Matthew's web log

Today was a full day of driving through the Scottish Highlands.  We made several quick stops around the spectacular topography.  Mid morning we stopped at Loch Ness to go monster hunting.  The area is scenic, but the weather is miserable (cold, windy, and overcast).  I'm amused by all the "official" monster stuff.  Maybe Nessie is living on the UFO at Roswell, New Mexico.

The day continues with Urquhart Castle (castle ruins on the lake), Ben Nevis (highest point in Great Britain), and the spectacular Glencoe.  We see Culloden Battlefield where the Scots were defeated in 1746. In the mid afternoon, we have a cruise around Loch Lomond, the biggest of the Lochs (and a joke in Spaceballs).

We arrive in Glasgow and I like the hotel immediately.  The sink has one spigot so you can adjust the water temperature (instead of separate cold and hot water outputs which results in one hand scalding and the other freezing).  Plus, The Simpsons is on the tv (not a Groundskeeper Willie episode, though).

We have dinner and drinks in town for our last night in Scotland.  I'm disappointed that I could not purchase any of Scotland's famous tape or a Groundskeeper Willie souvenir here in his hometown.  Tomorrow we head back to England.

View the Highlands and Glasgow photos. 

Our exploration of Scotland continues as we head north to the Highlands.  We make a morning stop at St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf.  I think about when Dad and I played the New Course in Orlando some time back, which was a copy of the Old Course I'm now looking at.  The weather in Orlando was much better. 

Up a bit further, we stop at the smallest Whiskey distillery in Scotland.  The tasting is of just one scotch and the tour very brief.  After a lunch break in town, we take a scenic drive up to our hotel in the Highlands (middle of nowhere).  

Arriving at our hotel, we then explore "downtown" which is about two blocks and just wander around until it's nearly time for dinner.  I consider joining folks at the local pub, but just crash early in preparation for our big day tomorrow hunting the Loch Ness monster.  

View the Highlands photo album. 

Today is a full day in Edinburgh.  We arrive around 11am (a later start today since we were up so late last night) and I head straight to the castle.  We see the sites, including Scotland's crown jewels.  I learn about Mary Queen of Scots.   

After the castle, we stop for lunch (at the nearly as plentiful as home Starbucks).  We continue down the Royal Mile to the Holyroodhouse Palace and the new Parliament building.  Touring the Palace, we learn more about Mary, Q.o.S..  She was very tall (6 feet).  I was intrigued by the small bed and how a tall woman would fit there.  The guide explains to me that in those days there was a big fear of lung diseases, so people slept somewhat upright, thinking this would help.  I also learn that many of the portraits on display now were not up when she lived there and some of the portraits were painted after her death.

The misty and rainy weather is a bummer and limits the photos, but not the sightseeing.  I've found a place with worse summer weather than San Francisco.  After touring the palace and gardens, we head back up the Royal Mile to take a look at St. Giles Cathedral.  We luck out in that there's an organ concert going on.  After wandering around, I do a quick internet check and continue my unsuccessful hunt for Scottish souvenirs.

For dinner, we have a Scottish evening of food and music.  The big event here is the opportunity to try haggis.  While it sounds totally gross, I give it a try.  I'm not normally too adventurous with food, but it's not that bad.  I have a few bites, think about what I'm eating, and eat no more.  Some people actually finish their serving of it which impresses me.  The main course and dessert are good and our private bag pipe entertainment is fun.  

View the Edinburgh photo album. 

While I have a more detailed trip report on the last few days sketched out on random pieces of paper, I only have a few minutes of internet time at the moment; therefore, this is just a summary of the last few days.

We left London Thursday morning after driving around the city a bit to see some sites from the bus.  We left for Windsor Castle, a short drive away.  We would only have a few hours there, but that turned out to be enough time to tour the castle, see the changing of the guard (very cool since you are very close), and stop for lunch.   In the afternoon we were off to Oxford and a tour of the college town.

Friday was our trip to York.  This is a very pretty city with a cathedral that we climbed to the top of for a view of the city.  Also on tap was the excellent castle museum which detailed life of people in the last few hundred years.  It was full of some more, um, detailed facts about life such as using urine to clean your laundry.  This reminded me of why I am quite happy to be living today.  I'm a big fan of clean clothes without a bodily fluid cleaning solution.

Saturday, we began our trip to Scotland, home of Scotty from Star Trek, J. C. Maxwell, and Groundskeeper Willie.  We stop at the border of England and Scotland for a photo op and continue to Hadrian's Wall (a Roman wall built nearly 2000 years ago across Britain).  It's not everyday I walk around ruins from ancient Rome.  In the evening we arrive in Edinburgh and check in to our hotel.  I was hoping to use the spare hour for some internet time, but none is available in the hotel and nothing is near by.  After dinner in the hotel, we have a major highlight of the trip tonight-the Military Tatoo.  This is a festival of bands in formation in the backdrop of the castle.  While I had not heard of this festival before, it is apparently world famous and was  a lot of fun to see and hear.

Sunday (today) was a full free day in Edinburgh.  Since we got back at close to 2am last night, we didn't depart the hotel until 10am today for the short drive in to town.  I toured the castle, the palace and the cathedral.  I was planning on hiking up Arthur's Seat for a fantastic view of town, but with the typical cold, misty, weather, it wasn't worth the effort.  This place has worse summer time weather than San Francisco.  Without the hike, I finish up with a spare hour, so I'm sending out this quick update; I want my loyal readers to know what I'm up to.  We'll be in the highlands next where there is basically no contact with the outside world.  Assuming I don't get eaten by the Loch Ness Monster, I hope to post an update in a few days, but I make no promises.

I'm sure many of you are curious about who is on the tour.  It's about half Australians (maybe more), More than a quarter Canadian, and about twenty percent American (mostly California).  There are a few couples and groups of friends.   Not counting the couples, it's nearly all women, which is quite a switch from Silicon Valley employment demographics.  I'm on the older end of things, but still get more done in my days than most others.   About half the group is only on the UK part of the tour so we'll have a bunch of new recruits when we start Ireland next week. Just like my last tour, I've gone touring with a few folks who are interested in the museums, castles, and major sites of the cities (as opposed to shopping).  I'm surprised how many people prioritize for what I consider the tourist rip off sites (for example, seeing the London Dungeon instead of the British Museum).  With a tour of 50 people, there is always someone with a similar interest to go sightseeing with. 

Thus far, the food has been surprisingly good considering this is Britain.  The salmon in the hotel last night was particularly tasty and the fudge today was also good. 

We leave the hotel at 8am and head to Hadrian's Wall.  In the 2nd century, the Romans had conquered much of England.  They encountered fierce resistance when they reached Scotland.   They built a stone wall at a narrow point in the island (the exact reason for building the wall is still up for debate).  The scenery is beautiful.  We hike to the top and I take lots of photos in the less than ideal lighting (very cloudy).  The rest of the afternoon we drive to Edinburgh. 

Tonight is a major highlight- we have tickets to the Military Tattoo. I had not heard of this festival before, but it is apparently quite famous.  It involves bands from around the world marching in procession. 

I have a very good piece of salmon for dinner in the hotel and then we go into town for the Tattoo.  The Royal Mile (main street) is mobbed.  Our tickets are for the 10:30pm show, but the show is running late.   We get seated around 11 and the show starts shortly.  Never a fan of marching bands, I really enjoy the spectacle.  The music, pageantry, and Edinburgh Castle backdrop make for an entertaining evening.  I finally get to sleep around 2am.   

View the Scotland photo album. 

After a great night sleep in a much nicer hotel, we depart for York.  As is Contiki tradition, we're introduced to our "day song".  This is played each day when we get on to the bus (Orson's "No Tomorrow").  During the ride, we sign up for optionals and spend most of the ride going to the front of the coach (bus) and introducing ourselves.  We arrive at York after noon and begin a walking tour to get an overview of the city.  

With free time in the afternoon, a few of us visit the excellent Castle Museum.  Outside, we can view Clifford's Tower, site of a 12th century Jewish massacre.  Sadly this is a common theme in traveling.  Just like in Vienna,  when too much money was owed to a Jewish banker, the scene ends in tragedy. 

We head back across town to Yorkminster.  Like St. Paul's in London, I tour around and climb to the top for some panoramic views.  It's a good excuse to get a little exercise (traveling always wrecks havoc with my normal diet and exercise).  I get back to the hotel, drop off some things, and head to dinner.  

After dinner, most of the tour go on a "ghost" tour. Since I'm not a believer in ghosts, I was more interested in getting some good night photos.  Despite it being after 9:30pm, it wasn't dark enough for that.  I pay some attention to the ghost tour guide (who is good) and wonder why they don't just call the Ghostbusters.  I guess that would put the ghost tour guides out of business.  I thought it interesting that our guide said that most ghost sightings were reported by women.  I tend to think that ghosts are made up like gremlins and Eskimos so I just can't get that into our admittedly enthusiastic guide. 

We return breifly to the hotel before going across the street to a super cheesy 80s club .  The music was fun and there are pac-man's on the wall along with a picture of Mr. T.  It's after 12:30am and a group of us return home for some sleep.  

View the York photo album. 

I weight my bag before departure and it's a half kilogram too heavy.  I grab my bag of dirty laundry out of it so my luggage is under the 20kg limit and carry the laundry on the bus.  We wait until 8:15 for the bus to arrive.  It's great to finally meet all of my fellow travelers.  The bus has three empty seats that will be filled by some late arrivals in Scotland. 

We have a diving tour of London, seeing Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Big Ben, etc.) before heading to Windsor.  Arriving in Windsor mid-morning, I dart up the castle.  The Royal residence, the castle is huge and I'm concerned about rushing through it.  There's no ticket line and we browse the state apartments which remind me of Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.  Last year, we learned about the emperor and his wife's 20" waist (and have ben researching this ever since).  This year, I learned about the king's bed chamber.  This room was not for sleeping, but for the official wake up of the king and his greeting of visitors.  I need to convert my second room to this purpose.

We tour St. Margaret's Doll House and watch the changing of the guard (very cool and with a close up view).  This left enough time for lunch and a free sample of fudge from the fudge store.  The best things in life really are free.  Then we departed for the university town of Oxford.

Our walking tour of Oxford showed us the sites, many of which were in the Harry Potter movies.  I imagine Bill Clinton wandering here taking advantage of the schools ample assets.   I visit the Ashmolean museum which was fun for its variety of exhibits.  We checked into the hotel (much nicer than London's) and have a pub dinner.  It was an earlier night and getting to sleep before 11pm was a great way to catch up on the limitted sleep of the previous nights. 

View the London to Windsor to Oxford photo album. 

It's odd being in a foreign country, yet still speaking English.   They do talk funny here and it's interesting the subtle differences (the guys in Pulp Fiction were right).  They say "way out" for "exit" and "mind the gap" for "don't trip and fall when stepping from the train to the platform").

I like how they have idiot proofed the streets with "look right" and "look left" signs for pedestrians.  It's confusing otherwise because, not only do they drive on the wrong side of the street, but there are lots of one way streets that have no sign indicating this. 

The air seems dirty.  I didn't notice at first, but now have.  This explains why I've seen people biking around with face masks on.

The hotel is okay.  No A/C, but that hasn't been necessary.  It's odd that the small room has a pants press but no alarm clock.  The walls are rather thin, but I've been up early enough to not notice much noise.  The showerer is excellent with lots of water pressure and very hot.

The weather has been fine- no rain.  It's been sunyy to partly cloudy.  Cool in the morning, warm in the sun, and cool at night.  Similar to home, actually.  The tube is often warm to hot, but managable.   It seems less humid than I was expecting. 

Food portions generally seem smaller than the US and a more acceptable size for me.  This also explains the noticably fewer over weight folks that I've seem.  While the British are often said to have bad food, everything I've had has been fair to very good.  

The city feels very young.  Most people look to be about my age.  Where did everyone else go?  Is it Logan's Run?

The exchange rate really is horrendous.  A meal under ten dollars is impossible.  A large orange juice at Starbucks costs the equivalent of about 5 dollars. 

The days are really long.  It's still a little light out after 9pm and it's been light out in the early mornings when I've been up.

Some of the people working at the museums don't seem very friendly.  At the British Museum, there were three people at the desk, but only one seemed to really be doing anything (I wanted an audio guide).  When I returned the guide the woman asked what I thought.  I said that it was okay, but that a lot of the exhibits it was hard to find the number to punch into the guide.  Her resposne was just a shrug.  

Today is my last day in London.  I went back to the area near the Tate Modern and visited the adjacent Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.  This is a reproduction of the original that was built 400 years ago.   Now open 10 years, they perform mostly Shakespeare plays and have tours at other times of the day.  The 45 minute tour was interesting along with the exhibits about the building that I explored before the tour started.  This building is the first thatched roof building in London since the Great Fire of London in the 1600s.  They have a sprinkler system on top, just in case. 

I then headed over the Millennium Bridge and one tube stop to the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery at Somerset House.  I had not heard of this gallery until A.B. mentioned it a few months ago, but my guide book (Rick Steves) was on top of things and gave it a two triangle rating.  The gallery was great.  In one room of the gallery, there was better stuff than the entire Tate Modern.  It has an excellent Impressionist and post-Impressionist collection, in addition to other works.  It holds one of my favorite paintings, Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere”.  Shockingly, this painting is not on display!  It’s on loan to the Getty museum in Los Angeles.  When purchasing a museum catalog, I ask how long it’s been gone and he says since May and that the Getty and Courtauld have a good “working relationship”.  I’m disappointed, but if anyone wants to take a trip to LA before mid-September to see it, I’m game.

After the Art Gallery, I break for lunch at the café.  Having the British take on a bagel with lox and crème cheese (didn’t seem like I bagel, but was good) I spring for the glass of wine which is less than a buck more than a coke.  I make some more notes for the blog and relax a bit.   

I visit the Hermitage rooms collection after lunch (also at Somerset House).  These were okay with a few highlights, but not nearly as good at the main gallery.  I skip the other museum here as it doesn’t interest me.

Since it’s not much past 1pm, I head to the British Library.  I tour the highlights which include a Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta, some old religious texts, and some Beatles stuff.   Well worth an hour and you can’t complain about a library whose snack bar has beer (I just get a cookie and water).  I have a little time left before the pre-tour meeting at 6pm and find an internet café to write the last couple blog posts.  The Contiki basement has internet on a few computers at the sky high price of 1 pound per fifteen minutes.  I find a place near the British Library that charges 99 pence for an hour.    

After my internet break, I return to the Imperial Hotel to drop off my backpack and go to the pre-departure meeting at the Royal National at 6pm.  I arrive an uncharacteristically five minutes late and am aurprised that the meeting started so promptly.  I didn't miss much and the whole meeting wasn't that useful.  We were told to be back at the Royal National at 6:45am and that the 20kg bag limit is strictly enforced (bags will be weighed).  We fill out some paperwork and provide emergency contact information.  I resist putting "doctor" for who they should contact in case of an emergency.  I wonder why they want my phone number on the paperwork since 1) they already have it and 2).  I'll be with them on the trip.

The folks I met the last few days (Sarah, Danny, and Ang) are heading to the pub next door and I join them.  I mention to a few fellow travelers that I just saw at the pre-trip meeting that they are welcome to join us and they do.  We have an enjoyable pub dinner together.  A couple new arrivals- sisters Jen and Megan- want to go to Buckingham palace after dinner and I join them.  I wave to the Queen, but apparently she's not home.  I use the final hours of my three day tube pass to get some dusk photos of Parliament Square and Buckingham Palace before returning to the hotel to pack up.  

Early tomorrow morning, the tour departs London for Windsor.  I’m slightly concerned about the weight of my luggage for the tour since I’ve been told they do in fact weigh the luggage. I think that if the airline didn’t mind the weight, the tour shouldn’t. 

View the London photo album.

I slept a little later today, but still had an early start.  Knowing that St. Paul's Cathedral opens at 8:30, I plan on this to start my day.  It's in the "City" of London which is popular place for people to work.  The tube was crowded with commuters.  I take some pics around the cathedral and then head inside where it is deserted.  I learn that the dome is not open until 9:30 so I have an hour to fill.  I wander around, exploring the various memorials and the crypt below.  In the crypt famous folks are buried, like Sir Christopher Wren (architect of St. Paul's and other buildings), Lord Nelson, Florence Nightingale, and a host of others I've never heard of.  I spend a few minutes eavesdropping on a tour group and by then the dome is open.  The first stop (about 160 steps up) is the whispering dome part where you can hear people across the dome.  While my parents assured me that we visited here, I didn't remember it.  It now came back to me and I recall that Dad and I climbed up here.  I climbed up to the next two levels (about the same number of steps each time) and got a panoramic view of the city.  

It's now mid-morning and I walk across the Millennium Bridge (opened in 2000) to the Tate Modern.  I was looking forward to this before the trip and was even more eager after an Italian college student I was talking with the night before told me this was her favorite thing in London.  I was disappointed in the museum.  Even without high expectations, I would have been disappointed.  While there are a few great pieces of art here (including a couple by Magritte, whom I like), there was a lot of stuff that was definitely skippable.  As Bart Simpson would say, much of it was craptacular.  The MOMA in NY, while also filled with a lot of junk, has more great stuff.    A solid blank canvas just doesn't do it for me. 

I was finished a little ahead of my plan and then went to the London Eye.  This didn't exist when I was here before, and I got on line (queued up, as they say here), bought my ticket, waited in another line and then was in the giant ferris wheel (total time waiting & buying a ticket was about 40 minutes for a 30 minute ride).  Great views from down the river of this morning's St. Paul's views.  

I wander the City a bit, get a snack, and head to the hotel for a quick nap before meeting my early travelers again at 6pm.  We have a quick dinner and head to the West End where I'm seeing Avenue Q.  

Avenue Q has been on my short list of shows to see and I was not disappointed.  I enjoyed it a lot and it was an enternaining look at an R-rated Sesame St.  The music was very good and I'm glad I splurged on good seat. While the theater was small compared with ones at home or on Broadway, 6th row center was a great spot.  It was interesing that on top of a £50 ticket, they wanted another £3 for the playbill; I decline.  Plus people were walking around before, during intermission ("interval"), and after selling CDs and stuff.  I realize that as they say in "Spaceballs" it's all merchandizing, but still this was tacky I thought.  I also noticed how casual the audience was dressed.  I know Broadway has gotten casual but I saw almost no men in pants and a number of people in shorts.  Just like at work, I raised the bar by wearing pants and a nice shirt.  After the show, it's a couple tube stops back to the hotel. 

View the London photo album.