.m.!

Arrival from Baltimore

JoAnn arrived this morning at Manchester airport for a 10-day visit. We got up at the crack of dawn to meet her 8:15 a.m. flight, trundled her into our car for the 1.5 hour drive home to Harrogate. Despite only having had a few minutes sleep on the plane she was ready to hit the road again with us after a brief stop at home to unpack her bags and say hi to Ginger. We took a ride over to one of our favorite spots in the Yorkshire Dales: Bolton Abbey. The weather was cold but clear. There were sheep in the field by the ruins of the abbey but hardly any other visitors. We strolled around the abbey grounds, took a peak at the parish church and took a few pics but were disappointed to discover that the Tea Cottage was closed -- our first encounter with the vagaries of winter hours in England. We headed back into Harrogate where Brad dropped the two of us off. JoAnn and I went to the Catwalk Cafe for her first encounter with Cream Tea: a pot of delicious strong Yorkshire Tea and a scone with jam and cream. yummy!!! After our tasty treat we strolled to a few shops in town then headed home.

Bonfire Night

I walked over to the Stray tonight to watch the Bonfire Night fireworks. Brad stayed home as he's been sick all day with a nasty stomach virus. Before I left I did some research on the Internet on how best to shoot fireworks snd spent some time studying my camera settings. I headed over to the Stray with camera and tripod in hand. It was drizzling a bit as I headed over and staked out my spot at the perimeter of the fireworks viewing area. Luckily the rain stopped before the fireworks began. I had my camera truned on the entire time the fireworks were going off and only saw them in the LCD monitor of my camera. After the grand finale I raced over to try to get some shots of the huge bonfire nearby. It was a while before I could get very close to the fire. None of those shots really turned out. Eventually I turned my camera off and just stood in front of the fire, mesmerized. It gave me time to think about what we were actually celebrating.

Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes' Night, commemorates the Gunpowder Plot. Four hundred years ago today Guy Fawkes was caught in an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Fawkes was one of a number of conspirators who had hatched the plot to protest the persecution of Catholics under the rule of James I of England. I've been reading a lot about the history of England in the 17th century and they were truly brutal times. Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators were hung, drawn and quartered for their crimes. I cannot think of a more painful and cruel way to die. It made me a bit ill to think that the festive fireworks and bonfire were modern Britain's way of remembering the execution of Guy Fawkes.