Day 10 Edinburgh to York Wake up call 6:30am, Breakfast 7am Had another nice breakfast but my cold has developed to sinusitis so I started my course of antibiotics today. Boarded the bus at 8am and we went off to York. On the way we passed Jedburgh Abbey and had a photostop there.We then proceeded to the Jedburgh Abbey woollen mills for morning tea and shopping. As I had bought everything I needed, I just browsed in this shop and in the shop further up the road.Its best to buy one's woollen in Edinburgh or Gretna Green as this store is more expensive than them and the stock is more suited for people in my mother's age bracket.After that we travelled past beautiful farmlands with heather growing everywhere making it very pretty. Derryck said that the heather grows wild in Scotland.We then drove past the River Tweed and had a photostop where there is a landmark stone with Scotland inscribed at one face and England inscribed in the other.We then proceeded to York.We then went to Northumberland National Park to see Hadrian's Wall. Its a very fine structure considering how ancient it is. Derryck said that people have in the past helped themselves to the stones making up the wall.He also said there are archaeological excavations nearby and the archaeological finds from are displayed in the British museum.I toured the British museum when I was in London and those antiques look the same as those in the Pompeii exhibition in Melbourne.Must be Roman in origin as the Romans once ruled Britain.There were also Viking archaeological finds in that area which also displayed in the British Museum.After that I fell asleep until we had a stop at an autogrill for lunch.I had fish and chips and coffee for lunch.Also bought another Hello magazine to read.We proceeded to York after lunch.The coffee didn't work and I fell asleep once again till we reached York.York is a very beautiful town with cobbled streets,a lovely park with squirrels running around and a river which had ducks and swans swimming in it. There is also a medieval wall which was used for protection in the past.The bus parked before the bridge which took us into the town.Derryck showed us one of Henry VIII's castles there.As it was the Bank Holiday long weekend, York was packed to the brim. There was also the York festival on that weekend and there were many in medieval costumes walking around the town. Derryck showed us the York minster before we went for a walk up the shambles.He then took us to a square and told us to meet there at 4pm to go for afternoon tea.Some from the tour group went to the famous gingerbread shop and bought copious quantities of gingerbread but I went for a tour of York Minster instead after paying 5 pounds.York Minster is very beautiful and there is a plaque on its wall commemorating William Wilberforce(antislavery politician featured in the movie Amazing Grace) who worshipped there.The choir was practising when I was in the church and their voices blended together sounded like angels.They were practising for the York Festival.After that I returned to the square where we were supposed to meet and with all the other members of the tour group went up a flight of stairs to a tearoom for afternoon tea.It was a lovely afternoon tea with sandwiches,gingerbread,fruitcake,scones with jam and cream.I just gulped down what I could and ran back to York Minster to hear the choir and view it in more detail.On the way there I saw someone playing an accordian in the shambles.He was really good.He informed me that there is a concert that night at York.Due to our group staying at Holiday Inn Harrogate,I was sad I could not attend.The bells of York Minster started pealing the tune of Amazing Grace after I finished visiting the church.It was magnificent to hear such a lovely sound.There is a plaque commemorating Miles Coverdale in the front wall of the York Minster as he was the bishop in charge of the translation of the bible from Latin to English during the Reformation.After that we returned to the tour bus and proceeded to Harrogate. Harrogate is a pretty town.Derryck said that the British politicians hold meetings there occasionally.We were given our keycards when we arrived and all rushed up the lifts to our rooms.I was given a lovely huge room with a nice view overlooking a park.While waiting for my suitcase to arrive, I watched a replay of Fawlty Towers. I was watching the scene where Basil smoking under the fire alarm causing it to go off.While I was laughing, the actual fire alarm at Harrogate Holiday Inn went off.Maria was knocking on my door and kept calling out for me to evacuate but I thought it was the television.When that scene of Basil smoking ended, I suddenly realised that the fire alarm was real and Maria was really calling out. I dashed out of the room to a very worried Maria and ran down the firestairwell.I saw one of the more mature ladies from the tour group struggling down the stairs barefooted and proceeded to help her. After all that we were later told it was a false alarm.I went back to my room and had an early night
Day 11 Harrogate to Warwick Wake up time 6:30 am, breakfast at 7am I work up early and put out my suitcase.Went to breakfast early with some members of another Trafalgar tour group whom I met at the corridor. Sat with them instead of my tour group as I wanted to meet a few more people.We went to Stratford upon Avon to visit Anne Hathaway's cottage,William Shakespeare's house and Warwick Castle(optional tour) that day.It was wet and raining that day.We had a group photo taken at Anne Hathaway's cottage.Derryck narrated to us the biography of William Shakespeare. Apparently Shakespeare had 2 daughters.One married a physician but the other married a smooth operator who was a wastrel.Shakespeare left the majority of his wealth to the daughter who married the physician.Shakespeare's house is built in the Tudor style and the grounds are very pretty.There is a bust of Rabidranath Tagore on the grounds.I didn't spend too long in the grounds due to the weather.We saw the kitchen,the work area and the bedrooms in Shakespeare's house.The ceilings were very low and the beds small.I was informed that people from his era were much shorter than us.We were also shown types of the leather gloves that William Shakespeare's father made.After that I went to the William Shakespear exhibition next door. Due to the bad weather, I didn't go to the river but instead went for lunch at a nice restaurant. Met up with Judy and had coffee after lunch at a coffee shop.We went to Warwick Castle after Stratford upon Avon for those who did the optional but those who did not were driven to the Hilton Warwick hotel.Warwick Castle is now owned by Merlin Entertainment. The Earl of Warwick sold it in the 70s.He is now a director of a mining company in Australia.Warwick Castle was packed to the brim due to the bank holiday long weekend.I went to see the wax figures of Consuela Vanderbilt,Jenny Churchill,Winston Churchill,King Edward VII,Lord Curzon in the drawing rooms,library,bedrooms etc. Had quite a wait to see those figures and they do look very real.After that I went to the armament rooms and then to see the wax figures of Henry Tudor and his wives.I also went to the dungeon and the figures did look very scary there.After that I went to see the wax figures of the preparing for war display.There was a commotion in the gardens so I went to have a look and there was a party with people dressed up as jokers,princesses,clowns,peasants, knights etc.I tried to get into the princess tower exhibition but the queue was extremely long. I also watched a movie about the 2nd world war in one of the side rooms and had a great time.Some walked up 52 steps to walk on the walls of the Castle but I gave that a miss.After that we went to Hilton Warwick.Hilton Warwick is a very nice hotel and the service was impeccable.It has a beautiful indoor swimming pool.I had a nice shower and then proceeded with the rest of the tour group to our farewell dinner.We were given 2 drinks each and the dinner was excellent.Email addresses were exchanged and more photos taken.After that lovely dinner I went to bed feeling sad that the tour is coming to an end
Day 12 Warwick to London Wake up call 6:15am, breakfast at 7am Breakfast was excellent in the Hilton Warwick. I had the front seat on the bus that day. We went to visit Coventry seeing Lady Godiva's statue and then Coventry cathedral. The original Coventry Cathedral was bombed in the second world war but the minister and the congregation erected a cross with the words of forgiveness in the bombed site.It was so moving.The new cathedral was built next to it.After that we went to an autogrill for morning tea and then to Bladon to visit Winston Churchill and his family's graves.Derryck gave us the history of the Churchill family. He told us about Winston Churchill's uncle the duke of marlborough who married Consuela Vanderbilt, Winston's father Sir Randolph Churchill and his wife Jenny Churchill,Winston's political career and his wife Clementine.He also told us about Bleinhem palace.After that we went to Oxford to see the martyrs memorial and Trinity College.Trinity College is very pretty with a lovely chapel and very well manicured grounds.I wanted to see Queens College where my great uncles graduated in medicine but it was closed for renovations.I will have to return to Oxford to see that. After that I went to Randolph Hotel for lunch as the museum was closed due to the Bank holiday.Randolph hotel is worth a visit as the dining room was magnificent with portraits from the 18th and 19th century.The lunch was not too expensive but service was very slow.After lunch I gave Derryck and Martin their tips and due to the excellent service they provided,the remuneration was paid in accordance to the service they provided.We then returned to London. Derryck told us about the education system in England - students having to do their O levels and then A levels to go to university.He also told us that they paid 2000 pounds per year to attend university but Oxford and Cambridge only took the cream of the students. We arrived back in London at 3pm. I said good bye to my tour members and rushed to my room in Hilton Kensington to get ready to meet friends who were visitng that night.I enjoyed my tour thoroughly and every optional I did was worth the cost.
Post tour I stayed at Hilton Kensington for 4 days after the tour and went to visit St Paul's Cathedral which was magnificent in every way,went for a ride on the London Eye,went to the Royal Academy of Arts with a friend who is a member ther,went to Leicester Square to see the bust of William Shakespeare, spent half a day at the Tower of London and went for a boat ride up the Thames.I also took the original bus tour around the city of London.Besides that I visited the British museum and went for a walk in Hyde Park. I hope to be able to return to London one day to visit Buckingham Palace and Westminister Abbey as well as Churchill's war rooms and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
I will be going on the similiar tour in May. Any places I should defintely see and avoid? Any good restaurants? Sounds like you had a great time except maybe for your sinuses. I enjoyed reading your tale. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Mark Eye I loved every place I visited and ate at(except the shop in Galway where I had steak and kidney pie but that's my fault not the shop).I would suggest you speak to your tour director regarding what places you should visit and where you should eat at as my tastes and interests may be different from yours.I communicated to Derryck - my TD - my interests,food choices etc and he pointed me in the right direction.Also that's the advantage of filling in the PreTour webform as it gives the tour director a direction of what optional tours to offer to the tour members
hi mark eye I am sure you will have fun with the people you travel with.I travelled solo as my mum pulled out at the last minute due to swine flu fears and my friends only wanted to go to Italy but still I enjoyed myself.I did research on the internet using the TripAdvisor website and borrowed books from the library like Lonely Planet as well as use Insight Vacations bulletin board to hone in what I wanted to see and do.My interests are in history,art and nature so I honed in on those topics.I worked out a budget of how much I am prepared to spend and worked on that budget.Ireland is good for shopping so I did most of my shopping there.I bought a lot of my meals in London at Tesco supermarket as the selection is very good.My friend who lives in London suggested going to chinatown in soho for yum cha but yum cha is not my favorite food.I loved roast pork and fish and chips in the UK and Ireland.Think about what you like to eat and research it as to the best places to eat at.I really can't advise anymore but I am sure the Tour Director will be able to give you more advise
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